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For this blog:

This blog is about our world cruise on the Crystal Serenity.  The cruise started in Los Angeles CA and ended in Monaco...with many stops in between.  

Please do read through this blog for our narrative and the related photos.  

Sometimes there is a More ... link in a post at the end of the discussion about a place.  These are slide shows containing more photos about that place.  Because we liked the photo, but we try to limit the number in the actual blog to something reasonable.  They open in a new window. 
  

More (category) Albums:   Photos, not in the blog, that fit a certain category.  
                                             Same reason as above.  They open in a new window. 

Abstract
Animals
Art and Architecture
Birds
Crystal Serenity
Islands
Landscapes
Plants
People
Snorkeling

Slide shows of photos in this blog

     Blog photos segment 1
     Blog photos segment 2
     Blog photos segment 3
     Blog photos segment 4

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January 13 - Los Angeles

After spending the weekend with Josh and Vanessa it was time to leave for our cruise ship.  The cost of the cruise included personal pickup at your home or the airport (or in our case, from Joshua’s as they are close to the port).  The driver had a bit of a problem finding us and called.  We gave him final directions and he pulled up by the garage where our luggage was stashed.  He had to pile the smaller pieces in the front seat as the trunk wasn’t big enough to hold everything. 

Then it was goodbyes to the kids and off on our next six month adventure,starting with a three month World Cruise on the Crystal Serenity.  The cruise goes from Los Angeles to Hawaii through Polynesia to New Zealand and Australia, on to Africa and up the West Coast of Africa to the Canary Islands and Spain, ending in Monaco.

It was immediately obvious that this cruise line is different from any others we have been on.  First was the fact that we had the private transfer.  Next, as we pulled into the port area we were stopped twice where staff asked if there were guests in the car and our names.  By the time we pulled up to the terminal they had received the information and greeted us by name.  We had our picture taken with the Cruise Director and the World Cruise Hostess, our large luggage was driven off to wherever they handle luggage, the small luggage pieces taken by staff and we were personally escorted to the check in desks.  After a painless checking we were escorted onto the ship and to our room. 

We totally unpacked (and we won’t have to repack for another almost 3 months…yeah!) and then wandered around the ship.  We found the Marketplace buffet where we had lunch and then wandered some more.  There weren’t a lot of scheduled activities today so we mainly wandered around the ship to find everything.  We did go down to the spa for a raffle but didn’t win anything. 

Dinner tonight was billed as the World Cruise Gala Dinner and dining was by assigned seating. We were seated with people who had all traveled extensively on Crystal.  One couple had traveled with them on over 20 voyages and Olga was actually living on the ship and had been for about 5 years.  We were seated by Stacey Huston, the World Cruise Hostess who will be on for the entire cruise, so we learned a fair amount about Crystal and the World Cruises. 

We found out that only the people taking the entire world cruise (LA to Monaco) arrived on Sunday.  Dinner was followed by a show which included Broadway producer Kevin McCollum (In the Heights, Avenue Q, Rent, Something Rotten, and more) and starred Heidi Blickenstaff (singer/actor in several Broadway shows and films). She had a great voice. They were joined by the song writers that spent 1 week on the ship writing songs for Kevin’s new musical, Mrs. Doubtfire. We were the first audience to hear two of the songs. Quite a treat that Crystal put together.

All in all we have decided that Crystal is one of the best cruise lines we have sailed on (not surprisingly it is the most expensive).

View of the San Pedro Harbor and docks from our stateroom.

January 14 - Los Angeles

Today all of the passengers who are only going on part of the world cruise are boarding so there wasn’t a lot on the list of activities. 

The highlight of the activities was an afternoon concert presented by the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band.  There were about 40 or 50 members of the 300+ member band plus flag twirlers, dancers and a baton twirler.  They played a spirited concert for us. 

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Video of band concert.
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To add to the fun they were at the terminal at 6:00 as we cast off for our cruise…and they kept playing until we were well away.  Great group of kids and a great send-off.

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Video of band at departure.
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Even the San Pedro Harbor was rather festive at night with all of the lights.

Then it was off to dinner.  The ship has open seating in the main dining room but we opted to sit with other dinners so we were able to chat and get to meet some of our fellow travelers.  Of the 800+ passengers on board over 300 are on the World Cruise and most of them are repeat Crystal Cruisers.  They all have great stories. 

The show tonight was a great variety production show, Crystal in Motion.  It was an excellent show. 

We hung around until 10:30 for the balloon and confetti drop in the Crystal Cove (main lobby).  The Cruise Director said that they used to do the drop at midnight but too many of the passengers were in bed by then (the average age of the passengers appears to be pretty old).  

The balloon and confetti drop was pretty awesome (and pretty messy).  

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Video of balloon drop..
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Then it was off to bed. 

January 15 - Cruising the Pacific

Mary was up relatively early today to go to a Gentle Yoga Class.  She managed pretty good and is hoping it will help with her always tight muscles. 

There seems to be a lot on the daily activity schedule but other than the lectures we aren’t interested in most of it.  Lectures today included one by Ken Rees, an English reporter.  He told stories about the many major stories he has covered over the decades.  There was also a lecture on Coral Reefs 

and one by an astronomer who talked about an upcoming lunar eclipse.

  

The show tonight was comedian John Joseph.  The show seemed to start out a bit slow but by the time it was over we were rolling in the aisles (figuratively speaking).

January 16 - Cruising the Pacific

Another day of cruising, more eating great food and another round of yoga for Mary.  The lectures didn’t seem as interesting today so we passed on them and did some work on photos and other items. 

The show tonight featured Michael Longoria, a Broadway singer who has appeared in Jersey Boys, Hairspray, West Side Story, and a number of other shows.  He sang Broadway songs from his new album.  Good show.

January 17 - Cruising the Pacific

Today’s line-up of lectures was pretty interesting.  We first went to The Silent Tsunami:  Island Nations under Siege, about climate change and how it is affecting the small island nations scattered across the Pacific and how it is expected to impact them in the coming decades.  This was presented by retired Ambassador Scott DeLisi. 

The next lecture we attended was presented by TV and film actor Bruce McGill.  He is one of those actors who, when you see him you think you must know him but can’t quite figure out where.  Both of us had seen him around the ship and both of us were trying to figure out where.  He talked about his 50 years in the TV and Film industry.  He appeared in Animal House, My Cousin Vinny, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and for seven years he played Detective Korsak in the TV Show Rizzoli and Isles.  He gave a great presentation about his career and played a few clips from some of the movies.

Paul did some laundry in the afternoon and Mary went to another lecture by a 1976 Olympic Gold Medalist (swimmer).  It was mainly about his journey to the Olympics. 

This evening’s entertainment was Tian Jiang, concert pianist.  He played a selection of standard classical music, his own compositions and a few standard classics that he arranged. He was very good.  

Views from everywhere on the ship - the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

January 18 - Cruising the Pacific

Today we had some very good lectures including one on the formation and settlement of Hawaii, and a great one on the US/UK Transatlantic relationship.  There was also one on the exploration voyages of Captain Cook and his death in Hawaii. 

Other than the lectures we don’t seem to be doing a lot of anything else on board except eat.  We had dinner with Karen and Steven from Half Moon Bay, CA.  They own a vacation home in New Zealand and are on their way there to spend some time in their home.  Karen doesn’t like flying so all of their travel is by ship.  They have even taken cargo ships (which they said don’t have stabilizers so they pitch a lot in rough seas). 

The evening concert was presented by Broadway singer Christine Andreas.  She had a great voice and sang a few selections from her upcoming album, Piaf, No Regrets.  She makes a great Edith Piaf.

January 19 - Cruising the Pacific Ocean

This is our last day at sea until we hit Hawaii.  We have much enjoyed the cruising but it will be nice to walk on land for a while. 

We attended a morning panel discussion called Ocean Views.  This appears to be a standard feature on Crystal.  We were all issued electronic voting gadgets as we went into the theater.  The panel consisted of a general, a US diplomat and a UK diplomat (all retired).  An issue was presented and 3 items of possible audience opinions on the topic were presented and we voted for the one that best represented our position.  The panel then gave their thoughts on the issue and then we all voted again to see if minds had been changed.

The panel members were incredibly knowledgeable on the topics (all world affairs issues) and it was very interesting to listen to their thought and opinions.

Once the panel discussion was over we all adjourned to Crystal Cove, the main lobby of the ship, where the chefs and kitchen crew were out in force with a Grand Gala Buffet spread out throughout the common areas.  

There were the usual works of art with carved watermelon and bread sculptors and ice sculptors.

And even a "mural" on the side of a roasted turkey.

There were huge tables with all types of delicacies and an extra large table loaded with all types of desserts.  

Everyone was overfilling plates and having a great feast

January 20 - Honolulu Hawaii

We took an early shuttle into Honolulu for a walk around.  Because we have been to Oahu several times before we opted to not spend any money on tours.  The bus dropped us off at the Ala Moana Center (huge shopping mall) and we walked down to the beach and along some of the streets.

The biggest change we found since our last visit was the International Market Place.  It used to be an area of quaint small shops selling souvenirs, eats and just stuff for tourists.  Now it is a very upscale shopping center with high end (and high price) stores.  Oh well. 

We ate lunch at the Hula Grill at the Outrigger Waikiki on the balcony overlooking the beach.  We then took a veeerrrry long walk to Waiola’s, reputed to have the best shave ice in Honolulu (as reported by one of the bell hops we talked to).  The walk was very long but the shave ice was exceptionally good.

Then we hoofed it over to the mall, did a bit of shopping and then caught the bus back to the ship. 

The biggest event of the day was the total lunar eclipse that started about 6:11 and ended around 8:45.  It was a full moon, a wolf moon (so named by the Native America's because the wolves howl at the moon in January - when they are cold and hungry), a "supermoon", a blood moon (the total eclipse causes the moon to turn red because the earth's atmosphere filters out all colors in the light spectrum except red) and a total eclipse.
  
We spent some time on the top deck watching the eclipse and taking pictures.  We finally called it quits shortly after the moon started coming out of the earth's shadow.  Talk about a special event.

Partial Eclipse

Partial Eclipse

Totality

Totality

Coming out of Totality

The harbor looked lovely at night as well.

The evening show was a very entertaining Polynesian show. 

January 21 - Maui, Hawaii

This morning we are at anchor at Lahaina, Maui.  

Late morning we headed into town and walked around a bit.  

There were a lot of tour kiosks along the wharf.  At one the boat had just come back from a fishing trip with quite a nice catch.

We then caught a taxi for a half hour drive along the coast to Maalaea Harbor.  While the drive was beautiful the ride was also rather expensive.  When at the harbor we noticed that there was a bus to Lahaina so we will try that on the way back.

We boarded the Pride of Maui for our afternoon of lunch, snorkeling and whale watching.  As usual the coastline was beautiful.  What we didn't remember (so they may be relatively new) are the wind turbines.  

We saw a few whales on our way to the snorkeling spot.  The whales are active and plentiful this time of year.  Mary was pretty disappointed that they didn’t have snuba diving (a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving) on the afternoon cruise but we both went in and had a good time snorkeling.  There were plenty of reef fish and the water was a very comfortable temperature.

After 45 minutes of snorkeling we all re-boarded and had lunch (burgers and salads) while we went looking for whales.  We saw quite a number of whales including whales breaching,

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Video of whale breaching.
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skyhopping,

tail slapping,

lounging at the surface,

and diving.

Magnificent and amazing animals.

We found the bus stop and were able to take the bus back to Lahaina and we then walked a bit more around town.  We stopped for shave ice…

before boarding the tender for the short trip to the ship.  We were both pretty full from the very late lunch and the shave ice so we didn’t bother to go to dinner tonight.  Tonight was the White Extravaganza where everyone puts on white clothes.  We should have checked it out (can be pretty dramatic) but we opted to just stay in our cabin.  At 10:00 the ship set sail for our trip to Kiribati.