Days 113-114: At Sea … Crossing to the Arabian Peninsula-

Sunday, 30 April 2017
At Sea — Gulf of Oman … En Route to Dubai

Stats @ Ship’s Time 8:30p (GST) … UTC 4:30p (30 April)
Temp: 85.3F (29.6C)
Position: 25.42.05N / 57.12.66E

I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.
~ Thomas Carlyle ~

This is a two-in-one post to tell the story of our crossing from the Indian Subcontinent to the Arabian Peninsula.  Time that we once again set aside to recharge our batteries.  It’s not so much the amount of sightseeing we do on our port days that wears us out.  Rather, it’s the heat and humidity that does so.  Between the R&R we’ve been enjoying since leaving Mumbai and the 1½-hour time gain, we’ll be back on top of our game by the time we dock in Dubai tomorrow.

Our two days at sea found us with no access to the Deck 5 promenade between 5:00p on day one and late this evening.  The reason?  An anti-piracy measure that included having the fire hoses attached to high-pressure water guns that were deployed alongside the ship.  There will be more serious measures when we get into the Gulf of Aden.

The red circle on the railing shows one of the high-pressure water guns.

While I was able to sit out on the Deck 5 promenade to do my writing and reading on the first day, I had to find an alternative location when the veranda was in the sun today.  The pool area is too noisy for me to concentrate on my writing, so I turned to the library where it tends to be rather quiet … quite a few passengers who go up there to read end up napping ;-)

Insignia seems to be in the midst of a minor Noro outbreak.  We’ve heard that passengers have been ill with GI issues since Myanmar … one of our friends included.  Several precautionary measures are now in evidence to keep the virus from spreading.  We are no longer able to serve ourselves the few things we were allowed to do so at the Terrace Café and Waves Grill.  And there are no placemats on the tables … vacated tables are wiped down with sanitizers and a note on the table indicates when it will be back in service.  Place settings are brought to the table after passengers are seated — this applies to the dining room, too — and there are no salt and pepper shakers on any tables either.  Railings are being wiped down with sanitizing solutions, as are the walls and doors in the hallways onto which the cabins open.  Elevator buttons have been covered with plastic to make it easier to wipe them down on a regular basis.

From what I have gathered, these measures are implemented when 1% of the ship’s population is affected by the Noro virus.  On a ship the size of Insignia that is a fairly small number.  As I understand it, the measures will continue until no new cases are diagnosed for 72 hours.  I imagine with the Abu Dhabi turnaround just two days away, the ship’s staff is desperate to keep things under control.

On the social front, we had lunch with Peter Croyle in the main dining room yesterday.  He’s exceptionally well-traveled … a result of his years in the travel industry.  We had a most enjoyable chat, exchanging travel stories and sharing tips.  Dinner tonight was with the Gelmans … we’ll be going our separate ways while we are in the United Arab Emirates.  Tonight we chatted about our plans for the three ports … we’ll review how our days went the next time we dine together.

We have been given the details for the face-to-face immigration in Dubai tomorrow.  My hopes for getting an early start are dashed as we will be amongst the last to be invited to disembark for the meeting, which will take place in the terminal.  Oh well … I was unable to get through to the guide to change the time anyway, so this is perhaps for the best.

© 2004-2019 All rights reserved by Erin Erkun.