December 7 and 8 - Dubai and Zurich, Switzerland

In the evening when we sailed from Ras al Khaimah the ship held one of its signature events, the epicurean officers’ treats and the crew farewell.  Out around the pool, several of the senior officers have tables set up where a variety of hors d’oeuvres are available and each table usually has some kind of special cocktail being mixed.  (If you sampled them all, it would be hard to find your way back to your cabin.) The singers and band play and you can dance but more eating and drinking are being done than dancing.  Then on the level above the pool, all the crew come out and circle the railings looking down at us passengers.  The ship says it’s a chance for the crew to thank us for sailing with Seabourn, but I think it’s an opportunity for us to thank all the unseen people who make the cruise special.  There are staff from the laundry department, the engine and maintenance people, and all the people behind the scene that prepare our food, drinks and everything else that went into taking care of me for 25 days.  

Hard to see in the dark but the railing above is lined with crew

My two new friends, Sue and Jude, came on this, their first Seabourn cruise, prepared to hate it.  They had booked the cruise entirely because of the itinerary which was obviously changed due to things beyond Seabourn’s control.  They tried to cancel, but Seabourn wouldn’t let them; it only would give them a future cruise credit which had to be used by November 2024, and they had travel plans through that time already.  (I should point out that the cruise contract for every cruise I’ve ever been on says something to the effect that the ports can be changed and are not guaranteed.)  Anyway, both Sue and Jude bought future credits good for 4 years while onboard because they had such a good time and thought everything was so fabulous.  I hope I run into them again.

After dinner we went to the last show which featured an absolutely fantastic Portuguese singer and then we went down to the club for one last dance and to say goodbye to our staff friends.  We were going to only stay for a little while but we wound up leaving around midnight again.

Thursday morning, December 7, I had to get up early because it was time to say goodbye.  My flight was at 0205 December 8 and since I got my air through Seabourn they provided me with transfers and a dayroom at a hotel connected to the Dubai Creek City Centre Mall.  After I checked in and had my luggage in the room, I ventured into the mall. I’m pretty sure I’d been to this mall on one of my previous visits.  It is positively overwhelming.  The shops are divided by “neighborhoods.”  The entrance that I used from the hotel took me into a section with shop after shop selling traditional Arabic dress,  of course divided by male and female.  Some of the abayas I saw in the windows were absolutely beautiful (and pricey too I’m sure).  I didn’t take pictures because I didn’t want to look like a tourist  😁😁.  There were lots of people shopping and I figured out why later in the afternoon when I looked at some online news.  The 70,000 + people attending the Climate Convention in Dubai had decided to take the day off from all their hard work and speech-making and clearly shopping was the ticket to relax.  (Maybe it's just me but 70,000 + people flying in for a conference on the need to get rid of fossil fuels seems a little paradoxical. For a couple of years I thought folks got by with Zoom meetings.)

It wasn’t very long before I got tired of walking through what essentially is a modern-day souk or bazaar so I went back to the hotel, had a sandwich for lunch and actually went to my room and took a little nap.  At 10:30 PM the driver came to pick me up and took me to the airport.  Istanbul may claim to have the largest airport in the world, but Dubai’s is pretty huge too.  It was also an absolute zoo.  I’m not ashamed to say that I now ask for a wheelchair or transport in airports like the ones I’ve been through.  In addition to the distances one has to cover (just from the walking I did do in the mall and the part of the airport where my transport arrived, I walked about 5 miles), I have learned that you go through passport control and security much faster because there’s always a special lane.  To get to where I had to go from the check-in counter to my eventual gate would have taken me an hour on foot.  Anyway, getting old does have some advantages and I’m willing to capitalize on them.

So here I am in Zurich, Switzerland in a very nice lounge waiting for my next flight to Newark.  It’s snowing outside.  What a contrast from where I’ve just been! It looks like just flurries and I hope it stays that way or else we might be delayed and I have one more plane to catch to get home. It’s a very long day.

December 6 - Ras al Khaimah, UAE

It’s the last full day of the cruise and we’re docked in the capital city of another of the Emirates, Ras al Khaimah which bears the same name for both the city and the state.  In terms of development this place looks to me like it lies somewhere between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and where we were yesterday.  Already there are a multitude of high-rise buildings with others under construction.  Our shuttle bus left us off at a very modern mall with stores like Marks & Spenser, Bath & Body Works, Sephora and Starbucks.

Kind of boring photos but you get the idea that it's a gleaming, modern mall. The first one is some kind of zero gravity play area

A very new looking mosque right across the street from the mall

Right down the street from the mall and the mosque were lots of tired looking strip shopping centers like this one.  Many had a veritable United Nations of what looked a lot like typical takeout places at home

I walked around a little in the mall but I really wasn’t interested in anything there.  I did sit for a few minutes and watch some of the people who I think were locals go by. (Most of the mall patrons were from the ship.)  Of the locals walking around, most of the women were wearing an abaya, which is a cloak like robe worn over another dress, and a hijab on their heads.  From the people I saw it looked like there were a lot of nannies walking with children.  I came to that conclusion because the women almost without exception looked like they were from southeast Asia while the kids definitely looked Arabic. I also think the stores were not the kind that the average worker in the UAE can afford to shop in.  

From the times I’ve been here before I learned that the society here is very class conscious.  I think the percentage of the population that is actually of emirati blood and heritage is quite small.  Then there are western people who work here for multi-national companies.  Then there are the “worker bees” so to speak.  This is the large group who come here to build the buildings and do the serving and more menial jobs. Some of the people in that category come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc. and for all intents and purposes are indentured servants. They are brought here with contracts for a specified period of time during which if they decide they don’t want to do what ever work they are assigned they are immediately deported with no possibility of coming back.

This emirate like Dubai and Abu Dhabi is a little more modern and westernized than yesterday’s.  As an example, when I got off the ship and went through security to leave the building there were two women in abayas and hijabs checking the x-ray machine and metal scanner.  When I came back, not fifteen feet away, I went through another scanner manned by a very pretty Arabic woman wearing a military camo uniform with trousers and a beret on her head.  I would have liked to take a photo to show the contrast but I don’t think that would have been appreciated. From my veranda I can see what must be the old town of Ras al Khaimah and as you can see it is pretty rustic looking.

December 5 - Khor al Fakkan, United Arab Emirates

Here we are at this enclave of the Emirate Sharjah on the coast of the Arabian Peninsula facing the Gulf of Oman.  That sounds confusing, doesn’t it?  Perhaps an explanation of what the United Arab Emirates are (or is it is???) would help. The UAE, as its more simply called, is a federation of seven emirates on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula. Each of the  emirates has a ruler who is an absolute monarch. The seven emirs form a Federal Supreme Council.  For a period of time after the discovery of oil in the area and before 1971, the various emirs had formed a loose federation but had treaties with the British to protect them. In 1971 Great Britain ended the relationship and the UAE was formed. Originally Bahrain and Qatar were intended to be part of the group, but they decided to go their separate ways.

Khor al Fakkan, which means Creek of Two Jaws, is in a unique position; it’s an enclave of one emirate (Sharjah) surrounded by the Emirate of Fujairah.  It’s near the northernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean) and close to the Strait of Hormuz, the place where Iran frequently harasses shipping going in and out of the Persian Gulf.  Khor al Fakkan is one of only three deep water ports in the UAE so it is an important container port.  We came here because several of our other ports were canceled due to events in Israel and Gaza, and we are evidently the first cruise ship to stop here.

We took a shuttle bus into the city which has a population of about 45,000 and doesn’t look anything like the other cities I’ve been to in the UAE like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.  There are no massively tall buildings, but I have a feeling that in 20 years it might grow into something like them because there were signs of construction all around.   The ruler of this emirate is a more traditional Muslim than some of the other emirs so you do see more women dressed in traditional dress than I remember seeing in Dubai. The shuttle dropped us off at a place that I can best describe as a department store.  We walked around and looked at some of the things there but weren’t tempted to buy anything.  Some of the clothing for women was actually pretty but I couldn’t really picture the caftans and outfits with embroidered harem pants on me  or fitting in at Harris Teeter or Costco.

Downtown Khor al Fakkan

It's hard to make out but the little shuttle bus had fringe hanging everywhere including along the dashboard

We didn’t stay long and came back to the ship after an hour or so. A few people we know went on a tour which took them to a fort and a ride along the shore.  As with all the places around here the mountains surrounding the city are rocky with little vegetation but picturesque in their rugged way. There were a lot of roundabouts with flowers on the way into town and some palm trees but not much else in the way of color.

Sailing away just after sunset. The mountains look just as gray in daylight, just a lighter shade

I forgot to mention that yesterday while we were ashore in Muscat, some elves found the Encore.  When we came back, the railings on the main staircase were festooned with garlands and the entrances to all the bars and restaurants have Christmas trees with golden  wrapped presents beneath them.

A little of the elves handiwork

When we got back to our cabins last night our prize was there. Sadly it wasn’t a free cruise but rather a bunch of Seabourn logo swag like a ballcap, adapter plug and deck of cards.  So much for winning at trivia.  (It was great fun and that’s why we played!)

Tomorrow is the last day before it’s time to go home and we’ll be in another of the emirates.  On the one hand it’s always a little bit of a downer when they start leaving luggage tags and disembarkation instructions in the cabin and you realize that it’s going to be time to say goodbye to new, and old, friends.  On the other I have to admit that I’m looking forward to going home to my own bed and my own pretty quiet and peaceful life. The late night activities are wearing me down. And despite the fact that the food has been quite good (I've had enough of it for sure), I'm looking forward to food that doesn't  come with "sauce this" or "a la that."

December 4 - Muscat, Oman

We’re docked today in Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman.  On my last cruise with Al we stopped here and took a tour. Therefore, I decided not to do one again and just took the shuttle into town.  More about that in a moment.

Last night we had a girls’ night in the TK Grill.  There were six of us, my two friends Sue and Jude, Joyce who used to live in Kingsmill, and Kerry and Annette from Sydney.  Once again we did a lot of laughing and had a wonderful time.  The wait staff started taking tablecloths off other tables so we got the hint and left. We’d really lost track of the time.  We missed the show which involved a singer of some sort.  Instead after dinner we went down to our go-to place to dance a little and have a nightcap.

Back to Muscat.  I’ve already written about Oman the other day and here we are at its capital.  It’s not a large place but it is quite picturesque.  There are old forts and watchtowers on the barren rocky hills around the city and its harbor. Tied up near us are the same two very large yachts (both at least 300 feet long) which were here last time and which belong to the sultan.

One of the watchtowers guarding the city and harbor

Maybe fresh tuna for dinner?

Straight ahead is one of the Sultan's yachts and on the left you can see a piece of the other

When we got off the ship and were waiting for the shuttle bus to come we saw these big plastic containers full of what look to me like fresh tuna.  I think we’ll have tuna on the menu tonight.  The shuttle came and dropped us off at the Mutttrah Souq.  A souq is an indoor bazaar or market with things other than food for the most part.  This one was full of little places selling all kinds of pashmina scarves, harem pants (almost all with camels in the prints), ornate  (and gaudy) jewelry, jars, pots, Aladdin’s lanterns, etc, and incense and spices.  The smell of incense burning was actually giving me a headache.  There were also “genuine” Chanel handbags and Rolexes.  It is a sensory overload kind of place.  We’ve learned that the trick to getting out without having to constantly say "no, thank you" is to never make eye contact.  And if you see something interesting be prepared if you stop to take a closer look to be swarmed. We walked through the several branches of the souq trying to remember landmarks so we would know how to find our way out.

Inside the Muttrah Souq

We passed several of our shipmates who had bought some Christmas presents for people they knew but honestly I didn’t see anything that looked like it would work in either Virginia or New Hampshire.  When we finally made it back to the main entrance there was a shuttle loading up so we decided to come back to the ship.  There were a lot of women, more than I remember seeing last time, wearing the full  black burkhas.  Today wasn’t an especially hot day and all I can say is I don’t know how they can stand wearing them because of the heat.

As I said it’s a rather pretty city.  There is a beautiful mosque and several of the minarets  of smaller mosques that can be seen have lovely tile work.  It’s also quite clean. They have an opera house which we saw last time we were here.

Sultan Qaboos Mosque

One last thing.  We still haven’t received our championship prizes.  We figured that perhaps the cruise director was going to buy us a stuffed camel in the souq. We shall see.

I just came back from a very nice lunch where I had the opportunity to meet and talk with a family living here in Muscat.  Kerry-Lee, the jeweler on the ship, had her sister, brother-in-law and two nephews come on to visit and they invited me to join them for lunch.  The family is originally from Zimbabwe, but has lived and worked here for four years. I sat next to the sister and it was very interesting to hear what life is like in Oman.  She told me that in the years they have lived here they have seen some loosening of traditional Muslim  practices.  The children go to an international school because local schools are taught exclusively in Arabic. Even so, boys and girls are taught in separate classes and even on the school bus girls sit on one side and boys on the other.  I asked how they coped with the heat here; in summer the temperatures can reach close to 120°. She told me that essentially work begins early, at 8 or 9 AM, and then for several hours midday work stops. Around 4 or 4:30 PM people go back and work until near 8 PM. Schools usually take summer breaks from late April until sometime in September but go longer hours when they are in session.

Fort guarding the harbor

I'm writing this on Tuesday the 5th but it's still about yesterday. Last night we had another girls' night, this time in the restaurant.  Jude, Sue and I ate with Kerry-Lee, the fine jewelry representative, Nadine, the boutique manager, C-Po, the Health and Security Officer, and Steffanie, Executive Housekeeper. It's worth knowing the right people because Kerry Lee let us pick out any of the jewelry we wanted to wear to dinner. Sue, my friend sitting to my left in the photo is wearing an emerald and diamond necklace and earrings that sell for somewhere north of a quarter million dollars.  Jude, across the table from me, picked a jade and diamond set.  I went for a much more modest opal and sapphire pendant. It was fun to dress up in something we would never in our wildest imagination own.  Once again we laughed a lot and then went to the club for a little while.  I hate to admit it, but the late nights are starting to wear me down.  I think if I were staying on for another leg of the cruise I would have to take a couple of days off, but it has been so much fun.

"The Girls"

December 3 - Sailing in the Arabian Sea

Today is our last sea day of the cruise.  During the night we experienced some slight seas but nothing significant.  By morning it had moderated and we’re not doing any rocking or rolling.  Each day we’ve had partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the low 80’s.  It doesn’t feel too hot because we’re moving and in most places on the ship we feel a little breeze.

I have big news!  Today we played the last of our trivia games in which we were earning cumulative points.  Miracle of miracles!  We were the big winners despite never placing first in any of the daily games.  We finished close to the top enough times that we won overall.  I’m not sure what we won; they are delivering whatever the prize is to our cabins, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be a free cruise.  To celebrate we went for a team lunch in the restaurant. It was Mexican lunch day and we toasted with champagne to celebrate our championship.

The Champions of Useless Knowledge

Last night the show was the crew talent show.  I have to tell you the entertainers were absolutely fantastic.  The singers had fabulous voices and all of them missed their calling.  There was also a beautiful Balinese dancer and a member of the ship’s crew that deals with all our rubbish who did a breakdance that would put any people I’ve seen on TV to shame.  I think nearly every passenger on the ship was in the showroom and we gave them all thunderous applause.  It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of several hundred people to perform.

After the show there was dance music in the club and a dance party with a DJ at the pool area behind the club.  It was a strange arrangement because the two venues are back-to-back and they had the door open between them so there was competing music.  I stayed until close to midnight talking to a couple of the officers who were there.

This fellow was waiting for me when I got back to my cabin.

I’ve learned a lot  more about the workings of the ship on this cruise than I have on others. The majority of the crew work 6 or 8 month contracts and then go home for a couple of months before signing up for another contract.  Except for a few of the executive crew members who are paid year-round, the rest get paid the months they work but not when they are home. They have their air transportation to and from home paid by Seabourn and of course, while onboard they have no housing, food or uniform expenses.  There is no retirement plan even for mid-level managers.  Seabourn advertises that it is an all-inclusive cruise line so no tipping is required or expected.  I asked one of the mid-level people with whom I had dinner and who had worked for other cruise lines under the Carnival Corporation umbrella on which tips are expected if the pay for the staff here makes up for the “tipping not expected” policy.  She told me that it is definitely significantly better which I was glad to hear.

Sunset on our last full sea day

Okay, I’ve told you more than you ever wanted to know about employment on a cruise ship, but I found it interesting.  One of the things that makes these Seabourn ships so special is the crew.  They universally try to meet every request and always with a big smile.  They remember our names and what we like to drink.  When I go into one of the bars or clubs I sometimes find my drink waiting for me as soon as I sit down.  There are several waiters here from previous cruises I’ve done and they all have remembered my name and my preferences. That’s a special talent I wish I had.  It took me several days to remember all the names of my teammates and I don’t think I can blame it entirely on age because I’ve never been good at remembering names of people I meet casually.

December 1 and 2 - Salalah, Oman and Gulf of Aden

I’ve fallen behind and I have no excuse except that I’m having too much fun.  Yesterday we spent the day docked at Salalah, Oman.  I had booked a tour to go to see Job’s Tomb, a beach with a blowhole, and a Souk (market).  I canceled after one of the guest speakers who has spent a great deal of time in Oman and the UAE said it wasn’t worth going on the tour. Especially because we were there on a Friday which in the Islamic world is the day that many things are closed.  So I didn’t go and stayed on board as did the majority of the passengers.

Not relevant to anything I've written today but here's a dessert we had at a special dinner last night

I should tell you a little about Oman though. It lies on the southeastern coast of the Arabian peninsula and it is officially the Sultanate of Oman. Evidence has been found that humans from Africa migrated to the area more than 12,000 years ago. The people we know as Arabs migrated from the northwestern peninsula to the area that is now Oman.  The first Europeans to come were Portuguese after Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope on his way to India in the late 15th century. From 1507 to 1630 the Portuguese had an outpost in Muscat, now the capital of Oman, in order to protect its sea lanes to India.  Late in the 17th century the Portuguese fought the largest naval battle ever waged in the Persian Gulf area.  Their opponents were the combined forces of the Dutch East Indies Company and the English East Indies Company.  The battle ended in a draw, but it marked the beginning of the end of Portuguese influence.

In the succeeding centuries the British worked to dominate the region and signed a number of treaties with the local rulers which allowed the British to have outposts and even essentially rule over parts of the area.  Initially this was done so that the British Empire could dominate trade between south Asia and the “spice” islands but later when the importance of oil become evident it was to control that.  Oman’s oil reserves are not as large as its neighbors but it still has some.  In the 20th century after the death of a more reactionary Sultan in 1970, Sultan Qaboos bin Said became the ruler and he set out on a course of modernization and economic reforms for his country. As a result Oman is more liberal than some of its neighbors in the region like Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran.  During his rule Sultan Qaboos allowed freedom of religion in the country and even financed the building of Catholic and Protestant churches and Hindu temples. He died without an heir in 2020 and was succeeded by a cousin who vowed to continue the modernization efforts.

In the afternoon we had a trivia game which didn’t count toward the cumulative scores; more’s the pity because we won commandingly. For our efforts we got a Seabourn umbrella. In the evening there was an Arabian Nights dance party around the pool.  My friends and I decided to eat at the outdoor venue called Earth and Ocean so we could have a table to sit at when the party began. Fortunately the ship was underway or we would have all died from the heat we experienced during the day.  Some of the passengers really got into the Arabian theme and had fancy headpieces and caftans. We didn’t have anything that looked remotely Arabian to wear which was okay by me.

This friend from Scotland got into the dress-up thing with a beaded headress and a caftan

We did do a lot of dancing and I’ll include a few photos. When the pool party was over we adjourned down to the club and continued our dance party there.  You would be amazed how many steps you can get when you dance. We closed the place down at one o’clock. I met a couple of wild and crazy Aussies I wish I’d met earlier in the cruise because they were great fun to be with.

Some dance photos. It may not look like lots of dancers but they were on three sides of the pool.

Today, December 2, we’re in our penultimate sea day cruising off the coast of Oman.  We’re far off the coast so we don’t see any land. In fact, I haven’t seen anything at all today.  Today we had a lobster lunch by the pool.  In addition to the usual selections there was a station with chilled large prawns, mussels, and lobster tails. The chefs cook jumbo prawns and lobster really well; they are never overcooked and chewy.

Lobster for lunch

Tonight we have a crew talent show which is always surprisingly good and we’re going to Thai night in the Colonnade restaurant.  I just realized that all I’ve been talking about is eating.  We do actually have some lectures interspersed with everything else. It probably sounds like  the days have been boring, but as another passenger and I were riding up in an elevator we were bemoaning the fact that it doesn't seem we have enough hours in the day to do all the things we would like to do.  That's it for now. It's time to get ready for the evenings events.