Norwaylady

Timelapse Suez Canal starboard 💚 IMG_9958.mov

Ladies & Gentlemen I have not forgotten you! It’s been super busy today😂😂👀🙌🏻 I made a Timelapse from our stateroom, starboard side💚 I set up the camera 07.35. So it covers from we started the process to get in line and almost Suez, stopping 17.35. Back to our day! After setting up the Timelapse, we went downstairs to Eden. They served breakfast from 08.00 and we could hear the OceanView buzzing…. Downstairs it was empty, not a single guest inside… And only a few out on deck in Eden area. Perfect! Great view to follow the progress of getting on the pilots and other crew members. CD Guiseppe is the “voice” from above during the transit. We have USS Eisenhower-Silver Spirit in front of us and Queen Elisabeth behind us in our transit. And cargo vessels. We sat downstairs outside from 07.40 to 10.30. Then it was time for our concierge gathering. Guiseppe was toastmaster and hotel manager etc was attending. They had 2 ships models and 4 bottles of wine in a raffle. They served drinks similar to the captain’s club party. After attending the concierge meeting, we decided to change into pool deck outfits. I went for my walk, walking on Suez! The outside was packed by guests and crew. Mr was sitting in the sun and walked a bit around to see the difference’s in the landscape. (I need a new sun hat… might need to burn it😂😂) (Do I know this guy😝?) Around lunchtime it started to get less crowded. We had lunch in AquaSpa café today around 13.30. It’s very fascinating how different port and starboard side is during the crossing. Starboard is more green/vegetation. Port is sand, sand…. At 16.00 we called it the day on deck. Then it was time to relax and watch the view from the bed for some downtime. Today’s canapés:

Queen Elisabeth Silver Spirit

She has not. It’s very quiet and no horns in the area.

For the curious: Our new estimate of access to the canal is 08.00. So it will be a day sailing ⛵️

Well, a very good morning to everyone! as @Jim_Iain has discovered, we are still waiting to start our process into the canal! I was armed an ready before I went to bed. Rigged for a Timelapse and binoculars by the bed. Well what did I discover when I opened my 👀???? We have not moved. And the first I see next to us are Qunard and SilverSea😝 So her is a Timelapse of our movement from 23.30 to 06.00 this morning: IMG_9954.mov Guiseppe! Did you forget to pay the Egyptian guide? 😂😂 ( or did you spend it on a new pair of shoes????)

Today’s Cruise compass Suez Day 6.

1. Immigration It’s because the ship is leaving Schengen completely. Due to the Suez sailing. So this is not normal and necessary on a Mediterranean cruise in season😉 2. Pub lunch is free and served as a daily special. It’s in oceanview (buffet) If you studied the daily cruise compass I posted, you will see in the food section that in OceanView they have a daily “theme” for lunch and/or dinner. So yesterday’s lunch was British Pub. That means Pie’s, fish & chips etc.

No🤓 a clean shave…. This man is growing beard as a bandit😝 So yesterdays picture from dinner is just the growing from 1.November shave…

Tonight’s show is magician ✨Jessica Jane✨ IMG_9924.mov She is great 👍🏻 Fun and interactive by guests. we had a pre dinner cocktail in grand foyer. Dinner was back at Cyprus. We had the same zone as first night: Today Mr had the shrimp, apple pear salad and flank steak. I went for shrimp, beef carpaccio and apple pear salad. Today’s dessert was ice cream All tasted well and service was good🥰 We can spy on Queen Mary 2 from our balcony/window/what ever you will call it😝 We are lining up for our spot in the canal and number in line

I had priority tender on infinity in May/June👌🏻❤️ Priority check-in is away😉 (not that we use it🤣🤣) We are always one of the last ones usually😆 When we sailed on Summit from Bayonne, they had taken the walk way off already😅 they just waited for us and someone else😂😂 So we took the back door😝 The rest of the ship had arrived 11.00😅 and we arrived 13.45😝

@Jim_Iain don’t blame you on the British lunch❤️ Mr loves it❤️ When we go to U.K we need to do at least one night Pie in a pub dinner and a night of Indian curry🙌🏻😂🍺🇬🇧 We are getting closer👌🏻 it’s almost Christmas for Mr🤩🙌🏻 There are several marine vessels “parked”

After the Suez talk, I was ready for some ☀️ sun and a lounger☀️😎 We went to change for bathing attire and headed out. Mr was sent out on a walk…. He needs to move a bit😝 I took it easy in the ☀️ Around 13.45 I asked if we could have some lunch in AquaSpa… Mr was njaa🙄 Really? You know it’s British pub lunch in OceanView🤭😝 So lunch in OceanView it was😩 (You know that box of 🦴 is getting into a shipping container soon🙈) Mr was a happy camper🤩 Guiness Pie, Fish & Chips…. I had some salad🐰🐰🐰 After lunch we walked back to the pool deck. (NO, we don’t occupied the chairs when we had lunch) Found new loungers😎 It was musical trivia by the pool. We did decent in score🤓 It was time for a round of Ludo🎲 (who says I’m not prepared😅magnetic) First round was easygoing for me…. Round two was a full failure😂😂 Mr will “fly” the rest of the evening🥳🥳🥳😆 In the background CD Giuseppe had an aqua dance class in the pool. I made a dinner reservation for Cyprus tonight. So we will be back to starting point of our Tour’d MDR😌 At 16.20 we called it for today by the pool. It was getting cooler outside in the wind. Today’s canapés:

Today started slow. I was awake 05.59🤪 But was not ready for getting up and out. So I read the newspaper and took it slow before I went out for my walking 🚶‍♂️ The sun is shining and it’s perfect temperature for a walk. It was several walkers outside. After my hour of power walk it was time to wake up Mr🥰 Rise & Shine😊 Mr wanted breakfast eggs 🥚 (you know what that means… a big box of 🦴 for him again) We went upstairs to OceanView. It was full and busy….🤪🤪 my hate thing nr 1🙈 Mr made his omelette and found today’s selection of herring. I got my bowl of Greek yoghurt and topped it by apricot and my cereal…. One positive thing, is that we can eat outside on a real balcony❤️🙌🏻 It was very busy, so no beverage service arrived on the outdoor patio. Mr wanted to listen to the Suez talk. So we decided that a coffee pick-up in Al Bacio downstairs was a good idea. We arrived just before the coffee rush and Mr went into the theatre to get seated. It was a fully packed theatre. People were standing and they put in extra chairs to try to facilitate to everyone. Giuseppe was hostess for the Suez talk. He talked about the history and the construction of the canal. He is a perfect mixture of serious and funny😂😂 CD Guiseppe will talk us thru the transit from early morning on channel 1 TV and in public spaces. Captain Matt arrived after Giuseppe had talked us thru the history and his jokes😂😂 Captain told us about the process and how things are working during the sailing of the canal. So tonight we will be in Port Said around 22.00-30 to prep for our transit. The “show” of our transit/view will be prime from sunrise tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward🤩🥰 Mabye Guiseppe will hold a camel Bingo😅🐫🐫🐫🐫.

Personally I find it a bit tacky. They are going Ryanair….. - They are watering out a product of concierge and aqua class in my eyes. -Stop the process of making it RCL. If we want to sail on RCL, I will book a cruise on RCL. The ship size for the Key fits better and there is a value. But on X, it’s just No-go in my eyes….. I’m not snobby or fine on things. I can sail on steerage class (we always do) We have never sailed in a suite. (If you count js suite on Royal, we have tested 2x on Voyager in mai 2022. It was a larger room and a tub. Other than that, no bells or other whistles. We had no priority on boarding chaos, no private restaurant, eating in MDR as a regular and no extraordinary thing….. So what we got was 2x points and a tub for Mr to enjoy by his ducks 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 really not impressed) We always do some sort of balcony. So it’s a price decision. But for X to sink down to Ryanair level….. that’s just not what I want.

Cruise Compass Day 5 Suez day 1.

After the show it was YES/NO game show in the club. It’s one of ours favourite game shows onboard X, Dominic and Giuseppe are dream team for this🤣🤣🤣 At 20.45 it was time for dinner in Tuscan. We had a nice table by the window. Our team: They delivered excellent service and the sommelier was excellent. Top 1 of our tour’d MDR🥇 Tonight’s menu: Mr had the scrimp soup, garden salad and schnitzel. I went for Trevisio and carbonara. For dessert they had our Achilles…. Lava cake❤️ I must say, in a very long time, this tasted very good and was not sizzling, but Luke warm (the last eaten editions where ice cold🙄) So very happy🙌🏻 After dinner. We headed for bed🤣🤣🤣💤💤💤💤 ( you see? We are not the party crowd🤣)

After a little stretch on the bed posting today’s adventure (and charge my phone) It was time to convert to evening attire. Tonight’s show is Salvatore Hasard🎶 Dinner is reserved in Tuscan. (We take the grand tour d’resturant MDR) Salvatore Hasard was fun and really a winner🙌🏻🎶 He is a multi instrumentalist and singer. My cup of tea🤩 He really fired up the theatre🎶❤️ He nailed it in the final number of the show! My tears of happiness was flowing🥹 Even Mr (who is harder to impress) was Wowed🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

YES, the retreat and Zenith had fast track service. So we waited in line🙃 having a small flashback to Vancouver last year🤣🤣.

Today’s plan is just enjoying Pireus. We started the day by breakfast in OceanViev… (you know that 🦴 bone😂) Mr wanted omelette. (Captains club breakfast don’t serve eggs) After breakfast we went downstairs to pickup our passports to immigration authorities on return and get ready for a walk in Pireus. We walked off around 09.45. We walked in the direction of the city centre/shopping/pedestrian area. Pireus has a suggestion for a 4km walk in the city centre. You are passing a small road church. (There are the bigger Basilicas also🤓) The sky looked ☁️☁️☁️ and possibly danger of 💦💦💦☔️ Just before we arrived the food market it 🌩️🌩️🌩️ and you now what happens next🙈☔️☔️☔️ We considered a fika at IKEA Pireus😂 but decided that we would continue our walk…. Just make a small donation of 4€ each to the local store for a umbrella 🌂 We continued our adventure walking zig, zag in the city centre. We walked by the flower mark at Pireus Town hall. It stated to clear up. And continued in direction of the ❤️Pireus sign. After reaching the sign, we walked by the marina. The sun was out again😎 Local fishermen was preparing for next adventure and others was just taking a 💤 (do you see the security gard?) Mr was running for the supermarket sign in Bay of Zea… You know it’s always 5’o clock somewhere🤪🍻 Greek beer 🍺 After the refreshing beer, Mr was ready for further investigation of luxurious yacht… (Did he get me a cold refreshment???? 🙈) We walked to Kanari port area, you will find all the $$$ her and maybe Captain Sandy? (Below deck⚓️) From Kanari Port we headed in direction back to the city area. I wanted to visit the Basilicas and have a little Greek lunch🇬🇷 (You can’t be in Greece 🇬🇷 and don’t eat gyros) All of the churches are rich decorated. Really worth a view and visit. We went to Church of Agios Nicolaos first. Then we continued onward, Gyros time😋 and more 🍺….. After our little gyros break, it was time to visit the 2 other churches ⛪️ I had on my list before heading back to Edge. We walked to Saint Spyrdion Church Then you just cross the park to Metropolitan church of Agia Triada. After church visiting, it was time to walk back to the ship. We have Vancouver as worst case scenario……. We arrived in port at 14.45 and all-onboard today was 15.30. We were pointed to a tent next to the “terminal” house. We need to receive a number and wait until called. We received number 14 and was asked to wait until called. The tent was cooled by ac. But no water, cold towels or service. Retreat and Zenith had fast track and could walk straight into security and immigration. I will not say it’s wrong or rightfully🙄🤔🤓😅 But when we had a similar situation on Milli, they said all are in the same boat… For many in-line, this was a major issue🤨 They arrived shortly after we arrived and called group 11…. After 30. minutes wait they called group 14. We then moved from the tent to the port building. New line, standing zigzag in the building queuing for security check and passport control. All very crowded and full flashback to Vancouver🤪🤪🤪 They did not divide the passengers into Schengen passports/ non Schengen. So this meant that all our fellow passengers from non-Schengen need to be stamped out. So they need to scan their passports AND find the entry stamp to stamp out next to the arrival stamp. This takes time…. And it was 3 immigration officers sitting on inspection🤪🤪 We have Norwegian passports. When we finally walked upfront to immigration, he saw our Norwegian passports and just waived us onboard/thru…. So for us holding Schengen passports, it could potentially have worked better if they split into Schengen/non Schengen line. Same as at the airport. Totally it took us 1h 15.mins from we arrived back to the port until we pinged onboard again…. Then it was time for a little break in Al Bacio🍸🍹☕️ Today’s canapés

🙌🏻 yes!

Cruise Compass Athens and Inspection Immigration

I have 2 pairs of personal sets from ACS https://www.acscustom.com/uk/products/hearing-protection/pro-series They do deliver a lot musicians in-ear products. They are tailored to you, so they make a replica of your ears 👂🏻. You can get them in a colour or invisible👍🏻 The ones I use “outside” in public to lower sounds around me is invisible. I have the Pro series. I also has a pair for sleeping, they are flaming pink🩷(so people can see I have them on) they take all sounds 30db+. We had a great evening yesterday🥰 Just getting into the “cruise vibe” ❤️

Tonight we had booked a table in Normandie 20.45 in the app. Last time on Edge we really enjoyed Normandie the most. Due to the special menu and the crew preforming… So no pressure😂😂😂😂 Well the menu is very to our palette🥰 The decorations are “great gatsby” we feel very “home”. Service tonight was by: Mr went for the baked Brie and watermelon tomato salad for starters . Our server said we had to do the coqcilles also😂 I went for the salmon tartare. All tasted excellent. (10million times better than the gravelax…. And they do have dill onboard🤪 So WHY deliver the most awfully gravelax ever?🙈) For main, we both had marmite. Really good and perfect for seafood lovers✨👍🏻 For dessert it was time for some ice cream😍 my favourite After eight was on tonight’s menu❤️unfortunately they had played El’cheapo for the minty flavour. So it was a bit “pale” in taste. Mr went for the Millefeuille. It’s a Napoleon style cake. Mr was very happy for it😍 After dinner we went to the Martini bar. We wanted a post dinner drink and listen to the live music❤️

the sound was decent level tonight and on first night. (Didn’t attend yesterday) I’m very “aware” of noise. So if we are seated in the wrong area it’s painful for me. I have noice cancelling plug-in I use when it’s too much for me. I can take away 16 or 21 decibel, depending on what pair I use. (They are custom made for my ears and are not visible in use)