Keith1010

At the present time, there are no cruises as this is planned for a charter. Keith

Thank you Bill. We had another fun day in Miami. Three days till we board Serenity. We took another nice walk-in downtown Miami in the morning. It was a little windy, but the temperature started off in the low 60's versus 50's on Tuesday. One of the places we stopped off at is the Brickell Centre. It has lots of stores, restaurants, and a hotel. We had lunch at a restaurant in the Mary Brickell area called North Italia. It was a bit windy today but nevertheless another wonderful day in Miami. Happy Holidays. Keith

Ivi, for seafood I recommend Truluck's,. We have dined there several times. They excel in Seafood. You can make reservations there. https://trulucks.com/locations/miami-florida/ Just walking on Brickell is fine. You can stop off at Brickell Centre (shopping area) and Mary Brickell Village. May lunch at one of the restaurants at Mary Brickell Village would be nice. Keith

I want to add that if you would like to know your Crystal Society number you can call Crystal reservations and they can provide that to you. Keith

A very nice writeup/review about Crystal Serenity. https://splashmags.com/index.php/2023/12/18/10-things-to-love-about-crystal-serenity/#gsc.tab=0 Keith

Now I understand and an excellent recommendation. I have used them before on Embarkation Day. Keith

I haven't asked so it will be a surprise for me too. I do know that Chef Jon will be on board which will be super. Keith

So true and this is why so many have returned even though many worked on other cruise lines during the shutdown of Crystal. This is what sets Crystal apart from other cruise lines. Keith

My wife and I are back in Miami for a pre-cruise stay. We have been staying in the city for several years starting in 2007 before we boarded a cruise from the Port Of Miami. Our last visit was in November of 2021. We find Miami to be a vibrant city with lots of choices for hotels, dining and entertainment. We arrived on Monday the day after the storm. Weather has been great. Took a long walk yesterday over to the Cruise Ship Terminal with one ship in port. Happy Holidays and Happy Cruising. Keith

Thank you Adrian for the restaurant suggestion. I will be sure to check it out. Keith

Thanks Dwight. I remember when Anne Marie and I walked with you in Seward, Alaska and the snow on the ground. We were the first ship of that Alaska season by two or three weeks. Keith

Thank you so much for the good wishes and kind thoughts. I understand the feeling of leaving. I am so glad you have enjoyed the cruise. Continue to enjoy every minute. Keith

Thank you for the good wishes and the recommendation. Keith

Thank you Nancy. We were very fortunate flying in the day after the storm. Keith

It is for those who don't want to walk. In our case, it would defeat the purpose of say going to the port as we did yesterday. Keith

There are many spots around the pool deck with shade and here are a couple of photos. Along the port and starboard sides of the pool lounge chairs are are underneath areas providing shade plus you have some areas with umbrellas. Then on one side there are tables and some chairs with shade too. As to availability, this is going to vary by cruise. The holiday cruise we will be is either sold out or very close to sold out and on the sea days it likely will be busy out there. While many prefer shady areas some want to sit out with full sun. Someone mentioned that to minimize chair hogs that if items are left on chairs for 45 minutes with no one there that the crew has been instructed to retrieve them and walk them down to lost and found. Keith

For me 50 minutes is no big deal. From there we went to other areas and then back to Hotel and then out again a few more times. Keith

Crystal Serenity Manhattan day before we departed from Northwest Passage cruise of 2016. Keith

Ivi, I would say around 50 minutes. Keith

Great day in Miami. Fabulous weather. Walked from the hotel up Brickell over to the Intercontinental Hotel. Anne Marie stayed there while I proceeded North and then walked over the bridge to the Port Of Miami. This is something we like to do on each visit. I passed the arena where the Miami Heat play their home games. We have seen several games at the arena on past visits. Only one ship was in port and ironically it was at the terminal which we will embark on the 23rd. We walked to a few other places as we passed many familiar sites. This even included a vessel named Grand Luxe near the Intercontinental Hotel which we have seen numerous times this time of year. We believe it sells art work. At least that is what it did several years ago. We think the owner of the Susie Q II is not very pleased at the position of their vessel as you can see in the photo we've included. After lunch we took a walk from the hotel over to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel located on Brickell Key a 44 acre man-made island built in 1943. We walked around the entire perimeter of the island except for the slight detour due to construction behind the hotel. Cheers, Keith

So glad you are experiencing and enjoying new Crystal. Keep enjoying and thank you for your post. Keith

A change from the last time we stayed at the Four Seasons is the use of the Four Seasons App. They had one when we last stayed here in 2021 but they have expanded its use. I discovered this when I asked for a breakfast menu card to fill out and hang on the door. This no longer exists. Instead you can call room service in advance or the morning you desire breakfast or use the App. The app has other features such as pre-arrival requests and requests while you are at the hotel. For example you can request make up and/or turn down service at a specific time or request to have it done at the earliest time. You can even request more large bottles of water, coffee pods, cream and sugar/sweetener. I did the latter and asked for th earliest time thinking that would be tomorrow but after I submitted the request, I realized it would likely be the same day. This was confirmed with a knock on the door a few minutes later. That is excellent customer service. Keith

Thank you Muriel. Marigot is still on our itinerary. When we booked the cruise the itinerary called for St. Marteen. Another port which changed was a stop at Paradise Island Nassau which was replaced. When we visited St. Marteen over the years we never went over to Marigot so we'll probably tender over there or maybe I will do that but the other option is to make it our own sea day. Keith

Arriving to New York City (Manhattan) at the conclusion of the NWP Cruise for an overnight before debarking Serenity. Keith

Ashley, Anne Marie and I were talking about the carpeting here and I mentioned some of the comments that people have made about the Crystal Carpeting. For me, it's just great to be traveling and it's not like I am buying the place. See you soon. Keith