We_like_to_cruise

Kusadasi, Turkiye Part One Today is cloudy and cold - the coldest day we have had on the cruise. The weather app says it is 46 degrees outside with gusty winds. Our balcony view is not encouraging. The captain announces they will attempt to dock but there is concern about those windy conditions. Fortunately we are successful and the early morning weather will not concern us. We will be spending the next few hours inside at our first Turkish Bath (hammam) experience. We are picked up outside the port by Aladin (sic), the owner. His English is very good and we chat on the 20 minute trip to his town. We are not going to some fancy spa; this is a small family business that caters to locals as well as tourists. In the hammam we are introduced to his lovely wife Fatima and directed to a lockable changing room. This room has a bench seat, shelf and plenty of hooks for clothing! Traditional woven cloth peshtemal towels and sandals along with verbal instructions are provided. Next, 15 minutes in the cedar wood scented dry heat room and we exit with sweat dripping everywhere. We proceed to a large domed sunlight illuminated room whose dominant feature is an octagonal heated marble slab. Since we are the only two customers at that time, we lie at opposite ends and are individually attended to by Aladin and Fatima. DW is provided with a pair of disposable underwear. First, a rinse with warm water and then total body skin exfoliation with a hand mitt (kessa). Aladin adjusts the towel as almost every square inch is vigorously scrubbed. I blanched when I glanced at what was deposited on the working side of the mitt. Yuck. (And I had taken a shower earlier that morning). Directed to a sitting area on the perimeter of the room, we are next doused with buckets of hot then warm then cool water. Back on the heated marble slab, first face down and then face up, mounds of thick bubbly foam are placed all over the body. In this bath ritual, the attendant uses the soapy foam to cleanse and massage. Aladin entertained us by singing some traditional songs with his nice voice – the acoustics were very good. Head and hair were washed and massaged. A short rinse and then back to the side of the room for a full rinse. We are dried and wrapped in two different thick towels for the head and the body and then invited to a sitting area to enjoy hot strong Turkish coffee or tea and some bottled water. Aladin informs us he has become a grandfather – one of his cats just had five kittens. After relaxing for about fifteen minutes, we proceed to another room for a head to toe full body oil massage. Aladin explained the product was St. John’s Wort infused massage oil. Near the end of the massage, a short facial followed by a clay face mask application. After almost 2 ½ hours of pampering, we reluctantly put back on our street clothes. Our bill comes to $55 for the both of us and that includes the round trip transportation! Aladdin is happy to drop us off anywhere in the city, so we decide to walk around and do some shopping at the Bazaar.

Ashdod, Israel This is our final pre-booked Princess excursion – Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The group of 36, colorful numbered stickers firmly attached, exits the MDR, breezes through the face-to-passport immigration and boards the bus. Our guide has a heavy accent but is easily understandable as she informs us throughout the tour. We travel over an hour from the port at Ashdod to Jerusalem, Israel’s largest city. Jerusalem is a sacred place for members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith. At an overlook we view the walled city and then travel past the Church of All Nations, Temple Mount and Gethsemane – the garden where Judas betrayed Jesus. Our group enters Jerusalem’s Old City through the Dung Gate and is greeted with music and song. We are in the midst of one of many Bar Mitzvahs we see today. Mazel Tov ! We make our way to the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall, part of the Temple Mount foundation. It is the holiest site in Judaism and segregated into sections for men and women. Men are offered a kippah or skull cap and we join others in silent prayer and contemplation. Some of us contribute to the more than one million prayer notes per year that are inserted into the openings between the stones of the wall. Although we rush past many small stalls and shopping areas we are not allowed to stop. We do eventually spend fifteen minutes in a “Princess approved” shop. Although “everything is 50% off today only!” most is overpriced even with the “discount”. The Via Dolorosa with its sequence of Stations of the Cross is next. This “Sorrowful Way” follows the route Jesus took from his arrest to his crucifixion. The final stations are in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which enshrines Christ’s entombment and resurrection. The church is very very crowded and we are pushed in all directions attempting to view everything and listen to our guide. We are given some free time to attempt to make our way around the church to visit the Chapel of the Cross, the Tomb of Christ and the Anointing Stone. We exit the city through the Jaffa Gate and the guide asks a group of Israeli soldiers for permission for us to take their picture. It is another 1 ½ hours to our buffet lunch at a resort on the Dead Sea. The food is good and varied, but sadly nothing is marked. There was a quite a bit of “What do you think this is ??” The easily identifiable falafel was a personal favorite. After lunch we head to the “spa” for a towel and a locker key provided by a grumpy attendant. The changing room is somewhat of a misnomer. There are no hooks and nowhere to put your clothes while putting on a swimsuit. (That became even more problematic later after attempting to use one of only four showers). The lockers are outside and fortunately there is room for all of our clothing and back packs. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth at nearly 1400 feet below sea level. Ears were popping on the bus during the journey down. It is nearly impossible to swim due to the extremely high salt content and we float on our backs suspended in the warm water. Swimming in the hotel’s pool was another option – the water was cold and we only stuck our toes in. The hour trip home was unremarkable for our tour group. Other groups were delayed due to widespread protests and road closures that day in Israel.

We had our Captain's Circle "Meet the Captain" party the other night. One of the speakers was the Loyalty Manager who gave us the passenger stats. As might be expected, there were over 900 Elite passengers. (The Island Princess holds 2200 passengers although I believe our current passenger load is less than 1900). What I found surprising was that there were 270 Blue passengers - on their first ever Princess cruise. I thought that was a large number of people that would spend nearly four months on a cruise ship without ever being on that cruise line before. Do you think that is a surprising number? I am interested in your thoughts.

Hmm, black flies? We sat out on the balcony most of the day and were not aware of any insects.

Well, your question is very timely. Until a couple of days ago, I would have said the internet is fantastic. I had been posting via the ship wifi (and with a VPN) with no trouble for the last few months. Emails, websites, fine. DW has even streamed a few shows on Netflix. HOWEVER, starting yesterday the wifi speed has been extremely slow. So slow that I have been unable to post my text and pix for the last three ports. This does not seem to be a "ship" problem. I had a discussion with the Internet Cafe Manager - he blames the current geographical position and that we have transferred over to a different satellite. When I questioned the claim of "the best internet at sea" he countered that every other cruise ship would have a similar problem in this part of the world. He said it should get better in a few days when we reach central Europe. Most of the passengers are unhappy and complaining. We did a B2B on IP last summer. The first was British Isles and the second was Iceland/Greenland. Our internet was fine on the first voyage and on the next up until Iceland but nonexistent during the transit from Greenland all the way back to Southampton. We were at the port in Southampton and still could not get working internet. Again "satellite" was the reason offered. Guest Services sent a letter to all cabins and credited us all $100. (They can keep that, I would prefer working internet!)

Fortunately DW and I have been able to avoid any sickness. But, it does seem prevalent. This morning we had a port talk in the crowded Princess Theater. I counted an average of 5 seconds of silence between scattered coughing before the speaker began. And some of them were those dreadful "sounds like the TB ward in Bellevue Hospital" coughs. I do not recall the numbers for this segment, but a new segment starts tomorrow and we will get updated figures for the final leg.

I have not seen any such treatment. We have made friends from different segments and don't really care where they got on or where they get off. However, discussions with previous WC travelers make me think there may not be the same sense of camaraderie perhaps because this ship is bigger ?

I wanted to double check to make sure I remembered correctly. Confirmed with the head waiter that the embarkation lunch is held on Deck 5 in the Bordeaux Dining Room.

Suez Canal, Egypt Our transit through the canal begins very early in the morning. DW and I join other passengers outside and notice an unobstructed view ahead of us – we are first in the convoy through the waterway. In the rear we are followed by two escorts and the rest of the convoy is in the distance well behind us. The passage takes most of the day and we exit the canal around 3 pm. The topography runs the gamut from desert to small cities to fancy seaside resorts. During the transit the onboard destination expert provides facts and points out items of interest. Some things we learned: This 120 mile artificial waterway connects the Red Sea and southern Asia to the Mediterranean Sea and northern Africa. About 55 ships transit it each day. The Suez Canal Bridge, which we pass under, is also known as the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, Al-Salam Bridge, Al-Salam Peace Bridge, and the Mubarak Peace Bridge. Local fishermen in small boats follow the large vessels as they feel the movement and churning of the water increases their chances of a successful catch. Can you see the Pyramids of Giza from the canal? No, they are over 150 miles away. Unlike the Panama Canal, there are no locks in the Suez Canal. There is little change in elevation between each end, so locks are not necessary. Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French diplomat, was instrumental in the design and construction of the canal. Due to the overwhelming success of that project he later tried – and failed – to build the Panama Canal. French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi proposed an enormous statue of an Egyptian woman holding a lamp – “Egypt Bringing Light to Asia” to be placed at the canal entrance in Port Said. When it was rejected due to its expensive price tag he set his sights toward America. Twenty years later, his “Liberty Enlightening the World” aka the Statue of Liberty was placed in New York Harbor. In 2021 a huge container ship, the “Ever Given,” became wedged across both sides of the canal. For nearly a week it remained in place causing massive disruption to the global shipping industry.

Yes there were many buses that left at staggered times during the morning. Our bus held about 30 - 40 passengers, I am not sure of the exact number. We managed to stay together throughout the site and it worked out better than I expected. (Not fan of the large group excursions). As far as actual time, we spent the first few hours with the guide and then a couple of hours on our own before walking back and having lunch. So about 4-5 hours in Petra itself.

Aqaba, Jordan (Pronounced “Ah kih bah”) We join nearly a thousand other passengers with a Princess shore excursion for a visit to Petra, the Lost City. Tombs, temples and monuments were carved into the red sandstone cliffs by the Nabataean inhabitants in the 5th century BC. Petra is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tour groups are escorted through a brief face-to-passport immigration line and onto numerous waiting buses. We travel over 2 ½ hours (with one break) to our destination. The road is modern but surrounded by mountains, desert, some sheep and very few people. We do pass a camel crossing sign, lol, and a large wind turbine farm. Our group gathers at the Visitor’s Center in Wadi Musa and we are accompanied by a friendly and well-informed guide. He congratulates us on our luck with the weather – it was raining a couple of days before and rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. Today is mixed sun and clouds and a pleasant mid-seventies temperature. He outlines the plan for the day and off we go. We follow the same rocky path used centuries before as we follow the Gateway to the Siq (Bab as-Siq). The guide is careful about keeping us all together – not too fast and not too slow! We pause periodically for his informative talks. The Obelisk Tombs, the Block Tombs and the Bab as-Siq Triclinium are viewpoints along the way. We reach the entrance to the Siq, a rocky gorge almost a mile long. The towering rock partially blocks the sun as the trail twists and turns. Finally at the end we get a dramatic glimpse of Khazneh, the Treasury, through a narrow opening. This gigantic and iconic ancient tomb is nearly 12 stories high and astonishing. It is hand carved and sculpted out of sheer rock. The numerous tourists, vendors and camels are dwarfed by its incredible size and splendor. Some of our group elect to head back via golf cart, the rest of us press on. We walk for another hour and visit the 3000 seat Roman Theater and the spectacular Royal Tombs. Along the way we admire a Bedouin tribesman create some of the prevalent sand art souvenirs. (Petra in a bottle, lol). Eventually our guide announces we may continue on our own; he will next proceed back to the restaurant for lunch. DW and I climb the steps for some close up pictures of the Royal Tombs and then leisurely make our way back to the exit. Full sun, warmer temperatures and an uphill climb back along the stony path makes it challenging. The tour has been heavily and repeatedly advertised as “strenuous” and we get a workout! Along the way we are besieged by offers of transport back via horse or camel. Our tour guide has already cautioned us about a common tourist scam – an offer of $5 for the camel ride. But a demand for much more to let you off the camel! Our tour includes an extensive buffet luncheon in a nice hotel a short walk from the Visitor Center. It feels good to sit and eat in the air conditioned room with our fellow passengers. The bus trip back to the Island Princess gives us all a chance to relax, close our eyes and doze. We have been gone for many hours and walked many miles. We loved Petra!

Muscat, Oman What a lovely early morning sail in to this port. Large 16th century forts guard each side of our entrance to the harbor. We also pass – a gigantic incense burner ??? This is actually a memorial and lookout at Al-Riyam Park which we will visit later. The shape, yes, an incense brazier, is in homage to Oman’s centuries old reputation as the pre-eminent source of frankincense. It is considered the finest in the world. As we slowly move closer to our dock, a small cruise ship comes into view. Correction. This is the 600 million dollar yacht owned by the Sultan of Oman. Adjacent is the older, smaller yacht! The sultan, Qaboos bin Said, was the longest serving ruler in the Arab world until his death in 2020. Before his death he named his cousin as successor. We disembark early as we have a private tour booked and are anxious to get to the Grand Mosque before it closes at 11 am. This is a commercial port, so we take the mandatory bus out to the main gate. Hmm, many vendors holding signs for tours, but not ours. After waiting a bit, we see friends who have booked their own tour. When hearing of our predicament, their driver offers to call the contact number for our guide. The phone rings and rings but no one picks up. We wait longer and over the next half hour two other guides call but also get no answer. Finally after an hour of waiting we need to make a choice. The mosque is twenty minutes away and we are on a time crunch. This is the first time we have had a no show for one of our booked tours. I will keep you informed about the outcome… We make plans with Salman, one of the friendly taxi drivers, detailing our must-sees and are off to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. This imposing structure of Indian sandstone can hold nearly 7,000 worshippers; the other buildings, courtyards and paved areas allow for a total of 20,000 worshippers. The interior prayer hall holds one of the world’s largest prayer carpet and chandelier. The carpet covers a whopping 47,000 square feet and the eight ton chandelier has its own internal staircase for maintenance. We are able to spend just enough time here, but near 11 am the tourists are escorted out. Uh oh. Because we felt rushed upon first entering the site, we dropped off our shoes and hurried inside. Problem – where did we leave them ?? There are numerous entrances with hundreds of slots for shoes outside each. We wander shoeless for a good 10 minutes before we are reunited. Silly us! Salman takes us to the beautiful Royal Opera House, the above-mentioned Al-Riyam Park, a lovely city and harbor overlook, Al Alam Palace, one of the Sultan’s six residences, and heading back to port we stop at the fish market. Finally we are dropped off at the Mutrah Souk for a few hours of shopping. The narrow passageways are filled with the fragrant smell of burning incense and assorted sized bags of frankincense are piled high in the shops. Others sell clothing, perfumes, household items and souvenirs. Princess provides a shuttle from the souk to the ship, thank you. On the return trip one passenger exclaims “Oman was a hidden treasure,” and we agree!

Yes, everything was on such a grand scale it made my head hurt, lol. Our travel distances between some of the sites ranged from 30 to 60 minutes !

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Day Two After an early breakfast, we cut our traveling time a little by walking to a city tram and then connect to the Metro. Hmm, some new boats and yachts in the harbor. We have 10 am tickets for the Burj Khalifa and the small print states latecomers may not be admitted. Despite it being rush hour and the train is more crowded than yesterday, polite young men offer us both seats. (Not the first time that has happened, thank you!) The Burj Khalifa stop is over 30 minutes away, and it is a bit of a walk through the mall to get to the building entrance. But, due to our early start and cooperative tram/train timetables, we are nearly an hour early. “No problem, come right in”. We walk through various exhibit areas until reaching the holding area for one of the world’s fastest high speed elevators. Not too crowded, and after queuing for 10 minutes we board. The doors close and after a few seconds I wonder why we are not moving. Then I look up and notice we are already passing floor 30 – with absolutely no sensation of movement. In less than a minute we are on floor 124 and the outdoor observation deck. We are lucky with a fairly clear view for pictures. I spot the tiny Island Princess way in the distance (in the yellow circle in one of my pix) – and the larger AIDAcosma (sic) that joined us yesterday afternoon. With 20 decks and 5200 passengers it is considerably bigger than IP. There is a staircase up to floor 125 with an enclosed indoor viewing area and gift shop. We can also get a good view of the picture-takers on the floor below us. There are no time constraints and we enjoy the views for an hour or so. After exiting, the elevator entry line looks much much longer than it was earlier. We cannot leave Dubai without viewing Ski Dubai, an indoor ski resort in the Mall of the Emirates. (Dubai has over 60 malls – they must love shopping!) The animated reindeer are a little creepy, but it was fun to watch people playing in the snow – indoors- when it is 80 degrees outside. Except for the ski resort, this mall reminds us of the malls at home. Today is a short day; all aboard at 1:30 pm. There are a few dirham left on our Metro Nol travel card. So, after exiting the tram stop we head to the local Carrefour market. In addition to transportation, the card can be used to pay for groceries and snacks at over 2000 shops in Dubai. We have just enough to pay for some local fresh figs and the Arabic edition of some spicy Lay’s potato chips.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Day One Originally we were told the Island Princess would be docked at Port Rashid, convenient to the old city. But at the last minute we found out we would instead be using the new Dubai Harbor Cruise Terminal, for Carnival Corporation ships. This change of plan caused much confusion among the passengers – especially since Princess provided us with a Dubai Port Guide and map showing our ship at PORT RASHID! Helloo Princess, is anyone paying attention ??? Every person onboard was required to attend a face-to-passport immigration inspection. We waited less than ten minutes in the line, greeted the immigration official, offered our passports and were on our way. Very organized, no fancy time sucking gizmos! (I’m looking at you Singapore). This brand new (2020) huge port has boats and yachts on one side and a large parking lot on the other. There were views of some of the city’s unique architecture and the world’s largest Ferris Wheel. Otherwise, not too much to offer – no shopping at all. Some areas seemed to still be under construction. We like to walk, but it was a long boring 45 minute walk to the nearest Metro station. We took the clean and straightforward Metro (another 45 minutes) to the old city and visited the Bur Dubai Grand Mosque for its educational “Mosque Experience.” This was a free tour with guide at this iconic place of worship. Although we both had dressed conservatively and appropriately to be respectful, DW was provided with abaya and hijab which covered her from head to toe. (This may have been more for the “experience” than for religious necessity). We learned about Islam and about the mosque and were offered refreshments and a copy of the Quran. A few blocks away we boarded one of the traditional abras – small motorized boats that taxi around 20 passengers across Dubai Creek to Deira. The fare was 1 dirham (about 35 cents) but the driver was happy to take $1.00 for the two of us. After a few near misses with collisions with other abras (!) we followed the crowds to the spice souk. Colors, smells, and lots of people. We nibbled on some fresh dates while browsing. Wait, is that thyme or “origano”? Further on was the lavish gold souk. So much money here in Dubai - there was actual clothing made out of gold. Some of it looked like chain mail armor and not too comfy. Or at least that is what I convinced DW. The gold souk offered every imaginable type of jewelry in larger air conditioned stores and $15 Rolex watches on the street. Later we noticed four businessmen in traditional dress enter a small restaurant. Follow the locals, not the tourists! Using the “point at the picture” technique we enjoyed a very nice lunch. One surprise – the baked flatbread that was served was so large it took up most of the table. There was barely room for our plates of food. Following the locals, we tore off pieces and used it to scoop up and enjoy our dishes. Next stop was the Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in the world with 1300 shops and 200 restaurants. It was easy to spend a few hours here, as there were well over one thousand international fashion brands to visit. No, we did not visit every one. But, we did some shopping and also got to see the Dubai Fountain, and the Dubai Aquarium at one end and the Olympic ice skating rink at the other. And entry “To the Top” of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is through the complex. But, that is tomorrow’s story.

Sorry, we were not offered a package and as it was something we were not interested in, did not pursue it.

Pirates? The other day the patter noted a crew “Piracy Drill” at 10 am. Pirates? Oh my. Presumably this is a precaution as we will be traversing the Arabian Sea into the Gulf of Aden and passing Somalia in the next few days. Watching the drill it seemed that our main defense against the bad guys was to spray them with water. Let’s hope the pirates have the Wicked Witch of the West gene and that melts them! Actually, I read the following: “Water cannons are a non-lethal anti-piracy technology aiming to deter and slow down piracy attacks on ships. Steams of high pressured water are fired at pirate skiffs, which can flood and destabilize them. Cannons are supplied from the ship's fire mains and are best used remotely controlled from the citadel or bridge.” The captain made an announcement to reassure the guests and invited us to participate. Our job – to relocate from any outdoor spaces like our balconies or the pool deck. And, well, hide. Not many places in our cabin unless we both squeeze into the shower. I really hope that is not necessary!

Yes, it was a work in progress. When I posted what I ended up doing is copying my text from a Word document. Then I used the "Drag files here to attach or choose files..." to upload all of my relevant pictures. Once the pictures were all uploaded, I had to create a space at the bottom of my text (hitting the Enter key on my laptop) and insert the first picture. Then I had to create a new space using the above technique and continue on for each picture. (Space, insert picture, space, insert picture, etc.) Next, I posted the entire text / photos. And finally I had to hit the EDIT tab here on CC to adjust the text spacing. It did not respect the spacing from my Word document. You can go on the CC Test Forum to practice. If someone has a more efficient way of doing this, I am all ears. Time consuming !

We were not required to have a Yellow Fever vaccine for any of the WC2023 ports. When we booked a South America voyage pre-COVID it was recommended we do not receive the vaccination. The risk of side effects for people our age outweighed the risks of catching YF for the ports we would be visiting. (I am not sure if that recommendation has changed and if the current vaccine is safer for those over 60). For this voyage we did receive hepatitis vaccinations in agreement with SargassoPirate's thinking.

No, unfortunately only a one day visit.

Here is one menu. They do offer a new menu every night. I am not sure how often the dishes are repeated.

Here is what we received from Princess before our cruise.

Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is an island in the Indian Ocean south of the lower tip of India. An industrial port, we must take a shuttle bus to the outer gates. A la water shuttles, we must pick up a shuttle ticket and wait in the Princess Theater until called. I glance out the balcony and there are dozens of buses waiting for us. So, after only a brief wait, we board the bus and are dropped off at the outside of the port. This morning we meet a private driver for our tour. Lalith is 34 and a lifelong resident. His relatively new vehicle is clean and comfortable and the AC works great. He has some destinations in mind and we confer to agree on our plan for the next six hours. Some of the sites we visit include: Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple and Museum Seema Malakaya Temple Independence Square Dharmayathanaya Viharamahadevi Park Beira Lake Galle Face Green The Lotus Tower Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque (Red Mosque) Pettah Market St Anthony's Shrine It is nice to have the luxury of staying as long or as little time at each site and to change plans on the fly. Buddhism is practiced by over 70% of the population, so we see Buddha statues everywhere – temples, parks, and for sale in the state owned souvenir shop. Although we were forbidden to walk from the ship to the outer port gates, apparently the reverse is not true. While waiting for a return shuttle, the gate attendant gives us walking directions (turn left and then right). Fifteen minutes later we are outside the ship, enjoying some cold water and cold face towels provided by the Princess staff.

/ Yes, the MDR confirmed they do have a Vegan / Vegetarian menu every evening. I will get a copy and post it later, probably after Dubai. :)

Sabbatini’s 2 This was our second visit to Sabbatini’s; our first with its new menu. Food and service were excellent and we loved some of the new choices. The Ossobuco was as good as any I have had previously enjoyed in Italian restaurants in my hometown of N.Y. (Although I did have to ask for a marrow spoon). We enjoyed our dinner with a nice bottle of wine from the extensive wine list. So much delicious food that we couldn’t finish it all. Our server happily bundled up our leftover meat into a handmade decorative bird shaped aluminum foil container. You would be surprised how tasty an ossobuco sandwich is the next day! There was no possible way we could eat dessert. But the host / manager encouraged us to return another evening to enjoy a coffee and dessert. Grazie mille ! Pictured is: Insalata Mista Ribollita Burrata Caprese Penne Primavera Lobster Tortelloni Ossobuco Milanese I hope you can read the attached menu. I could not find a pdf from Princess with the new menu and these are pix I converted to pdf. menu1_2.pdf menu2_2.pdf