Hi Friends.
Yesterday afternoon I thought I'd catch up on th
e posting with a combo for yesterday and the day before. We were having a very relaxed day at sea and planning for a quiet night before departing this morning. I figured there wouldn't be anything really to share after posting - ha! Instead we had two great experiences to close out the day and our cruise - adding to the wonderful memories.
First we went to dinner at a restaurant they have onboard called Umi Uma. We had a reservation and arrived a few minutes early. They sat us at our table and a minute or so later the sommelier came to our table with a bottle of wine. It is normal for the sommelier to stop by and offer a glass of either white or red wine to start off the meal. But this time he had just one bottle in hand. He told us that a special bottle had been selected for us to enjoy. He took it to Craig to inspect. At this point we were both a little confused. Craig looked at the label as the sommelier pointed out the wine was from Turks and Caicos. Confusion increased. Turks is a wonderful island in the Caribbean but certainly not known for wines. Recognition then came over Craig's face and he began to laugh. I was still confused but then noticed the head sommelier for the ship, Boris, standing in the background watching everything - and also laughing. Craig then showed me the label "Cabernet Sauvignon, Henely Private Selection, Turks & Caicos Reserva 2012". We had just been pranked by Boris!
Ok, a little more background is needed. Two nights before at the wine dinner described in the previous post Boris had been our wonderful host. We had so much fun. One of the other diners was a diver and as we were talking about favorite dive spots Craig became a non-paid promoter for Turks & Caicos - which really is lovely especially for diving. As the night continued and we all talked about a future reunion of our dinner party, the other guests suggested we should host the party in Turks with Craig as the master of ceremonies. What a party that would be! Craig never agreed to it - but there also wasn't a strong no. Our new friends took this as a maybe - and continued making their case through the night. Boris, of course, joined right in. Apparently sometime between that night and our final dinner on the ship, Boris hatched the idea to create our own custom bottle of wine - straight from our 'collection' sourced in Turks. He even snuck out of the dinner he was hosting last night to be there to see it all play out. What a hoot. I said earlier that the Crystal crew is phenomenal - they really made it special in so many ways.
After dinner we decided to have one final cigar and a quiet nightcap before going back to the room to set out our luggage. At least it started out that way. The waiter was Lucas who we had met earlier on the cruise. He's a young man from Greece and has such a great personality. We talked to him for a bit, but other than that we were content just relaxing and chatting between the two of us. As we were finishing, a few more people showed up. At some point we began talking to a couple, Oscar and Sylvia, who are from Miami - originally from Cuba. They have some stories to tell about what it was like before everything changed. Both of their families left as part of the 'first wave' when they were young teenagers to build a new, safer life for their kids. It was so interesting talking to people who had lived through the early years and to hear first hand their experiences. We quickly began just talking about our kids - sharing stories about Matt and their three children and five grandchildren. It was another one of those instant connections. I know there is a theme about laughing - but again we laughed and laughed. They have been married 48 years and definitely know how to enjoy the ride!
I'll share just one quick story. Last Halloween their oldest grandchild (9 years old) asked them about their costumes. They weren't planning to dress up, but as good grandparents they realized they couldn't let him down. Sylvia came up with a costume where she wore all white and then attached a bunch of white balloons to her shirt - she was a bubble bath :). Oscar went a step further. He dressed up as an old man with a cane, Mr Magoo glasses and suspenders. He then ordered a remote controlled fart machine (yep - you read that right) and put it in his pocket. As he walked slowly around he would press the button - eliciting a lot of strange looks and giggles. He has since put it to a lot of other good uses. I think this may be one of our first purchases when we return home :)
A wonderful way to cap off a terrific part of our journey. We are now back in Vancouver staying at the airport hotel before a flight tomorrow night to San Francisco. Tomorrow will be our last day in Canada on this trip - and the first country we will 'check off'. Canada and Alaska were amazing. Beauty beyond words and memories to last a lifetime.
Until next time - enjoy the ride!
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