Granny at Sea

[Two4Sea]

GPS=global positioning system, a satellite downlink only service

GPRS= general packet radio system, a data sub section of GSM cell phone 2 way radio service. The always on feature is in the sense of always on for the duration of the voice conversation whereas the voice is only sent in bursts (per Wikipedia). It might get better range than the voice section or get by with invisibly resending disrupted info but it still needs to be in radio range.

 

Computer age engineers are bad about excessive accronyms. Bottom line, Blackberry wouldn't work more than a few miles from a tower.

 

B

[blackbird71]

GrannyLorr

 

could you post your blop addy, I did not see it and I am interested in the pictures. :) :)

[Two4Sea]

Blackbird, Granny's blog link is in post #30 of this thread.

B

[GrannyLorr]

Well Trivia is turning into a blood sport, as I saw Denyse call it one day. We were protested against today, a vote was taken, and the vote went our way…..the ~nasty~ team continued to protest…so as we are so gracious, we said “take the 30 points off us”….we still won anyway! Are also in the lead overall again. We had been down bit on this cruise, but have fought our way back.

We got our Guest List last night, and the Aussies are fighting the Americans for supremacy I think……there are 58 from the USA and 47 from Australia……there are also more Europeans on this leg. It is strange how the people change from cruise to cruise….the Aussies on the last leg (39 of them) were mostly a great crowd, this time we have a lot of “Ugly Australians”…its quite embarrassing… the whole cruise is also a lot louder! At times in the Restaurant you can hardly talk to the people across from you, as it’s so noisy! Will be interesting to see the differences in the next leg….I had no idea each cruise could be so different…the age group has also changed….last time it was more “middle of the road”…this time, a lot of much older people and a few much younger people…..interesting….

We seem to have two waiters stalking us! We have a drink in the Club before dinner, and he serves us drinks, while another tries to force us to eat the canapés….we leave the Club and go to the Restaurant, sit down, and here he is behind us with a bottle of wine! When we go to lunch in the Veranda, the canapé pushing waiter is always there, force feeding us…especially when it comes to desserts……he never wants me to get up and get my ONE scoop of sorbet….he always has to get THREE scoops for me! Karl was very naughty today…..our waitress in the Veranda was Jennifer(English girl) and Karl came up, and said “Mrs Baines, did you speak to Jennifer about what you complained to me this morning about?”….poor girl almost went into shock…..then she realised he was just playing a joke on her. I also told Karl something Id read on CC….after I told our food forcer to “GO AWAY”…and that was “you embark on Seabourn as a Guest and disembark as cargo” he thought that was very funny, but insisted it wasn’t true, all the food is fat free, sugar free, and calorie free! Well I believe him anyway.

Yesterday they had a bread stick making lesson…I thought about going, but decided Id better not….I might start making them at home….I will just wait for my next cruise to have them again. Actually my bread stick eating habit is no where near as bad as most….I DON’T add extra butter to eat them with!....Might just have to try it once though……everyone else seems to do that.

 

Well we have two invitations for tonight…..Firstly a Cocktail Reception for Seabourn Club Members!!! We now qualify as Members! Do we get a plaque or something? Free cruise? Anything?

We will then have dinner with Trevor Stephenson…..he is great fun, so should be a good night. Again we have good entertainment for this leg. The singers are Fantasy, Mary and Flavio, very pleasant to listen too. Also have String Fever, violinist and cellist from Oz….again very good……still have Matthew and Preston……we are wondering if The Sisters Grimm will perform this trip….Trevor is wondering as well….as its coming up Easter, we have a Rabbi and a Priest on board…..apparently last cruise someone complained that the act was sacrilegious…..we thought it was hilarious! Anyway time will tell.

 

Now we get to Sunday

Arrived in Colombo Sri Lanka early in the morning……the Veranda Cafe opened for breakfast at 6am and we had to leave the ship at 6.45…..so set the alarm for 5am!! What a shock to the system…..we had been warned not to take any photos dockside, because of “security issues” our bus was then “escorted” by police out of the Port area. We drove through Colombo, and I suppose it was pretty much what I expected, poverty, filth, beggars, people sleeping along the streets, skinny dogs etc etc….but is still a bit of a shock to see it all. One thing I hadn’t expected was armed guards all along the streets, carrying pretty nasty looking weapons, and sand bag bunkers here and there with armed guards in them…..Got to the railway station, and had to wait a short time for our train….it was a steam train called The Viceroy Special, and we had the whole train to ourselves. I tried to take some photos, but the cameras were all fogging up too much with the heat. Onto the train, and the air-conditioning was wonderful….seats quite comfortable, complete with tables etc….The train trip was for 3 hours, and the first part was overlooking all the poverty areas close to Colombo, but then as we started to get out into the countryside, the scenery became beautiful. We climbed up into the hills and overlooked paddy fields, valleys etc…I managed to get quite a lot of nice photos out the window……We were served tea of course, plus cakes, biscuits and sandwiches, and finally arrived at Kandy. Once there it was back out into the heat, and onto our buses. Lunch was the first order of the day, but took quite a long time from the Kandy Railway Station, to the Earls Regent Hotel, where we were to have lunch. The traffic was frenetic, and our guide said it was worse than usual, as next weekend was their New Year, and there would be a long holiday period, so everyone had to buy new clothes and all their supplies. I managed to get more photos through the window, and then we spotted a couple of monkeys on rooftops…..the further we went, the more monkeys we saw….in the end the bus had to stop as a huge group of monkeys decided they wanted to cross the road. Finally arrived at the hotel, which was a big modern place. Lots of the women dived for the restrooms….while the blokes headed for the food! TYPICAL There was a huge buffet to choose from, and the food was delicious, but some was a wee bit hot for me….thank goodness for iced water and beer! We also had a Sri Lankan folk group performing for us, all through lunch. After lunch it was off to The Temple of the Tooth. This is where there is supposed to be a canine tooth which survived when Buddha was cremated, and is now enshrined in this temple. The buses had to park quite a distance from the temple, so by the time I got there, I thought I would have to be enshrined as well! We also had to take off our shoes, but had been warned to wear thick socks as the pavements would be boiling. We were allowed to leave our socks on….as we all placed our shoes near the gutter, I wondered how many would be missing when we got back! There had been an attack on the temple by the Tamil Tigers in recent years, so we all had to have a body search as well before entering. I have only ever been in one Buddhist temple before, and that was in Mongolia, which was quite a small temple, this one is supposed to be the most important temple in the Buddhist World. We had a guided tour around the temple, unfortunately some people needed to be reminded that this is a place of worship, and needed to be quiet! After the tour, it was out to find our shoes…..oh oh….they were gone……then we found that they had all been collected and put in a locker type room……so it cost us a $1 to get them back!

The thought of the walk back up the hill, to the buses, in that extreme heat, started to put me in a state of stress. I think our guide noticed that I didn’t look too thrilled, so hailed a couple of tuk tuk’s, one for us and one for the “over 80’s couple”!! Were told it was $1……but we got charged $2…they get us every time! The “over 80’s” only paid $1!! Discrimination! Anyway we felt it was the best $2 we have ever spent. Here we were sitting in the bus, all calm, cool and collected, when everyone else arrived, gasping, soaking wet, and stressed! Now we had the long drive back to Colombo, with a stop at the elephant orphanage on the way. The traffic got worse and worse. Roads in Sri Lanka are like very minor country roads at home…..wouldn’t be any bigger than the road we live on! (and we live in the bush) Most of the time we travelled on the wrong side of the road, blasting the horn to tell the oncoming traffic, who happened to be on the correct side of the road….to get the hell out of the way! Time ticked away and we still had to make a stop to see the elephants….that only turned out to be a 30 minute stop as we were getting too far behind schedule….One poor elephant had one foot missing, and I was told it was from a land mine, and a baby only had one ear, that had been from, I think he said a leopard attack.

Back on the road and we flew down the roads, wondering if Captain Pederson would have upped the anchor by now and left us behind! Just as we turned the corner towards the Port, we nearly ran into an overturned truck! Apparently there were also a couple of cars and a tuk tuk involved, but I didn’t see them.

Again we had a police escort into the Port area, and were very relieved when we saw the Spirit was still there! We were an hour late, but luckily sail away had been altered to 10pm instead of 8pm. Got out of the bus……and here were some of the crew holding the big “Welcome Home Banner”. The Seabourn Spirit Orchestra, were also on the dock, playing, and waiters were handing out cold drinks, canapés and cold towels…..I didn’t care about the warning not to take photos in the Port area….I had to get a photo of that…..I must admit, I was a little worried about all the guards standing around, so I asked Karl if it would be ok to take a photo….he said “oh sure it is”….so if they carted me away, I was going to drag Karl with me!

The Deck BBQ had already started, so we went to eat straight away….the food was fantastic as always……just like the Galley Lunch, took lots of photos……I suppose everyone in CC has experienced the clearing away of the deck BBQ? We have never seen anything like it…….one minute all the food, tables, food warmers, grills etc etc etc, even tent type shelters, are all on the deck……then the band started playing the “Chicken Dance”…….the crew all started running, the music got faster and faster, the crew ran faster and faster, within a couple of minutes, there was no sign there had ever been a huge banquet set up there! Of course the poor crew were now all dripping.

 

Well it was a long day, but luckily most of it was in airconditoned train and bus, so we all survived quite well. It was certainly a tour I recommend.

 

Monday…..

Another sea day today, going to spend it relaxing….well that is apart from Trivia!

Tomorrow we arrive in Cochin, India.

 

So until next time

Bye from GrannyLorr

[shefinch]

Thanks for the comprehensive report on your Sri Lanka trip Granny Lorr! We are doing the reverse journey to you in November and will certainly do that excursion now. It sounds really good. Look forward to the report on Cochin!

[fivestar]

Hi Granny, loved the story on the train trip. We did this a Nov 04 except in reverse and our train was held up along the way so we didn't return back to the ship until way past the departure hour. They had the band, banner and drinks on the wharf which was a true Seabourn touch. It is a shame that some people travelling were not so happy about our late return but you do have to remember when travelling that it doesn't always go to plan. Look forward to reading your next report especially as I too am a queenslander.

[blackbird71]

It is a shame that some people travelling were not so happy about our late return but you do have to remember when travelling that it doesn't always go to plan.

 

Right fiverstar, you have to look at the country you are in and adjust you outlook. In 93 I flew into Moscow from St. Pete while on a HAL cruise. About five large buses were in our tour were coming back to the ship at 10PM, and we got to within two miles of the ship, and there we sat for near an hour. It was break/lunch time for the crew of a train crossing our road and they just stopped the train and got out and ate their food while watching the buses.

 

What can you do but say "This is Russia..."

[GrannyLorr]

Yesterday was our first experience in India……and it wasn’t as bad as we had expected….but we were told later in the day that it was “a gentle introduction before we get to Mumbai (Bombay). We were actually surprised how clean the dock and Port area was, including the water! All through Asia, the rubbish in the water everywhere is sickening.

We arrived in Cochin around 7am and we had chosen to do a tour called “The Backwaters of Alappuzha”. This started at 8.30. As we left the ship, some girls in beautiful gold saris, greeted us and gave us red roses. We drove through the town of Cochin, which had very narrow streets, and the shops were the stall type as we had seen in Sri Lanka. I got very excited when we passed some fabric shops and saw stuff for 50 rupees….that’s just over $1…probably about $1.30 to us……unfortunately we didn’t stop at these shops…..

I could see that he Indian bus drivers go to the same driving school as the Sri Lankan ones……hand on horn….and straight up the wrong side of the road. John is convinced that I will never complain about his driving again….but I will!

Almost 100% of the women wore the traditional saris, and they are really beautiful, every colour of the rainbow….very little western style clothing apart from maybe the men’s shirts. The fabrics, colours, and designs in the saris, makes me wish we wore them too, although I am sure I would break my neck getting tangled in all the layers.

This area of India is called Keralan and after a couple of hours of driving, we got on a boat for a trip around the waterways. I think the boat trip was about an hour, maybe a bit more and it was beautiful. There are dozens of beautiful house boats, not anything like we know houseboats……the tops of the boats were of woven rattan…these houseboats are only used for tourists; the local people don’t live on them. As we sailed along (in a motor boat) we passed lots of the local people bathing and doing their washing or dishes in the waterways…….the whole area is full of palm trees, bougainvillea everywhere, frangipanis, cassias, flame trees, etc etc…all the sort of thing we have at home. We also passed a Hindu wedding, everyone dressed in their best clothes. Everyone was waving to us, although I think some of those who were bathing would have preferred that we didn’t sail along with camera in hand. There were children running along the banks calling out to us. We couldn’t understand what they were saying at first, but it turned out to be “I want pens” “I want sweets”. I wish we had been aware of that, so we could have taken something to throw to them. One lady had some chocolates from the ship in her bag, so threw them out. So those who are doing this trip later in the year, pens, pencils, sweets, are the things to take. In Sri Lanka, the kids had called out for pens too.

We stoped at a beautiful resort hotel, right on the water for lunch, and the curries were no where near as hot as they had been in Sri Lanka, maybe that was just for our benefit….the food was delicious…..

The ship is a bit quieter now, as about 30 people left for a side trip to the Taj Mahal…. ……two from our Trivia team went …..so we are looking for a couple of geniuses for the next couple of days. We are hoping that some of the ~smarter~ ones from the other teams have gone as well!

We went up to the Sky Deck for the sail away party, which is always fun……the band played “Anchors Aweigh” etc. and there is always a special “sail away” cocktail….I had a few, don’t know what was in them….think it was pineapple and vodka….

As we sailed out of the river, we were watching some earthworks blokes, digging and carting sand……one bloke on a excavator, started swinging his bucket side to side, as though he was waving……then when we left the river he did the up and down movement like he was bowing……the one time I didn’t have my cameras….what a shame, it was really great to see and I would have loved to have captured it on video.

Well now we have two nice peaceful sea days, apart from Trivia!

We have been told that when we reach Mumbai , we all have to enter the Amundsen Lounge and have a “face to face inspection” by the Indian Authorities……we have already got Visas, filled out Entry papers before we reached Cochin, now have to do another inspection…..is this ship full of granny smugglers or something? Suppose our tour might be a bit held up on Friday!

 

So until next time

Bye from GannyLorr

 

Oh I just remembered…..when we got back to our room after the sail away, our Stewardess had made up our room for the night, and on the bed was one of those lovely “Towel sculptures”…we just looked at it and said ..”oh look at the snake” it had two green grape eyes, and just looked like a cobra…..later we had room service for dinner, and I pointed out our lovely snake to the waiter…he replied ”I will tell the Stewardess, because its supposed to be a swan!”…oh oh…..are we in trouble with Dita now?.....(we still think it looks like a snake.)

[lord of the seas]

Yesterday was our first experience in India……

We have been told that when we reach Mumbai , we all have to enter the Amundsen Lounge and have a “face to face inspection” by the Indian Authorities……we have already got Visas, filled out Entry papers before we reached Cochin, now have to do another inspection…..is this ship full of granny smugglers or something?

.)

 

 

If only we had adopted the same for the Indians when they came to the UK.

[GrannyLorr]

Well while we were at breakfast this morning, there was an emergency call, and several of the staff started running….the call was in code, so we didn’t know what it meant…..one of the waiters then told us the code meant a medical emergency. Another of the waiters told us a helicopter would be coming to airlift a person off the ship. The ship had to change course to try to link up with a Coast Guard ship, which had the helicopter on board, so the Captain had to make an announcement as to why the ship was turning. A lot of us gathered in the Horizon lounge with our cameras, and one woman was saying “oh it will be the US Coastguard doing the rescue”….I don’t really know why the US Coastguard would be way out in the middle of the Arabian Sea but thought , well maybe she knows something we don’t!.......the helicopter arrived, it had Indian writing and flags all over it……it circled the ship a few times…..then came very low over the deck we had been told they would be winching the patient from……( the deck where the forward Jacuzzi is) started to lower the winch……raised it again…….then flew off over the horizon! About 15 minutes later the Captain announced he had just heard from the Coast Guard boat, and the helicopter wasn’t going to be able to rescue the man….they took an awful long time advising the Captain of that! First choice was to sail back to Mumbai, which we had left 14 hours ago, but then the Captain announced we would be going to Porbandar and would arrive about 6pm., suppose that’s about 5 hours quicker than going back to Mumbai, but think I would prefer a hospital there than a place I have never heard of. Porbandar is on the North West Coast of India and isn’t too far from the Pakistan border, if anyone tries to find it on a map.

I suppose now we will have 3 sea days, and I would imagine we will miss Muscat, Oman, which will be a shame, but not to be helped. The ship at the moment is flying along, hopefully we might get back to India even quicker.

 

Yesterday we arrived in Mumbai…….we were doing a tour in the afternoon, so just visited some stalls in the cruise terminal in the morning…..the tour was quite good, showed us all around the city. Mumbai is a lot different to what I expected. There are a lot of absolutely beautiful buildings in Mumbai, of course all built by the British…..only problem now, is the buildings are black with grime, and decaying quite badly…..we went to the Prince of Wales Museum, again a beautiful building, but they had one room of huge paintings, obviously again left over from the British times. These paintings were peeling and cracking…..most didn’t have any glass protection, and of course the room was hot and humid….the gilt frames were broken, dirty and falling apart……don’t think this lot of art will last much longer.

We also went to the house where Ghandi lived when he was in Mumbai…..they are renovating and restoring it, but the workmanship is pretty rough.

I had been dying to see COWS walking down the streets, which I did, but was always too slow to get any pics……in the end I saw 2, grabbed my camera, and took some pics, then when the bus got past a bit; I noticed these cows were donkeys! Oh well, better luck next time. I have always read that you shouldn’t give money to beggars, in fact have heard that you can be fined for doing so, but it’s a bit hard to keep refusing when they push babies at you. We did weaken and give money to one man with a baby, and within seconds a woman with a baby was also there….so gave to her as well, then very quickly got back on the bus.

 

When we were back on the ship, we watched the sail away, then just decided to have Room Service for dinner….couldn’t be bothered getting dressed up after a hot sticky day out……while we were eating we watched the News on TV…don’t often get to hear any news. There was a bombing in Delhi……27 of our passengers were in Delhi today (after the Taj side trip)……and there was also a bombing in Sri Lanka where we had just been, the Tamil Tigers again……

 

This ship is going so fast at the moment; I think you could water ski behind it……

 

I just had a break in writing this post…….an Indian Coast Guard boat just arrived, and they transferred the patient……so we don’t have to go all the way back to India after all. The poor man has a 3 hour trip in the Coast Guard boat now. His wife and all their luggage was transferred too. The Captain has just made an announcement, that the man is stable, and is going to a Private Hospital that is supposed to be very good….I certainly wouldn’t like to be in that position. I just wonder how on earth the poor wife is going to manage. Does anyone know anything about Porbandar? We have saved at least 6 hours by not having to go back to the Indian port, so the Captain also announced that we should get to Muscat, Oman on time….the ship is still flying, so he is trying to make up time.

 

In the middle of all the drama today, we still had one of those magnificent “Galley Lunches”…..don’t think we need to eat for a week…but of course we will manage another feed in a few hours time.

 

So until next time

Bye from Granny Lorr

[blackbird71]

LOL GrannyLorr,,,

 

I love reading about your trip,, but I got to know in the end, what size dress were at the start as compared to the end of the cruise. :eek::eek:

[juliedawg]

Really have been enjoyoing your posts. Thanks for taking the time. As for POBANDAR. It is a large coastal city. Birthplace of Ghandhiyi. Becoming ill that far from home would be a nightmare. Rest assured, India's private hospitals are unsurpassed in quality,technology and their Cardio specialists are among the world renown.

Keep us posted. I will be doing the Alex. to Dubai trip in Nov. Can hardly wait! OT I need someone to "refer" me for that trip so we can get our discounts.

Thanks

JulieDawg

[djaaay]

Hi Granny...have been loving your account. I am new to the boards and will be making my first Seabourn sail Dec. 2. Thanks for taking the time, it is most enjoyable and helpful!! Thanks

[GrannyLorr]

I have been a bit slack in my writing lately; have been too busy having fun and sightseeing etc!

 

Tuesday 18th April

Would you believe we have already been away for one month! Time has flown, think we will just have to book another cruise and just stay on board for another few months.….

Yesterday was out first experience in the Middle East, and boy what an experience that was…..

We sailed into Muscat, Oman, early in the morning….I think I took a least 50 photos just sailing in. The landscape was spectacular, and as we got closer to the city, all you could see was beautiful white buildings everywhere. We sailed right past the Sultans Palace, then docked just across from the Sultans yacht. The Spirit docked at a container wharf, which was the cleanest wharf I have ever seen. We were going on a City tour, so went down to board the bus at 8.45am. We were given “Visitor” visas to pin on our shirts until we cleared the dock area. Driving through the dock area, and amongst all the containers, you would swear someone had been there scrubbing the ground……not even a sign of dust anywhere let alone garbage of any sort. The guide said Muscat had been declared the second cleanest City in the World, after Singapore. We thought it was even cleaner than Singapore, but probably didn’t win as it is so much smaller. We drove all around the city, spectacular buildings everywhere, almost all painted white. Roads are wide and perfectly maintained. There are lots of beautiful public gardens, fountains, sculptures etc etc. Suppose there might be money in oil? Our first stop was The Grand Mosque. We were very surprised that we were able to go in both the mens and the womens prayer rooms and were allowed to photograph everything we wanted (apart from the men). The only women there were visitors anyway. We were told if we wanted to photograph people, we would have to ask the men…..were not allowed to ask a woman…..they don’t get a say. Can’t say I would like to live like that but…….the other thing about this culture that I think is dreadful, is the men dress in nice cool white, while the women have to cook in black. If their religion or culture says they have to cover up from head to toe, well fair enough…but why can’t it be in a cooler colour?

The Grand Mosque is the only one in Oman where “visitors” are allowed to enter. Not everyone agreed with the decision, but the Sultan said that was what was going to happen, so it did! Good to be king!

The mosque is absolutely spectacular; I could never even imagine anything so beautiful. The men’s prayer room was unbelievable…..in the centre was a chandelier of gold and crystal, about the size of our whole living room, then there were dozens of other chandeliers all around the hall. There were magnificent carved timber doors, leadlight windows, hand woven carpets etc etc. The women’s room was much plainer, no carpets, not much decoration, although they did have chandeliers much much smaller chandeliers though!

We also got to spend some time at the Souk, but not as long as I would have liked. There were all sorts of goodies to buy, but not enough time to buy much. The shops all close at 1pm. for “siesta”, so a lot of people from the ship just caught the shuttle bus and went shopping……I wouldn’t have liked to miss the tour though. Suppose I can shop anywhere!

We also found the people in Muscat very friendly….it was a lovely introduction to The Middle East, and not what we expected at all.

 

I’m afraid I get very frustrated with fellow travellers at times…..later in the day we asked one man what he thought of Muscat, as we didn’t think anyone could help but be impressed by the place. His answer? “Been there, done that, didn’t do a thing for me”….I then asked if he has seen the mosque.. his reply… “why would I do that? I don’t believe in it, so why would I want to see it?”……my only answer to him was “architecture, art, beauty, design, workmanship, history”…then I walked away….why do some people bother travelling?

 

We then left Oman and sailed off to The United Arab Emirates, Dubai. Arrived in Dubai around 3pm. on Tuesday so everyone was up on the Sky Deck watching the sail in. Unfortunately, it was very hazy, so photos won’t be terribly good.

That night we had a “Seabourn Experience”…. We left the ship around 5pm and were taken through the city, to the edge of the desert, by bus. I suppose we had read enough, and heard enough about Dubai, not to be terribly surprised by the City, but I think we were still amazed at the amount of construction going on around the place. When we reached the desert, we transferred to Land Cruisers, and did a bit of sand sliding until we reached a “Bedouin camp”. Of course it wasn’t a ~real~ Bedouin Camp, just one done for tourists, but it was really well done and we had a great time. John tried the camel riding…..poor camel you could see the pained expression on the poor things face. At least John didn’t fall off and break anything, but it took 2 blokes to get him back off the camel! He also got tattooed! They had sand boarding down the dunes, but I didn’t see too many people trying that one. I think the majority of Seabourn passengers are a wee bit too old to be climbing up huge sand dunes, just to have a quick slide down again. There was a huge buffet of all types of food, local stuff, bbq meats, salads and even spaghetti! Also another buffet of trifle, baked custard and chocolate cake!

The evening ended with belly dancing, which I suppose was good, but even John got bored with it as it went a bit too long. I suppose that is really showing his age!

We then got back into the 4 wheel drives for another dash across the sand dunes, back to the buses and home to the ship.

 

Wednesday 19th.April

 

This was the day when a lot of people came to the end of their cruise and had to leave the ship. Its always sad to see some people leave but also happy to see others go! After breakfast we went out on another tour. This time it was a tour all around the City, showing us all the main parts of Dubai. We even took a water taxi across Dubai Creek, which was a bit scary, not much to hang on to and they rock around a bit. Would be easy to end up in the drink! We crossed the Creek to go to the Spice Souk, where we had a bit of free time to look around and shop…..however we wouldn’t be able to take any of that stuff back into Australia, so nothing there we could buy. Next it was off to the Gold Souk…….wow……of course we didn’t buy anything….will have to wait till we win the Lottery and go back there then. I took some photos of all the gold jewellery in some of the shop windows. It was magnificent, but some people who actually checked out prices, said it wasn’t any cheaper than at home……although you wouldn’t find the type of jewellery they had at home. I saw lots of beautiful pearls I would have liked…… maybe next time……*sigh*

 

Back to the ship, for lunch and a snooze, then up to the Sky Bar for sail away, and to watch the new lot of passengers having to do their life drill. This time there are about 60 people left from the previous cruise. There are a lot of much younger passengers this time. Will be interesting to see what all the new ones are like.

We had dinner with two new couples, one from New York City and one from Tennessee.

 

Thursday 20th. April

 

After we left Dubai, we back tracked, to Oman, reaching Khasab around breakfast time. There is no Port here, so had to tender to shore.

We left the ship at 8.30am. for a tour along the coast. The drive was absolutely spectacular. The scenery was breathtaking…..very stark, but beautiful. Our driver and guide were really great, good sense of humour, all dressed in their Arab outfits. The drive was around an hour and we passed remote fishing villages and ended at a Fort. Back to Khasab, and to another Fort, where some local people were playing music and singing for us. The best part was all the children were dressed in their traditional clothing, and loved having their photos taken……of course they also loved getting a few dollars too!

When we leave Khasab later today, we will be at sea for two days, then to another City in Oman, Salalah…..will be interesting to see what differences there are between Northern Oman and Southern Oman.

 

Again today I asked one of the “new” passengers how he enjoyed the tour we did…..his answer… “it was too long” the tour was just over 3 hours? Guess he won’t be experiencing Petra or Cairo!

 

So far we have really been blown away by our introduction to The Middle East. We have found everywhere we have been, clean, safe, very friendly people, and beautiful scenery.

 

Well almost time for sail away again…..better force ourselves to go up to the Sky Bar!

 

So until next time

Bye from Granny Lorr

[blackbird71]

As aways a great report Granny Lorr,

 

A little OT but you hit on a hot button with me. I met this Saudi family in Ann Arbor around 6 years ago, and took them to Chicago to do a day tour. The man in the picture dressed up for Chicago and worn long pants, normally in Ann Arbor he just worn shorts. But because they were in the US, his wife could show her face. Back in Saudi she would have to cover it. I helped them to buy discounted Disney tickets for Orlando, and they were going in AUGUST to Disney.... :eek: I do not want to know how hot that lady was wearing that in the August heat.

[ACME]

YOU HAVE INSPIRED ME TO CONSIDER THIS ROUTE FOR 2007.

MANY THANKS GRANNY LORR!

[wynkys]

Jaded travellers are the same wherever you go. Why they can't stay at home and be miserable there is the question?

It sounds as if you have more than your share on this trip and the best strategy is the one you have adopted, just avoid them whenever you can.

I'm continuing to enjoy your reports and I appreciate your honest observations.

Continue to enjoy your experiences and smooth sailing.

 

Wayne

[Daneite]

OT I need someone to "refer" me for that trip so we can get our discounts.

Thanks

JulieDawg

 

Has someone referred you yet? If not email me at kathrynaskham "at" gmail dot com.

kathryn

[blackbird71]

Has someone referred you yet? If not email me at kathrynaskham "at" gmail dot com.

kathryn

 

How does this referal work. When do you have to tell them you were referred.

 

TIA.

[juliedawg]

Kathryn. I have tried to e-mail you...hope it goes through..sometimes filters over perform. Let me know what I need to do. \

When are you arriving in Cairo? I will be arriving a few days early and have done nothing except find guide.

Maybe we need to start a new thread...this has gotten off topic. (meaculpa)

S

[dd@sea]

Granny,

I look so forward to your picturesque reports. We will be on the Spirit next March - Dubai to Cairo. Your information, now that you are in our "travel area" is most valuable. Again, I appreciate the time and endeavors you put in to your detailed accounts and then sharing them with us. Until the next posting.

[GrannyLorr]

Monday 24th. April

At this very moment, we are sailing with Yemen on one side of us, and Somalia on the other. We have the balcony doors open, and the cameras ready, just in case we spot any of Norm’s pirates! There were too small fast boats not far away, so we watched them through the binoculars for a while, but they have disappeared now…..did see lots of dolphins though while I was “pirate spotting”.

Yesterday we had one of the “bullet holes” pointed out to us in the Horizon Lounge. Anyway, never fear, Granny is on the lookout, and any sign of pirates will be reported

immediately……or as soon as I can manage an internet connection anyway!

Seems the wi fi is still a sore point with a lot of passengers, and also the cost of the Internet on Seabourn. As I have never cruised before, I have nothing to compare it to, but others assure me that other cruiselines are much cheaper, and have much better systems. I see a few other passengers now up in the Horizon lounge with their laptops, so I’m obviously not the only one who can’t get the wi fi in their suite.

I don’t mind so much that I have to take my laptop elsewhere on the ship to connect to the Internet, as I still have the convenience of doing all my writing off line in my suite. However I do wish the charges weren’t so high…….now that I am an ~expert~ on Seaborn, I would like to be adding my two penneth worth into the other threads, but its just too expensive to be able to stay online long enough……will have to become the resident “know all” when I get home! I must have almost used up my first package of 8 hours.

We are now more than half way through our cruise……my finger nails are growing in readiness to cling onto the gangway as they try to evict me! I already have one of the crew members saying “oh not you again….you have been here sooooooooooooooo long”!

 

 

 

Yesterday we arrived at our last Port in Oman, around 6am. This was at Salalah in the South of Oman. We were only going to be in Port till 12.30 so just a quick sightseeing tour around the area. First we drove out of the City, through some very desolate areas, and to a coastal area where there are “blow holes”. However the seas were too flat for any action to be taking place at the blow holes. It was also very hot, so was a bit of a relief for me, as I didn’t need to walk so far! We then continued on to “Jobs Tomb”. Once there we had to cover up, long sleeves, scarf etc…..then walk a fairly short distance to where the tomb was. By the time we got there, I thought I was going to boil over, the long sleeves I could put up with, but once my head was enclosed in a scarf, the heat just got to me too much. I decided seeing Jobs tomb just wasn’t worth the discomfort. After all we had been told that there is also a “Jobs Tomb” in Turkey, Yemen, Iraq…and I think they said a few other places, so looks like the old boy died a few times! The landscape around Salalah was not the same spectacular coastline we had seen around Khasab, and the City wasn’t as beautiful as Muscat but still another interesting place to visit. We did see lots and lots of camels! The City of Salalah, is another very clean and well maintained City. The roads etc are again very wide and well looked after. There are gardens, fountains, and trees etc planted all along the main roads of the City. Apparently Salalah also had some effect from the Boxing Day Tsunami of last year, luckily not very much. Their monsoon season brings the water up very high, so not much is built too close to the waters edge.

 

 

We are now at sea for 4 days, and headed to Aqaba, Jordan. This will be the last of the long sea breaks, which we have really enjoyed. My husband keeps saying that we are doing less then we have ever done in our lives, and don’t have enough time to do it!

This leg of the cruise we decided not to play Trivia any more. It cuts the day in two….and we need more time to do nothing! The one prize I really wanted to win, and didn’t, was a Seabourn mouse pad…..but a nice man on one of the other teams gave me the one he won….so I’m happy now.

Tonight is a Formal night, but we are also feeling too lazy to be bothered dressing up again, so will opt for burgers and fries in our room. At least when we get home, dieting will be easy…….there will be no one there to cook and serve our food, so we will probably just go without! I completely forget what a kitchen looks like, or what you do with all those things that are in it…….and at the moment I don’t feel very inclined to find out! I think we will also be tired of food by the time we get home.

 

The lady who teaches Bridge, had a slip at the Seabourn Experience in Dubai, and now the poor thing has her foot in plaster and gets around in a wheel chair. Its not broken, just badly sprained, but will mean that she misses Petra, which is something she was really looking forward to. A lot of people also have a “throat” thing, me included…..some have seen the doctor, but luckily I am not one to see a doctor unless I am at deaths door or just slightly inside the door…..when I heard the cost of seeing the doctor…I was very glad I am the way I am! I’ve told hubby, if he gets sick, it will have to be “overboard” for him……

 

A few nights ago, we had the worst dinner we have had since we came on board. There was nothing wrong with the food, the service, the wine etc….just one of the guests. I afraid I will have to admit, he is another Australian, and the rudest most ignorant person we have met on the ship so far. There was a mix up with his food order, we are very sure it was his fault, but of course the poor kids working here, just have to put up with people like this at times. He did manage to have our waitress in tears, and when he said he didn’t want part of his order and she asked what she should do with all his food….he said “tell the chef to eat it”. It wasn’t just our waitress he tried to harass; he argued with everyone on the table except me……I just refused to speak to him. The man sitting next to me, who also didn’t seem to be able to say a thing right, also gave up speaking to him, and we ended up just chatting between ourselves all night. At the end of dinner, my husband refused to shake hands with him, and then in no uncertain terms, told him what he thought of him!! So…..if a Sydney Lawyer, disappears off a cruise ship in the Red Sea, please destroy this post….don’t wan it used as evidence! This particular bloke apparently sails with Seabourn quite often, so some of you may be lucky enough to know him!

 

Well nothing else to report

So until next time

Bye from Granny Lorr

[blackbird71]

As always a good one.....

 

I just got off the Silversea's Whisper and the internet prices on there was 75 cents a minute or $55 for 100 minutes( there is a third package but I do not remember) plus NO WiFi in suites...

 

LOL Blackbird wonders if his Pride will have bullet holes toooo :D:D

[Daneite]

How does this referal work. When do you have to tell them you were referred.

 

TIA.

 

It really should be done at the time of booking, but it has been done after so I know it is possible, don't know exact parameters though. They have tightened up so who knows??

Kathryn

[Buckeye2]

Have a favor to ask. If you have a chance could you note the combinations on the Cheese Plates between Cheeses and Compotes etc. My wife and I really enjoyed the Cheese Plates after dinner and each of us thought the other would remember the combinations but guess we had too much Champagne. We would certainly appreciate your help so we could enjoy and share with our friends at home.

PS: On our recent South America cruise some of the neatest people we met were Aussies. I don’t think the problem is an Aussie but think it’s sitting next to a Lawyer from anywhere!