Crystal Symphony - Sydney to Tahiti - Day 5 - Tue Feb 20, 2018 (Sailing Tasmin Sea - Day 2)

We started the day off with putting some laundry in the washing machines.  Both Crystal ocean ships have very nice self-service laundries on each passenger cabin deck.  On our deck the laundry room has 6 washers and 6 dryers.  They provide the soap, dryer sheets and spray starch along with ironing boards and irons in the laundry room.  Many people are on the ships for extended voyages and this is certainly a nice convenience.

It was very windy and the doors to the Promenade Deck were roped off for safety purposes.  Up to the Gym for us.  The Symphony has nice, updated fitness area with all sorts of machines.  We got there before it became crowded and exercised there this morning by using the treadmills for a bit more than 30 minutes.

I thought I’d mention some of the onboard activities that are offered during the day to give you a flavor of the types of things to do.  A sampling from today: yoga, mat pilates, paddle tennis, team trivia, blackjack tournament, bingo, Mah Jongg, needle point and knitting, and many more.

There are also lessons or classes you can take:

• Bridge Lessons
•  Golf clinics
•  Art Classes (toward the end of the cruise there is always a display of the art pieces done onboard – there are some very creative cruisers!)
• Computer Classes
• Photography Classes

Today the Enrichment Lectures include:

• “New Zealand History to 1908” Peter Donovan (historian).  This included the history of New Zealand from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi to the granting of dominion status by Great Britain in 1908. 
• “Understanding Radical Islam-Why They Will Fight Us for the Next 500 Years” by General Nick Halley.  He presented the origins and history of the current war against Radical Islam by tracing the expansion and goals of the Muslin religion from the birth of Mohammad to present.  He also gave a lesson on what every citizen should know about the Muslin religion.
•  “New Zealand Fjord Lands – Exploring the Sounds” by Brian Lawrenson.  This was about the fjords that we will sail in starting tomorrow morning.
• “The History of Horology (Timekeeping)” by Emmanuel Miranda about the history of timekeeping and the invention of the watch.

Our afternoon was busy.  We attended the Mozart Tea, which is a very special afternoon tea, with the servers in period costumes.  The tea sandwiches, pastries, teas and Amadeus Hot Chocolate is always enjoyable.  Piano music contributes to the the atmosphere. We did hear some glasses crashing during the event - it was still very rocky.

The ship rocking from one of the windows on deck 5

The ship was rocking and rolling as we skirted Cyclone Gita.  Definitely difficult to walk, and we imagine many people are affected.  Julie doesn’t get seasick, while Bob definitely feels the “motion of the ocean.”  However, it is well controlled by Bonine (Meclizine).

We had cocktails in the Palm Court Lounge on Deck 11 all the way forward.  The view off the bow of the ship is magnificent.  Today, being on an upper deck with the rocking and rolling, the motion was very evident.

Here are two videos that attempt to show the rocking motion. The first one we took so you could see the horizon moving up and down. The second is also shot from the Palm Court and shows the bow of the ship.

Dinner was in the Churrascaria. This is one of the newly added restaurants during the fall dry dock.  It is located on Deck 11, in the Marketplace- during the day there is a breakfast and lunch buffet here.  This is a new addition for the evening meal.  The salad, side dishes, and deserts are buffet style. They bring the meat to your table. We found it a nice break from the formal dining room.  We both enjoyed a large salad from the salad bar and then the meats served Brazilian Steakhouse style.  For dessert we had grilled pineapple with cinnamon (per Roy’s recommendation).  A nice casual meal.

Sauces for the meats and some breads.

Grilled shrimp with more meat on the way.

We returned to our cabin to watch an on demand movie.  The new entertainment system is great.  You can watch the enrichment lectures live or on demand, including standard DVR type of features (pause, rewind, etc.) The 42 inch TV is a huge upgrade from the old system and the entertainment system includes TV channels (about 22 channels, mostly news and sports), information of all sorts, and of course movies. The library no longer stocks DVDs and there is no DVD player in the stateroom.

We walked  5.5 miles and 14,144 steps.