Life at sea and random thoughts.

June 9th

It’s almost three weeks since we came onboard and the “Sea Princess ” became our home. From our original thought of small cabin to our now feeling like its our  studio apartment we’ve come a long way both in distance and relaxing into the groove. 

We know our way around the ship, realise we don’t have to do anything but what we want in regards to what’s on offer. We have used the long stretch of sea days on the first segment of the world cruise Sydney to Dubai to really get in the holiday mood, ( just what we needed).

We’ve settled into having dinner each night in the dining room at our scheduled time of 7:45 and  attending the 9:45pm show. Our waiters Ronaldo and Joseph, both from the Philippines are delightful and we have lots of laughs with them. They call us all “sir” or “madam” in this lovely Filipino accent which sounds affectionately grand. 

Last night was our anniversary dinner and it’s made extra special with about 8-10 of the dining room staff coming over to sing and play a love song just for us and of course there is the “cake”. 

Rudi’s lady love Sylvie did make it onboard and will leave us at Dover when his daughter will join him till New York and Sylvie might rejoin the ship to Auckland. Sylvie is a welcome addition to our dinner table joining us for her first dinner with us last night. A retired English nurse, she is glamorous and reminds me of a young Jackie Collins. Great conversationalist and a really lively personality. Rudi was smiling from ear to ear.

We have Ten days with only the one stop at Aqaba and a tour into Petra before we hit The Mediterranean and start a busy three weeks of port calls, which will probably change our daily habits. The sea days in between we will want to relax, and prepare for the next day off the ship. Wanting to make the most of the ports to see as much and enjoy the sights and experience the food and wines of the different regions.

The last two stops, Colombo and Dubai couldn’t be more different in many regards. Colombo clearly a poor nation and honest in their presentation of their city, whereas Dubai, from the hyper spiel from the guide appeared shallow, sensationalist,  and arrogant in their efforts of one upmanship hiding their blatant exploitation of Indian workers who are the ones really building Dubai into what it is and their appalling living conditions  compared with the obscene wealth of the Emiraties citizens. The old part of Dubai is the area with real character and gives you the taste and feel of those other great African/Arabic and Muslim cities with their gold, fabric and spice souks and markets. And what a lot of lovely things there are to see. This area would bring you back here and if you just accept Dubai for what it is you could have a fun time shopping, on the water and perhaps doing a trip out to the desert. 

June 14: I’ve had my hair done at the salon today and it looks very glamorous, probably should have waited till after tomorrows trip to Petra from Aqaba when no doubt will look like a flat bedraggled mess, but will have to go out to dinner tonight to show it off. This is one of our laughs as we take turns saying our shout tonight for dinner! 

I can honestly say, there is absolutely nothing to complain about on this amazing adventure onboard ” our beautiful and friendly Sea Princess” as our Captain says everyday at the conclusion of his midday chat. The bell rings to announce noon and the captain tells us where we are and what’s coming up and then he gives a little talk about the meaning of some phrase, yesterday we learnt the man who invented the porthole was a James Baker. 

The Captain is from Italy and quite the dishy  looker. In fact Michelle not recognising him in his casual clothes told me the other day that she’d seen the first “hot bloke” on board. A couple of days later when we saw him again in his casual clothes we realised the “hot bloke” is in fact our Captain. 

We have also had a galley tour which was a real eye opener to how the ship is run by a dedicated and professional team. The cleanliness and attention to detail to give each guest the best meal they can was incredible. Even down to a sign by the door as they leave the galley.” Smile you’re entering a passenger zone. If you see a fellow worker without a smile give him/ her one of yours.
The staff are fantastic and we are really treated like Royalty, the ship is constantly being cleaned and having maintenance done to keep it “ship shape”. The food has been incredible, the entertainment has also been diverse and there have been some stand out acts. In fact James was telling me quite a few people mentioned to him that it’s been the best entertainment they’ve had on a ship, believe me that’s a big say as its incredible how many people on here have traveled for basically the equivalent of years on ships! it really is luxury living and the most fantastic value holiday.

At Dubai our cruise director and her husband and fellow entertainment director left to go home to England. Angela and Dave were a great team and extremely funny, especially Dave who was quick with his quips and cockney accent. They have been replaced with John from Trinidad and Tobago with his dreadlocks and another fun personality his new side kick is Song she hails from South Korea. The staff as you can see are very international and we love it.

We have spent the time from Dubai, totally relaxing spending long days by the pool under the shade from he mezzanine deck above. Really feel like we’re at a holiday resort. We are becoming more familiar with different people on the ship, enough for hellos and shared conversations, having breakfast in the dining room where you sit with different people widens the circle and it feels like we are on a floating hotel with a little village community. 

Last night we had an open deck party to celebrate that we have two nights without Pirate watch and forced closed deck curfew. Great night, the weather is hot and we still are bemused that the sea temperatures are the same as the air! Often 32 degrees!!

We are in awe of where we are geographically now, travelling through the Middle East, sailing past Iran, Somalia, Yemen etc places we will not likely travel to on land anytime in the near future. We are now in the Red Sea and after Aqaba tomorrow will start our transit through the Suez Canal. 

We have seen, dolphins and Whales and flying fish on the trip, always a magical sighting wherever you are in the world.