At Sea- En route to Salalah

Last night, in all the clubs and bars, the shades and curtains were drawn. My steward came at dusk to make sure my drapes were closed – they were!!! This will be the routine until we clear Egypt and sail into the Med.

Last night, we met four of our new tablemates: a British couple of Coventry and an American mother and daughter from Connecticut. When we got to the table, each couple was sitting at opposite ends…with four empty seats in between. Not a good sign! Well Ross worked one end of the table and I worked the other. Tough going and the people at the table behind came up to Ross later on and told him that they thought we had our work cut out for us!!!! I must say Ross is a charmer and even crusty Yanks can cave, but the mother was not a happy camper from the get-go. We’ll see what tonight brings….and maybe the other two tablemates will show up.

We had a nightcap in our favorite after-dinner bar and turned in.

Today is a bit overcast, but perfect temperature, with nice breeze as we head southwest along the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea. We sailed through the Strait of Hormuz again last night – basically we re doubling back to get from Dubai to Salalah.

Here are some photos of the security measures then ship has taken – much more than 2 years ago. We had a security drill this morning. When the alarm sounded, we returned to our cabins. If you had windows or balconies you stood or sat in the corridor outside our rooms; if you had an inside cabin, you could occupy it. Stewards checked all the cabins. Same rules for crew. I gather it went very smoothly. My corridor certainly complied very well.

We went to the afternoon concert: pianist and cello player from the UK – played Mendelssohn’s “Song without Word” and Beethoven’s ‘Sonata No. 3. Excellent.

Then afternoon tea – my first in the Queen’s Room – we did one on my balcony; otherwise, I’ve been trying to avoid it!

Cocktail hour found us in the Veuve Cliquot Champagne Bar where Ross treated us to champagne and caviar – with all the fixings. YUM! Then on to dinner where two seats had been removed from the table – so we are only six after all. We did our best, Ross and I asking all the questions….but it was tough going again. We’ll do some alternative dining for a while.