Mainly Pictures

The first pics are of the 4th formal night when the ladies decided to dress up Indian style.  They are posing for an ‘official’ photograph and the staff try to stop spectators taking their own – for obvious reasons.  They want the money!  Four of our five table ladies are present plus Fran – in pink.  The photographers are all very professional and the requirement is a minimum of a degree in photography and I am not sure, but I think the lass we talked to said they had to have 5 years experience too.

The photograph of Colin and myself shows us sitting at a different table as everyone else was taking their time deciding where to sit!  Dave, the Murrays and Oscar would probably understand. Others would not.  Great to have a group of people who have a sense of fun...

Third pic should show why the weight is steadily climbing – but at least it was the evening meal and not lunch..    

Pic 4 is Paula’s lunchtime pizza.
Pic 5 shows the old QE2, taken on June 17^th, which was moored on an adjacent wharf and is still manned by quite a few staff and a captain, even though it goes nowhere.  It was supposed to be converted to an hotel at a cost of $240,000,000, but currently, it costs $65,000 a month just to keep it there, as the owners have decided they can’t afford that amount to do the conversion.   Next to the Dawn Princess, it does look totally out of date, yet our ship is already 14 years old.

Now I need to catch up with the blog for our day in Dubai.  

Land Ahoy! A day at sea, an evening on land - Dubai Day 23

Effectively another day at sea as far as routine and activities but with an evening arrival at Dubai with an overnight stop, we informally got 14 people to agree to go ashore as soon as we had docked, but before then there as important stuff such as indoor bowls, (we were knocked out in round 1 – but so were Mal and Meg who are keen outdoor players), eating, dancing and quizzing.  At lunchtime after Alana’s revision of the rumba, cha-cha and rock and roll, we opted to try the pizzeria for the first time.  Grandson Lucas would be in his element here – FREE pizza, freshly baked to order with your own choice of toppings.  I had a calzone and Paula had a regular pepperoni plus avocado.  Thin crust of course – perfect!

At 3pm there was a repeat of the ragtime/jazz piano concert during the afternoon.  Basically the same performance as before, but this time, banjo player Michael Young joined in for a couple of numbers.

We all opted out of the dining room and some grabbed a bite at the buffet before we saw the misty (heat haze) of Dubai.  Steaming hot on deck and many had taken heed about covering up in Dubai so we were soaked before we’d even got ashore.

No real formality here.  You grabbed a pink pre-stamped landing card on the way out and showed it if asked.  The terminal trade was closed and we grabbed three cabs and told them we wanted to go to the Dubai Mall to see the dancing waters display.  Quite why our cab had a 20DHS (Dirham) charge on the meter we are not too sure but the traffic was very busy and it cost us 48DHS.  At about 4 to the AUD, between 4 of us, that was cheap enough.

Dubai at night and at the mall that opens late and closes late plus the spectacular and popular water was a great evening.

For 2012 cruisers:  The ship warns you about the strict dress code and certainly we felt somewhat over-dressed for outdoors, but inside, it was distinctly chilly. We saw plenty of people wearing clothing that we were warned not to wear.

Peter led us to the Cafe Blanc where 14 of us decided we would have a drink – and Ros and Arnold had a light refreshment.  Now as you know, alcohol is not really allowed in Dubai, so choosing cocktail was safe enough.  Paula opted for a concoction of chocolate, blackcurrant, banana and ice.  Mine was an appealing mixture of peach, passion-fruit, lemon, liquorice syrup and topped with a scoop of fragrant ice cream. Large glass and an instant headache as it was so cold!  Delicious.  This is a massive shopping centre yet many prices are not high on food for example. Those flash cocktails were good value at a total of 51DHS for two.

We caught a six-seater cab back and this time it was much cheaper.  About 31DHS.  Most will take US Dollars.

Back on board about 11pm and a quick cold drink at the buffet.  First impressions of Dubai? Magic!  So clean and modern (so far) and such a contrast with India.  Not as overpriced as we expected.

Yet another day at sea - Day 22

Are we fed up with days at sea?  Not at all.  Often the toughest call of the day is what to miss and this was a day when sacrifices had to be made – if you can call cruising with a great crew and on a great ship having any sacrifices at all of course. 

Day two of the Tangoette but I just about managed to catch up, though the floor was so crowded that movement was just about impossible.  Why so crowded?  Because Alana is such a great teacher with a wonderful sense of humour and after 3 weeks, numbers have hardly dropped off at all. 

I stayed on for the passenger talent show put Paula had to scoot off for some hair work where the quote was $80 for colouring.  She wasn’t best pleased to be hit with a further $40 for the wash and dry...

The talent show had 12 acts (I think) from an excellent rendition of the Banjo Patterson poem “Man from Snowy River” (a bit long though for a talent show) and a self penned poem on Cinderella, to Brian’s wonderful mime to a Frank Sinatra hit, complete with speeding up and slowing down, various crashes and bangs etc.  Cecille sang unaccompanied to an Edith Piaf hit (in French) and another guy sang unaccompanied but wasn’t so hot nor a duo - who sang separately anyway.

Two guys played guitar and sang, one doing a Willie Nelson number and the other a Buddy Holly hit.  Star for me however was Marilyn’s splendid Patsy Cline hit, “Crazy over You”.  I videoed some acts but strangely, the Princess didn’t, which is a shame for the performers.  I have been busy converting a couple of acts onto DVD for them, so I must stock up with more blank DVDs soon.

Up on deck for “the boat race”.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me but I know Joanne did, so check out her blog.  Just three amazing creations, but all achieved the challenge.

The quiz was notable for 15 questions we had had previously – and we still didn’t do particularly well...

Before dinner, we went to the multi instrumentalist, but the sound booth guys  didn’t do a brilliant job.  Hopefully the sound will be better tomorrow when Michael joins musical director Tim on his ragtime session.

The final dinner before Dubai has the famed “Bombe Alaska” parade through the dining room.

We tried to get to the theatre for the 10pm Staff show, but were too late for a seat so opted to sit out on deck as it was being shown on the MUTS.  Quite frankly, I don’t know why we bothered .  The sound quality was terrible and the picture quality even worse.  We couldn’t even recognise the participants yet 30% of the screen showed the front ten rows of the audience and showed the full width of the stage even though only 60% was being used.  A very lazy presentation and not fair on either passengers or performers.

The captain has managed to make up a bit of time so ETA at Dubai is now 8pm rather than 10pm.  They have also granted us an extra $100 on board credit for the inconvenience.  Did you know that there are sand storms this far from land? What we thought was mist, isn’t.    

Another rocky day at sea - Day 21

The late departure from Mumbai hasn’t exactly assisted with the revised schedule and along with tough seas, our arrival into Dubai is not now until 10pm, so instead of  a day in Abu Dhabi and a day and a half in Dubai, we now just have a day in Dubai, which is a sector changeover point, so passengers are getting off and  a new batch are getting on.

Paula was off colour so we spent a fair bit of the day ‘resting’, which is the best remedy.

We skipped the dance class (New Vogue Tangoette part 1 – which Paula really wanted me to learn) and apart from a nice lunch, we didn’t really venture out other than for the Mumbai Classic horse race and the quiz.  We were plied with cheap champagne again but as before, our horse came nowhere in all 5 races, so we didn’t bid on ownership for the Dubai Classic!  Are the dice weighted?  Horse number one hasn’t won in the ten races we have seen!

The quiz followed and we had our normal team – and normal score.

Oh yes, yesterday’s quiz:    

4)            Which Disney film had the song ”I Wanna Be Like You”? – Jungle Book  - correct

11)          What word could precede – Roll, Plant, Cheese? – Swiss – Correct, much to the surprise of many others!  They hadn’t heard of a Swiss Plant, but to be honest, I thought it was a Swiss Cheese plant!
16)          Broadway play based on the life of an Italian film director – Nine – We didn’t know that one.   We “hit the wall here....”

17)          First hit by a female pop-star was “Baby, One More time”.  Who is it?  Britney Spears – we didn’t get that one either!  At this point we thought we were sunk.

18)          What is the name for the phobia, a fear of fear? – A calculated guess of phobaphobia proved correct!!!!

20)          With what leisure activity would you associate a “dibble”?  - We had one many years ago – gardening.  If memory serves me correctly, it is no more than an old spade handle with a pointed end that you use to poke a hole into soft soil into which you drop seeds or seed potatoes.  One out of the box that one.

So, with 18/20, we actually won!  I think Norm is still on a high, as the next highest score was 16/20.  A bit of luck and a good guess so no we proudly have “2011 World Cruise” leather luggage tags.

Formal night and our ladies looked stunning in their Indian attire whilst the guys just looked dapper and handsome – as always.  Joanne added to her lobster tail count and I couldn’t decide between the lobster and prawn or the beef Wellington – so I had both and no starter...

We headed for the Theatre and “Bayne Bacon”, an American singer, musician/comedian. Great show with accomplished piano and guitar plus a good singing voice and some good humour.  So far, we have only had one dud act which is pretty good, considering some last minute rescheduling when one or two booked acts were found to be missing their Indian Visas.

No pics as yet and the clocks go back another hour tonight.  NZ is well ahead of us now but we were shocked to hear of more earthquakes in Christchurch, but we have no details. 

 

Mumbai meandering - Day 20

Formerly Bombay, Mumbai is one of those stops on the cruise that elicits a wild variety of opinions both pre and post visiting.  Paula’s last visit was at the tender age of three months but having lived in Calcutta until she was 16, she was well aware of what to expect.  For those who have not seen the film, “Slum Dog Millionaire”, maybe watching it should be a pre-requisite to a first visit.

As expected, we had our delayed 10 second face to face “interview” with Indian Immigration, which was no more than an excuse for the officials to get on board the ship to exercise their authority.  All we did was show our passports and the landing card which they stamped and we immediately handed our passports back to the cruise staff for safe keeping.  Bear in mind that we had landed in India a couple of days earlier, I would have thought that only a departure procedure from India would have been necessary.

 Once again we opted for a cab with Mal & Megan, but in the cruise terminal, there are several stalls selling clothing, trinkets and jewellery. Paula spied a trinket that she wanted, having already bought one in Singapore for $18 and grabbed it for $10.  This proved to be a very shrewd move, as when we returned later in the day, the prices had doubled – and they wouldn’t budge on price either!

The taxi drivers outside the terminal building can be a little pushy, but be warned, they are going to try it on. The first driver wanted $120 for the four of us for  a 4 hour tour.  Remember, we started off at $20 in Cochin...  After a vigorous exchange where Megan had  a crowd around her as she stood her ground, we walked on a few paces and agreed $60 with Ravi.  The tiny Hyundai’s air conditioning was opening the windows and it was a bit tight in the rear seats.

Well, Mumbai is certainly an interesting place and like Cochin, traffic is totally chaotic but without the tuk-tuks and far fewer motorbikes.  To see people living under a sheet of black plastic or in something akin to  a dilapidated garden shed makes you realise how lucky we are in NZ or even the UK.  Ravi was told what we wanted to see and told “No shopping”.  By the end of the tour at the 3^rd or 4^th emporium, I was inwardly getting a bit miffed but you just have to understand that for these underpaid taxi drivers, getting a free T shirt for their family at each of these stops, means a lot to them, so you accept it as a small price to pay.

Ravi was an excellent commentator and we saw most places that the more expensive tours visit.  A highlight for me (somewhat surprisingly) was a house where Ghandi lived from 1917-1934.  The fascinating part was  a room full of small dioramas depicting his life. (Hopefully, should be a pic above.) The pic shows Ghandi being ejected from the first class compartment of a train in South Africa.  Another example racism is the Taj Mahal Hotel.  Known to many of us as the site of a terrorist bombing not so long ago, even the impressive police cordon and the scanners weren’t enough to convince Ravi that it was safe, but we went in anyway. Sheer luxury and the first time I have been to the Gents and the attendant was there to turn on the taps, and even press the soap dispenser and hand over tissues.

The racism?  For the badminton group back in NZ, the original ‘luxury’ hotel was named “Watson’s” (probably one of Merv’s ancestors) and was for whites only. This upset a wealthy local who built the Taj – which still stands and flourishes.  Watson’s is long gone...

The visit to part of the dhobigat laundry was educational.  Only men are allowed to do the laundry.  The conditions were unbelievable. The most amazing fact is that laundry comes in from all over the place by van and bicycle and looks to be a total shambles, yet they have never misplaced an item yet!!!!  I should have sent three or four pairs of my socks. The stench when passing the gent’s toilet was horrendous, yet you would think that with so much soapy water around, they could at least throw a bucketful or two in that direction.

As mentioned above, a return to the cruise terminal stalls to find that the prices had doubled was a surprise but there were beer bargains at the Duty Free (upstairs) being snapped up.  I believe beer was about $1 can. There was also a pile of empty gin and vodka bottles where enterprising cruisers had decanted the colourless spirits into their water bottles.

Back to the cabin for a wash and a bite to eat.  But where were our quiz team regulars?  Out on a tour. So we combined with Norm & Marion.

What a stinker.  Sample questions –

4)            Which Disney film had the song ”I Wanna Be Like You”?

11)          What word could precede – Roll, Plant, Cheese?

16)          Broadway play based on the life of an Italian film director.

17)          First hit by a female pop-star was “Baby, One More time”.  Who is it?

18)          What is the name for the phobia, a fear of fear?

20)          With what leisure activity would you associate a “dibble”?

Answers tomorrow.  Just interested to know if our regular team knew any or all of them and could have added to our score!

We had a light snack in the Horizon as I had stepped on the scales in the gym whilst the ship was stationary – and wished I hadn’t.

Sailaway was supposed to be 8:30pm so we joined a few others on deck 7, looking down at the gang-plank.  All passengers were on board so we watched very carefully.  After about 45 mins, there was a big cheer when the Immigration officials left, clutching their Princess Cruise bags of goodies, no doubt including bottles of Scotch, cartons of cigarettes etc.  No further action until about 45 minutes later again and after lots of two way radio chatter and mobile phone calls, a small truck same roaring onto the quay with the head honcho on the dock leaping up and down and yelling.  The truck pulled up just past the gangplank then a fork lift was summoned.  After a bit of pushing and shoving and yelling a very heavy shrink wrapped item on a pallet emerged from the truck and was transferred to the gangplank.  We have no idea what it was but speculation was rife – as always.

The little ramp was eventually removed and the gang plank retracted part way to a chorus of cheers and applause – again. Then it stopped. At about 10:30pm, in the Captains own words,. “the pilot (not that  we need him) finally deigned to put in an appearance.”

Read into that what you will but the Captain is a model of diplomatic restraint.  So leaving Mumbai two hours late putting us even later into Dubai no doubt, put the wisdom of stops in India very much in doubt.  Many passengers loved the stop, but the aggravation of dealing with the Indian authorities is irksome at all levels, from the cumbersome and expensive visa requirements to the over officious power crazy and probable corrupt officials.

Been there done that, not bothered about Indian cities again, but still love the everyday normal people and the food..  

 

             

 

A wet Filipino Independence day on a rough sea - Day 19

As is usual now, we watched the “Wake Show” which is  a good start to the day. It went downhill a bit from then on as not only was the ship pitching around a fair bit, but the monsoon rains hit.  We had been lucky in Cochin but as a sea day with everyone on board, you had to pick and choose where you were going to sit.  Paula wasn’t feeling the best, (nothing to do with the ship’s movements, but  a bad head cold).

We missed the very short Filipino celebration which was planned for outside but had to be moved to the Atrium, but we did manage Alana’s dance class, which was billed as a revision, but the movement was too bad, (the ship, not the dancers) so we revised the Merengue - and learned a new move – the flirtation.

Although the Indian lunch in the Horizon looked fine, Paula opted out and I just had a sandwich and a lemonade – well, lemon squash really.  A lazy afternoon downloading the video to the computer (goodness knows when I’ll get to edit it all) whilst Paula had a half hour massage.  Afternoon coffee with fresh scones, jam and cream, then to Trivia.  Just 4 in our team.  We won’t bore you with the score.

The ship is now 60 minutes behind the new schedule and is still moving around a lot.  Just six on the table for dinner so we wore our new Indian shirts.  Just 4 of us went to the “ABBA” night in the nightclub – DJ Lee (from Manchester) welcomed us at the door wearing his gold lame suit, but we didn’t stay long.  Still the biggest crowd in the nightclub yet.  A standing joke with this age group that they go to bed rather than the nightclub.

Mumbai tomorrow and we know already that our face to face interviews with immigration are about an hour late and our original time was 8:35am.