Saturday 31^st January – continued.

 

We enjoyed our drinks and catch-up with Helen and Mike and agreed that we’ll go to a speciality “coriander” evening with them later in the cruise. They are on until Singapore and Helen is presenting five lectures – the first of which is tomorrow morning at 10am.

 

After dinner in the Britannia, we went to see Mick Miller in the theatre. The old people amongst you will remember him from ITV’s “The Comedians” in the 70’s and 80’s. Nesta had never heard of him but he had more than a few funny one-liners. Altogether, it was a good show.

 

Having now been on board for more than 20 nights, we are officially Gold members Cunard’s World Club – so have another badge! More importantly we get two hours free internet each! (Although we have to purchase them first and then the cost will be reimbursed at the end of this sector – honest!)

 

 

Sunday 1^st February – Day at Sea.

 

Well! So much for a relaxing day at sea! First of all it was Helen’s lecture followed by the church service and then a talk by Dr Rami Seth MBE (an Indian doctor who worked in the health service for more than 40 years) on the peculiarities of English if it is learned as a second language.

 

After this we sorted out registering for our “free” internet and then Nesta went to check out this sector’s choir. Gary has joined up so Nesta signed Ian up too. He is thrilled – but hiding it well!

 

Bow-ties were on offer today, so Ian bought a snazzy one to wear for our evening with the Deputy Captain.

 

We very much enjoyed our evening. Stephen was easy to talk to as was Pippa (the Captain’s secretary). They swapped places after the main course so all eight guests could speak to them.

 

It was the normal Britannia menu and although the wine was not exactly flowing – it was free! We had a picture taken but not sure if we will be asked to pay for it… Hope not!

 

 

Monday 2^nd February – Day at Sea.

 

Happy Birthday Eloise!

 

A surprisingly busy day! At 10am Dr Rami Seth did “An Introduction to India” talk and managed to be both entertaining and informative. Then it was a mad dash to the Royal Court to listen to Sir Max Hastings talking about Churchill’s war. (Ian stayed for the lecture, but Nesta decided to get some “fresh air” instead)

 

We then had a brief respite between 12-2pm so had some breakfast.

 

At 2pm there was the choir (and, yes – Ian did attend!) followed at 3-30pm by Helen’s second lecture, this one about the Indian Air Force and the re-taking of Burma.

 

Finally, it was back into formal wear for the Captain’s Reception. We managed to down a few glasses before dinner in the Britannia again.

 

Received a phone call from Mike suggesting we meet up with them tomorrow night to dine in the Indian Coriander Restaurant. This cruising lark is full-on (and that’s before we visit 8 ports in 10 days commencing on Wednesday.

 

We’ll have to have a holiday to get over it!

 

 

Thursday 29^th January 2015 – Dubai

 

We were an hour late arriving - but as we’d left a good four hours after we were supposed to, it wasn’t too bad.

 

We thought we had booked a trip today – but discovered it was for tomorrow instead! (As Friday is the Sabbath, the roads should be clearer and so this may not be a bad thing!) We spent most of the day in and out of the terminal building and the highlight of the holiday so far was – we actually managed to skype all of the kids today (although some for not very long). We’re still not able to upload photos – no idea why, we managed earlier in the blog…

 

Ian was delighted to discover that Berni Flint was doing the show tonight (aah, who can forget all those wins on Opportunity Knocks!) Unfortunately we were too busy boogying the night away at the Sail Away party on deck 8 that we missed it!!

 

A few passengers (and some crew) have left today and lots of others are leaving tomorrow. The end of the first cruise – only another five to go…..

 

 

Friday 30^th January 2015 – Dubai.

 

The temperature is due to be 31 degrees today (that’s nearly up to freezing point, Graeme!) Good job it’s the middle of winter…temperatures of over 50 degrees are regular in summer.

 

We had to set the alarm again today as our trip went away at 8-40am. It was chaos as lots of passengers were disembarking at the same time and it took ages for us to actually leave the port. The trip took us to three different parts of Dubai where we had an hour’s free time to do as much or as little as we liked.

 

We went through the city centre and out to the beaches. Although full of sky scrapers, Dubai is really attractive. Each building is completely different and there is some amazing architecture. The beach area was brilliant and Nesta paddled in the Persian Gulf! The fact that it is winter was illustrated by a woman sitting on the beach in jumper, scarf and hoodie. We took a photo and if we can ever sort it out we’ll put it on the blog!

 

The second stop was in old Dubai (the architecture dates back to the 1950’s so is really ancient!) near to the seven-star Burj Al Arab Hotel. We found an ATM which doesn’t dispense money – oh no! This one dispenses gold! Needless to say we only photographed it rather than using it…

 

The national bird of Dubai is the falcon but bearing in mind how much construction is going on, our guide said the locals tell people it is the crane!!

 

There was a photo stop outside an impressive looking mosque and then on past the three tallest hotels in the world to The Dubai Mall which is the largest shopping mall in the world with over 1400 stores and 12 car parks situated underneath the Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world… don’t think “understated” is in the Emirati language!

 

As you know retail therapy isn’t our thing, so we walked through the Mall past the massive aquarium to a lagoon in the middle where there is a musical fountain display twice a day and were just in time for the 1-30pm show.

 

We then went back to the ship, to be met by lots of pale new passengers escaping the cold and snow of the UK.

 

After another emergency drill, we joined the “newbies” for the sail away at 6pm. Strangely enough we were over an hour late leaving…the Captain said it was because two passengers were late – never the good Captain’s fault!

 

At the evening meal we were disappointed to find that the staff had been “rotated” and only Robert, our waiter, and Dinesh, the sommelier, remained. Still, we’ll soon mould the new section head and maître d into our ways!

 

We had a very pleasant surprise when we saw who the guest celebrities were for this cruise…Not only is there going to be Sir Jackie Stewart and Sir Max Hastings but also the one and only Dr Helen Doe!! (Helen was one of our fellow choir members in the original “Voyager Voices” conducted by Tom Newall) We have written her a note and asked the purser’s desk to deliver it. Who knows? A drink or three and a catch up may result.

 

 

Saturday 31^st January 2015 – Abu Dhabi.

 

We arrived safely and as yesterday, we were off the ship early - on another “free time in three different places” tour. The guide, though, had different ideas and was determined we would have the full city tour.

 

The first stop was at a “heritage village” (although it was only built five years ago!) It was quite interesting and there was a cool breeze blowing. It was rather bizarre to walk into a mud and straw hut representing Emiratis old way of life and find there were modern air-conditioning units! (Can’t have these poor tourists melting).

 

After a photo stop at the Presidents palace it was on to the Grand Mosque. Our guide said she’d show us round but the tourist “fashion” police had different ideas. We had all been told to cover up but eight women on board (including Nesta) were refused entry! Apparently when Nesta held our camera bag a few inches of wrist were visible… Even though she had on a top with long buttoned sleeves, this was deemed “transparent” Obviously Nesta is just too tempting for Emirati men to be allowed to be in their presence. Needless to say she wasn’t impressed so as a sign of our displeasure we refused to take any photos! Ha!

 

After this fiasco, we drove out to Yas Island where the grand prix takes place. We weren’t allowed in, unfortunately, but did take some pictures of the stand that lights up during the race. A massive Ferrari “theme park” is currently being built next to the track and will be opened in 2017.

 

Whilst Dubai is developing tourism, Abu Dhabi is going to be the cultural centre of the UAE. We went to a presentation of what is in the pipeline (no pun intended!) over the next few years. An Emirati Louvre and Guggenheim Museum are already being built and concert halls, theatres etc. are planned.

 

We got back to the ship in time for a late lunch and found we had a reply from Helen. We are going to meet up for drinks in the Chart Room before our evening meal tonight and then have lunch with her and her husband Mike tomorrow after her first lecture.

 

We also received an invite from the Deputy Captain to have dinner with him tomorrow evening – so after much thought, we decided to accept!

Tuesday 27th January – Muscat, Oman. United Arab Emirates The Captain managed to dock successfully and we set foot on dry land for the first time in 10 days! We had to meet up at 8-40am for our booked tour to Nakhl and the Hot Springs – found it was a bit strange having to meet deadlines when we are so used to pleasing ourselves! We were given our Oman visa and off we set. The hot springs were more of a warm stream and had those little fish that eat dead skin off your feet. We gave paddling and fish-feeding a miss but several passengers, the guide and lots of local tourists were in the water. Apparently this is where Omanis (?) come to chill and picnic away from the city. We photographed a family (with their permission) and then met them again at our second stop – The Fort. If we’re able to find Wi-Fi that’s good (and cheap) enough to upload some pictures, you will see what we mean when we say that it looked like a sand castle. Lunch was at a “resort hotel” which was like a luxurious Butlins. There are no holiday makers here at the moment – as it is the middle of winter and the temperature today was only 26 degrees. We then drove through the mountains back towards the port, stopping off at The Grand Mosque for a photo-opportunity. It was actually quite impressive even though we couldn’t go inside. Back to the ship and up to the “sail away” party with music provided by “Vibz” on deck 8. Had a bit of supper in Kings Court and then popped in to see The Spinettes. They are three girls who met when in various West End musicals who now make their living doing mainly 40’s and 50’s standards. Not really our scene but thought we’d go as it is their only show. They were supposed to get on at Aqaba and have spent the last few days chasing the ship around the Middle East! They get off in Dubai…. Wednesday 28th January – Khor Fakkan, UAE A bit more time this morning as we didn’t have to “muster” until 9-10am! We did a tour around Fujairah which is one of the seven Emirates (Principalities) that make up the United Arab Emirates. We were promised a “quaint market” a “sleepy fishing village” and a trip to a fish market…. The market was on the side of a dual carriageway, the fishing village was a big town and the fish market was shut! To top it all, coachloads of westerners drawing up outside the most important mosque just as the call to prayers was happening was perhaps at best bad timing, at worst a little insensitive. The trip was worth doing though – really interesting country. Our guide was Serbian and our driver Indian. There are just under one million “Emiratis” (?) and nearly five million foreign workers now in UAE. Locals own the land and do “professional” jobs like banking whereas the foreigners do the service type jobs like nursing… (Honest) The Sheiks of the seven Emirates have apparently decided that by giving their people free education, healthcare and no taxes is a good way to prevent any chance of an “Arab Spring” happening. Although the foreigners don’t get the free schooling or healthcare they too do not pay any kind of tax and so are better off than where they came from (as long as they have a job) If they cannot work – they are deported! We were all back on board by 4pm but once again the bunkering has been slower than expected so we are still in port now at 8pm when I’m writing this. Still, Dubai is only one and a half hours by road from here (although it’s further by sea as we have to go “round the pointy bit” as the Captain said) so we should have little problem in reaching Dubai tomorrow.

 

Sunday 25^th January – Day at Sea. “Burns Night”

 

We received an interim statement this morning relating to our on-board account and were surprised to see a charge of $9 for using the port shuttlebus yesterday! We don’t remember getting off the ship but when we mentioned it to other passengers, lots of them said they’d have gone with us if they’d known……

 

Went to the church service (with a third different pianist) and finally – all the right notes, in the correct order and at the right speed!

 

At 1-45pm Nesta took part in the choir at sea performance, to a full Queens Room, and it was excellent!

 

After a quick bite to eat, Ian went to his whisky “nosing and tasting” session – in tribute to Dave Dalziel, who never got round to using his “nosing” kit with Ian. Rather large measures of five excellent whiskies were tasted (drunk).  As Mark Twain said “Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whisky is barely enough”. Overall, it was a superb start to Burns Night. We joined a packed crowd in the Queens Room for an enjoyable 45 minutes including “Auld Lang Syne” done properly!

 

This was followed by a formal night in the restaurant, with Nesta wearing her formal t-shirt (thistle and all) and haggis neaps and tatties for everyone.

 

 

Monday 26^th January – Day at Sea.

 

 

We were awoken at shortly before 4am this morning by an emergency announcement telling assessment teams to go to “deck five, stairwell B” (just above us) to investigate a problem.

 

Nesta, of course, decided she would go and investigate and noted a torrent of hot, steaming water travelling along the corridor. She told Ian to “standby” and went upstairs to check further (or have a cigarette, as it’s known). After about 10 minutes the captain announced that one of the hot water pipes had burst and the situation was being dealt with so the assessment teams could “stand down”. After her “fresh air” though, Nesta wasn’t allowed to return to the cabin so had to join about 50 other passengers in our “muster station”.

 

The Captain arrived to join them and there ensued an impromptu “pyjama party” with tea, coffee, croissants and Danish pastries rustled up from somewhere. The captain went round talking to everybody, offering reassurance, and piano showman Chris Hamilton even performed a recital.

 

After about an hour Nesta was allowed to come back to the cabin. In all 15 cabins were evacuated, five were so badly damaged that their occupants had to be rehoused elsewhere. Major plumbing, rewiring and re-carpeting works carried on all day. Exciting, or what?

 

At 11am we went to a lecture by the Royal Navy Liaison Officer on board entitled “Counter Piracy Operations”. It was very interesting (if a little worrying) and later Nesta had a cup of tea with two of the armed security agents. Both are ex-marines but if she repeats some of the stories they told her, they may have to kill us!

 

In the afternoon we went to a murder mystery done as if it was an old-fashioned radio play with a passenger doing the sound effects. It was quite amusing.

 

We then had a pint in the late afternoon sunshine and decided NOT to dress for a third formal evening out of the last four days. Instead we went to the “Chef’s Galley” section of Kings Court and very much enjoyed freshly cooked pasta carbonara followed by apricots flamed in Cointreau with ice cream. When we returned to our cabin we had been presented with a delicious luxury chocolate each… A nice end to another bizarre day…and guess what? We’ll be at a port tomorrow!

 

Friday 23^rd January – Day at Sea.

 

The Red Sea was blue this morning! It’s 28 degrees and sunny! (Sorry if there’s snow outside, Rebecca!). We managed to spend a whole hour in the sun before it got too hot. We had received a summons from the pursers office (called “reception” on Voyager!) to complete and sign our visa applications for Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong. Took us about 20 minutes which was time well-spent considering it took us nearly four hours to cross over into Argentina from Chile when we did one of our overland trips on the previous voyage.

 

In the afternoon we had our wine tasting in the Todd English restaurant. Out of 2600 passengers, only 10 of us had booked in! There were five sommeliers and two chefs between the ten of us – and it was fabulous! We tasted five wines (ranging from $82 to $165 a bottle) and had complimentary food. Can’t help feeling however that they would get more custom if they reduced their “nominal” charge a bit! (And no! we didn’t take them up on their offer to purchase any of the wine)

 

Quote of the Day – from the Captain. “At this speed, the Red Sea is about two days long”

 

When we booked this cruise there were going to be two stops in Egypt but because of the political situation, this was changed and we were going to stop in Jordan (for Petra) instead. Unfortunately this was also cancelled (because of the Suez Canal delay). We are now going to Muscat in Oman - but the ship went ahead with its Egyptian Ball as planned. (Talk about “this is what you could have won”!) We saw lots of men in dinner suits with Fez’s or tea-towels on their heads (very politically correct) and women wearing what looked like bed sheets. Not what we would call “like minded passengers” at all – we went to the show put on by the entertainments team instead. It was an odd combination… the singers and dancers tribute to Sting!! followed by more comedy juggling..

 

We noticed that the ship was dark again and the security men were back out patrolling the decks…

 

Saturday 24^th January – Day at Sea.

 

It’s two weeks today since we joined – doesn’t feel like it. 11 out of the 14 days have been at sea (well, they do call it a cruise) and we are now 3 hours ahead time wise.

 

The Red Sea was rather grey today. Force 9 gale but still hot and humid outside (if you can keep your feet) The ship is immensely more stable than Voyager – we wouldn’t know we were in a gale unless we went outside. It was funny looking at Brits on holiday, though. “Don’t care that there is a gale blowing, I’ve paid my money and I am going to sit on a sun bed” It was only when sun beds (with passengers on them) started moving across the deck that the crew began putting them away and suggesting the passengers move inside.

 

The ship’s emergency drill today was a mock fire on deck 4 forward (towards the pointy bit, as the Captain said) so we watched the crew “evacuate” the staterooms and attack the “fire” It was quite interesting.

 

At 11-15am we went to listen to Robert Powell talking about his career and take questions from the audience. Taking pity on him, Nesta decided against telling him that when he was starring in Doomwatch on the BBC, he visited Nesta’s school (she was 11 at the time ) and she got his autograph! (Didn’t want to depress him too much about how old he is).

 

We went to watch a presentation on Muscat and have decided to book a trip so that we can see something of this rather exotic looking place.

 

Had a quiet afternoon and evening. Didn’t feel like yet more food, so only had a light snack before retiring for the evening.

 

Tuesday 20^th January 2015 – Day at Sea, arriving at Suez.

 

Robert Powell is the guest speaker this morning at the Royal Court theatre so we got there early which was just as well because half an hour before he was due to talk the place was full.

 

He was very interesting and entertaining and is due to give another lecture and then hold a Q&A session before he and his wife (Babs from Pan’s People) get off in Dubai.

 

In the afternoon we decided to be posh and have afternoon tea in the Queens Room… Unfortunately, this turned out to be a disappointment as some of the waiters were not wearing white gloves, as advertised, and Ian had the pleasure of having his tea poured into his saucer and very nearly down his leg, rather than in his cup!

 

We arrived at our anchorage point seven miles off Port Said on time and our transit of the canal, which can take thirteen hours, was due to start at 2am. The Captain informed us, however, that there was apparently dredging works going on in the canal so we were unsure of when we would begin our journey.

 

We dined in the restaurant this evening and not only drank a bottle of Shiraz between us but have signed up for a “wine and food tasting” experience next Friday in the posh “Todd English” restaurant. As the blurb for the “experience” put it – there will be a nominal charge per person…..$115 per person isn’t what we would call “nominal” but to the majority of the people here… it is. Oh well, it’s only money...

 

The additional security measures have started with the ship a lot darker and some armed guards patrolling at night!

 

 

Wednesday 21^st January 2015 – Suez Canal transit (not!)

 

Woke up at 7-30am to discover we were still at anchor and at anchor we stayed until 8pm when we finally set sale for the canal. So yes folks we have now got the (possibly) unique distinction of going through both of the world’s major canals at night! I’m sure both the Panama and Suez canals are lovely and picturesque…it’s just we haven’t seen them!

 

We joined a few of Nesta’s “smoking friends” in the evening for the pub quiz but were again useless. (Where are the old lags when you need them?)

 

As the transit of the canal takes thirteen hours, we decided to get up before sunrise tomorrow so that we could at least see something of the canal.

 

 

Thursday 22^nd January 2015 – Day at Sea.

 

Guess what? Because the convoys of ships travelling through the canal were more regimented than usual, we only took nine hours to go through (hooray). So, although we got up before daybreak we had actually left the canal before dawn. (Boo).

 

There was even worse news to come. A consequence of the delay was that we couldn’t get to Aqaba in time so the trip to Petra was cancelled. 800 people were booked onto it so as you can imagine there are a lot of sad people (including Nesta) today.

 

The Captain spoke to as at 10am and explained they had tried to postpone the trip by 24 hours but Friday is the Muslim Holy Day of the week and there was a religious event taking place in Saudi Arabia and ALL the coaches in Aqaba were booked up.

 

Instead, we are going to spend the next five days at sea (going quicker, or “zooming down the Red Sea”, as the Captain called it) so that we can call in at Muscat in Oman. This will mean nine days will have gone by since we last set foot on dry land!

 

At 11am, Robert Powell did a lecture on 100 years of cinema. He was very funny but overran a bit. At 12-15 there was a “juggling workshop” (just bring along three pairs of socks made up as balls) and Pete Matthews (the juggler from the previous show) will teach you how to do the three ball cascade. No-one will be surprised to learn that Nesta took up the challenge. Robert Powell and his wife also joined in and it was good fun. Ian took some pictures and reminisced about Thursday nights and Top of the Pops!

 

In today’s programme it says “As you may be aware there is currently an assistance dog travelling on our world voyage. This dog is able to assist it’s owner medically and is authorised to be in public areas for medical purposes” (honest!)

 

We’ve seen only one dog aboard and this is a very silly little dog that it’s American lady owner dresses up in outfits (pretty ones for day, and formal for evenings). Not sure what sort of medical assistance it’s giving… Ian suspects that if the woman didn’t have it she would be so depressed, she would throw herself overboard…

 

In the evening we missed our meal and went to the cinema instead. This time we watched “Maleficent” in 3D!! – The only 3D cinema afloat! It was a bit silly, if we’re honest but the 3D effect was good.

Sunday 18^th January – Day at Sea (continued)

 

As evening approached we dolled ourselves up for the World Voyage cocktail party. We were allowed to shake the Captain’s hand this time – so we must be out of quarantine! Our new friends Gary, Margaret and Diane have cultivated a tame waitress so we had largely unlimited supplies of champagne. The Captain decided he would spend 15 minutes with the five of us sharing jokes and anecdotes (must have exceptionally good taste, this Captain!) The chefs have produced a large cake with a map of the whole cruise on it including all the ports of call and dates etc. but the logo WV looks more like Volkswagen than Cunard!

 

Because of the free drinks, we were a little late into the restaurant for dinner but did find a nice Australian Shiraz on the wine list which is about $10 cheaper than the Malbec – so this is now our new favourite!

 

After our meal we headed for the G32 nightclub and even had a few dances (not a pretty sight) before deciding to call it a night.

 

 

Monday 19^th January – Day at Sea.

 

We have been given World Voyage badges!!! Not planning on wearing them very often!

 

This morning there was an advertised talk on Petra and Wadi Rum so as the trip to Petra is one of the highlights of the voyage we decided to go along. The theatre was full, with people sitting in the stairways and standing room only available at the back. Unfortunately it turned into a port lecture about Aqaba so we left early (as did many others).

 

It turns out that as we have a balcony cabin we will have new rules during times of increased security (like when we are travelling to the Middle East for example). We are not allowed to put on our balcony light and we must keep our curtains closed after dusk. (It reminds us of travelling up the Amazon, but that time it was to guard against insects!)

 

Our “safe area” is the corridor outside our cabin – so when there was a drill this morning, we spent half an hour sitting outside our cabin along with all the other guests on Deck 4. At least Nesta had taken a cushion off our sofa to sit on – so she was ok!

 

In the afternoon, we decided to give the trivia quiz another go… (Ok, we decided to go to the pub!) We were rubbish – again!

 

In the early evening we went to a “live planetarium show” where the astronomy experts on board talked us through some of the main constellations and stars. The planetarium has a computer which can exactly replicate the night sky (no, it’s not a window!) and the show was much better than the pre-recorded show we’d seen.

 

No time to eat before we went to the “cinema” and watched Judy Dench and Steve Coogan in “Philomena”. We thought it was an excellent film and were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the cinema even though we are constantly amazed at peoples’ rudeness. The show was about 15 minutes late in starting and some of the boorish passengers started slow handclapping. For goodness sake – you’re on holiday. It’s not as if it’s like there’s a train to catch!

 

It was a bit late to have a meal when the film finished, so we settled for cheese and biscuits before bed.