Sea Day, November 29

Today held a couple different firsts on this trip. One was that I stayed in my swimsuit. All. Day. Long. I needed to work on the Christmas present to myself (a tan), there were no movies to watch in the cabin (TV is out again), and I was trying to avoid the Black Friday sales (on the ship).

We’ve been on many a ship during Thanksgiving before, but this is the first one where I’ve noticed Black Friday sales. Not advertised on TV, but in the Princess Patter. You could shop for apparel in the Pacific Moon Dining Room, get in on the jewelry sales at the Effy Store, and get discounted treatments and products at the Lotus Spa. Doesn’t the language make you want to grab the cruise card and start swooping up the bargains?

 “Don’t miss the opportunity of taking an extra 25% off already reduced prices – no exclusions.”
“The Biggest shopping holiday of the year has arrived with bigger discounts than ever before so don’t miss out.”
“Visit the Lotus Spa for the biggest savings on products and treatments.”

I do have to admit the sale in the Dining Room was just a bit tempting. We’ve been wearing the same t-shirts on cruises for two years now. That’s almost 200 days of the same clothes over and over and over. They’ve seen better days and some items will be left behind before we head home. But being poolside won out over a new cruise wardrobe. Having to experience crowds swarming around the clothing racks and tables like moths to a flame? No thanks.

Another first - we didn’t even go to breakfast today. On this trip we’ve been skipping dinner so we find ourselves hungry for our 6 AM breakfast. But there was no appetite this morning because we did Thanksgiving dinner last night. We had the traditional meal, with E grabbing some extra so he could have his additional Thanksgiving Day tradition – a turkey sandwich made with leftovers. A roll and turkey from the buffet. Mayonnaise and pickles from the grill out by the pool. Tucked in the fridge for a special midnight snack. A pleasant side effect of not being hungry early? Sleeping until 7 felt oh-so-good, especially since we had to set the clocks an hour forward again. (We now officially have a 12 hour time difference from home.)

So a late morning led to a get dressed and head straight to the pool day. Watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s, on a sunny day by the pool, while cruising the Indian Ocean? Yep. I spent the full day there and got plenty of laps in. The swimming must have worn me out because I fell asleep in the lounger. Thank goodness for the Mission Impossible intro playing in the late afternoon movie or I probably would still be sleeping there.

I kind of wish I was. I was hungry by that point and stopped by the buffet on the way back to the cabin to pick up some tortilla chips. As I grabbed a super-hot bowl (just out of the dishwasher, I’m guessing), the tower of bowls came crashing down onto the hard buffet floor. Did they make a terrible racket? Oh, yeah. Could they just drop there and sit? Nope. Might they break in half? Nope. Those sturdy plastic bowls decided they should shatter into dozens of pieces. Thanks to the scalding hot bowls meeting the cold hard floor I made quite the mess and all eyes were on me. So embarrassing.

In other news, the hoses that were staged on Promenade Deck as a precaution against pirates have been taken down. Tomorrow is another sea day and I’ll tell you all about the Pirate Drill then.

Also, no pictures today either. I ran out of Internet minutes several days ago. Thankfully E is letting me tap into his but with several more sea days ahead of us I have to be careful in how I use them.

Muscat, Oman

Have you ever seen a sunrise over Muscat, Oman? You sure have.

Some of the Princess excursion buses on the dock with drivers ready for the day’s passengers.

Today we were given landing cards for immigration, picked up on Deck 4 before we left the ship. They each had a unique number assigned to them. (I’ve marked out my number.) We didn’t have to show them to anyone but I’m guessing in case something came up ashore we would have to produce them?

When returning to the ship we had a drop box to put them in. 

Today was the last Hop on Hop off bus tour of our trip. We weren’t the only ones who thought the early 8:15 AM bus would be a good idea. We were crammed in that bus like sardines with only one seat unoccupied. We’ve had many instances where folks aren’t willing to give up a seat to a disabled person so I was worried about E not being able to get a seat downstairs. Thankfully the folks working the bus took pity on him and made sure he got a seat not only on the bottom level, but right up front. Being they set aside both seats for us, I felt obliged to sit next to him instead of heading up top like I usually do.

That makes all of today’s pictures taken straight out of a bus window, with just a few from the side window. As I was taking them I was bummed, thinking they weren’t coming out all that great. Now that I look at them, I realize it gave me a great perspective of the city. Both you and I can sit back, pretend we’re on a Thanksgiving drive to grandma’s house, and enjoy a tour of Muscat, Oman. (And yeah, I took a lot of pictures on the way. Happy Thanksgiving!)

Did you know Oman is ruled by a Sultan? I didn’t until today. His picture is everywhere around the city. 

Edit: Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said passed away just a few weeks after our visit on January 10, 2020. He was replaced by his cousin Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.

This huge one is right at the port.

Al Alam is the Sultan’s palace.

Look at how shiny the marble is at the palace

The Incense Burner is a lookout tower.

In Abu Dhabi and Dubai you had two options for views – new buildings or sand. Here in Muscat you have other options – rocks and mountains, old buildings or new buildings, or green space. 

Plenty of taxis were available right outside the port.

Plenty of drivers were standing at the ready, too.

Two ships in port today.

There is only one red HOHO bus route...

but it gave us plenty of opportunity to see the city from one end to the other. Muscat most definitely felt (and looked) more Middle Eastern-y to us than anywhere else we’ve been before. The dress was predominantly traditional for both men and women. The city was older looking, with all buildings white or cream in color. (Buildings can’t be built higher than eight stories and have to adhere to the color scheme.) Suqs (souks/marketplaces) were busy and full of locals. We knew we certainly weren’t in the United Arab Emirates anymore.

We move clocks forward yet another hour tonight. Ugh. But tomorrow we’re off to a sea day and that makes it a woo hoo!