At Sea - 在海上
Today is the first full sea day of next six consecutive sea days. The ocean was rough. We definitely felt the ship
Today is the first full sea day of next six consecutive sea days. The ocean was rough. We definitely felt the ship movement. Luckily, we had put the patch yesterday. However we also had dry mouth due to the side effect of the medicine. We drank a lot of water. Although it was a sea day, we were very busy. We went to two lectures by Jenifer Chandler, the Gold Medalist in Women’s 3-meter Springboard Diving and Bill Toone, a conservation biologist. We also took Golf, Watercolor and Piano lessons separately for each.
We got two backpacks, a gift from Virtuoso group, a parent company of Cruise Specialist (our travel agent) and t-shirts from Crystal Cruise to sigh up in World Cruise Game.
We had dinner at Umi Uma, a Japanese Restaurant. We had a few new style sashimi dishes, and Black Cod and Nobu style Lobster as the main entries for each of us. The dishes were pretty delicious. We definitely will go back there many times during world cruise.
We were told there was medical emergency and the ship was being routed to Mexico to drop the patient there. We don’t know how it impact on the rest of the itinerary.
On Board - 上船了
Jan 21, 2020 (Day 1) - We were one hour delayed last night to get to LAX. This morning we were picked up at the hotel by Crystal
We were one hour delayed last night to get to LAX. This morning we were picked up at the hotel by Crystal Cruises at 10:45 AM and arrived at the cruise terminal about 11:30 AM. The checking in process was interesting. We were taken to an area and served with champagne and snacks. Then they checked the tickets and took away our passports. We were ready to get on board.
Our room was already ready for us to move in. The room size is 226 sq. ft. It seems small. We are going to stay at the same room for next 90 days. We also received another set of gifts from Crystal including World Cruise apparel, journal, magnet, baseball cap and tote bag.
We had a simple lunch at Waterside. The food was pretty good. We also realized that we won’t do any cooking and house chores for next 90 days. After lunch, we just walked around the ship and checked things out. Today, the ship will depart Los Angeles at 5:00 PM.
We had dinner at Silk Chinese Restaurant. At 8:00 PM, we had balloon drops ceremony to kick off 25th World Cruise.
On Sun Deck
T-2 - 到数第二天
Jan. 19, 2020 (Day -2) - It is the time! We are two days away from starting the journey we have dreamed of for many months. Over the ……
It is the time! We are two days away from starting the journey we have dreamed of for many months. Over the last several days, we have been cleaning, shopping and packing. Now six suitcases are waiting to go on the journey with us. We will fly to Los Angeles tomorrow evening to stay overnight at Sheraton near the airport. We will be picked up by Crystal Cruise at the hotel in the morning to transport us to the cruise terminal. We are very excited but also very nervous. Only way to connect with our family and friends are through satellites in the space.
*UPDATE – As we finalized the packing, one of the large suitcases broke. We had to go to Target to get another suitcase first thing in the morning. Now we are in the airport to wait for taking off to start our journey.
Gifts - Osmo Action - 惊喜礼物
Dec, 2019 - We received the first gift set of World Cruise from our travel agent, Cruise Specialist……
We received the first gift set of World Cruise from our travel agent, Cruise Specialist.
Travel bag and vest jackets from our travel agent
On Christmas eve, we received another box in the mail from Crystal Cruise. At the time, we didn’t know it was from Crystal Cruise. Our daughter took it upstairs and wrapped it with gift paper. On Christmas day, I opened the box and found a set of packing cube from Crystal Cruise. As I unzipped the packing cube, there was another inside and another, and at the very end, there was a DJI Osmo Action Camera inside the box! I had looked at this camera at Amazon a few days ago and I wanted it for this trip. Wow, “Crystal even gives us an action camera?” I was as excited as a toddler that gets their first toy. Then I looked at my daughter next to me and she was smiling at me with a “I got you” face. It was a gift from my daughter, one of my best Christmas gifts ever.
Early Booking - 早期订票
July, 2018 - As we go on bigger adventures, we have started to plan our trips well in advance. Once we make a decision…...
As we go on bigger adventures, we have started to plan our trips well in advance. Once we make a decision on a particular trip, we usually would book it as early as possible. We booked our last trip, the Antarctica cruise, one year in advance. This trip is no exception. Once Crystal made the booking available to the public, we immediately jumped on it - a full 18 months before the cruise departs. We booked it through a Cruise Specialist in Seattle. Since we booked it earlier and it is a world cruise, we also received more than $10,000 of onboard credit through our travel agent, Cruise Specialist and Crystal Cruise. We bought travel insurance from Berkshire Hathaway Travel for this trip. Crystal Cruise also provides some discount for early booking. We put down the deposit for Cabin C3 (the lowest class with big window) on the waiting list 18 months ago. A week or two later, we were confirmed for Guaranteed C3 cabin. At the time our travel agent told us we might have a good opportunity to get a nice upgrade. We didn’t believe him. We thought it was just a marketing trick. However, to our surprise, we found we were upgraded to A2 Cabin with balcony in Deck 9 a few months ago. We thought it might be a website mistake so we called our travel agent. He did confirm it. This trip has a very good start.