Week 1 (March 25

No other city is quite like gleaming Hong Kong. Nor does any other city have a skyline quite like Hong Kong. Soaring skyscrapers rise from the hills and harbor, blending geography and nature with commercial concrete, steel and pulsating neon in a way that brings traditional Chinese culture and Western-style commerce into perfect harmony.

The bustling city streets are lined with teeming markets and sophisticated boutiques tucked tightly into any available crevice. Some of the world’s best shopping is found in Central, located on Hong Kong Island and only a short ferry ride away, while the city’s remarkable skyline is best viewed from Kowloon.

East meets West and the result is electric. Although Hong Kong has returned to its original Chinese roots, it still remains a cosmopolitan city with influences, languages and accents from around the world.

It is still cloudy today, but at least it isn’t raining. We are up early again due to an announcement by the Captain at 8:00am. However, no announcements were made for disembarking guests, which really does help keep the peace on these days for intransit guests.

We made it to the Lido for one of our rare breakfasts. All we have planned for today is to explore the rest of the huge mall that is connected to the cruise terminal, itself a mall. Since the view across the harbor is a bit clearer today, we went up to take some new photos so you can at least see the top of the buildings and a few more details. Here they are: Skyline 1, Skyline 2, Skyline 3, Skyline Later, Ferry.

An interesting construction method still in use here is bamboo scaffolding. Yes, it is used even in building skyscrapers! Otherwise, the buildings are quite modern and use state of the art designs. Next to the ship, a huge billboard is being dismantled and it too is covered with this web of bamboo. The end of the terminal building, also under construction, also has this gridwork.

Before starting our walk, we tried to use the phone card that Augusto gave us last night. It made the connection, but Bill couldn’t be heard on the other end. He tried three times with no luck. Finally, it dawned on Dave to call Directory Assistance and ask for the AT&T access code, which he did. That worked! So, we made the calls as usual through AT&T.

That done, we went back to gather our belongings for the day and went back out into the mall. It certainly is convenient stepping right into a shopping mall from the gangway. Although the mall is pleasant and it isn’t nearly as crowded today as it was yesterday, we didn’t find anything to buy except some magazines. That small purchase confirmed that the credit card linked to our brokerage account is indeed blocked. We are not happy campers! We’re just glad it didn’t happen until now because we will have to use other cards that will have bills to be paid rather than debited.

We made an attempt to call the customer service center for the account to straighten things out, but the hours are so limited that it will be impossible for us to do anything about it now. We would either have to stay up extremely late or get up extremely early, neither of which is going to happen.

They sure do have the latest electronics here. Prices for plasma flat screen TV’s are very reasonable compared to the U.S., but obviously we aren’t going to buy one of those and haul it home. It was fun for us to look at everything though.

We were back on board and finished for the day by 1:30pm. At that point we decided to nap since we had awakened so early. We did look over the balcony a few times to watch a person screaming because they arrived early and boarding doesn’t begin until 3:00pm. That fact is clearly stated several times in the brochures, on the ticket, etc. And, as stated, Crystal never allows early boarding.

· A letter from the President of Crystal (this is the President’s Cruise, so he will be here)

We went back to the room to drop off the cameras and met our new butler, Rainer, from Austria. The conversation was a bit awkward, but he seems very nice. He should be just fine.

Next step toward dinner is to wait in Palm Court and gaze in awe at the view. The ship is in a perfect position to view the city lights across the water. It is so beautiful that it looks like a painting.

Eloise and Dick sat behind us. He had to go wait for some custom suits to be delivered to the gangway, so we chatted with Eloise for a while. She has the same opinion of Crystal that we do. It is very nice, but not as perfect as they want us to believe it is. At least she is willing to be honest on the QAP. She has basically the same complaints we do. Nothing major, just small things that would be easy to fix IF they were really interested in fixing them. She said that several of the full World Cruise guests are annoyed because many of the special perks for such guests aren’t materializing this time. They have also noticed that anyone can get into the World Cruise events with no questions asked. We thought that was happening, but we don’t know enough people to be sure. Eloise is sure, as are many World Cruisers, that people are easily crashing luncheons and such. Crystal’s staff is too chicken to say anything, so they get away with it. She thinks the President will get an earful at his reception, but we doubt anyone will complain to his face.

By the way, Dick’s suits were never delivered, so one of the golf pros from the ship went off to search for them at the tailor shop. He said that one of the Filipinos at the gangway said, “Indian shops garbage, should always go to Chinese.” We had heard that on our first trip here, but had forgotten about it.

Appetizers
Sautéed Jumbo Prawns with Slow Roasted Vegetable Salad
Burgundy Ham with Arugala and Toasted Baguette with Dijon Mustard Rémoulade
Forest Mushroom Terrine with Tomato Coulis
Tropical Fruit Cocktail with Grand Marnier

From the Soup Kettle
Cream of Minestrone with Scallops
Beef Consommé with Truffle Célestine
Chilled Lingonberry Soup with Sour Cream

Salads
Traditional Caesar Salad with Parmesan Shavings and Homemade Garlic Croutons
Sliced Tomatoes and Mozzarella Cheese with Basil and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Main Fares
Roasted Rack of Wisconsin Veal
Broiled Filet of Fresh Chilean Sea Bass
Herb-Marinated Chicken Breast with Cheese Crust
Grilled Black Angus Sirloin Steak

Dessert
Chocolate Hazelnut Pudding Soufflé with Fudge Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream
French Style Lemon Cheese Cake
Exotic Fruit Ratatouille with Banana Semifreddo
Sugar-Free Mocha Cream Puff
Sugar-Free Coconut Snowball with Fudge Sauce
Assortment of Fruit is Season
Homemade Cookies

Food review: The soup was outstanding. Salads were back to normal and very good. The entrée was also outstanding. We had the same thing last cruise and it was just average. Someone must have tweaked the recipe because it was great this time. Dessert was very good.

Jerry was alone tonight because Ger is sick. Well, he has some sort of rash on his face and is too embarrassed to work, according to Jerry. We saw it last night and discussed it with him. It looks like razor burn to us. We have the same problem when we first get on the ship. It must be the dry air or the water. Anyway, Ger has an excuse from the doctor, so he can’t work. Jerry was worried about the service, but it was fine. It probably isn’t the best way to start a cruise for the new guests (everyone except us at his station), but if he hadn’t mentioned it, nobody would have noticed.

We finally mentioned the deep fried turkey to Augusto who immediately ran to tell the chef. The chef has never heard of such a crazy thing and the fry cook Jerry talked to about it went home. Oh well. Looks like we missed our chance. A waiter complained to Augusto that the phone card he gave him had the same problem we did, so we know it isn't just us.

Tonight’s entertainment is the usual introductory production show, “Pirates to Pinafore.” Everyone already knows how we feel about this show. We skipped it, of course.

Sailing time is at 11:00pm tonight, an occasion not to be missed for the spectacular lights. We had no idea how huge the city is. It goes on and on and on, around every bend. It is wall to wall skyscrapers. We got some really good digital pictures of the lights after dark and stayed on deck until the ship was completely out of the harbor. Here is a sequence of the building with the color changes: One, Two, Three. It really is an amazing effect that gradually blends into another color starting from the bottom of the building.

It was fun when the Captain shined a search light on the Intercontinental Hotel (formerly The Regent) where Crystal guests stay before and after their cruise. We remember being in our room forlornly watching as the ship sailed away without us. The whistle was blown three times in front of the hotel and we could see people running to their window to wave. We sure are glad we’re not being left behind again!

Percy came out and told us that he mentioned us to his wife and she remembers us. These are the musicians from the Maasdam cruise over ten years ago we mentioned months ago. We weren’t sure that he didn’t have us mixed up with someone else, but his wife remembered a specific incident with us that we do remember. So, although we can’t recall the details, he’s right about knowing us.

It seems that we are finished with the heat and humidity for a while. Today’s weather is overcast, very windy and cool. There is another lifeboat drill at 10:00am, so we are up early whether we like it or not. They no longer let continuing guests skip the drill, although we can’t imagine what they can do to those who don’t show up. In order to make it comfortable enough outside for the drill, the ship had to stop and change course to alleviate the wind. It’s also only 50 degrees.

With the brief chore of the drill over, we rushed to beat the crowd to the Bistro for a snack. Obviously, someone read the complaints about staff hogging tables because they were looking around like deer caught in headlights. A few of them left, but several stayed even when the room filled up. However, the Food and Beverage Manager was taking note of who was there when they shouldn’t be, which is a first. We estimate this will last about a day and a half. Then things will return to normal until someone complains again.

Myra, the “hat woman”, sat with us because there were no empty seats. We met her through Mel and Barbara the other day. She’s really quite amusing. We always say she must have more luggage than anyone because she has a different hat for every day of the cruise and another one for each night.

We were going to go to the Dining Room for lunch, but we decided to forget it and go back to bed. We were literally falling asleep sitting up, but we’re not sure why. We got plenty of sleep in spite of the early drill.

Appetizers
Steamed Black Mussels in a Light White Wine Sauce, Served with Garlic Bread
Avocado Wedge Stuffed with Baby Shrimp, Topped with Aioli Sauce
Freshly Roasted Chicken Breast with Grapefruit Segments and Watercress
Chilled Supreme of Tropical Fruit with Maraschino

From the Soup Kettle
Navy Bean Soup with Garlic Croutons and Crisp Bacon
Chicken Broth with Vegetable Pearls
Chilled Yogurt and Mango Soup

Pasta Special
Tortellini Pasta with Green Peas, Cream, and Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Salad Entrees
Chicken Caesar Salad
Chopped Spring Vegetable and Bulgar Wheat Salad

Main Fares
Sandwich of the Day – The French Dip
French Style Bouillabaisse
Stuffed Chicken Paillard
Lamb Curry “Madras Style”
Roasted Herb Crusted Turkey Breast

Desserts
Apple Empanadas with Vanilla Sauce
Chocolate Fudge Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream
Strawberry Cream Roulade
Sugar-Free Ice Cream Cake

A bit of laundry was taken care of during the afternoon, but that’s about it. Rainer brought our guacamole snack just after we had some ice cream, but we ate it anyway since we skipped lunch. He might be an even more valuable source of gossip because he has been here since the beginning.

We learned today something we had already guessed, that Joe Watters didn’t leave of his own accord. Word has it that his lavish spending on shows that flopped had something to do with it, among other things along a similar theme. Personally, we would rather see them spend $500,000 each on four shows rather than $2,000,000 on one that hangs on for years despite poor ratings.

Tonight’s dress code is Formal for the President’s Cocktail Reception. Rainer told us that the dinner menus were recalled this morning when they discovered some of the items on it are not on board. That’s what you get when you repeat the same menus week after week without checking them first!

There is no Express Lane tonight and the line stretches all the way down the hallway to the elevators. Apparently, everyone wants to meet the new President. We’re not going anywhere, so we waited in the line for the usual photo with Gregg Michel and the Captain. In the meantime, James, the Photo Manager, chatted with us since he had no customers for formal portraits. He said that only about 30% of the photos taken are actually purchased these days, down from 40% on a normal cruise. He agreed when we suggested it is due to the fact that most of these people have probably had all of the same photos taken 100 times already.

Lara wanted to know if Jake had done anything cute lately. We told her the news that he understands English, but didn’t relate the details. Gregg appeared to remember us from the Gala Bon Voyage Party. Cindy Litzie, the Crystal Society Director, pretended she knows who we are, but we are quite certain she doesn't have a clue.

We sat in the corner, as usual. Nikki came over and joined us until the speeches started. She had a nightmare story to tell about cancelled flights and waiting in an airport for hours with tons of luggage. She was just glad she didn’t have to pay for all the extra tickets that were sent. We’re glad to see her back. Nikki is one of our all time favorite staff members (as she is with many guests). In case you don’t know, she is the Cruise Sales Consultant and has been with Crystal from the beginning.

By the way, we have heard from several sources that the cruise immediately following this one (after the World Cruise) is oversold. We have heard that the count is between 970 and 1000, depending on who we talk to. Nikki said that they are truly worrying that they will have to bump people. The same is true of the two cruises following. All of them are Value Collection cruises. When the guest count gets above about 800, the onboard experience seriously deteriorates and complaints become rampant. Although it might sound tempting, if you are considering your first Crystal Cruise, don't do it if it is a Value Collection cruise or a Perfect Harmony fare or you will not be getting a true representation of what Crystal can offer.

Appetizers
Iced Sevruga Caviar with Sour Cream, Chopped Egg, and Onions
Truffled Chicken Liver Parfait with Warm Brioche
Fresh Oysters on Ice with Red Wine Shallot Vinegar or Horseradish Sauce
Exotic Fruit in a Pineapple Boat with Orange Curacao

From the Soup Kettle
Wild Forest Mushroom Soup “Cappuccino Style”
Clear Oxtail Soup with Wild Rice and Chester Sesame Sticks

Main Fares
Broiled Australian Lobster Tail and King Crab Legs
Grilled Fresh John Dory Fillet
Chateaubriand
Stuffed Marinated Baked Quail

Dessert
Caramelized Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream
White Chocolate Truffle Cake with Strawberry Sauce
Passion Fruit Mille Feuille with Chocolate Rum Sauce
Sugar-Free Tiramisu
Sugar-Free Blueberry Turnover with Diet Ice Cream
Assortment of Fruit in Season
Truffles and Petit Fours

Food review: The assortment of fruit was fresh and interesting, which was a nice surprise. The salad was boring and was mostly big pieces of red cabbage and greens that looked like weeds. Our Chateaubriand was excellent as usual, but the portion gets smaller with each cruise. Of course, if we wanted more, it would be no problem, but we have had quite enough food, thank you. The stuffed potatoes served with the entrée would have been good if they hadn’t been dry as a bone. The Truffle Cake looked like a Hostess Ding Dong, but obviously had a better filling inside. It was very good, but extremely sweet. We only ordered the Passion Fruit selection to see what it was. Basically, it is mousse sandwiched between two sheets of puff pastry. Obviously, this presents a challenge to cut because it simply squishes all of the filling out. In any case, it tasted pretty much like air anyway.

Ger is back. He said that he had some sort of virus because he also had a fever and felt weak, in addition to the rash. He feels fine now and Jerry was quite happy to have him back. The doctor told Ger he has to wash his hair and face only with bottled water, which isn’t exactly convenient.

Augusto wants us to make some special orders, but we can’t think of anything we really want. It’s too difficult to decide in advance because we don’t want to miss something we like on the menu. The procedure is to tell him by lunchtime, or preferably, the night before. Of course, we could demand anything we want at the last minute and probably get it, but we wouldn’t do that.

Tonight’s entertainment is the revived production show “Spirit of America.” It was actually very good this time. The show was the same, but this cast is much tighter than the last one. One of the male dancers injured his ankle during the first show, so the Artistic Director, who hasn’t been on stage in years, took over. He did a fine job and if we didn’t know him, we never would have suspected anything odd had happened.

We received beautiful crystal globes for the President’s Cruise with the route etched onto it along with the Crystal logo and date. The only problem with this gift is that is has nothing to do with the World Cruise (everyone on this segment gets one) and it is by far the most expensive gift we have received so far and puts the World Cruise gifts to shame. In our humble opinion, this would have been a great keepsake of the entire World Cruise with the whole route etched onto it. People who go on many World Cruises could have a collection of all of their routes in beautiful display pieces. Since we haven’t been on a World Cruise before, we don’t have any sense of being deprived of anything, but after the comments Eloise made last night, we wonder how many full World Cruise guests will have something to say about “regular” guests receiving such a nice item?

Against our better judgment, we got up and went to the World Cruise Reception at 11:00am. The line filled the entire elevator lobby and doubled back on itself, so we went down to the landing and waited there. Many guests got out of line and sat on the stairs to wait. One woman, quite the bitch, we must say, joined us and complained the whole time. She’s about our age, so there really isn’t an excuse. And we thought we were cynical! We don’t hold a candle to this woman.

Once the line dwindled, we joined at the end. Artie made the mistake of saying something about all of us coming at the last minute. That set the woman off complaining because all of us had been there precisely at the stated time, but it took twenty minutes to get to this point. We didn’t really care, since we have nothing else to do, but some people were really annoyed. Honestly though, it could have been organized better to avoid this wait.

They seem to be running low on ideas for these things. We’re not sure what the theme is except they had hung those metal foil palm trees we used for the tacky Hawaiian Easter Luau we had last year. Bloody Marys and Mimosas were being served. We skipped them. Eventually, Susanne brought us some plain orange juice, although we didn’t mind going without. Myra sat with us again. She did the smart thing and arrived after the line was gone. She had also arrived right on time, but just gave up when she saw the line. It had occurred to her that the crystal globe we received last night should have been for the World Cruise and not handed out to everyone who just happens to be on this segment. By the way, the President is only on board until Beijing, not for the whole thing.

Other than the drinks, the only entertainment was an amateur quartet made up of a couple of guests, an Ambassador Host, and one of the Repertory at Sea actors. It was amusing for what it was. Then they surprised Pauline with a bouquet of roses for reaching her 100^th cruise. That part of the event was handled in a very awkward manner and people were looking around the room wondering what was going on.

From the party, we wandered out on deck toward the aft end of the ship. We ran into one of the Deck Stewards, Joseph, who has just returned from vacation. He was thrilled to see us, as they always seem to be. It’s amazing that the same guys are still here after all these years.

By this time it was 12:30pm and the Dining Room had filled up. We stopped for a minute to inquire about the state of Josef’s legs. He says they are better and he’s trying to eat a more healthy diet. He has come to the conclusion that stress is the major problem with both his legs and his hearing problem. He’s probably right.

Augusto rushed over to find a table for us. We ended up at a big table in the center section, but with only the two of us. Jerry came over looking annoyed (joking) because we aren’t at his station and that we didn’t come to breakfast in the Lido. He has just started with breakfast duty in the Lido and he seems to think we actually make it to breakfast. We set him straight on that issue.

Appetizers
Matjes Terrine with Beet Roots and Apple Sauce
Spicy Chicken Wings with Celery Sticks and Blue Cheese
Aubergine and Sprout Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing
Iced Supreme of Tropical Fruit

From the Soup Kettle
Three-Pepper Pot with Whole Wheat Croutons
Beef Broth with Vegetable Strudel
Cold Cream of Bananas with Dark Rum

Main Fares
Broiled Fillet of Fresh Grouper
Sandwich of the Day – The Pacific Tuna Melt
Chicken Crepes
Mixed Grill
Grilled Filet Mignon

Desserts
Churros – Cinnamon Fritters on Rhubarb Compote
Banana Chocolate Cream Cake
Ice Bomb Nelusco with Sauce Cardinale
Sugar-Free Mango Tartlet

Food review: Everything was extremely good, particularly the sandwich. The Cobb Salad was just a tossed salad with Cobb salad ingredients, but it tasted fine. The Churros, as always, are just small fritters. Augusto insisted that’s what Churros are, and he’s basically correct, except Churros should be long and firmer than fritters. A small quibble, but why not just call them fritters in the first place?

We couldn’t avoid talking to Sheldon, a flamboyant, very loud, overly friendly man who seems to be some sort of group leader. He is one of the World Cruise guests, but we think he’s just here because of the group. It’s sort of like a travel agent representative who is on board while a variety of guests come and go. Anyway, his table is so unruly in the Dining Room that other guests complain about it. He has been trying to make contact with us since day one, but we don’t want to be his friend, which drives him nuts. He’s one of those people who is always looking around to see who he’s impressing with his antics and everyone knows how much we just love people like that.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the afternoon. We’re both tired and not feeling all that great. Nothing major, just an ear infection or something like that. We don’t expect it will make much difference to our plans at this point. Our big thrill for the afternoon was watching a video of Titanic. Well, we saw the musical during a stopover in New York one time, so why not the movie this time?

We discovered, now that the ship’s satellite connection is fixed, that our Website is inaccessible for some reason. We’re trying to find out the cause with the hosting service. So, it’s not entirely our fault that the site wasn’t updated as regularly as it has been.

Appetizers
Snow Crab Tower with Salmon and Malossol Caviar
Combination of Potstickers and Dim Sum with Soy Dipping Sauce
Fresh Artichoke with Tomato-Herb Vinaigrette
Assorted Supreme of Fruit with Maraschino

From the Soup Kettle
Roman Soup with Pasta and Vegetables
Cream of Celery with Spinach Quenelles
Chilled Beet Root Soup with Sour Cream

Salads
Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves with Boiled Eggs, Sliced Mushrooms, and Crisp Bacon Bits
Heart of Iceberg Lettuce with Tomatoes, Potato Slices, and Lamb Lettuce

Main Fares
Broiled Fresh Pacific Salmon Fillet
Pink Roasted Duck Breast
Sautéed Sea Scallops and Shrimp
Grilled Black Angus Filet Steak

Dessert
Caramel Hazelnut Chocolate Tart à la Mode
Lilikoi Cheese Cake
”Bombe au Praline” Frozen Praline Cream Cake
Sugar-Free Chocolate Custard
Sugar-Free Lemon Strawberry Cake
Homemade Cookies
Assortment of Fruit in Season
Pina Colada Sherbet

Food review: All of the food tonight was satisfactory, but the soup needed salt added.

The Dining Room is almost completely empty and Ger is missing because of the Jewish Seder Dinner in the Lido tonight. Ger returned toward the end of dinner with stories to tell. Now he knows the whole story behind the Seder. And, now we know how many people on this cruise are Jewish! Must be 90% by the looks of the Dining Room.

Tonight’s entertainment is a Variety Showtime featuring “The World’s Foremost Dulcimer Virtuoso,” Pingxin Xu, and “Crystal’s #1 Comic,” Comedian Mike Goddard. We are very tired and have to get up tomorrow, but we want to see Mike Goddard. Unfortunately, we didn’t time our arrival quite right and we had to watch the dulcimer performance first. Not that he isn’t a great performer, but just how long can one listen to this instrument played alone? About two numbers is probably the answer, but we got six. Mike was worth waiting for though. His basic routine is usually pretty much the same, but he plays off the audience and the ports, so it’s always hysterical. He came out wearing his badge to go ashore tomorrow. You had to be there, but the whole thing was very funny.

Information on how they plan to handle the six hours we have to move forward on the clock after Japan has been announced. At this point, they plan to set the clock forward one hour immediately upon departure from the final Japanese port and then two hours more that night. The same thing will be done after we leave Hawaii. Sounds better than an hour forward every night.

Shanghai, located just inside the mouth of the great Yangtze River, marks the point where Asia’s longest and most important river completes its 3,400-mile journey to the Pacific. The city’s unique location is the source of its existence and has determined what it is today.

Until 1842, Shanghai was merely a tiny fishing village. Following the first Opium War, Shanghai became a treaty port, opening the city to foreign involvement and resulting in numerous British, French and American colonial settlements within the city and along the Yangtze River. Today, Shanghai is the center of China’s economic resurgence and its skyline attests to this in the form of towering skyscrapers, brightly lit commercial high-rises and the unsettling Oriental Pearl Tower.

A testimony to Shanghai’s colonial era, stately European buildings in art deco style line the Bund, the city’s spacious waterfront promenade. An endless flotilla of sampans edge along the Huangpu River, dividing old and new Shanghai. Beyond the rush of the city, serene ponds and gardens offer a gentle respite. Shanghai, as you’ll discover, has many faces.

Must-see sights include the Jade Buddha Temple and the tranquil Yu Gardens, impressive monuments to China’s history and style. Inland lies Wuxi, with its majestic Grand Canal and classical gardens, as well as equally significant Hangzhou, terminus of the Grand Canal and the center of China’s legendary tea industry.

It’s another gray, rainy day for us today. The temperature is cooler than it has been, around 55-60. We are docked in the muddy river directly across from the futuristic Oriental Pearl Tower, the third largest broadcasting tower in the world. Although the fog obscures most of the skyline, it is obvious that there is much new investment going on here. Gleaming skyscrapers, with innovative architecture, dot the waterfront on both sides and as far as the eye can see.

The river itself is quite busy, with boats and ships of every size going every which way with no apparent route to follow. Much whistle blowing and yelling accompanies most of this traffic. The port area itself is under redevelopment and two huge, modern apartment complexes are directly adjacent to the crumbing old buildings that are partially demolished with only their facades still standing.

We had a quick breakfast in the Lido, then rushed down to the lobby to change money. Too late, all the money was gone just as we arrived. No matter, we have arrangements for a private car, driver and guide today. We assume that any of the government stores they take us to will accept credit cards.

Everyone has to wear a badge when going ashore. This is to identify which ship or tour we are associated with and is in lieu of carrying our passport the entire time. At the bottom of the gangway, we were immediately met by a representative who summoned a guide from a waiting van and sent us on our way. Our guide, Wu, speaks outstanding English with barely an accent, so it will be a nice day in spite of the weather.

Shanghai was controlled by foreign governments for many years, so most of the buildings along The Bund, which is the waterfront boulevard, were built in a European style in the 1930’s. To say the traffic here is out of control is an understatement. Rather than relatively mild motor bikes as in Vietnam, the traffic here is a mix of cars, busses, and bicycles with absolutely no rules of the road. If the traffic stops on your side of the road, no problem, just drive on the wrong side or on the sidewalk. Horn honking is the order of the day. Amazingly, we saw no accidents of any kind. Unlike Vietnam, the traffic here does not stop for pedestrians. One must wind through the rushing traffic or stand in the middle of the street until it clears.

We were driven along The Bund and then to the other end of town to view a 3,000 year old pagoda in what even the Chinese call Chinatown. The main reason for the name is that although the buildings look old, they are modern recreations meant to lure both local and foreign tourists. The narrow streets are colorful, with banners and street vendors creating a festive atmosphere. In the middle of all of this chaos is an ancient tea house that is still in business today. We skipped a walk through the adjacent gardens because of the rain. The street scene was enough to give us an idea of what’s going on here anyway.

After briefly losing the driver, then the guide after she went looking for him, we continued to the pagoda. The street leading up to it is lined with vendors selling tea, plants, food, etc. It’s like a giant theme park, except it is real. Everything is clean and neat and very crowded. We didn’t go inside the temple that adjoins the pagoda. Last time we did something like that our clothing smelled of incense for a week.

Next we drove to a factory where silk rugs are woven by hand. It takes one woman over two months to make one of the least expensive rugs. There are some, which cost $15,000 for a 2’ x 3' size, that take one person over four years to complete. All of the rugs made at this factory are silk, hand tied with double knots. We purchased two small ones to use as tapestries. No, we did not buy one of the $15,000 versions! However, we didn’t buy the cheapest one either.

After this stop we went to a factory where they carve jade and stone figures. It was interesting to see the process, but we don’t want to buy any more jade carvings. But, we saw some very interesting embroidery on translucent silk that are so intricate we thought the designs were painted on the silk. We did buy one of those for a mere $28.00.

From here we continued to an area where people go to buy dogs, cats and birds. Because it was raining quite heavily at this point, it wasn’t all that interesting, but there were some really cute Myna birds and a huge fluorescent green parrot that threatened to bite the finger off of our guide.

By now, we had been on tour for about 3-1/2 hours, and with only half an hour remaining of our allotted time, we made a brief stop at the 1920’s Peace Hotel for a look at the Art Deco interior. Think Pantages Theater turned into a hotel lobby and you’ll get the picture.

This brings us back to the port. Our guide says it is not supposed to be raining tomorrow, so we plan to take the shuttle in to The Bund. She told us which streets would be most interesting to walk. We already know which buildings to photograph. The shuttle stop is at the government-run Friendship Store. The prices here are quite reasonable, so we may find more to purchase there tomorrow assuming we are still in the mood.

We stopped at the Front Desk to chat with Billy because he was staring forlornly across the lobby at us. He had all sorts of suggestions for places we can go tomorrow. We aren’t interested, but we humored him. There is a curfew for the crew tonight at 2:00am. He said there was supposed to be one in Vietnam, but the ship bribed an official with a few bottles of liquor and it was overlooked. No such deal here, although it could have been worked out for a certain fee that was too high for consideration. This curfew doesn’t apply to guests, but we do have to wear our badges whenever we leave the ship. There are police on board to make sure we comply.

Time for snacks at the Trident Grill. Nothing exciting, just grilled cheese, fruit and some cookies. There is casual dining here tonight, which hasn’t really appealed to us. But, there is nothing on the Dining Room menu this evening that excites us, so we have decided to give it a try and make it an early night.

We chatted for quite a while with Christina, a cocktail waitress from Sweden. She was in the elevator lobby directing guests to tea when we went by on the way to do our port photos. She confirmed the fact that no crewmember can remain in the U.S. for more than 24 hours after disembarking. They can go to Mexico and come back with no problem. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

When we got back to the room, Rainer tried to bring snacks, but we turned them down. Instead, he brought our clean laundry and some newspapers. He must be a lot older than he looks, because he remembers the days of the Royal Viking Star, which was at least fifteen years ago.

Susanna is finally warming up again. She actually had a conversation with us tonight and there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong, so she must have just been in a mood or something.

When we went up to check out the Casual Dining option, it was busy and the windows were steamed up, so we figured we’d just show up to the Dining Room as we are, which is fairly gross for us. Hey, we look better than 99% of the guests tonight anyway, so why not? In the meantime, we had drinks in Palm Court and watched the dancing.

There is quite a light show on the tall buildings around us. Besides the Oriental Pearl Tower across the way, there are multicolored spotlights scanning the sky from the downtown’s tallest buildings. It’s quite interesting in the fog. While trying to take pictures of it, we ended up making a short movie of the whole thing. Since it isn’t the best resolution, we also have some still pictures that show everything, too.

Appetizers
Lemon Pepper Crusted Smoked Salmon on Yukon Gold Potatoes and Caviar Crème Fraiche
Thai Prawn Cake with Roasted Pine Nuts and Cucumber Salad
Ricotta-Pear Carpaccio with Pecans and Chervil Vinaigrette
Chilled Tropical Fruit Cup, Sprinkled with Cointreau

From the Soup Kettle
Chicken Consommé with Mushroom Ravioli and Green Onions
Asparagus and Pea Soup with Parmesan Cheese
Chilled Yogurt, Strawberry, and Banana Soup

Salads
Heart of Boston Lettuce with Roasted Bell Peppers
Crackling Salad with Cream Cheese Fritters and Sesame Seed Dressing

Main Fares
Whole Roasted Game Hen
Fresh Ocean Perch Fillet
Seafood Paella
Old Fashioned T-Bone Steak

Dessert
Chocolate Tart with Spicy Vanilla Sauce and Coffee Ice Cream
Pistachio and Pine Seed Terrine with Nougat Sauce
Fancy Filo Cup with Lingonberry Sherbet and Fresh Fruit
Sugar-Free New York Cheesecake
Sugar-Free Cherry Trifle
Homemade Cookies
Assortment of Fresh Fruit in Season
Non-Fat Strawberry Yogurt

Food review: The soup was satisfactory. We had the “always available” grilled salmon for our entrée and it was outstanding, as usual. We noticed quite a few of the always available options being served (Beef Filet, Grilled Salmon, or Grilled Chicken Breast), so the menu must not have thrilled many people tonight. The dessert would have been good except the raspberries under the sherbet were moldy where they were touching the filo pastry. Augusto delighted in taking it back to show the chef.

Once again, the Dining Room is practically empty. Many people didn’t return from a ten-hour tour until after 6:00pm, so they were simply too tired to bother with dinner tonight. Others are out on the town, although we hear from the crew that they pretty much roll up the sidewalk at 10:00pm around here. As usual, we were the last ones out of the Dining Room because we were talking to Augusto about God only knows what.

There is no real entertainment tonight, just Big Band Dancing and another edition of the game show “Who Doesn’t Want to be a Millionaire.” We plan to go to bed early anyway.

We’re discovered that, in addition to the problems with the ship’s satellite that prevented us from uploading, we now have a more serious problem. Our network name registration expired with no notice to us. So, that’s why we have been non-existent for a while. We renewed it last night, but it takes time to be reinstated.

Messages were sent to all guests tonight revising the sailing time for tomorrow from Midnight to 10:00pm. The reason given was that the tide is right at that time. Some guests were worried because they have a nighttime tour that isn’t supposed to return until 10:30pm. Apparently, it hasn’t occurred to them that either the ship will wait for their return, or the time will be revised.

Not being in any particular hurry to do anything today, we didn’t roll out of bed until around 11:00am. Even then, we didn’t get out of the room until 12:30pm. Can you tell we aren’t very motivated today? The weather is about the same as yesterday, except no rain. It is, however, very gray and foggy outside. The temperature is in the low 60’s. The skyline, waterfront, Oriental Pearl Tower, and Exhibition Center across the river are slightly more visible today, but not by much.

We had lunch in the Lido and then rushed out to catch the 2:00pm shuttle bus to the Friendship Store near The Bund. Everyone yesterday told us not to bother with this store, so we just went to town with the intention of getting some photos of the magnificent old buildings along The Bund. We asked the guide the easiest way to cross the street and she said, “Walk about three minutes.” That’s not what we asked, so we rephrased it and asked again. Same answer. OK, we’ll just go there and figure it out, so there!

Once we got to The Bund, which runs parallel to the river, we found the underpass we had heard about and made our way under the busy boulevard to the park and promenade on the other side. The raised walkway provides excellent views of the riverfront and the major buildings across The Bund.

The promenade area is modern and beautifully landscaped. Throngs of Chinese tourists are everywhere. We seemed to be a major tourist attraction since we are probably the only non-Chinese in a two block area packed with thousands of people. We’re also the only ones not wearing black and we’re definitely the tallest men for as far as the eye can see. We’re so interesting as a tourist attraction that a Chinese woman asked if she could take Dave’s picture with her baby!

Besides being scrutinized by everyone who looked (mostly stared) in our direction, the only annoyance was a constant barrage of salespeople trying to get us to buy postcards. As we meandered along, the price went from $2.00 for a 10-pack, down to two 10-packs for $1.00. Still we didn’t buy any because we don’t want to encourage this type of thing.

We got some good pictures of the Peace Hotel where we visited the interior yesterday, the Customs House, and an area that really showcases the contrast of old and new Shanghai.

From the promenade, we made our way down to street level. Along the way we passed a flood of sorts coming out of the cracks in the base of the wall, the sidewalk, and from a utility door. Workers were diligently sweeping up the water, but it was a losing proposition. Still, they are told to sweep the sidewalks, and sweep the sidewalks they will! Incidentally, being a communist country we saw many of the trappings of the old Soviet style of doing things. The old ladies sweeping the streets, polishing doors, trimming flowers, you name it. Basically, they’re creating jobs for everyone even though it is now becoming a losing battle. The only payoff is that even with 20 million inhabitants and many areas that still offer only century old housing, the streets are clean and free of trash.

We found another underpass and started back up the street past the buildings we had just photographed from the other side. Our guide yesterday had told us to walk up the street by the Peace Hotel, so we did that along with hundreds of thousands of Chinese and one or two Americans and Europeans.

This area really doesn’t have much of interest except the experience of the daily life of urban Chinese going about their business. Shops are well stocked and sell everything one can imagine, including, of course, fake Rolex watches.

Quickly growing tired of jostling for a spot on the sidewalk, we found an intersection that seemed slightly under control and took our life in our hands and crossed. Every inch of roadway is jammed with cars and bicycles, mostly the latter. Pedestrians do not have the right of way, so it is necessary to be completely aware of the situation before attempting to cross the street. We just planted ourselves in the middle of a crowd of locals and went with the flow.

Our intention is to make our way back to the Friendship Store via some back streets so we can see some of the old buildings. Laundry hangs from ancient balconies and there is a bit of the Hong Kong glitz with colorful banners and such hanging across the streets. Don’t take that the wrong way, this is by no stretch of the imagination anything close to being as sophisticated as Hong Kong.

Eventually, we did find our way back to the starting point. Sometimes doing things without a plan is the best way to run across interesting buildings and it was fun looking into the tiny shops and such along the way. We wouldn’t do this in most cities, but this one is quite safe, as is most of China.

We had about half an hour to kill before the next shuttle, so we figured we might as well check out the store in spite of all of the advice. This is a huge department store of Chinese goods plus the usual Lladro and such. There are also knockoffs of famous brands of glassware such as Lalique. They didn’t pretend to actually be Lalique, it is just intended to be the next best thing at a fraction of the price of the original. Unfortunately, the designs and colors are garish, so we aren’t interested.

The third floor houses a huge selection of Chinese porcelains, life-size replicas of the famous terra cotta warriors, cloisonné, and such. We found the type of translucent cloisonné we had searched for in Hong Kong at a very good price. The quality here is far superior to the meager offerings in the Hong Kong store, so we snatched up quite a supply and an interesting variety.

We waited outside the store in the cool, pleasant breeze until just before the time for the shuttle to depart. The trip back to the port only takes about ten minutes in spite of the ridiculous traffic. Once back at the port, we checked out the selection of tacky trinkets for sale there. We did manage to find a few items we had heard about (paintings on the inside of glass bottles and orbs) and picked some up for outrageously cheap prices. At least we know some five-year-old didn’t go blind for nothing.

Back on board, we ran into Rainer in the hallway with our dry cleaning. He let us into our room, put away the cleaning and rushed to get our guacamole and chips. He’s even more eager than Ural was to serve us, which is hard to top.

Tonight, the Dining Room has one open seating from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. That’s due to the fact that over 200 guests are on an evening excursion, so they have already had an early dinner (they’ll have a late buffet for them when they return, too).

Appetizers
Marinated Sautéed Shrimp with Mashed and Crisp Potatoes, Leek Julienne and Basil Oil
Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese Tower with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Pesto Vinaigrette
Roasted Duck Breast on Marinated Lentil Salad, Garnished with Greens
Fresh Tropical Fruit with Kiwi Wedges and Aged Sherry

From the Soup Kettle
Butternut Squash Soup with Pumpkin Seed Oil
Chicken Broth with Vermicelli Pasta
Chilled Green Pea Soup with Mint

Salads
Assorted Garden Greens with Crisp Eggplant Chips
Pear, Endive, and Blue Cheese Salad with Pear Dressing

Main Fares
Grilled New York Sirloin Steak
Grilled Fresh Swordfish Steak
Veal Scaloppini “Sorrento Style”
Fricassee di Pollo alla Cacciatore

Dessert
Apple Cinnamon Tart with Caramel Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream
Milk Chocolate Cheesecake with Chocolate Glaze
Passion Fruit Cassis Ice Parfait on Soft Raspberry Jell-O
Sugar-Free Vanilla Cinnamon Custard
Sugar-Free Sour Orange Cream
Homemade Cookies
Assortment of Fruit in Season

Food review: Since we ate lightly tonight, the only things to discuss are the entrée and dessert. The fish was outstanding. It didn’t look very good as it was covered with brown chopped vegetables, sort of like ratatouille. But, it tasted great. The dessert was very good, but so sweet it almost gave us a stroke.

When we arrived at the Dining Room at 8:00pm, it was full. Well, at least any of the tables Augusto wanted us to sit at were full. We only had to wait a few minutes to be seated. Our waiter was someone we don’t know, but he was fine. Jerry came over and acted appalled that we didn’t sit at his station, but we could see throughout dinner that he wasn’t having a good time. He said it’s just that he was so busy with people he doesn’t know that made it more difficult.

After dinner we had to kill about 45 minutes before the revised sailing time of 10:00pm (from midnight). It’s quite cold outside, so we dug out our cold weather wear that was buried in the closet and headed out on deck. It has cleared up a bit, so we took new nighttime pictures of the skyscrapers across the river, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the waterfront close to the ship, The Bund in the distance, the tower with another skyscraper, and other waterfront shots.

There must be some sort of payoff scheme going on because the ship isn’t using its own thrusters. Instead there are two tug boats attempting to pull us away from the dock. That operation wasn’t particularly effective and it took four times longer than it would have under our own power. But, four extra workers were paid for something, so it must make sense to someone.

The weirdest part of the whole operation is that the ship doesn’t fit across the river at this point and we had to sail away in the opposite direction from the way we were pointed. So, the tugs boats tried to pull the ship backwards to a point where there might be enough room. They pulled, pushed and every other thing one can imagine and only succeeded in blocking the entire river, which is very busy all the time. Finally, the ship used its thrusters when we became uncomfortably close to the anchored ships on the other side of the river. That caused much screaming and arm waving from the pilot, so they stopped and just stood there.

Slowly, the ship started turning and backing up at the same time. Remember, we are literally only feet away from a bunch of boats. By this time, we could hear screaming from those very boats, then whistle blowing. That prompted more thrusting on our end, again to the annoyance of the pilot who was angry because we were stirring up the mud, as though the water could possibly be any muddier.

Once the ship took control away from the tug boats, everything was soon arranged properly and no damage was done. Off we went down the muddy waters while the backed up traffic slowly started moving upriver again. We sailed under a suspension bridge and past some power plants before we decided it was too cold to stay outside any longer.

When we went back inside we found Percy, the musician who knows us from Holland America, setting up his camera to take a photo of the plaque wall. He decided this would be a good time to get a picture of all of us together for him to send to his wife, so we did that for him.

Foggy is the description of the day. The foghorn, really the ship’s whistle, has been sounding regularly since early morning. It was impossible to see beyond the edge of the ship until after noon when the sun broke through. Still, it is quite hazy on the water. It’s a weird effect with the sun shining and yet we can’t see more than about two miles in any direction. There are still many small fishing boats to dodge and the water is somewhat muddy, so we’re not far from shore. In the Captain’s 9:00am announcement he said that the water is also quite shallow with only about ten feet under the keel.

Bill received a Birthday voicemail from the Front Desk and a card from David de Havilland, Josef Matt, and Nikki Andrew. Of course, he is also listed in Reflections and on the TV channel with the day’s activities. Also, we received a “personal effects” declaration form for South Korea. We have to list cameras and such that we will be taking ashore with us. We also have landing and disembarkation cards for Japan that just need our signature.

We didn’t venture out until around 12:30am and went directly to the Lido for lunch. It was quite full, but Ricky took our silverware and claimed a small table for us by the window. Before we could actually sit down, someone had attempted a preemptive claim by leaving a book, but Ricky would have none of that and moved it.

Our lunch consisted of mostly the Asian selection, which is Stir-Fried Beef with Black Bean Sauce and Steamed Rice. We also sampled some of the beef cutlets and the carved BBQ chicken. The chicken was outstanding. Everything else was very good. Rosario, who is now the headwaiter in Prego rather than Maitre d’ stopped to chat. About what, we have no idea, but we listened as though we understood.

Since we haven’t been keeping up on the lunch menus for the Dining Room lately, we’ll include today’s so you know what we missed.

Appetizers
Feta Stuffed Eggplant Roll with Salsa
Marinated Octopus and Roasted Bell Pepper Salad with Olives
Palm Hearts, Tomato, and Endive Cocktail wit Yogurt-Lime Dressing
Assorted Melon Ball Cup with Grenadine

From the Soup Kettle
Chicken Consommé Dubarry
Caldo Largo – Bell Peppers, Cilantro, Peeled Tomatoes, and Cream
Chilled Apple Soup with Calvados

Main Fares
Grilled Beef Tenderloin Brochette
Fresh Flat Head Fillet “Parisienne”
Sandwich of the Day – Grilled Chicken Breast
Veal Zürichoise

Desserts
Chocolate Marsala Cake with Sabayon
Lemon Roulade with Fudge Sauce
Ice Coupe Peach Melba
Sugar-Free Raspberry Cream Tartlet

Neither one of us is very energetic today, so we just wandered around in the public areas for a few minutes, looked at photos in the gallery and made our way back to the cabin. Bill had received his Birthday Plate from Susanna, Rosalina and Rainer while we were gone.

Our afternoon was as usual, some napping, some reading, and some computer games. Rainer brought the usual guacamole and chips. He wants to bring other things, but they are always fancy stuff we’d rather not eat. We did ask him if we can get the food served at afternoon tea and he said that’s no problem. We plan to do that after a tour or something.

Tonight’s dress code is Informal. There’s a party for 80 people going on in the Crystal Penthouse (we’re not invited), so it’s quite noisy in the hallway. We can’t imagine packing 80 people into that room even though it is huge. We let Rosalina and Susanna pick out an Easter pin from our selection, which thrilled them. Susanna said she can’t believe how many guests thought to bring decorations and such with them. We brought the pins, but we bought Easter candy to give out when we were in Australia because it was on sale.

We had our usual drinks in Palm Court. Susie came over toward the end and chatted with us. She's nice enough, but rather difficult to have a conversation with. Basically, we just don't have anything to say to her, so we let her do all the talking. We ran into Artie in the elevator along with Mr. & Mrs. Black. They know it is Bill's birthday today, but Artie thinks it is tomorrow. We didn't set him straight either.

Appetizers
Pan Seared Sea Scallops on Herb Risotto with Red Pepper Sauce
Sweetbread Roses on Crunchy Garden Greens with Sherry-Walnut Vinaigrette
Roasted Vegetable Terrine with Carrot Emulsion and Spring Greens
Assorted Fresh Fruit Cup Flavored with Lemon Bacardi

From the Soup Kettle
Light Creamy Red Onion Soup with Ginger
Consommé Double with Cheese Profiteroles
Chilled Blackberry Yogurt Soup

Salads
Spring Lettuce with Lollo Rosso, Red Oak Leaf, and Marinated Green Beans
Traditional Caesar Salad with Parmesan Shavings and Homemade Garlic Croutons

Main Fares
Roasted Tom Turkey
Broiled Fresh Barramundi Fillet in Potato Crust
Herb Flavored Roasted Baby Veal Shanks
Grilled Black Angus Filet Steak

Dessert
Sour Cherry Bread and Butter Pudding with Vanilla Sauce and Butter Almond Ice Cream
French Dark and White Chocolate Mousse Bomb with Mango Sauce
Spanish-Vanilla Cake with Bourbon Caramel Sauce
Sugar-Free Apple Pie à la Mode
Sugar-Free Mocha Custard
Homemade Cookies
Assortment of Fruit in Season

Food review: Don’t pour Lemon Bacardi over fresh fruit. The onion soup was very good, but the cold soup was disappointing. They have started serving the chilled soups in a tall martini glass, which looks nice, but isn’t very convenient to eat from. The turkey was good, as was the steak.

Jerry served us special-order Kahlua Soufflés for Bill’s birthday. We assume Augusto thought of it. There was the usual singing by the waiters and we were offered an extra song by the Champagne Strings, which we declined. We’re glad we had the soufflés because the birthday cheesecake was ghastly. We were hoping for the chocolate mousse cake Dave had, but no such luck. They really expected us to eat two soufflés each, plus the cheesecake. We only had one soufflé each and made Ger and Jerry eat the other ones. We also finished off our wine.

Ger went into the kitchen and brought out three more sets of balloons for Bill to take back to the room. Anyone having a birthday or anniversary arrives to find two balloons floating above their table. We gave out Easter pins to Augusto, Jerry, Ger and Josef.

We received another World Cruise gift with this card: "Welcome to Grand Pacific Voyage IV, our journey from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. Along the way, Crystal Symphony will slip through the still waters of Shanghai Harbor, carry us to Beijing and Seoul, then sail across the Yellow Sea to Japan where we'll encounter Kyoto's revered temples and Mt. Fuji's majestic beauty. Then we'll enjoy many relaxing days at sea before reaching the warm welcome of San Francisco's Golden Gate. May this elegant set of chopsticks be a reminder of all your Grand Pacific adventures for many years to come."

The chopsticks are made of teak and each set contains four pairs in a beautiful silk box. By the way, these came from Gump's and anyone familiar with that store knows how expensive it is!

Although it is still hazy today, it is no where near as foggy as it was yesterday. But, it is much cooler now, only 47 even with fairly sunny conditions. Seas remain calm as they have been for several days. There is no wind to speak of either.

We are up earlier than usual (9:00am) because we want to attend a “briefing” by Crystal’s President at 11:00am. Obviously, we didn’t actually get out of the room at 9:00am, just woke up then. Bill received a handwritten birthday card from Artie, but he still thinks his birthday is the 31^st. He also received a package of Crystal goodies from Nikki, which was very thoughtful of her. She included two of each: Crystal pens, magnetic photo frames, and Crystal keychains.

On the way out we hid some chocolate Easter eggs on the stewardess cart in the hallway, much to their amusement.

The briefing was slightly more informative than we expected, although we already know most of what was said. It was interesting to see the real layout of the staterooms and swatch cards of the décor. FYI, the floorplans in the brochure have absolutely no relationship to reality. The true plans are much better and a slight improvement on the Symphony (larger bathrooms in standard rooms), and a huge improvement in the Penthouse Suites and Crystal Penthouses. We’ll never experience either of those first hand. We’re quite satisfied with the standard Penthouse at this point.

They are trying to add color and warmth to all of the ships. Already, the new décor in the lobby of the Symphony shows this trend, but the Serenity will be quite a bit more colorful with the use of darker woods. We have never really thought this ship was particularly attractive with its monochromatic décor, so we’ll hope for the best on the new one.

Otherwise, everything was just reassuring us that Crystal’s financial condition is strong. He said the company on its own made a profit in 2001 (and the five years previous), so even without NYK’s backing, it would still survive. He didn’t mention 2002, however.

A question and answer period at the end proved once again Crystal’s arrogance toward its guests’ wishes. The restrictions placed on shipboard credits have annoyed practically everyone and it was the first question. His response was, “We never intended the credits to be cash rebates.” To his credit, he did say they are studying the issue because of all the complaints and they are considering allowing us to use them toward future bookings. We’re supposed to hear about that before the end of this cruise. Too late for us, we’ve already used it up with private tours in upcoming ports. Captain Maalen will be the captain for Crystal Serenity.

We rushed out just before the end to make it to the Dining Room before the rush. They are having another of the very popular brunches. This is only the second one ever, in spite of overwhelming positive comments on the first one. They seem to be convinced it isn’t fancy enough, but we could see by looking at the guests’ expressions how much they enjoyed it.

We arrived just before the crowd and Augusto rushed us to our regular table, which was set for four. We didn’t want to waste a table for four (he would have removed the other settings), so we sat just behind it at a table for two. Jerry insisted on waiting on us anyway, although he didn’t really have to do anything except fill water glasses and remove dirty plates.

Gravlax, Marinated on Board, Served with Delicate Mustard-Dill Sauce
Smoked Norwegian Wild Salmon, Smoked Baby Eel,
Mountain River Trout, and Mackerel

A Display of American and International Cheeses
Crudités, Biscuits, Crackers
and our Large Selection of Home-Baked Bread

A Sumptuous Collection of Crystal Confections and Pastries
A Splendid Presentation of Fresh Fruit in Season

Honestly, this is some of the best food we have had so far. All of it was fresh and nicely presented, without a lot of fancy stuff. They did have a beautiful table outside the doors full of Easter characters made of marzipan and some huge, decorated chocolate eggs. All in all, they did a great job. We both had waffles with fruit and strawberries, the Mexican Chicken thing, and Eggs Benedict. All of them were outstanding. Bill almost caused a scene when his egg exploded as he cut into it. Luckily, all of it hit his napkin and the tablecloth or it would have been quite a mess indeed!

We do have the usual complaint about crowded rooms again though. The Dining Room was completely full, as they obviously expected. So then, why are entertainers, lecturers, people from the office and Ambassador Hosts taking up space? We saw guests turned away because of this and it is outrageous. It didn’t affect us at all, but it’s really annoying to watch some old lady with nowhere to sit be turned away because four huge tables are taken up by staff. It also makes other guests, including us, feel rushed to leave so others may be seated. It simply shouldn’t happen, period.

Now that we’re stuffed to the gills, it’s time to get back to the room and pack up our stuff for the overnight trip to Beijing tomorrow. Oh goodie. Easter baskets of candy and colored eggs have been delivered, we assume to everyone. Some guests, including us, received Easter cards from Josef Matt, the Hotel Director. We’re guessing that all World Cruise guests received these cards since we didn’t see them on all of the clips.

We went to give out the Cadbury eggs we bought in Australia. Paco saw us in the hallway, so we gave him his. He asked where we were going with a big bag of eggs and we said, “We’re going to skip down the hallway and toss them to people.” Paco was suitably amused by that picture.

Obviously, we did not skip anywhere, so don’t get yourself in a snit. In fact, we went down to the lobby and gave one, plus a pin, to both Nikki and Lara. They were thrilled. Nikki jumped up and gave Bill a birthday hug. Both of them had guests at their desk, but we just barged up like everyone does when we are sitting there.

Next stop is Shore Excursions and the Front Desk. Everyone seemed quite pleased that we thought of them. Albert put the entire egg in his mouth, which appalled the his cohort at the desk. We were going to say something about it being a convenient trick for him, but we weren’t sure how it would go over with the rest of them, so we refrained.

Tonight’s dress code is Formal. There is a President’s Guest Appreciation Cocktail Party before dinner tonight. It’s the same thing as is held for any occasion, such as the Captain’s Welcome. We ran into Artie, who was singing at the top of his lungs, in the elevator. He insists we have to meet soon for our interview. We snuck in the side door along with Artie. It finally dawned on him that he had the wrong date for Bill's birthday. He acted suitably humiliated.

We sat in our usual corner and had the usual drinks. The Executive Housekeeper came over to tell us that they will “jump on” our shower the minute we leave tomorrow. We reiterated the point that we aren’t complaining about housekeeping, we’re complaining about the fact that it was in that condition when we boarded, which was right after a dry dock. When she said we might have to use the shower in the bathtub for a day after we get back, we informed her that is impossible because it is full of our purchases. So, she said she’d take a hair dryer to it and try to speed up the process.

Appetizers
Iced Russian Sevruga Caviar with Traditional Condiments, Blinis, and Melba Toast
Crab Cake with Pico di Crystal
Fresh Green Asparagus with Vegetable-Herb Vinaigrette
Fresh Strawberry, Kiwi, and Banana Cup with Lemon Yogurt Topping

From the Soup Kettle
Green Split Pea Soup with Champagne and Whole Wheat Croutons
Beef Consommé with Fois Gras Profiteroles
Chilled Kiwi Soup with Low-Fat Yogurt

Salads
Tossed Iceberg Lettuce with White Beans, Celery, Tomatoes, and Bell Peppers
Boston Lettuce Leaves with Artichoke Hearts, Chopped Egg, and Russian Dressing

Pasta Special
Pappardelle with Grilled Prawns, Peppers, Zucchini and Lemongrass Sauce

Main Fares
Grilled Lamb Chops with Shitake Mushrooms
Broiled Fillet of Fresh Halibut
Pan Fried Wisconsin Veal Medallions
Baked Virginia Ham with Sugar-Honey Glaze
Broiled Chicken Breast

Dessert
Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Ice Cream and Mocha Sauce
Coconut Cheesecake with Lilikoi Sabayon
Fresh Strawberry Soup with Mascapone Ice Cream
Sugar-Free Banana Napoleon Slice
Sugar-Free Lemon Tartlet
Petit Fours and Chocolate Truffles
Assortment of Fruit in Season
Refreshing Passion Fruit Champagne Sherbet

Food review: Both soups were very good, but the split pea needed to have salt added to it. The salad was just satisfactory. We both ordered the halibut without sauce and it was outstanding. Dessert was outstanding, as well.

Everyone is wearing the Easter pins we gave them yesterday. Bill is wearing a bunny pin and Dave is wearing a carrot pin, which everyone thought is really cute. We handed out more of the Cadbury eggs and everyone seemed very pleased with them. Jerry is beyond excited about going on the tour tomorrow and he can’t stop telling us how wonderful we are for paying his way so he can go. He said that every time he looks at the photos he will think about us and how we made it possible for him. Not being the most complex person in the world, we know he is sincere. Ger will be going also.

We continued giving out Cadbury eggs on the way to the show. Felix seemed thrilled we gave one to him. We couldn’t find some of the others we planned to dole them out to, so they’re out of luck.

Note that we will be away from the ship, and our computer, until we return from Beijing.

Grand Pacific IV -- March 25 - March 31

Monday, March 25 – Hong Kong, China – Depart 11 PM

Tuesday, March 26 – Cruising the East China Sea

Wednesday, March 27 – Cruising the East China Sea

Thursday, March 28 – Shanghai, China – Arrive 6 AM

Friday, March 29 – Shanghai, China – Depart 10 PM

Saturday, March 30 – Cruising the East China Sea – Bill’s Birthday

Sunday, March 31 – Cruising the Yellow Sea