Day 3 - Sun August 12, 2018 Second Day at Sea - Crystal Symphony - San Francisco to New York

Day 3 - Sun August 12, 2018 Second Day at Sea

The start of the day was our usual one hour Promenade Deck walk commencing at about 6:50 am.  As we head south it is getting warmer and warmer.  During our walk we spotted a group of whales- we believe that we saw at least 6 as they were coming up out of the water and splashing down.  

(Not a great picture as they were pretty far off and all we had were cell phones, but you get the idea.)

This morning we decided that we need to start walking earlier in the morning (due to the temperature).  We'll see how that works out for us, as we also will cross several time zones as we travel eastward to New York City. Tonight we lose our first hour.

Breakfast this morning was leisurely in The Waterside (Main Dining Room). While we usually have breakfast in The Marketplace (buffet) we really enjoyed the quiet atmosphere also with the excellent table service.

The theme of this cruise is "Crystal on Broadway" which brings cast members and creative experts from some of theater's premier shows to Crystal's stages.  The line-up features guest singers, dancers, choreographers, directors, designers and other artists.  Today this theme was kicked off with several events:

• A lecture entitled "Give My Regards to Broadway" by Jon Bailey, a conductor, composer and music-historian.  He talked about the Broadway and yesterday and today and how they make important statements about the history and culture of our society.
• Another lecture "The Great Kate:  The Life and Films of Katharine Hepburn" by Jim Brochu, award winning Broadway actor, and currently performing roles on television.  This talk was fascinating - Jim spoke about his personal friendship with Katherine Hepburn, included many stories and pictures that truly gave us insight into this famous actress.

Our Trivia Team scored 12/15 correct today.  Three teams scored 13/15 and had a tie-breaker question for the win.

Dinner was in Prego – the Italian Specialty restaurant.  The food there has never disappointed us, and we always look forward to eating in Prego.  We also truly enjoy the atmosphere of this venue.  The only hard thing is choosing what to order.  We definitely have favorites, but sometimes try some new items. Julie enjoyed:

Shrimp Borsette & Grilled Prawn in a Tomato Basil Emulsion with Caramelized Lemon

Arugula Salad with Pine Nuts and Gorgonzola Cheese (which was a giant portion size - normally most Crystal portion sizes are small).

And, a favorite – Lasagna alla Casalinga –layers of Fresh Pasta with Ground Meat, Porcini Mushrooms, Tomato and Bechamel Sauces topped with Mozzarella Cheese

For dessert Julie enjoyed the Pomegranate Semi-Freddo

Bob had:

Forest Mushroom Soup – a favorite creamy mushroom soup with 5 types of mushrooms served in a bread bowl

Appetizer portion of the Lasagna

For the Entrée Bob enjoyed a Prego Specialty- the Roasted Rack of Lamb with Black Olive Marmalade, Rosemary & Ginger Gremolata and Fingerling Potatoes

For dessert – Vanilla Gelato

Before we went to the show, we went up to outside up on deck 12 to see if we could see anything of the Perseid meteor shower. It was scheduled to peak tonight. There were a ton of lights on the deck and although the skies were clear, it was very hard to see much of anything. 

Continuing with the “Crystal On Broadway” theme of this cruise, the evening entertainment was Josh Young.  He received a 2012 Tony Award nomination for his critically acclaimed Broadway debut as “Judas” in Jesus Christ Superstar, he has also played “Che” in Evita, “Marius” in Les Mis, “John Newton” in the Broadway World Premier of Amazing Grace, and many other roles.  His voice was amazing, one of the best that we’ve ever heard.

After the show between 10pm and 10:30pm, Astronaut Dr. Jeffery Hoffman was scheduled to host a Perseid gazing party. Julie decided to head in, but Bob went back up to deck 12. The good news was they turned off all of the lights and it was all set up for excellent viewing. The bad news was there were a bunch of clouds and we could only see a small portion of the sky directly above us. There were a ton of people up there, but the viewing wasn't ideal. The best place to look was northeast and unfortunately that was totally blocked. Bob did see one meteor streaking by up above, but that was it.

We walked 18,653 steps and 8.5 miles.