Our days at sea provide us time for introspect, reflection and reading. There have been many such days on this voyage but good reading material, good traveling companions and the varied and diverse cultures on board tend to fill our days with interest.
The ship is a marvel with great attention paid to our comfort, entertainment and interests. On a slightly spoiled note, sometimes we are bored with the same good food day in and day out. The ship has five restaurants, four that are sit down, service oriented and menu driven. A fifth is buffet style with variety of speciality serving tables of diversified foods I.e; Asian, Italian, international, salads and desserts. We refer to the buffet as the trough and the term seems appropriate inasmuch all of those delectable choices creating an urge to "pig out" in our desire to try different dishes. On the other hand, the menus at the other restaurants are changed every three days but remain the same for each leg. We are part of 400 people who are on the ship as part of Royal Caribbean's World Odyssey for five legs, the menu though outstanding in taste and preparation tends to take on a sameness that is boring. When you put that in perspective with the reality of the starving people in the world, can anyone feel any empathy with my shallow discontent? Of course not. Just reporting. There are also
'for fee" venues available but we are not THAT bored.
We have had a few moments of excitement. Our first night aboard we were told that snipers would come aboard and accompany us through the waters bordering the area frequented by pirates on our journey through the mid-east. Sure enough, in Aqaba Jordan, a team of five special forces came aboard for our five day transit through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Once clear of the pirate zone, the team departed the ship as we transitioned into the Persian Gulf on our way to Dubai.
As we passed by Gibraltar, four passengers, were evacuated due to medical emergencies and again, three were evacuated off Shillalah Oman. When in port, the crew and staff do emergency drills in preparation for unexpected events and their state of readiness has been apparent during our moments of need.
Tomorrow we arrive in Dubai and after five days at sea the feel of land is anticipated with an excitement bordering on glee.
Yes. We are having a good trip and our safety, comfort and care is being met.
