Hello from Barbados! Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Here we are in the Caribbean, but the weather today is not cooperating for us to enjoy this beautiful island. It's overcast with rain and thunderstorms. Also, today is a public holiday—Errol Barrow Day—so everything is closed up tight. We have a sea day tomorrow, then Grand Turk. We've got a shore excursion planned to snorkel and then feed the Stingrays, so hopefully we will get to enjoy the warm Caribbean waters in Grand Turk.
Yesterday was Inauguration Day---our 44th president: Barack Obama! There was a real sense of excitement all day and everyone was talking about the presidency. The inauguration was available to be seen in the Hollywood Theatre and the Starlite Club. We choose the Hollywood Theatre and it was packed! I was amazed at the cheers that Obama received considering the demographics of the average Crystal passenger. I couldn't stop weeping, I was so moved that he made it and was elected. I have great confidence in his ability to straighten out the mess we are in and to bring our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan. He has warned us that the economy will get worse before it will get better, but I trust him to get us on the right track again.
Earlier there was a South American party for those guests that had sailed all three segments of the Grand South American Voyage. As usual, Crystal did it up right with decorations, the entertainment staff in costumes reminiscent of Rio, music, complimentary drinks and South American style food.
It is hard to believe that the most interesting part of our cruise is over. We've traveled so far (2/3 of the way around the world if you can believe the Captain), seen so many amazing, moving, distressing, beautiful, majestic sites. We've met people from countries we've only dreamed about and learned about cultures that are long gone, but were so advanced. We've survived hurricane strength winds trying to cross the Drakes Passage and were treated to the majesty of Antarctica after our second attempt. We've made terrific friendships that we hope will endure. We've been pampered and indulged. They say that travel is broadening and after eating the wonderful Crystal food, I can attest to that! We've been entertained and enlightened by the performers and the lecturers. I've read lots of books and have created some watercolour and paste.
Continuation now January 24, 2008, En route to Miami
Hello loyal blog readers, sorry but I thought I posted in Barbados, but it was lost in cyberspace, so sorry for the delay!
This is the last day of the 49 day Grand South American Voyage. It is incredible that 7 weeks have passed. The time passed so quickly and now we are saying “good-bye” to friends with whom we have had such wonderful adventures: Natalie and Rod from Colorado, Mary from Texas, Georgina from Australia, Marilyn and Henry from California, Penny and Barry from California, Nelly and Edwin from Switzerland, Toy and Oddy from Thailand, Christie and Terry from Florida, Sally and Frank from the UK, Kristina and Larry from California, Urara and Taka from Japan, Gerry and Morry from California,, Charlene and Vic from Canada, and so many more. We've enjoyed the casino, karaoke, bingo, the library quiz, the Team Trivia, the pools, the shows, etc. and are thrilled that we have 22 more days of this luxury, but we will miss our friends. There are only 8 people from this cruise going on for the next segment.
To bring you up to date~~~~
Thursday night was the last formal night for this segment and you know what formal night means....karaoke! Natalie, Hobbs the lion and I did “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” very badly. My best performance was with Marilyn Brook doing backup form for Mary McKee when she sang “Stop in the Name of Love.” I must admit, our movements looked choreographed!
Nick Lewin was the performer for our night in Barbados. He does magic and comedy.that we really enjoyed. (Today he did a mini-lecture on mental illusion that was terrific! He handed a library book to two people in the audience and asked them to pick a random page from the book and select a word and commit it to memory. The people were asked to give Nick the first two letters of the word they chose and he guessed both of them. I'm sure he is familiar with the book and the vocabulary, but still it was a great trick. He also told us how Houdini did his chained under the water for 6 minute trick---he is only underwater for less than a minute, but the audience thought he held his breath for over 6 minutes). The caliber of entertainer on board all the segments have been great. My favorite is Rich Block---magician and comedian, and lawyer and mediator. An interesting combination!
Friday we were to dock in Grand Turk at 1 pm, and the Captain announced that we would be arriving earlier. However, when we got to Grand Turk, the Captain made 2 attempts at docking, but couldn't get the bow into the dock because of the wind. He sent a tender out to see if it was too rough to tender. The tender radioed that it was safe and so the ship used it's engines to stay in one place while tender service was offered until 5 pm. The ship was unable to anchor because the water surrounding Grand Turk is a national park and protected reef. Meanwhile, to our Captain's probable frustration, the Crown Princess steamed right in and docked without difficulty. Apparently she has Azipods that enabled her and the ship is twice the size of Symphony with twice the weight.. Captain Giske said he just didn't have the power in his engines....
Grand Turk is a port built by Carnival or Royal Caribbean. It is a limited shopping plaza, a Margueritaville bar and restaurant, a huge pool and a sand beach with chairs. Evidently, the islands are beautiful and diving and snorkeling are exceptional, but because of the winds we canceled our snorkeling and swimming with the stingrays shore excursion.
Friday night we had dinner in Silk Road with Rabbi Morry Hirshman and his wife Gerry. He's an entertaining story teller and they are a warm and friendly couple. Needless to say the sushi was wonderful!
Today is Saturday and it is such a luxury not to have to pack, yet. Our day will come! But we've been going around the ship and saying goodbyes. Several of our favorite staff and crew are also leaving: Ivo, the Head Waiter in the dining room, our stewardess Vironika, several of the Lido deck stewards, Urara, the Social Hostess and Kristina and Larry Nugent, our Art at Sea instructor.
Today was also an exhibit of the pastels that our Art at Sea class has done on this segment. The quality of work was amazing! Larry, Kristina's husband matted and framed the end projects---what a job! I have to talk about Kristina and the art classes—they have been incredible! Kristina created such a warm and encouraging environment that we felt at ease in attempting art work. She has a wonderful way of teaching and we achieved much more than we ever thought we could. I did a pastel of “The Chair” after Van Gogh and “Woman at her Toilette” after Degas. The pastels were great to work with, such deep, rich color!
Tomorrow at 6 am we pick up the pilot for Miami. Our dear friends, Pat and John Delaney are picking us up at 10:30 am and taking us to South Beach, after which they are coming on board for dinner at Silk Road. We opted first for Prego, but since the next cruise will be full, the Prego waiters are on heavy luggage duty. Norbert and Slavko are planning to stop by for a surprise that Pat has for them.
We set sail from Miami at 9 pm tomorrow evening. Stay tuned, I will fill you in on our journey to Caldera and the Panama Canal and then back to Miami.
Bye for now!
Ricki