The Bermuda Triangle

Well, we made it to Bermuda, although when we awoke this morning, it would not have surprised us to see The Flying Dutchman appear out of the very heavy and rainy mist! Actually we couldn’t even SEE Bermuda and thought perhaps the Triangle had finally succeeded in making the whole island disappear! And overnight nobody wanted to take a chance looking outside in case they spotted the eerie red glow of the Dutchman myth - we ran into some of the remnant weather from Hurricane Ida that caused quite a bit of rocking but fortunately not much rolling.


After Dr. Jay Wolff’s lecture yesterday about the myths and unsolved mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle, we were all glad to see the navigation buoys leading us into the Royal Naval Dockyard. The Dockyard is the standard cruise port for Bermuda since it is too difficult for most cruise ships to navigate all the way to the capital of Hamilton. The channels are simply too narrow and modern cruise ships have gotten too big! Fortunately, the weather cleared not long after we tied up at the wharf and we had a lovely day.

After waiting an extra 15 to 20 minutes for the ship to clear (we figured that since Bermuda is still part of the British Commonwealth, they used the Parliamentary System of clearance - two out of three Immigration Officers voting in favour of letting the passengers off) we finally got under way with our tour. One of the couples Larry knows from Cruise Critic live on Bermuda and had suggested that the Island Overview Tour was a good option so we took that - and so did many of the other guests on board.

It took over 5 hours, but we went from the Dockyards to St. George’s (the other end of the island) and through Hamilton. Oddly enough, you could say we covered the entire ‘Triangle of Bermuda’ - the Dockyards to St. George’s to the South Shore outside of Hamilton - during our tour. On the way we stopped a couple of times for photo opportunities, and at the same time we decided where we would like to stay should we come back for a short land-based holiday. The Fairmount Southampton Hotel has a golf course attached, and it looked like one of the nicest on the island (of course some of the other golf clubs also came with an annual membership fee of $70,000 Bermuda Dollars - enough of a deterrent even if you did live here!).

All in all, we managed to avoid most of the weather - we had a few sprinkles during our half-hour stay in St. George’s - but we had to get back to the ship for a 4:00 departure. This is one of the few ports where, by Admiralty Law, not just local law, it is required that ships arrive AND depart in daylight. It apparently has something to do with the coral reefs that ring the island around and have caused over 350 shipwrecks in Bermuda’s long 400 year history.

We seem to be having a certain amount of luck with the weather this segment. Just as we were leaving the harbour, the weather closed in again and we left in the same kind of fog as when we arrived. Even though we will only be skirting the Bermuda Triangle, keep your fingers crossed…..

Newport to New York and Beyond

The first part of this trip has been pretty busy. So busy, in fact, that we are just now getting caught up here on Day 2 of the next segment!


After a leisurely sail from Boston, we arrived in beautiful sunshine, in Newport, Rhode Island, the smallest state in the Union. How small you ask? Don’t blink! The entire state is only 50 miles from bottom to top and it is not much wider!

Back in the 1920’s and ‘30’s, Newport was the “summer playground” of the ”Oh so rich” of New York City society and our tour was a photo excursion to some of the more grandiose “summer cottages”. We don’t know about anyone else, but these pictures are not exactly what comes to mind when we think of a “cottage”!

'The Breakers', summer home of the Vanderbilts

Sunset over Naragansett Bay

After leaving Newport, another leisurely overnight sail brought us to New York City and yet another sunny day. It’s actually kind of hard to believe it’s early November! We were docked at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, located, oddly enough, in midtown Manhattan at 50th Street & 11th Avenue. The first segment of the cruise ended Monday and the second segment started yesterday.

Monday’s tour was “Two views of New York”, a bus tour followed by a harbour boat cruise. Traffic in Manhattan on a Monday has to be seen to be believed. Take downtown Toronto in the middle of a blizzard and multiply it by four and you have some idea of how well the traffic moves. No one goes anywhere in a hurry and our bus was no exception. As this was a “sightseeing” ride, we zig-zagged back and forth across Manhattan, working our way to the south end of the island where we were to board the boat at 11:00AM. In a straight line we might have gone a mile. It took 90 minutes to get there. And then we missed the boat!!! After our guide had been assured that the boat would wait for us, we watched it pull away as we were half way down the pier! Our guide was not amused!! The free time we were supposed to have at the end of the tour shifted to the middle (although the hour and a half until the next boat sailing was probably more time than originally planned) and we did finally get the harbour cruise. We saw all of the major sites on and near the water: Battery Park, the Staten Island Ferry, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, and of course, the Statue of Liberty. All while being regaled with a non-stop monologue from the boat’s tour guide, who we are pretty sure is a member of the NYC Chamber of Commerce!! Man could he talk!

The Brooklyn Bridge

The Statue of Liberty

Monday being the “last day” of the first cruise, after our return from the tour we set about NOT packing and otherwise enjoying the fact it was NOT our last night on the ship and we didn’t have to get off the next morning. We were the source of much envy (and a certain amount of “abuse”) from our tablemates at dinner. We really had a great group at the table and were sorry that none of them were staying on with us. Not as sorry as they were, but………. As it turns out, we are staying at the same table for this cruise. Hopefully we will have another great group!



Tuesday was “turnaround day” for the ship, so we decided we would stay out of the way of those getting off and have breakfast “au cabin”. Promptly at 9:00, Victor, our Butler, wheeled in breakfast and as you can see from the picture, a hearty breakfast it was.

Once the shuttle for “in transit” passengers started running we went in to midtown Manhattan and made like tourists. We visited the observation level at the Rockefeller Centre, otherwise known as “The Top of the Rock”. It is not as high as the more famous top of the Empire State Building, but it does have one major advantage: you can see the Empire State Building from the Top of the Rock, something you can’t do from the Empire State Building!

As the ship was scheduled to sail at 7:00PM, we decided to have dinner at The Sushi Bar in Silk Road so we could be out on deck when we sailed past the Statue of Liberty. As you can see from the picture, we ate exotically and well. Since we also didn’t have to go to lifeboat drill, which was happening at the same time, we also ate alone. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves for most of dinner! The sail out from New York was spectacular and the Statue of Liberty is an impressive sight. Unfortunately the pictures didn’t turn out quite as impressively!

The Sushi Bar

Liberty by Night

Manhattan Skyline

Today, Wednesday, we are at sea on our way to Bermuda. It’s a bit overcast but it is at least warm enough that we actually sat out on our balcony for the first time! Good thing since we had just come back from the gym and really needed to cool off! As it happens, we are sailing along the northern edge of the infamous “Bermuda Triangle”, sooooo if you never hear from us again, you will know why!

More tomorrow. (They said optimistically!)

Adventures in Beantown - Day 2

For the FIRST TIME since we got onboard the ship, we awoke Saturday morning to sunshine and a clear, blue sky. It was still a bit chilly, we were told there was actually ice on the pool deck, but at least it wasn’t raining OR windy!! After an early breakfast, we set off on our tour, The Freedom Trail Walk.

After brief bus ride through the very quiet early morning (it was only 8:30!) streets of Boston, we arrived once again at the Massachusetts State House, the scene of the previous evening’s follies! The Freedom Trail is a walk through the story of Revolutionary War Boston and even though the State House was nothing but an open field on the side of Beacon Hill in 1775, the Trail starts there. Over the next three hours we passed by and/or visited places we had only read about in school history books (or seen on Cheers!) but never really thought we would ever see; Boston Common, The Old Granary Burying Ground, Faneuil Hall, The Old North Church and Paul Revere’s home, among many others. We even saw the site of the Boston Tea Party, which, oddly enough, considering they threw the tea in Boston Harbour, is now nowhere NEAR the harbour!! Our guide, Bob, was incredibly knowledgeable with all sorts of tales about the people and the times. We found out afterward that he has done 5000 tours over 20 years as a guide!!!

Paul Revere with the Old North Church in the background.  The church was where the signal lanterns were held:  "One if by land, two if by sea"

The statue of Benjamin Franklin in front of the original Boston City Hall.
After the tour ended we parted company with Bob and proceeded to Ye Olde Union Oyster House for lunch. This is the oldest continuously serving restaurant in the United States and is designated as a National Historic Landmark. The oyster bar is on the main floor and the dining room is on the second floor. It’s a small place with a very unique feature; an “oyster elevator” used to move shucked oysters (and beer!) from the bar to the dining room so as not to spill anything on the stairs!! Lunch was oysters (of course), clam chowder (we are in New England after all) crab cakes and fish! And it was delicious!

This being the President’s Cruise, there are a number of staff from Crystal’s Head Office in LA onboard. Earlier this week we received an invitation to dine with Mary-Catherine Wilks, the Director of Crystal Society, Crystal’s past passenger loyalty program and tonight was the night. We were seated with Mary-Catherine, Nikki Andrew, the Onboard Cruise Sales Consultant, a couple from San Francisco and two older single ladies. In the “small world” department, one of the ladies actually lives in Unionville near Markville Mall!! Mary-Catherine’s birthday had been a couple of days earlier and she had thought she had kept it secret. Wrong! The string trio, the Headwaiter and every waiter in the Dining Room came to sing her Happy Birthday! All organized by Dr. Jerry (and his wife Nancy), the other couple at the table. We got to know them over dinner (his sense of humour is similar to Larry’s !!) and as they are staying on to Miami as well, they asked us to join them at their table at dinner next segment. We found out afterward they are approaching 100 cruises on Crystal and it’s the Vice Captain’s table! Looks like we’re “moving up in the world”!!

Returning to our cabin at the end of the evening we discovered we weren’t the only ones who thought the President’s Excursion was something of a fiasco. In our mail slot was a letter from the Hotel Director apologizing for “not achieving their usual high standards” last evening and informing us that they are refunding us 50% of the cost of the excursion. A class move on their part in our opinion.

Adventures in Beantown - Day 1

After a rather bumpy ride from Halifax, we arrived in sunshine at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal in Boston at Noon Friday. After a warm (???) greeting from US Customs and Border Services and lunch at the All-American Poolside Buffet (which is not served anywhere near the pool) it was time to get ready for the “highlight” of the President’s Cruise, The President’s Shore Excursion!


Crystal does a “President’s Cruise” at least once a year and each one includes a “highlight” excursion, usually something exotic. And expensive. Well this time they got one of those two right. The tour included a visit to the JFK Library followed by a tour and reception at the Massachusetts State House. The highlight was supposed to be “an address from the balcony” by a surprise dignitary. Since Ted Kennedy is no longer with us…………..

Promptly at 2:30PM (the only prompt thing that happened all tour) we left for the Library. This is a very impressive facility and someplace we do want to come back to. It starts with a short video that ends with JFK’s acceptance speech at the 1960 Democratic Convention. You then enter a series of exhibits in roughly date order covering Kennedy’s Presidency. It certainly needs at least two hours to see everything properly. We got just over 45 minutes!

Then it was back in the buses for what turned out to be the highlight of the excursion. As we had to get, essentially, from the south end of Boston to the middle of Downtown Boston on a Friday, in rush hour, a police escort was provided. Four big highway buses and a van took off and raced through the streets accompanied by four Boston motor officers on gleaming Harleys, lights flashing and sirens wailing!!

At one point we entered Interstate 93 which had been blocked off for our passage. We had the ENTIRE highway to ourselves! Entering downtown, sirens still wailing, people were trying to see what “important dignitaries” were arriving in their fair city. Wonder what they would have thought if they had known it was just a bunch of cruiseship passengers?? Of course as one fellow in our bus joked, “we are late for dinner!”

After all that excitement, we entered the State House and were given a nice tour ending with a “cocktail reception”. Only problem was the tour ended at 5:15 and alcoholic beverages could not, by law, be served in the State House before 6:00PM. Would you believe Diet Coke and water served in wine glasses and cocktail nibblies?? For an hour?? Finally at 6:15 they usher us into “The Great Hall of Flags” for the speech from the “Celebrity Dignitary”. We’re not sure about anyone else, but WE had never heard of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and we aren’t exactly sure that he qualifies as a “celebrity”. After his 30 second speech, Gregg Michel, the President of Crystal made a 30 second speech, then they both left the balcony and 140 people looked at each with the same question plainly visible on their face “That’s it?? We paid all this money for that, Diet Coke and water?”

Back on the ship, we had an 8:30 dinner reservation at Prego, the Italian restaurant. I had made it that late because we weren’t supposed to be back until 7:30. When I asked about maybe moving it up a bit, I mentioned to the Maitre D’ that the tour got back early. He just rolled his eyes and said “I know.” That one gesture pretty much summed up the “President’s Excursion”! Now in fairness, when we got back to our cabin there was a very nice gift of a “coffee table” photo book of Boston signed by the author. Also included were copies of the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts proclamations of Friday November 6, 2009 as “Crystal Cruises Day”. Of course no one thought to mention that little detail in their speech!

Lighthouse and Lobster - Halifax

After the rains of Montreal, the winds of Quebec and the rains AND winds of Charlottetown, we arrived in Halifax to broken clouds, no wind…………..and the sound of a man strangling a pig! Actually it was member of the Nova Scotia Highlanders Regiment welcoming us with a bagpipe serenade. Right below our balcony!!!


Our tour in Halifax was the aforementioned Lighthouse & Lobster tour, a trip to Peggy’s Cove followed by a lobster lunch. The tour started with a bus trip through the city, including the Citadel, the fortress that overlooks Halifax Harbour from the top of the hill that downtown Halifax is built into. For those who have never been there, Halifax is built into a very steep hill. It is not unusual to enter a building at street level, climb several flights of stairs and exit the same building at street level of the next street up! Larry has been to Halifax several times and the view from the Citadel is fabulous. Unfortunately all we had time for was a drive around it.

The trip to Peggy’s Cove is about 45 minutes through what we are sure is beautiful country in the summer. At this time of year, with most of the leaves down, you get the sense that Mother Nature is getting ready for hibernation, a feeling we had several times during the day. In each port, we have been the last ship of the season and Halifax was no exception. One advantage to that, of course, is no crowds! Ours was the only tour bus in the parking lot! We have been told that in peak tourist season you’re lucky to GET to the parking lot, never mind find a parking spot! Being the only ones there meant great photo ops, which means pictures of the lighthouse without several dozen strangers in the shot. Or in the case of the “Court Photographer” (AKA-Monica), with only several local seagulls in the shot. We wandered the village for about an hour, and again, the feeling of Mother Nature shutting down was pervasive. It was actually “picture postcard” perfect and very peaceful, with just the right mix of sun and clouds.

After an hour at the lighthouse we reboarded our bus for the short drive to Hubbard’s Bay and our lobster lunch at the Dauphinee Inn, another “picture postcard” location about 40 minutes outside of Halifax. The inn sits at the top of Hubbard’s Bay and has been run by the same family for eight generations, and “lobster supper”, or in our case lunch, is their specialty. Home made cole slaw, TWO one pound lobsters (cooked to perfection), followed by wild blueberry crumble. Yes, the lobster was as good as it looks in the picture. Monica, being her Mother’s daughter, did Mom proud! There was nothing left of her two lobsters but the shells and you had to look closely to make sure she hadn’t eaten THEM as well!!! Again, this is a place we will come back to in the future!

Reboarding the bus, we headed back to Halifax and the ship. We were docked at Pier 22, which in itself is not significant, but Pier 21 was the first point of entry for 1.5 million post-war immigrants. Including Monica’s Father in the Spring of 1952! Our driver told us about a research center in Pier 21 and suggested we might be able to find her Dad’s landing records, so we decided to check it out. The “happy ending” would have us doing just that, but unfortunately privacy legislation keeps these types of records under lock and key until 75 years later. Still in all , it was neat to realize that we were “walking in his footsteps” 57 years later! And yes, we took pictures.

Today, after a rockin’ and rollin’ night on the ocean, we arrive in Boston for the first of two nights. We are taking “The President’s Excursion” to the JFK Library followed by a champagne reception at the Massachusetts State House. After a musket welcome by Revolutionary War re-enactors, Gregg Michel (El Presidente de Crystal) is supposed to be making an “address from the balcony” (whatever that means) followed by a welcome from a “Massachusetts Celebrity”, the identity of whom is a surprise.

This evening we dine in Prego and tomorrow we are doing the “Freedom Trail” walk in downtown Boston. The good news, if The Weather Channel is to be believed, is that we should have sunshine and temps in the 16C range from now through next Tuesday in New York. That would be nice, but we shall see!

Until tomorrow………..

Bob-Bob-Bobbing Along

Off of the coast of Nova Scotia. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!


Since our last update it has rained. A lot! We had a lovely day’s sail down the St. Lawrence to Charlottetown with high hopes that the sunny weather would hold up…but more on that later.

On Sunday, we finally met all of our tablemates. On Friday we sat at a separate table (right beside our regular one) with Michael and on Saturday the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle party was scheduled in such a way that we would have had to rush dinner. We had our butler, Victor, make a reservation for us at Silk Road instead, and we had Sushi and such after the party. The people at the table include a doctor from LA who is traveling with her mother-in-law (yes, people DO ask how either of them can do it!) and two other couples. It’s a great table and we’ve managed to be almost the last out of the dining room on both occasions so far!!

Monday was the first formal night, and being the President’s Cruise, it was also our first opportunity to meet Gregg Michel, the president of Crystal Cruises. Guest photos with the captain on this occasion also include Gregg. He will be on board until New York and involved in many of the guest parties and events.  This isn't the greatest photo of a photo, but you get the idea.

Back to the weather. Tuesday dawned with heavy cloud but no rain that we could see at first glance. Of course, once we left the ship to go into Charlottetown it started sprinkling. By the time we got off the shuttle bus, well, let’s just say that the driver of the bus bore a striking resemblance to Noah (of Ark fame). The original plan had been to walk around town, stay for lunch and then come back to the ship. But after an hour in the rain, we decided that PEI mussels and oysters weren’t worth drowning for. You know it was bad when the high point of our visit to Charlottetown was taking money out of the Green Machine.

Back on board, we decided to hit the gym. Imagine our surprise to find Paolo, the maitre d’ of specialty restaurants (Prego and Silk Road) working out as well. The irony of sweating off the pounds in the company of the man responsible for making reservations so we can put the pounds on in the first place was not lost on us, as he reminded us at breakfast this morning.

Today is the last full sea day of this cruise, with a half-day between Halifax and Boston. It seems really odd to have this day so close to the middle of the cruise, and it is causing havoc with the lecture and sea day activities as they’ve had to squeeze them all in to a relatively short period. Even the Grand Gala Buffet was held today - see the photos. As usual it did not disappoint.

This afternoon, Gregg Michel and Thomas Mazloum, the senior vice president in charge of hotel operations, held a presentation and Question and Answer session where they talked about Symphony’s recent drydock, future plans for the ships and upcoming itineraries.

Much of Crystal’s senior management attends the President’s Cruise and uses it as an opportunity to talk to Crystal Society members. One way they do this is to host dining tables throughout the cruise so they get some time with small groups. We have been invited to have dinner with the Director of the Crystal Society on Saturday. Not sure what “qualified” us for this honour, (after all the “top” Society member onboard is celebrating his 193rd Crystal cruise!!!) but it should be interesting.

Well, time to start getting ready for the evening. Victor should be showing up any time now with pre-dinner snacks. (We’ll post his photo soon). It certainly is nice to have a butler to take care of the little things! And as our friend Keith warned us would happen, we are rapidly getting used to it!!!

If it’s Sunday, this must be Quebec!!!

Greetings from sunny, but nippy, Quebec City! Our first few days onboard have been, to say the least, busy ones. So busy in fact that it took until lunch this afternoon for Larry to get his Double Caramel ice cream and Oatmeal-Raisin cookie fix! If that doesn’t qualify this as “hardship cruise” we don’t know what does!!!

Boarding a cruise without leaving the country is certainly a new and different experience. No time zone changes, no overnight flights, and even though we flew to Montreal, no Immigration/Passport/Customs clearance required! Actually, we left home at 7:15AM and arrived at the pier at 11:00AM. Unfortunately boarding didn’t start until 12:00 Noon, but we were, in fact, the first ones onboard when it did, had a nice “Champagne Lunch” (okay, Monica had the Champagne) and were in our cabin and unpacked by 2:30!

On Friday afternoon our friend Michael joined us for a visit and dinner on board. He has never been on a cruise ship before and was quite impressed by the ship and the staff. We hope he went home with some good memories of the evening - we certainly had a great time and it was nice to be able to see him again.

On Saturday we did an all day tour to Mont Tremblant in the Laurentians about a two hour drive north of Montreal. While the day started out with some sun, by the time we were about half way there the rain had started. Fortunately it only lasted until we got back to the ship at 4:30PM! This is advertised as a “Fall colours” tour and I suppose if one considers “grey” to be a “Fall colour”, it delivered what was advertised. Actually the area around Tremblant is quite beautiful and we will definitely come back again. On the positive side, parents from the local communities bring their children to the “ski village” area of the resort at Halloween for trick or treat at all of the shops and that was fun to watch. People all over Quebec certainly do put some thought and effort into Halloween - from a couple of small towns we stopped at, like Saint Saveur, to the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, the decorations and the costumes were much more imaginative than what we see at home.

Today we are in Quebec City where the day dawned sunny but windy with a temperature of about 8C. The ship is docked directly below the Chateau Frontenac, as you can see from the picture, and this morning we did a walking tour of the Old Town followed by a horse-drawn buggy ride through the Upper Town, which included a drive-by(?) of the Plains of Abraham. This too is a place we will return to. In much warmer weather!!! Actually the weather has been a source of some amusement. There are a LOT of people onboard who live in the Southern US states. They are very easy to identify; hats, gloves/mitts, heavy boots and winter coats. And of course, one lady in a full length (it sure looked like Mink) coat and another in a (it sure looked like Mink) stole!!! Of course for all I know about furs, it might also have been Squirrel!!!

Tomorrow we have the first of two sea days on this segment. This is Crystal’s annual “President’s Cruise” meaning, although we haven’t seen him yet, Greg Michel, the President of Crystal, is onboard and hosting the cruise. We have been told that tomorrow will be chock-a-block full of “presidential-type” events to look forward to - whatever that means. So, until tomorrow……………….