Back on April 10th, we kicked off the opening ceremony of the Crystal 2024 World Cruise Games; an event that Crystal holds on its World Cruise Tours. We first participated in these games back in 2020, coinciding with the 2020 Olympics where we had a guest speaker, Jennifer Kay Bellamy Chandler, a former Olympic Gold medalist (3 meter diver) at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games.

The Games started on April 10th and concluded on April 18th and were held during sea days. An athlete could enter as many games as they wanted.

There were so many events being held, from scrabble to chess to Sudoco to paddle tennis, pickle ball and the list seemed endless.

With so many lectures we attended, and other Crystal events going on , adding in port destination excursions, it was close to exhausting.

I opted for only six: Men Singles Table Tennis, Basketball, Mens Doubles Table Tennis, Golf, Mens Singles Shuffleboard & the Photography Contest. Meredith participated in Bridge and Golf. At St. Andrews, she made a birdie.

However, as fun as these games were for the guests, the real Games are watching the crew in the Tug-O-War, where all the departments get dressed to the 9’s and battle it out by the pool. This is what everyone waits for and everyone on the ship is here to watch, even the Captain, so we have no idea who is steering this thing.

The team names are as inventive as they are functionally adorable: Team Mechanics (Engine Room), Hotshots (Ship Cleaning Crew) The Bar Flies (Female Bar tenders), Housekeepers, Entertainers, Crystal-holics (Male bartenders), Waterside (Main restaurant, waiters), and the list is too long, but all clever.

Then there is the closing Ceremony, where the Flame is extinguished, the medals are distributed and we are all left with such pride and a joyous feeling that everyone aboard this ship will be infinitely connected for life. We cannot put into words what a high this is and how unique this event is to Crystal.

Yours truly came away with three Gold Metals in Basketball, Mens Doubles Table Tennis and the final medal given out, where there were 120 entries for the photography contest. As Meredith and I were standing in the back, listening to the MC of the games announce Bronze and Silver for the photos, Meredith turns to me and asks if we are ready to go for dinner. I was already turning away from the crowd and we hear, “And the Gold Medal for best photo goes to David Nadas…”As I collide into Meredith and say, “Did he… did he just call my name?” The look on both of us is comical and she grabs my phone and pushes me out there to a cheering crowd.

But what does one wear to the closing ceremonies.