Our second day sailing across the Arabian Sea was even nicer than yesterday. Much of the heavy humidity has abated somewhat, and there was a strong breeze blowing across the decks. If it wasn’t for the toxic smell of the white paint on the promenade deck, our walk would have been perfect. The guys will be painting the dark blue of the gutter next, so this paint job should last for quite a while we hope.
Making the most of our visit to Oman was the subject for EXC guide Ian’s talk this morning. After he described the history and the layout of this country, he gave a talk all about the city of Muscat, our one and only stop in Oman. We learned that there has been an impromptu holiday declared for a few days in the country, which means some of the regular sights will either be closed or opened for a short time. This has happened when we arrived on a Friday, a day of prayer of the Muslim community. Holidays are much the same, where the best places to see will have a short window to be opened. The main one people like to see is the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. The other place is the Muttrah Souk, well known for their good deals on silver, perfumes, and all types of souvenirs. Even if you are not going to buy anything, walking through this maze of seemingly never-ending shops is a learning experience. If they are only opened until 12pm, we will need to be first off of the ship.
The morning speaker, Barry Dreyer, continued to educate us with modern day Oman, while the afternoon lecturer, Vivianne Rowan, dealt with Egyptian treasures. Sadly, we have not had a stop in Egypt for several years now, since it has become a more dangerous place in the world to visit. We are so glad we toured the major sights several years ago, or we may have never seen the Pyramids of Giza, or Luxor, not to mention Sharm El Sheik or Alexandria.
We had our usual pool day, but there were many more people taking advantage of the nice weather. Lunch in the Lido was around 3pm, and after some computer work in our room, we headed to have a walk until the sun set at 6pm. The sunset was actually better than the ones of this last week. Then we headed for the Ocean Bar to listen to the music of the Ocean Band and the singer, Carrie.
The theme for tonight’s gala evening was the White Dinner. The all-white clothing theme symbolized purity and elegance. Maybe this theme should have been saved for when we visit Oslo, Norway. We heard that there was snow there today and the temperatures were in the low 30’s. What a difference from where we are now. Anyway, we had company, actually two hosts…..Caspar, the third officer, and Claudia, who is the Microsoft guru in the Digital Workshop. She is one busy girl with five computer sessions on any given sea day. It is quite possible that she is the significant other of Caspar, who joined us already in the beginning of this world voyage. Really nice Dutch fellow who may be captain one day.
Barb was a happy camper this evening, since caviar was on the appetizer list. She had triples. If that was all she ate for dinner, she would be happy. Caviar was once served at most every formal dinner, but not so much anymore. As for us, we love the shrimp with the red cocktail sauce. Entrees included duck a la orange, veal chop (the best), lobster pie, and a beef dish. There is always a vegetarian plate, which was a ravioli, and a vegan dish with quinoa mixed with veggies. A dessert we shared was a lemon almost cheesecake with meringue on top. The conversation flowed nicely with the help of white and red wines, compliments of our hosts.
It was time to adjourn, because showtime was about to begin with a duo by the name of Dukebox. They rocked and rolled with tines from artists like Elvis, the Beatles, Sinatra, and Simon and Garfinkel among others.
Tomorrow, we will be in another culture, far different from where we have just been.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Report # 75 Day at Sea April 3, 2019 Wednesday Partly sunny & 82 degrees
