Trekking the Globe with Bill & Mary Ann on the 2017 World Cruise - 126 Days

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the well dressed "official tourist guide", who was really a tout.

I have come across several similar experiences in other countries (like in Bangkok where a kind well dressed gentleman helped us cross a busy road to a man in uniform at Bangkok airport, who said we had to exit a certain way). At first, both seemed genuine, however fortunately I had read about the scams prior to my visit.

So Vivid are your descriptions of your days adventures, i feel like i was there! Here i am, on a boring business trip, and so enjoying your narrative.

Again, thanks, and hopefully the cold is soon gone.

When we were in Colombo on a ship we walked to the Hilton hotel and hired a car and driver from them. We got a nice A/C car for 6 hours and hoped in and out. Went for lunch at the galle hotel while he waited. A very civilized way to see the city.

Have had those scams in several cities. Same man in Bangkok 6 years apart. Delhi every 200 meters. The life of a traveller.

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Report # 76 SailingTowards Mumbai, India March 16,2017 Thursday Partly cloudy & 88 degrees 11 Pictures

After last night’s storm and sudden downpour, we heard therewere many leaks inside the ship. Mainlythe Lido, where one end had to be shut down, and the casino, where some slotmachines had to be covered in plastic to avoid damage from the water pouringdown on them. On the cruise we took lastfall in the South Pacific, we also had a surprise leak that soaked our carpeton the floor near one wall. Confused asto where the water was coming from, we were informed that it was the overflowfrom a rain gutter that ran between the cabins. Who would have guessed that, especially when we were on deck one? We were relieved that it was not bathroomleaks or something worse. And it wasfixed within a day, and our carpet dried with a dehumidifier. To top that off, Christel sent a largebouquet of flowers in apology.

At least, the storm that plagued us last night, was gone bythe morning as the Amsterdam headed northwest towards Mumbai, India. It was obvious that we were sailing fairlyclose to land, since we were spotting a lot of ship traffic, as well as seeingsmall fishing boats going by. Itremained partly cloudy all day, even though, at times, we thought it mightstart raining again. It never did.

We did notice that the temperature had dropped a bit, andalso the humidity the further away we got from the Equator. Could have used more of a breeze, but itseemed to be just right with the folks on deck three all day. Unless you were power-walking, then you wouldnot be sweating bullets.

We spent a pleasant afternoon at the back pool, finallychatting with a new couple that sits back there. Actually it was the gal we spoke to, whoshared some thoughts they had on this cruise….their first world cruise onHAL. Maybe because they are younger by10 years or more, they have not been overly impressed with their experience sofar. Perhaps it is not what they expected. Heck, it is not the same product we havebecome to know over the years either. Dawn mentioned that they had recently done a 30 day or so cruise on theVolendam, and found the atmosphere and attitude of the staff and crew muchmerrier. They admitted that they are notgetting the same vibes here, but then, they are normally Royal Caribbeanguests, and like their product. Too bad,they probably will not come back again. We urged her to put their legitimate gripes on the cards, and turn it inat the front desk. By the way, itworked, because we were told by them the next day that they were surprised toget a reply back from guests relations, who said their comments were being sentto Seattle to be addressed. We believemost of their problems were tied to the shore excursion folks and the busprocedures involved before, during, and after the trips, for instance. We agreed that we have had problems thereover the years, resulting in us taking no more tours.

The afternoon dissolved quickly, as we got ready to go tothe Crow’s Nest for cocktails. Today wasour friend Woody’s 80th birthday and a group of seven of us joinedthem for drinks before dinner. This wasonly our third time to go here this cruise so far, and one of them was for aCruise Critic meeting. Anyway, Mannybrought Woody a small whipped cream covered chocolate brownie cake for hisbirthday. Barb signaled the band to playHappy Birthday, and everyone around us joined in with the song. With double drinks under our belts, we werevery loud. Woody seemed quite pleased.

By 8pm, we all headed down to deck four, where there seemedto be a mix-up over which table we were to use. The plan was to go to 309, since most all of that group was on a longoverland excursion. Problem was, threeof the guests sitting there were not overland, and claimed the table was onlyfor them. Yes, it was, so obviously itwas a miscommunication with the staff. Sowe all were led to the largest table for 12, which would not work well, sincenot everyone at this party had good hearing. So the nine of us went to Susie and Woody’s regular table instead. Worked out fine, even though the chairs werejammed tightly together.

Susie had pre-ordered Empire chicken (kosher), and it was sogood. Not the normal what-is-this-cut ofchicken??? But a half of a bigchicken. You got the plump breast, thighand leg heated to hot-hot-hot and with crispy skin. Since we had only ordered an appetizer, wehad a long wait for the entrees to arrive. Asep, the headwaiter, came by and told Susie the chicken needed to cooklonger, since it had been frozen. It isour understanding that anything kosher has to be cooked properly and thoroughlyelsewhere, then frozen. As large as the halves were, every single bite wasjuicy and tender….not dry at all. Nothingwas wasted, even with the thigh and leg one of us could not finish. Ellen was more than happy to add it to herpiece of breast that got wrapped in a foil basket resembling a swan.

Another larger birthday cake arrived with at least a dozenwaiters who sang the special Dutch/Indonesian happy birthday. Sure got a smile out of the Woodster, whothanked everyone for their outstanding service this evening. It was a fun evening for all of us that havebeen friends for well over 10 years. Theevening ended after 10pm, where a few of us might have gone to the show. A world famous magician by the name of PeterMehtab, performed his magic for the crowd. It was written that he has performed for Queen Elizabeth II and appearedin the James Bond movie, The World is Not Enough. Wish this movie would pop up on TV, just tosee how many years ago he would have had a part in it. Bet it was a long time ago.

Bill & Mary Ann

By the way, we checked the label on the Tim Tams, and theyseem to be legitimately from Australia, and not knock-offs. Never knew that could be done, but a goodthing to remember for future purchases. We have limited ourselves to one cookie a day.

Another point of interest that we learned from Eddy theflorist, is that while we were in China, absolutely no flowers were allowed tobe delivered to the ship. We wentwithout deliveries until we reached Hong Kong, where they got a hugedelivery.

And we may have mentioned this already, but Eddy heard thatno cruise ships are allowed in the Singapore Harbour Front pier anymore, butreserved only for ferries. That would besad, because we all loved that convenient dockage. Maybe someone out there knows more than we doabout Singapore?

Love the blog. Wondering if you could share what room you are in? We are looking at a window room on your floor more toward the rear. We have heard there may be engine noise back there. So wondering where you are and if you experience any engine noise. Thank you for a response

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Look forward to seeing you on board!

 

 

 

We are doing a six day China overland, are you disembarking in Beijing and embarking in Hong Kong? We are off in Bejing and back on the second day in Shanghai. We might cross paths in X'ian.

Where are you located on this ship? We are looking at rooms for the Grand Asia tour in October.

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A world famous magician by the name of PeterMehtab, performed his magic for the crowd. It was written that he has performed for Queen Elizabeth II and appearedin the James Bond movie, The World is Not Enough. Wish this movie would pop up on TV, just tosee how many years ago he would have had a part in it. Bet it was a long time ago.

Peter Mehtab has just one role listed on Internet Movie Database in 1999's The World Is Not Enough: Casino Dealer. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0576593/?ref_=nv_sr_1

The Indonesian Tim Tams are not a knock off in that they are made under license from Arnotts in Australia. They are just lighter and taste pretty bad. We have seen them for sale in Asia outside of Singapore which seems to get the ones from Australia.

Enjoy them. My wife's family used to make them.

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Report # 77 SailingTowards Mumbai, India March 17,2017 Friday Partly cloudy & 86 degrees

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY TO ALL

Much to our disappointment, we did not see one item of greencommemorating St. Paddy’s Day this morning upon entering the dining room forbreakfast. We have always come into theentryway that was filled with shiny green shamrocks, and a huge pot of goldcoins. Did we get the date wrong? No, it seems if you want to see the festivedisplay, you had to wait until this evening, and go to the party held in theCrow’s Nest at 9pm instead. A couple ofdays ago, there was a sign-up list for the St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawlbeginning at 8:30pm from the Sports Bar. Well, these two activities rule out the late seating guests. We have always felt that these specialactivities are geared to the early dinner seating crowd, which includes theanytime diners. They are in the majoritythese days, so eating late has a price to it. Personally, we don’t attend these drinking bouts….it’s fine for others,just not us.

During his pm talk, the Captain mentioned that we can expectto be late in arriving to Mumbai, due to tidal fluctuations. Instead of an 8am arrival, it will now be10am. Another change will be that wehave been bumped by a larger cruise ship that will be debarking and embarkingpassengers all day. Not sure what thathas to do with our berth, but we lost it. The Amsterdam will be moved to another container port, further away fromthe Green Gate, that we are not allowed to walk to anyway. Now this is where we got a really mixedmessage, as the Captain said they were working on getting shuttle buses thatwould perhaps take us to town. Nowwouldn’t that be nice? That has NEVERhappened here in Mumbai. Always havebeen told that the taxi union would prohibit any shuttle bus, except for a rideto the Green Gate. Well, we waited for aretraction, but it did not come. Genefollowed with his usual talk, and that was that. OK, we all wondered if the information wouldshow up on tomorrow’s Daily Navigator. We would have to wait until 6 or 7pm tofind out.

Most of the seasoned travelers we know also do notunderstand the complimentary shuttle situation (or the lack of) in theports. Some other cruise lines providethem, because we believe the cruise line pays for them. Many instances, the larger malls will pay forthem as well. We suspect that is thecase with HAL, as it is made perfectly clear that they assume no responsibilityfor their scheduling or the fact that they may or may not get you back to theship on time. Our feeling is that if thetaxi union is that powerful, like in India, then why will they allow dozens oftour buses to take hundreds of folks on shore excursions? We have been in some places where the taxidrivers actually blockaded the main road, where none of these buses on tourcould get out of the port. It took the police and the military to remove theblockades for us to get through. At thatpoint, we all wonder why we were even there? Not tourist friendly for sure.

We have made the suggestion that HAL could pay for a shuttleto town, even if they passed down a small fee to the passengers. The answer we got, is that we could work onthat, as it was a possible solution. The local businesses, malls, and shopshave figured out that if you get the people to come, they will spend money….awin-win for all. Guess what…..nothing has happened yet. Surprised….no. But let down once again.

So we spent another lovely afternoon at the pool, roastingin the sun. No rain clouds today. There was a strong breeze blowing, which wasfine. That is, until a new sound sprungup from the ship’s exhaust stacks. Weare guessing a new fan was being tested that sounded like an engine of aplane. Within seconds, white smoke bellowed straight down across theaft deck that smelled awful. Noxious isthe best way to describe it. If theywere trying to kill us all, they were doing a fine job of it. Normally, we think the crew waits until thewinds are blowing to the starboard or the port, where it would be taken awayfrom the ship. Or it is done late atnight, not in the mid-afternoon. We hadlittle choice but to pack it up, and leave, as the rest of the sunbathers did.

It was lunchtime anyway, so after ordering some salads, wephoned the front desk to report the incident. According to a phone call we received an hour later, someone actuallywent from the office to the aft deck to investigate the cause. Finding nothing, she called and asked if wecould call from the pool immediately if it happens again. Strangely enough, no one from the bar staffadmitted to the exhaust fumes. Hope itnever happens again, but if nobody speaks up, it will. The bad thing is so many people have thiscold and deep cough, that it could make it worse breathing toxic fumes.

Tonight we were invited to the third cocktail party hostedby our travel agency. For the second time,we had to miss it, since one of us is still under the weather. Feeling better during the day, the symptomsseem to reappear around 6pm every evening. No sense passing it on to others, wethought it best to stay home, so to speak. In fact, we did take a walk on the promenade deck to get some fresh airthis time. We can always count onfriends Jack and Shirley to still be there, waiting for the sunset. They must have each read 100 books by now,since they have been on this ship since last September, sailing back-to-backvoyages all the way to Florida at the end of April. They are always a pleasure to visit with,since they are well-traveled for their young ages (we figure close to our ages…..39plus ha-ha). Love hearing their travel adventures,which included a lot more than just cruising. Today’s subject was South Africa, which we could go on forever listeningto stories, as well as sharing ours.

Back at our room, the Daily Navigator for tomorrow had nogood news regarding the shuttles as we had hoped. The Captain was indeed wrong, and the buswill go only to the Green Gate only. Nothing different. And there is acurfew, because the port shuttle stops running between midnight to 6am. During those hours, the Green Gate is lockedand no access will be allowed back into the port and the ship.

Dinner for us was a table for two in the Pinnacle Grill ay8pm. Tina had promised us veal chops,and had remembered. Made our day, wehave to admit. Starters were Caesarsalads, a vegetable soup for a muse, and the best grilled veal chop ever. We added the smallest baked potatoes andshared a bowl of mushrooms. Left justenough room for cherry Garcia ice cream. Excellent dinner and service as well.

The show this evening was held one time at 7:15pm. It featured a combo of Buzz Sutherland andPeter Mehtab, both with brand new shows.

Tomorrow we will need to be seen by Indian ImmigrationOfficials, but instead of 8am, it will now be 10:30am. Bet that messes up the tours in Mumbai fortomorrow. At least everyone can sleep inlater.

Bill & MaryAnn

Report #78 Mumbai,India March 18, 2017 Saturday Sunny & 89 degrees Part #1Of 2 85 Pictures

Today we have come to India – a country of over1,166,070,000 people. A stunning number. The capital is New Delhi and the totalarea is 1,268,884 square miles of natives that speak a huge variety of languages. Here is the list: Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi,Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalan, Kannuda, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri,Sindhi, and lastly….Sanskrit. That’s all…isn’tthat enough?

India is a true kaleidoscope of cultures where the peoplelive with many sacred rivers, coveted empires, and two of the world’s greatreligions, depending on your point of view. As these two religions are not mentioned in the Lonely Planet book, wewill not give it a guess, although we think one has to be Hinduism.

Sometimes over-crowded, there is much poverty and stickybureaucracy. India is “incredible” astheir new slogan indicates. A freneticenergy begins each work day as millions of folks are in a rush-hour crush. You simply have to see it to believe it.

The best time to visit is from November to March in theplains, or July to September in theHimalayas.

What is there to see? The Taj Mahal, simply the most magnificent example of a tomb ofremembrance. Visited for the first timein 2007, we will never forget it. Wehave never been to the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, but we heard itis most holy. If you want to see a crushof humanity….go to Mumbai, where we are right now for two days. There are over 12 million people here….thefourth most populous city in the world.

Things to do are really too numerous to mention, but hereare a few suggestions. You can take acamel safari through the dunes of Rajasthan. Or how about search the jungles for Bengal tigers? We did just that two years ago on an overlandsafari – only the two of us and private drivers and guides. Over-the-top for sure. A visit to the palm-brushed beaches of Goa isrelaxing, or try a sleeper train ride across India. It is said to be the best way to explore thesubcontinent if you have the time and patience.

What is the food like? A special meal we enjoyed was called thalis, which consisted of littledishes of rice, curries, chapatis, pappadams, and condiments. They may or may not contain fish or chickenor can be totally vegetarian. Thesemetal bowls are served on a metal platter or sometimes on banana leaves.

What would you expect to drink with the food? Lassi, sweet or salty yoghurt shakes, or youcould enjoy lots of chai, a sweet Indian tea.

Trademarks are maharajas, holy cows, Gandhi, the Taj Mahalin Agra, towering temples, bottomless slums, Bollywood, and outsourcingrevolution. Looked for holy cows all day,but saw none….darn.

One random fact: There is no such thing as “curry” in India. The actual word in southern India is “kari”,and it means something fried or saucy.

Of course, our port of call was Mumbai today and alsotomorrow, as we are overnighting here. As we already mentioned, there are 12 million people in this city andthe surrounding areas. It has therichest natives, as well as the poorest people. There are modern skyscrapers built alongside colonial mansions. Ancient temples are mixed in between hightech businesses and traditional bustling food markets.

The many Victorian buildings reflect the British occupationthat lasted over 300 years. These can beseen while on some of the ten HAL tours here. They run from 1 ½ hours to 5 hours. And the cost ranges from $40 to $160. They include a trip to Elephanta Island to see the caves. We did it once and had a ball because of thefolks we went with. Once was enough,however, since the monkeys at the top are really bad, stealing everything theycan get their little paws on….even sunglasses and hats.

There is a tour to drive the “Queen’s Necklace” or theboulevard along the back bay that it well-lit with street lights. You can include a dinner on the $160 tour.

You can tour Gandhi’s modest house (really where he stayedwith friends), Victoria Terminus, which is the railway station (anotherterrorist scene), the Gateway of India, and the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. Both of which we saw today for free. The Dhobi Ghat laundry is a must-see tobelieve how laundry is hand cleaned outdoors, and the Crawford Market andColaba Street shopping is wonderful for photos, spice-buying, and even shoebuying (that’s what we accomplished today). Temples are everywhere, as are mosques, andchurches. Museums are numerous. Most everything was open today, a Saturday, butmay not be opened tomorrow, a Sunday.

So, here we are, arriving to the city later thanplanned. Originally, we were to comehere at 8am. However, due to tidal fluctuations,we could not get into the bay until 10am. Another change was that we would not be docked where we usually are, butin an offshore container terminal. Ashuttle bus would be provided to take us to the Green Gate, where we are alwaysshuttled to. No change there.

So we went to breakfast around 8:30am in the dining room,and took our time. There were few gueststhis morning, because lots of them had tours booked. The scheduled Indian immigrations procedureswere scheduled to begin at 10:30am. Andsince we had the letter ”S” for President’s Club and suite guests, we went tothe Explorers Lounge at 10:15am to be among the first to go through thecheckpoint. We wish our letters with thegroup numbers would be collected and enforced. It was announced that only the “S” group would be allowed first, but weknow for a fact that some of the guests in line near us were definitely not “S”,and no one stopped them.

Well, the officials were not even there yet, as we saw theentire group heading up to the Lido for breakfast, we assumed. They did not come back to the lounge until after11am. By then, we had been handed ourpassports with the landing cards and a copy of our passport. Finally we saw the shore excursion folksbeing seen first, since they were the sign-holders for the tours. When they were finished with them, we finallygot the go-ahead. Took a few extraminutes because we have the 10 year Indian visas in our old passports. The officials had to locate them as well ascheck out our current passport. And theyellow landing card was missing our exit date, so I had to fill the correctdate in. This was missing on theinstruction paper yesterday. Bill’sofficial did not catch the missing date, but stamped the card anyway. By the way, all of our passports werecollected after we cleared immigrations to stay on the ship.

By now, it was already 11:30am, so we grabbed our things andwent off the ship. Bill was stoppedbecause his date was missing. Henk wasstanding nearby, assisting a passenger into a waiting ambulance. He came over and filled in the date with hispen for Bill. Good to go, we hopped onthe first shuttle to the gate. Barbara Htold us there would be eleven buses to take folks to the gate and back all daytoday and tomorrow.

Once out at the gate, we had to show these cards and thecopy of our passport ID page. Then wehad to go through xray before exiting the Green Gate. That’s when we had to weave our way throughthe taxi drivers, saying we wanted to walk. They also treat us like we are crazy, but never intimidate us intotaking their ride. These drivers weremuch better than the ones in Sri Lanka, as they kindly accepted our NO, thanks,as our final answer. That’s one goodthing about having a lot of passengers filing out the gate right behind us. They got a lot of business from our crowd.

The streets were busy this morning, as it was a Saturday,and families and kids were all out and about. We headed towards the Gateway of India, hugging the wall of the policestation most of the way. The traffic washeavy, with the heavy part being the horns. No one can drive here without laying on the horn. Big trucks, taxis, vans, and little cars…..doesn’tmatter….they all blow their horns. Thenthere are the motorcycles. They willresort to driving on the sidewalks when they can get away with it. So needless to say, we were most careful wherewe walked.

Eventually we reached the road that went to the Gateway ofIndia. Today it was busy with localfamilies and young couples to visit. Manyof them were on their way to Elephanta Island, a fun place to spend anafternoon for a picnic. The place to catchthe ferry there is below the gateway, which was built in 1911 to commemoratethe visit of King George V and Queen Mary to India. Following that, the gate greeted passengerson steamships, and also served as the last point of the departure of Britishtroops in 1947. It stands just a proudas it did back then.

Today the area is cycloned off, and you have to go throughthe police screening. This happenedafter the terrorist’s attack at the end of 2008, when they staged shooting andbombings in at least three separate areas in Mumbai. Seem to recall the gunmen hit the railway station,the Taj Mahal Palace, and Leopolds Café. You can still see bullet holes in the walls of Leopolds, although theTaj has been completely fixed from what we saw. We took our time walking aroundthe gate, but there were dozens of fellows trying to sell postcards cheap, andoffers to take your pictures with their camera and sell you photos forcheap. Always an angle. Then outside the fencing, you had to fightoff taxi drivers selling tours.

The next stop was close….right across the street was the TajMahal Palace Hotel. Once again, we hadto go through security xray before entering the hotel. It is a most elegant hotel that we alwayslike to see when we are here. It is awonderful place to cool down, and enjoy a lunch in their dining room. Today we were too early for lunch, so we justwalked through the boutique shops, used their restroom facilities and continuedon.

One stop that is always on the list for Mumbai, are the shoestores in the Colaba shopping area. Itis a sprawling district where you can find jewelry and clothing at greatprices. Guess it could be called themini-version of the Night Market in Hong Kong. The only problem one of us runs into is that the larger shoe sizes arelimited. Shopping for a pair of gold anda pair of white dress shoes, we were lucky to find the perfect pair of goldsequined sandals with a medium heel. White ones were impossible to locate. Looking into four shops, only one pair of white sandals were close tothe right choice, but no size was available. The humorous thing is that all of their surplus stock is stored in theceiling overhead. One fellow goes upthrough the hole, searches for the right sizes, then throws the boxes down tothe salesman below. Once they are done,the extra shoe boxes are thrown back up through the hole.

That was all we could find that appealed to either ofus. It was impossibly crowded on thisstreet, so we headed back to the ship. Wethought we might see someplace interesting for lunch, but found nothing. Leopolds Café would have been OK for beers,but they were over-packed, and it was too hot to sit in a crowded barsetting. Lunch on the ship was soundingbetter and better.

By the time we got back to the Green Gate, it was near 3pm. Security was lax at this point, because wewent through without being xrayed…not even or bag or purse. The shuttle was waiting, so we got back tothe ship right away. Sure was nice beingback in the air-conditioning. Assumingthe xray was present on the ship, we were wrong. It was not operating. First slip-up of the trip.

For a change, we got a Dive-In burger and hotdog up at theGrill. Only took about 10 minutes, sincewe hit the line just right. No one wasthere to order anything. Took it down tothe coolness of our room, and dined there. We ended up staying in until dinnertime. Got interested in a good TV movie while working on photos. Perfect.

Dinner was fun as there was only Barb and Martin there. Sometimes it is nice to get to know yourtablemates better when there are fewer people at the table. Conversation is easier. Martin told us all about his tour to thespice market, which he found very interesting. Poor Barb was not feeling well, so she spent the day onboard, catchingup on much needed rest. Hope she is not gettingthe “bug”, because she is our Rock of Gibraltar. Martha stopped by after her dinner in thePinnacle. She had made reservations forour entire table, along with watercolor instructors Carol and Kelly for afarewell dinner on April 19th. We told her she made it possible to celebrate our oldest son’s birthdaythat day. So Bill, we shall be toastingyou that day….and probably ordering a birthday cake too.

Tomorrow, the plan is to stay here until 9:30pm, instead ofthe announced 5pm. Must have somethingto do with the tides again.

Bill & Mary Ann

Thank you for continuing your interesting posts.

Enjoying your daily review.

Report #79 Mumbai,India March 19, 2017 Sunday Sunny & 93 degrees Part #1 Of3 86 Pictures

After breakfast, we took a walk on the lower promenade deckto find that the annual razor wire had been installed below the railing onSaturday afternoon. And to explain the precaution, a letter was delivered toour room later with information from Captain Jonathon saying why this was beingdone. As always, he reassured us that wewill not be alone while sailing in the sensitive areas from Oman, and aroundthe Arabian Peninsula into the Red Sea. Asthere will be a “pirate drill” tomorrow, we shall provide the details then.

Today was pretty much a rerun of yesterday, except it wasSunday. We suspected that some of themarkets would be closed today, such as Crawford Market, one of the largest onesin Mumbai. At this market you can find ahuge amount of spices, fruit (fresh and dried), herbs, and householdgoods. Luggage, clothing, and fabric issold, but some of the unusual items are wigs and monkeys…..in the pet section. It is a wonderful place to get photos, evenif you are not buying anything. Wetoured this market about three years ago. However, most of these shops would be closed today.

So we wanted to compare crowds with yesterday’s, and decidedto walk to town once again. Despite theforecast of 93 degrees, we felt it was hotter yesterday. Once through the Green Gate, we noticed thatthere were fewer taxis and no traffic. At least three separate groups of older kids were playing cricketwithout their shoes, all the way to the main road. It was fun watching them, since we don’t havea clue how the game operates. They suredid, as it is a huge pastime here in India. A major sport in fact.

Making our way back to the Gateway of India, we noticed amuch larger crowd of Indian families heading that way. Most all of the ladies were wearing gorgeoussarees. Guess we could call it “SareeSunday”. Most all of them were headingto Elephanta Island for the day, we assume. We did consider taking the ferry there, since it was very reasonable totake the boat there. But we do seem toremember that getting a ferry back could be a problem. Sometimes the boat captains wait until theferry fills up before leaving the island, and that could be an hour’s wait, ormore. So we did not want to take achance.

From there we made our way back to the Taj Mahal PalaceHotel, but mostly for a pit stop. We did locate the bar there, but it was tooearly for a beer. WE continued onoutside the hotel, looking for the Chinese restaurant Barb always goes to. Assuming it was in back of the hotel, wenever did find it. Seems it was down thestreet from the front of the hotel.

As long as we were already down half way paralleling ColabaStreet, we walked up a side street, and slowly made our way back past all theshops. Everything was opened here, evenon Sunday. Making one more attempt tolocate a pair of white dress sandals, we ended up back in the only store thatseemed to have a better range of sizes. Notfinding the white ones, we did happen across a turquoise pair, at half price atthat. The shop owner even reduced itfurther….don’t know why, but he made a quick sale.

On our way back to the Green Gate, we spotted a cow beingherded down the street. Finally, a holycow. But they disappeared down a sidestreet and were gone by the time we got there. In the past, we used to pass these animals as they lined the sidewalk tothe main road. People must feed them,but never eat their meat. Remember, theyare considered sacred in India.

At the gate, there were a few rent-a-baby young girlscarrying a crying baby, not their own. Wehave been warned not to give them anything, as it only encourages more girls todo this. When they see policemen, theyscatter. There was one elderly womanselling purses and bags. We didnegotiate one red and pink satin bag with gold embroidery for $5.00. She was happy, and so was I.

This time, the security was more thorough this time. We did have to put our things through thexray, and our yellow landing cards and passport copy were checked out. We wondered how they handled a tour bus fullof guests, because we did see the buses drive through the gate. Martin told us that those passengers that hadlarge bags, like a backpack, had to get off the bus, and walk through the xray,like everyone else on foot. The rest ofthe folks could stay on the bus, where an official boarded, and checked theirpapers on the bus.

Once back at the ship, we had to wait to board, because theywere in the process of closing the deck two gangway. The new gangway connected to deck one, but itwas not quite ready for anyone to board. This is where you see the true colors of some other guests. Not everyone is nice on this trip. We saw one lady who definitely was having abad day, and not reacting well with the crew. She claimed to have broken her arm, which was wrapped with a towel andtied with white napkins. We thought thatwas odd, because if she did this in the city, she probably would have beenbrought here in an ambulance and immediately taken onboard. No one denied her getting on first, but whenthe room steward said he would let her walk the gangway first (she was in amotorized scooter), then pick her up inside the ship after the rest of usboarded, she threw a fit. She yelled athim and said absolutely not…he would not let anyone on ahead of him. She had a broken arm and was on her way rightto the doctor on the ship.

Well, she got her way, got on first (fine with all of us),then proceeded to turn the opposite way back to her room. She ignored the room steward who had helpedher, and went to her room, and from what we saw, she never came back out. Hmmmm, think she lied a little. The room steward stayed polite through thiswhole episode, bless his heart.

Worked on photos until lunch salads arrived. Around 6pm, we went up to deck nine to watchthe sun go down. It really was a goodsetting, but no sunset like we normally see. With the heavy smoky haze that plagues the skyhere, the sun set in an orange globe that sunk behind the buildings, then itwas gone. No after color.

Our departure time had been moved to sometime after 9:30pm,perhaps we would see the sail away after dinner. All of us were present at the table tonight,sharing our exploits of the day. Noteveryone got off of the ship here. Weknow of some folks that chose not to get the Indian visa, and could not leavethe ship anyway. Depending on whatcountry you are from, India does not make it easy to procure visas. Seems like we just got our a few years ago,but really, it has been 10 years next year. They will expire at the end of 2018, but at least they were good for 10years, the only way to purchase them if you can.

After dinner, we took our normal walk on deck three to findit was crowded with folks waiting for the sail away. Since it was past 10pm, we headed back down,and watched the ship move away from the offshore pier from our window. The Costa Classica had slipped out ahead ofus while we ate our meal.

The last two days of Queen’s Lounge entertainment includedthe Magic of Bollywood with songs and dances of India, and a big screen movie,A Passage to India was shown this evening.

Remember that the clocks had gone back ½ hour before our arrivalto Sri Lanka? Well, we got the other ½ hourback on the clocks this evening. We arehappy to roll them back no matter how many minutes it is.

There are two sea days now as we head towards Muscat, Oman.

Bill & Mary Ann

Report # 80 SailingTowards Muscat, Oman March 20,2017 Monday Partly cloudy & 89 degrees

Thought we would have another lazy day at sea, as we sail ina north-westerly direction. But that wasnot to be. It did start off as normal,with breakfast in the dining room. Sadly, they have run out of strawberries. Every day, we have a standing order of yogurtwith berries. When we get regulardeliveries to the ship, we have an assortment of raspberries, blackberries,strawberries, and blueberries. Little bylittle, the serving sizes get less, and we end up with only blueberries, asthey have a long shelf life. All goodfor you, but we like the strawberries best. Are we spoiled or what?

The temperature had dropped noticeably since yesterday. Not that it was cold, but it far less hot andsticky, which was fine with us. It wasonly 75 degrees when we checked the navigation channel at 10:30am. And it sure felt like the ship was flying…..itwas, doing a fast clip of 20.4 knots. Wonderwhy?

At 10:30am, the Captain came on all of the speakers toannounce the upcoming anti-piracy drill for the entire crew. The letter we received yesterday went intomore detail. So here they are:

The Amsterdam will be reporting to the United KingdomMaritime Trade Organization, the people that coordinate all of the coalitionwarships in the anti-piracy area. Although we may not see them, we are being tracked during the entiretransit of the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal.

A close radar watch will be kept on the bridge.

Extra security guards are on an anti-piracy watch on arotating 24 hour shift.

Four Long Range Acoustical Devices (LRADS) are rigged,manned, and ready for immediate use.

Charged water hoses are ready for use on the lower promenadedeck.

Razor wire has been rigged on the freeboard deck (deckthree), in case a boarding would be attempted. We have been told repeatedly that this deck is too high for such aboarding, but they are taking no chances. If nothing else, it makes the passengers and crew feel safer.

So this drill began with one long ring of the ship’s alarm,followed by the Captain saying…testing, testing, testing. In a real drill, we would all head into thecenter parts of the ship, away from all windows, including the staterooms. However, today this was a drill, and we wereinformed that it was not mandatory to participate. The Captain did say previously that he requestedeveryone to stay clear of deck three, and by all means, please do not takephotos or videos. Not a problem, as we have already seen the activity on thatdeck over the years.

As we had just gotten situated on the aft pool deck, we madea decision not to participate. Doingtheir job, the deck stewards all came to tell us to go inside, however we chosenot to participate. We let them know wewere notified, but we were staying put. A handful of other long-time cruisers did the same thing, although theywere sitting under the overhang.

The drill lastly almost ½ hour, but many of the sun loversbegan coming back outside within 15 minutes. Sure hope this never happens for real, because it would be frighteningto say the least. At least, we areprepared.

The wind was blowing a gale across the decks, but we figuredthat had something to do with the speed of the ship. It made more sense when the Captain gave hisPM talk, and said we would be arriving to the port of Muscat earlier thanexpected. Instead of arriving in twodays, we will be getting to the bay to pick up the pilot at 5pm tomorrow. The Amsterdam will be docked by 7pm. No wonder we are going so fast. Our theory is that we are speeding to getacross this area of the Indian Ocean, as it is a hotspot for pirates. And by maintaining this speed, we can outrunthe much smaller terrorist’s boats. Onlya theory, because we have to be using a massive amount of fuel to keep up thisclip. Although the Captain did saygetting to Oman might make up for the delay we had with Immigrations in India,anyone who has ever visited Muscat will know that it might not be the mostdesirable place to get off of the ship at night. Just our opinion, though.

For the wine lovers among the readers, an open wine packagewas offered yesterday, just in case the folks were running low on their bottlesfrom their original packages. Don’t knowif this is a good price or not, but the Navigator 24 bottle package is $734including the 15% beverage service charge. The Admiral 24 bottle package is $971, also including the 15% servicecharge.

There was a special Pinnacle Grill “Tiffin” Dinner thisevening at 6:30pm. Tiffin refers to themetal containers that the dabba-wallahs (food carriers) transport to offices inthe downtown area of Mumbai, and all other large Indian cities. The tiffin boxes stack, and are placed in bagswith the tins full of lunch food. It isestimated that there are 4000 tiffin box delivery people, distributing fresh,home-cooked meals made from 100,000 suburban kitchens. Anyway, the dinner this evening had a list of Indiancuisine with 9 courses, that included wine pairing. The cost was $79 per person. Perhaps if you were nervous about trying thefood in Mumbai (sometimes you should be), then this dinner was a good and safealternate choice.

We had unexpected company for dinner…..Susie and Woodyjoined the six of us, since half of their tablemates were sick (too much Indianfood, or the bug on the ship, we guess). We certainly had a nice time, and they blended in well with ourtablemates. And the traditional turkeydinner was a great choice for our entrees tonight. The BBQ ribs were a good second choice,although Woody ordered the steak entrée, and it was really tasty he said.

Another good way to end the night was going to listen to thesingers of the Amsterdam in the Queen’s Lounge. Better yet, was the stroll on deck three in the complete darkness. Most all of the lights had been turned off,and the deck was manned with two security guards, who will be on watch allnight.

But the best news was that we had one more hour back on theclocks tonight. These little things domake us happy. Good friends and moresleep……

Bill & Mary Ann

That security drill would really be frightening.

Report #81 Muscat,Oman March 21, 2017 Tuesday Partly cloudy & 81 degrees Sail In 70 Pictures

Today was supposed to be a day at sea, except yesterday, itwas announced that we would arrive this evening instead. To make it on time, wehad to fly. It felt like we weretraveling a million miles an hour, although technically, it was a speed over 20knots. In addition, the winds wereblowing a strong 32 knots, so the combination of the two just about swept us offof the aft deck today.

After breakfast this morning, we went outside to find it wasalmost cool out today. A wonderfulchange from the humidity and heat of the Indian continent. This was most welcomed. However, we were not happy that the deck crewhad been assigned to do major work onthe promenade deck this morning. A groupof fellows were using the deep scrubber machine on the forward deck, so thatpart was cordoned off to walkers. Thenon the opposite side, painters were sanding the terribly rusted under railingsin order to paint them later. The rusteddust was blowing in everyone’s faces, although this part of the deck was alsocordoned off. The usual group of morningwalkers were like yo-yos going back and forth between the ropes. Eventually, all gave up. Wouldn’t it have been a better idea to do thescrubbing yesterday evening after 6pm, like they always used to do it? We are used to the sanding, so no need torope off the deck there. We did take a momentto ask Henk why this was happening this morning, and he said he was not awareof it. It was not his department, butthe staff captain’s. We all understoodthat this work is necessary, but should be done when no one is using thedeck. On past cruises, that happened tobe around 6pm, and we all knew it, so avoided the walk during that time. Truthfully, we have noticed less and lessdeep cleaning on this cruise. Anyway,our suggestion was promised to be passed to the proper department.

Guest speakers spoke about the sultan of Oman and how spicesmade their trails through history. A newfood chef has joined the ship (one that has been on several worldcruises). She had a presentation onIndian food markets this afternoon.

All of the usual activities were in full force includingtrivia, bridge, arts and crafts, watercolors, bingo (yes, it still happens onships), and the daily movie in the Wajang. Happy hour begins at 4pm in some bars, and resumes again at 6:30pm. Some folks have been getting grumpy, weunderstand, especially on the bus tours. Good thing they have happy hour, because lots of people NEED it.

As for us, we spent another day outside, getting lots offresh air, in the form of force 7 on the Beaufort scale…. the winds wereunbelievable. Using substantial clips onthe lounges to, we were able to secure the towels quite well. Bill and Leta stopped by to chat, and Letahad to sit down with me to avoid being blown away. You cannot wear a hat of anykind out here today. We saw at leastthree of them blown into the water behind us, while the owners tried eatingtheir melting ice cream cones as fast as they could. Despite it all, we lasted until 2:30pm, thenwent down to the room, getting a burger and hot dog on the way down at the DiveIn Grill. Lots of people rave about thefries, but we do not care for them, as they suck up the oil big time. Not worth the extra calories.

By 5pm, we went up to deck nine to film the sail into thebay of Muscat, a very different area of the world. Now we enter the Arabian culture….so verydifferent from anywhere else in the world in our opinion. Oman is a great place to start our visit tothis part of the world. We aredisappointed, however, that Dubai was not on the itinerary this year, as it isanother part of the indescribable destinations of the Middle East. Over-the-top in so many ways. Perhaps going into the Persian Gulf andthrough the Straits of Hormuz this time was not in the cards.

As the Amsterdam neared the coastline of Oman, it was quitehazy. But the closer we got, the clearerit got. The exposure for photos was justabout perfect, so we were glad to be arriving this time of the evening. The most fun was watching from deck nine whenthe ship was cleared after 6pm. Shuttlebuses were provided for a mandatory ride to the Port Gate, or a ride to thecenter of town at the Muttrah Souq. Whatthey failed to mention was the mandatory stop at the cruise terminal, whereeveryone on the bus would have to go through an xray check, then taken back tothe bus to the gate. The officials alwaystake their sweet time doing this, and tonight was no exception. The shuttle loaded up at the pier, and droveto the terminal. Only one bus wasoff-loaded, while the other buses circled the building. In the meantime, more people were filing offof the ship, only to wait for an hour for the buses to come back from town. Asfar as we know, the souq would be closed. Only the local restaurants and cafes would be open for business. Where all of these folks were going, was amystery to us, and probably for them. Will more than likely hear about it tomorrow.

Did we mention that Captain Jonathon had included that therewas a chance of showers tonight? Hardlysaw any clouds, and we certainly saw no people packing umbrellas. Well guess what? The rain started falling around 7:30pm, andgot pretty heavy during our dinnertime. Going to be some very unhappy people tonight……

Tonight was slated as “Sari Night”, although it was not agala evening. This is odd we think,because saris are beautiful and should be worn on a gala evening, like theyused to be. Why should the ladies lookgorgeous, but the fellows do not need todress for the occasion too? Now, withthe early arrival to the port, hundreds of passengers decided to go to town forthe evening instead. They had theopportunity to dine early at 5pm in the Lido, so they could leave the shipafter 6pm. Bet the dining room will bealmost empty.

The entry to the dining room was draped in flowing colorfulsilk fabrics tonight, with all of the waiters dressed in crocheted heavy Indianjackets, complete with red turbans. Theylooked great, but we knew it had to be so very hot wearing those hats. Too bad there were so few guests at the 8pmseating. And so few of the ladies werewearing saris. There must have beencomplaints about the dress code, since many would miss tonight’s dinner. A rerun of tonight will be tomorrow with aSari Night Sequel. Whether or not thewaiters will be dressed the same is to be seen, as they did not know.

The menu was mostly Indian-related entrees, as one mightexpect. The bad thing was that no matterwhat we ordered, everything came in the bowl, not a plate. We do not know anyone that likes the newplate ware, especially the wide soup bowls, where you lose the fork and knifein two minutes after eating. Barb hadspecifically asked for a regular dinner plate for her entrée, but it came inthe bowl. And it was not hot (as wereall of our dinners tonight). Asking Slamour waiter why she could not get a flat plate, she was told that all thedinners automatically came in the bowl, but from now on, perhaps he will requestplates for all of us. She thanked him,but the second she dropped her only fork in the BBQ pork entrée, she excusedherself and was gone from the table. That’s how she earned the name “rocket dog”. We told Slam that if she took her wine, shewould not be back. We were right, so weshall see if we get flat plates tomorrow. Philip, the dining room manager, instantly came over, and agreed thebowls are a problem with most folks, and they are doing something about it.

Now there was a good part of the meal, when Philipremembered to serve those of us who wanted them……the bombe, chocolate-coveredmocha or chocolate ice cream in a puddle of raspberry sauce. So, so good. At least it had a good ending for three of us.

There was a mystery Incredible India: Sari Studio shownbefore the evening show in the Queen’s Lounge tonight. Whatever it was, it as followed by Jo Little,a huge personality and talent. What shedoes, also a mystery?

Hope the rain lets up, and the souq is not flooded tomorrow.

Bill & Mary Ann

We remember that security drill on the RCI Rhapsody of the Seas very well. Since we were interior cabin troglodytes, we just stayed put in our cabins while the poor OV, balcony & suite guests had to vacate and move to the interior of the ship. It was kind of exciting, really.

The new plates were on the noordam a few months ago. I think bought the pouring of the soup was nice. It was usually hot. My wife one night mentioned to the head waiter that the food could be a little hotter and for the next 20+ nights our waiter was bringing them to the table holding a towel. They were placed on a heater in the kitchen and then bought to us. The hottest food ever. If. It can be done.

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Report #82 Muscat,Oman March 22, 2017 Wednesday Mostly sunny & 77 degrees Part #1 Of 3 85 Pictures

Well, here we are in the country of Oman with a populationof 3,419,000 people that speak primarily Arabic. It has a total area of 119,467 square miles. The capital is Muscat, and that just happensto be where we are docked since last night. Muscat is a pivotal trading and military point,and has been for thousands of years. Ithas a most sheltered harbor, although was invaded by the Persians, andeventually the Portuguese, who controlled the area for over 100 years. Evidence of this occupation stands today withtheir forts and watch towers facing the Gulf of Oman. The sultans eventually took over in the 18thcentury and have remained ever since. And they have big, big money, and are not afraid to show it with massivepalaces and two extravagant yachts in the harbor. Products that keep them in the $$$ arepetroleum, trade, and porting. Tourism hasbecome number one, ever since Sultan Qaboos bin Said took over in 1970,deposing his father. Now you see upscaleshopping as well as souk bargains.

Surprisingly, Oman has diverse natural beauty….the main drawto tourism these days. It is moreaccessible than Saudi Arabia, safer than Yemen (by far), and more traditionalthan the Persian Gulf Emirates. Oman isArabia’s most rewarding destination, especially if you ask the Sultan, whoresides here.

Bedouin traditions show through the forts, villages, and allrelated architecture. The mostinteresting draw in Muscat has to be the Mutrah Souk, an Arabian bazaar fromthe past, come to life. Where else can you see and smell real incenseas clouds of it emits from the incense burners from one end of the souq to theother?

There are also beautiful stretches of natural white sandbeaches, but you will see little swimming. If locals go in the water here, the ladies will be fully dressed inblack burkas. If you are searching for aplace to show off that bikini, best go to one of the modern hotels. Still a conservative country, the best timeto visit is from November to mid-March. Or you may find yourself in the middle of a monsoon. It did happen one year when we stopped inMuscat, to find they had been having so much rain, that the souq wasflooded. A river was running through it,and everything was closed.

Things to see in Muscat include the best bazaar, Portugueseforts, mosques, castles, palaces ( viewed only from the outside), and unspoiledbeaches. The craggy mountains make for abeautiful backdrop in this picturesque city on the protected harbor. Nizwa is another inland town to see. It boasts a 17th century fort, andanother huge souq. Mughsail’s jaw-dropping bay with sheer cliffs is a goodplace to find frankincense and myrrh. Manyyears ago, we bought small containers of the resins, but have yet to burnit. Reminds us of church when we werekids growing up.

Things to do in Oman could be a walk through Wadi Shab, agreen gorge that looks like paradise. Orsee copper-colored dunes of Wahiba Sands by camel or 4WD. A drive over Hajar Mountains brings you toUbar, the lost city. Another place ofinterest is Musandam Peninsula, a dramatic Omani outpost the guards the gatesof the Gulf.

So what do people eat here? “Harees” , steamed wheat, boiled meat (usually lamb), lime, chilli,onions, and garnished with owaal, which is dried shark. Or try shuwa, marinated meat cooked in anearth oven. Chicken, fish, and mutton isserved with spicy sauces, drizzled with lime or lemon. We did see barrels of dried brown-lookinglemons and limes in the souq today for that purpose. Kebabs are popular, especially with mutton. Visitors to Oman are only allowed to drinkalcohol if they buy drinks from licensed hotels. Western fast foods, such as KFC, have found theirway here. So has Starbucks, weread. The local favorite drink in Oman is camel’smilk. Wonder if they serve that atStarbucks?

Trademarks: Considered a former “hermit” sultanate, Oman has become one of the mostopen Arabian Peninsula states. You canfind the khanjar or the curved dagger (yes, we own one), frankincense (quitevaluable in days past), ancient forts, and palaces. Bedouins, sands of the Empty Quarter, andcamel racing are huge here.

A random fact: Thecoastal oasis of Sohar will forever be remembered from the “Arabian Nights” asthe starting point for Sinbad’s epic journeys.

Tours offered here by HAL’s shore excursions were from 2hours to 8 ½ hours for $63 to $200. Theyincluded a hop-on, hop-off bus for $63, dolphin watching, tours to museums, thepalace, and forts. There was a visit toNakhl, Muscat and the market, a cruise on an Arabian dhow, or tea at the AlBustan Palace Hotel. There was a 4WDvisit to a wadi (dry river bed), but with the recent rains, it was cancelled.

We were not alone today, as the Vision of the Seas (RCI),docked in the slip across from us as we ate breakfast. It is classified as a large resort ship withpleasant décor for casual family-friendly cruising. Built in 1998, it is 78,491 gross tons andholds up to 2435 passengers. We happenedto have sailed on her many years ago from Hawaii to Vancouver. It was not the best experience we have had,so we never went back to that line. Heardthings have improved immensely with the building of the newer mega-ships. They are the destination in themselves wehave heard.

Having done every tour here, we chose to take thecomplimentary (and mandatory) shuttle to the Mutrah Souq. We were handed an Omani landing card, theboarded one of the many shuttle buses. There was supposed to be a stop at the terminal, where we should havedebarked, gone through their security, then reboard the bus to town. Well, that did not happen that way. An Omani man boarded the bus near the terminal,and counted all of us, and perhaps was looking for large back packs. We were OK to go straight to the gate, and onto town. That was good. Sometimes thisprocess takes up to ½ hour.

Took all of ten minutes to arrive at the entrance to thesouq. It was around 10am when wearrived, which turned out to be perfect, since most all of the passengers onboth ships were on tours. It was notoverly crowded. It was obvious that therain last night had left major puddles from the bottom of the souq all the wayto the top. Not enough for any shops toclose, thank goodness.

We were not looking for anything in particular, but moreinterested in taking some colorful photos. Although some of the shops here are not inexpensive, like the jewelry stores,the rest of their treasures are negotiable. Never hurts to pick up a few Burberry scarves, not exactly the realdeal, but pretty good looking. One of usalready has a healthy stack of fabric from here, so we looked, but only tookpictures. Also picked up adiamond-jeweled black jacket, commonly seen on the local ladies. The bargaining was just as much fun as the actualpurchase, which was way less than half of the asking price.

We zig-zagged all the way to the top, where the souq opensup into a street full of local shops. Weheard later that if we had been interested in buying anything out here, theywould not have taken any US dollars. OnlyOmani rial at .38 to one US $. Like wesaid, things could be expensive here. The vendors in the souq readily took the dollars.

We spent more time running into people we knew and chattingthan buying things. Had to check outevery shoe shop, but had no luck in finding white dress shoes or sandals. Gold, silver, or copper color? Not a problem. Finding the right size……a big problem.

Back down to the entrance, we crossed the busy street, andwalked the corniche, or what they call the waterfront road. It was so overcast today, we felt like itcould rain any second. Of course, wepacked the umbrellas, assuring us that no rain would fall. It worked. The sun finally peeked out in the late afternoon. We looked for the tropical fish we know arein the harbor, and saw a few. The tidewas out, and the rocky shoreline was full of gulls eating bread that a localgirl was tossing to them. On past tripshere, we have seen café owners tossing lots of stale bread in the water for thefish. We had hoped to see some sting raysand turtles as well, but no lick today.

We made our way up towards Riyam Park, where we ran intofriends Peg and Rich, that had taken the shuttle last night to town. They found a good place for dinner, saw someshops that had stayed opened in the souq, then got back before the rain camedown hard. Some folks are just lucky,but we are sure some were not. At leastit was not too hot to walk the seawall today, so we didn’t mind it. Hard to get the best photos without the sunhowever.

We went back to the ship with a short wait for the shuttle,without ever having to go through the terminal. Good deal. All of us handed overthe Omani cards before we went up the gangway, since we did not intend to goback. All aboard was at 4:30pm, and theexpected sail away should have been sometime around 5pm. That would not happen……..

Captain Mercer announced at the sail away around 5pm, thattwo trucks bringing deliveries to the ship were delayed. They were expecting fresh produce, flowers,and much needed medical supplies. Wewaited until the goods were loaded, but ended up leaving around 6:30pm, over 1½hours late. The good part was thatleaving in the dark, gave us different photos to take. And exactly at 6:17pm(sunset), all of the minarets in town sounded the prayer call. Reminded everyone that could hear this that weare NOT in Kansas anymore. The bad partwas that we had been invited to a special President’s Club party in the Officer’sBar at 7pm. It would take a quick dashto the room, change, and be at the meeting point on the Dolphin deck by7pm. Made it by the skin of our teeth.

Most all of the President’s Club members onboard were linedup in the hallway to go down the “secret” staircase to deck A, or take theelevator down one deck. We were led tothe Officer’s Bar and had the opportunity to mix and mingle with some of theofficers and staff. Many of the juniorofficers were present, but hugged the bar for the most part. Seasoned officers mingled among us, includingShiv, Henk, Gene, Christel, and of course, Peter, who spent the most time withour group with Don and Barbie and us. Many elegant canopies were passed among all of us, as well as copiouscocktails of our choice. Manny alwaystakes good care of us. Only the best isserved here. Thankfully, only our smallgroup (about 30) had been invited, as compared to last year, when deck sevenfolks had been included. We were stuffedin like sardines back then. That isprobably why our buddies, Eddie and Lee, did not attend tonight. Earlier in the day, we ran into them, andthey thought the invite was for tomorrow evening, a sea day, instead. Now that would have made sense, right? We certainly appreciate the invite to thisspecial event, but tomorrow may have been better….a sea day, not a port day. And who knew we would be leaving so muchlater? In their nineties, it must havebeen too much for Eddie and Lee to handle, so they did not attend. The hour flew by, and it was time for dinner,although we could have called it night….wewere full already.

We joined our table to find we had company. Both watercolor instructors, Carol and herassistant, Kelly, were there. It is thefirst time we met Kelly, although she has dined here when we were in thePinnacle Grill. It was a nice evening,and our dinners were served on hot, regular plates…..no bowls for any of us. Barb had gone to Philip last night, and askedfor plates from now on. So, it wasdone. Now we do hope, it continues.

The entertainer of the evening was a singer by the name of PeterCutler…..variety at its best. Did weattend……no, it had been a very long day, and nothing sounded better thanturning in by 10pm.

We did not take our usual walk on the lower deck, since allof the lights have been turned off now. Security teams roam the deck on constant watch, a reminder that we arein some of the most dangerous waters in the world right now, and will continueto be for several days.

Bill & Mary Ann

Bill & Mary Ann,

Curious as to if the on-board internet is working well for you as put out these fantastic reports.

Report #82 Muscat,Oman March 22, 2017 Wednesday Mostly sunny & 77 degrees Part #1 Of 3 85 Pictures

 

Well, here we are in the country of Oman with a populationof 3,419,000 people that speak primarily Arabic. It has a total area of 119,467 square miles. The capital is Muscat, and that just happensto be where we are docked since last night. Muscat is a pivotal trading and military point,and has been for thousands of years. Ithas a most sheltered harbor, although was invaded by the Persians, andeventually the Portuguese, who controlled the area for over 100 years. Evidence of this occupation stands today withtheir forts and watch towers facing the Gulf of Oman. The sultans eventually took over in the 18thcentury and have remained ever since. And they have big, big money, and are not afraid to show it with massivepalaces and two extravagant yachts in the harbor. Products that keep them in the $$$ arepetroleum, trade, and porting. Tourism hasbecome number one, ever since Sultan Qaboos bin Said took over in 1970,deposing his father. Now you see upscaleshopping as well as souk bargains.

 

Surprisingly, Oman has diverse natural beauty….the main drawto tourism these days. It is moreaccessible than Saudi Arabia, safer than Yemen (by far), and more traditionalthan the Persian Gulf Emirates. Oman isArabia’s most rewarding destination, especially if you ask the Sultan, whoresides here.

 

Bedouin traditions show through the forts, villages, and allrelated architecture. The mostinteresting draw in Muscat has to be the Mutrah Souk, an Arabian bazaar fromthe past, come to life. Where else can you see and smell real incenseas clouds of it emits from the incense burners from one end of the souq to theother?

 

There are also beautiful stretches of natural white sandbeaches, but you will see little swimming. If locals go in the water here, the ladies will be fully dressed inblack burkas. If you are searching for aplace to show off that bikini, best go to one of the modern hotels. Still a conservative country, the best timeto visit is from November to mid-March. Or you may find yourself in the middle of a monsoon. It did happen one year when we stopped inMuscat, to find they had been having so much rain, that the souq wasflooded. A river was running through it,and everything was closed.

 

Things to see in Muscat include the best bazaar, Portugueseforts, mosques, castles, palaces ( viewed only from the outside), and unspoiledbeaches. The craggy mountains make for abeautiful backdrop in this picturesque city on the protected harbor. Nizwa is another inland town to see. It boasts a 17th century fort, andanother huge souq. Mughsail’s jaw-dropping bay with sheer cliffs is a goodplace to find frankincense and myrrh. Manyyears ago, we bought small containers of the resins, but have yet to burnit. Reminds us of church when we werekids growing up.

 

Things to do in Oman could be a walk through Wadi Shab, agreen gorge that looks like paradise. Orsee copper-colored dunes of Wahiba Sands by camel or 4WD. A drive over Hajar Mountains brings you toUbar, the lost city. Another place ofinterest is Musandam Peninsula, a dramatic Omani outpost the guards the gatesof the Gulf.

 

So what do people eat here? “Harees” , steamed wheat, boiled meat (usually lamb), lime, chilli,onions, and garnished with owaal, which is dried shark. Or try shuwa, marinated meat cooked in anearth oven. Chicken, fish, and mutton isserved with spicy sauces, drizzled with lime or lemon. We did see barrels of dried brown-lookinglemons and limes in the souq today for that purpose. Kebabs are popular, especially with mutton. Visitors to Oman are only allowed to drinkalcohol if they buy drinks from licensed hotels. Western fast foods, such as KFC, have found theirway here. So has Starbucks, weread. The local favorite drink in Oman is camel’smilk. Wonder if they serve that atStarbucks?

 

Trademarks: Considered a former “hermit” sultanate, Oman has become one of the mostopen Arabian Peninsula states. You canfind the khanjar or the curved dagger (yes, we own one), frankincense (quitevaluable in days past), ancient forts, and palaces. Bedouins, sands of the Empty Quarter, andcamel racing are huge here.

 

A random fact: Thecoastal oasis of Sohar will forever be remembered from the “Arabian Nights” asthe starting point for Sinbad’s epic journeys.

 

Tours offered here by HAL’s shore excursions were from 2hours to 8 ½ hours for $63 to $200. Theyincluded a hop-on, hop-off bus for $63, dolphin watching, tours to museums, thepalace, and forts. There was a visit toNakhl, Muscat and the market, a cruise on an Arabian dhow, or tea at the AlBustan Palace Hotel. There was a 4WDvisit to a wadi (dry river bed), but with the recent rains, it was cancelled.

 

We were not alone today, as the Vision of the Seas (RCI),docked in the slip across from us as we ate breakfast. It is classified as a large resort ship withpleasant décor for casual family-friendly cruising. Built in 1998, it is 78,491 gross tons andholds up to 2435 passengers. We happenedto have sailed on her many years ago from Hawaii to Vancouver. It was not the best experience we have had,so we never went back to that line. Heardthings have improved immensely with the building of the newer mega-ships. They are the destination in themselves wehave heard.

 

Having done every tour here, we chose to take thecomplimentary (and mandatory) shuttle to the Mutrah Souq. We were handed an Omani landing card, theboarded one of the many shuttle buses. There was supposed to be a stop at the terminal, where we should havedebarked, gone through their security, then reboard the bus to town. Well, that did not happen that way. An Omani man boarded the bus near the terminal,and counted all of us, and perhaps was looking for large back packs. We were OK to go straight to the gate, and onto town. That was good. Sometimes thisprocess takes up to ½ hour.

 

Took all of ten minutes to arrive at the entrance to thesouq. It was around 10am when wearrived, which turned out to be perfect, since most all of the passengers onboth ships were on tours. It was notoverly crowded. It was obvious that therain last night had left major puddles from the bottom of the souq all the wayto the top. Not enough for any shops toclose, thank goodness.

 

We were not looking for anything in particular, but moreinterested in taking some colorful photos. Although some of the shops here are not inexpensive, like the jewelry stores,the rest of their treasures are negotiable. Never hurts to pick up a few Burberry scarves, not exactly the realdeal, but pretty good looking. One of usalready has a healthy stack of fabric from here, so we looked, but only tookpictures. Also picked up adiamond-jeweled black jacket, commonly seen on the local ladies. The bargaining was just as much fun as the actualpurchase, which was way less than half of the asking price.

 

We zig-zagged all the way to the top, where the souq opensup into a street full of local shops. Weheard later that if we had been interested in buying anything out here, theywould not have taken any US dollars. OnlyOmani rial at .38 to one US $. Like wesaid, things could be expensive here. The vendors in the souq readily took the dollars.

 

We spent more time running into people we knew and chattingthan buying things. Had to check outevery shoe shop, but had no luck in finding white dress shoes or sandals. Gold, silver, or copper color? Not a problem. Finding the right size……a big problem.

 

Back down to the entrance, we crossed the busy street, andwalked the corniche, or what they call the waterfront road. It was so overcast today, we felt like itcould rain any second. Of course, wepacked the umbrellas, assuring us that no rain would fall. It worked. The sun finally peeked out in the late afternoon. We looked for the tropical fish we know arein the harbor, and saw a few. The tidewas out, and the rocky shoreline was full of gulls eating bread that a localgirl was tossing to them. On past tripshere, we have seen café owners tossing lots of stale bread in the water for thefish. We had hoped to see some sting raysand turtles as well, but no lick today.

 

We made our way up towards Riyam Park, where we ran intofriends Peg and Rich, that had taken the shuttle last night to town. They found a good place for dinner, saw someshops that had stayed opened in the souq, then got back before the rain camedown hard. Some folks are just lucky,but we are sure some were not. At leastit was not too hot to walk the seawall today, so we didn’t mind it. Hard to get the best photos without the sunhowever.

 

We went back to the ship with a short wait for the shuttle,without ever having to go through the terminal. Good deal. All of us handed overthe Omani cards before we went up the gangway, since we did not intend to goback. All aboard was at 4:30pm, and theexpected sail away should have been sometime around 5pm. That would not happen……..

 

Captain Mercer announced at the sail away around 5pm, thattwo trucks bringing deliveries to the ship were delayed. They were expecting fresh produce, flowers,and much needed medical supplies. Wewaited until the goods were loaded, but ended up leaving around 6:30pm, over 1½hours late. The good part was thatleaving in the dark, gave us different photos to take. And exactly at 6:17pm(sunset), all of the minarets in town sounded the prayer call. Reminded everyone that could hear this that weare NOT in Kansas anymore. The bad partwas that we had been invited to a special President’s Club party in the Officer’sBar at 7pm. It would take a quick dashto the room, change, and be at the meeting point on the Dolphin deck by7pm. Made it by the skin of our teeth.

 

Most all of the President’s Club members onboard were linedup in the hallway to go down the “secret” staircase to deck A, or take theelevator down one deck. We were led tothe Officer’s Bar and had the opportunity to mix and mingle with some of theofficers and staff. Many of the juniorofficers were present, but hugged the bar for the most part. Seasoned officers mingled among us, includingShiv, Henk, Gene, Christel, and of course, Peter, who spent the most time withour group with Don and Barbie and us. Many elegant canopies were passed among all of us, as well as copiouscocktails of our choice. Manny alwaystakes good care of us. Only the best isserved here. Thankfully, only our smallgroup (about 30) had been invited, as compared to last year, when deck sevenfolks had been included. We were stuffedin like sardines back then. That isprobably why our buddies, Eddie and Lee, did not attend tonight. Earlier in the day, we ran into them, andthey thought the invite was for tomorrow evening, a sea day, instead. Now that would have made sense, right? We certainly appreciate the invite to thisspecial event, but tomorrow may have been better….a sea day, not a port day. And who knew we would be leaving so muchlater? In their nineties, it must havebeen too much for Eddie and Lee to handle, so they did not attend. The hour flew by, and it was time for dinner,although we could have called it night….wewere full already.

 

We joined our table to find we had company. Both watercolor instructors, Carol and herassistant, Kelly, were there. It is thefirst time we met Kelly, although she has dined here when we were in thePinnacle Grill. It was a nice evening,and our dinners were served on hot, regular plates…..no bowls for any of us. Barb had gone to Philip last night, and askedfor plates from now on. So, it wasdone. Now we do hope, it continues.

 

The entertainer of the evening was a singer by the name of PeterCutler…..variety at its best. Did weattend……no, it had been a very long day, and nothing sounded better thanturning in by 10pm.

 

We did not take our usual walk on the lower deck, since allof the lights have been turned off now. Security teams roam the deck on constant watch, a reminder that we arein some of the most dangerous waters in the world right now, and will continueto be for several days.

 

Bill & Mary Ann

Another great blog. Have you met Scott and Karen Bonnis from Congress, AZ. They are going on the Grand Asia this fall. We are to meet them in May.

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Report # 83 SailingTowards Al’ Aqabah, Jordan March 23,2017 Thursday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees

We woke up to two things. One actually kept waking us up during the evening, and that was the factthat the people next door to us are very sick. We could hear deep coughing all night, and even during the day. Whatever is going around this ship, is veryserious and obviously contagious. Sinceit is not a bacterial problem like the Noro bug, we just don’t seem to see anydeep cleaning of public surfaces in lounges, the dining room, or the Lido. Not to mention the swimming pools orspas. Hopefully it is going on behindthe scenes, or late at night when no one sees it. Anyway, we wish our neighbors good healthvery, very soon.

Now the other thing was seeing the silky smooth seas outsideas the ship sailed in a southerly direction down the coast of Oman. It is not often that you don’t see a ripplein the surface, where it is hard to distinguish the horizon where the water andthe sky meets. It was all one shade ofblue/grey. To add to this serene scene,while we were eating breakfast, all of us were treated to a display of dozensof dolphins jumping in the wake. Notsmall ones either. The ship must havecut right through their feeding grounds. Most all of the diners this morning got up and ran to the back windowsto catch the action. No time to getcameras either. We would watchdiligently for the rest of the day, but the only sea life we saw were a fewflying fish. And two boobys. As the day went on, the wind picked up, andthe smooth seas turned choppy.

It was quite pleasant to spend a quiet day at the aft pool,despite the wind. At least the air wasfresh. While taking our AM walk, wenoticed there was crew painting happening in two places. One of the projects was a new box the fellowsmade to hold a larger amount of lifejackets on deck three. With the doors opened, it pretty much blockedthe path around the end of the deck. Weknow to be careful, not getting close to the wet paint, but someone must havehad a problem with it, because one of the front desk girls came out to talk tothe painters. Since they were aboutfinished, they cleaned up and left. Anotherset of painters were re-doing the ceiling paint, which has flaked off in sheetsafter the first coat was put on when we were in Japan. It was too cold and icy then, and the paintdid not dry properly. Between the twoprojects, the smell of the paint was sickening. We understand that maintenance has to be continuous, but why can’t it bedone when few folks are out here? Thoseguests with upper chest congestion, trying to get some fresh air, were gettingfumigated. We have a feeling that manycruisers are reminding the staff that this is supposed to be a “grand voyage”.

We thought it odd that the Seaview Pool was empty, coveredwith netting. An older deck fellow cameover and told us that so many tiles had fallen off of the pool sides andbottom, that they needed to drain it, dry it out, and replace the tiles. Then he added that since this pool has nothad a deep cleaning for a long time, a crew would do that after the tilescured. He was right. When we looked at the bottom of the emptypool, we saw a layer of dirt and sand. So much, it could be swept up with a broom. And people have been swimming in that muckfor weeks……..not us.

There are two speakers onboard now. One is quite familiar, Mel Foster, who is anexpert on pirates. The other lecturer isAshok Sajjanhar, who is doing a series on Central Asia – the Heart of Eurasia.

For the wine lovers among the group, the World Wine Guys arestill onboard with muscat and moscato wine tasting today. They are pretty nice guys, and seem to bepopular with the drinking and sipping crowd.

One of the newer movies popped up in the Wajang…..Jackie,about the Kennedy story we all know so well. Will catch it on the TV tomorrow. During the day, it seems that the reception for the network TV, news,etc, was spotty. Also the internet wasdown more than it was working. If youinquire about it at the front desk, the answer is always…..we will report it,as we are not aware of any problems. Noproblem? Absolutely everyone we asked,could not get online all day. Could havesomething to do with the area we are sailing. Who knows?

We were so backed up on photo downloading, that it took allafternoon to catch up. Good time toenjoy a couple of custom-made cheeseburger from the Dive-In Grill. If you go around 2 or 3pm, the wait isminimal, since most everyone has already had their lunch by then. The bestplace to eat it is in our room, where it is cool and quiet. We could have the burgers delivered for$4.95, but why, when we can still walk and get them for free?

The internet never did come back on for the remainder of theday, so we gave up trying.

Sometimes a pre-show in the Queen’s Lounge takes place withone of the singers of the Amsterdam cast. Tonight, the fellow singer was Oliver Metcalfe. He must have run overtime, since it causedone of our tablemates to come rather late to dinner, not that we mind. Guess the following act was Don Bryan, amaster ventriloquist with puppets Noseworthy and Friends. He has been a frequent guest entertainer andit very popular as well as funny.

Dinner choices have been difficult. Some of the descriptions arequestionable. Such as Arabic meatloaf. What was that? Ground lamb, goat, or horsemeat as Barbielaughingly suggested. Bill askedEndrein, who immediately said it was ground camel………then cracked up and said,no, it was beef. Could have been camel,as we have tasted that before while in Egypt many years ago. The only thing that stood out in our mindswas how greasy it was, and figured it was an acquired taste. One of us ordered the spaghetti dish, totallyvegetarian. The alternate steak wasordered by Maureen, who said it was tasty, but chewy. Barb had the fish entrée with a very hotplate, but cool food. She only ate halfof it, then fled with her glass of wine, which is always her dessert. “Rocket dog” hits again. But the best news of the night, was thatevery one of us (except the fish-eaters) had flat dinner plates. Maureen was the winner, as she was served onthe beautiful, older Rosenthal plate with the rim of blue, and the ship logo onthe top. They were so classy, why didthey have to replace them with generic white, thin plate ware?

Mud pie showed up on the dessert menu, but the descriptiondid not jive with the “real” mud pie we know. Slam brought a sample for us to see, and itwas not Mississippi mud pie, but a chocolate mousse poured over a thick Oreocookie crust. And not frozen. He was going to remove it, when we said we would force ourselves to eatit. Yeah, force ourselves…right? No jello tonight……

The lights were out once again on the lower promenade deck,as the guards were still on their 24 hour watch. They were not wearing the Kevlar vests, norcarrying the hatchets we have seen on past cruises. Could it be that this show of force is mostlyfor the psychological effect for the passengersas Martin suggested? If nothing else,the guards are armed with radios and are in constant contact with the bridgeofficers.

Four more sea days to go until the next port……..

Bill & Mary Ann

Report #84 Sailing Towards Al’ Aqabah, Jordan March 24, 2017 Friday Partly cloudy & 81 degrees 4 Pictures

Another day at sea, and a very pleasant one at that. Temperatures have remained comfortable, and we have enjoyed a steady breeze as the ship sailed south near the coast of Yemen. Just knowing we are so close to such a turbulent country is disturbing. However, there were many ships in the area….some freighters, Saudi naval vessels, and even an Arabic yacht, the size of a small cruise ship. We are not alone. And the watch continued with security guards stationed on deck three day and night.

Since we usually do not participate in the walking marathons, ship games, or even trivia, we have not made it a habit to collect Grand Dollars. Years ago, there was a program where you got a booklet stamped for eating healthy, as well as stamps for participation in ship activities. Prizes (small useful trinkets) were awarded at the end of the cruise, even if it was a short one. The prizes were simple, such as key rings, book marks, or luggage tags. Fun stuff. Then later, came the Dam Dollars, which we did get for doing our morning and afternoon walk. At that time, we saved enough for a nice heavy DAM sweatshirt. Now we understand the prizes are supplied by Amazon……suitable for the computer geeks among us. Well, that takes in everyone now….almost. As far as we know, this program has been a success for the world cruisers. But……

Today, we got letters from Henk, the hotel director, asking us to take a survey concerning the Grand Dollar Activities. It begins by saying that the program is intended to engage guests in a limited range of competitive/sportive activities. It is good for physical, mental, and social stimulation while at sea. The Grand Dollars and subsequent prizes will only be awarded individually and in a harmless way at the end of such activities. Not sure why this had to be defined, but the questions following this were if you participate, would you like to participate, and would we like to see this program continue. Finally, we were asked for our program preferences. The bottom line is it is being decided whether or not the program will continue on future Grand Voyages. Something tells us that it has already been decided, although we may be wrong. Obviously, there are flaws with this variety of activities, and something has sparked the action to take a vote. Take trivia for instance. In the distant past, it was fun. Now we hear of some folks cheating, others arguing over the fact that some answers are not correct, and complaints about the prizes offered. Then again, if they eliminate the games, they can eliminate a crew member who has to conduct these games. Take away the competitive nature of the games, and people will not be fighting with each other and the staff. We feel the games and prizes should stay, because that makes the day for a lot of passengers, who might never leave their rooms except for meals. Will keep you all updated.

Today was our delivery day for the President’s Club amenities. Beautiful flowers arrived, followed by 17 Coke Zeros. Both are always accompanied by cards from Orlando Ashford. The only other person entering our room was an uninvited one……a bar staff girl who was checking our mini-bar, which we do not have. Normally we don’t care who checks, but this time the girl simply walked into our room without knocking first. That could have been awkward if we were changing into our swimsuits. Guess we have to use the do not disturb sign more often.

We did spend some down time at the pool, which by the way, was cleaned and re-filled. For the first time in a long while, the water was deep blue and very clean. We got to thinking that our sunbathing time is beginning to run out. Once we pass through the Suez Canal, we will enter the Mediterranean Sea and much cooler temperatures. It certainly will not be as chilly as Japan and China, but too cool for swimming for sure.

Tonight was gala with the theme being the White Dinner, suggesting that wearing all-white clothing symbolized purity and elegance. Really? Wonder who writes these Daily Navigators??? Anyway, one of us looked quite smashing in a white tuxedo dinner jacket and a silky white brocade vest and bowtie. As for me? I do not do much white, as I am a magnet for drips and drops of whatever stains white. Murphy’s Law. So I wore my newly-purchased light turquoise bejeweled saree from Little India in Singapore. Wrapped tight and belted, a few extra safety pins held it together. Don’t know how the ladies in Mumbai wear these things every day, as they are so warm and tend to move all over the place. Probably, when I get home, I will re-make the saree into something with zippers that I know will stay in place without one hundred pins. For a few hours, it was fun. And my new blue sequined shoes from Mumbai were a perfect match.

Dinner was good and so was the company of a third officer by the name of Steven. He is from England and admitted to being 32 years old. He seemed comfortable talking with everyone, which is good, as sometimes these young fellows are ill-at-ease. However, mixing with the passengers occasionally is part of their job. How bad can it be, since they do not always have access to lobster, beef wellington, or savory lamb chops. To make it better, we were all served on the old plates tonight. The food was hot, and looked so much nicer on the blue-rimmed plates. We kidded with our waiter that we were going to take the plates to our room, wash them, and keep them for tomorrow night, and every evening thereafter. He promised that they have more, and we would continue to enjoy the special service. Lucky us.

At 9:30pm, there was a White Chocolate Surprise, held throughout decks 4, 5 and the Crow’s Nest. We are not sure exactly what it was, but we will never find out. Most of us ended up staying at our table until after 10pm, so we passed on the white chocolate. Truthfully, we don’t even like it, so we missed nothing.

Also missed the entertainment of Graffiti Classics, 16 strings, 8 dancing feet, and 4 voices. We did sneak into their practice, and heard enough to remember them from last year’s world cruise.

Two surprises awaited us at the room. One hour back on the clock, always nice, and gifts. We both got a portable power bank, small devices used to charge computers, perhaps cell phones or tablets, we think. These will be most useful while traveling or even at home.

Bill & Mary Ann

Report #85 SailingTowards Al’ Aqabah, Jordan March 25,2017 Saturday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees 57 Pictures

Another day at sea, found us sailing in some of the mostdangerous waters in the world right now. Around 1pm, we were cruising through the Gate of Tears, an area betweenthe countries of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and the African country ofEritrea. It is a chokepoint on the wayto the Red Sea, and also a place of extremely turbulent ancient history, aswell as an area of pirate activity to mention a few. The Captain kept the ship at a steady 23knots, not slowing for a minute. Manyfolks took the time to come outside in the heat and humidity of the day to takephotos and video as we passed this point. Once the ship got past the Eritrea islands and Yemen coastline, the aftdeck was about empty and quiet once again.

Perhaps because we put the clocks back one hour last night,there seemed to be many more folks enjoying breakfast in the dining room. There also appeared to be a lot of chatterregarding the questionnaire we got yesterday regarding the Grand Dollar activities. The general feeling was why change somethingthat has made a lot of folks happy? Weintend to vote to keep the program, despite the fact we seldomparticipate. What can it hurt tocontinue it?

Speakers continued their series on US-India relations, avery deep subject, while Mel Foster entertained the folks with womenpirates. Our tablemate Martin attendsmost of the lectures, and so far, has enjoyed Melvyn about the best. In fact, at dinner tonight, we suggested thathe might want to invite Melvyn and his wife to the table tomorrow evening. There will be room for two, because we have aPinnacle Grill dinner, and will not be there.

A new movie was shown in the Wajang today…..La La Land. Finally, another new flic. Recently, we heard some of our friendssuggest that when the new movies get released to the airlines, then we are ableto show them as well. It must have beenpresented to Gene, our cruise director, who is in charge of thatdepartment. Sometimes, they do listen tothe requests, and do something to make it happen.

Visiting with Barbie this afternoon, we learned that thereare some newly added gentlemen dance hosts that came onboard in Muscat. She is so happy, because most of them canactually dance, and actually will circulate around the Crow’s Nest inviting theladies to join them on the dance floor. Someone on this ship has some drag to get HAL to add more hosts. Glad to see it worked, as it must have takensome heavy-duty complaining.

Taking a walk after a late lunch, we fund the promenade deckto be very warm and humid. We areexperiencing a following wind, and despite the ship’s speed of 20 to 23 knots,there was barely a breeze. We did get atreat…..a sighting of dozens of dolphins swimming under the ship, and jumpingin the wake. They were gone just as fastas they appeared. Lucky we saw them.

Dinner time came quickly, and we were told ahead of time,that we had company tonight. Ray, one of the dance hosts, joined us by theinvitation of Barb. He seemed almostoverwhelmed with our quirky group, but we do have so much fun. We both had the wienerschnitzel, which Martininformed us was an Austrian/German dish. Makes sense, because it was served with a helping of warm German potatosalad. Even better, or meals were served on the old plates we love. Endrien promised to keep up the special orderas long as he can. Dessert was a helping of pistachio ice creamand one fruit plate. Having a full table usually means we do not leave thedining room until 10pm.

Not sure anyone was attending the show of Jo Little,described as Little Miss Dynamite of comedy and song.

Walking the promenade deck, we found most of the outdoor lightsare still turned off. The forwardsection, as well as the aft section were lit. So what’s the point?

Oh yes, the clocks went back one more hour tonight. Always a good thing.

Bill & Mary Ann

Report # 86 SailingTowards Al’ Aqabah, Jordan March 26,2017 Sunday Partly cloudy & 80 degrees

Well, it appears that as the Amsterdam has entered the RedSea, the 24 hour watch on the lower promenade deck has ended. Or at least we cannot see the two man (orlady) team that has been stationed on the starboard and port railings for daysnow. During this transit, we have seennumerous ships either coming or going to and from the Suez Canal, like us. Perhaps there is safety in numbers.

The weather has improved as far as the heat and the highhumidity. Seems that as we head north,it has become much more pleasant. And itsuits us just fine. We have definitelydecided to take advantage of this nice weather while it lasts. Spending time at the back pool has been a bighelp in getting one of us over the dreaded cold. Fresh air never hurts anyone. One passenger, who happens to be in themedical field, mentioned some food for thought…….perhaps some of this upper respiratorycongestion may be due to the fact that mold and mildew may have been spreadwith the changing of the stairwell carpeting recently. Once that dust hits the air conditioning, itspreads throughout the ship. Now we areglad that only one stairwell was completed on this cruise.

Barbara H gave her talk on Rhodes, Greece, coming up afterAqabah, Jordan. It will be a new portfor us, so we plan on catching her talk on TV later. Funny thing happened a few days ago when wefound Barbara’s talk still being broadcast on Mumbai, India. Didn’t we leave there over a week ago? More up-to-date lectures took place today allabout Petra, the Rose Red City, as well as the Suez Canal. Mel Foster continued with more details on thebuilding of the Suez Canal.

The shops onboard sent out an ad today with the one-timechance to order customized cartouches, the pendants with your name made inancient hieroglyphics. Guess it does notmatter that we are not stopping at any ports in Egypt on this trip. You can still buy that special Egyptian souvenirwithout ever touching foot in that country.

Another popular activity seems to have started with the HAL Choralemeeting. This was a big activity forlots of singers (or wanna-be), when Bruce Scudder was Cruise Director yearsago. No one took his place conductingthe choir, so now, we think it is passenger operated. If all works out with their practices,perhaps they will put on a performance towards the end of the trip.

Another new movie popped up in the Wajang Theater……Manchesterby the Sea, another contender for the Academy Awards. That makes three big movies in a row. Tonight, we plan on watching La La Land tosee what that was all about. That namemakes us laugh, because that is what one of our seasoned tablemates (in her 90’s)used to call the world cruise……..la la land.

Dinner tonight was in the Pinnacle Grill. Tina had remembered that we had pre-orderedveal chops, and as anticipated, they were delicious. All of our food was hot, even the skinnyFrench fries, as they were cooked right before they were served. Dessert was”naked” baked Alaska, or oneserving of Cherry Garcia ice cream, without the meringue or cherry compote.

There was a special event held in the Lido Dome this eveningat 9pm. It was 1001 Arabian Nights, aparty where complimentary drinks and an array of Arabic foods were served until10:30pm. The band from the Crow’s Nest,Sirius Four, played out on deck, making the occasion a hit for all who went. We expect it to be crowded, because every timethey advertise “complimentary” in regards to drinking, it’s guaranteed to drawa whole lot of people.

There was a variety show time in the Queen’s Lounge featuringPeter Cutler and Don Bryan, but it was held one time only at 7:15pm.

In answer to a question regarding our choices of internet…..onthe ship or shore side? For us, we usethe ship’s internet. Although it may notbe as fast, it has been better than on past cruises. Remember, we come from “dial-up” country, anduntil recently, have not had access to high speed internet. So anything is faster than that. And besides, the last thing we like to do ina port, is waste our time emailing or updating things. It’s fine for others, just not us.

Bill & Mary Ann