Suez Canal (1)

 

22 June

 

7.30am - We entered the canal at 5.30 am, half an hour early. We are part of a convoy of 28 ships going northbound and in the middle, at the Bitter Lakes, we will pass the soutbound convoy.. Because we're a passenger ship, we get to go first and there are supposed to be two passenger ships following us. There were lots of ships anchored waiting to join the convoy so I suppose we had assigned positions.The man who does the port lectures says that we won't be wanting to observe the transit for very long because it's boring and not nearly as interesting as Panama. I think it's very interesting and one of the main reasons I came on this cruise. There are quite strong winds blowing when we go through our 'secret door' on Deck 11 to get to the bow and there is a lot of sand blowing, visibility is probably down to 300 metres at the moment and although the sun has risen, we can't see it.

8.30am – Had to come in to get out of the sun. Can still see from the balcony but all the interesting stuff is on the port side and we're starboard. We've just passed through Great Bitter Lake and passed the southbound convoy which is anchored, waiting. It is still extremely windy but the visibility has cleared although there is still a lot of sand. It can be felt on everything and my camera was starting to feel gritty.

10.30 – We had a drink for Eddie today as we went through Ismalia – For those who don't know, Eddie, our neighbour across the road, was stationed at Ismalia during WWII. He said that there wouldn't be much to see but it is a HUGE city. So we raised our glasses (champagne of course) to you Eddie.

What an extraordinary day!!! Certainly one of the experiences of my life. Will post some more photos when I get time. We're coming in to Port Said now. Have to get organised to go ashore and also be organised for tomorrow.

We dock in Port Said at 4.00.this afternoon and originally we weren't going to be allowed ashore but now we can stay ashore until midnight so we'll probably do a quick run around town. We have to be ready to go tomorrow at 6.45am for the pyramids.

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Brunch yesterday

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Gulf of Suez

 

21 June

We are now well into the Gulf of Suez and will arrive at the beginning of the Suez Canal first thing tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the canal and will be up early – that means early to bed as well. We have Egypt on our left and Saudi Arabia on our right and oil platforms as far as the eye can see. Both sides are bordered by very stark, medium sized hills. There is shipping everywhere as well as some small luxury cruise boats which belong to resorts along both sides of the Gulf. We passed by Safaga about 10 this morning. We had his and hers hair appointments today – how touching!!! John's haircut was $28, mine $65. I'm very happy with it as it was getting long and looking like I had a straw broom on my head everytime I'd been on deck. My hairdresser is from Denmark, Johns from Ireland.

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More ship's phtos

A lifeboat; one of the cool lights on the stairways; the Atrium

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At sea - same old, same old

 

The view from the bed every morning - hard to take

20 June

Think I have been getting my dates a little mixed up lately...heaven knows I don't know what day it is half the time. I've been taking the date from this computer and I notice that in Oz, it is now 12.47 am on 21/06 while here it's 5.47 pm 20/06. I know it's Sunday. Somewhere it's father's day. It says Happy Fathers' Day in the Princess Patter and all the staff have been wishing the men "Happy Fathers' Day".Today, we're supposed to be in Safaga, but this morning, at 9.00 we'd just passed Mecca – a way to go yet.There have been so many rumours flying around the ship, we haven't heard from the Captain in two days, and the ship's position channel we get on our TVs has been blank. The Captain made an announcement to dispel any rumours and said we would transit the Suez Canal, arrive in Port Said and continue our cruise as planned. I know many people are absolutely livid about missing Safaga but I suppose you can't prevent breakdowns. Airlines are delayed constantly and ships are no exception. I, personally, absolutely love these days at sea – I think we will get 8 in a row. We've become pool junkies – spending a lot of time getting in and out of the pool and lying on sunlounges. The temperature is hovering around 32 degrees and it's very hazy – sand blowing in from the desert. It's on the ship everywhere. Nothing I like more than just lying there looking out to sea. I'm not looking forward to Europe and being in port every day. Today we had Sunday Brunch with 'the family' and tonight we will dine in the Pizza Parlour en famille. Sally has organised a gluten free pizza. She has to order her meals the night before and they produce a gluten free version of whatever she wants. We've actually booked a tour to the Cinque Terre in Italy – out of Livorno. It wasn't listed on the tours on the website before we left home. I researched how to get there independently, even having email discussions with a woman in Livorno, but it was too difficult. At least this isn't on a bus – it's mainly by boat and, guess what, if it's inclement weather, we'll have to go on the TRAIN.

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Photos

Photos - the ship, John working hard for the tourism industry, coral spawn.

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At sea - still

 

Photo - last night's sunset

19 June

The last thing I expected to see in the Red See was coral spawning. I didn't realise that it is the northernmost tropical sea and that there is a large variety of fish and corals here. This morning we saw dolphins and there are large fish jumping. The sea looks a lot like when we sailed through the Barrier Reef with a greasy film of creamy coloured coral spawn. The pirate precautions are in place still although John assures me that we are out of the danger corridor. Not a lot to report...went to the laundry this morning, excitement plus. There was a washing machine just waiting for me and guess what idiot pressed the dryer button and had to come all the way back to the cabin for another $1 coin. John collected the washing while I was at trivia and it was artistically displayed on the balcony (on the chairs, not on the rails) when I got back. We then spent two hours alternately swimming, chatting with friends – you wouldn't believe how much of the day is taken up with talking - and holding down a sun lounge (in the shade), collected lunch and ate it on deck then, when we came back to the cabin, washing dry. The sea is dead calm, almost no movement at all and it appears that both propulsion units are operating. We should have been in Safaga tomorrow. The ship's position etc that we usually get on our TVs is surprisingly blank so will get John to check his GPS in the morning to see just how close we got to being in Safaga on time. We've both made hairdressing appointments – three days ahead. It will cost John $28 and me in the region of $80. I could wait until I get to Italy but don't think I could stand it. The latest rumour is that the ship is going straight to Genoa after Suez, and that it will be repaired, we'll be off loaded and sent home. Don't you love rumours.

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