13 October - At Sea

Day three of six days at sea!!!!! Cabin fever hasn't set in yet but it may well do if the weather continues to be as hot as this.  But in spite of the extreme heat there are still many sun-worshippers out there on the decks all day!  Not too much to report really, just the usual daily events and formal wear tonight for dinner.  Seems silly for the men to have to don a dinner suit & black tie but it does look nice and the ladies get out a bit of glitter and bling.  Some more than others!!!

We went to the show after dinner, it was excellent. The singer was David Kidd, a guy who sings Tom Jones songs and even looks like him.  He was on the UK version of The Voice a few years back when Tom Jones was one of the judges.  

We are still in pirate territory, proceeding into the Arabian Sea towards Dubai.  The Arabian Sea is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by northeastern Somalia and the Arabian Peninsular, and on the east by India!  We are no doubt still in pirate territory but haven't sighted any yet!! I still haven't sighted the Captain either, and he leaves us in Dubai along with his partner, Maggie!  He did have a 'meet the Captain Q & A' the other day but it clashed with my 2  hours at mahjong.  

12 October -At sea

Today we are in the Red Sea and tonight will be sailing by Yemen and Somalia. As this can be a dodgy area for piracy there was a 'Pirate Drill' this morning - we were advised yesterday we would be asked to return to our staterooms when the ship's siren sounded.  So after breakfast we did as we were told and it went a bit like this:

Emergency practice for any terrorist or pirate situation in these waters.

Code Sierra pa pa

10.00 am Ship's Company commence bomb search.  

Captain - announcement for emergency practice drill

10.04 Alarm sounds

Announcement for all pax to proceed to their staterooms

Captain - 'ship's company continue with bomb search routine'

Going into the Gulf of Aden, around Yemen

Pirate activity since early 2000's although has decreased of late due better surveillance 

We were free to resume normal activities after about 20 minutes.  Hopefully there won't be any problems! 

We start our transit into the Aden Gulf following the Traffic Separation Scheme.  This Gulf is located in The Arabian Sea between Yemen and Somalia, in the Horn of Africa.  It connects  with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait which is more than 20 miles wide.  Apparently we will be increasing speed at this point to try and avoid any possibility of pirates or terrorists!!!!! There are also many warships in the area as the war in southern Yemen continues. 

It is VERY hot now, staterooms on the port side were warm, had to keep the curtains closed and was too hot to sit or walk outside. For us, that is!!!  It didn't seem to stop people from sunbaking though. Enjoyed another 2 hours of mahjong, then some delicious cocktails at happy hour and we shared a table at dinner with Margaret and Richard from England.  Have enjoyed their company on a few occasions. 

Lost a few $$ on roulette on the way home but sat with a gorgeous girl from Ireland who won several hundred dollars and was still there when I left. 

11October -At Sea

After yesterday and walking on dreadful surfaces at Petra, I could only hobble this morning- felt like an ancient lady!!!  I was wearing good walking shoes but still suffered soreness in my feet. Turns out I was not alone - half the passengers are footsore too. But it was such a good day and well worth the discomfort  

After mahjong I entered a roulette competition ( with no luck!) then read my book for a couple of hours.  

We had a complimentary dinner tonight at the Curtis Stone specialty restaurant, 'Share by Stone'. Booked with another couple and it was pretty much bedlam from the word go.  I think we should stick with the normal dining room - anything modern is too difficult for the Swinburnes and we don't cope well when things are out of the ordinary. I sometimes wonder why we cruise - how well I now remember all the complaints on the last long cruise we did a few years ago! 

It is still really hot - a party going on up on deck 15 with live music but only the diehards are bopping along!!!! They must be the ones without sore feet LOL.  

10 October (still) Petra

Well, we are back on the bus after a fabulous day - hot, dirty, footsore and tired!!!!  It was certainly worth going to Petra, I don't feel the need to go back and can now tick that one off the list!!! We must have walked for about 8 miles in the heat, not so bad going in but very hot coming out.  The whole area of Petra is 250 sq kms but 85% of it hasn't been 'discovered' yet so it will be an ongoing project for many centuries to come.  My photos won't do it justice but am posting them anyway.  

Modern engineering and architecture has nothing compared to the way things were done over two thousand years ago!  The city began to prosper as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the first century BC and they traded in Frankincense, myrrh and spices.  Petra later became part of the Roman Empire and thrived until a huge earthquake in 363 AD destroyed much of the city.  This led to the downfall of the city and eventually it was abandoned.  By the middle of the seventh century Petra was pretty much abandoned and was lost to all except the local Bedouin from the area.  In 1812 a Swiss explorer set out to rediscover Petra, he dressed as an Arab & convinced the local Bedouin to take him to the lost city.  And the rest is history!  

We shared the narrow streets with horses, donkeys, camels and horses and carts but chose not to use any of them. They were rather smelly and skinny and might not have held the weight!!!  One lady in our group rode a camel and a donkey, she was pretty pleased with herself but ended up losing her ipad so not sure it it was stolen or she was careless.  Anyway, after getting back to the main visitor centre at 1.30 we were then driven to a nice restaurant for lunch.  Thought a cold beer might be a treat but nothing available!!!!! Guess we are in Jordan!  The local young men were quite handsome and I commented to someone that they all looked like a younger version of Lawrence of Arabia.  Well, our guide told me that the men like to look attractive for their ladies and so apply kohl every Monday and Thursday!!  These are the Bedouins, of course. 

10 October - on theway to Petra

Our private group of 20 people were first off the ship and into the bus and on our way to Petra at 6.15 am.  The guide has been amazing - has pointed out so many interesting amazing things. Earlier we passed by Wadi Rum, a flat valley famous for being the location for many films including Lawrence of Arabia.  It is very barren with spectacular mountains in the background.  All the mountains are spectacular, though, and apparently the oldest in the world!!! We've seen camels, bedouin camps, goats, wild dogs, birds etc and heard about Biblical times, thousands of years BC, but I don't have any pics yet as the bus windows are too dirty!!! Roads are great, bus very comfortable and water has been distributed but of course we are also carrying plenty as when we get to Petra the walking distance will be about 3 miles in and obviously 3 miles out!!!!  And down steps!!!!  Will be a test!  

Am going to post this as the bus has wifi but will add more later in the day.  

9 October At Sea

Not much to report from today, the weather is very hot but still people were out on the deck baking themselves!!!  Some have skin that resembles leather and faces to match!!!!!!

Shared a table at dinner with a couplefrom QLD, Cleveland, to be exact!!!  Then went to see a Hypnotist show which was a bit ordinary!!! 

During the day I met a nice lady from Box Hill and we talked about everything & she showed me photos of her 2 cats.  They were beautiful, one black & one white and I resisted saying something about the great colours until she said 'the black one is Carla and the white one is Eddie'!!

Have to be up at 4.30 am for an early departure for Petra so will sign off now.  

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.