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.
No comments:
Post a Comment