Through the Red Sea

Sunday 14th
The clocks went back another hour overnight, so we found ourselves awake before 5.00.  Unfortunately, despite the Captain's promise last night, it is overcast and a reasonable swell running.  We are still on the fringe of what was the cyclone.  Those who embarked at Dubai think that it is rough but us old hands are unperturbed.

Formal night tonight - yet another opportunity for the photo gallery to make more money!  Basically a quiet day and Anniversary Dinner - it's Princess' 25th anniversary, so the usual set meal had been renamed.  After dinner we went to the Vista for the show.  Thankfully, we had jackets on, as it is still cold in there.  It was a magician tonight - James Long from UK.  I have a feeling that we may have seen him on another ship, and I'll be able to confirm after his 2nd show!  He was really funny and clever.

Monday 15th
Woke up early and felt yuck, so went back to sleep until 8.30. Sadly I am developing a cold (of sorts) which is not surprising, given the huge variation of temperature.  We were last into the MDR for breakfast, which turns out to be a benefit as the service was very prompt & the food fresh and hot.  Not that there have been any issues in the past, but was particularly pleasant. 

Yes, the sea is still rough.  The good news is that we will soon enter the Gulf of Aden and the eventually the Red Sea, where we will be more sheltered.  The bad news is that we have Yemen to our right & Somalia on our left. Our security bods are very evident but I think this rough weather is an excellent deterrent.

Tuesday 16th
Yes, it is still rough and we are all getting a little tired of it. Woke early (just before 5.00) to the sound of vacuum cleaners and blow drying machines.  We had experienced this on the Dawn last November, so had a pretty good idea that there was a water problem nearby.  It turned out that overnight a toilet overflowed in a cabin about 4 or 5 down from us.  All in all there were about 8 cabins flooded to various degrees, up to and including your neighbours. We were extremely lucky to miss out this time!

I am still not feeling the best, particularly at night.  Funnily I had only said to Vivian last night that it was a waste to bring my blazer - well now I wear it each night to overcome the temperature extremes, particularly in the theatres.  We walked our mile in the afternoon and the good news is that a) we saw land b) the seas have reduced c) the sun is now out. We entered the Red Sea late afternoon.  Skipped the late show to try and knock this cold thing.

Wednesday 17th
Great news is that the temperature and humidity have dropped and it has been an excellent sailing day. I am still not firing on all cylinders but still did our mile.  Unfortunately both Mark & Ash have decided on a marathon and are each doing between 10-12 times around the deck, which is 3 to 4 miles.  We are saving ourselves!

The ship is speeding along at just over 20kts and we are very much on schedule according to the Captain.  It is quite nice to see some other ships from time to time. We went to the lecture on archeology, which was most interesting. On the way back from that we stopped in at the informal meeting of Kiwis and were surprised that there were so many we haven't come across.  The upshot of this chance meeting is that we established that we should have got special backpacks commemorating 2015 World Cruise.  Everyone got these EXCEPT the Kiwi's 😤  So off we went and they very happily gave us the backpacks (& I got our internet hours increased in line with the published allocation). It seems that you have to have your wits about you all the way.  So, an early show, dinner and early night again.

Thursday 18th
Another glorious day.  Went to "An Audience with Captain William Kent", our Captain gave a great talk on his career, the ship, his life and other interesting snippets.  Had lunch with Christine. & Mark 2 - he is not at all well and is on antibiotics, steroids etc. Have to say that the " bot" is rife and it's pretty hard to avoid it.  Thankfully this is the end of our long period of sea days and being ashore may help clear the passages. 

Yes, at last we will be in Aqaba tomorrow morning and off to Petra (this time!!). Many readers will be aware that when we were here 2 years ago, we were all set to go to Petra when the Authorities closed it, due to a conflict between tour operators. We are told that the temperature at Petra will be mid 40s and a chance to try out the new Princess backpack☺