Dubai - Nov 19

Dubai Nov 19

By Jain

Well we made it.. we are in Dubai. Our 21 day cruise seems to have just flown by. Would we do it again? Yes….definitely. Some of our friends we have met on the ship are going on to Singapore, which is another 21 days, and even some are staying on for another 12 days to Hong Kong.  That's a long time on a ship even in the best suite this ship has to offer. There are a few good reasons not to stay on board that long. First of all you would double your weight, 2) you would be broke from the shore excursions or the casino and 3) You would tire of room service delivering canapés and chocolate strawberries. But on the bright side you could learn to play bridge, or learn to juggle fruit, whereas you might become a performer on the ship's Stardust stage.

We have met many people on this ship. Some we will miss, some maybe not. It is easy to make friends when you are living in such tight quarters. For the most part these passengers are seasoned travelers. Which makes sense. Very few first time cruisers are going to take their first  cruise for 21 days. The other day one man proudly exclaimed this was his 55th cruise!

I like cruises but my philosophy is the same as I have about Disneyland...it would be a great place if it wasn't for all the kids. And cruise ships would be great if it wasn't for all the 2,000 other passengers.  But such is life and since we don't own a private yacht.. there you go.  Even with sharing the boat with 2,000 passengers cruising is a great way to see a lot of different countries and at a pretty cost effective price.

Many countries immigration practices differ and come with their own little funny things you have to do. In Dubai you have to get off the ship the day before you actually leave the ship. So we had to get off the ship today and pass immigration so tomorrow we can just walk off.  Dubai requires a formal immigration face to face interview with each passenger. Our interview was about 20 seconds long and then we were cleared to go ashore. Which by the way we can officially declare United Arab Emirates as our 100th country we have visited to date. Just think only 100+  countries left.

After passing immigration you can't go back on the ship for another two hours. There is nothing to do in the port, you can't walk around, nothing to see except if you scheduled a tour. We didn't have any tours scheduled since we are here for three more days. However we were lucky to get a free shuttle from the port to the Mercado Mall. It was a nice ride and it is a really, really nice mall with upscale, expensive shops. We walked around ½ an hour were treated to a delicious piece of chocolate from exquisite chocolatier, Patchi. Patchi is a luxury brand of chocolates handcrafted in the middle east. Individual pieces probably costs $4.00 each. After our shopping and chocolate tasting we got back on the shuttle to get back to the ship to eat a free lunch and pack.

On our final night we went to Gatsby's Bar and had a glass of champagne. As we looked around the bar it was packed, with some people we know and some we just recognized. After 21 days on this ship it was like we are a family… it feels comfortable.. and when the musical duet starting playing the song from the the Titanic I knew this cruise was finally over.

See you when we go on our trip to Cartagena, Columbia at Christmas.

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Muscat, Oman - Nov 18

Fri Nov. 18th Muscat, Oman

By Jain

Muscat is the port capital of Oman. The city is very pretty and surrounded by mountains of rock. The terrain in Oman actually is quite varied, having some rains during the monsoon season, the landscape turns green part of the year. This time of the year is mostly brown and barren, however Muscat has many beautiful parks where the lawns are green and  perfectly manicured and flower gardens are everywhere. It is a very clean city, the cleanest we have been to in a long time, and apparently very friendly since locals were waving at us as our bus passes by.

The Sultan has made a rule that there are to be no buildings to be more than 10 stories high. All new buildings have to have a traditional appearance and they can only be painted in tan or white.  Because of these regulations he has created a beautiful city landscape.  Muscat is known for their excellent schools, hospitals (every citizen has free medical care) and a thriving economy. A far cry from when his father was Sultan and the literacy rate for the entire country was almost  zero.  Now it is 91%. Back then Oman had only 6 miles of paved roads. Now they have 22,800 miles. With the Sultans pledge on improving infrastructure the country is now a model for all developing countries.

On our Hop on Hop Off bus tour we didn't really hop off too many times but we did get off to see the famous Mutrah souk. This souk is full of narrow alleys packed with colorful shops selling perfumes, incense, silver, bedu jewelry and a whole lot of frankincense. Frankincense comes the dried up sap from a boswell tree and smells kinda like pine, lemon and wood. It is said to have excellent health benefits to reduce stress, anxiety, pain, boost immunity and even fight cancer. It is a "cure all" just like those little Carter's liver pills, back in the day. By the way this stuff is so popular through the centuries Muscat has created the biggest Frankincense Burner monument located on top of the hill overlooking the city. I am sure it is the biggest incense burner tribute I will ever see in my lifetime.

While browsing in the souk it is amusing to watch our fellow tourists negotiate. I saw an old Chinese women pick up a scarf and shout loudly across the room to the shopkeeper, "How Much Is This?" He answered. She said "Too much, That Too Much" . The shop owner turned around to help another customer when a minute later she shouted, "Ok... Ok you got a deal".  Boy she sure drives a hard bargain.

On our two hour bus tour we also saw the Sultan's palace. Too bad it was closed because today happens to be the Sultan's birthday, which by the way, is a National holiday. We drove past the central business district, Royal Opera House, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. The Seashore of Shari is a very wealthy area of town and we got to see a little of the countryside oil storage facilities. It was one of the best hop on hop off bus trips we have ever taken.. and believe me we have taken a few.

Back on the boat we eat, drink, exercise, eat, drink, then and see the  show "Las Vegas". It was pretty darn good. The show ending gave tribute to the ship's staff from various departments. As a hundred staff members proudly marched in and took the stage they received a standing ovation. It was a great finish to our second to last cruise day.

Tomorrow we will be in Dubai. Since we arrive at 12 noon we don't have to leave the ship until the next morning.

Talk to you tomorrow.

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Oman Coast - Nov 17

Nov. 17th At Sea Oman Coast

By Jain

It's a long way from Salalah to Muscat, Oman about 600 miles so it's another sea day. The sun was out and it was hot, the captain reported the air temperature to be 78 degrees and the water temperature the same! Jay decided to lay on our chaise lounge on our deck and bask in the sunshine.  Our cabin balcony is aft so it is not windy, if you go by the pool everything has to be tied down and you better eat those french fries  quick or before you know it they will be on their way to Yemen.

By the way, if you "graze" at the pool Topsider Bar and Grill your choices are limited to hotdogs and hamburgers, french fries, ice cream. I don't know how they can screw up a hotdog but let's just say 7-11 dogs have nothing to worry about. One thing for sure this ship's hotdogs are not flying anywhere.  Of course on most sea days you can skip the Topsiders Grill and indulge in the buffet on pool deck. They usually are barbecuing some meat of some sort, today however they are making paella. Our Food and Beverage chief officer Messiah and the Executive Chef Orwell are  competing to create the perfect paella. We skipped the tasting, so I don't know who won.

Our dinner last night was wonderful. Cagney's Steakhouse is simply the best. We enjoyed shrimp cocktail, potato soup, Iceberg wedge salad with bleu cheese dressing (with bacon bits of course), filet Mignon, apple pie with big scoop of vanilla ice cream.. yes we were stuffed but happy.  Every day Jay says, "I don't want to eat or drink anything again."  

This morning we went to the future cruise lecture detailing Norwegians cruises for the next 2 years. It was very informative and we are planning our next cruise (like we need any encouragement). We also attended the Norwegians Star crew talent show. It is one of the best shows they have on board. There is nothing like seeing your favorite bartender juggle bottles of liquor, or hear the Washy Washy girl sing her lungs out, or  maintenance crew dance. Some of these acts are heads and tails above the regular showtime entertainment. Surprisingly, our waiter for dinner tonight was the juggler in one of the featured acts. He is from South Africa, a soft spoken guy, but boy oh boy can he balance the bread, two bowls of soup and salad.

Of course it doesn't take much talent to beat some of the on board showtime entertainment. For example there was one act where a girl who is a contortionist and folds herself in a suitcase. Then there was the phoney hypnotist (who we liked the first time we saw him) but we questioned his skills when we saw his second show. The same volunteers from the audience came on stage to participate! I mean how many times do you want to see the same people pretending they are asleep and fake acting like a monkey? It might be more believable for them to act like a jackass.

The other night we went to Motown Girls performance… and they were just plain awful… many walked out of the show..we stayed hopeful something good was gonna happen, it never did.  By the way we saw the "Motown Girls" leaving the ship with their glitter mini shirts and 4 inch heels. They looked like they were trying to negotiate for a taxi in Salalah. Good luck with that. I guess they didn't get the message about the expected dress requirements either.

I will end this update with a positive note. Today's performance at the Starlight Theatre the best so far. It was the Barricade Boys quartette singing Broadway hits from Les Miserable, the Jersey boys. The show was outstanding…. see I can be nice when I want too.

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Salalah, Oman Nov 16

Wed. Nov. 16th Salalah, Oman
By Jain

After four days at sea we arrive in Salalah, Oman. It is our 99th country to visit in our world travels.  Well maybe we won't officially count it as 99 until we reach Muscat, Oman the day after tomorrow, since we were only in Salalah, on shore for ½ an hour. We had planned to spend the day looking around and going to one of their beautiful beaches, but we're quickly discouraged. Our experience on shore was like being thrown in a shark tank.

We took the ship's shuttle to the port gate. When we got off and quickly were surrounded by100 Arab taxi drivers vying for our business. Trying to negotiate the one mile trip downtown among the other 50 bewildered tourists with their mouths open... was crazy. The best we could do was get the price down to $50.00. That is $50.00 for one mile, one way. We decided that was nuts and proceeded to catch the shuttle back to the ship. Others followed our lead basically muttering, "Let's get the Hell out of here." We had been warned that taxi rates were high, but didn't think they thought of us as stupid. We will do our sightseeing when we get to Muscat, Oman where we will be taking the hop on hop off bus.

Oman not too long ago was a poor country. That was until  Quaboos bin Said planned a coup against his father the Sultan in 1970. He actually tried to contract for his assassination, but that failed. He was successful in having him exiled to Great Britain.  (These kids today.) Once he was Sultan he ended the country's isolation and took back the oil revenues so long enjoyed by Great Britain and U.S. Since that time, education, public works, and tourism have taken off. The port of Salalah is huge, modern and construction is everywhere. I can't speak of the city cause I didn't see it.

The Sultan has been in power now about 40 years. Basically the Sultan government works like this, 'What Sultan wants, he gets and what he wants to happen, happens", otherwise heads roll. There are no checks and balances. In recent years there have been numerous protests against his leadership and he has surprisingly responded to some requests; one specially, creating more jobs.

The Oman people are supposed to have the reputation of being friendly and helpful to tourists (I can't vouch for that). In return they ask tourists to respect their ways and traditions. I can't tell you how many times in the past 3 days, there have been public announcements, notices in ships newsletters, and signs asking the guests to dress conservatively when going ashore. Conservative dress here is long pants and long sleeve shirts for both men and women. On the shuttle bus there were people wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts. People amaze me. Its no wonder our taxi quote went up to $50.00!

Anyway returning to the ship we had a great afternoon at the ship's pool. P.S., it is hot here. Tonight we are having dinner at Cagney's Steakhouse so no afternoon canapés for us; unless of course they are chocolate yummies.

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Arabian Sea Nov 15

Tues Nov 15th Still in the Arabian Sea
By Jain

With the clocks turned forward an hour it was really only 5:30 a.m. when Jomar delivered our coffee and orange juice. Jay answered the door and I was sleeping. Jomar Sapungan, our butler, is very efficient and respectfully calls before he comes to our cabin door. In addition to delivering our morning coffee and juice, each afternoon he delivers a cheese plate, chocolate strawberries or some fancy canapés.  Before he was butler he probably was a room steward or dining room steward. Longevity and a proven track record of providing excellent customer service are essential if you want to be moved up the ladder.  Some butlers could be hired with no prior experience if they have a degree in  hospitality and extensive food and beverage experience, but having previous cruise ship experience tops all. In his position as butler he will probably get additional tips for his service at the end of the cruise. Most cruise lines now charge each passenger a  mandatory amount for gratuities, yet it only seems right to give them more for all they do.

Cruise Lines will brag they have 60 or more nationalities on a ship but admit to hiring in what is called a "stratified" manner; which is a polite way to say they hired certain nationalities for certain jobs. Their long standing contracts with recruitment agencies perpetuates this hiring practice. For the most part cruise housekeepers are Filipino, food service staff are South Asian, cooks are Indian or Asian, deckhands are African or Southeast Asian, Security staff are Italian. Cruise directors, activity staff,entertainment, musicians are usually from US, Great Britain, Canada or Australia and Norwegian Cruise Captains are from Norway. (Who else would you expect to command the ship?)

Our room steward is Jeffery, my favorite.  He works hard tidying up our cabin twice a day, puts those towel animals with the chocolates on our bed every evening. By the way I am not really a fan of towel animals, (no wonder they have to wash so many towels on aboard), but at least on this cruise there has been a variety; elephant, shark, crab, pig, armadillo, and I think a monkey. Sometimes it's hard to tell what they are but the effort is appreciated. Jeffrey is from the Manila, Philippines and has worked for Norwegian Cruise line for five years.  Again he has been assigned his housekeeping duties for cabin suites probably because he has had an excellent record with Norwegian. This position will yield him extra tips, which is  good thing since a typical cabin steward (housekeeper) makes only $1,600 to 2,000 a month. Of course their expenses are almost nothing allowing many to send money home to their families.

Our Concierge is Hanno Meyer. He is German, very polite, informative, helpful and very tall. Standing at 6 foot 7 inches tall, he has learned to duck under the light fixtures and some doorways. Each morning he makes sure he spends time talking to everyone, answering their questions and calming their concerns. His hometown is very near Meyer Werft, one of the major shipyards located in Papenburg, Germany. This is where many cruise ships are built and then guided down the river Ems to the sea. He has been working for Norwegian for 10 years.

I know you have heard me complain about the food and I suppose I could be critical of other things on the ship like how it is laid out, entertainment, or the process of getting on and off the ship. But I think the staff on board are excellent. Everyone is cordial, polite, willing to please. There is a 10 and 5 customer service rule everyone seems to follow. If the customer is 10 feet away you greeted with a smile, if they are 5 feet away you are verbally acknowledged. The "Washy Washy" girl who sprays you hands with disinfectant before you enter the cafeteria must say hello to a 1,000 guests a day but always has a big smile on her face that is genuine.  

On a 21 day cruise you get to know their names, where they are from, if they have families and they get to know you. Many call Jay, simply Mr. Jay. They know what he likes to drink and how he likes his eggs. The great customer service has added to the enjoyment of our vacation.

Mr. Jay is proud that I have written something that is positive!

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Arabian Sea - Nov 14th

Mon. Nov. 14th Arabian Sea
By Jain

Today is our 3rd sea day in a row. Besides keeping busy watching out for pirates and the supermoon, these sea days seem to go by quickly. There are a lot of "exciting" shipboard activities to keep us busy. Yesterday we went on a VIP behind the scene ships tour. Jay was interested in seeing the bridge, engines and all that mechnical stuff but all we really got is to see the laundry, butcher shop, freezers and kitchens.  Wow...there are sure a lot of dirty towels. The laundry crew gets my vote for the hardest working staff on the ship.

We got to walk staff corridors and elevators and stroll along what is called the I- 95 corridor.  The I-95 hallway gets its name from the freeway in Florida where Norwegian Cruise Lines is based. It goes the length of the ship from bow to stern, 1,000 feet in length. It is how the crew reports to work in their stations throughout the ship without using public spaces. It sure beats the way we have to go to find our cabin. We were disappointed that we did not get to see any of the crew cabins but from all reports they are tiny 12 x12 and most spaces house 4 crew members!

We played Name that Tune contest. We formed a team with some people from Mexico and Ohio who were a riot.  We actually did pretty darn good at guessing. Then we attended the Ice Carving Demonstration poolside. This was fascinating and since it is 85 degrees outside, the real challenge is to see if he could finish the mermaid before it melted into the pool.  This morning we accidentally wandered into the cake decorating battle between cruise director Marc and our friend Barbara from New York. It was interesting, loud, and funny, and I would say that pretty well describes Barbara.

We skipped the Tag Heuer Presentation on boutique sport watches. This hour long lecture explained the finer points of the innovation, performance and precision of this pricey sport watch. We decided our Walmart Timex watches were just fine and still ticking.

Last night, after seeing the tribute to Burt Bacharach show we wandered into the Spinnaker lounge for a nightcap and were talked into playing Deal or no Deal game. This is where we had a chance to win cash and prizes. For a mere $20.00 we had the time of our lives (just kidding of course); no cash or prizes for us.  Other activities we passed on were the Art auctions, Bingo, trivia, bridge play, Relieving Back Pain Lecture and the Look 10 years Younger Demonstration. So much to do and so little time.

Of course every day we faithfully go to the gym and get on that treadmill. Sea days tend to be crowded because 1) there is nothing else to do and 2) people probably feel guilty about how much they are eating.  But it  is obvious just looking at some people's attire they are not gym regulars. There were some men dressed in slacks, sweater vests, and wearing black shoes, lifting weights and on the treadmill. A couple of men preferred to take a more casual approach. One wore his pajamas, one wore just a bathrobe; the one that is provided to guests in their cabin.

Women were just as much a sight making their own fashion mark,  some in their mumus or beach cover ups. One lady was wearing a mini skirt going like crazy on the elliptical machine, I have never seen anyone exercise in a mini skirt.  But the topper was the lady exercising in her black bra, not a sports bra but a black lacy bra and shorts and to complete the outfit she had a scarf around her neck, probably to give her outfit a sporty look. Ah.. but who cares they are there and they are exercising.

The casino this afternoon was my best friend; making up for the past couple of days. Ship casinos are only open when the ship is out to sea. Thank God.

Tomorrow is another sea day, then the following morning we land in Salalah, Oman.  We have just received our Freestyle daily flyer, thrilled to see  tomorrow's activities include a Sudoku challenge, basic cha cha class, more bingo and karaoke madness. Sounds like it might be a good day poolside.

We are reminded to turn our clocks ahead an hour tonight, keep the curtains closed and lights out.  We are officially in the Arabian Sea passing through the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia and hopefully traveling safely through the troubled waters.

Goodnight

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The Red Sea - Nov 13

Sun. Nov. 13th The Red Sea

By Jain

We are somewhere out in the vast Red Sea. The Captain has reported that Saudi Arabia is on our port side and Sudan is on our starboard. From our deck we see nothing but sea, so in my opinion we could be anywhere.  Tonight the Captain says we will be close to Yemen. The Middle East as a whole is an unhappy region. Let's just say Yemen is very unhappy and an unstable country with no love loss for the U.S, as seen by the recent missile attacks on our American warships.

Because of our location in a high risk area, the Captain has announced they will be closing off the Promenade deck (deck 7) from sunset to sunrise, since they will be turning off all lighting and setting up security measures. We are again advised to keep our cabin curtains closed and lights off. Passengers are to remain calm and assured the restaurants are open as is the casino and ship stores. I am sure the Name that Tune contest as well as Line Dance Party in the Spinnaker Lounge will go on as usual.

Cruise ships per se have not been specifically targeted more than anything else in the world. But terrorists or pirates have attacked cruise ships in this area. Pirate attacks and holding passengers is not that far fetched. The worst was the terrorist attack on a cruise ship excursion group in Tunis where 17 were killed and 20 injured. In 2013 on a British cruise ship passengers were shot by armed robbers in Barbados and cruise passengers were robbed at gunpoint in St.Lucia. Of course there was the Captain Phillips movie about Somali pirates invading a U.S. containership.  I hope our Captain is as good as Captain Phillips, played by Tom Hanks. Not a good movie to watch prior to going on a Middle East cruise.

Cruise Lines will change their  itinerary immediately in response to any incidents. If they believe they are in danger they simply alter the course.  Good to know but I'm not sure that's any help to our ship since there aren't a lot of places to go.

There are no guns on cruise ships. Although they won't specially disclose security protocols, they do acknowledge all ships have undercover security staff. Probably the guys we were chatting with at the It's Five Somewhere bar watching the Karaoke. In case of piracy you are told to move out of your stateroom, stay away from windows and doors and sit down.

The best defense cruise ships have is an acoustic warning device. In the case of an unwanted vessel approaching the ship can use high pitch sound directed at them that causes intense pain. Some cruise ships have mechanism to drop logs on approaching skiffs, and they can always use water hoses to keep bad guys off. Holland America's ship 'Amsterdam' took the direct approach and installed barbed wires on its 3rd deck (that's the first deck the pirates could possibly board.)  They also have installed water hoses that point down from the water line. Piracy prevention seems to be everybody's business, when the MSC Melody cruise ship was attacked the passengers threw deck chairs and tables as their first line of defense!

As we approach Yemen the Captain has mentioned it is full throttle ahead, to get as far away as possible. He assures us that safety and security is first and foremost.

On a lighter note he also went on and on about how rare a treat it is for us to experience the super moon.  This super moon is very rare event where  a full moon in its orbit is closest to the earth, a very spectacular sight. Last super moon was in 1948 the next one will be 2036. He says don't miss it. My question is how are we gonna see it with all the curtains closed?

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