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2018 Crystal World Cruise as seen by a 4-Star Mariner


rafinmd
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Thank you Krazy Kruizers, Jacqui, Barbara, and Denise.

Starting with a bit of yesterday’s trivia.

 

4. What are UN peacekeepers commonly called?

7. How many Nobel prizes are there?

8. What’s the lowest male British Royalty title?

10. What TV show has the most cumulative emmy’s?

13. Expand the acronym ROTFL.

 

As a sailaway addict I’ll post a couple of pictures of how location affects one’s view. I noted the sailaway thread for today and for the first time ever took a screen shot of the Zuiderdam arriving in Ft. Lauderdale BEFORE going to bed. It was 6:01 AM local time in Ft. Lauderdale.

167488550_zdm0208(Custom).jpg.cc85b091c3ec04388e63c899b46b4eb5.jpg

I’ll compare that with my view from the back of the Serenity, also taken at 601AM. Not really a surprise that there is a difference but the graphics of it struck me.

dawn0208.JPG.d569766bc8a846d973e8222f98232e07.JPG

Now the trivia answers:

 

4. Blue berets or blue helmets

7. There are 6 Nobel prizes

8. Lowest level of Royalty is Baron

10. Saturday Night Live

13. Rolling on the Floor Laughing

 

Scores were mostly 7-10 out of 15 but one team each got 11 or 12.

 

Roy

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Enjoying your reports.

 

Did the Fiji Army band entertain prior to departing from Suva?

I don't think so. I was actually inside until our lines were taken in and didn't see them. It may have been too hot for them as well.

 

Roy

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Thank you Krazy Kruizers, Denise, and erewhon.

 

Some odds and ends

 

A few questions from today’s trivia”

 

2. What airport has code YYZ?

5. What is the most populous borough of New York?

7. What ship was damaged in a 2000 terrorrist attack in Yemen

11. What is the maximum weight of a bowling ball?

 

Welcome to Sydney Amsterdam. We will be there in 1 week and are starting to get info on what will happen there. Serenity actually arrives on the 16th and spends the day at Circular Quay. We leave there for an anchorage at 4am the 17th and disembark in the morning. Presumably all the luggage will be offloaded while we are docked. The Symphony arrives in White Bay early the 17th and Serenity passengers will be taken there for immigration. I assume once I clear customs my bags can go directly onto the Symphony. I know I saw in one of the Amsterdam live threads (either Bill & Maryann or Scrapnana) that EXC guide Barbara H has indicated that White Bay does not have wifi. I’ve sailed with Barbara H and she knows her stuff; my only hope is that there has been a change very recently. I expect there will be a gap between clearing customs and boarding the Symphony and it would be a great opportunity to update my laptop. I’m hoping one of the bloggers will report on that during the Amsterdam’s stay.

 

In his midday report Captain Vorland had good news and bad news. The good news is that things look good for tendering Sunday at Mystery Island. The bad news is that Cyclone Gita is behind us and may pose an issue when we get to Norfolk Island. I wish those already affected a quick recovery and a change in path to minimize our disruption but better a missed port for us than a direct hit on a more populated island.

 

A blogger on my cruise was posting the complete trivia questions and asked to stop. I hope I will be able to continue with a small sample. Today’s answers

 

2. YYZ is Toronto

5. Brooklyn

7. USS Cole

11. 16 pounds

 

Roy

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Don't worry about the trivia questions, Roy :)

 

Many are enjoying them.

 

I think it is highly unlikely you will be asked to stop (nor should you be asked - it's YOUR Live thread ) - we appreciate all of your posts and the time and $ you are taking to post them :) :D

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Thanks Jacqui and bennybear. One of the advantages of being in the far western pacific is that I get a chance to watch Ft. Lauderdale sail-ins in the evening. I just got back from the show in time to see Nieuw Amsterdam coming in the channel, all lit up

 

882745311_naftl(Custom).jpg.6e95beed2a381d92bd38e23844a565c3.jpg

 

Roy

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Thanks Jacqui and bennybear. One of the advantages of being in the far western pacific is that I get a chance to watch Ft. Lauderdale sail-ins in the evening. I just got back from the show in time to see Nieuw Amsterdam coming in the channel, all lit up

 

[ATTACH]414265[/ATTACH]

 

Roy

 

Very pretty screenshot,, Roy.

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I don't think so. I was actually inside until our lines were taken in and didn't see them. It may have been too hot for them as well.

 

Roy

 

Thank you for your reply.

 

Interesting to read what is planned in Sydney for you to transfer to the Symphony.

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Hi Roy!!!!!

Wow I think it is great what Serenity is doing for you to hook up to Symphony!! Roy you are one in a million and I say that because you do and give so much here to CC and to Crystal!!! I am happy that you have such an opportunity to travel everywhere and take the time to blog for all of us! Because of you and your travels we are now going to in 2019 a

Panama Cruise from our home town on Volendam and hook up with Prinesdam to do the 30 day TA!

Thank you Roy. We would of taken a plane from San Diego to go on the Prinesdam if I had not started a long time ago reading how you go about

Your cruises!

Looking forward to the next adventures.

Denise:)

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Day Serenity37, Sunday, February 11, 2018, Mystery Island

 

Thank you Kazu, Allan, bennybera, sail, erewhon, and denise. That Panama Canal cruise sounds great (and of course the Prinsendam) although I haven’t yet been on the Volendam.

 

I will duplicate my Crystal Post here. Mystery Island does not appear to be on HAL’s radar but it is a seasonal stop for both the Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden (Nee Ryndam and Statendam)

 

First, I want to call attention to a couple of threads started by another Crystal Cruiser (Keith1010) who is in Sydney and posted pictures of the Amsterdam’s arrival:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2597443

 

and departure from Sydney:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2597845

 

The Crystal Symphony is at sea from Esperance (2664 miles away) to Melbourne(1666 miles)

 

As I started my morning walk I first reached the stern about 5:30 and headed up the stairs to the lido for coffee. As I climbed the sun also climbed above the clouds.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/dawn0211.jpg

 

Mystery Island is kind of a strange animal. It bears a certain resemblance to the “Private Islands” in the Caribbean but not too close. It’s a very small uninhabited neighbor of Aneityum island (pop 550) which came into good view a couple laps later.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/aneityum.jpg

 

There also isn’t a lot on Aneityum as described by Air Vanuatu: “The modern Aneityum has few buildings and no cars apart from the few vehicles of the kauri replanting forestry project. It is ideal for the keen bushwalker, offering many well-defined tracks and paths through vegetation that is quite different from the hotter and more humid northern islands.”

 

We arrived at our anchorage about 7:30 with the island sitting directly in front of us.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/mystery1.jpg

 

I started ashore about 9. Crystal did not provide a map but Mapcarta seemed to capture it pretty well with Aneityum sitting in the upper right hand corner.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/auy-map.jpg

 

Mystery Island seems to be a fairly popular stop with mass market ships out of Australia. For us it was a pretty simple beach stop; some operators were selling tours on the island but Crystal was not involved. I saw evidence that the mass market lines were very involved in the tour business there. The tender pier has 4 berths for tender boats. I’ll bet when the 4000 passenger Ovation of the Seas arrives the island gets a bit crowded. There are modern rest rooms at the tender pier and privies spread pretty liberally around the rest of the property.

 

On arrival I did a complete circumnavigation of the island which was probably about 1 ½ miles. I quickly came upon a monument to a visit from her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and a little after that a surprise. The island has an airport. Says the Air Vanuatu web site “ The only airport is not on the island itself but on the much smaller nearby Inyeug (or Mystery). Air Vanuatu services there twice weekly from Port Vila and Tanna. Inyeug is periodically visited by several hundred tourists arriving on cruise ships, reached by launch from cruise ships anchoring inside the magnificent turquoise waters between Inyeug and the mainland.” According to my GPS the runway was about 2000 feet long.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/airport.jpg

 

Midway down the runway I passed a place renting kayaks with the Crystal Serenity floating majestically above the bows of the boats. Continuing around the trail I found some nice mangrove trees and the power source for the island, a fairly large solar panel.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/kayaks.jpg

 

The island is very narrow near the tender pier and as I approached that point I heard a roar. It was the morning’s flight first checking the runway and then coming in for a landing. I spent some time watching as the plane was unloaded and reloaded and then took off again. Mystery island is served by 2 or 3 Dehavilland Twin Otter (19 pax) each week from the capitol, Port Vila. There was little in the way of external security and I walked to the end of the runway once the prop wash had subsided and watched the departure.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/takeoff.jpg

 

Next stop was a little gimmick where I became part of a Cannibal Soup.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/cannibal.jpg

 

There was quite a nice beach with clear water. I’m not really a beach person but this was the time for my token dip in the South Pacific with the clear warm water here. I was in the water

about 5 minutes and out of contact with the bottom for about 30 seconds.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/mysterybeach.jpg

 

There’s no real cooking on the island but there was a Mystery Island Café that sold snacks and beverages. A cup of tea was right on the spot. I was back on Serenity about 12:30.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/mysterycafe.jpg

 

After a bath to get rid of the salt it was my usual lunch except that the lido was serving hot peas and carrots which was a nice change from my bowl of greens.

 

All aboard was 3:30. I’m sure Captain Vorland’s sailaway message was a disappointment to many. Things had deteriorated somewhat from Saturday. Cyclone Gita will not catch us but it is pushing 11 meter swells ahead of it which would make tendering at Norfolk Island out of the question. He will probably announce a final decision as we prepare to sail from Noumea. This sounds serious to me; I have rarely seen a port being cancelled due to weather 2 days in advance. He indicated there were few options for alternate ports but if we cancel we would likely arrive in Sydney in the morning rather than mid-day. I’m fine with that but there are a number of people on board who live in Sydney and they miss out, especially since there are not man cruises to Norfolk Island. Louis sang at 4:03.

 

We had our Protestant worship at 5:15. There will be an Ash Wednesday service and then it’s time to bid adieu to Pastor Voosen.

 

We were up to 5 at table 51 including one Ambassador Host. The beef consume, fillet, and blueberry pie were great.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/dishes0211.jpg

 

It was a very busy evening on the ship, starting with a Mardi Gras celebration in the Crystal Plaza at 8,

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/mardi.jpg

 

The featured entertainment was comedian Rikki Jay. I thought him extremely good.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/jay.jpg

 

Finally, there was a late “Spot Show”, Jump and Swing-A-Mania in the Stardust Club at 10:15. I had missed it on my first segment but got to see it this time.

 

http://morethangetaways.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/swing.jpg

 

My parting shot–Congratulations to Germany and Norway for great Olympic starts.

 

Roy

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Sorry to hear about Norfolk and the storm, Roy.

 

Amsterdam is also missing a port and trying to get ahead of it's storms.

 

I hope you are soon through all of this and can enjoy some fair seas again with no worries.

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