Day 15. Monday, March 10, At Sea, Crystal Symphony, Black Tie Optional.

The Crystal Serenity is in Singapore. The MS Amsterdam is at sea from Singapore to Phuket, Thailand.

It was another warm morning with clear skies overhead but clouds on the horizon, a pleasant morning for my 5-mile walk. There was a lovely sky ahead of sunrise, but as the moment came only one spot in the clouds revealed the actual event.

It was a very busy day at sea but I spent a lot of the time preparing to leave. There were 2 Crystal Visions presentations. Dr. Lawrence Blair spoke at 10AM on “Explorer’s Tales”. I had a lecture on Ipad tips and techniques but caught Blair’s presentation later on TV. He recounted making a dangerous trip with his brother and losing him days later when he broke his leg in Bali on a defective manhole cover and died of complications. Following the Ipad class I went up to the Trident for my final Symphony Apricot French Toast.

In his final noon update Captain Symonds reported we will pick up the pilot about 7AM and back in across the Pier from the Crystal Serenity about 8AM. It looks like a very hot day in Singapore. Lunch today was in the main dining room.

The final Crystal Visions program was at 1:30 with Sir Michael Burton on Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore. The afternoon was time for behind the scenes tours with a Galaxy backstage tour at 3:15 and a galley tour at 4:30. I was busy preparing to leave and missed both.

All 6 of us were present at table 73 for the final Black Tie Optional dinner. I will be first to desert the group, with 2 people staying on for the next cruise and 3 leaving on Wednesday. I received and scanned a full set of dinner menus and will upload them as soon as possible. This was the night of the Crystal Society party and one of our cruise Critic members, Ter777, was recognized for 82 Crystal cruises.

The evening entertainment was the Crystal Ensemble of Singers and Dancers in Curtain Call. It’s a great show but I’ve seen it twice this past November and decided to concentrate on getting ready to leave. As I write this I do hope to at least briefly get by the Avenue Saloon before retiring.

As today’s parting shot there are things that you never expect to happen but they do anyway. I never expected to be excited about leaving a Crystal ship, but it has finally happened. All it takes is to have a sister ship parked across the dock.

Roy

dawn0310

party

ter777