Livorno

Lunch onboard Silver Cloud overlooking Livorno

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9. We pick up the second leg of our "world cruise" ...

We will be rejoining the Silver Cloud, in Athens, on 21 May 2010, nearly two years after we last saw her. In the interim she has been through a major refurbishment, so we look forward to seeing the improvements. Clearly we are not discerning travellers as we saw absolutley nothing wrong with her when we last sailed, as you can tell from our previous blog posts.

Here is our draft Itinerary:

Monday 17 May 2010
Leave Durban  at 16h00 and Johannesburg at 20h40 on Virgin Atlantic

Tuesday 18 May 2010
Arrive London at 06h50, transfer to Manors Hotel Datchet – near Windsor - for two nights while we wait for our luggage to be rerouted from Los Angeles, Long Island or Londonderry.

Thursday 20 May 2010
Leave Heathrow at 12h15 and arrive Athens at 17h50.  Transfer to Palmyra Beach Hotel – Glyfada for one night.

Friday 21 May 2010
Join the Silver Cloud at 15h00 in Piraeus and sail at 18h00

Saturday 22 May 2010
Day at sea

Sunday 23 May 2010
Arrive in Sorrento, Italy at 09h00
Sail at 18h00

Monday 24 May 2010
Arrive in Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy at 07h00
Sail at 19h00

Tuesday 25 May 2010
Arrive in Livorno, Italy at 07h00
Must arrange an excursion to Pisa
Sail at 19h00

Wednesday 26 May 2010
Arrive in Monte Carlo, Monaco at 08h00
Sail at 12h00

Thursday 27 May 2010
Arrive in St. Tropez, France at 08h00
Sail at 16h00

Friday 28 May 2010
Arrive in Barcelona, Spain at 08h00
Sail at 18h00

Saturday 29 May 2010
Day at sea

Sunday 30 May 2010
Arrive in Malaga, Spain at 08h00
Sail at 19h00

Monday 31 May 2010
Arrive in Cadiz, Spain at 08h00
Sail at 19h00

Tuesday 1 June 2010
Arrive in Lisbon, Portugal at 13h00
Must arrange afternoon excursion to Sintra incl. dinner?  Any suggestions, anyone?

Wednesday 2 June 2010
Explore Lisbon during morning, sail at 1h00

Thursday 3 June 2010
Day at sea

Friday 4 June 2010
Arrive in Le Verdon (France) at 09h00
Sail at 9h00

Saturday 5 June 2010
Day at sea

Sunday 6 June 2010
Arrive in Hornfleur (France) at 08h00
Sail at 14h00

Monday 7 June 2010
Dock at Tilbury, London – 07h00
Transfer to Heathrow and depart at 20:30

Tuesday 8 June 2010
Arrive in Johannesburg at 08h35 and depart 11h20
Arrive in Durban – 12h30

8. And now, the end is here … (apologies to “The Voice”)

This final chapter will just clear up some loose ends and cover some highlights and lowlights of our wonderful, wonderful experience. Without a doubt, this was the best holiday experience I have ever had (Rose agrees!).

Firstly to cover some questions that people have asked.

“Why holiday on a ship? Surely you get bored?”
Well, one thing that really bores me is packing, unpacking and transiting from one place to another. And one thing that really sets my nerves on edge is arranging accommodation as you go – either you have to use Swiss quality planning and know where you will be every minute of the holiday, or use the most rash gamble and hope you will find a room at 10 at night when your train was late arriving in a city you have never seen before.

If you have ever done some touring, moving from one small hotel to another on almost a daily basis, never completely unpacking, no home base, and paying exorbitant travel costs from one point to another, try this instead.

Imagine that your hotel room follows you around from one city to another - only requiring you to unpack once for the whole trip. Imagine that your room also transports you, at no extra cost, while you sleep in a luxurious, queen sized bed. And has a totally free minibar stocked to your choice. And, your choice of pillows (a must for me!)

Imagine also that you never have to put your hand in your pocket, not for a drink, not for a snack, not for any meals and never for a tip. Imagine that whatever you feel like to eat or drink, whenever it is, you just have to pick up the phone and it is delivered to you.

Imagine having three classy restaurants to go to whenever you want, at no extra cost, with world class wines matched to every dish you choose by an expert sommelier, with a widely varied menu every evening, with flavours of the area you are travelling through. Imagine being greeted with a smile and by your name by maids on floors that you don’t even live on (part of the crew’s job is to memorize names from the photographs taken for your ship’s guest card!).

Imagine a “free” shuttle bus from your hotel to the centre of every town, at half hourly intervals. Imagine local history experts offering you daily talks on what you are going to see and have seen. Evening shows and big screen movies. A free DVD library with a huge selection of latest movies, international news channels, bridge coaching, Tai Chi lessons …

Maybe you are starting to see why?

“I’ve been on the local cruises and didn’t enjoy it that much - all that queuing and no window in my cabin …”
Every room on Silver Seas ships is sea facing. There are no “inside” cabins. Every room is a suite. Only a few do not have veranda’s, and those have panoramic windows instead. There are approximately the same number of crew as passengers (just under 400 of each). There are too many tables in the restaurants to have to be concerned about queuing, and all are excellent. Everything is included in the price.

I suggest that you don’t make the mistake of comparing this line with the ones we see cruising our local ports - even the Sinfonia, which takes 2,000 passengers, five times as many as the Silverseas liners. It would be like comparing the Killarney Hotel with the Lost City.

Of course it’s all not wine and roses. There is no pharmacy, although there is an excellent Doctor/Surgeon. If you want an aspirin, you have to pay for an appointment and will find yourself $110 (R 850) poorer – plus the cost of the asprin – and if you have Scottish blood, an even bigger headache! Better to wait and suffer until the next port, at least it is for me, the eternal scotsman. And the onboard shop is expensive – Harrod’s prices (and Harrod’s labelled stock), and the Spa is also – again, European prices. These are expensive, at least for South Africans they are.

Like most beach resorts I have ever visited, the deck chair SS – those Euro tourists who leave a towel and a book on a lounger all day just so they will have the option of spending a few minutes there if they happen to want to, irritate me to a tooth grinding fury.

Everyone else is too “civilized” to toss the towel and book to one side and just take the lounger, so they lug another one to some obscure corner and watch begrudgingly as the shadows of evening start to fall on the prime spots, still sporting the book and towel, but nothing else. The crew clears them up each night to “swab the decks”, but before 6:30 the next day they are there again, re-armed in pre-breakfast raids.

Rose and I seriously considered collecting all the books and returning them to the library. On one occasion only, outside the Panorama Lounge, I moved the “book and towel” to another empty lounger so that Rose and I could lie next to each other and watch the sunset. I am sure no one ever knew. The practice should be banned. It is unconstitutional!

Also, the ship-arranged tours are expensive – very. I suggest using the (free) shuttle bus, and taking a local taxi tour, or pre-arranging your own as Rory did for us in Petra, and Voyager Travel did for us to Luxor. However the ship-arranged tours have some considerable advantages – the service quality, the booked meals at excellent hotels, the high quality guides, the superb transport, and the certainty that comes with relying on the ship may make it worth considering as an option for critical tours – and also, you know the ship won’t leave without you.

But enough of the negative already – as you can see it doesn’t take much to send “Old Grumpy” on a roll. Other than these niggles, I have never experienced a better way to see the world.

I cannot recommend Silver Seas liners more highly – they are superb.

And I have to acknowledge Janet Aldworth of Sure Voyager Travel. A superstar beyong compare. I know everyone raves about "their" travel consultant, but I have been through many, and I am super critical. Janet IS unique.

We cannot wait until our next cruise!

7. Our day in the ditch

After leaving Aqaba on Sunday evening, we all started to have a sense of the trip drawing to a close – Monday in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Tuesday transitting the Suez, Wednesday would be a day at sea and then early Thursday morning docking in Piraeus.

Consequently, to make the most of the last few days, we hopped on the shuttle bus to take us into Sharm-el-Sheikh after breakfast. This port, at the southern tip of the Sinai, juts out sort of midway across the Red Sea between the Egyptian mainland and the Saudi Arabian Coast.

Well, other than having the potential of being quite a nice beach resort, this is not a place I would rush back to. I must admit our experience was limited to what we saw through the bus windows on the way to the Duty Free (and Bargain Free) tourist zone, and the Duty Free Zone itself.

One gets the feeling of one of those small Natal South Coast resorts on a larger scale – cheap shops with gaudy beach stuff like buckets and spades and belly boards and rubbishy trinkets made in the East, a few shops printing slogans on T shirts while you wait, shops selling junk watches and so on.

There was a Hard Rock Café, Pizzaland, KFC, McDonalds, every fast food chain you could dream up, as well as an Irish Pub, and Fish and Chip joints. Along the main walking street in the Duty Free Zone was a mile of “Bedouin Eateries” – a string of carpeted, cushioned and canopied road islands that must buzz at nights with tourists, I suppose, but wandering around at 10:30 in the bright daylight of morning as we were, it was a creepy, dirty place, no resemblance at all to the Bedouin camp at which we had dinner in the desert near Dubai (which I suppose in turn also has no resemblance to a real camp as well …)

Prices were outrageous, shopkeepers were rude or at the best surly and unwelcoming (on one tourist shop window was a bold sign “NO to contempt religions! We worship Allah!”) I have the greatest respect for all religions and beliefs but this made me feel very unwelcome indeed.

What little we saw of the beaches looked great – like Mauritius, but much narrower – and the sea is clear and turquoise, very pretty. I think as long as you avoid the town, and stay at your resort, it would be quite a nice holiday. But I think I will stick with Mauritius – or even Umhlanga for that matter!

That night we set sail, again with the Silver Shadow with us – and headed up the Red Sea towards the Suez.

I was up at dawn’s crack to monitor the progress. We had dropped anchor at 2 am in the anchorage just before the start of the canal – very noisy that was too I can tell you, with us being at the front of the ship – and all around us in the morning light I could see scores of ships waiting for their individual pilots to be taken on and for the transit to start. The whole queue of about 35 of us set off at around 6:30 am, all at a steady pace of about 11 kph or 8 knots – I stand to be corrected on these numbers, they are from memory – the slow speeds are so the wake does not erode the canal banks. We were about 12th in the line, the Silver Shadow right behind us. Here you see us starting off, and the small image you see left of our wake is the Silver Shadow

The canal is narrow, and two ships cannot pass, except in certain designated passing points (lakes off to the side) – so what happens is that convoys set off from either end (North and South), and they are timed so that when the sole North bound convoy reaches the first of the two daily South bound convoys, it has already stopped at one of the passing points (Great Bitter Lakes) and we could serenely pass it by.

It takes 11 hours in all to get from the Southern end to the exit into the Med, so it was almost supper time by then. All along the way, specialist pilots are loaded and unloaded for each section, one for each ship – so there must be several hundred of them in all to handle the three daily convoys. This picture shows us leaving the canal behind the queue of 11 ships in front of us.

The following day at sea (our last full day on the ship) allowed us to relax, partake in our daily activities and that evening we were called to cash in our “prize points”. Now this is something to see!

Activities take place all day at various places on the ship – bridge, golf putting, shuffleboard, trivia quizzes and many more. I took part daily in the putting, and Rose and I both took part in the Team Trivia. Winners (top three) get prize point cards –and I didn’t have a clue until the final day that these could be cashed in for various items. We ended up with 72 points, enough to get a T Shirt! Other items were things like wine openers, bottle stoppers, and silly little trinkets like that, nice mementoes but of almost zero intrinsic value.

The most surreal thing I saw on the trip was multi-millionaires from all counties – people paying up to $10,000 per person for the trip, queuing eagerly for a cheap worthless trinket. What is it that motivates this type of behavior – the thrill of getting something (anything) for nothing? The thrill of being recognized as a winner? It astounded me. Some of these people could probably buy SA Breweries or Old Mutual or both – what on earth do they want with a $10 T-shirt or a $5 corkscrew – why on earth stand in a queue for one?

And before you ask - yes, of course I was there in the queue as well!

6. Petra – in the footsteps of Indiana Jones

After leaving Luxor, surviving the hair raising three hour ride back to the port of Safaga, and our driver being denied access to the port, we walked the last kilometer from the port gate to the Silver Cloud, moored alongside the Silver Shadow, her big sister (quite an unusual event) – it just so happened that she was on a world cruise in the same last four ports that we were in – Safaga, Aqaba (Jordan), Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt again) and then Athens.

Returning to our suite after a night away was strangely similar to a mini-homecoming, and we settled in as the ship was readied for leaving for Aqaba.

Nadee, our Jordanian guide and driver who was waiting alongside the gangway as we disembarked in Aqaba was a very pleasant surprise after the Egyptian driver we had at Safaga – he was a dignified, Omar Sharif type father figure, who spoke very good English, and was clearly extremely proud of his country and what it had to offer, besides being an expert and careful driver.

En route to Petra he punctuated the trip with useful information about the countryside, social issues and the history of Jordan and Petra in particular – so by the time we were handed over to our local guide in Petra, we had already been already familiarized with what we were about to see. Again this was very different from the Luxor trip, where the hell raising driver did not speak a word to us all the way – he was not able to speak English at all, as far as we could see. Neither was he able to get into the port to fetch us, requiring us to hitch a ride on the Silverseas tour bus to the port gate, and then take a short ride in a 1960’s Peugeot station wagon taxi before finally getting to our transport. Happily none of this happened here in Aqaba.

Petra is the site used in “Indiana Jones – the Last Crusade” – to get to this long hidden city, high in the mountains, you have to walk the last kilometer through a narrow cleft in the mountain (the Siq) which itself is an experience.

Once into the Siq, our young guide (also excellent) showed us how the ancient Nabataean occupants were excellent water engineers who used ceramic pipes (still in place) to carry water from a diverted river (the Siq was its original bed) down into Petra.

Petra itself is fascinating – emerging from the Siq you are faced with the Khazneh (“Treasury”), but leading off from this is the whole hidden city – over 40 square kilometers in size, containing an amphitheatre (Roman origin) seating 3,000 spectators, and many other buildings – the unique thing is that everything is not built – it is carved out of the actual mountain – and the stone is rose red. This pic shows me in my Indiana Jones hat in front of the Khazneh.

The Khazneh seen here is the building in which Indiana Jones finds the Holy Grail.

On the right is Rose standing in front of the Khazneh - this shows the scale and how big it actually is.

When this picture was taken Rose was starting to experience a severe headache. It was unfortunate that it soon became clear that Rose had became dehydrated and for a time was quite ill – and we had to walk the full length of the Siq, now uphill, in the noon heat and dust. It was quite concerning, as there is no other way out.

Fortunately, Nadee had given us his cellphone number, and with his very concerned assistance, we found a quiet, air-conditioned room in a local restaurant, bought some rehydrating solution from a pharmacy, and managed to get Rose (lying on the back seat most of the way) back to the ship. On the trip back, she began to recover and by the next morning was back to her perky self.

I must recommend Nadee highly - if he represents the quality of the tours provided by his company (Nyazi Tours, http://www.nyazi.com.jo/), then you should look no further when deciding who to use in Jordan. Wadi Rum, by his description, is very well worth a visit as well as Petra, if you ever visit Aqaba.

5. Walking like Egyptians

We woke up the first morning (Thursday 27 Mar) to the change of rhythm that we would soon recognize as an indication that we were close to port and it would not be long before we were to dock.

A slowing down, as the pilot climbed up a rope ladder from his little boat, then the steady and stately pace that we assume to enter the port and approach our designated berthing spot.

Captain Pontillo seems to like to berth positioned for a quick getaway, so, if necessary, he swings around to face the direction we will take on leaving, and, scorning the tugs waiting their chance to nudge us into position, he edges us gently and precisely up to the dock, and the sounds of the various engines needed to achieve this die away to silence.

By eight we had docked in Fujairah (another of the United Arab Emirates), and, as it was our first stop, we took the shuttle bus into town to see what was available. We were dropped of in front of Lulu’s Hypermarket, an unpromising looking, smallish, rather tatty suburban shopping centre – but once again, the old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” was proven true. It was our first experience on this trip of a “fixed price” shopping centre, and a welcome relief from bartering.

Prices were all lower than we had seen anywhere in Dubai (perhaps with a bit more concerted effort, we could have beaten them down to these levels), but it was a pleasure to just pay the money and go. Some examples – a Maglite torch – SA price R 230, Dubai, R 140, Fujairah R 80; and a particular Seiko Kinetic watch – SA price R 5,700, Dubai, R4,200, Fujairah R 3,400 – unfortunately I had already bought the watch in Dubai. I really find bartering unpleasant and stressful, and I never push it to the limit, I just couldn’t be bothered.

By the time we arrived at Salalah (on the West side of Oman), on Saturday morning, we had decided to relax and not to go ashore, we lazed around the pool, had coffee in the lounge, and just chilled.

But if I find bartering unpleasant, it’s nothing compared to just walking down a shopping street in Egypt – you are accosted from all sides by cocky 22 year old, western dressed young men, pressuring you into having a look at their shop. All the old tricks are played: “Where are you from?” “South Africa.” “Bafana Bafana !” Ho hum.

But let’s not dwell on the negative – the night away in Egypt was magic for us, any unpleasantness far outweighed.

The highlight (and we must thank Janet of Sure Voyager Travel for inserting this diversion) was the visit to the Tombs of the Artisans. Visiting Luxor and the Valley of the Kings in 24 hours is a little like doing a wine tasting – all you can take away is a small taste of many beautiful experiences. The number of tourists is more than astounding – busloads and busloads filing through the turnstiles, trooping down the long passages into the Kings tombs with glazed eyes and empty heads, touching 3,000 year old carvings when they have been told not to …

I am fascinated with antiquity (see my profile) and I lagged behind studying the immense detail on the walls and ceilings, imagining what went into the planning and execution and soaking in the experience. Unfortunately, the time was just not available, so I satisfied myself with taking time on sections and glossing over the rest, in each of the three tombs we visited Rameses II, Rameses III and Rameses IV - not my ancestors, and in fact, Rameses III and Rameses II were separated by 300 years.

The tombs were big and impressive, but had been exploited, robbed and whatever was left moved to museums in Cairo or all over the world, but they were still amazing. The tombs of the artisans though, were much more intact, less affected by time, thieves or tourism, and by visiting them, you were able to recreate in your mind, what the kings tombs must have looked like, in their original state.

The reason they are left out by big tour buses is that they are small – too small to be entered by more than eight or so at a time – compare this to the eighty or so in any of the king’s tombs. They are also considered by many tourists as being unimportant – being only the tombs of the workers on the other, more noble, tombs.

The thing is, as much care was taken on these as the others, and they are incredibly well preserved. Full wall and ceiling art in all chambers are intact, untouched, and still have full vivid colouring – and by looking at them, you can reconstruct, in your mind, what the main tombs (and temples) must have looked like.

The more commonly visited sites still retain the intricate carving and immense scale, but it is only in the artisans tombs where you can experience the original vivid colours together. To see them you have to visit in a small group, with a private guide. There is another bonus here – the remains of the village where they lived can be seen as well, giving a really good idea of their living quarters.

While we were there we were also treated with guided visits to the Luxor and Karnak temples (you think St Peter’s in Rome is big?), as well as the Disneyland experience of overtaking on blind corners and blind rises, on a single lane each way highway, and pulling out to overtake articulated trucks, over solid white lines, into the face of another articulated truck heading towards you. Somehow it all seems to work, heaven knows how, the traffic seems to part like the Red Sea did for Moses. I spent a fair amount of the trip to and from Luxor with my eyes closed.

Luxor is a must-do, I will be back, and I will couple this with a visit to the museums in Cairo. (I will fly in, though – my nerves will not stand another drive in.)

As a standard, tick the box, tourist destination, don’t bother, you will get better value in many other places. But if you want a spiritual experience, and are prepared to brave the flies, the touts, the dust and heat and the potential tummy upsets, you will be very hard pressed to find a more intense experience anywhere else. This was a highlight.

4. Flirting with Camels

We had a few days in Dubai (just to be safe, in case our luggage went to Dublin, Durban or Dubrovnik) and we used this time to experience a little of Arabia before we set sail. So, on the second afternoon we went dune bashing in 4x4’s, followed up by dinner under the stars in what was a reasonable replica (I hope) of a Bedouin camp.

It was interesting, and reasonably diverting, but all a bit too mass produced to be able to be recommended. There must have been around a hundred identical 4x4’s in groups of 10 or so that afternoon – and our driver told us it was a quiet day!

All headed out separately from various hotels around the city, and mustered in massive “outspans” while they waited in blistering heat for everyone to arrive. Then they left in groups behind a leader, swooping over the dunes, slipping and sliding, up steep slopes, and suddenly cresting the dune and shooting straight down the other side.

Various strategic “photo stops” punctuated the excursion, but it was clear that this was to allow other groups to get ahead, or to follow – all in all these stops were very hot, very dusty and very boring, and lengthened the time to a point where it became irritating. The actual dune riding was probably no more than 20 or 25 minutes, but the long ride out from Dubai, and the interminable “photo stops” and mustering before and after stretched the time out to nearly three hours before we arrived at a camel farm, for a quick “shoofti” before dinner. Here, Rory and I are eyeball to eyeball with a camel, hoping to discern her inner beauty.

The supper was also interesting, but again, just a little too stage-managed for purposes of efficiency of handling a large group. But it did give us enough of a glimpse of what a Bedouin lifestyle must be – carpets spread on desert sand, big, silky cushions to sit cross legged on before low tables, partly under cover of expansive tents.

Another slight disappointment was the “City Tour” the previous day. And again, it was not the sights that disappointed, but the over-organization, the time wasting involved in gathering the maximum number of tourists together before starting, and then the multiple languages that all descriptions were given in so that everyone followed what was going on.

Other than the “hurry up and wait” nature of the tour, it was really fascinating to see this huge, vibrant and fast growing city, which has emerged from the dusty desert in less than 40 years. A highlight was crossing the creek in the little “taxi-boats”, to the Gold Souk. Here is a "dinner dhow", a floating restaurant we passed on the crossing.

Later, when we took a taxi to the Mall of the Emirates, we decided that what we should have done rather was hire a taxi for two or three hours, and do the city tour ourselves. In that way we could spend short stops at the spots we were not interested in, and take as much time as we needed at others. Taxis are really inexpensive – short trips around the city cost as little as Dh 8 (R 16, or around 1 pound).

While on the topic of the Mall of the Emirates, this was one mother of a Mall – put two Gateway’s side by side, then stack another two on top, and add to this a full Ski slope (looked like half a kilometer long, about 80 metres wide, with the start about 25 stories high), covered with real snow, dozens of ski-suited people on the high chair-lift, kids on the junior slopes and toboggan run, après ski taverns – all enclosed in glass and aluminium – and all this in the middle of a desert! This is nothing like what I expected – I had an idea of an artificial, nylon slope about two or maybe three stories high - this place must be seen to be believed. Imagine keeping the temperature below freezing – it reaches up to 50 degrees in mid summer!

3. All aboard! – the beautiful MV Silver Cloud

Despite the minor hiccup of only being reunited with our dollars and dhurams just fifty minutes before our transfer, we were in good spirits on arrival at the port. The smiles that greeted us, the quiet and sedate officers, and the luxurious fittings, furnishings and design were a clear indication that this was no average tourist class cruise.

The four Silver Seas liners are small in comparison to other luxury international cruise ships that I am familiar with, and the ratio of guests to staff is very favorable, pretty much one to one in fact. The feeling is one of being a guest in an exclusive boutique hotel with excellent hands-on management. The bonus of course is the Italian flavor that comes with Silver Seas being an Italian line - you all know how much Rose and I love Italia.

In our suite waiting for us when we arrived were our suitcases (last seen at our hotel in Dubai) and on the table sat a frosty silver ice bucket containing an ice cold bottle of French bubbly with two glasses.

The suites are wonderfully appointed, as you can see from this pic, and the (“no extra charge”) minibar is stocked to your personal requirements. We requested white wine and a good scotch, and that evening found a litre of Johnny Walker black label, and a bottle of an excellent Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (NZ) waiting for us. These are continually replenished by Kelly, our lovely and efficient Brazilian stewardess, or her colleague Berry - the wine being varied from day to day, but always of a very high quality.

Shortly after unpacking, Kelly arrived to ask Rose whether she would prefer an alternative to the Bulgari amenities provided, and disused what other brand was available!

Even the pillows are provided to our personal requirements. We could choose from hard goose down, soft goose down, foam or therapeutic. We can (and do!) order room service 24 hours a day from a really good room service menu, or any of the meals on offer at any of the restaurants can be served in our suite. In this case, the waiter lays the table, complete with linen, silverware etc and we enjoy a fully served meal in the comfort of our suite. In the following pic, you can see the door leading to our veranda).

All of the restaurants are comparable to Durban’s best “old style” - think of la Dolce Vita - white tablecloths, silverware, napkins, attentive waiters, specialist advice on wine from the Sommelier and an extensive selection of wines from a high quality “cellar”... and again, all drinks are inclusive in the fare, at all times, whether in a restaurant, at the pool bar, or in the lounge.

There is a nice library, from which Rose collects her daily soduku – besides a wide selection of books, there is also a selection of up to date DVD’s for use in our suite (yes we have a DVD player). We have not needed this yet; there is a good selection of channels and movies on TV.

This is just an appetizer – much more to come later – I have to be economical with my internet minutes, which, as you can imagine, are of necessity expensive on board.

2. Drama in Dubai

Wow, what a city. It's a great example of what can be achieved when you dare to dream big. Huge, sweeping curves and lines. Architectural bravery on a grand scale, massive strokes on a canvas thousands of metres tall. Look at the beauty of these two towers.

This pic also shows, in the foreground, the metro transport system that is being built - our taxi driver said nonchalantly that it will be in operation by the end of the year. As hard as it is to believe, it will. It's another example of the "can do" attitude. Multiple teams of workers, all over the city work 24 hours of the day. They only started it just over a year ago.

Let's talk about the drama quickly and get it over with.

On our final morning, we decided to take a taxi into Deira City Mall, and do some last minute shopping before being taken to our ship at 2:30.

Those of you who know me well, or have had the misfortune of travelling with me are well aware of my absent mindedness with what seems to others to be important things like tickets, passports and so on, and the resulting chaos which inevitably arises when I get into a panic after these objects wander off. I am probably understating it when I say, this happens quite a lot.

Well we arrived at the mall at 10:30 and went into Carrefour - Rose and Jen one way, me and Rory to the electronics department - which is to me as good as a Buddhist retreat for relaxation.

I picked up what I wanted - a memory card for the camera, and went to pay - guess what - no wallet. Of course, the wallet contained all of our cash dollars, all of our credit cards, our "travel wallet" card loaded with all of our travel allowance, and all of our local currency. Without it, we

were penniless.

I don't know what we would have done if Rory and Jen were not with us,but Rory lent me 20

dhuram (R40) and Rose and I shot off back to the hotel, to try to track the previous taxi down. All's well that ends well, with the help of the video footage of the taxi collecting us, the driver was contacted, and returned the wallet, intact and complete (just as I expected, don't know what all the fuss was about).

One weird coincidence though (another common thread in my life) - the wallet had been found and handed in by a South African Peter Linde from Liberty Insurance! Thanks Peter - this is not the first time a Capetonian has handed in my wallet - on the last occasion it was found in the car park at Cape Town airport.

1. Our Itinerary

Sunday, 23 Mar 2008
Leave Durban at 09h50, arrive Johannesburg 11h00, then leave at 14h15 for Dubai.

Monday 24 Mar 2008
Arrive Dubai 00h15 and transfer to The Traders Hotel in Deira. Relaxation time, then afternoon city tour.

Tuesday, 25 Mar 2008
Shopping, then afternoon Sundowner Dune Dinner Safari.

Wednesday, 26 Mar 2008
Transfer from The Traders Hotel to the Cruise Terminal and board Silver Cloud for departure at 19h00.

Thursday, 27 Mar 2008
Arrive Fujairah, U.A.E, 08h00. Depart 14h00

Friday, 28 Mar 2008
At sea

Saturday, 29 Mar 2008
Arrive Salalah, Oman, 13h00. Depart 19h00

Sunday, 30 Mar to Tuesday, 01 Apr 2008
3 days at sea

Wednesday, 02 Apr 2008
Arrive Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 08h00. Depart 19h00

Thursday, 03 Apr 2008
At sea

Friday, 04 Apr 2008
Arrive Safaga, Egypt, 08h00. Private transfer in the group convoy departs Safaga 09h00. Arrive Luxor lunchtime and transfer to the West Bank to visit the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Queens, and the palace of Queen Hatshepsut. By special arrangement visit the Tombs of the Artisans.

Transfer to Hotel Etap. Sound and Light Show at the Temple of Karnak, dinner at the Winter Palace.

Saturday, 05 Apr 2008
Visit Temples of Luxor and Karnak. Return to Safaga in private convoy and rejoin the Silver Cloud.

Saturday, 05 Apr 2008
Depart Safaga, Egypt, 18h00.

Sunday, 06 Apr 2008
Arrive Aqaba, Jordan, 07h00. Depart 19h00. Private transfer to Petra, guided tour and lunch at Petra. Retrun to Silver Cloud by 17h00.

Monday, 07 Apr 2008
Arrive Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, 06h30. Depart 14h00

Tuesday, 08 Apr 2008
Transit Suez Canal

Wednesday, 09 Apr 2008
At sea

Thursday, 10 Apr 2008
Arrive Athens (Piraeus), Greece, 07h00. Transfer to airport. Depart 18h05. Arrive Dubai 23h30.

Friday 11 Apr 2008
Depart Dubai 04h40. Arrive Johannesburg 10h50 and depart 12h55. Arrive Durban 14h05.