Robertson International Travel

CRYSTAL SERENITY AND VIRTUOSO VOYAGER CLUB 20th ANNIVERSARY   WORLD CRUISE 2010!

 

   Judy and Brian Robertson

Virtuoso Voyager Club World Cruise Hosts

Contact:  brian@robertsontravel.com

The Exploration of Ancient Empires

  

We are very pleased to announce our next Virtuoso Voyager Club world cruise aboard the CRYSTAL SERENITY, January 11 - April 29, 2010.   This will be a very special world cruise as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of both Crystal Cruises and Virtuoso Voyager Club!   We are very honored to be selected as the Crystal Cruise-Voyager Club Hosts for the 4th consecutive year and especially this special 20th Anniversary year!   

Our itinerary is as exciting and adventuresome as it's name, "Exploration of Ancient Empires"!   South America, South and East Africa,  The Indian Ocean, India, the Persian Gulf, Middle East, Black Sea, the Mediterranean and Europe.

We invite you to join us for one or more of the Voyages below or for the entire world cruise!   If you are not aboard the Crystal Serenity, you can follow along with us as we explore these ancient cultures and people commencing on January 11, 2010, our "Exploration of Ancient Empires"! 

JOIN US AND WELCOME ABOARD!!

SEE WHERE WE ARE...OUR CURRENT DAY(S) WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW!

CRYSTAL SERENITY WORLD CRUISE 2010
Date	Day	Port  (BEGINNING OF VOYAGES 1-7)	Arrival	Departure
Jan 11	Mon	MIAMI, FLORIDA, U.S.A. / VOYAGE 1		8 pm
Jan 12 - Jan 14		Cruising the Atlantic Ocean & Caribbean Sea
Jan 15	Fri	St. Lucia/Castries, West Indies	8 am	6 pm
Jan 16	Sat	Barbados/Bridgetown, West Indies	8 am	5 pm
Jan 17	Sun	Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Jan 18	Mon	Devil's Island, French Guiana	8 am	1 pm
Jan 19 - Jan 20		Cruising the Atlantic Ocean & Crossing the Equator
Jan 21	Thu	Fortaleza, Brazil	8 am	5 pm
Jan 22 - Jan 24		Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Jan 25	Mon	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil(overnight)	9 am
Jan 26	Tue	RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL / VOYAGE 2		8 pm
Jan 27 - Jan 28		Cruising the South Atlantic Ocean
Jan 29	Fri	Montevideo, Uruguay	8am	6 pm
Jan 30	Sat	Buenos Aires, Argentina	8am	12 m
Jan 31  -  Feb 7		Cruising the South Atlantic Ocean
Feb 8	Mon	Cape Town, South Africa(overnight)	1 pm (late)
Feb 9	Tue	CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA  VOYAGE 3 (overnight)
Feb 10	Wed	Cape Town, South Africa		6 pm
Feb 11	Thu	Cruising the Indian Ocean
Feb 12	Fri	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	8 am	6 pm
Feb 13	Sat	Cruising the Indian Ocean
Feb 14	Sun	Durban, South Africa	7 am	6 pm
Feb 15-Feb 17		Cruising the Indian Ocean & Mozambique Channel
Feb 18	Thu	Zanzibar, Tanzania	7 am	5 pm
Feb 19	Fri	Mombasa, Kenya	8 am	6 pm
Feb 20-Feb 26		Cruising the Indian Ocean & Crossing the Equator
Feb 27	Sat	Cochin, India	7 am	10 pm
Feb 28	Sun	Cruising the Arabian Sea
Mar 1	Mon	Marmagao, India	8 am	5 pm
Mar 2	Tue	MUMBAI (BOMBAY), INDIA / VOYAGE 4	8 am	12 m
Mar 3 - Mar 4		Cruising the Arabian Sea & Gulf of Oman
Mar 5	Fri	Muscat, Oman	8 am	5 pm
Mar 6	Sat	Bandar Abbas, Iran	9 am	10 pm
Mar 7	Sun	Cruising the Persian Gulf
Mar 8	Mon	Kuwait City, Kuwait	8 am	5 pm
Mar 9	Tue	Manama, Bahrain	9 am	12 m
Mar 10	Wed	Cruising the Persian Gulf
Mar 11	Thu	Abu Dhabi, UAE(overnight)	8 am
Mar 12	Fri	Abu Dhabi, UAE		10 pm
Mar 13	Sat	Cruising the Persian Gulf
Mar 14	Sun	Dubai, UAE (overnight)	8 am
Mar 15	Mon	DUBAI, UAE (overnight)/ VOYAGE 5
Mar 16	Tue	Dubai, UAE		5 pm
Mar 17	Wed	Khasab, Oman	8 am	6 pm
Mar 18	Thu	Al Fujairah, UAE	8 am	6 pm
Mar 19 - Mar 22		Cruising the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden & Red Sea
Mar 23	Tue	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	8 am	6 pm
Mar 24	Wed	Cruising the Red Sea
Mar 25	Thu	Aqaba, Jordan	7 am	9 pm
Mar 26	Fri	Luxor & Karnak/Safaga, Egypt(overnight)	8 am
Mar 27	Sat	Luxor & Karnak/Safaga, Egypt		12 n
Mar 28	Sun	Transit the Suez Canal
Mar 29	Mon	Alexandria/Cairo, Egypt	7 am	12 m
Mar 30	Tue	Cruising the Mediterranean Sea
Mar 31	Wed	Ashdod, Israel	7 am	10 pm
Apr 1	Thu	Cruising the Mediterranean Sea
Apr 2	Fri	Athens/Piraeus, Greece(overnight)	9 am
Apr 3	Sat	ATHENS, GREECE / VOYAGE 6		5 pm
Apr 4	Sun	Cruising the Dardanelles and the Bosporus  ~   EASTER SUNDAY
Apr 5	Mon	Odessa, Ukraine	9 am
Apr 6	Tue	Odessa, Ukraine		5 pm
Apr 7	Wed	Yalta, Ukraine	8 am	5 pm
Apr 8	Thu	Sochi, Russia CANCELLED -WEATHER Cruising Black Sea En Route to Istanbul
Apr 9	Fri	Istanbul	1 pm(Overnight)
Apr 10	Sat	Istanbul, Turkey	(Overnight)
Apr 11	Sun	Istanbul, Turkey		5 pm
Apr 12	Mon	Cruising the Aegean Sea
Apr 13	Tue	Kuşadasi, Turkey	8 am	11 pm
Apr 14	Wed	Cruising the Sea of Crete & the Mediterranean Sea
Apr 15	Thu	Sicily/Catania, Italy	8 am	5 pm
Apr 16	Fri	Naples, Italy	8 am	5 pm
Apr 17	Sat	ROME/CIVITAVECCHIA, ITALY / VOYAGE 7	8 am	9 pm
Apr 18	Sun	Florence/Livorno, Italy	8 am	9 pm
Apr 19	Mon	Cruising the Mediterranean Sea
Apr 20	Tue	Barcelona, Spain(overnight)	8 am
Apr 21	Wed	Barcelona, Spain		6 pm
Apr 22	Thu	Cruising the Mediterranean Sea
Apr 23	Fri	Gibraltar, United Kingdom	8 am	1 pm
Apr 24	Sat	Lisbon, Portugal	8 am	6 pm
Apr 25	Sun	Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
Apr 26	Mon	Bilbao, Spain	8 am	5 pm
Apr 27	Tue	La Rochelle, France	9 am	5 pm
Apr 28	Wed	Cruising the Atlantic Ocean & English Channel
Apr 29	Thu	LONDON/SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND	Disembark am

  

Saturday, May 1 ~ Hampshire - London - Los Angeles - Home!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND AN 11 HOUR FLIGHT ON AMERICAN AIRLINES TO LOS ANGELES AND HOME!.

We had an early wake up call and before we knew it, we were in the main lobby of the hotel and greeted by the Night Manager,  Soloman Dulguime and Assistant Front Desk Manager, Estreya Gosalbez, who waved goodbye to us. Don't worry - we'll be back and fully intend on recommending this outstanding hotel to everyone. It is the perfect place for anybody embarking or disembarking ships in Southampton. If you want to be in the English Countryside, this is it!

Our check in at American Airlines was flawless and the flight home was very smooth and on time.    

We have been away from our country for 110 days and the American flag flying over our home on Faria Beach in Ventura, California (20 miles south of Santa Barbara) was the perfect welcome home! 

  Words can not describe our experiences in 32 countries in different hemispheres with different climates, religious beliefs, cultures, and lifestyles. It will take time, once again, to sort all of this out in our minds and attempt to put some perspective on the world we just experienced. It's a wonderful, but complex world we live in. To understand it, you must go there - anywhere - and learn how other people do it .....for their pleasures and for their survival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Crystal World Cruise 2010 - Now our memory book to share by reading each post in this Robertson World Cruise Blog starting on January 11, 2010.  Enjoy!

OUR FINAL THOUGHT OF THE DAY.....

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventures.  There is no end to the adventures we can have if we only seek them with our eyes wide open".  -

  Jawharial Nehru, Prime Minister of India (1889 - 1964) 

Friday, April 30 ~ Hampshire, England

A FULL DAY OF RELAXATION AT FOUR SEASONS HAMPSHIRE

We spent today just relaxing at the pool, and enjoying this wonderful piece of heaven. Judy said she has never been in a place where she could just watch the grass grow! The yellow danelions were in full bloom, but we had to quickly enjoy them before they turned into puff balls.  This is a most beautiful estate, Dagmersfield Park, where Henry VIII first met Catherine of Aragon if you want a little historical trivia.     

 

 

 

The hotel staff was kind enough to drive us down to the lake to see the Lake Lodge where the hotel offers fishing excursions and picnics.  

Later in the afternoon, we were fortunate enough to have some time with Susannah Laurie and after telling her how impressed we were with everything down to the little detail of the smily face pastry, she introduced us to their Pastry Chef or "Chef du Parties", Chef Richard Main.   

It will be an early morning tomorrow for our departure so with final packing for the flight home, it was early to bed.

 

 

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY...

"Travel is more than seeing the sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living".  -  Miriam Beard

Thursday, April 29 ~ Southampton, England

FAREWELL TO THE CRYSTAL SERENITY

Final disembarkation day is always so sudden! The final packing of those "overnight" things and double checking all drawers, closet, and under the bed, a quick breakfast, a faint "see you next time" and boom.....you're in the terminal and gathering your bags. After 108 days, this is always quite painful and a very sudden landing into reality. However, Crystal Cruises really makes this whole procedure very easy. For the luggage, the big lifesaver was Crystal's luggage company, Luggage Concierge, with their President aboard, Nic Colucci, and his team. We shipped four large duffle bags home and will arrive a few days after we get home on May 1st! Perfect!   

Our driver was waiting for us outside the Southampton Cruise Terminal and off we went to our favorite Oasis for two nights, the Four Seasons Hampshire, located approximately half way between Southampton and London's Heathrow International Airport. In about an hour, we arrived at the gates and entered something familiar to us - true SERENITY!
We were here four years ago after disembarking from the Queen Mary 2 crossing from New York and it was so good to be here again. As we pulled up to the entrance, we were greeted by our dear friends, Susannah Laurie, Director of Marketing (pictured left) and Colin Clark, Four Seasons Hamshire General Manager (pictured right). This warm welcome is so typical of this exquisite hotel. We were whisked right up to our room, the St. John Ellis Suite overlooking the entrance and grounds of this estate and park. Our trademark is a yellow smily face and low and behold, the pastry chef, had made some for us with a happy greeting on the dining room table.

 Virtuoso Hotelier of the Year several years ago and London's Four Seasons Manager and Regional Vice President for Four Seasons Hotels, John Stauss, had a lot to do with all of this fun! We will have the priveledge of seeing John once again in August at our Virtuoso Travel Mart at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.   

We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the Seasons Dining Room, went immediately to the Spa and huge indoor pool facilities, returned to the Bistro for dinner and got to bed early. It has been a rather full and emotional day of more farewells, one last look at our home away from home, the Crystal Serenity, and a big welcome at Four Seasons Hamshire.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......

"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers.  The mind can never break off from the journey".  -   Pat Conroy

Wednesday, April 28 ~ Cruising the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay

OUR LAST EXCITING AND MEMORABLE DAY ON OUR CRYSTAL SERENITY WORLD CRUISE!

Our hats go off to Captain Glenn Edvardsen and his officers, staff and crew for the best world cruise ever! Our day was filled with goodbyes and farewells throughout the ship with our new friends, our Voyager Club members, and, of course, all of those who made this world cruise so enjoyable - THE CREW!

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon, Captain Glenn made an announcement that there would be a medical evacuation in progress between 5:00pm and 5:30pm and for everyone to please stay clear of Deck #13 forward. As we stood near the midship end of the pool area, we could see the helicopter arrive with a British Search and Rescue officer lowering down to the deck to secure the basket to airlift the person into the helicopter and to the hospital in England, a few hours away. We did not know the individual being evacuated or the circumstances.     At 7:45pm this evening, we all gathered in the Crystal Plaza for the traditional balloon drop, but this time we had the entire crew, staff, and officers with us! It was a grand celebration of the very best Crystal World Cruise on the 20th Anniversary - both for Crystal Cruises and for Virtuoso Voyager Club!

Congratulations also to our one-of-a-kind Cruise Director, Rick Spath, who created the dream day after day for all of us up to the last chant of ....Bon Voyage and Safe Travels Home!  

CAPTAIN GLENN'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......

"Don't cry because it's over, but smile because it happened".

Tuesday, April 27 ~ La Rochelle, France

A NICE SURPRISE ON OUR LAST PORT OF CALL

Of all of our ports on this world cruise, La Rochelle was one of the big delights! The weather for a our last port of call was perfect and was a tribute to all of the weather we had on the entire cruise - a very nice ending for all of us! The Chain Tower in the harbor was most impressive and the quaint streets and alleyways seemed to go on forever.  

We finished our walk around town and decided to take a rest at a very nice little outside table and it was very fitting for Rex Ziak to find us and get all caught up with his plans following disembarkation in Southampton on Thursday. Rex and his new wife, Keiko, have big plans for the future which was "under wraps" at the moment so the Rex - Keiko story will definitely continue in another chapter. Meanwhile, we enjoyed our last day which was probably the best spring weather we have had thoughout the Mediterranean! Everyone was smiling and ecstatic - this being their last day ashore on this incredible world cruise. We all commented that Crystal Cruises even controls the weather....sunshine and smiles all the way.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....

"Wake up with a smile and go after life....Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it". - Joe Knapp

Monday, April 26 ~ Bilbao, Spain

THE "MUSEUM CITY" 

The main attraction, or should we say, the main event is the Guggenheim Museum. The great industrialist, Soloman Robert Guggenheim, lived from 1861 to 1949 and following his first museum in New York City opening in 1939 designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, followed up with the genius architect, Frank Gehry, and completed the Guggenheim here in Bilbao to the tune of $100 Million. What is very impressive here is not only the Museum, but the walkways and parks that were built around the Museum and connecting the riverfront to the Old Town of Bilbao. Many of our fellow passengers were on tour to the Museum which was closed today to the general public - it's Monday! This made it very pleasant for all Crystal passengers, but you had to be on one of the tours. You couldn't just arrive there independently which we did several years ago while on a private jet tour with Virtuoso Colleagues. For those who didn't go to the Museum, returned to the Serenity with great reports about this beautiful and very clean Bilbao - The Old Town. As for us, it was a full day of packing and visiting with our new found friends aboard ship.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....

"Life is a state of mind: imagine the one you want, and then create it".

Sunday, April 25 ~ Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

Post Pending

Saturday, April 24 ~ Lisbon, Portugal

 

PORTUGAL AND THE COLORFUL CAPITAL OF LISBON ~ THE STARTING POINT OF MANY OF OUR WORLD'S EXPLORERS INCLUDING CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

We absolutely love this Portuguese City stategically located on the Tagus River and the place where Christopher Columbus sailed to discover the New World.   As we know, Columbus succeeded and then returned to Lisbon where a huge momument with his statue on the top marks the spot of his return.   Once again, our morning was clear and we had a nice Spring day.

 Close by on the Tagus River, we have another monument dedicated to all of the explorers who sailed from Lisbon in search for the world's treasures.   

     In ports previously visited, we are always looking for something new to see and our ears perked up day before yesterday in our destination lecture by Ken Rees where he described this important museum - the Gulbenkian. According to Ken, Portugal's decision to allow the Armenian oil magnate Coalouste Sarkis Gulbenkian to enter the country in 1942 certainly paid off! When Gulbenkian died in 1955, he bequeathed his entire estate to the Portuguese people for an extensive cultural center including several theater, concert and conference halls, a library, and our destination for today, a museum which has since become world famous and houses his immense art collection. We were given a nice brochure and the main foldout page had a picture of a painting of beautiful seashell collection (see above on entrance gate) and we searched everywhere for this painting with the help of security guards who did not speak Engligh. Finally, we showed this painting in the brochure to a docent who, with a big smile, told us it was not a painting, but a photograph of a display!  

We very much enjoyed this museum, but in all due respect to our friend, Ken Rees, we highly recommend the magnificent Museum of Tile we visited a few years ago on our first world cruise.   The colorful tiles, of course, are so Portuguese and will leave a lasting impression of your visit to this wonderful cityl. 

On our way back to the ship, we spotted our Russian husband and wife team, Valentina and Dimetri, who are incredible dancers in the Crystal Ensemble Singers and Dancers group.  They will have to hurry as we were scheduled to sail for Bilbao, Spain within the hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we sailed from Lisbon passing the Monument to the Discoverers and the Tower of Belem on the point, we reflected on what it was like for those very brave explorers who sailed from here not knowing what they would encounter beyond the horizon.  This is really something to think about as we live our daily lives in the lands they discovered many years ago. 

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....

"A life spent on centering only on itself will in the end occupy a very, very small universe." - John Glenn, Astronaut

Friday, April 23 ~ Gibralter, United Kingdom

THE ROCK AND OUR RETURN TO THE MIMES

Another glorious day of sunshine as we return, once again, to this special little town with its mimes and very friendly Brits and tourists. This is another example of a town with no street traffic - only foot traffic which is so charming.   We hope that one of these days soon, our own Santa Barbara State Street will become one big and beautiful open mall.   Many in our Voyager Club group were visiting for the first time so they were off to see the Barbary Apes and the Gibralter Caves, the main sites here.

No Crystal Shuttle in Gibralter - the taxi union forbids it, but when we got to the gate, there were no taxis, but a very pleasant man with a van who was more than happy to take us into town. Once there, it was all so familiar and we saw a different mime this time - Don Quixote on his horse who raised up suddenly when you put a coin in the cup.

We ran into several of our cruise mates including Pat Conroy and his wife, Cassandra.  Pat is the fabulous author of "The Great Santini", "The Lords of Discipline", "The Prince of Tides" and many other classics, many into movies.

All too soon, we returned to the ship on foot, said farewell to the Bobby looking after security, and sailed for Lisbon, Portugal.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"I believe that every man is an island, but there are no limits to the bridges or harbors he can build".  -  Roy Cook

Thursday, April 22 ~ Cruising the Mediterranean Sea En Route to Gibralter, U.K.

CRUISING WEST TO THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTER

The seas are calm and we had overcast weather conditions all day. As we cruising west through the Mediterranean, we can start to feel this incredible world cruise coming to an end. Now is reflection time and the sharing of all of our experiences in over 28 countries in 108 days. For most of our world cruise, we have had the wonderful companionship of the leading Destinaton Lecturer, Ken Rees, with his lovely wife, Lynn. As we reported earlier, Ken is a celebrated and award winning journalist and reporter. His delivery of history, current world affairs, and destination information has been remarkable, not to mention his great British humor adding so much to the overall educational experience.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"When we dream alone, it is only a dream. But when we dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality".