Subject: FW: Report # 96 Sailing Towards Aqaba, Jordan April 5, 2016 Tuesday Sunny & 84 degrees
The seas remain calm and the skies are blue as we head in a northerly direction towards the country of Jordan. We had an uneventful night of sailing, and that is good news. The 24 hour security watch on the outside decks is gone, from what we have witnessed.
Occasionally, there are a few cargo ships or tankers passing us, and we do expect that ship traffic will increase the closer we get to the Suez Canal. We are still sailing at night with the lights off on the lower promenade deck.
Talk today included one from Barbara H with all the info you need for Civitavecchia for the port of Rome. That will be coming up on April 15th, when we are supposed to share the port with the new ship, the Koningsdam. Still have not heard if we will have the chance to tour the ship or not. Since we will not be taking a tour into Rome that day, we will be available to see the new ship if it will be possible.
Other lectures deal with Hamlet and Macbeth in the morning, followed by another acting workshop at 1pm in the Hudson Room. An afternoon lecture was all about Petra, the Red Rose City. Many people will be taking tours there tomorrow, and are excited about it. They will not be disappointed.
A different approach to photography was delivered by the guest chef this morning. This speaker and her companion will be coming to our table for dinner this evening, by special invite. However, four or six of us will not be there, because we had other reservations tonight. Sometimes that's the way things work out.
The chefs of the Amsterdam held another stir fry on the Lido deck for lunch today. It is quite a job for the staff to set up the food and cooking stations where, in case you may have forgotten, you can take all the veggies, meats, and seafoods you like and have it cooked in a wok. Lots of passengers love it, but we do not. It will be grilled paninis for us in the Lido around 3pm.
Then for the folks who may have "over-done" the Mongolian cook-out, they can work off calories at the belly-dancing class in the Crows Nest. This is probably the last chance to learn the art.
Our time out at the back pool was weird today. When we went to set up our lounges, we noticed we were walking in black soot. It covered everything back there…..all the lounges, towels, railings….everything. It was obvious that this mess had come from one of the ship's stacks, as we have seen this happen on previous cruises. The people swimming in the pool were quite upset, since the soot was floating in there, and rapidly sinking to the bottom. They seemed to have yelled the most, because the crew came quickly with nets to take the worst of the soot off of the water. We heard through the grapevine that other people back here had a bigger fit, and called officers all the way to the top. We noticed tht the hotel director came out with the Captain, and they all surveyed the situation. They were followed by a bigger group of crew who did some clean-up, all except for the deck eight pool deck. The area on deck nine was swept and mopped, but no one was sitting up there. Go figure….We stayed back there until 2pm, and no one ever came back to sweep up the mess. You had to be careful not to walk without shoes, or get any of that soot on your clothing. It stains like a type of tar. You would think that this goo would have been taken care of immediately. It never was while we were there.
On sea days, we like to go to the Atrium on deck five, and listen to the music coming from the Ocean Bar. Recently, our table mate, Rudd, has been joining us. At this time of his day, he makes a stop in the casino to play his favorite slot machine. He told us that his gambling in the casinos on the HAL ships is tracked, as long as he uses his room key. And because of this, he has had some fantastic offers on last minute cruises over the years. He usually takes advantage of these deals, especially if he doesn't have to fly too far. He lives in Holland, so anywhere in the Med works for him. Recently, he did a cruise for under 200 Euro. Not sure how long or exactly where, but that is a good deal, even if it was only 7 days. Anyway, we have had a chance to get to know a little more about the Netherlands with our visits.
This evening, we were invited to a cocktail party in the Officer's Bar on A deck. The guests included the President's Club members Pinnacle (two penthouse suites) and Neptune Suite (52 suites). Last year, we had been invited to a similar party, but at that time, only the President's Club guests were treated to cocktails, as well as a served dinner in the Officer's Bar. There were over 20 of us, and we filled all of the small tables. Tonight, with most everyone attending, we were busting at the seams. Not only did most everyone show up at 7pm, many of the officers were present to mingle with the crowd. It was shoulder-to-shoulder people in a room meant for a few. Nice idea, but we all agreed it should have been held at least twice.
Although we arrived about last at the meeting point on deck one, we were the first to climb down the steep stairway to deck A. We were greeted by Gene, our cruise director, Henk, the hotel director, and of course, Captain Mercer, who welcomed us to come into the bar. We found Barb, and the three of us went over to the back wall, where there were two portholes with views of the water outside. Don joined us and remarked that it looked like we were going at least 60MPH. While we waited for our special drinks, Captain Jonathon joined us for a bit. We relayed our suspicions regarding spotting the extra security fellow, and he did indeed say that we had a beefed up team, especially for the sailing around Yemen, Somalia, and the Gate of Tears yesterday. The Captain added that tomorrow, while we are docked in Aqaba, the extra security team will leave, and the ship will lose the razor wire. No need for it anymore. And our regular security folks will be back to their normal jobs as well. No more 24 hour shifts. Bet they are glad. And so are we, now that we have made a safe journey out of the sensitive areas.
Even with the crowded room, the waiters served a variety of "snacks" such as fish and chips with a tartar sauce, slices of pups in a blanket, empanadas, and hard-boiled eggs rolled in bread crumbs, then deep fried. They were served cut in four. We would have helped ourselves to plenty of snacks, but we had reservations in the Pinnacle Grill tonight, and had to save our appetites for that.
We had a nice chat with Christel, and visited with Eddie and Lee on our way out by 8pm. Eddie like to take photos of us and with us, so we all posed while others took our pictures together.
Dinner in the Pinnacle was great as always. Beginning with the Caesar salad, we graduated to a delicious and large veal chop and one 10 ounce filet mignon. Mushrooms and French fries, for a change, sealed the deal. We saved a tad bit of room for dessert of berries and ice cream. One of our favorite waiters brought a plate of tiny biscotti cookies we like, along with coffee.
There was one variety show tonight featuring Donna Groom, Bernie Fields, and David Kidd. It was at 9:30pm, and the three were promised to be back with new shows.
We took a short walk outside on deck three, just to get some fresh air. And we were surprised to find all of the lights on back on outside. Too bad, Barb really liked it dark, because she could see the stars from her room. Even better though, the breeze was actually cool….first time in weeks to have a refreshing, cool breeze. Yep, the Mediterranean is getting closer.
Tomorrow……..Aqaba, Jordan.
Bill & Mary Ann
