We spied the ship as we entered the port. Made my heart sing. Our driver fetched us at 11:00, we arrived at the port, dropped our luggage, and were seated in the terminal by 11:50 am. As we were waiting to go through security we met Bill, who often comments on this blog and the “Cruise Critic” social media website. Sadly, in my excitement, I failed to take a pic..it’s okay … I’m sure there will be other opportunities. He’s very charming and will be on both legs with us.🩵
Photo credit to Timmy…from the limo…as we were driving. 😊
Security was easy peasy
So we were boarding and I notice Carmelo waving 🩵
If you know, you know 🩵 He is a true Crystal treasure.
We were on board and checked in at 12:02 pm.
We choose an Aquamarine stateroom on deck 10, port side. It was ready when we boarded 😊 You may remember that our previous sailings on Symphony in September and then Serenity in November were in Sapphire suites…which Timmy loves. I mean he really loves them. I did not rebook that category however, because I’m the practical one on the team and I cannot justify the additional premium. Under the previous Crystal ownership, Sapphire suites had some nice perks like unlimited room service from Umi Uma and Prego, in suite cocktail parties, and unlimited dining in Umi and Prego. These are no longer included in the Sapphire suite fare, so the (minimal) additional space and fabulous bathroom really is not worth that substantial (to me) additional premium.
We’d been indulging so much all weekend, so we went with salads in Waterside for lunch.
Then we stopped by the Cove and Timmy ordered a drink with Italicus 🩵 from Robson.
Photo taken from our veranda.
First mirror selfie of the cruise..we are rusty 😢
My Navy guy sailing by the Naval base where he went to dive school oh so many years ago.
Umi Uma for the win
I’m just going to let the pics speak for themselves. You do know how much we love sushi and sashimi.
Ritchie took such good care of us. I love him.
Fermin brought us the Nobu Chardonnay…all night long. IYKYK
Here we have Timmy taking a photo of his Black Cod to send to our friend Gil. I thought he was being mean…but he said that this dish is Gil’s favorite and he knew Gil would love seeing a pic. Whatever…
After dinner we enjoyed the updated Crystal in Motion show. I was blown away by Gabriel Monte Bussi on guitar. The entire band is stellar, as are the dancers.
James Burns and Lauren Heavner are the super lead vocalists. We had a terrific time.
So there you have a very brief recount of embarkation day. It was a wonderful day, reconnecting with so many beloved crew…lots of hugs and happy smiles. I’m going to try my best to keep up with the blog…wish me luck and thanks for following along 🩵
