Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sunday, April 22

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This is the last post for this portion of the cruise.  The blog continues with the Aquba to Barcelona segment.

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Margaret here.  We had to get up really early (5:30 a.m.) to check in to the next leg of our cruise.  And after having arrived back to the ship about 11:30 p.m. the night before, it was somewhat of a challenge.  Then we were supposed to catch up with our tour at 8:00 a.m. for the drive to Abu Dhabi, but no one showed up until 8:30.  So by the time things got straightened out, we were an hour late getting started.  Some of us were concerned about getting back to the ship on time.  We had a 1-1/2 hour drive each way.  But, it all worked out.  Our guide was good, and we had a good overview of Abu Dhabi.  It is amazing what an unlimited budget can buy.  

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Mike here.  To clarify, what Margaret meant by an unlimited budget was not our personal travel budget!  But she was referring to what you can do as the sole ruler of an oil rich nation.  The current Emir has 4 wives each with their own huge palace to accommodate them and their 20+ children.  Plus the original Emir's palace was evidently not large enough and now there is a 10-20 times bigger palace, One dome succeeded by a 10+ dome palace.  Unimaginable personal wealth.  There is no visible security presence in front of the palaces.  CCTV coverage is everywhere and punishment is harsh under Sharia law.  The roads out of Dubai and between Dubai and Abu Dhabi are better than our interstates, again unlimited money.  We felt safe and secure in this area, but somewhat embarrassed by the amused tolerance and correction of tourist behavior and dress.

 

The people are supportive because some of that wealth is funneled back to Abu Dhabi citizens in healhcare and education.  Marriage gifts from the state include a new house, luxury car and 10,000 dirham ($2,700).  But this only applies if both husband and wife are citizens and you cannot get citizenship by marrying a citizen.  Our guide admitted that the state could grant citizenship to "special" cases or friends of the Emir.  All male citizens are required to do 6 months of military training.  Women can join but are not required to do the training.

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The main mosque is magnificent and a bragging point among the places we visited here, Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi all have fabulous mosques supported by the states.

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Food here was great, we stopped at a market after lunch and sampled some dates

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We got back to the pier with 30 minutes to spare and managed to spend our remaining dirham before boarded the ship.  We boarded just in time for the lifeboat drill, then came showers, gin and tonics and a light snack before bed.

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Dubai, UAE, Saturday, April 21

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Margaret here.  Because we'd been to Dubai in 2016, we opted to take a tour into the desert.  We rode a small tour bus out of the city, then hopped on to ancient Land Rovers for a 40 mile ride into the desert.  We saw a really cool falcon demonstration.  Falcons are prized in Arabia.  If you own one, you can get it its own passport.  And if you travel with it, you can purchase its own seat.  The photos speak for themselves, so be sure to take a look.   We purchased some of the photos from the tour guide.  There is a separate folder for the desert safari, so click here to see the photos.

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Mike here.  Not too much to add to Margaret's description.The tour was a dinner safari so we ate out in the desert, food was good.  Margaret forgot to mention her single minded focus on getting on a camel, "is this where we ride camels?" was asked several times.  Margaret looked back wistfully when we climbed into our Land Rovers and saw a group of people who had a slightly different tour that let them ride camels to the dinner encampment instead of our Land Rovers.  That group, however, was envious of our drive since 45 minutes on a camel was about 40 minutes too long for them.

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The van we took our to the start of desert tour needed to be rugged as once we left the high quality road out of Dubai and got on rougher unpaved roads we seemed to go faster and each pothole and rut was at full speed.  Back at the ship at midnighty, I had a cup of sand in each sock.  Showers and into bed for our early morning check into the second cruise leg.

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Muscat, Oman, Friday, April 20

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Mike Here.  This could be the best shore excursion ever.  Muscat is a really interesting place to visit.  We were here 2 years ago and did a ship sponsored tour.  This time we connected with the daughter of church friends who has lived and worked in Muscat for 4 years.  Rebecca teaches English at a local university and sight unseen she gave us a local perspective.  The main Souk is an intimidating warren of shops and narrow passageways.  This visit without the time pressure to meet back at the bus or else, we three wondered the market, haggled, moved on, haggled some more.  Turns out the combination of Margaret and Rebecca as joint negotiators was an awesome duo.  Especially Rebecca who was able to say that she lived there and that the price was too high, again and again.  The shopkeepers were all smiles once we made the deals but would have preferred dealing with someone who was less tuned in.  My role was to step up once the duo had reached a price they were happy with and show the money in hand.  In most cases the seller caved and took the offer.

 

Rebecca drove us up in the mountains and stopped by a local beach.  All things that a normal tour would not have given us.

 

The final highlight was the Omani National Museum.  We had been to a smaller museum before but this was a very modern building with great exhibits.  

 

We had a great day.  Thanks Rebecca! 

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Margaret here.    Ditto to Mike's comment on the great tour.  Rebecca was the perfect guide.  We so enjoyed hearing about her travels around the world, her life in Muscat and the UAE, and her plans for more travels.  She truly gave us an insider's view of life in Muscat and the culture of the Omanis.  The people are very friendly, warm, and family oriented.  They were not shy about speaking to us.  Many women wore black overdresses, but that is not required.  They do dress modestly and request that visitors do the same.  We were dismayed at the number of tourists who did not respect this custom.  

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We had visited Muscat two years ago on our previous global odyssey, but had just a short bus tour.  Then, as now, the country struck me as the ideal Muslim country.  Very clean, peaceful, and friendly.  The sultan is loved and respected. He is a firm believer in negotiating. Unfortunately, he is very ill and does not have any descendants.  The story is that he has named a successor in three separate documents that are stored in various places in Oman.  There appears to be some anxiety about what will happen when the Sultan dies.  For the sake of the Omanis, we hope he has named someone just like himself and that the transition will be smooth.

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At sea heading to Muscat, Oman, Wednesday & Thursday  April 18&19

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Mike Here.  Two lazy days at sea to catch-up on stuff.  We did laundry, paid bills and tried relentlessly to get enough bandwidth to update this website and do email.  Looking forward to a personal tour during our short day in Muscat.  I'll let Margaret fill you in on the details of that.

 

Goa, India, Tuesday, April 17

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Mike here.  Margaret took good notes on our tour in Goa and I will let her fill you in but in general we liked Goa and its long term Portuguese history better than Cochin.  But it was even hotter than Cochin.   

 

Margaret here.

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Yes, Goa was more interesting for us.  First, the ship was docked where freighters dock, so we were quite away from the town.  And it was a pretty gritty area.  But once out, things looked more like India.  Our tour guide, Max, and driver Muhammed were very nice.  Max has a lively personality and was very happy to share facts about the history of Goa.  

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At one time, 16th Century, Goa was the "Rome of the East", spreading all the way to Taiwan.  Vasco de Gama landed in 1496, and the Portuguese established itself in 1510.  It was not considered a colony, but actually part of Portugal. Things that happened in Portugal migrated naturally to Goa. Portuguese was spoken there until 1960.  At its peak, there were 50 different religious orders within a 50 kilometer area.  The large white church in the photos  was dedicated to St. Francis Xavier.  His coffin is there.  He died in 1552 on an island, and his body was brought to the church in 1554.  The brown church was the first built by the Jesuits.  When Napoleon separated church and state in 1835, the churches began to fall in disrepair (no money).  

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You will see in the photos a beautiful white church with only one belfry.  The other had been struck by lightning and was never rebuilt.  This church was built in 1592 and dedicated to St. Catherine Alexandra.  St. Catherine's feast day is the day the Portuguese conquered Goa.

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Goa is a large and prosperous city.  The roads are well built and the markets large.  There were many nice, modern, large homes.  

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We then visited a city called Panaji, where we walked through a huge market and shopping area.  A stop at a colonial-style restaurant for an ice cold beer was more than welcome!

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Thoroughly exhausted and way too hot, all of us on our tour opted for an early return to the ship.  Mike and I headed to showers, then the bar for another cold beer.

 

 

Cochin, India, Sunday, April 15

 

Mike here.  This was our 2nd visit to Cochin and we find it much the same.  There are only a few touristy landmarks here and they are on all of the tours.  We will need to find some alternatives if we come back again on another long cruise.  We booked a small group tour through our travel agent instead of through the ship and did see one new landmark.  A large, worse for the wear, palace for the local kings that was built in the 1700s and added to over the years.  It was interesting but dusty.  It seemed to get a fair amount of traffic from the locals but that local interest is not translating into repair.  They had a weapons gallery that was closed and a carriage gallery that had several dusty, faded royal carriages.  Interesting building but not what you would expect from a local landmark.

 

We were upset with the quality of the tour and one item in particular.  We are accustomed on tours to being dropped off at shops & malls that are at least mentioned in the itinerary.  This tour drove us into an industrial area up to the water front and said that we could get on a seedy looking motor boat for an hour cruise at an additional per person cost of $25 each.  This did not go over well with the group so we turned around and left.

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We got back to the ship just as it started to rain and I picked up the shirt I had bought from a shoreside vendor.  He had made it himself.  See Margaret's pictures to see me in my blue shirt with gold trimmed sleeve.

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We ate dinner with an Australian couple a couple of nights ago and their older daughter and they had used TripAdvisor in Phuket to find something recommended and interesting (Thai massage) and we may start using TripAdvisor in future trips.

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Margaret here.  The Hill Palace was actually quite interesting, I thought.  Yes, it is not well cared for.  But one can imagine how grand it once was.  And the view from the veranda was beautiful.  They did not let us even carry our purses into the building and we had to remove our shoes, too. No photography was allowed inside.  Sunday was a national holiday, being the Karishna's birthday, so everyone was dressed up.  I saw so many beautiful saris and young children dressed in beautiful brightly colored clothes.  

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I particularly enjoyed the visit to "Jew Town", a neighborhood that is actually no longer Jewish.  In fact, there are now only five Jewish families in Cochin.  Our tour guide pointed out to us a home/shop in which a 96-year-old Jewish woman lives.  She still does needlework there.  When her husband died several years ago, she could no longer afford her home, and a Muslin family purchased it, telling her that she could live there as long as she needed to.  They probably didn't think she would live this long!  It was heartwarming though to hear this story and to learn how the Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Hindi live and respect each other.  It can be done...  

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We also stopped in to the Spice Market, where a women's cooperative is housed.  We had shopped there two years ago on our last trip.  The women there are so kind and friendly.  I spent more than Mike was happy about, but it was for a good cause, right?  Be sure to look at the photos.  The elderly woman weaving fabric for a sari was there last time we were.  

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We are off to see an ice show, then who knows what?  (Alcohol will be involved:)

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At sea in the Indian Ocean, Thursday- Saturday, April 12-14

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Margaret here.​  Today is Friday the 13th.  Our second sea day after Phuket.  Yesterday we enjoyed another lecture by Pat O'Brien on Connections, and we plan to attend another one today on Culture.  The first was on Creativity, and I wish I could have a video of it.  I'll be getting a much-needed pedicure this afternoon, too.  The staff in the Spa do not seem to be as friendly as those on other ships... I shall see.  

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Yesterday we attended a cocktail event for Diamond and above members.  I sat next to a woman from Raleigh, NC, who knows my sister Carol.  Imagine that!  The event was hosted by the senior crew, and the captain introduced each of them.  Passengers with the most number of sea day points were recognized -- some had over 2,000! Then the 10 ice skaters had prepared a special presentation for us.  They gave us a "behind the scenes" look at ice skating techniques and a show just for us.  I was very impressed. 

 

I finally finished reading Ken Follett's latest book, "A Column of Fire", all 700+ pages.  Having good internet, I am able to play Words With Friends with my cousins.  Nancy continues to clobber me, but it's fun to play with Karen and Ginny. 

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Mike here.  Our Ship, Mariner of the Seas, will drop us at Barcelona and head up to Cadiz for a $125 Million refit.  It has 2,000 passengers and I think that is less than capacity.  Our room is well worn but everything works.  That is not the case for some passengers so we are happy enough with our room.  One couple has a balcony door that is too cloudy to see through.  Room fridges, drawer slides and shower drains are all grumbles from passengers. 

 

For some reason, the ship is top heavy with frequent Royal Caribbean cruisers, 60% of the passengers .  That doesn't seem a good sign for RC, shabby ship hosting their most valued customers.  Margaret and I reached the Diamond level of RC cruisers for this cruise and we were looking forward to 3 free drinks during the nightly happy hour, 4:30-8.  We didn't expect to regularly have 3 drinks but nice to know you could have a cocktail before dinner, wine with dinner and a glass of port with dessert. But now that has all changed since we got back from Phuket.  RC is giving our level and above (60% of the passengers) unlimited drinks during the happy hour!  This seems nuts but so far no riots at the bars.   Drunk passengers are happy passengers?

 

We like the art on this ship, especially the art on the walls at the landings for each set of stairs.  It is interesting.  The public areas of the ship have the usual gaudy cruise ship stuff but even that is interesting.  

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The food is OK.  Staff is good.  We haven't been to a show yet since we can't stay awake at night.  As in most cruise ships that we've been on there is a lot to do later in the evening.  We haven't been to any of it.

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Indian immigration staff came on board at Phuket and we will all have face to face interviews before we dock in Cochin.  Not a worry for us since our 10 year India visas still have 7 years to go.

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Phuket, Thailand, Wednesday, April 11

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Mike here.  Damn...Damn...Damn.   But it all turned out alright.  My personal motto proved its worth again, "I'd rather be lucky than good"  Once again on a cruise I lost my wallet.  After a full day of getting on and off a tour bus, I pulled out my wallet and gave Margaret the remaining Thai Bhat money as we left the bus to walk back to the ship.  I failed to tuck my wallet in my zippered pocket but five minutes later on the walk, I realized that my wallet was missing.  As I was pulling out what little remained of my hair, Margaret took charge and we walked back to the drop off point for the tours and they contacted the tour bus, wallet found, crisis averted.  Not going to live this down anytime soon.

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Our day also started off with an oops as my cell phone alarm was not in sync with the ships clock and we were up and dressed an hour early.  So my day started with the "look" from Margaret.

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Phuket is a mountainous peninsula to the west of the main part of Thailand.  Think of your left hand, fingers together and the thumb sticking out.  Phuket is at the end of the thumb.

 It's turned into a resort town with great beaches and tourist shopping.  Our 7 hour tour started with a visit to a large temple and a transfer to smaller vans to navigate up to a huge white marble Buddha.  We climbed up to the top and enjoyed the view.  Up close the buddha was being restored, but was still impressive.  At the temple down below there was a 20 foot tall fat bellied brick oven thing.  We had no idea what it was until they filled it with firecrackers and they all blew up for 5 minutes with thick smoke pouring out the top and holes in the sides.  Fun to watch as they lit off a new batch every 15 minutes or so. 

 

Nice Thai (what else would it be) lunch at a resort, a visit to a cashew factory/store, enormous tourist trap Jewelry operation and a shopping mall.  We made the shopping mall stop work for us as we got a few things.

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And back to the ship. (lost wallet adventure, etc.) We got back on board, Margaret made a beeline to the room to shower while I and grabbed a couple of gin and tonics, we picked up some food to eat in the room, two more gin and tonics (doubles this time, I showered and were in bed by 9, exhausted.

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Tomorrow is a sea day and I will talk about the ship itself and the crazy amount of free drinks Margaret and I could get each night.

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Sea Day, Tuesday, April 10

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Margaret here.  Mike and I took full advantage of having nothing to do.  We did attend a lecture on creativity in the morning.  It was led by an Australian man whom we heard speak on our last cruise.  He's an excellent presenter, but sadly reminds us of Greg Risberg.  I guess that's good and sad.  

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We had a delightful dinner at a shared table.  Mike can tell the story of how we managed to switch from being assigned a specific table for dinner at 8:00 p.m. to My Time Dining (where we can pop in to the dining room any time between 6 and 9).  One couple lives in Florida now, but moved there from Connecticut.  He worked at Quinnipac (SP?) University.  Small world!

 

Singaore,  Sunday, April 8

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What a great breakfast this hotel serves!  Huge buffet of just about anything you want, and very representative of the diversity of this fine city.  

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Today we plan to visit the Singapore Gardens by the Bay, and then the National Museum of Singapore.  Be back soon.....

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Mike here.  After weeks of not feeling 100% we are are in Singapore and feeling good.  It is warm (not hot!) and humid with a daily afternoon thunderstorm.  We really needed our post flight nap of 2+ hours.  That put us in good shape for an afternoon and early evening tour of Chinatown.  We had a so-so meal and crashed early, got up at midnight and decided that we needed more sleep and got 6 more hours.  So far this is a smooth trip.  I am having trouble finding convenient ATMs and I always feel better with cash in my pocket.  We are off for a full day of exploring.  Tomorrow is a wake-up and boarding the ship and we need to get moving to get stuff done today.

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We spent Sunday morning in the Gardens by the Bay and then took off for the Singapore National Museum.  An enjoyable day and we came back for another nap.  We ended up ordering room service and had an early bedtime.  I had meant to go to the Hard Rock shop and get a Singapore Hard Rock shirt but it slipped my mind.  Note to self, remember to add things to my 3x5 to-do card, I get distracted and ...oops.. 

 

There is a vertical garden aesthetic in newer buildings here.  Structures incorporate green growing platforms at every level and/or vertical mesh nets for jungle growth.  The Bay gardens contain metal water tower like trees with metal branches that were very industrial 2 years ago but are gradually being enveloped  by greenery.  Much different look now and in 5 years it should be spectacular.  We took a guided tour of the Singapore history wing in the Museum and it was well done.  Our tour guide did minimize the pirate legacy of the area and the British opium impact.  Monday a wake up and transfer to the Cruise ship.  Margaret and I have finally reached Diamond status and were interested to see how the cruising experience would change.  But this trip has about half of the passengers are at our level or above.  Kind of like having TSA pre-check and finding out that the extremely long line is yours.

 

 

Singaore, Saturday, April 7

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We leave from Chicago on Thursday, but will have lost Friday, having flown through the international date line.  So, our first day will be Saturday.....

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After 22+ long hours of travel, we finally arrived at our hotel, the Park Royal on Beach Road. Online Vacation Center has done us well again.  The hotel is quite nice, and the service is exceptional.  

 

We are located across the street from a section of town called Malay Town.  It's quite colorful and we enjoyed walking around while we waited for our room to be ready.  

 

After a good hot shower and a nap, we took off the Raffles Hotel to get a Singapore Sling, which was created there in the Long Bar.  Unfortunately, and much to my disappointment, the hotel is closed for renovation.  So we went to Chinatown and took in the colorful sights, had some Tiger beer, and a light dinner.  

 

Back at the hotel, we crashed at about 8 p.m.    Click here  to see some photos.

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