2018 Crystal World Cruise as seen by a 4-Star Mariner

[rafinmd]

That is good news, did you get a free upgrade?

Breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill can be a pleasant start to the day. Laundry and Dry Cleaning are included. Good coffee from the machine in the Neptune Lounge.

 

The Symphony will berth at Mount Maunganui (Tauranga), about 2 blocks from the shops, cafes etc.

If you don't do an excursion, weather permitting, it's a nice walk around the base of the Mount, or walk up to the top of the Mount, for a good view of the surrounding area. Usually a few sheep grazing on the side of the Mount.

Sort of but from my brother and not from HAL. As this is just 3 days on the ship vs 8 on land, the lack of a single supplement more than makes up for the extra cost of the suite.

 

I already have free laundry as a 4-star but was wondering if Roger would want me to sneak a few items into the bag for him. Now we don't need to think about that.

 

 

Roy

[bennybear]

Oh what a lovely surprise for your birthday! We had an up sell to a Neptune aft wrap once and it was heaven. You will love it! Will you be doing the Yukon too? I will look forward eagerly to hearing how that goes, we were booked last year but I got sick on the Noordam so couldn’t do the back to back land tour and cruise. I could only see Denali from the distance.

[rafinmd]

Oh what a lovely surprise for your birthday! We had an up sell to a Neptune aft wrap once and it was heaven. You will love it! Will you be doing the Yukon too? I will look forward eagerly to hearing how that goes, we were booked last year but I got sick on the Noordam so couldn’t do the back to back land tour and cruise. I could only see Denali from the distance.

 

With my brother, it's just 3 days on the Volendam, then Skagway

Whitehorse

Dawson

Fairbanks

Denali,

and Anchorage.

 

 

My continuation on the Westerdam to Vancouver will be just me. The combination of the land & sea with the cruise back to Vancouver has been a bucket list item for quite a while.

 

Roy

[bennybear]

Sounds great. We enjoyed our cruise up, the scenery was spectacular. Anchorage is also interesting, if you have time have the halibut and chips at the Fstreet station and see the museum. We will have to do the land another time, for now I will live vicariously!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Your summer plans sound great.

[rafinmd]

Thank you Krazy Kruizers and bennybear. I don't know for sure if I've posted this here before but there been a lot of HAL discussion on the status of the Cruise Log. Here's what Crystal has been doing for many years:

 

https://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/cruiselog0303.pdf

 

An advantage for them is it uses the same paper stock as the regular daily newsletter.

 

Roy

[*Miss G*]

Wow! What a lovely birthday surprise! Congratulations Roy. I am still enjoying your thread, even though I don't say much. :)

[kazu]

I'm going to take my prerogative here as op and go off topic. The only relationship this has to the cruise I'm on is that for a minute I'm caught up in my posting and have free unlimited wifi, so I had a look at my HAL account.

 

Never say never

 

I've been booked for quite a while on a summer Alaska/Panama grand itinerary starting with a cruise tour on the Volendam July 18, continuing with the Westerdam back to Vancouver, and then Crystal Symphony San Francisco to New York. It's also around my 75th birthday and my brother has decided to join me on the Alaska/Denali portion. I had booked an inside cabin when it was just me but I just looked at my record. We're now in a Neptune Suite.

 

I'm not generally a suite person but Never say never.

 

Roy

LOL Roy on "never say never". That's so true. :D

 

What a lovely treat for your birthday. I hope you have a wonderful birthday on board and enjoy your Neptune Suite. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Crystal's disembarkation paper work does have a little of the same items as HAL's Cruise Logs -- like listing the time for breakfast on the last morning of the cruise.

What I always like about HAL's cruise logs -- listing the captain, hotel director, etc., times and weather in the ports, etc.

[rafinmd]

Thank You Krazy Kruizers, MissG, and Kazu.

 

Symphony Trivia

 

A part of the Crystal Culture is that team trivia is only done once a day and only on sea days. Since the first leg of my Symphony voyage was extremely port intensive that hasn’t happened lately. I skipped the last 2 trivias to be on deck (the day in Milford Sound and theday we arrived in Tauranga at 1PM, and the last “real” day at sea was way back on February 20. I don’t think I’ve posted anything here about trivia on the Symphony which is just a little different from the Serenity. The biggest difference is that it’s a day by day contest rather than cumulative as on Serenity.

 

Some of Monday’s questions:

 

2: What 2 English Actors have hosted the OSCAR’s 3 or more times?

6. What was the name of Earnest Shackleton’s ship?

10. What was the name of the first computer?

12. What was the stage name of Michael Lee Aday?

14. What did Berlioz go to Paris to study?

Question 15 is always a musical question, and I got today’s with no problem. Richard Caesar played a song and the question was who sang it and the title.

 

 

And the answers:

 

2: What 2 English Actors have hosted the OSCAR’s 3 or more times? David Niven and Bob Hope

6. What was the name of Earnest Shackleton’s ship? Endurance

10. What was the name of the first computer? ENIAC

12. What was the stage name of Michael Lee Aday? Meat Loaf (I don’t think any team got this right).

14. What did Berlioz go to Paris to study? Medicine (his father was a doctor and wanted him to carry on)

15. The song was “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Dominoe.

 

I think I only got about 4 of 17 right. For the World Cruise the trivia is run by Sarah Hayes and uses paper and pencil rather than multiple choice questions answered with the remote devices. The winning team had 13 of 17 right.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

We love playing trivia -- but HAL's times on our last cruises didn't work out for us.

I got 2 right and DH got 4 right.

[rafinmd]

That's awesome Krazy Kruizers, especially for DH. The ones I got right are out of the possible 16 or so, not just the 5 I listed.

 

I dropped down on Tuesday Team Trivia just as the questions were wrapping up and answers were starting:

 

1. Which bird has the largest wingspan?

5. What was another common name for Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance?

6. Who wrote the Ugly Duckling

9. Whose voice was the Genie on Aladdin

10. Early TV’s were VHF. What does that mean?

 

Trivia Answers:

 

1. Wandering Albatross

5. Land of Hope and Glory

6. Hans Christian Anderson

9. Robin Williams

10. Very High Frequency

The music selection was Quando Quando which somehow I did not associate with Englebert Humperdink.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

DH remembers the past -- things happening or going on in the present -- forget it.

We both got all 5 today. We still have a ton VHF's around. One TV we have a VHF and DVD combo for it so we can play all those old tapes, etc.

[rafinmd]

Thank you Krazy Kruizers. I’ll duplicate the next couple of days on the HAL forum, Friday because it’s such a seldom visited port and Thursday because of the nature of the tour there.

 

Crystal offers a number of tours under a “You Care, We Care” program which are free and the participants to some type of volunteer work on the outing. They try to offer one each cruise but that is not always possible. On the World Cruise I had originally registered for 4 but am down to two. I had one on the Serenity in Cartagena, but the agency was having an extended holiday break and it was cancelled. The second was cancelled on my part, it was in Dunedin at a penguin sanctuary and was cancelled for the visit with erewhon. Not to worry about the agency, when I cancelled, the tour was marked “waitlisted” so I’m confident somebody was waiting for my spot. These might be considered Crystal’s very loose equivalent of “On Deck For A Cause”

 

Day Symphony 19, Wednesday, March 7, 2018, Lautoka, Fiji

 

The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Rabaul (1689 miles away) to Boracay Island(3234 miles)

 

With the hour we gained overnight sunrise was just a little after 6. I thought I would walk a couple of laps right after getting coffee then take a bit of a break and come back at sunrise, but the colors in the sky just kept getting better with each lap and I stayed out for my full 6-lap port day walk. When the sun finally broke through the clouds it was a bit anticlimactic.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/dawn0307.jpg

 

This is my second visit to Lautoka, after my World Cruise segment in 2011. At that time I was on a “You Care, We Care” visit to a local orphanage where we painted a dining area floor, This time it was a similar tour but to a different charity. Koroipita is a private, planned, community that provides for the poorest of the poor homeless people. The community provides houses, education, medical services, and a framework for achieving self sufficiency. As we left about 9 I found that my muffin, while allowed by most countries, was not permitted into Fiji. Koroipita does not have a web site but this site gives a good overview of their program:

 

https://www.thebulaproject.org/koroipita-model-town-charitable-trust#comments

 

There were about 16 of us in a large van for the half hour or so trip to the site. On the way Roni, our guide, pointed to sugar fields. Sugar is a major export of Fiji and a conveyer system for loading sugar was just ahead of us at out dock.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/sugar.jpg

 

As we headed down rural roads we came to a sign announcing the project and then passed playgrounds and the trash bins where tiny amounts of trash are collected. Recycling is practiced with a passion and composting and recycling of gray water support the growing of subsistence crops.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/trashbins.jpg

 

The houses are built with a HEAVY wooden frame and steel sides. While simple and cheap (About $10,000US for the structure) they are extremely sturdy and have withstood some very severe cyclones with at worst minimal damage.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/thehouse.jpg

 

When we arrived at the site director Peter Drysdale took us to a conference room and explained a bit about the history of the program (While Koroipita is about 250 homes he started building individual homes in rural areas to replace squatter shacks and has built about 900 units) and how the community is governed. They have a waiting list of about 6,000 families.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/orientation.jpg

 

We then split into teams. Mine was given the task of assembling doors and window shutters. We worked in a little open shop where the lumber had already been cut to size. Each door consisted of 10 tongue and groove boards nailed together to heavy cross boards. The window shutters were assembled similarly. but with 9 smaller boards.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/workshop.jpg

 

Once all the units were assembled there was a bit of a lull and I could see others doing a lot of painting a few yards away. Part of my crew moved on to cutting huge timbers as the frame work for a new house while I took on the task of adding screws to the shutters. There was a bit of experimentation for me as I was having some difficulty starting the screws until one of the staff anchored them a bit with a hammer and then I did the driving process, finding it was better to be standing over the shutter rather than either kneeling or working on a table. While it was not hard work I worked up a profuse sweat in the hear.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/screwing.jpg

 

At the end we posed for a group photo although it did not come out on my camera. Our escort (one of the Ambassador Hosts) is planning to post a youtube video and I’ll link to it once done. On the way back we stopped in town for a few minutes with some people staying and returning to the ship on the shuttle. Unusual for Crystal, there was quite a line at the gangway when we arrived at the ship about 1.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/lautoka.jpg

 

It was a tossup on returning between lunch and a shower but I chose lunch first to get a little bit of salad from the lido before it closed to go with my ham and cheese. From the top deck I could see how some of the islands were quite fragile, especially Vio Island to our port side.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/vio.jpg

 

There was an afternoon lecture in the Starlite Club, General Arthur Denaro with “Fighting Light, Fighting Fast”, his accounts of battles in the middle east.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/denaro.jpg

 

The second cookie of the day was Mint Chocolate Shorty. Once again it was good but not as good as the regular Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/cookie2.jpg

 

Louis sang at 5:40.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/ontoyasawa.jpg

 

While Waterside looked relatively quiet the shared table filled quickly. I chose the beef broth (not impressed with this one), veal piccata, and pear upside down cake.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/dishes0307.jpg

 

There was a heavy entertainment schedule, starting with the production show 5-6-7-8, and at the end of the evening one of the spot shows in the Starlite Club, Rock and Pop A Mania. I called it a night immediately after the second show.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/5-6-7-8.jpg

 

My parting shot will be very brief. It’s a mantra of Peter Drysdale and he invoked it in place of “cheese” when we posed for the group photo: “Build strong–last long!”

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great report.

So nice that you had a chance to help put together parts for homes.

Great pictures -- love their composting system.

So far I am not impressed with the new cookies. I also love Oatmeal/Raisin Cookies. I often make them at home from scratch.

Yum -- would love the recipe for the pear upside down cake.

[bennybear]

What a great idea! Good for you helping out. My DH would vote for the oatmeal raisin too! I need a good recipe, love HALs!

[*Miss G*]

What a beautiful sunrise. I can feel the serenity. And what a fantastic program for volunteerism! The nice thing about social media is that Mr Drysdale's program is being promoted via this medium, as well as by word of mouth. Well done!

[rafinmd]

Thank you bennybear, MissG, and Krazy Kruizers. Sadly, I haven't seen Crystal releasing recipes.

 

Day Symphony20, Thursday, March 8, 2018, Yasawa-I-Rara, Fiji

 

The Crystal Serenity is at sea from Rabaul(1673 miles away) to Boracay Island (3240 miles).

 

I was out on the promenade deck early enough that I finished my 1 ½ mile walk before 0preparation of the tenders started. The sunrise was not spectacular but still nice.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/dawn0308.jpg

 

While on the Serenity portion of the journey I posted photos of the promenade and aft decks there. The Symphony is fairly similar but with significant differences. The biggest difference is that the lifeboats are hanging above the deck but the placement of the life rafts and gangway stowage are also different.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/promenade.jpg

 

As on Serenity, there are only a couple of bench seats on the promenade deck but there are nice loungers on the aft decks. Symphony has one less deck than the Serenity and the photo includes the lido deck which is very similar to the one on Serenity. The green “tent” on deck 8 is a table tennis table.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/aftdecks.jpg

 

Yasawa-I-Rara is a seldom visited cruise port. We were scheduled to visit there on Serenity (after Apia, Samoa had to be cancelled) and I think at the time there were a couple of other ships due in the coming month but my schedule source shows no future calls planned for now.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/yasawadock.jpg

 

It’s primarily a beach destination and I’m not really a beach person so my visit was relatively short. A longish dock leads to quite a long sandy beach.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/yasbeach.jpg

 

There appeared to be no stores and the only commercial activity I saw was a people with souvenirs out on tables (or clothes on lines) set out along the peach plus one guy with a board listing tours and activities (boat tours, paddle boards, snorkeling, etc) available for cash. I walked the length of the beach with the Symphony at one point sitting right beyond somebody in a little inner tube/ducky.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/symphonyyas.jpg

 

The houses ran the range from pretty primitive to very nice.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/yasawa.jpg

 

I returned to the ship about noon. With an hour to be lost at night and some extra evening activities I had decided against a traditional dinner. I thought I might be taking both lunch and dinner from the Trident Grill but after a look at Market Place (formerly Lido Café) I decided on some nice Chicken Rice broth with a salad and jello along with a cupcake from afternoon tea.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/lunch0308.jpg

 

I cut tea a bit short since we have a new lecturer. Destination Lecturer Teri Sowell was supposed to have joined us earlier but had some travel difficulties and just boarded in Lautoka. Her talk on Fiji was a bit late but sometimes that’s just how things go.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/sowell.jpg

 

The cookie of the day was Chubby Chocolate and Cranberry. Once again I preferred the standard Oatmeal Raisin ones.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/cookie3.jpg

 

I headed to the Trident Grill after the lecture for a burger followed up with ice cream. The burgers are a bit more than I like for lunch but very good.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/dinner0308.jpg

 

At 5:15 there was a “Sunset Social” in the Silk lounge for those on the full world cruise. As we entered we were all given lei’s. No program, just a casual get together and I forgot to take a photo. Also on the lido deck in Palm Court we had the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle with about 15 in attendance. Official hours were 6:30 to 7:30 but I left about 7:15 for the show.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mingle.jpg

 

The featured entertainment was pianist Kym Purling. A Vietnamese orphan, he was adopted by an Australian family with adoptive parents who were both musicians and grew up with music in the house. He played standards, his own very lush and interesting arrangements, and featured members of the show band intensively and effectively in his performance.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/purlong.jpg

 

I’ll take my parting shot from a brief encounter with Jay Christofferson. He was leaving the men’s washroom just as I entered before the evening show and said “Haven’t I sailed with you before on Holland America”? I countered, “No, I’m sure it’s been on Crystal”. Well, I guess he was a bit more right than I was. I actually have seen him most on Crystal, a 2012 transatlantic and a 2013 trans-pacific, but most recently just a year ago on the Zaandam. Sometimes we all see a bit of the picture but it takes more than one to see the whole picture.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Certainly didn't sound like a very interesting island to visit.

That Chubby Chocolate and Cranberry cookie looked like it was made with white chocolate -- not healthy. I like dark chocolate.

Great report and pictures.

[erewhon]

Roy,

Which Penguin Sanctuary were you originally planning to help at during your Dunedin visit?

[rafinmd]

Roy,

Which Penguin Sanctuary were you originally planning to help at during your Dunedin visit?

The brochure disappeared when we turned around in Auckland. The only information I have is "Penguin Place Visit and Tree Planting".

 

Krazy Kruizers, I think the stop was a very nice one for people who like the beach, but walking around with sand caked on my feet is not my idea of fun.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Agree about the sand. We don't like having to fuss over getting the sand off our feet before putting our shoes back on. And then having to carry an extra bag for the sandy towel. We are way pass those days.

[rafinmd]

Krazy Kruizers, I may have a chance for a swim today at a resort but an not counting on it. I'll also put my full post for Tonga here since there will likely be interest in the effects of Gita.

 

Today’s (Friday) trivia:

 

1. Who wrote the poem “If”?

5. Where was Queen Elizabeth II when she delivered her first Christmas message?

10. What does a female praying mantis do with her partners

13. What is the only US album to hit #1 in the UK with a state name in the title (and the artist)

14. Who said “All men by nature desire knowledge”?

 

The cookie of the day was White Chocolate Shorty. Probably the best to date but still no match for the oatmeal raisin.

 

 

Answers:

1. Rudyard Kipling

5. Auckland

10. Eat them

13. Blue Hawaii by Elvis

14. Aristotle

 

I was pretty well shut out on this one but got the musical question, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by the Shirelles

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

Still don't like the cookies of the day.

Tell your chef that white chocolate is not healthy.

Yea -- I got all 5 trivia questions.

[erewhon]

The brochure disappeared when we turned around in Auckland. The only information I have is "Penguin Place Visit and Tree Planting".

 

Krazy Kruizers, I think the stop was a very nice one for people who like the beach, but walking around with sand caked on my feet is not my idea of fun.

 

Roy

 

My sister lives near to Penguin place, in fact she is related to the owners.

Phil