En Route To Muscat, Oman - Day 52

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

We forgot to mention that the other evening we learned that on the next two legs of the World Cruise while we are in the ports of Kuwait, Iran and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia that the ship will not be allowed to have any liquor in the bars or the staterooms. Therefore, Crystal will coordinate with housekeeping to have any liquor removed from the staterooms while we are in these ports. Of course, the liquor would be returned afterwards. We thought that at a minimum based on what we had read that this would happen in Saudi Arabia so this was not a surprise to us.

We were also reminded about the dress codes for some of the areas that we will be visiting in Oman, Iran, Kuwait, UAE and Saudi Arabia. We will be sure that we dress appropriately in each of these areas.

Before dinner last evening we spent time with our Travel Specialist, Lynn, who has just joined this leg of the World Cruise. We look forward to spending time with Lynn and her husband Allen during over the next couple of weeks.

We enjoyed a very nice dinner and dined with one of the officers of the ship. We enjoyed a wonderful conversation along with a delicious meal. All three of us had the Sea Bass as our entrée and it was delicious. The ship remained docked in Mumbai until our scheduled departure time of 12:00 Midnight. This late departure allowed those passengers who went on overland’s to places such as the Taj Mahal to arrive back to the ship on time and also provided an opportunity for some passengers to dine in Mumbai. The feedback from those who went on the various tours and the overland’s been very positive. For many, this was their first time in Mumbai. This is a city that is definitely way overcrowded and one to be very careful circumventing on ones own. Even those who ventured out on their own were very careful where they went. We heard lots of interesting stories about those who negotiated for cabs similar to the experiences we had in 2008 after we got back from a tour and went back out on our own.

When we got back to our room last evening a few of the stewardesses, including our stewardess and assistant stewardess, were in the hallway waiting on some rooms to clean along with the Assistant Housekeeper. We wished our assistant stewardess a Happy Birthday and she thanked us for the card we had given her and we all talked about how the ship becomes a community during the World Cruise since you share so many memories and experiences with one another and have much more time to develop a bond with each other. Many times when the crew goes into port we worry about them and find ourselves giving them advice as if they were our very own children.

We will enjoy two nice days at sea as we sail to our next port of call in Muscat, Oman. This will be a start of our visit to many ports in the Middle East.

Keith awoke early and once again began his day in the Fitness Center. He is enjoying being able to workout on the Elliptical Machine and his ankle is about 95% back to normal. He was the second person there. During the workout several new passengers arrived and it was apparent that many were up very early because they were still jet lagged as many arrived in Mumbai either yesterday morning or one day earlier. After a very nice workout, he stopped by the Lido Café to bring some coffee back to the room. The new team of Lido Deck Stewards was there as they begin another new rotation. Keith spoke with Lido Deck Steward Clark for a little while. When Keith arrived back to the room Anne Marie was just leaving to begin her one-hour workout on the Treadmill. Afterwards, she stopped by the Lido Café before returning to the room for some coffee.

We enjoyed another nice breakfast in our room as we watched the Crystal Cruise Morning Show. We spoke with the butler Alexander about our plans for today and some of our plans at the upcoming ports of call.

We watched the daily morning show with hosts Rick Spath our Cruise Director and Stacey Huston our World Cruise Hostess. One of the items that was discussed was to be sure to read the daily program each night prior to arriving to the various Middle East ports of call to ensure that we all comply with the dress codes for each country we will be visiting. The dress codes do vary by country and we will discuss this more in our daily posts.

Keith did call to correctly answer one of the trivia questions, which was what was the name of the song that was a hit for Barry Manilow in 1976 that he did not write.

During Captain Glenn’s morning talk from the bridge he noted that the weather was 79 degrees Fahrenheit and that we were going 18 knots per hour.

Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “You can’t reach the top by sitting on your bottom.”

Afterwards Keith attended Rap With The Rabbi and Anne Marie attended the Catholic Mass. The discussion at the Rap with the Rabbi was quite interesting including discussions about Jewish history and Jewish life in Cochin and Mumbai, India.

Anne Marie went to the beauty salon to get her hair done while Keith attended the first lecture of the morning by Special Interest Lecturer Adrian Kerr. His presentation was titled “Ancient Persia and Alexander” and he covered how the young Macedonian King conquered the known world.

Keith then attended another presentation given by destination lecture Ken Rees. This presentation was titled “Gateways to History – Welcome to Bandar Abbas and Oman.” Ken talked about the strategically vital Straits of Hormuz and our upcoming visit to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. As usual, Ken’s presentation was outstanding. He provided lots of wonderful information and had lots of excellent photographs’ to share with all of us.

After the presentation Keith ate lunch with our friends Lynn and Allen and then Anne Marie caught up with us after she was finished with her hair salon appointment and we all stayed there while Anne Marie ate her lunch.

In the afternoon there was another nice presentation, which was given by Special Interest Lecturer Bill Miller. This presentation was titled “The Floating Palaces – The Great Atlantic Liners.”

We wanted to highlight once again how wonderful the lectures have been throughout the world cruise. We have continued to learn so much from the lecturers. Between many of the lectures and what we are seeing first hand in the ports of call, we are reminded that there is a lot of change taking place around the world and sometimes many of us do not realize all of the change that is occurring. We are reminded that too often the news in our own country is a little too focused on our own issues and therefore we don’t know as much about the rest of the world as we probably should know. There are many positives taking hold across the world but at the same time there are some issues that we need to be more aware of as we go forward.

In the afternoon, Anne Marie took an hour long walk on the Promenade Deck while Keith read, wrote and spoke with some fellow passengers.

This evening before dinner complimentary drinks were provided in all bars. We will meet Allen and Lynn for a pre-dinner drink. This evening is the first formal night for this leg of the World Cruise. After dinner, there is the Captain’s formal Welcome Reception. We will post more about all of this tomorrow.

TODAY’S THOUTHT FOR THE DAY….

“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Keith and Anne Marie