Live from Azamara Journey thru Nov 15th

[bmwhlw]

Hi Karen I am enjoing your posts so far and look forward to your Holy Land posts as we are on this cruise next October and are so looking forward to it. Can not wait to read more.

 

Heather

[California Native]

Disclosure…this was written yesterday morning ..we have now been to Mykonos and are approaching Rhodes..but I don’t have time to do the tweaks…the info 0is still accurate I will write up Mykonos and Rhodes

later today and hopefully post tonight or in the morning since we at sea

before we hit the Holy Land

Kalimera Everyone

Thanks for such positive feeback. I made DH a promise when I started doing this

if any negativity was posted on this thread or the facebook page I would stop.

We are on our way to Mykonos and should be arriving shortly

We are planning on going to Delos on our own if the tidal conditions are

working the ferries favor. AZ offers this shorex but in fine print it said not

during the month of Nov….so we will be winging this with our fingers crossed

So, DH had a bit of an adventure yesterday in Athens

I wont keep you in suspense, and will just fast forward to the “key” parts

fortunately for you Im blogging…DH likes to tell these little stories s..l..o..w..l..y

build up the suspense

I learned to appreciate that this is one of his wonderful traits or should I say accept that

since I discovered he doesn’t come with a remote control that allows me to fast forward

• He had wandered into an old Greek Orthodox church off of Ermou street
  

Its peaceful and quiet, he’s taking it all in and all of sudden he hears someone screaming into a megaphone and then chanting in the square that this little church is located in…those of you that have traveled to Europe know that no matter how noisy the traffic is outside of old church

you cant hear anything inside…as he begins the brain process of thinking

what the ? and then following it with this cant be good. Megaphone guy

is going a little nutso and whipping his kool aid followers into quite the frenzy..(sorry DH doesn’t speak Greek, so no translation available)

DH begins contemplating his options..

*Seek refuge in the church..its been done for ages for a variety of reasons

*Find a hidden tunnel underneath the church that will lead all the way Piraeus

or at least Monstraki Square

*Make a run for before it gets bigger and the riot police with tear gas

pay a visit

He peeks outside once again and sees the crowd is growing..He decides

to make a run for it and is successful with his escape option

DH now decides that perhaps he should just head back to Piraeus and

surprise me with an earlier arrival and join me in being lazy.

Its now 1;15pm

Adventure #2 coming up

He heads to Monstraki Metro Station, goes to buy the ticket and notices RED tape across the entrance…universal translation no matter what language you speak…NOT GOOD!!

STRIKE!!!

As he steps aside from the ticket window to begin formulating plan B

He overhears a couple saying in English that they needed to get to

port for a cruise. He approaches them and asks them if they are with

AZ, they confirm this…they are now in the same boat together and decide to team up. They ask one policeman outside if there is a bus, his English is limited, but he is helpful..he circles an area on DHs map, they head there Stopping along the way to ask another policeman who speaks excellent

English and fine tunes these directions. They find the bus and fortunately

all of Europe throws all safety considerations out the door and they

are able to join the rolling sardine can. From description I have heard

from the 3 of them ..you couldn’t turn around it was so packed in there

for quite some time..it wasn’t until the very end of the ride that there

was space to exhale.

What should have been a 15 minute metro ride and 15 minute walk to the ship

became about a 2 hour diversion.

DH made it back to the ship just a few minutes after our pre arranged

turn on the cell phone time.

The other couple still had to go back to their hotel in Piraeus, get their luggage

And then check in for the cruise. We chatted with them later in the evening

and they barely made it to the ship.

We also spoke with other CruiseCritic members who were able to get

on the very same metro around 12 noon and the caught a cab from the metro station to the ship. So sometime between 12 noon and 1:15pm a strike was called. This was not announced.

Besides all of that…

He had a wonderful day..he went to 3 lesser known museums that he said

Turned out to be real gems and that he felt I would love seeing. He said

he enjoyed them so much that he would be more than willing to visit them

again with me. So, if you have been to Athens before and are looking for

something new to do…you might want to investigate the following

• Museum of Greek Folk Art
  

He said with this museum it was 5 floors of traditional costumes

Throughout all the islands and mainland, in addition to jewelry and wedding

attire.

• Museum of Greek Musical Instruments
  

He said with this museum not only you could see the musical instruments

but they had headphones next to each piece so you could hear each of them

• Museum of Folk Ceramic Art
  

The CruiseCritic party was at 6pm. Our roll call for this cruise has been

filled with quite a few savvy travelers and most importantly

they are all really the nicest people.

Eric DeLay our cruise director hosted the soiree with many of the officers attending

Wine, Champagne and other drinks were passed around. Hot and Cold treats

Accompanied. Coconut Shrimp (delicious!), samosas, pot stickers and a wide range

of canapies.

We met all of our tour buddies that we are sharing the Israel Days with. The rest of

Time (accept for the transfer back to Rome) We are on our own!

DH and I were quite wild this evening with 2 glasses of Champagne and staying up

until 11pm attending the Welcome show hosted by our EXTREMELY talented CD

Eric..this show introduces you to the upcoming entertainment for your cruise and a

several tidbits of how AZ wants you to enjoy your cruise.

AZ really wants your cruise to be A+, if something isn’t to your standards or not

Executed in the manner that you have received on other cruise lines then just ask.

They are not mind readers. There;s over 600 passengers onboard and each one

has their own expectations, wishes etc of what a perfect cruise should be.

and not one of them could be the same….so make sure to do your job and communicate

whats best for you. We did that and I have to tell you each one has been executed flawlessly.

Afterwards, we continued socializing with several of our roll call members!

Ive read a lot about the general statements of the demographics of AZ cruises.

We actually have had several people ask us if we would prefer to be on a larger

ship because there;s more to do. This is before they had even spoken with us for

full 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, people generalize and assume too much.

While we are in our early 40’s, we are usually in bed by 9pm since we

are up quite early as we want to be the 1st into port. The ports are why

we are here onboard. The 9:45pm show is

too late for us. However, we have seen a few of them when its been a sea day the following day. This morning we both woke with a bit of a headache

the fact of the matter is 2 glasses of champagne is 1 too many. Last cruise

we had a fascinating conversation with a couple in their 80s..

He didn’t have his hearing aid turned up so we talked louder. They had wonderful

stories to share with us about actually riding on the Orient Express, they

were able to hold the alcohol better than us and when we said adieu they

were going to the dance class…

What Im trying to say is….age is really just relative. If you look past

that, you just might find a person that has a kind heart and good soul.

Time to catch the tender to Mykonos!

[Redtravel]

shops are limited by the space....more important to have things you might need for the cruise than christmas decorations

[uktog]

I absolutey understand your wish for little gfts, I would like to see range of small. light good quality items that would make nice gifts and that there is a little variety in this range so repeat cruisers can find new gifts.

Our Christmas tree is now a talking point and every year friend check it out for the new decorations - it tells of our holidays since we got together. Ranges from a shell angel from Grand Cayman, to a leather boot from Cody, bright red holly decorated mini flip flops from Hawaii, Mini paper Lanterns from our Quest trip to Vietnam. It takes me hours to decorate the tree as I reminisce!

 

Could I ask if you could find out who will be captain, staff captain and hotel director for the transcanal at the end of Janaury - also is Edwin on board as the Housekeeper - sorry to be asing such detail

 

Am loving all your reports

 

A

[Jade13]

How did you get three bottles of Champagne? I know one is for past passengers at least at Explorer level.

[California Native]

This is a c an p from a word document on a netbook...please excuse

all spacing and other mistakes...

Today we are at sea and the Daily Pursuit is full with all sorts of fun things to do.

This ship is small, but it offers a wide diversity of activities.

Just when you think a day at sea is coming up and you can do nothing, a lot fun and interesting options are dangled in front of you as if they were a sparkly bauble or something

Today..this is the tentative..

Breakfast buffet…love their breakfast options, Im not really breakfast personProbably because Im not really a morning person. When we have a early port time I usually sleep to the very last possible second…and then DH sweetly whips up something special for me…(as in bringing me back a croissant from the buffet). However, AZ has bagels with 6 kinds of schemer I;ve trained the omelette chefs to make me a Breakfast Hashbrown scramble the trick is the right kind of potatoes must be on the buffet..cubed, sliced

or loosely shredded..you put them on a plate but a bowl is better ..then you go to the omelette station and have them cook up whatever add ins strike your fancy…they then add those to the potatoes and at the last minute sprinkle some cheese on top. YUMMY!!! (there are no eggs involved in this concoction)

Im also loving the quiches…they do quiches REALLY well…if AZ had a local land outlet..I would use their quiches for when I throw a brunch

DH is a breakfast CONISSEUR..it is his favorite meal of the day. I don’t know where he puts it all, but I always joke with him.. Did they ask you to leave because they needed food for the rest of the passengers He is loving the smoothie bar, waffle station..(which I also dabbled in) The waffle bar has 10 topping options…really the waffles are just there

to hold your whipped cream, caramel or chocolate sauce, and fresh fruit

Moving on…

11am enrichment lecture on Egypt with Niki Sepsas. AZ needs to just put this guy

on permanent retainer.

1130am senior officers party for Le Club Voyage Sorry officers, but Niki trumps you

12 noon Ping Pong tournament for DH and I plan on getting together with one

of my CC buddies at this time. We are sharing a tour together and after emailing back and

forth for a couple months we decided to chat on the phone…So, its been great finally

to meet in person

12 noon Pool BBQ served by the officers…Definitely Will do this…they do a great job

and options are plentiful…

2pm Comedy Magic..a nice afternnon show

2:30pm Le Club Voyage Wine Tasting

We didn’t do this on the last cruise and had planned to do it This cruise, BUT if we do…..We would never make it to the Captains dinner tonight…we are such light weights!!!!!

3:30 High Tea…we are going to this since our dinner wont start until after 7pm

6:45 meet for drinks before our dinner with the Captain with our Le Club Voyage hostess Nathalia

945pm Our CD Eric De Gray will do a show tonight and we would like to see it…BUT Israel is in the morning and we want to be well rested and not only do we have Israel it begins our 4 day immersion of the Holy Land 2 days Israel and 2 days Egypt.

It would of made more sense to me for this show to be scheduled on our 1st sea day after Egypt. Oh well, they do have quite a few entertainers for us coming up so maybe that’s the reason

Now, the above is the list that interested us and we highlighted but that’s just a very very very small fraction of the activities offered today

There;s Scrapbooking, Darts Challenger, Spa stuff, Tournaments in the Casino, another round of Penthouse Bingo (BTW a CruiseCritic member won the other round)

, Spinning Class, various Trivia type games. and the list goes one…

I’m also going to try to find time to do my Mykonos and Rhodes Days and lounge on one of those wonderful double lounge chairs with DH while we reading our magazines…

Have a great day everyone….

K.

PS

Jade13…2 of the bottles were for Le Club Voyage Discovererand 1 arrived last night from Heiki

Uktog..I will check for you if I still haven’t gotten back to you in 5 days ask me again

The next 4 days after today will be crazy after each Israel day we will probably eat

and the collapse. On Egypt we are overnighting off the ship

[California Native]

as always this is a c and p please excuse all mistakes..im typing on a netbook.

Mykonos! 7am-9pm this was on Nov 4th (2 days ago)

What a beautiful day..the weather was wonderful which made tidal conditions

perfect for the ship to tender and for those of us who were interested a side trip to

Delos

We tendered in about 8:30am and headed to straight to the Delos ferry ticket shack

which was about a 1 minute walk.

The next ferry was scheduled to leave at 9am, as we were waiting for departure

We wandered over to the local fish market and then a few of the side streets

The Star Princess was in town with us once again (we saw them in Santorini

on the last cruise..they were docked clear across town and needed to pay for

a shuttle in or walk for quite a distance.

When the ferry departed we have several of us from AZ and about 2-3 shorex

from Princess. I was here 6 years ago with my mom and theres been a few changes

• theres an actually ticket office into Delos right at the pier
  
• the museum is open while small its loaded with great artifacts
  
• the small snack shack/souvenir shops is no longer available and is boarded up
  
• a couple large houses have been built of to the side of the ferry dock
  

Every single person headed to the left..so DH and I went right

we had all of this section of Delos to ourselves and really only crossed paths with several

others at the museum.

The ferry schedule to return was a small disappointment for several of us..the next ferry back was at 11:30 or then not until 1:30pm I know this is set up for shorex and it is

offseason, but a 12:30 ferry option would have been perfect.

Most of the AZ DIY travelers we rode over with all opted for the 11:30am

We made it back to island of Mykonos and decided to eat lunch on the island

We went up to a local resident and asked where they would go for a delicious

Lunch….

He pointed us down an alleyway and said you will like them they are delicious

and cheap

we’re pretty sure we know where we are going and I;m the 1st to step inside

this narrow but long restaurant at the table in the very back are 3 gentleman

straight out of central casting for the roll of a Greek sea captain. They are older

the deep creases in their face show the signs of years of knowledge, on each

of their heads is the sea captain hat, they are sipping coffee, smoking

cigarettes, talking in Greek loudly while flipping the worry beads

I turned around to DH and said…I’m thinking this is the right place

If it was appropriate to do, it would have been the perfect Kodak moment

We had a delicious lunch of overstuffed chicken souvalki pitas, the best we have

Ever had throughout our travels in Greece. Add to it a coca cola light and bottled water

and lunch came to 5 euros

Now, its time to explore

When you travel in off season you avoid the crowds, on the flip side you need to contend

with limited hours or complete closures and we encountered a few of those on Greek Islands.

We were able to go to the Archeological Museum which was small but interesting its definitely worth wandering into. The 3 other museums were closed along with a

Smattering of Greek Orthodox churches..

We then decided the best way to get to the windmills was to wander throughout the

Alleyways enroute…make sure that you look up and down and through nooks and crannies that are postcard perfect pictures to be found eve

The Star Princess people have all vanished as their curfew

is rapidly approaching. We had some great chats in Santorini and Mykonos

with several of their passengers, as they were heading to Athens and we just left

and they had just been to Naples and we might end up there if we cant get into Sorrento

And as we rounded the corner and looked to our left..there they were!!!!

Those beautiful landmarks that confirm that you really are in Mykonos

We hiked on up and ran into some ship people. We asked how their day

had been so far and where had the been…

He says…some girl put this to do list for our itinerary up on her website

and I just printed it out and we’ve been following it. DH says to them

oh can we see it? They say sure, we look at it and DH says…

oh that’s from our website!!!

I must say that makes be so happy that we,ve been able to help others

have a great experience!!!

We chat for a bit more, take a ton of pictures of the windmills and the scenic

Views of the ocean, little Venice and just sit there taking it all in…

We are sooo very relaxed! Which is saying a lot for this Type A personality

girl who is married to a tech guy who needs to think precisely for a living.

We then wandered down to Little Venice take more picture and some

of our CruiseCritic buddies are there and they offer to take pictures

of us with Little Venice in the background.

We have not see Mr. Petraues all day, weve searched everywhere..

We’ve seen ducks, pigeons, cats and dog, but no pelican. We have asked locals

Along the way throughout the day. We heard he made an appearance around 930am

Around the tender area, but hasn’t been seen since.

They really should put a GPS tracker on him or something

Sadly he remains elusive. Which means that we need to return!

We found a Christmas ornament, and a headband for me.

(I like to collect hair accessories as a souvenir..they are lightweight and yet

Totally unique and always remind me of our great adventures whenever

I wear them)

My other suggestions are sandals, canvas tote bags, and scarves

We headed back to the ship about 530pm

This evening we dined in the dining room.

DH had prime rib as his main course, it came with Yorkshire pudding

Which was his 1st time trying and really liked it!!!

I had a steak, but switched out my potatoes for the horseradish mash potatoes

OH YUM!!!

And then for dessert we shared the Bananas Foster …Delicious

AZ doesn’t do the Flambe, like Princess does. I know Princess has cut back on it

and almost discontinued it..fire safety an all… but I wish DH had this experience

of seeing it done.

After dinner, we listened to the harpist for awhile. I heard this is her last cruise and then her vacation begins…

Israel in the morning!!!!

Ciao Ciao

K

[Paulchili]

K,

Enjoying your posts - sounds like you are having a ball!

Keep 'em coming..

Paul

[California Native]

Dinner with Captain Jason was wonderful we were joined by a few other couples all from Britain and Scotland, very fascinating! It was interesting to hear that for many of them San Francisco is their favorite city in the states and a few of them had spent quite a bit of time in California.

For my California readers out there...

one of them had actually travelled to Oroville of all places

and they were quite impressed how much we knew about

the Cornish miners throughtout our Gold Country

Turns out our Captain is married to a California girl..she,s a SoCal girl

but out of respect for thier privacy thats as much as I will narrow it down.

When it was learned that we would be traveling to Gibraltor next year as part of our Spain, Portugal trip in just a few months everyone chipped in with tips and advice

on dealing with the monkees!!!! I will be investigating the plastic snake suggestion!!

A very nice touch was the rose that each of the women received at the end of dinner

Israel in the morning. Immigration check bright and early then at 8am we are off to explore!

[tgg]

Hi Karen,

 

We're having a great time reading about your trip.

 

Nikki Sepsis and his wife were dance instructors on one of our Azamara cruises. I asked Nikki one night if it was possible to teach someone how to lead. He was so nice. First he took me out on the dance floor and made it possible for me to look like a dancer. He then took my husband aside and showed him how to lead. My husband loved to dance, and he looked good out on the floor, but it was hard to know what I was supposed to do. Nikki was the perfect instructor. Now I never have to wonder what the next move is or what direction I'm supposed to be going in.

 

Nikki probably wouldn't remember our names. But we definitely remember him. I hope you'll mention this to him.

 

Thanks again Nikki. We loved to watch you and your wife dance. And now we feel lots more confident. We'd love to see you on another cruise.

[uktog]

Dinner with Captain Jason was wonderful we were joined by a few other couples all from Britain and Scotland, very fascinating! It was interesting to hear that for many of them San Francisco is their favorite city in the states and a few of them had spent quite a bit of time in California.

For my California readers out there...

one of them had actually travelled to Oroville of all places

and they were quite impressed how much we knew about

the Cornish miners throughtout our Gold Country

Turns out our Captain is married to a California girl..she,s a SoCal girl

but out of respect for thier privacy thats as much as I will narrow it down.

 

When it was learned that we would be traveling to Gibraltor next year as part of our Spain, Portugal trip in just a few months everyone chipped in with tips and advice

on dealing with the monkees!!!! I will be investigating the plastic snake suggestion!!

A very nice touch was the rose that each of the women received at the end of dinner

Israel in the morning. Immigration check bright and early then at 8am we are off to explore!

 

Oh did Captain Jason tell you about his gorgeous little son? We saw him when he was Staff Captain on Quest in the Eastern Med. His son arrived on board when he was in Istanbul (he was 3 months old at the time and he had not seen him since he was 4 weeks old) and it was so lovely to see him pushing the buggy up the pier at Sinop a couple of days later. I do so hope he is on board through to February!

I am glad the Scots gave you good advice for Gibraltar - the monkeys are persistent!

Do enjoy Israel

[California Native]

Today is Day 2 in Israel

Yesterday was fascinating, thought provoking and a bit unexpected

We shared a private tour with another couple. At a later

date. I will give the name of the tour company and a review

We were all required to go through Israeli immigration

and while Ive had to these type of things elsewhere in

the world ..the line for this was insane..Thankfully,

since I have a type A+++ personality we were Number 10 and 11

if you missed this small window, there were at least 150 people lining

up 5 minutes after us and growing like bunnies. By 715

the Israelis STILL had not begun and the entire ship has circled

the jogging track gone back down the stairs to deck 8

So, we clear woo hoo..and because I know they can do extensive

Bag Searches I make sure that my pain meds will be a non issue

I had verified all of thisahead of time with the Israeli embassy

BUT I just felt it best to double check…no problem..

Thank Goodness..

We have been been given an immigration card to keep with

Us and then we have to turn it in at the end of our stay

We want a stamp in the actual passport. Not happening

We have asked several people and the answer is a consistent

No! We watched the ship being searched by 20-30 year old guys

Wearing tshirts and jeans…the earbud gave them away and then

When you look closely at them..you think is that the outline of a

Gun or walkie talkie under their shirt tucked into their belt…

Anyway, we are off the ship on Israeli soil.

While we make it a point to not discuss religion or politics when

we travel the fact is we are on a Holy Land cruise.

So this post will refer to that…

We were both raised Catholic, but would consider ourselves

Christians who try to practice the golden rule, ten commandments

Etc etc. We also believe that you don’t have to be in a church

to feel god or a sense of peace.,

We are joined on our tour with 1 other CruiseCritic couple

that we have corresponded with. Very nice and they have done

quite a bit of bible study which they don’t flaunt, but when

they do mention something it adds another dimension to this.

Our 1st stop is where Jesus’ 1st miracle took place

The wedding in Cana where he changes the water to wine

Now a few of you on this board who have been around for awhile might remember

what happened to DH and I when we were planning our wedding.

As Catholics we were required to do counseling etc etc. When it came out that

we knew ahead of time that was I not able to have children and take the vow

to go forth and procreate we could not be married in the Catholic Church

this had everyone is disbelief and it was taken to the 3 largest archidioceses

in Northern California to be overruled. It was not. Along the way some pretty

awful things were said to me about how God decided I wasn’t worthy to be a mother

and btw our local churches charge to up 2,000USD for the sacrament of marriage

So, fast forward to yesterday..our guide said to us..would you like to renew your vows

at this church on the site where Jesus performed his 1st miracle at the wedding in Cana

We said sure…We were taken into a private side chapel with our guide, our traveling companions.

A priest from Cameroon and a local nun were there…

The door is closed behind us

He begins the wedding vow renewal prayer which is so emotional.

We repeat vows to each other, by now we are both crying as this simple

blessing in a church was all we ever wanted. Our rings are blessed with

Holy Water and a prayer is said over us

The priest didn’t ask if we were Catholic, he didn’t ask if we

were going to have children and he didn’t ask for money

This is exactly how Jesus would have wanted it to be

Later on in the day, I realize how much peace I feel inside.

I know longer feel like I’m holding onto that pain and anger

We experienced…

When, we planned our Holy Land Cruise, I was excited to

Experience all of the history this area has to offer…

I had no idea I would be so touched in the manner I was

The day just kept getting better….

more later need to get ready for Day 2..

We are going to Jerusalem and to float in the Dead Sea

with 2 other couples from our roll call!

K.

[takemewithyou]

K - very touching and beautiful story - so happy for you that you were able to have such an amazing experience!!! A memory of a lifetime! :D

[uktog]

What a beautiful thing to happen - that would mean so much to us if we were to be on a cruise in that area and that happened

[Jade13]

We have been been given an immigration card to keep with

Us and then we have to turn it in at the end of our stay

We want a stamp in the actual passport. Not happening

K.

 

K, you are better off. If you have the stamp you may not be able to get into some other countries. Not that you would want to go anywhere that is against Israel (we would not), but many see it as a security issue not to have that stamp in their passport.

[California Native]

Thanks everyone...

We are back on the ship safe and sound from Day 2 in Israel

not sure if all of you know that Im also doing some posts on AZ facebook page..

under OurPassportStamps Travel Page

they also announced their own brand new blog on facebook which is different from Bill posting over here

I havent checked it out yet, because Im guarding my internet minutes

I want to add AZ knows from the Captain on down that Im posting in both locations.

me, my DH and our website, blog, facebook page have never been paid to play.

AZ knows that Im voicing my opinion as I see and as I experience it

Since Ive been sharing A LOT of positive comments

I will throw out a small issue I have (I can see Heike, holding her breath right now wondering what it is)

Heres the problem

The soft serve ice cream by the pool grill closes at dinner time

Im forced to go to ice cream cart and choose between at least 6 flavors, 2 types of cones and 10 or so toppings

I need OPTIONS and by removing the soft serve ice cream

I feel really limited...

there you have...AZ is not perfect

Im learning to deal with it

2 days of Egypt begins in the morning..not sure if I will be bringing the netbook

off the ship when we overnight in Cairo…probably,

Floating in the Dead Sea was so cool..The blister I got in Istanbul from the torrential

Downpours which flooded by shoes and socks had healed and that is why you didn’t hear any Blood curling screams in the middle of your night last night!!! Haahhahahahaahahaha

I had to wear highly inappropriate walking shoes (cute flipflop like sandals) ever since to make sure the blisters

Wouldn’t flare up once again and screw up and longtime dream of mine to

do this…. Tomorrow Im going back to the walking shoes with treads on them

10 billion year old marble is waayyy to slippery for my comfort level in this

part of the world!!!!

Ciao Ciao

K

[Marbella]

I, too was being very conscious of your precious internet minutes & didn't want to use any of them BUT I have to tell you how very much we have been enjoying your wonderful and witty blog. We will be passing each other as we board on Sunday. Your renewal of your vows brought tears to my eyes as well! How generous of you to share! Continued smooth sailing!

[Jade13]

K, I'm loving reading your posts.

 

Btw, I think I would leave the netbook on the ship, unless you plan to carry it everywhere in Eqypt. I don't know if they take these things at the museums, but it's not worth the risk for just one night....I would not leave the ship with a phone though.

[vival]

Hi

I also am enjoying reading your posts. Your experience of renewing your vows is very moving thank you for sharing it

[Jade13]

K, I'm loving reading your posts.

 

Btw, I think I would leave the netbook on the ship, unless you plan to carry it everywhere in Eqypt. I don't know if they take these things at the museums, but it's not worth the risk for just one night....I would not leave the ship with a phone though.

 

That was suppose to say I would not leave the ship overnight without a phone.

[California Native]

oops

[California Native]

Thanks Everyone!

 

We have a cell phone which we having been packing alll along with us into port each day. We havent needed to use and Im hoping to keep it that way!!!!

 

Netbook is staying onboard

 

Captain Jason has his very cute little one onboard, and I think the Staff Captain has his..both very well behaved.

We had 2 additional ones last week of crew member, not so well behaved but not little terrors as i;ve seen on other cruises

 

DH is almost done shaving,

which means I need make this cozy blanket into a super hero cape.

 

A sea day would really be a good idea about right now!

 

We are bringing food off the ship, some we picked up in grocery stores

along the way and some the ship has encouraged us to take

 

On Israel Day 1 we had an afternoon cookie break provided by Mosaic Cafe.

 

I know tasting local food in port is part of the experience..and I have so far...dont forget I ate buffalo mozzarella sandwhich at the farm, St Peters fish at the Sea of Galilee and there was falafel yesterday..

and theres been plenty more.

 

But Egypt has a very strong reputation about food poisoning from a variety of sources.

 

I have not forgotten how horribly sick I was last year for 6 weeks with my whole food poisoning episode

http://ourpassportstamps.com/FoodPoisoning2009.html

 

..so Im not taking any chances...though we are eating dinner at the Meno Oberoi in the famous indian restaurant

 

Ok folks...time to wrap this up....

 

I need to go have a sip of some go go juice (diet coke) and turn the motivation dial up until it hits tilt..

 

forgot to mention this which is HUGE

for all of you that have some form of chronic pain

 

When I was floating in the Dead Sea I felt no pain for that timeframe

 

if chronic pain is a issue for you, make sure you take the time to go to

the Dead Sea..so you can have reminder how wonderful being pain free

feels even for just a few minutes!

[California Native]

That was suppose to say I would not leave the ship overnight without a phone.

 

 

Jade...I knew what you meant

I think many of us who have posted or at least lurked for awhile get to know each others writing style...

[MightyQuinn]

But Egypt has a very strong reputation about food poisoning from a variety of sources.

..so Im not taking any chances...though we are eating dinner at the Meno Oberoi in the famous indian restaurant

Notwithstanding your food poisoning issues, I think you'll be A-OK dining at the 'Indian Restaurant' at Mena House Oberoi. We stayed there back in the day when we traveled to Cairo as part of an extensive land trip in Egypt. We ate a few meals in several of the venues, including the famed Moghul Room. Nothing but sheer delight.

[orchestrapal]

Thanks Everyone!

 

 

forgot to mention this which is HUGE

for all of you that have some form of chronic pain

 

When I was floating in the Dead Sea I felt no pain for that timeframe

 

if chronic pain is a issue for you, make sure you take the time to go to

the Dead Sea..so you can have reminder how wonderful being pain free

feels even for just a few minutes!

 

 

Thanks for pointing this out!

Over a period of years I spent 1 month at the Dead Sea

each Spring. My arthritis and severe Psoriasis are all but gone for the last 25 years. The salts both in the Sea and in the air are a wonderful curative that American doctors don't want you to know about. European health plans pay for their patients to come to the Dead Sea.:D