We have a few days at sea, five to be exact, as we sail south down the coast of Oman. We will pass by several countries without stopping on our way to Jordan. To say it is a most sensitive place in the world is probably putting it lightly. The security measures taken so far have been sobering, although, this year, we do not have the razor wire installed below the lower promenade deck. One factor we did not mention is the fact that this ship is capable of maintaining a fast speed. Currently we are fairly close to the coast of Oman and doing a speed of about 20 knots. If needed, that can be cranked up to 25 knots according to Captain Mercer.
Spending a most relaxing day at the aft pool, we were joined by buddies Leta and Bill. The temperature was not too high and we had some cloud cover, so they felt it safe to venture outside for a while. Always concerned about burning, they tend to stay out of the direct sun for a long time. There has been more than once that both of them got sunburnt while talking to us. The new lotion we bought in Australia has worked really well for both of us. We never go out without using it.
Captain Jonathon delivered his PM talk as usual, but he added something that we had forgotten about. To begin, last night after dinner, we strolled the outside deck in the dark. But we did notice that looking towards the land side of the ship, there was a glow of lights, much like you would see if we were passing a coastal city. However, there was no city here. So what were we seeing? Turned out it was a phenomenon that occurs in a few places in the world in tropical seas. It was a glowing illumination coming from the water from a type of plankton, tiny animals and plants floating in the water. It actually created a glow that mimicked a nearby city on the horizon. Now we remembered seeing this several years ago and probably in the same area we are now sailing. Pretty cool experience.
We heard from a reliable source that the morning pastries that have traditionally been passed to everyone in the dining room at breakfast has stopped on the Rotterdam. Wonder if this is the same on the other HAL ships? Now we are curious if the afternoon tea time will continue, as we also were told the participation has been low. Time will tell on both counts.
It took the rest of the afternoon to catch up on Muscat’s reports and photos. But it is always nice to have the time to do it, now that we have sea days and more time. Before we knew it, the time for our Tamarind dinner in the Pinnacle Grill had arrived. This venue has caught on with the restaurant being almost fully booked. Our appetizers were shrimp tempura, a Thai salad, and hot and crispy spring rolls. So good. While we snacked on shrimp crackers with three sauces, our mains were brought. Both of us ordered the wasabi-crusted filets with asparagus and breaded onion rings. Cooked perfectly, we added a bowl of Hainan rice and sauteed mushrooms. There was a tad bit of room left for dessert of a bowl of fresh berries, and one chocolate-dipped fortune cookie.
Speaking of dessert reminds us of a very funny mistake printed in the daily newsletter today. Here is the message: Dessert sand fine and soft as silk will be blowing on board regularly until we have gone through the Suez Canal. We will best attempt to wash this off the ship regularly, but please know that it blows on board incessantly and continuously. Now can you spot the misspelled word???
A vivacious singer, Helen Wilding, was the entertainer this evening. She is credited with a career spanning 20 years which included theater, opera, film and TV.
Bill & Mary Ann
