The Last Day

Although our trip is ending sooner than expected, it has been a wonderful journey. We met up with old friends and made many new friends. The weather and the seas were great and it's time to go home.
The staff put on an End of the World.....Cruise show last night. What fun! Posting a few pictures. Thanks to everyone who followed our journey.......til next time!

Suez Canal

We entered the Suez Canal about 6 am today. It is currently 2:45 pm and we should exit the canal about 4. The canal was opened to navigation in 1869. It is 101 miles long and 26 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom and 230 feet wide at the surface. Last night the ship anchored outside the canal entrance to take on fuel. A sand and wind storm kicked up and it was impossible to bunker the fuel. The Captain said he has not seen anything quite like it. They were able to fuel around 3 in the morning.

Aqaba, Jordan

Aqaba, Jordan is our last port of call before we arrive in Rome on April 19th. The ship is located in the northern most part of the Gulf Of Aqaba and we are able to view 4 different countries........Jordan, Isreal, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. (See map). It is our second visit so we were familiar with the town. We took the shuttle into town and walked around. We were given freshly made pita by a friendly merchant. We bought some bananas, as the ship is out of them, and of course visited many souvenier stores. Mike bought a t-shirt and it is always fun bargaining for the best deal. Back to the ship for lunch and we will depart at 9 pm. We will transit the Suez Canal tomorrow and then it will take 5 days to reach Rome and our flight home on the 20th of April.

Safaga, Egypt....(Luxor)

Saturday, April 11, and we are in Safaga, Egypt. At 8:30 a.m. 8 buses were loaded and we headed to Luxor, about 3 hours away. Approximately 120 of us stayed overnight at the Hilton Luxor Resort and Spa. Upon arrival at noon we went to the Sonesta Hotel for a buffet lunch. We then proceeded to the first site.....the temple of Karnak. Luxor has been characterized as the world's greatest open air museum. The city built itself around the temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor. Karnak is the larger of the two temples. We spent about an hour and 45 minutes roaming the columns and looking at the hieroglyphics. Because of the heat and the expanse, I went with a friend and walked back to the bus at about the hour mark. Onto the temple of Luxor. Many stairs and a Mosque in the temple complex of Luxor. There is ongoing reconstruction as many new stones are unearthed. Around 4 pm we made it to our hotel and headed to tea for a snack and drink. By 6:30 we were back on the buses and off to another temple for a special dinner for full world cruisers. It is the most well preserved and intact temple. We were greeted by Egyptian dancers and the way in was lined with men holding lighted torches. We walked thru the large stone entry into the middle of it. Surrounded by 4 walls and huge columns we could see some of the color still on the upper walls. Tables were set beautifully and a string quartet played while we were served a 4 course meal. After a wonderful day and evening we really were ready for bed at 11.

Day 2 and it was off to the Valley of the Kings. Most of us Queens (the girls) decided to stay at the resort and have a leisurely breakfast and sit out by the pool. Imagine, the lounges under umbrellas with the Nile River as our view. The buses returned around noon and it was time for lunch. Mike really enjoyed visiting the tombs. Photos were not allowed, but he did visit the tomb of Ramses IV and King Tut. The body of Tut was actually in the tomb. Back aboard the bus at 1pm and we arrived at the ship around 4:15. We were greeted with music and balloons and cold towels, by officers and crew. It is always great to return to our "floating home".

Upon entering our cabin, we had Easter Baskets waiting for us, filled with chocolate bunnies and eggs. Truly a memorable 2 days.

Muscat, Oman

Yesterday, April 2, we were in Fujairah. We had a 5 hour bus tour around the east coast of the city. Mostly desert with lots of construction going on. It will never catch up to Dubai, but it was interesting. Sorry no pics, as we had a friend take our camera card to format a disc.
Today we arrived in Muscat. We were here last year and we took one of our private car options to see more of the city. Our friend and travel escort, Kevin, saw us off in our car. (See first Picture). Our driver was Mohammed and our guide was Alok, who was from India. We visited several of the upscale resort hotels and the souk for shopping. We bought nothing, as I think we are on shopping overload. We drove by the Mosque, which was not open to the public, and we drove up to one of the Royal Palaces. There is a lot of new construction going on, but they build it first and then a company will purchase and occupy it after it is already built. It is a very clean city and people are very friendly.

Unfortunately, our trip is ending on April 19th or 20th. The engine could not be repaired and the company did not feel it was safe to cross the Atlantic on one engine. The ship will go into drydock somewhere in Europe after they have disembarked everyone. We don't know exactly what day we will arrive home, but there is a lot of packing and organizing to do as the ship will send most of our luggage home for us. We have a 7 day stretch of sea days until we reach Safaga on April 11. Packing will commence in the next day or so.

Dubai

We arrived in Dubai on March 31 for 2 nights. It was pouring rain and there was lots of thunder and lightning. Fortunately, it stopped raining when we set out. Day 1 we took the shuttle bus to the Gold Souk. We had been there last year so we knew what to expect. Mike replaced his bracelet that he lost before we started our cruise and I got a pair of earrings. Onto the spice market which is interesting and smells really good. I just don't know how to use most of the spices in my cooking. One of the shops in the Gold Souk had the largest ring, according to the Guiness Book. (See Picture). In the afternoon the ship took all the full world cruisers to the Dubai Polo Club. Very classy.....we saw a polo match and had drinks and snacks. Driving to the polo matches we could barely see all the skyscrapers and the worlds tallest building, due to heavy sand in the air. Day 2 we went to the Mall of the Emerites and walked to the Ski Dubai area. It is a full ski run and luge in the mall. I guess when it gets really hot, it is nice to go to the cold ski run. The Sheik's yacht, Dubai, was docked near our ship. We are on our way to Fujairah and then Muscat.