Thursday, May 16, 2013

Day 11 - Red Sea En Route to Dubai

 Moon over the Mariner

Last night everyone brought back their stories from the shore excursions they had taken in Aqaba, Jordan. The people of Table 411 mostly went to Petra but not all with the same tour company. I didn’t hear any complaints really, just that it was a long way to get there, and once at Petra it was a very long walk or a bumpy two-person basket cart, horse driven ride to get to The Treasury building.

For the most part the people that made the trek wanted to do it and were happy with the results. What more could one ask for?

When I arrived at Table 411 last night I was greet by my drink lady, who still has my favorite aperitif laid out for my arrival most nights. The night before she was not working. It seems she had availed herself of a day off and joined the groups going to Petra. She greeted me with the biggest smile, “You should see what I bought. Jewelry made from camel balls.”

I couldn’t resist, how did I miss getting myself one of these treasures? Once again, Artichoke Annie is caught snoozing.

After dinner during the lull between dinner’s clearings and dessert’s coming she gleefully arrived with her plastic bag filled with her colorful treasures. “Wow”, I said, these are made from camel balls!!

“Oh, no,” horrified, she corrected me, “from camel bones, not balls!  It seems accents always get in the way of a good story.

Now you have to admit that changes the whole story.

My tour choice would have been Wadi Rum, so see the colors of the desert and take pictures, that’s what I would have enjoyed. But I also enjoyed the peace and quiet of the ship with most of the cruises gone.

Today they are back filling up the pools and lengthening the buffet lines. “Outta-my-way-cruiser that shrimp is mine! I saw it first, yesterday actually, while it was still swimming in the sea.

Stats Update: @ 9:04am today - 2,869 nautical miles from Barcelona, Spain – 8,325 nautical miles since our Texas departure.



"Box" delivery boat

Gulf of Aden Transit Update –

We have had our Safe Haven Drill; just a little while ago we rendezvoused with a small boat to enable a transfer of boxes to our ship. They were black, maybe four feet in length, and I am pretty sure they did not contain Godiva chocolates.



1 comment:

  1. Fun post, Annie. I don't think I'd want anything made from camels, though. But hey, that moon looks JUST like our moon back here in the states! How wild is that?

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