Cruise Trip on board Crystal Serenity from Amsterdam to Lisbon during July 27 - August 12, 2019

During July 27-Aug.12, 2019 Dear and I went to Western Europe on board Crystal Serenity. We visited Amsterdam. Zebrugge, Honfleur, Guernsey, Bordeaux, Le Verdon, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Bilbao, and Lisbon. We stayed on the ship for 14 days, which was the longest cruise trip we have ever traveled so far.  

Lisbon, Portugal

We finally arrived at Lisbon at 8 a.m. We have been here twice, in 2012 and 2014. We have done going to interesting places like the Tower of Belem, the Jeronimos Monastery, etc. Therefore this time we decided to just take a walk and do some shopping in the city.

Portugese Paella is great!

Cruising the Atlantic Ocean

Bilbao, Spain

Again, at Bilbao, we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the food, the fitness center, the music at the pool and the afternoon tea.

Saint-Jean-de-Luz (France)

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is a small fishing town at the mouth of the Nivelle River. 

We had mussels for lunch here.

Le Verdon, France

The ship left Bordeaux at 11 a.m. and arrived at Le Verdon at 4 p.m. Le Verdon is in the most northerly point of the Medoc, We were so lazy that we decided to stay relaxing on the ship.

Slow Roasted Baby Back Ribs for lunch at Waterside

Bordeaux-Second Day

On the second day at Boredeaux we walked around the city and relaxed in the park.

Oyster lunch at Chez Boulan

We had a very special dinner today. We used our shipboard credit Crystal gave us as we reached the Level 5 Milestone to redeem for a bottle of Opus One wine. Dear was very excited and very happy to have a chance to enjoy this wine he had  longed for.

Look at his face and you will see how happy he was.

Bordeaux

We arrived at Bordeaux, UNESCO-designated city famous for mouth-watering cuisines and incomparable wines. Since we have been 7 years ago, at which time we did some excursion trips including city tour and wine chateau tour, this time we decided to be on our own.

Our ship was able to dock right in the middle of the city which was very convenient because it took us just a couple of minutes to get to the city.

We simply strolled along the roads to see the city life.

We had dinner at the famous L' Entrecote, the same place we dined in 2012. We had to stand in lines for about 30 minutes before the restaurant was opened.

 

The steak was excellent as expected at a very reasonable price.

After dinner we came back to the ship to watch the sunset at Palm Court.

Cruising the Coast of France

Wine Tasting at Waterside

Special Dinner on Black-Tie Optional Night

Guernsey (St, Peter Port)

The ship arrived at Guernsey, an island in the English channel off the coast of Normandy. Unfortunately we encountered some problems concerning the UK Visas and had to go through some interview procedures. Although it appeared to be fine, we decided not to go out but stay on the ship enjoying the pool and the wines.