WC 2010 Day 3- at Sea

Sea days are my favorite….and I had a LOT of them on this leg- 11 in all. This was more than orginally planned, but because of the Somali pirate threat, our calls in the Seychelles and Maldives were cancelled.

Crystal Serenity’s “World Cruise Games” were held on this leg of the world cruise, and I signed up for Team Trivia and Photography. We would also cross the Equator during a sea day.

The day was taken up by lectures, the Asian buffet at lunch, packing for safari and a formal evening with the Captain’s welcome party.

We found our dear dear friend Branislav (aka "Big Bro")- if you've been following our travels you will recognize him!

We made phone calls home whilst we were still close enough to shore

In addition, I signed up for the Odyssey and Sea Art Course. This segment it was rock sculpting. Here's my rock.

I named it "Clyde". Just wait to see what it turns into!!!!

I'll just say I am so glad I took this course!!

WC2010 Day 2- Cape of Good Hope

One of the great things about embarkation day being an overnight on the ship is that you have a wide variety of excursions to pick from the second day of the cruise. Mama and I opted for an all day excursion and were delighted by a full day tour of the Cape of Good Hope.

Our tour began at 8:15 in the cloudy mist with a drive to the Cape. First stop was on the “Atlantic” side of the Cape, where the waves were spectacular, the driftwood plentiful, and the cormorants so interesting to watch.

(To think that in less than six months, I had nearly been at the North Pole and was now at the South-Western tip of Africa was WILD.....)

We even found a family of ostriches—how unusual for me to see them in a natural environment.

We then drove up to the Cape Point lookout. (name?) where the spectacular Indian Ocean displayed its incredible blue green water. The beauty was astounding! Spectacular images of the ocean(s) on both sides of the point. Amazing water colors.

The clouds were fast approaching as we drove north toward Boulder's Beach for lunch and to see the penguins.

We had lunch next to the Penguin colony, and the clouds caught up with us. The rain began during lunch, but that didn’t daunt yours truly. As we all know I am neither sugar or a wicked witch (well, totally) I gave my poncho to one lady, my umbrella to another.

The penguins were all adorable cuteness, as penguins are wont to be. I wish I had had more time with them. I could watch them all day.

After the rainy penguin parade, we got back on the coach and headed back up the penisula toward Capetown. Driving through fields of vineyards, we arrived at the Kirstenbosch Gardens for a quick visit—barely 45 minutes. Beautiful flowers, and the texures in the foliage made for MAD photo taking. I’ve never seen such a variety of greens and textures…almost made the colorful blooms secondary.

Then it was back to Serenity for muster.

Back on the ship, and Mama and I congratulated ourselves on our cleverness at making reservations at Silk Road that night…and so we were able to enjoy sail-away from the Lido’s outdoor area on deck 12- why more folks don’t know about this-the PERFECT place to enjoy leaving port- I don’t know. We were late leaving, as the tugs that have to monitor our movements (totally unnecessary, but someone needs jobs, I guess) were late. Captain Edvardsen, as my cousin Suzanne would say,”turned this puppy around on a dime” and we headed out. There was the local “Wednesday Afternoon Regatta” going on from the Yacht Club

and the wind was strong, so the sailboats were amazing---

I had fun watching them switch tacks and zigzagging with each other. They were wildly heeled over and some almost lost it a couple of times when coming about.

It was also a great time to reconnect with the “Lido Boys” – as I lovingly refer to the Filippino deck stewards. Oh, Crystal really IS a family adventure!

Down at Silk Road, Jane and I had a wonderful (what could ever NOT be wonderful about Nobu Matsuhisa’s sushi??) dinner and had the chance to visit with Sigi, the maitre d', and with Oleg, another wino friend and to hear all about his new baby son. Oleg wasn’t on Serenity last year when we were, so it was nice to see him again after TWO years! I was piggy-I had BOTH the three crème brulee dessert AND a side scoop of sesame ice cream!

After an action-packed trip in Capetown, Mama and I both were ready for a day at sea to prepare for SAFARI!

WC2010 Capetown and Embarking-Day 1

After breakfast, we hopped on the shuttle bus to my beloved ship, the Crystal Serenity. After the standard boarding procedures,

we were aboard just before noon.

It felt like we had come home!!! After a quick lunch, and we went back on the shuttle to do a little shopping in the Victoria and Alfred waterfront.

I found Christmas presents and a few other goodies.

I found the Ed Hardy shop!

We also found a great little wine shop with a BIG sense of humor!

I bought some South African wine—regretting that I hadn’t learned more of the wines before hand- and got back with our miriad of purchases with enough time to unpack and change for dinner.

The delight of my day was finding my friend Sven was my wine guy for the cruise. Great to see him again, and catchup on his year.

We called it an early night, after seeing several old friends- ready to head to the Cape of Good Home the next day.