If you noticed, I have not been blogging for awhile. I pressed something wrong and have been trying to straighten the whole thing out via email with the site. If you are looking at this, then I have figured out a way to get going again. I expect I have gotten dates wrong too. So this is a test of sorts!

Abu DABI is the capital of the Emerites. There are seven Emerites. We will be here and next door in Dubai after this. Weather is hot but not humid. We are the last ship of the year here again. Will be too hot soon. We went to the grand mosque. It is the biggest in the Emerites and welcomes all people of all religions and races. The mosque is built of white marble and closely resembles the Taj Mahal in the building materials in the inlaid flower decorations everywhere. We wore proper clothes and were adequately covered. We were told about the largest carpet in the world and the six chandeliers made of Italian Morano glass and thousands of crystals. Both were impressive. Well the whole visit was impressive.

First view of grand mosque

Packing, washing clothes, making decisions about what to take and what to pack up and leave. This takes some time! Note to self….. Really try to remember all this if ever on a cruise. PACKLIGHTLY!!’

This island is owned by the royal family. They made a large game preserve, a large beach area, and a royal get away palace. The four or five times larger palace is being built. All the workers there come to the island daily. Some of us went swimming and snorkeling in the crystal clear waters. Others, like me, went on the safari. We saw gazelles, giraffes, ostriches, peacocks, oryx, and Barbary sheep. Picnic on the beach by the Azamara staff and back to the ship for a late afternoon sailing.

Packing. Whew! Have to pack for 35 days off ship. Also have to pack everything in the cabin for storage. (Cannot leave things in cabin. Insurance problems) Threw away a bunch of stuff. If I ever go on a cruise again, I will more about what is needed. Last trivia day and our group ended up fifth out of eight teams! Had a dinner by the pool for the round the worlds and a party. Did not make it to the party. Tomorrow we will be on an island in the Arab Emirates. Will see the wildlife preserve and having a picnic in the beach.

Now we are really getting to the Middle East. Men and women in long clothing. Men in white long coats with a small hat. Women with black coats and scarves. A few ladies with face veils. Oman is a beautiful, clean, and very friendly country. We were in and out in one day. Took a morning tour on a dhow boat around the harbour. This was a wooden boat with that was new but looked very old. Sat on the top deck. We took turns pretending to drive the boat. We saw the king’s official palace, the parliament, the king’s two huge yachts, the left over Portuguese fort and lookout perches from four hundred years ago, the lovely mountains around the city, and two turtles. This peaceful kingdom has been ruled by the same royal family since the Portuguese times. They get along with their neighbors and use their oil to keep up the living standards of the population. Guess what?!? Warm weather with a nice breeze and NO HUMIDITY!!!

Glad to have a sea day! We only have one more before Dubai. Packing up will be next on the agenda. Packing up all the stuff that stays on board and packing for the shore part. Weather is like San Luis Obispo in Croatia. No more heat and humidity. Still in bottom place in trivia. Won one hundred dollars at bingo! I have won $280 overall and also two spa days and a bottle of champagne. I have spent $ 310 to play. No wonder a few people more are giving me the stink eye when I show up. Tomorrow we will be in Oman. No pictures today.

Got off the ship after noon to go downtown and shop. Ran into friends Wally and Chad who were going downtown also, and shared a cab. This was our first view of Mumbai during the day. Lots of traffic and lots of people going about their various activities. Lots of people just standing around. Humidity and heat abounded. We got off at the symbol of Mumbai, the Gateway to India. This is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and is located by the seaside promenade. It was built to welcome King George and Queen Mary on their visit in 1911. I hope they had better weather. We got our pictures taken there and were invited by the guys to go to high tea at the Taj Palace Hotel nearby. We instantly gave up shopping and ended up having a buffet lunch and high tea also. We felt out of place in our attire, but the guys were issued some long pants to wear so I expect we were not the only group of tourists they ever had. If you can multiply posh by one gillion you will almost have the hotel. Staff had on Indian attire and everything looked like a Hollywood set. The food and service were splendid, but I was surprised when Colinda asked for a type of tea on the menu and was told they were out of it. Made us feel better after arriving dripping in our unfancy clothes. I took a picture in the women’s room of a woman in traditional dress and a woman with a skull T-shirt with fuschia color sprayed on her hair. Traditional/Modern contrast. That’s India!!!

There was an India themed party that night to celebrate Dewali, the festival of color. Lots of colorful decorations on deck. We have a friend Sandra who bought a huge stack of saris and fitted us out in some. We went from tacky to fabulous in a few hours. Was wonderful weather at night on the deck with a small breeze. Tomorrow is one of our last sea days before we get off at Dubai.

My goodness. If you want a 22 hour day full of beautiful sights to fly by quickly , just get on an Azamara Cruise. This company took all of the 190 plus Around the World Cruisers to the Taj Mahal today. What do you take with you ? What to wear? I wore my favorite aqua blue cotton dress that is very light weight , and my comfrey white and colorful sketchers shoes. Of course took my multicolored Indian parasol ☂️. Carried a bag with sunscreen, a neck pillow for the plane, sunscreen, passport and Visa information, and a neck fan that blows air around your face. Tissues too. Got up at four,left the ship at five thirty. There were eight busses ready to go. Two airplane rides and several buss rides later we got to our destination. We got onto a bus, then to an electric vehicle to get to our destination. It was about noon by then. We had our own small group guide that was very informative and helpful. The building was beautiful, breathtaking, and amazing. The craftsmanship was stunning. We were not hurried through and got to enjoy the grounds and look at the rest of the buildings that are around it. It was an Indian holiday and many families were there with their families Everyone was dressed for the occasion. We are beginning to see more women with black berkas (spelling?)on complete with faces covered. We were bussed to a lovely air conditioned hotel and had a buffet lunch in the ballroom. The walkway to the hotel, and the ballroom were decorated with many strands of yellow and orange marigolds. We each had a necklace of them to wear around our necks. What a treat! Food was fantastic, and up to ship standards. We left the hotel, got on the busses and got on two planes again. Got home(ship )at 12:30 and to sleep by2:00. Guess who did not get up until 11:00 the next morning. If you ever get a chance to see the Taj Mahal, please go!

We will not be at sea tomorrow. We will dock tonight.

The world cruisers will be flown to the Taj Mahal tomorrow. We leave at five am to be flown there and back. Will be back at 11:30 pm or so. So…now we are jet setters too!

Yahoo!!!