Sapphire Princess Sea Day, Nov 21

Today’s sunrise as seen off the coast of Yemen.

My to-do list for today was a short one:

1. Watch Mamma Mia at Movies Under the Stars.

2. Listen to the live band at the pool.

3. Find out the cut off for the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon.

4. Check the map of Deck 10 to see what could have made the last cabin so noisy.

1. The first time I ever watched Mamma Mia was on a cruise ship. Up until that point I had never had any interest in it, and I’m not sure I even knew when it arrived in the movie theaters. But now when it’s on a Princess ship I watch it. I’ve seen it in Alaska, in a thick fog, with the ship’s foghorn blowing every few minutes. I’ve watched in the sticky, steamy heat of a Panama Canal cruise. I’ve seen it in the Gulf of Mexico on a Caribbean cruise, in the Pacific Ocean on a Mexican Riviera cruise, and in the Atlantic Ocean on a transatlantic cruise. I don’t necessarily like the movie that much, but it’s the reaction of others watching it that makes it so entertaining. What typically happens is a couple walks through the area. The wife looks at the screen, wonders what the movie is, and joyfully exclaims, “It’s Mamma Mia!” while the husband looks not at all interested. Usually the wife winds up staying for the movie and the husband wanders off. Said wife then spends her time singing her way through the movie. Watching Mamma Mia and watching the others watching Mamma Mia is just a downright joyful experience. (At least for me, as E is one who wants no part of it.)

2. I’ve been at the pool every day this week, working on my tan (and my swimming) and hoping for a live band to finally show up. To me, there’s nothing like a live band playing by the pool to make you feel like you are really on a vacation. And when they get around to playing the Cupid Shuffle it makes you want to jump up and dance. Except I don’t dance – and never have – but if I did I would be dancing. Guess I’m dancing inside because I always look forward to the live music.

3. E generously offered to head to the Captain’s Circle Desk to find out the cutoff for the Most Traveled Guest Luncheon. 595 days. So the 40 passengers onboard with the most days at sea with Princess have 595 days or more. We were short just a few days. Oh, well.

4. The Sapphire Princess has portals near the elevators with the map of the decks. I went down to Deck 10 where our old cabin was to see if I could figure out if there was anything around the cabin that could have been causing the terrible noise. I did find there was an entire section of no cabins. 

It leads me to believe there was some type of machinery in there causing the terrible racket. And by the speed at which they moved us to a new cabin, I would guess they’ve had complaints before. So if you will be sailing on the Sapphire Princess, study the map and don’t choose Caribe 534. 

Looks like a normal cabin, but nope.

I would surmise the other cabins in the area may also suffer from the noise, but I don’t know. We are plenty happy with our new cabin. Even though it is an obstructed view, it is mostly quiet, near the elevators, and close to the buffet. 

It’s a connecting cabin but we haven’t heard a peep through the door. Glad to see the lock is only accessible by a steward’s key.

The lamps in both cabins have a USB plug. Love it!

Also love that we still have mailboxes outside the door.

That was pretty much the day, with the biggest chunk of my time being spent at the pool. While the weather has been warm, the pool hasn’t been very busy at all. You can show up any time of the day and have no problem finding plenty of seats to choose from. There are no chair hogs at all. If this was a Caribbean cruise with weather like this the place would be jam-packed. I’m really enjoying having the space to spread out. Another place where we’re finding plenty of space? In the elevators. I think only once so far have I gotten into an elevator that was almost full. And the passengers on this ship are nice and friendly. It has been a welcome change from our other sailings this year. 

I think I could get used to this kind of cruising. Kind of reminds of what cruising used to be like when we first started.

One last thing – we are now sailing through the High Risk Area. We’ve been told we’ll see military units patrolling the waters these next three days.  Then starting tonight the Promenade Deck will be closed after 10 PM and lights will be off out there. We have additional crew members on watch so it needs to be dark so they can maximize their night vision. Upper decks will continue to be open. 

Off to another sea day tomorrow.

A Brief Stop in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Today’s sunrise comes to you courtesy of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

We weren’t supposed to be stopping in Jeddah, but we had yet another passenger requiring a medical evacuation and Jeddah is where the early morning transfer occurred. We arrived just as the sun was coming up.

Having never been to Saudi Arabia before, and knowing I'd never get to go, I was quite happy to have a little look from onboard the ship. 

The signage at the dock was the first clue we were in a different country. With a different language and different culture.

But the differences didn't stop there. Both the female passenger being wheeled off the ship (thankfully not on a stretcher) and the female medical personnel were wearing head coverings, as would be expected in this conservative country. Men onshore were either military or port personnel in camouflage or dressed in traditional white garments.

The last time we witnessed passengers being taken off a ship because of an emergency we were in Ketchikan. That cruise was the one where we had passengers involved in a float plane accident. Then is when we saw families being taken off and ship officials meeting with hospital officials. All very cordial, friendly, and from afar, respectful.

Not so today.

While the lady was transferred to the ambulance relatively quickly and her husband climbed aboard with her, the ambulance sat on the dock. And sat. And sat. For a full hour the passengers in need never left the dock. From my vantage point it was clear the officials were not happy about the ship being in port. The female medical personnel were sent back to the ship (this is Saudi Arabia and men rule), and the men did try to rule each other. There was plenty of explanations and hand waving and finger pointing and head wringing and shouting and...and...and... 

More and more Saudi Arabian officials showed up. Then some left. Then others showed up. This went on for a couple hours. At one point I counted 22 people on the dock. Two of our ship's officers, two male medical personnel, and 18 Saudi Arabians. The men from our ship deserve an award for their patience and perseverance today. Even after the ambulance left, the brouhaha continued. Finally the Captain announced we were finishing up some bureaucratic paperwork and would be leaving in 20 minutes. 

The 20 minutes came and left with us still sitting at the dock. Another 20 minutes came and left. And another, and another, and another. Four and a half hours later the ship was finally allowed to leave the country.

After witnessing what we saw today, E and I both came away with a bad taste in our mouths. I've never said this about anywhere I've ever traveled before, but I'm glad I don't live here and I don't care to visit here.

The Jeddah lighthouse is the tallest in the world. The only thing of beauty we witnessed today.

Tomorrow we're up for a full sea day, with hopefully all passengers staying healthy.