Today we are playing golf at the Ayla Golf Club. I booked a teetime about 6 weeks ago for 9am. Hasan arrived about 7:45 and he had us go with a different driver. Probably more port issues.
The club was only 10 minutes away. Beautiful course. Large incentive for not hitting off the fairway as the course was built on sand. Only the irrigated areas had grass.
We hit the driving range first and then played 18 holes.
Great course and we had it to ourselves the entire day. The manager told us that Thursday through Sunday it is packed with golfers.
We had lunch at the club and returned to the ship about 3.
Halloween party in the mainstage theater. We chose to skip it but could hear the band playing in our room. Good group and they covered some difficult tunes. Some Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Wonder. All “spooky” music. Rhythm section was solid and vocalists pretty tight.Since we weren’t at the show I won’t rate.…
Aqaba is the Port city of Jordan. If you arrive by ship to Jordan, this is the cruise ship port. The most popular tours in Jordan are; overnite at Wadi Rum, Petra, and the Dead Sea. When we were here in 2019, we did these three. I have kept in contact with our guide, Morad, over the years and he is going to take care of us today.
More customs silliness today. Usually, the ship staff takes all of the passports to customs to get them stamped. Port authorities now want to have a “face to face” with each passenger. This means that the ship has to have passengers pick up their passports and take them with them to the port. Everyone, regardless of whether they are leaving the ship for a tour, has to be off the boat by 10 am. Morad called me earlier in the morning and said that Hasan was going to pick us up at 10. We left the ship, went to the customs tent where a HAL staff member collected our passports. No port authority looked at my passport and it was never opened. More “no binoculars” calls out to passengers. I guess the King is worried that you may see him on his luxury yacht. Just a guess.
Our cruise director told us that in order to return to the port, we had to take the shuttle bus. No private drivers allowed. We made a note of that but Hasan said he can take us by car. We met with Hasan and he took us to a glass bottom boat to do some more snorkeling. Our pilot was Captain Morain. We went out for a 3 hour tour. Why does that make me think of something? The Captain had a fishing line with a lure attached. He let it out as we traveled. It looked like the string you get at home depot when you tie lumber to the roof of your car. Twenty minutes into the trip he had a large tuna. Perfect for his dinner. The boat was slow moving but we were able to see interesting things that were out in the ocean for divers. A huge Iranian airliner. A German tank, ships of various kinds. Fascinating to see.
About an hour in to our tour, we stopped at a reef for some snorkeling. Just the two of us, no hoards of people. Spectacular views. The water was extremely clear. I kept asking the Captain how deep the water was before I jumped in because it looked so shallow. 300 meters, 400 meters, were his responses. My head never even went under water when I jumped in.
We did three different areas and then headed back to the dock. Hasan was there to pick us up and he took us back to the ship. No problem getting into the port. He yelled a few Arabic words at the Port Police and away we went. We had a quick lunch in the Lido and then took the shuttle back into town. We needed to get some items from the pharmacy. One thing we failed to consider was protection from Malaria. We purchased Hydroxychloroquine over the counter from the pharmacy.
We hopped on the shuttle again and went back to the ship. Hasan was going to take us to a restaurant for traditional Jordanian food. He arrived at the ship at 5:30 and was talking with police. We started to get into his car and then he said you are going to have to go in this van and I will meet you outside the port. ??? The new driver was stopped at the port gate where he argued for almost 30 minutes. Something about having permission……
The restaurant was simple and full of patrons. The food was great. Lamb, rice, and something called Mansaf which we used as a gravy. Delicious. As you can see, street animals like it too.
As Hasan approached the port gate, the police were there and he said he would have to take us to where the shuttle bus pick up is. We went and waited. One of the pictures shows a gypsy boy trying to sell me water. He didn’t like no.
15 minutes went by and no shuttle. Hasan said we would try the port again. This time, no police and it was a breeze.
Tomorrow we have a teetime for golf at 9am. Hasan will take us.
Today we arrived in Port about 8 am. Immigration authorities kept changing their minds on what to do. We left the ship after 9 am and were in line for security check. No binoculars allowed. A passenger next to me said to me “what’s the difference, a telephoto camera lens or binoculars? When it was his turn, “no telephoto lens on cameras allowed”, said the officer.
Most of the folks had a HAL tour and boarded busses. I think most of us were going to the same place but paid different prices. Out tour was one quarter the price of the HAL Tour.
Today is snorkeling in the Ras Mohammed National Park and a stop to White Island.
Pickup for us was outside the Port gates. We walked there and had a bit of trouble finding our bus. When we found our driver, we sat and waited for an additional 4 passengers. 4 folks who looked completely lost finally boarded the bus. We weren’t in the bus for 5 minutes when a woman asked if she could be brought back to the ship at 1 pm. This was an all day tour, all aboard was 4:30. Good thing our driver understood little English. The other 4 passengers were quite concerned that the tour was not going to be able to drop them back at the ship in time to get on before departure. I was starting to question why they even chose the tour.
When we got on the boat the crew introduced themselves. Each crew member had the same name. Mohammad. Easy to remember.
An hour or so out we stopped for our first snorkeling experience on this tour. There must have been 40 other boats with 40 or so passengers each tied off here. It was obvious that the boats were here every day and many boats tied off to each other.
The snorkeling provided views of some great coral reefs. The downside was the numerous people out doing the same thing.
The pictures are not necessarily in chronological order. You will see a picture of the young chic I married almost 20 yrs ago. Some photos of the coral reef. White Island is nothing but a sand bar in the middle of the ocean. One of the Mohammads told me it is much bigger in the middle of Summer and in the Winter it disappears.
It was approaching 3 pm and I knew we would be cutting it close to all aboard time of 4:30. The woman who wanted to leave by 1 pm asked me if I thought they were going to get us back by 4. I told her no, they will get us back to the port by 4:30. “How do you know”, was her response. I told her that I have done enough of these trips to know that they do not want to spoil their reputation by delivering us late. I also told her the ship would wait. HAL does do a fair job at convincing folks that the ship will leave without them. I learned from our cruise director on the world cruise that this is not the case. The hassle of leaving people behind without would be something they do not want to deal with.
We pulled into port about 4:20. I could see the look of worry all over our fellow HAL passengers. I was in constant communication with the tour company using WhatsApp. Most of the world uses this to communicate. They assured me that they would call the ship if need be. I wasn’t worried but Terri was getting concerned and she tried to call the ship. She gave up when the connection would be at $7.95 per minute. We could see the ship from where the tour boat docked. I know from watching the ship leave, port after port, that the Captain leaves 30 minutes after all aboard. The mooring lines aren’t even touched until the gangway is hauled in. I wasn’t the least bit concerned but couldn’t convince others.
Our driver was waiting when we got off of the ship. We sat in there while he waited for other passengers going to their hotel. Obviously he didn’t know he had concerned ship folks aboard. It was 4:35 before we left for the ship. 5 minute drive. At the port gate we needed to get out and walk through customs and security. It was intense security. Officers waived you through if you had a passport in your hand. Opening it wasn’t required. The metal detector sounded constantly as we all walked through. Not a concern. As we walked out of the customs building, there was a van waiting for us. The ship was at the pier and was still several hundred yards from us. The custom officer said that the van would take us back out of the port gate where we would board a bus to take us to the ship. Is this the epitome of ridiculousness? The van was pointed the way we just came in. We would go back out of the port to just come right back in. We got out and started to walk to the ship. This kind of thing is hard to take.
Probably a five minute walk for the two of us. The bus was still on the other side of customs.
We went to dinner and then played some music trivia with Jose and Clare. Motown! Wish we would have done better. 9 out of 16. Some of the tunes weren’t Motown but the young woman doing the trivia obviously knew none of the tunes or the artists anyway.…
Today we entered the Suez canal. It was 5 am when we started moving into the canal. Ships are grouped together and move as a convoy from each end and pass when the canal widens at the Great Bitter Lake. The 120 miles takes 10 -12 hours. Completed in 1869, the canal cuts about 5500 miles off of the journey from the Red Sea to London. That’s about 10 days of ship travel.
One of the photos shows a swing bridge that connects a rail line to the other side. A matching bridge on the other side and connects in the middle. The deck you see is next to the gym. The treadmills have the same view.
One of the things I remember about this area were the numerous biting houseflies. That really kept us from sitting outside for too long.
We have kept the same group for the past few days in group trivia. We had some laughs talking about the complainers aboard. Jose said he met a woman that complained about the lack of variety in food. Hard to believe. Day 18 and I haven’t had the same thing for dinner yet. I mentioned miss muffins from breakfast and Jose said she is probably lonely and is seeking attention. It isn’t working for her as I see her sitting alone everyday. I think her travel partner gave up.
We tried the music trivia and had a perfect score. Short cuts from pop tunes of the 1950s. Name the tune and artist. The guitar solo from Rock Around the Clock. Piece of cake. Tammy-Debbie Reynolds, Volare-Dean Martin, Mack the Knife-Bobby Darin. Much too easy.
General knowledge trivia didn’t go as well. We did get the largest country in South America. We missed the country that the pretzel was invented in. No, Germany isn’t it.
Egypt changed its mind about passports. We need to have them when we leave the ship and had to pick them up. Normally the ship holds on to them.
Our tour tomorrow was booked through Viator. They contacted me today through WhatsApp. Pickup time at 8:45 am. They did confirm they will have us back by all aboard time of 4:30.
4 busy port days ahead. Snorkeling in Egypt, snorkeling in Jordan, golf in Jordan, sightseeing in Safaga, Egypt.…
October 27, 2022 Today is our final day cruising through the Mediterranean Sea. The Captain said that in order to enter the Suez Canal, ships have to arrive the day before by 11 pm. We will arrive by 10 pm and drop anchor until canal authorities give permission to enter the canal. The Captain suspects we will be on our way at about 5 am but anything is possible.
Another sunny day with temps in the 70s. Workout, lunch by the pool and then we had a Port and Sherry tasting in the main dining room at 2 pm. There were about 8 of us seated.
from right to left….
Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Port, Warre’s Ottima Tawny Port (10 yrs), Tio Pepe Palomino Fino Sherry, Emilio Lustau Pedro Ximenez
We visited the Sandeman Port winery during our visit to Porto, Portugal back in 2019 so we knew a bit about port. Port is a fortified wine that has alcohol added to it top stop the fermenting process. This leaves the wine sweeter and it travels well. The British wanted to bring wine back home with them and they discovered that adding brandy to it would give the wine more stability to travel in harsh conditions aboard ships.
Portugal has 250 grape varieties but only 6 are used for Port. Graham’s tasted good. My second favorite. I gave Warre’s a 5. The Tio Pepe is rough. We had a bottle back in the room and it is definitely an acquired taste. It is used to cleanse the palate before a meal. Mine needs no cleansing and I am able to start a meal with no help. The Pedro Ximenez was my favorite. The sweetest of all. Good for after dinner.
The other tasters tried to appear that they were experts on this subject by constantly correcting, interjecting, and questioning the sommelier who gave the presentation. ”There is no standard in taste of wine, poetry, prose, art, cigars, and etcetera. Each man’s own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot affect the supremacy of your own standard.” This was printed at the top of the tasting event letter. I didn’t feel this was the atmosphere. We had a good laugh about it.
We did the 4 pm group trivia and met Jose, Kathy, Clare, and LJ. We scored fairly well finishing with an 11 out of 17. We missed the rarest type of blood and the name of a group of sharks. The group was insistent on Steamboat Willie as Disney’s first film. I said Snow White. The answer? Snow White.
We invited Jose to join us for dinner. He has traveled and worked around the world teaching. His favorite countries are Turkey and Vietnam. We agreed that Turkey was nice but haven’t been to Vietnam yet. He seems to be happy being a loner. 2 marriages, 28 years and 9 years probably have been enough. He does have a daughter who lives in Texas near his first wife. We compared notes on the excursions we have done. Jose agreed that the HAL tours are safer but slower. The tours are marked with the amount of effort required to participate. Easy, moderate, strenuous. The last two tours we did were marked strenuous. On one tour, a woman sat on the bus the entire tour because she could barely walk. I guess the definition of strenuous means different things to different people. We had a nice dinner and thanked him for joining us.
The evening entertainment was vocalist Magali Dahan. Her show was ”An Evening in Paris”. Magali was born in Luxembourg but her roots are Egyptian. She speaks at least 5 languages fluently. I guess I expected a French accent when she spoke. She sounded like she was from Ohio. She is a very good vocalist but I thought her show needed work. I’m not sure how covering Can’t Help Falling in Love and also My Way into her set of French standards added anything. Elvis and Sinatra are tough to cover. Both of them were long gone before she was even on the planet. Terri kept waving 2 fingers at me the entire performance and then upped it to a 4 at the end. With a good programming coach, she could do very well. Her show tonight was a 5.
We pulled into the Port of Souda earlier than the published 11 am time. It was 7 am and I was already getting cellular service from Greece. The captain said that he was going to try to get us to port early and had a good chance of doing so because of calm seas and good weather. I did notice that the ship appeared to be moving faster than normal at dinner last night. 25 mph on a ship this size can seem fast.
We had no tours planned today. The HAL tours focused mainly on visiting the Roman and or Greek ruins. We have seen a lot more than the average person and realize now how large the Roman Empire was. I think people from the ”New World” find this so fascinating because nothing like this exists there. Most of Europe and Northern Africa contains remnants of past civilizations that used stone to construct things and that has lasted for centuries. We decided that we have seen enough ruins and we were going to wing it today.
The Port town is Souda. A shuttle bus took us into neighboring Chania.
The city was very modern and had many of the stores we had back home. It was vibrant and full of working people and tourists. We decided to head to the older section of the city. The Venetian lighthouse, originally constructed in 1570 and the latest version in 1830, looked like a nice place to walk to. We walked along the wall of the harbor and looked back at the older section of the city and snapped some photos. It was getting very hot and we back tracked and went to get lost in some of the narrow streets in this section.
We decided to eat lunch at a place that was recommend in an article we had read about the city. Tajam was the restaurant. We sat outside in the narrowest of streets in this area.
Delicious lunch while ship passengers from a HAL tour walked by. We can usually spot ship people quite easily. The hats they choose to wear is a giveaway. No one in the country has a mask on but ship people. They also have little stickers on their shirts that identify which bus they are on. Some stopped by to say hi. Some joined us at another table. Lunch was followed by complimentary dessert. Halva, made from walnuts and something sweet. The shots. Ouzo? Not Ouzo but something similar made only on Crete. Ouzo has the definite anise taste. This tasted more like rubbing alcohol. Johnson and Johnson I think.
We wondered through the streets after lunch and browsed the many shops. Nothing we needed. We made it back to the bus pickup point and took the 20 minute ride back.
Dinner in the dining room as we watched the sunset. We finished the evening on our balcony. Nice view of Souda and nice breeze. We watched as busses dropped weary tour folks off all evening. The last few passengers came up the ramp with 8 mins to spare. By 9:30 the crew was wrapping things up and we were off. A tug was on hand in the harbor as it was crowded. 2 large car ferries were in port as well as cargo ships.
1 more sea day in the Mediterranean and then down the Suez canal on our way to Egypt.…
Today we enjoyed the relative calm seas of the Mediterranean. Usual day at sea with breakfast and then gym. Terri did her watercolor class and I hit the treadmill.
We sat with Jose, Richard and Clare for team trivia. Three single men and I believe all three are divorced. Terri asked them if there are a lot of singles aboard and the answer was yes. They do have single meetups on board. We did pretty well but the winners of this event is always the same group. Of course cheating must be the reason. Jose is going to say something to the host about this. I think it is hilarious. Some of the questions are strange. When did trivia begin? Not enough information given for me. We did have a great answer for what a group of Cheetahs is called. Cheetos!
We had another invitation to a wine tasting at 2 pm but we missed it. I guess we had too much on our minds. I have a good laugh at these and I’m sorry we were so busy.
At dinner we sat next to a couple that did the world cruise in 2020, a year after us. This cruise ended in Australia because of the pandemic. After Sydney, the ship couldn’t find a port that would accept them. They finally ended up in Perth and were flown home. They commended HAL for taking care of them during this difficult time. They missed at least one half of the planned cruise.
The evening entertainment was a new show by the duo called Ole. Each did some outstanding solo work. The humor could be from the days of vaudeville. One of the guitarists mounted a harmonica on his guitar and was able to accompany himself while he played it. He could also juggle and did so while his partner played. This show didn’t match their first one. A solid 8.
We finished with cards out near the Sea View bar. Terri is tired of letting me win. I think we are 4 and 4 now.
We arrived in the port city of La Goulette at 8 am and boarded busses for our tour at 815 am. Tunisia was occupied by the French until 1957 and has 2 languages it uses. Arabic and French although English is now taught in school
This was a HAL tour and we chose it because we were unable to find any others tours by other tour companies that could work within the time frame we had.
Our first stop was the capital city of Tunis. Here we planned to visit some government buildings and then the Medina or ”old city”. Our guide, Hada, was very proud of Tunisia and its treatment of women. This must be a comparison to other Arabic Countries and their treatment of women. More women then men in Tunisia. More women in power than men in Tunisia.
approaching TunisiaEarning a buckStreet musiciansKasbah SquareAziza Othmania Hospital
Most of the photos above are from Kasbah Square. City Hall and other government buildings. We walked from the Kasbah to the Medina. This are has structures that were built using the remains of the Roman ruins located near Carthage.
A bit further and we arrived at the bazaar. A labyrinth of shopping stalls selling everything you can imagine. There were sections that just sold jewelry, others that sold spices or oils. It reminded us of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. This was much more confusing and Hada was insistent that we stay together at it is easy to get lost. The bazaar appears to weave around for miles.
We would have enjoyed strolling through here on our own and haggling with merchants for junk. It was time to head Carthage for lunch. About a 30 minute drive put us into a restaurant that felt more like a bingo hall with 5 bus loads of passengers. We sat at long tables and conversed with other folks as we enjoyed the food. We decided to enjoy the local beer and wine. Not bad.
Lots of French influence still remains here. After lunch we went to see the ruins of a roman bath. There is a lot yet to be uncovered. Many of the ruins were pilfered to use in the construction projects in Tunis. This are was first constructed in 100 BC. It was destroyed by the Romans and then rebuilt over the existing ruins in 200 AD.
You have to imagine the pools of water across the large open area. There were chambers that have different temperatures of water. The bath was an important architectural and social site. I imagine this aqueduct fed the area with water.
We finished the tour with a visit to Sidi Boussaid. White houses with blue doorways. Reminded us of an island in Greece.
We did walk through the market in this town and looked through the stuff we really didn’t need. Vendors were out in the street hawking their merchandise. Belts, watches, necklaces. One shop owner yelled to me ”I sell drugs here”. Clearly I’m not, nor ever have been a drug user but I had to check this out. He laughed and said I was the first customer to come into his shop all day. He obviously now has a line to use to attract customers. We gave him the full nelson on some argan oil that was right from Morocco.
We finished the day watching a movie. Too tired to see the evening entertainment.…
Another day of recovery was welcomed as we prepared for the next port of Tunisia. We need passports, Covid documents, and a special port pass when we leave the ship. We have a HAL excursion that takes almost the entire time we will be there.
I hit the gym and Terri did her power walking around the lower promenade. She has built quite a reputation amongst the folks who walk around the deck as she passes them numerous times.
We teamed up with a single passenger in group trivia. Jose was actually a professor at MSU back in the early 80s when I was a student there. He taught Spanish and Portuguese. He said he lived with members of the MC5 (Motor City 5). I told him that I used to teach with Russ Gibb who was a big promoter of the band but that didn’t seem to mean much to him.
He said band members helped ”turn him on”. A common reference to drug use at the time. Particularly LSD. I’m not sure why he shared this. He did say he was able to see Rick’s back in Casablanca and sent me a photo. I did learn from our tour guide that most American and Canadian tourists come to Casablanca because of the movie starring Humphrey Bogart.
We did fair pretty well in the trivia with just the three of us. We remembered what a baby puff was called and guessed which part of the body is full grown at birth. We missed which continent is in all 4 hemispheres.
We did over hear another complainer at dinner. She was so surprised that the HAL excursions do fill up and they do not take additional people. We have spent a year planning everything we do on this trip and have had at least one excursion booked since November of last year. Planning is everything. Planning is hard. Complaining is easy.
We finished the evening on the back of the Lido playing cards. I am up 4 games to two. I think Terri is letting me win as she is really the better player.…
We slept in today. We did breakfast and then the gym. Still some calf soreness from hiking down the mountain the other day.
Later in the morning we cruised through the Strait of Gibraltar. Morocco was on our right and the Gibraltar on the left. As we entered the Alboran Sea the temperature was much cooler. Mid 60s. I suspect it will be this way through much of the Mediterranean until we turn into the Suez canal.
The Rock of Gibraltarmore impressive rocks in Morocco
The entertainment for this evening was a musical duo called Ole. El Gypsy and El Grotesco boldly go no where guitar show has gone before.
Great guitarists. They mixed comedy into their musical performance. Very well done. Lots of flamenco style. Great music and comedy. I give it a 10.
We spent some time at the Ocean Bar after the performance. The quartet there played danced music and was led by a guitarist. He was very good and the drummer was good also. The bassist looked as if he couldn’t be bothered with having to play this style of music and the pianist was adequate. The guitarist took all of the solos. Probably a group not of his making. He really appeared to enjoy playing and would be a great asset to any band. Maybe he is free on Tuesday nights!
Another day at sea and then we reach Tunisia. We do have a HAL tour that takes the entire day.…
Breakfast at 8:30 am gave us a chance to get some sleep. The food was fantastic and we enjoyed the great variety.
9 am was out meeting time in the front lobby. We chatted with some other folks we have met on the ship and compared experiences. This morning we boarded horse drawn carriages to take a tour of the center of Marrakech. More than one person commented that they felt sorry for the horses. I didn’t really understand. The horses are obviously well taken care of and in very good shape. The only negative with horses are the flies they bring. As long as the carriage was moving they were fine.
Driving in Marrakech is an experience. Motorcycles and scooters are everywhere and they weave in and out of regular traffic.
We sat in the carriage with another couple. She grew up in Jackson and went to Albion College and they lived most of their lives near Cleveland. He commented on recognizing my Michigan accent. We shared stories about running, marathons, swimming, and skiing. Most folks on the ship are on the downward side of athletics and are just happy to be able to participate on tours such as this. One woman in this groups gets around on a segway. She brought it on the ship with her and takes it on these excursions to get around. Something happened to her legs and she can barely walk. This really beats a wheelchair.
After the carriage ride we went to a garden that was owned by Yves Saint Lauren.
After the visit to the garden it was time to make our way to a palace to admire the interior design. This place was used during the French occupation of of Morocco in the early 20th century as the addition of the fireplace proves.
Lunch was at a hotel nearby. Similar food and hospitality. Lunch was served in the courtyard.
We spent about 90 minutes enjoying lunch and the surroundings here and then headed to the bus for our trip to Casablanca. There clearly would not be time to visit Casablanca as all aboard is 8:30 pm and we would arrive about 8 pm. No Rick’s visit on this trip. I did hear that other folks, not on this tour, did get to visit and take some photos.
We arrived about 8 and we were the first off the bus and into customs. It was a one night trip and many folks took very large bags with them. We traveled very lightly. Shoulder bags only.
The ship was off on time and we experienced the biggest swells of the trip caused by the shallow water near Casablanca.
Casablanca is a very different city than Marrakech. Mainly working businessmen and families. Streets are vacant early in the evening. Not the party atmosphere like Marrakech.
We ended the evening up in the Lido where the restaurant remained open until 9. We chatted with some other folks that were on the tour with us. We all agreed that we enjoyed the experience.
I did some reading about another tour that left Casablanca this morning and ran into all kinds of trouble. This was a 3rd party tour, not back by HAL, and you have to expect for the fewer amount of dollars you spend, you have a higher risk factor. About half of our tours are not HAL tours. We chose these either because the price was right or the experience couldn’t be found on the HAL excursions. We have accepted the risk. What could happen?
We were ready for breakfast at 6:15 am so we went up to the Lido early. Muffins was no where to be found. We finished breakfast and headed back to the room. We had paperwork that Morocco required and we needed passports for a face to face presentation with a Moroccan official. Meeting time 7 am in the Wajang Theater on Deck 4.
We sat with the other 70 or so going on this tour. A HAL official said that Morocco has changed their minds. No security officials would be boarding and that HAL would be collecting passports and taking them over to immigration to get stamped and then returned to us. I guess that makes sense?
The HAL employees collected our passports and we sat, some patiently, for further instructions. The Captain announced over the PA that Moroccan authorities are now requiring the entire ship to perform another antigen test. Room stewards would distribute the tests. The head Nurse did explain to us that as of three days ago, Moroccan officials were satisfied with our current protocols and we were good to go on arrival. At 1:15 am this morning, an email was received describing new requirements. Who decides these things at this time? We waited in the theater for our tests. Once in our hands we went to our rooms and performed our test. It was 8:30 am. We did the test, waited the required 10 minutes, took a photo and waited until 9:30 am to meet back in the theater with our negative test in hand. The test has a Control Stripe and a Test Stripe. The Control Strip appears red in about 1 minute meaning the test is valid. The test stripe appears if it is positive only after the 10 minutes have expired. Otherwise it remains blank. We noticed that ours and many others began to show a faint blue test stripe after an hour of waiting. The Ships doctor came in the theater to check the tests. Retake…Retake…Retake he said to many as he went around the room. The test is only valid for a short period of time. We had to re do. Now it was time to wise up. Get passport, take test, wait one minute and the head to bus. Give test to lazy official to throw away and we are on our way. Now it is 11:30. Bus leaves at noon. 4 hours late.
Our bus drive to Marrakech long and uneventful. Sand, rolling hills, sand, argan trees, more sand. Past the rolling hills was more sand. This area was in the midst of a 3 year drought. Our tour guide, Youssef, said that when it rains, the entire area becomes very green. The ground is very fertile and needs only water. The argan trees produce a seed that is valued for the oil that be pressed from it. Healthy to eat healthy for skin.
Upon arrival to Marrrakech, the area started to green up. We were running so late that we immediately went to lunch.
Lunch was typical Moroccan fare. Meat, potatoes, veggies, all very good. Musicians and dancers entertained us.
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These photos are of the former Marrakech governors house, now at museum. The arabesque style is evident. Simple on the outside and very ornamental on the inside. This coincides with the belief that a person’s real beauty is found on the inside.
Afterward we walked around the area with the Marrakech souks or shopping areas.
Following the walk we took the bus to our hotel to check in.
We quickly checked in and got ready for dinner. Yes, its time to eat again. We went down to the lobby for a quick drink.
Dinner was a restaurant near the souk’s and the open air market area. Just a mile or so from the hotel. Dinner was just like lunch. Same style of restaurant and similar food.
This open air market area really comes alive at night. Lots of things to buy, lots of entertainers. Fun place. Jammed with people.
We walked into our room back at the hotel close to midnight. Long day.
We were entertained by the muffin lady at breakfast again today. She travels by herself. All over the world. Great Wall of China, Pyramids. You name it. She has done it. At least that what she is telling the waitress at breakfast. ”Today the muffins were much better. Thank you. ” She told the young girl. I’m sure the bakers’ reformulated their entire muffin procedure. Probably sought advice from the muffin lady and were up all night testing and tweaking. The muffin lady seems to have a travel companion with her. She isn’t allowed to have her own opinions or to speak for that matter. Sometimes you find entertainment without even looking.
We pulled into port at 10 am and were cleared by customs to leave at 11 am.
Since we were only here until 530 pm we decided to just see the local sights and come back to the ship. Photos from our room before we left.
We took the ship shuttle bus to the port entrance. Just a few minutes ride.
This reminded me of southern California. The weather is warm all year. 80s on our trek out. The city reminded me of countless European cities that we have visited. Not much unique in the city. We did visit a a small museum in an old fort along the shore. 3 euro each to get in but the machine to process was broken so today was free. Probably a good thing. All descriptions of items in the museum were in Spanish. The museum presented a little glimpse of the history of the island, volcanic activity, and interesting enough the development of cobalt blue dye. We may have spent 45 minutes inside.
I did see a musical instrument store online and found it on my maps program. I thought it might be fun to check it out but when we arrived at the address there was no such store to be found. Another victim of Covid 19 is my guess.
We spent some time walking around the city. The people out with us were probably all from the ship. It is really easy to pick them out as they never seem to fit into the surroundings. Of course we were perfect and blend into every city we visit.
Believe it or not, we saw the muffin lady and companion in the city. She asked us where the shopping district was. Quite authoritative. Probably the same tone she used with the baker. We did point her in the correct direction. Later I thought I could have used a different finger.
We decided on some refreshments in front of this area. A marina without docks? Abandoned boats? They were all tied off to shore or anchored in their spot.
We were still reeling from the walk down the mountain yesterday. We sat and had a few drinks and returned to the ship. It was still a few hours from our all aboard time so we sat on our balcony and enjoyed the scenery.
The ’cellist (it’s the musician who plays a violoncello for your next trivia match) was on again for a second performance. We decided to stay in our cabin and pack for our overland excursion tomorrow in Morocco. We leave from the Agadir port and travel to Marrakech. We spend the night in a hotel there and then travel to Casablanca and meet back up with the ship. I was hoping to stop at Rick’s American Cafe but that may not happen…… As Time Goes By
We watched the first Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise. When we finished, I could hear the ’cellist on stage because our room is right above the stage. The tune? Theme from Mission Impossible.…
We arrived at the Port of Funchal at 8 am. We have a HAL tour booked today. The tour group left at 9 am by bus. The weather was cloudy with a chance of rain. Out bus was to take us up one of the mountains and then allow us to get a great view of the city of Funchal below. This is what we saw…..
We were overwhelmed also. This part of the tour was very short and we went on to our next stop. Camara fishing village. The waters are very deep around Madeira and fishing is really not an important industry here.
Bananas are grown everywhere below 300m where the weather is appropriate. Madeira is temperate all year long and homes are built without central heating or cooling systems.
Everything outside of the downtown area is built in terraces because of the steep volcanic ridges.
Next stop was Reid’s Hotel for an afternoon tea. We made it in well before noon but we did sit down for some nice food and tea.
We enjoyed the great surroundings and the delicious food. Our ship can be seen in the port from the Hotel. This tour was essentially over but we didn’t want to return to the ship yet. All aboard was 4 pm and we had plenty of time to check out the cable car ride and the toboggan ride.
The cable car takes one up to the town of Monte. It is about a 15 minute ride up to the top. We planned to ride the wicker toboggan back down. This used to be an important means of transportation. Wicker toboggan’s with wooden tracks are steered down the mountain by two men.
The ride up to the top was less than spectacular because of the weather. Not much to see. When we arrived at the top, the toboggan ride was closed for the day. Weather. Here is a photo of what we hoped we would do.
We decided to walk down the 2.5 miles to town. Big mistake as it was very steep. One hour to do 2.5 miles. Some nice views of Funchal on the way.
We make it down very carefully. On the way back we saw what looked like a middle school being dismissed for the day. Up or down on the city streets was a way of life. For us it was a bit of a struggle.
We made it back to the downtown area and decided to try the local beer and wine. The Madeira wine is more of a Sherry in my opinion. Fortified with other ingredients to make it taste the way it does. The local Bock beer was excellent.
We enjoyed our drink and then walked a few blocks to our shuttle back to the ship. The ship was docked in a working port and it was nicer to take the shuttle.
Seeing this after a long day is very nice. We made it back before 4 pm.
Terri took a few photos at dinner as we left the island.
We did finish the evening with some cards out on the rear Lido deck but bedtime came early.…
We are near the end of our Atlantic crossing and getting ready for our first port in Madeira. 8 am is our scheduled arrival time. Tuesday we are in Madeira, Wednesday we are in Arrecife which is one of the Canary Islands and then Wednesday and Thursday we are overnight in Morocco.
The Captain took to the PA at noon and started with the Covid 19 mask requirement. He said the he did know it was the 7th day of the trip and he would have an answer later in the day on wether to relax the requirement. It was later in the day and we were at team trivia when he made the announcement. No more masks for the time being. The ship erupted in cheers and applause. For the first time, I was able to see what the wait staff actually looked like.
Terri is doing lots of watercolor painting and I finished the Big Fraud Book. I highly recommend it.
We skipped the evening entertainment and played some cards. Early to bed as we lose another hour tonight.
It’s Sunday and there is a brunch at 11 am in the main dining room. It didn’t fit into our busy schedule. Maybe next week.
I decided to include some photos of areas of the ship where we spend most of our time.
The balcony off of our room. We are on the starboard side of the ship and most of the journey across the Atlantic meant that we looked south.
The lower promenade deck or deck 3. This is the deck where lifeboats would be launched in the event of an iceberg. It is the only deck below deck 9 where passengers can walk outside. Many use this deck to walk or power walk. Some more serious than others. 3.5 laps is a mile.
This is the view of the bridge from our balcony. There is a tv screen up there where I can see the speed of the ship. There is a number on either side of the speed indicator. It changes with the swells and pitch of the ship.
This is the Lido deck or deck 9 midship. There is swimming pool here and the ceiling can be opened and closed. Many will sun bathe here or have lunch. The breeze is nice and not over powering. Travel on this deck to the front of the ship and you arrive at the gym. One flight up to the Crow’s Nest Bar. Best views are from there. Travel towards the rear of the ship and you reach the Lido Restaurant. Self serve style eating here.
The rear of the ship on the Lido Deck. Another pool. Great for evening card games under the stars.
The dining room is at the rear of the ship on decks 4 and 5. There are many more places for pictures but these are the areas we spend the most time in.
We have been noticing more and more people that like to complain. At breakfast there was a woman complaining to the waitstaff about how her muffin wasn’t a muffin. A muffin is supposed to be light and fluffy on the inside. This is not a muffin. The patient waitstaff employee offered many things to the angry complainer. ”Can I get you this? Can I get you that?” Complaining to a 20 yr old whose only job is to make you happy is a waste of precious life. Why someone would elect to take a 71 day cruise and then ruin it by being miserable? I’m not beyond complaining but let’s make sure it is a valid complaint to the correct person. Spread some happiness not misery.
Tomorrow is our last day at sea and then we begin our tour of Africa with our first stop Tuesday morning.…
We are a little more than halfway across the Atlantic Ocean. We have been getting a little bit of rain. Since there is nothing but ocean all around it is easy to see storms in different areas of the sea. Some produce lightning but we haven’t been through anything severe.
As we travel east, our balcony is in the sun most of the day. Temps in the 80s. It is much cooler and shady on the other side of the ship. We will experience this from Cape town until Florida.
The Captain came on the PA system at noon for his usual announcements about the position of the ship and the current and future weather. He did mention the results of the Covid tests. Good news he says, the majority of passengers are Covid Free but there were a few cases. This is very common he said. We will continue the mask mandate for the first seven days and I will let you know if we will be able to relax this rule in the next few days. Nothing about tomorrow being day seven.
Most folks ignore the masks or only put them on in the hallways. Team trivia – no masks, dinner – no masks, wine tasting-no masks, evening theater performance-no mask.
Our cruise director, Jeremy, is giving presentations each day about the first few ports of call. Our first stop is Funchal which is on an island and is part of Portugal. We do have a HAL tour at that port which takes up about half of the day. The next two ports are in Morocco. We have an overnight tour here. It’s important to get information about passports and visas needed at these presentations. We will need our passport since we are leaving the ship and staying overnight. Visa will be given upon arrival.
Team trivia teams are just about set. We do not have a regular team and we did the 1 o’clock session on our own and faired pretty well. I’m good at the science and math questions. Hydrogen is atomic number one. I did miss the only letter not to appear on the periodic table. I did consider J but changed it to Q. Answer. J. Terri takes all of the art questions. Musical lyrics are usually a tossup. I don’t listen to lyrics. I did take a stab at the first line of Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a line, just not the first.
Tonights entertainment was the BBC Earth presents. Photos with recorded music backed up by live musicians. We aren’t fans of this and didn’t attend. It always reminds me of the scene in Soylent Green where the character played by Edward G. Robinson has had enough and decides to ”go home”. He goes to a place where he is given a glass of poison to drink and he watches pictures with music of the past. He soon dies while watching. If you are sci fi fan you will know what Soylent Green, a mass produced food, is made of.
We played cards on the Lido deck at the rear of the ship. We had the place almost entirely to ourselves. It is a great place to watch the sunset and have a drink.
Some folks from back home have been asking how it is that we can be on a ship this long. Let’s see, 5 star accommodations, outstanding food, live entertainment, activities all day, laundry shows up folded or on a hangar, room cleaned twice per day, exercise equipment, swimming pools. Staff that is trained to be customer focused. Staff thanks us for attending every single meal. It doesn’t matter if it is the waitstaff, the engine room staff, the ship administration. All will not let you pass without say hi. The room stewards know us by name. Did I miss something? I guess on the other side is the poor internet and Covid protocols. Both are really not a function of the cruise industry. By cruise ship standards, this ship is quite small. This allows us in more ports than most. There is not anytime that I feel I need to get off the ship. Want to take in a movie? There is a theater aboard. …
We got up on another 23 hour day. Breakfast and then back to the room for the mandatory Covid 19 antigen self test. Our room steward was right on time delivering the test to our room at 9:30. Easy enough to follow the instructions provided by the ship’s doc. 10 minute wait for results. Red = good, Blue = bad. Of course ours were fine. We took a photo, showed them to room steward and off to the gym.
The ship was rolling quite a bit and it really influences the workout. I was doing a plank and rode up the crest of a wave. Wow. Major pressure. I almost lost form. It does make for some exciting elliptical or treadmill workouts.
The captain announced at lunch that all of the antigen test results were not yet in. My guess is that he will not say anything until the 15 days to slow……….I mean the 7 day mask mandate is over. He will then announce that everyone has tested negatively but out of an abundance of caution, the mask mandate will stay in place for another week.
Team trivia has become the most popular game on the ship. The 1 pm general knowledge trivia in the Crow’s Nest is perfect. Not too crowded and there is always people looking for others to join them. The 4:30 pm team trivia is packed. It takes up a good portion of mid ship deck 5. The game hosts vary between a woman from Colombia and a woman from Argentina. Deciphering the pronunciation of words is the real challenge. The actual trivia is secondary. Accenting the wrong syllable is usually the case. Is it IN-sur-ance or in-SUR-ance? In this case it was the citizens of Tibet. ti-BET-ans. TI-bi-tans just doesn’t sound the same. Why do Tibetan women grow long fingernails on their little fingers? Struggle for a minute and then tell your partner that is must be for ??????? Did you guess picking their noses? One of the questions was about Freddie Mercury’s birthplace. I’m not a fan at all but the answer is Zanzibar. We will be visiting there on this trip.
Another outstanding dinner in the dining room. I prefer the dining room to the Lido because the chef has already decided what side items go with each dish. The same food is available in the Lido but you decide on sides and quantities. Too much work.
The evening entertainment was Polish cellist Mariusz. He played an electronic cello shaped like a thick broomstick. No acoustical qualities. Just electronic pickups. He was obviously a very accomplished musician. He open with the Sabre Dance and had a very mixed repertoire. Meditation was performed beautifully. I could do without the Queen tune. He said he used to travel with both his acoustic and electric but the electric is just so much easier to travel with. I would have preferred the acoustic. Much sweeter sound. I give the performance a 9.
We awoke to another time change. We are now 3 hours ahead of home. 25 hour days are much easier on the body than the current 23 hour days. The internet is becoming a big headache. The ship is small by cruise ship standards but 1400 people trying to get online through satellite internet is a problem. You pay HAL for the number of devices you want to connect to the internet. Each device adds hundreds to the bill. I brought along a travel router that solves this problem. As long as I have it and we are together, we can both use the internet with the one device package we purchased. In our room we can both use iphones, MacBooks, and ipads. It doesn’t make the connection faster but it does allow multiple devices to be used. Once set it works great but like any piece of technology it fails for no apparent reason. Often.
We slept in some and had lunch. I caught up on some reading and Terri power walked. After lunch we did team trivia. I’ve learned that some trivia questions are used over and over and most of the teams know the answer. Largest mammal. Largest Bird. The only mammal that can fly. We met some folks from Salt Lake City and from Brisbane. Hard to hide the accent. We also met a couple from Manhattan. Hard to hide the accent.
When in Kindergarten you talk about what you hope to be. In your 20s you talk about who you are. In your 50s you talk about what you did. 60s you talk about what you are going to do. On this kind of cruise where everyone is post-career, there is very little of this kind of talk. Everyone is the same. I ask the gentlemen next to me if he was sure about where those bones were located in the human body. He said ”yes, I’m a doctor”. No one seated was impressed or unimpressed. It was just ”what it is”. We had a question about what the term ”piano” meant. Every musician knows the answer. ”I’m a musician and it means soft”. It had the same effect as ”I’m a doctor”.
Wine tasting was at 2pm in the dining room. This is one of the perks we earned for being 4 star mariners. We tried 2 white and two red from the Northeaster United States. I’m not big on wine. I think I gave each a 2. All of the swirling, smelling and staring at the wine didn’t change the taste. I’d rather have grapes. Terri was with me on the scoring except the last one. She gave it an 8. I was impressed with the cheese, grapes, and crackers. Yummy. Would go great with a bottle of Red Stripe. Mon.
The evening entertainment was the corporate sponsored group. Usually referred to as the Holland American Singers and Dancers. This group was referred to as the Zaandam singers and dancers in reference to the name of our ship. On past cruises they have been outstanding. Very polished and fun to watch and listen to. This group, not so much. Our cruise director, Jeremy, did say it was their first of 10 shows. It did look like a first performance. Harmony was off in spots as was timing in dancing. The show was call Swing Time and had nothing but great classics that they sang and danced to. The singers did not know how to swing. The vocalists were satisfactory singers but were not singing the correct style. They are young and have a way to go. 6 is all I could give.
The water ocean is producing huge swells. If you aren’t sea worthy, this is where it will show up.
Tomorrow is a mandatory covid 19 antigen self test. The entire ship will do this and the results go to the captain. If no one had Covid when they boarded Monday, and they don’t have it now, will the Captain release the feed bag or mask requirement? We are waiting.…
Breakfast and then gym for me. Terri took a water color class and then did some power walking on the promenade. I met her down there and took my book The Big Fraud. You can guess what it is about.
We did team trivia after lunch. I think we have found our team as we tied for first place with 15 out of 18 correct. We were stumped when asked for the name of the things at the end of a shoe lace and the year Google was created but did get the largest bird and the age of Jimi Hendrix when he died. The team next to us were sure to tell us that they were from Flint, Michigan. I have a feeling they have been insulted by people in the past. “Yes, there are people from Flint that can afford a cruise. No, we don’t have lead in our water or our blood, there is a large factory that produces (a large number) of cars and produces millions of dollars per day.” What a nice introduction. We hope to learn more about our team tomorrow.
The wind was picking up today and the ship was rocking more than usual. This makes for great sleeping but difficulty walking down the hallway.
Formal Gala night in the dining room.
My Date
We finished the evening on the Lido deck near the back of the ship. Difficult blog day. Internet crawling.…
