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.
I agree with your assessment of the mushroom soup. Almost as good as the black cod
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