-

At Sea, December 26


I forgot to mention Christmas dinner on the ship - we joined a table for 6 people in the main dining room, Compass Rose, which was really nice.  Pat, from Vancouver, had brought special Xmas tree light decorations for the table, others around us had brought bonbons and other decorative pieces, many women dressed in amazing outfits and it was really a great atmosphere. Aside from the usual fare, Turkey and pumpkin pie was served in all the restaurants on board. Someone took a pic of us at the table and the lady from Wales gave me her card so that I could send her the photo.  I’ve just looked at it and she’s ‘Lady Aylward’!!!  We weren’t introduced formally, she just said ‘I’m Angela’!!! Her husband is Prof Sir Mansel Alwyard CB!  So there, he was just Mansel to us too!!!!! I know he is or was in the medical field. 

The Turkey was amazing!!!!  Tender and juicy, just like my mother used to make! And even the stuffing was delicious.  Served with sweet potato, green beans and cranberry sauce it was perfect! Pumpkin pie is definitely not plum pudding but of course when in Rome………!!  It was nice too.  Is interesting talking about Christmas food, so many different options and traditions! 

We received a beautiful dark blue paperweight from Regent, the problem is it’s very heavy!  There’ve been lots of gifts along the way, some we can use others not! I heard last night that the fancy dinner we were treated to in Dubai was $1200 per head!  I am not surprised, it was memorable! 

Todays weather is terrible - not cold but coolish, rainy, very windy and there’s movement on the ship.  I think most are very seasoned travellers and taking no notice.  Lunch on the pool deck was interesting - like a mad house as sun bakers took cover from the heavy rain and then the wind blew the rain under cover and we all scrambled for a table - couldn’t miss a meal due weather haha!! 

This afternoon I positioned myself in the observation lounge, talked to the girls, caught up on some reading and messaging, then people arrived for ‘guess that tune’.  Definitely sent me to the land of nod!!! When I woke up they were starting trivia!!!! So I took a card and played trivia by myself - G was beside me by then but using his phone so he didn’t participate. Of 15 questions I got 6 right!  I’m taking Chloe on my next cruise!!!

It’s almost time to start the packing panic - would be so easy to go with the ship to Melbourne but it’s not an embarkation port.  Speaking of panic I’m also panicking about how I’ll ever cope when I get home - who will make my bed, clean the bathroom, have a cocktail at the ready, make my breakfast, lunch and dinner! 

It’s 8 weeks today since we joined the ship in Istanbul and I have to say we’ve not seen any sea life along the way - with the exception of a few birds close into a couple of ports.  Not even any jumping fish! I wonder why? 

Shared a table with Mary & Alan from near Byron Bay tonight. And then went to the show - yes, both of us.  It was fantastic, a song and dance extravaganza from Broadway, My Revolution. Great British music from Lulu, the Kinks and of course Beatlemania!  The dance routine was spectacular but such a challenge for the dancers as the ship is moving around quite a bit.  I’ve no idea how they managed to do what they did. 

Popular posts from this blog

-
Safaga, Egypt, November 11 Well, I’m a bit light on for news today - I’ve picked up a cold, probably due to the coughing ‘symphony in x-minor’ of people on the bus in Jerusalem a couple of days ago.    So unless I talk about what I had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, there’s not a lot to say!!! I did have a small tour booked, a Red Sea Beach Break , total of about 5 hours, at the Sheraton Soma Bay.    George went and said it was quite a nice resort but that the tide was out and he had to walk a long way to get past his knees!  A lot of passengers have left the ship for an overnight in Luxor, and others are flying there early tomorrow morning for the day.    G has a full day tour to the Valley of the Kings, I think about 13 hours.    We are here overnight, the port itself is unimpressive and no port shop nearby.    I didn’t arrange anything for tomorrow, will buy a postcard!!  I must say it was very enjoyable being on the ship ...
Read more
-
Salala, Oman, November 17 Off the ship today in Salala after 4 sea days. Lots of people were very pleased about that! Salala is probably not a place I’d come back to, it really doesn’t have much to offer although it is apparently a haven for local holiday makers.    Is clean, and has lovely buildings, though not skyscrapers like we’ll see in the Emirates of course.    Our tour was for about 5 hours, first stop at the Mosque.    Our lovely guide demonstrated how he prays, and showed us copies of the Koran which can’t be touched unless by someone of Islam faith.    Was a nice Mosque, much less busy than earlier ones.  Next stop was at the souk but that was disappointing - every shop, all outdoors, had pretty much the same stuff, and I doubt anyone bought a thing. Frankincense is a typical thing to but here as it only grows in three places, Oman, Sudan and Yemen!   Back on the bus we were driven over 20 kms to a beach - I reckon if we ...
Read more
-
Newcastle, December 28 What a lovely surprise to look out our windows this morning and to see blue skies, sun shining, no humidity and then pulling into the harbour in Newcastle!    Everything looked pristine! Our daily Passages bulletin describes Newcastle as being famous for coal exporting, being the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, but also its music scene is now very famous too. If I mention Silver Chair, The Screaming Jets and Vacations, you’ll all know that they are highly successful Australian Bands and are products of Newcastle! I’m not going to take coals to Newcastle by saying any more about the place as you’ll all have been here - we stayed here a few years back ourselves but we’d never been to the Hunter Valley wine area so took a trip there today.  Entitled ‘Cheese and wine of the Hunter Valley’ our bus left at 9am and we drove to the McGuigan Winery where we first tasted 6 different cheeses - all delicious.    Then into the wine tasting...
Read more