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Published: December 5th 2009
Hi from the ARABIAN SEA,
We finally have a chance to spend some time on this fabulous ship, recharging, relaxing and catching up with you. ...a few days at sea and a little break from our whirlwind tour. We are exactly at the mid-way point of our incredible adventure.
What can you do on a ship for 40 days (besides eating) you may ask? Almost Everything !!
We’ll tell you about our time on board, but first, here are just a few facts and figures.
Since leaving home, now half way through our round-the-world trip, we have so far travelled approximately 11,500 miles. Since boarding the Nautica in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 10, 2009, we have sailed approximately 6,284 nautical miles.
We've crossed three time zones, and are now 9 hours ahead of you. We’ve visited six countries and have stopped in 13 ports. Not quite seven seas, but never-the-less, we’ve experienced more than seven bodies of water.
We’ve cruised the Mediterranean, have transited the Suez Canal, crossed the Nile, navigated the Red Sea, gone through the Gulf of Aden, travelled in the Indian Ocean and sailed the Arabian Sea . We are now in the Gulf
of Oman, and will soon cross the Straights of Hormuz and enter the Persian Gulf.
You might enjoy hearing about our adventure in the infamous Gulf of Aden, (which is between Yemen on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia in Africa on the north.)
Here’s a little scoop for you. Last year, this very ship, (with the very same Captain, Jurica Brajcic, and most of the crew), is the very same ship that out-ran the pirates on November 30, 2008 ! It was attacked forty miles off Port Mukala in the Gulf of Aden.
In fact, the captain gave us a terrific talk about that little “adventure.” ….but, this year the pirates don’t stand a chance.
On board (since Haifa) are 8 Israeli ex-Mossad agents (all young and very cute ) to protect us. In addition, as we travelled through the gulf, we joined a convoy of 25 cargo ships and 2 naval gunboat vessels (from Europe), plus we had a military helicopter circling overhead every few hours…..pretty exciting but a little scary in the Gulf of Aden . I’m happy to report we arrived safely in the Arabian Sea , and as I write, we
are just passing through the Gulf of Oman.
Besides stopping in Turkey, Greece, Cypress, Israel, Egypt and Oman, during our sail on the “Route of the Ancient Traders”, we have passed the coasts of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritria, Djubati, and Somalia in the African continent, plus Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman in Asia. Coincidentally, this happens to be the two week period when many Muslims make the “Haj”, (pilgrimage) to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia,…. and every Arabic country is having festivities and national holidays right now. So this trip is rather topical at the moment.
If you’ve been following our blog, you’ve read about our exciting tours in the ports of call. ( Oh, and by the way, I know that some of you have not been receiving the email notices for the link, but hopefully that is corrected now….the internet service is very intermittent and painfully slow on the ship.) In case this is your first transmission, scroll back to the other entries for Turkey, Israel and Egypt.
Crossing through the Suez Canal in Egypt, was quite fascinating….no locks, since the Med and the Red Seas are actually at the same sea level. What
made it interesting was traversing the 163 kilometre passage at 15 approx.kph. Only 64 feet deep, and at some parts only 300 metres wide, we could practically reach out and touch the shores of the Sinai Peninsula. You could actually talk to the fisherman near us in the Bitar Lake at the north end of the canal (if you could speak Arabic). One side of the canal is verdant farmland and the other bleak desert. Finally completed in 1869, (after 3 years of numerous technical, political and financial problems), the Canal now has 25,000 ships (approx. 14 percent of the world’s shipping) passing through each year.
Enough of the descriptions already Lindsay !
On Board-----Here are some of our activities: (Unfortunately I can’t find a way to participate in everything…If we could invent a 27 hour day, that would be perfect.) Too bad we’ve only had eight sea days so far.
Besides dining availability 24/7 (have we mentioned that before?)...which includes two gourmet restaurants, a nightly sushi bar (Lax, you’d love it), daily pool deck grill (fat juicy hamburgers, salads, grilled chicken and paninis ) plus an ice cream/milkshake/frozen yoghurt stand, there’s also a daily buffet and
of course the ‘come-by-anytime—no seating times” dining room!...oh and also 24 hr room service of course. (remember our Caribean and Alaska cruises Dara, Matt, Cale and Marlee?) They also have first-run in-room movies all day and night…and all the current tv shows, (and most have Arabic subtitles….kinda strange to watch)
There is a wonderful real Canyon Ranch Spa here, where L. spends most of her time (when not having fun in the computer room). (Cyn , you’d be in heaven)
The gym is fabulous as is our adorable size 2 instructor, Emilia from Slovakia. So yes, Abby T, I am diligently trying to stay in shape…..triceps exercise faithfully (almost) every day, plus pilates, aerobics, yoga and strength training…honest. Not to mention a jogging track, fitness lectures, massages (very pampering, but I really miss Eric at Polo and Julie in T.O.), manis, pedis, hair, and every other service a girl could want. (when are you joining us, MEH?).
For diversions, there are the Enrichment Lectures every day, with talks on the politics, religion, economy, language, history and geography of the general areas we are visiting, given by excellent guest lecturers. (Pauline, you’d like these ). There is even
an astronomy expert on board this cruise, so at night we can learn more about the stargazing and constellations (which of course look incredibly bright when one is out here on the ocean). And—this is so exciting, we’ve seen a school of dolphins twice, playing and jumping out of the water. (Carol , you would adore it .) Actually the dolphins aren't really coming to say hi, they're enjoying the fresh unused food that the ship regularly gives to the ocean.
We also have the regular gamut of on-board activities, including putting contests, bingo (what’s a cruise without the daily …”under the O—57”), Ping Pong, Shuffleboard, Bridge--both lessons and play, (Ellen, there are some great players here, The instructor, Patti Miller, from Toronto first taught us bridge with Barbara Seagram,... remember her?..small world) .
There's Mah Jong, (Joyce, I even brought my card ), Trivia contests, Needlepoint lessons, Computer classes, Blackjack Tournaments, Wine tastings, Culinary demonstrations and Watercolour Painting classes , (so I’m not missing sculpture too much, Peggy and Pearl0. Not to mention, dancing, piano lounges, the casino, library and games room…and Happy Hour every night. (Hey Austine and BTW met some of your Cincinatti friends-Judy and Michael
Rozen!)
And Harvey is spending lots of his time on the pool deck at his favourite activity, schmoozing in the water and reading.
Then he loves to steam, sauna and shower before heading up to the very civilized 4 pm afternoon tea, , compete with a string quartet, cute little English tea sandwiches and scones and cream.
We’ve had 3 nice well attended Friday night Shabbat services with different lay people leading, and afterwards, great wine and challah. (Did I mention they bake incredible breads and pastries not once, but twice a day.)
The evening entertainment is lounge-type---singers, magicians, classical guitarists, violinists, ventriloquists, pianists, comedians, ....plus, three of the in-house entertainment staff are wonderful show time entertainers/singers and dancers. ..talk about multi-tasking and double duty. (…BTW, Micki, if you ever decide to take your show on the road, this is the perfect venue),
Today I went to a lecture on the ship’s technical aspects ‘cause I was fascinated by the water capabilities on the ship. I thought a de-salinization process was used, but instead, the seawater is purified at a capacity of approx 300 cubic meters a day using a closed steam and condensation system…,very cool
and ecologically pretty green.
We’ve met new friends from many places….Sydney, Australia, ..London, England ---and Whitehorse, Yukon, ----Johannesberg, South Africa Paris, France, and Oslo, Norway, and Cypress. Also, some great people from New York, Florida, California, Ohio, Illinois, Quebec and Ontario. Of the 520 passengers on board, surprisingly, over 200 are Canadian.
The crew is amazing, the staff truly wonderful and no request is too difficult. And the captain is a dream…tall (very), obviously brave, and very accessible and friendly.
We love it here….Harvey is thinking about staying on the ship for the next cruise which ends in Australia. We don’t even seem to miss the golf, but we sure miss all of you. Sending lots of love to all my golfing girls at Polo (Aimee, finally met your friends the Behrens) and Harvey says hi to his Saturday morning buddies. And of course big hugs to all our Toronto family and friends
So, I’ve gone on and on again, but just wanted to share our enjoyment with you.
Love to you all
Xoxo
Harvey and Lindsay
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mary ellen
non-member comment
I'm soooo jealous !
It all sounds wonderful, and I can really appreciate the effort it takes to compile such a detailed and visually impressive blog. Doesn't sound like you ever want to leave the ship. We are in Palm Beach now definitely missing your company. The weather is not great but I can't golf anyways. I tried the first day but my hand was too sore. Fortunately I found a terrific stud ( I mean dance teacher ) and have been very happy. In 2 weeks I'm having the other hand ( my right ) operated on so this is a no golf winter. Still planning Argentina but who knows if it will happen . Take care and continue to enjoy. love to Harvey. ME