DAY 20 - DAY 15 CRYSTAL SERENITY - DISEMBARKATION DAY - BOSTON

Before dinner, we had pre-dinner drinks at the Crystal Cove. We sat with Tommy along with a very nice couple that we met for the first time this cruise.  Once again, we enjoyed listening to pianist John Mentis and look forward to seeing John again on the 2015 World Cruise.

Last night was our final dinner for this voyage.

We wanted to go with a seafood but when we looked over the menus the night before the two on the menu were not the ones we prefer.  One was Fish 'n' Chips from the Crystal Classics menu and the other on the Modern Menu was an Arctic Brill with Lobster Potato Hash, Pea Puree and Carrot Vinaigrette and we just wanted something simpler so we pre-ordered Sea Bass.

The sea bass was a wise decision.  It was very tasty and very moist.

We won't go through the normal detail of what we had for dinner except to say we enjoy another fantastic meal in the dining room and we thank everyone who made this another wonderful experience for us and that includes not only the wait staff and sommelier but also the galley team.  Thank you.  Thank you.

When we arrived back to our room, we finished packing and put our suitcases right outside our room.  Rao saw Keith putting out the suitcases and he said he would take care of it.

During the course of this cruise we sailed from Southampton to Boston and we sailed at total of 3,927 nautical miles or the equivalent of 4,516 land miles.

Like clockwork, Keith was up early and did some reading and writing and then went to the Lido Café for the final time of this voyage.  He not only enjoys this time of morning as he has some coffee, but it provides a great opportunity for him to speak with the extraordinary Lido Deck Café Stewards as they busily prepared for the morning breakfast.  With this being disembarkation day, they had lots to get ready as the full Breakfast Buffet was to being earlier than normal.   Others from the Specialty Restaurants and from the Galley began their day earlier as well.

Keith thanked those from the crew who he saw at the Lido Café one more time and wished them all the best.  Some will be onboard as soon as we board in late December while some will be home and rejoin the cruise later. 

He brought back coffee for Anne Marie and then we began to freshen up.  We had early breakfast in our room and as we did throughout the cruise kept if very simple just eating for breakfast what we regularly eat at home.

Each guest disembarking Serenity in Boston received luggage tags and the color and the number on the tags indicates the time that they may disembark the ship.  It is primarily based on each guest’s disembarkation plans including whether or not they are staying in Boston, times of departing flights, as well as what type of transfer they have arranged. 

There was a slight delay in disembarkation by around thirty minutes.  We do know that one woman's name was called a couple of times about meeting with immigration personnel.   

While we waited to depart the ship we spoke with friend Barbara and also to several crew members and officers.  Hotel Director Josef came up to us to wish us his best and to say he looked forward to seeing us when he board on January 4.  We kidded around with some crew members depending on their schedules as some will welcome us when we board on December 21 and we will welcome some when they board after that.  We spoke with one member of the crew as we were in the cruise terminal who will be beginning a new role on land after many years at Crystal Cruises.  Her boyfriend is on land so it was now time for her to begin the next chapter of her life.  Hopefully, we will see her again when we visit her home country.

Our vehicle met us a couple of minutes before our scheduled pickup time.

The Black Falcon Cruise Terminal is located a short distance from downtown Boston and relatively close to Logan Airport.  Once at the airport we checked in for our flight and since we were each approved for the pre TSA approval we were fortunate that we didn't have to remove shoes, belts, liquids and computers.  

We took two flights back home and thankfully both were on-time and we must say that the flight crew on each flight were quite good. We were in the front of the plane for both flights and the food on the longer haul flight was better than usual for airline food.  It was certainly not like the food we've had for the past couple of weeks but for airline food it was quite good.  

When we arrived to the luggage claim we were met by our driver and once we collected our luggage we were driven home.

Now its back to reality.

This has been another extraordinary cruise.  We were fortunate to have wonderful weather for our pre-cruise and other than one day of some moving and shaking at sea we had terrific weather for a North Atlantic Crossing both at sea and in port.  The ports of call were very enjoyable and a highlight for us was our first visit to Belfast.  Our on board experience was amazing and we really enjoyed the enrichment and entertainment programs, the cuisine, and the outstanding service.  

We hope that you have enjoyed this Blog and in someway felt apart of the voyage.   

We will do a much more extensive Blog when we board Serenity on December 21 and we hope you will follow along.

Until then.....

Keith & Anne Marie