8 October At Sea

We went to bed at around midnight - with the ship anchored and waiting to join the convoy through the Suez.  The Captain said we should be on the way by 4am so at 3.30 I woke & there was plenty of activity with small boats delivering pilots etc for the journey. Apparently some locals came on last night with things to sell in the atrium but we missed that.  Didn't want a stuffed camel anyway!! We set sail but couldn't see much so went back to bed.  Up again at 6 and we were well on the way but at a very slow pace.  The Emerald Princess led the convoy and I think there were 7 ships in all, the others freighters.  Instead of walking at a fast pace around the promenade deck I did some slow circuits in order to get as many pics as possible.  All the balconies and open decks were filled with people, most never having 'done' the Suez before, including the ship itself.  

We saw small and larger towns as well as a lot of barren, desolate looking country, with the Sinai Peninsula on the port side.  No camels but plenty of sand!  Military installations along the way. The Canal has been extended, allowing ships to pass in both directions and in the convoy heading north there must have been over 20 cargo ships.  At one point we went under a huge bridge which is apparently closed during ship convoys so that no-one can throw a bomb!!  

We are now out of the canal and in the Red Sea.  Today we played mahjong again and are skiting that we've played in the North Atlantic, the Straits of Gibralter, the Mediterranean, the Ionian, the Suez and now the Red Sea!!! Another bit of trivia!!!

Instead of lunch I opted for afternoon tea - you have  to do it once on every cruise just to see if they have improved on the scone making but sadly, the answer was 'no'.  I reckon  we could have knocked out a few Egyptians had we thrown them from the balcony!!! But I did sit next to a nice guy from Christchurch NZ and we discovered we were on the same cruise from Chile earlier in the year!  Small world. 

With a gin & tonic in my hand I'm waiting for George to come back from Movies Under The Stars (MUTS) where they are showing the Beatles in NY.  Having already seen  it somewhere I didn't feel the need to go again & so am having some quiet time (rare, as there is always noise all over the ship) writing my blog. 

Enjoyed dinner with some really nice people from Santa Barbara. Listened again to the knee story. 

I went to the show at 10.15 - didn't expect much and wasn't disappointed LOL! 'Maggie' was the entertainer -she has apparently worked on ships out of Australia & quite a few have seen her before.  She was shocking, not such a bad singer but her jokes were crude & terrible, pathetic really, but the interesting thing is she is the partner of the Captain!  They live in rural NSW when in the country but of course he is English, ex Navy.