Robertson International Travel

Tuesday, January 19 ~ Day at Sea in the Atlantic

AT SEA ON LAST DAY IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AND A TRIBUTE TO THE CRYSTAL CREW

  
 Days at sea are relaxing for those seeking solitude and no activity.  For others, days at sea are the busiest with so many Crystal activities and events.  The schedule is full!

MAKING IT CRYSTAL CLEAR.....

We sat at the pool for lunch and watched people come and go over the course of an hour.  We paid particular attention to our Philippino waiters and pool boys, our favorite gentlemen we so highly admire and respect over the last 3 years.

  

They have all returned with big smiles and impeccable service.  Listening to tables within hearing distance, most of the people are getting dishes they want without even ordering.  The waiters know what they want, especially drinks.  "Would you like your chicken wrap, no fries, and ice tea with no lemon"?  What memories!

For those of you who have been with us on the last 2 world cruises or are aboard with us now, the above gentlemen, among many others,  bring back instant memories and joy!

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

"A fine is a tax for something you have done wrong.  A tax is a fine for something you have done well."  

Monday, January 18 ~ Devils Island, French Guiana

THE AWARD WINNING MOVIE, "PAPILLON", COMES ALIVE ON FRENCH GUIANA'S INFAMOUS OUTPOST
If you saw the movie, "Papillon", starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, then we can tell you we were there today on Devil's Island, the "Green Hell".  Papillon is the story of one man's efforts to escape, but there were thousands more who perished in the attempt.  Over the years, over 80,000 men were transported to Devil's Island and these pictures taken today tell of the place and buildings now dormant of the horrors that existed up to as recently as the late 40's.  In short, not many prisoners survived the torture, disease, beheadings, and other unspeakable ways to die such as eaten alive by ants, pirannas, and sharks.   

  

This was a horrible place and yet, today when you walk over the grounds of this island, even close to the four stones marking the foundation for the guillotine, it seems so peaceful and beautiful.  For those who died here, maybe this is now their heaven on earth.  It certainly seems like a beautiful place to spend the rest of your life, but beware....there's no water! 
On second thought, our Crystal Serenity is looking pretty good to us!  

There is a lesson coming from Devil's Island and maybe it is timely to relate this to the horrors of what is happening in Haiti right now.  There were some incredible stories that came from Devil's Island and they all related around the WILL TO LIVE.  Nothing more - nothing less.  There are now heroic stories coming out of Haiti and they will give all of us strength to battle adversity when it knocks on our door.  We must all care for our neighbors - wherever we are.   Haiti will rebuild and be stronger for it with thousands of Haitians who have the WILL TO LIVE.

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
"There are no passengers on planet earth, only crew".   

Sunday, January 17 ~ Day at Sea in the Caribbean

SUNDAY BRUNCH ON THE CRYSTAL SERENITY
We received so many nice comments about our Voyager Club Shore Event in Barbados yesterday! We have great memories of Barbados and our Caribbean experiences on the Crystal Serenity as we now settle in for our first Sunday Brunch and Gala Buffet in the Crystal Plaza!  Our chefs and crew dazzeled us with very creative displays of gourmet delights!

   
 
 
  

After a very lazy day at sea, we gathered in the Galaxy Lounge this evening for "My Favorite Things", a grand production show which is one of the fabulous signatures of Crystal Cruises.  Still No. 1 !

CAPTAIN'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....
"Those who stay home only read the first page".

Saturday, January 16 ~ Barbados, West Indies

BARBADOS VOYAGER CLUB SHORE EVENT AND THE SANDY LANE

Barbados was abandoned by the Spanish and started British colonization thanks to Captain John Powell in 1625 followed by a dominant British upbringing of over 3 centuries, recently becoming independent.  The British mark is evident throughout the Island.   

 
We docked early, met our Voyager Club members in the Crystal Cove and started our day with our guides, Angela and Joan from our Virtuos On-Site, Sunlinc Barbados.

  Our Honorary Voyager Club Host and Virtuoso Chairman, Jesse Upchurch, was enjoying his first Voyager Club Shore Event with assistant, Donna Coleman-Myrick and Voyager Club Host, Judy Robertson.  

  
  Our first stop was at the oldest church in the Caribbean, the beautiful St. John's Parish  Church (Episcopal, Church of England, Anglican - take your pick),  built in the mid-1600's.  The grave yard's earliest inhabitants we found dated back to 1646.  

 
We were greeted by a lazy cat under a sundial signifying that time is of no concern here.      

 

Then on to St. Nicolas Abbey via a delightful drive along the coast believed to be the oldest building on the island.  The docent gave us a brief talk followed by refreshments in the wine cellar.

    
 We were so delighted to have Crystal World Cruise veterans, Paul and Kay Rich, with us again this year.  There is no excursion, no matter what the extent of the adventure, that Paul and Kay do not take and Paul is 98 years young!   They are also on the dance floor more than anyone!  What inspiration! 

Our shore event was highlighted an incredible greeting by a majestic gentleman on stilts at the entrance to the premium address in the Caribbean, The Sandy Lane.  
  
Our exclusive reservations at 'L'Acajou, the hotel's signature restaurant were perfect with a great view of the Sandy Lane beach feathered by a balmy breeze as we dined on flying fish and barracuda.   
We were entertained by colorfulful dancers and a delightful piano and singer duo in the background during lunch. 

We so much enjoyed our first Virtuoso Voyager Club Shore Event in Barbados with our wonderful Voyager Club members!  Most of our companions today will be with us all the way to Southhampton, England! 
 

We returned to the Crystal Serenity and jumped right into "Carnival des Caribe" at poolside.  Steel drums, a Carnival parade, and our festive singers and dancers in Carnival regala with our thoughts now moving south to Rio! 

 
  

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....
"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things". - Henry Miller
  
  

Friday, January 15 ~ St. Lucia, West Indies

BEAUTIFUL ST. LUCIA - RICH TROPICAL TAPESTRY

Ask anyone, "Which is the most beautiful island in the Caribbean"? Chances are that St. Lucia will be in the top two for many, but most will say St. Lucia is number one! The shoreline is magnificent highlighted by its landmark twin peaks, Gros Piton and Petit Piton. Marigot Bay has to be one of the most photographed bays in the Caribbean.  The landscape is lush with a beautiful tropical rain forest plus so many delightful tropical island features!  The bottom line for us..........we loved it here!

Our mission today was to inspect one of two properties on St. Lucia represented by one of our favorite hotel representives, Karen Bull. Her newest hotel here is Cap Maison, a delightful resort on a cliff with very impressive apartment size suites, each with its own private plunge pool and deck.
We very much enjoyed meeting the General Manager, Ross Stevenson, who graciously gave us a grand tour of Cap Maison and then treated us to lunch in one of the most beautiful restaurants overlooking the Caribbean. We were told by email from Karen on our way back to the ship that today was Ross' birthday today and he didn't let on that it was his birthday so..........Ross - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! We also had another surprize as we were leaving the ship this morning........our friend, Rex Ziak was going into our port town, Castries, to get some postcards for his new bride, Keiko, and we invited him to join us for the day.  We will reserve the romantic story of Rex and Keiko for another post - it is very special!  It was great getting all caught up with Rex who will also be lecturing on this world cruise.

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

"You did not fail - you just found 10,000 ways that didn't work".

Thursday, January 14 ~ AT SEA IN THE CARIBBEAN

IN A WARMER CARIBBEAN SEA WITH RITA MORENO AND OUR VOYAGER CLUB RECEPTION

Our last full day at sea before reaching landfall, St. Lucia in the West Indies, was full of great Crystal Cruise activities. ....... Yoga, Pilates, Music Class, Rainforest lecture, Computer Class, Bridge Class, Golf Clinic, Rita Moreno talk, Berlitz Spanish Class, Trivia, Shuffleboard, Table Tennis, Tea Time, Afternoon movie..........take your pick! There is no way you can fit it all in!  You have to get up early!

The highlight of the day was definitely our hour with Rita Moreno, star of stage and screen and is one of a select group of performers to have won all four of the most prestigious showbusiness awards - The Oscar, The Emmy, The Tony and the Grammy. West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, The King and I were all a part of her marvelous career. Her life and presence is magical and this all came alive when she was with us for a full hour in the Galaxy Lounge this morning!

At the end of her talk, Judy invited her to our Virtuoso Cocktail Reception this evening and she arrive with her wonderful husband, Dr. Leonard Gordon. She was very dynamic even off stage and appreciated her coaching of our presentation to the Voyager Club members - "Brian, you must stand in the spotlight - not to the side"!

Our Voyager Club Reception was a huge hit and Jesse Upchurch was our real star of the evening! As Virtuoso Chairman, he welcomed everyone and told a story about his early days in the yacht business in St. Lucia, our port of call tomorrow. In addition to Rita Moreno, we invited John Clark (golf), Ken Rees (Destination Lecturer), and Nick Halley (Special Interest Lecturer) to say a few words about their lectures aboard ship. A great time was had by all and at the end of the reception, we had a group photo taken on the stairwell leading down to the Crystal Plaza which will be posted in the next few days.

St. Lucia tomorrow! We will be happy to get our feet back on land again - then we are off to Barbados and our Voyager Club Shore Event!

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

"You can not change the direction of the wind, but you can trim the sails".

Wednesday, January 13 ~ Day at Sea in the Caribbean

OUR SECOND DAY AT SEA

We met more of our Voyager Club members today in between lectures and shipboard events. Tomorrow is our 1st Virtuoso Voyager Club Reception and expect at least 60 Voyager Club members to attend plus those Officers, entertainers and lecturers we have invited. We will report more tomorrow on this special event of ours celebrating Virtuoso's 20th Anniversary.

 One of our lecturers today was Brigadier General Nick Halley, U.S. Army Retired. General Halley is an internationally-recognized expert on leadership and terrorism and currently seen on a regular basis on the national FOX News network. Following his lecture, we had lunch with General Halley and invited him to come to Santa Barbara later this year to speak to our Santa Barbara Channel City Club. He is an excellent speaker and not only enjoyed his talk on Iran today, but also his previous lectures on our world cruises in 2008 and 2009 on the Crystal Serenity. We look forward to welcoming General Halley to Santa Barbara.

This evening we had the pleasure of being entertained by Michel Bell, Tony Award Nominated Broadway vocalist and Crystal Cruises' Entertainer of the Year. He sang in many musical groups, but was most successful as a member of the Fifth Dimension. Michel Bell is especially known for his portrayal of Porgy in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess and tonight sang "Old Man River" as his finale. What a performance!

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

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, but courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen".

Tuesday, January 12 ~ Caribbean Sea enroute to St. Lucia, West Indies

OUR FIRST WORLD CRUISE DAY - AT SEA!

We were up early this morning to witness the dawn of our first day of 108 on this world cruise.  Our stateroom is located on the port side forward with full view of the bridge right in front of us!  We greeted the sunrise together.

Following our mandatory life boat drill, we all raced to the Bistro for a late morning coffee and a chat with Virtuoso Chairman, Jesse Upchurch, and his assistant, Donna Colman-Meyer.  Actually, in her "real" life, Donna is Executive Assistant to Virtuoso CEO, Matthew Upchurch.   Our Virtuoso~Crystal Cruises 20th Anniversary Chairman's Cruise is officially launched and well on it's way to a huge success!

Following caviar and lobster, oh my......this evening was our first full production show of this world cruise, "Million Dollar Musicals"  which competes with New York's Broadway and London's West End.  Bravo! 

LATE EVENING NEWS.......EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI!  Captain Glenn assures us there's no problem of tsunami for the CRYSTAL SERENITY!    

CAPTAIN'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"The best and most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or felt unless they are touched by the heart".  

Monday, January 11 ~ Sailing Day from Miami! Bon Voyage!

Welcome aboard our Crystal World Cruise 2010! 

First, the drama of Miami! We flew to Miami for 3 days of warmth, sunshine, and time to go shopping for our Voyager Club office supplies.  Stop!  Repeat that again....warmth....sunshine....time to go shopping?  Wrong!  We touched down in Miami on January 7th to start the record breaking freeze with rain and chilling wind! No sunshine until today!  Yes, today and we took the sunshine aboard with us where the sunshine was also inside...all night!   
  
 
  We took a break from packing and, from our veranda, said goodbye to our country...."see you again in 108 days"!  The skyline of Miami cast against a brilliant sunset never looked better to us!

We paused for some reflections on our past world cruises with Voyager Club and welcomed our return to this fabulous ship, the Crystal Serenity.  Our first greeting was a gift of chocolates from Crystal President, Gregg Michel, wishing us a wonderful world cruise!  
 
It was a great beginning of the evening which unfolded like a non-stop train of emotions, hugging old friends, greeting new ones, and being with our favorite Crystal Crew and Entertainers who have all returned for this year's world cruise.  If you followed our world cruise blog last year, you will recognize some of the cast of the Crystal magic!

Our very special welcome goes to Virtuoso Chairman, Jesse Upchurch, who is our honorary Voyager Club Host for this celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Voyager Club and Crystal Cruises.  20 years ago, we sailed with Jesse Upchurch, his son and CEO of Virtuoso, Matthew Upchurch on the pre-inaugural cruise of the CRYSTAL HARMONY from Honolulu to Los Angeles.  My how time flys!  And so, we continue our Voyager Club tradition in style aboard Crystal Cruises.

Cruise Director, Rick Spath, not only brought the house down, but orchestrated the balloon drop to celebrate the beginning of our 20th Anniversary Crystal World Cruise.  Michel Bell bellowed out, "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (from The Lion King), and we did! 

 

We all agreed that this Bon Voyage evening was a fabulous beginning!  Thank you Crystal Cruises for your classic creation and the very first of many memories to come in the days ahead!  

 

 

 

OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY......

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage, like the beginning of it"  -  Charles Dudley Moore