aliaschief

Our new itinerary around Africa. A lot of sea days.

The mall we went to was named Dubai Mall on the outdoor sign. If it has another name I cannot remember on our whirlwind excursion.

Dubai is a wow! Toured around some of the highlights. Actually the whole city is a highlight. Dubai Mall with it’s mind boggling 3,500 stores and huge aquarium and cascading waterfalls. The tallest building in the world and incredible architecture all throughout. Rode a Abra to Souq ( Market). Saw luxury hotels that can range from $2,000.00 to $8,000.00 per night and up. Our last three ports in United Arab Emirates has been mind boggling. We are here overnight and sail tomorrow night.

No but if you book future excursions on a previous Azamara cruise you could save 10% on your next cruise excursions.

Abu Dhabi what a beautiful modern city. The finding of oil in mid 50’s with the vision and leadership of it’s Emeritus has led to a utopian life for those who were born in UAE. Opulent wealth oozes. They are still building museums, grand theme parks, skyscrapers and even more man made islands. Emerits pay no income tax, free medical, pensions and the list goes on. Late sailing tonight for an overnight plus day stay in Dubai. Ends this segment and we start our detour around Africa. Thanks for the report and post. Bruce

Your welcome. That’s what the Daily is mainly about. Sharing our experiences and life’s. Most importantly we all love to cruise.

Many hours of research. Planning is half the fun. You Tube helps. Simply search You Tube and ask top ten things to do in a port. Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor get you to right tours and guides.

Today Onward visited Sir Bani Yas United Arab Emirates a 32 sq. mile island off the coast of UAE. Purchased by the sheikh who has developed into a 17,000 animal preserve. Several are endangered species. The animals appear to be well cared for as being a desert environment they do receive supplemented feeding and water. The culinary team hauled ton’s of supplies ashore to provide us a wonderful beach side BBQ lunch. Amazing team. Tomorrow Abu Dhabi.

Now that internet seems stronger here are the pictures that didn’t load on previous post about Sir Bani Yas. QAE. QAE’s version of Half Moon Cay.

Today we are visiting Sir Bani Yas a 32 sq. mile island off the coast of United Arab Emerites on the Persian Gulf. The Sheikh purchased the island and developed it into a 17,000 animal Game Preserve along with a couple luxury resorts, kayaking, bicycling and beautiful beaches. Our ship hauled a ton of supplies off the ship and provided us with a great beach BBQ lunch. Tomorrow we visit UAE’s main city Abu Dhabi. It has been a very memorable day. The animals appeared to be very well taken care of. Being a desert island they receive some supplemented food and plenty of watering spots. Thanks for the reports and post. Bruce We have a real weak signal so most of pictures just won’t load. Will try later.

Elisabeth’s contract ends in Barcelona. She is a great HD.

Saw Lee tonight he gets off in South Hampton in June so a few days after many of us World Voyagers disembark in Barcelona.

We all do it sooner or later.

A beautiful night and setting, sunset with a following full moon.

This morning we transversed the Arabian Sea and just awhile ago entered the Straits Of Hormuz and will be sailing in the Persian Gulf. Lots of oilers and super oilers sightings today. Our visit to Muscat, Oman yesterday showed a beautiful modern city that was as clean as Singapore. Eighty-five per cent of population owns their own house and the rest rent. Over 80% attend college. After driving we drove three hours through desert like mountainous terrain where we rode up rugged dirt roads to the highest mountain in Oman and what was Oman’s version of our Grand Canyon. Very dramatic. We also visited a market and ancient fort. At the market we sampled many different flavored dates, spices and bought some high quality saffron and my hat and dishdasha robe which went over very well when I wore it at last night’s White Night party and buffet. Another evening of dinner under the stars tonight. Headed to another lecture. Thanks for report and post. Bruce

When in Oman you get to play the Sultan for a day. It also works seeing tonight is White Night dinner and party onboard.

Just arriving Muscat, Oman. Not one but two Royal yachts!

I’ll ask him but I would expect that he will be taking a break after the World Voyage ends in Barcelona June 9.. He’s been on since January and has done a fantastic job.

Good morning/evening. The Indian Ocean remains calm. The Indian Festival and buffet was a huge success and was appreciated by all. Many of the guest were wearing some beautiful Indian designed clothing. Another great sea day with trivia and lectures. Enjoyed a nice lunch in MDR followed by a long refreshing nap. Tomorrow we visit Muscat, Oman followed by Sir Bani Yas, UAE. Tonight we will dine in Discoveries MDR and will skip the guest illusionist act. With the time day difference and touring during port days it’s been difficult staying fully up to date on what’s been happing to all our Daily subscribers. Regardless for those with medical or other issues your in my thoughts and prayers. @kazuSo happy to hear you are going cruising. Have a great weekend everyone. Bruce

We had been told in advance and many guest bought Indian clothing at our stops in previous ports. I wore a shirt I bought in Singapore.

Oh my goodness tonight’s Indian Festival and Buffet by the pool on Onward on the Arabian Sea is going to be so special.

Oh my this is going to be a special evening. Just setting up.

Onward is presently at sea for two consecutive days before our next port Muscat, Oman. Tonight the culinary team is preparing a huge Indian Buffet pool side and they have been decorating all day. Tonight ships orchestra along with Eric and ship’s dancer and singers will perform a brand new production featuring the Tony’s. Our side trip to Taj Mahal was a great experience minus some airline delays. Some pics of around the Taj and the lavish buffet at a five star hotel in Agra. We were all pretty worn after getting up at 4 AM and getting back to ship at 2:00 AM the following day. Life is fantastic on the Onward and we are all awaiting to see what it will be like after Dubai and our detour around Africa. Closely watching current conflicts and whether we can make it to Dubai.

Hello from the Arabian Sea. We have enjoyed our first of two consecutive sea days as we sail to our next port Muscat. Oman. We played wake up trivia and came in second and then attended a most informative lecture on whales. Enjoyed a light lunch on the outside Sunset Cafe. Tonight they are having a huge Indian Themed Buffet pool side. They have been decorating all day. Indian dress is encouraged. After buffet the orchestra and ships singer and dancers will be performing a brand new production show entitled The Tony’s! Our two hour nap this afternoon helped and last night clocks set back 30 min. And tonight back a hour. Thanks for the report and post. Here is some miscellaneous pics from our last few days in India. Bruce

This morning we finally returned to Mumbai and to bed at 2:00 AM from our side trip to Agra and Taj Mahal. Up at 6:30 AM for a 8 o’clock excursion to the Gates of Mumbai and the famous Taj Hotel. The square at the gate is very popular with the Indians as it’s where they celebrate their Independence. Mumbai was formerly named Bombay but the name changed in 1995. One of the most populated cities in the world within the surrounding area of 22 million. India is now the most populated country with a population of 1.4 billion people! Mumbai is the financial capitol of India and it’s wealthiest city. It’s is known as Bollywood as it’s India major filmmaking hub. Unfortunately this very over populated country has the third largest slum in the world with 1.2 million inhabitants in Mumbai using only 800 community toilets. Sad! We rode one of the many local passenger ferries out to Elephanta Island and climbed the 122 steps up to the Ba Tu Caves to witness the ancient Hindu carvings in the walls of the man made caves. After all that we are looking forward to two consecutive sea days and air conditioning. Thanks for the post and @kazu Jacqui I do pray for the fool to respond to treatment and that you can enjoy a well deserved cruise Bruce