Anyone sailed the suez canal?

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, ccotting said:

This is the origin of the word 'posh': port out starboard home and has to do with which side is shaded in the days of British travel to India and no air conditioning. Posh cabins were the coolest.  As you can tell the direction above gives you the sunshine but it gives you the views.  We really enjoyed our suez cruise. It was harder to get detailed information about the suez transit than it is for the panama, but really helpful to do a bit of studying in advance.  There should be some information on the loudspeaker and hopefully that is connected to the tv if you stay in your room and watch.  For transits like this we prefer full aft so we can see both sides.

Not quiet the full story. At the time no "lady" would have a tan. Only working class women exposed their skin to the sun. So the object was to ensure that "ladies" kept their skin perfect i.e. untanned.  

[ccotting]

41 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Not quiet the full story. At the time no "lady" would have a tan. Only working class women exposed their skin to the sun. So the object was to ensure that "ladies" kept their skin perfect i.e. untanned.  

I first heard the definition on P&O in the 60's.  According to Merrium-Webster dictionary site (US), this was a PR thing promoted by P&O who called their frequent sailors the "Posh Seafarers Club".  Oxford dictionary also begs to differ.  "early 20th century: perhaps from slang posh, denoting either a dandy or a coin of small value. There is no evidence to support the folk etymology that posh is formed from the initials of port out starboard home(referring to the more comfortable accommodation, out of the heat of the sun, on ships between England and India)."   But I like the story!  It add to the Suez transit lore.

[kwokpot]

We sailed on Royal's Jewel of the Seas Nov-Dec. 2019 Suez Canal cruise. Since there weren't locks involved I didn't find the actual canal sailing of particular interest but did enjoy seeing the various towns we would sail by and crossing under the one bridge that has recently become famous as allegedly part of the longest continuous walkable trek in the World.

What was wonderful about the cruise was visiting the Middle Eastern Countries of Jordan(and of course Petra),Oman, and the UAE. The Mediterranean portion(Rome, Sicily, Athens, and Santorini) were all places we've been to. What was interesting is Santorini in the off season (1st week of December) was such a different place and not necessarily for the better. Almost every shop and restaurant in Thera was closed and it was windy and cool. We didn't bother trekking to Oia given what we experienced in Thera. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by kwokpot

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, ccotting said:

I first heard the definition on P&O in the 60's.  According to Merrium-Webster dictionary site (US), this was a PR thing promoted by P&O who called their frequent sailors the "Posh Seafarers Club".  Oxford dictionary also begs to differ.  "early 20th century: perhaps from slang posh, denoting either a dandy or a coin of small value. There is no evidence to support the folk etymology that posh is formed from the initials of port out starboard home(referring to the more comfortable accommodation, out of the heat of the sun, on ships between England and India)."   But I like the story!  It add to the Suez transit lore.

Back to the heat. When ships first started to do "cruises" as opposed to being Liners the Caronia was painted green to give the impression of it being cool. Of course it didn't work. Passengers also paid their cabin stewards to move their bedding up on to the deck. Interestingly there were very few complaints about the heat which was accepted as "part of the cruise experience".

[gordylad]

Great replies and photos everyone.............tx

[sbcs5390]

On 7/25/2022 at 3:34 PM, ccotting said:

There should be some information on the loudspeaker and hopefully that is connected to the tv if you stay in your room and watch.

I was happy I bought my bluetooth speaker on the Panama cruise. We had the large corner FV on Millennium and watched from there. This way, we were able to hear the narration while also being outside on the balcony. The PA speakers didn't reach there.