Before oil was discovered here some 50 years ago, Abu Dhabi was just a small fishing village. Today Abu Dhabi controls 95% of the oil production in the United Arab Emirates or UAE. Abu Dhabi is the largest of the UAE’s seven emirates and has a population of 600,000. Of these, more than 90% are expats from Europe, Asian, the US and other Middle East countries. Abu Dhabi has a reputation as a playground for the international elite who come here for the golf courses, luxury developments and high-end shopping malls.

In Abu Dhabi you will find the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world with 82 domes, 1,000 columns, the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet and an enormous 24-carat gold chandelier. They say that the mosque will accommodate 40,000 people for prayer but this includes the large courtyard. You will also find the world’s first Ferrari theme park with more than 20 rides and attractions.

We took a four-hour Abu Dhabi highlights tour that started with a photo stop at the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque. The entire exterior is covered in a very white marble imported from four countries including Italy. We were not able to enter the mosque on this tour but the exterior is quite spectacular. We drove by the Emirates Palace now a lavish six star hotel and the Royal family’s current residence. Our next stop was at the Heritage Village to see the culture and traditions of the local people. They have many model homes from earlier times displayed, as well as small craft shops showing some of the country’s handicrafts and trades. They have a weaver’s shop, a glass blowers shop, a pottery shop, a blacksmith shop, a leather shop and a tailoring shop. We drove along the café lined corniche or waterfront area to reach Saadiyat Island where they are currently developing a huge entertainment and shopping area. They are busy building a new Louvre Museum, a new Gugenheim Museum, a new Sheik Zayed National Museum, a symphony hall, new housing and a huge shopping pavilion.

After lunch back onboard the ship we took a shopping shuttle bus to the World Trade Center Souk and shopping center. Here you can see the recreation of a traditional souk inside a huge contemporary building. Across the street is a traditional western style mall with floors of stores, many of them familiar to us in the US.

The city is very clean but not particularly appealing; the water of the sea is a beautiful light bluish-green and the people were very friendly. Most of the people were wearing western style clothes with very few people wearing the local white or black robes. Most of the people working in the shops and giving the tours were from other countries from South America to Asia.

Abu Dhabi Grand Mosque

Abu Dhabi Royal Residence

There was an Arabian BBQ tonight in the Lido and around the pool.   However, as it was Joakim’s last night on board, we asked several to join us for dinner in the dining room to send him off. Tom, Dennis, Robert, Steve, John and Joakim joined us for dinner to share stories and become better acquainted.

The weather was a comfortable and sunny 65 degrees. Mark attended a lecture on aid and development in Africa and Asia with Brian Stoddard. He was discussing the growth of India and China and how the increase in population will put a greater demand on the world’s food supply. China has been purchasing a vast amount of land in the Congo region of Africa as a place to cultivate more crops. In the not too distant future, India will surpass China in population and is on a steady upward trajectory. The demand for rice, chicken, pork and fish will increase dramatically as the world’s population continues to increase.

After lunch we attended a lecture on the United Arab Emirates or UAE by Werner Salinger. He discussed how the UAE is geographically between Asia and Europe and how the UAE is moving towards becoming an international hub. They have been building an enormous airport, extensive shipping ports and are building a rail system to link the seven emirates within the UAE.

The next activity was a chat with the Rotterdam singers and dancers and a backstage tour of the showroom at sea. There are four singers and six dancers who make up the cast and they come from all over the world. This question and answer session allowed the guests to learn a bit more about each of the cast members and how they are selected to be a member of the cast.

Mark attended the watercolor class where he painted a scene with two Oman mosques. Kent chose instead to visit the gym and sauna.

The show was another set of songs by the Opera Familia family that performed a few nights ago.

Muscat Souk

Al Bustan Palace

Al Bustan Palace Grounds

Oman Souk Shop Window

Oman is located on the Arabian Peninsula, east of Saudi Arabia, northeast of Yemen and southeast of the United Arab Emirates. The eastern side of the country is the Arabian Sea. The population of Oman is approximately 4 million with 1.8 million of those being foreigners who have come here to work. The country has been ruled by a monarchy since 1970, and by one man named Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Sultan Qaboos has absolute power over the land creating laws by decree.

Oman exports dates, mother of pearl, and one million barrels of crude oil daily. The people are of the Muslim religion and speak Arabic as the national language. The country has mountains that reach 6,000 feet in elevation but the landscape is volcanic and mostly devoid of vegetation, although rich in iron. Some crops are grown in the 3-month growing season from July to September. The shoreline includes beautiful beaches with decadent resorts. Muscat is the capital of Oman with about 1.3 million inhabitants.

In the morning we took a free shuttle from the ship about ten minutes into town where the souk or market is located. The souk has been here for about 350 years although it is quite modern today. The market is extremely large with different alleyways dedicated to a particular product. There is the gold section, the clothing section, the tailor section, the housewares section, etc. Kent had his eye on a gold colored elephant with colorful rhinestones but had a difficult time finding one for the two-and-a-half Omani Riyal he had in his pocket. One Omani Riyal is approximately $2.85. We found an Internet café where we could check emails and post some blog updates for one Riyal.

After lunch back onboard the Rotterdam we took an afternoon tour with high tea at the Al Bustan Palace, now a Ritz Carlton hotel, but once the Sultan’s Palace. The seventh floor is still reserved for the private use of the royal family. The lobby is very ornate with high ceilings, ornate grillwork on the walls and ceiling, crystal chandeliers, fresh flowers and orchids and lovely furnishings. Tea was served on large coffee tables between a pair of sofas. Accompanying the tea were two three-tiered serving trays filled with an assortment of scones, mini sandwiches, cakes, and goat cheese balls coated with chopped pistachios and chocolates. A male harpist played while we enjoyed tea and the smell of Frankincense burning permeated the air.

After tea we took a brief walk through the hotel’s shopping arcade and out to the gorgeous grounds with palm trees, swimming pool and white sand beach. The grounds are beautifully manicured and maintained. The hotel was fully booked so we were unable to see a room. This is the tourist season while the weather is tolerable. When summer arrives the temperatures can soar to over 50-degrees Celsius.

Our next stop on the tour was to visit the exterior of one of the Sultan’s seven palaces around the country. This enormous palace in Muscat is seldom used however it does have a large wing for guests of the royal family and another wing for the parliament. The sidewalks are paved in polished granite and beautiful gardens and wrought iron gates surround the palace.

The local men all wear simple one-piece garments similar to a robe from the shoulders down to the floor. They are beautifully clean, fairly tight fitting, usually in white and well pressed. The local women mostly wear black one-piece garments and many have their heads partially or fully covered under some type of scarf.

The town is extremely clean and well maintained. The streets are well paved, there is a beautiful pedestrian sidewalk around the shoreline with statuary, and you see colorful planted flowers along the streets. Most of the buildings are only a few stories tall. You find older neighborhoods around the area where the souk is located and as you drive away from the heart of town you find much newer construction of single family styled houses. The buildings are all painted white or light shades of beige as regulated by the government. Our guide told us that the city is so clean because the government can fine you if your home or car is not kept clean and well maintained.

We were in port until 11:00pm so there was no regular evening entertainment in the showroom. However at 11:00pm there was an Indonesian Crew Show performed by the Indonesian crew mostly from the dining room stewards and cabin attendants onboard. In a couple of weeks it will be time for the Pilipino crew show. They appeared to have a good time entertaining the passengers and showing them some of the local dances from their country. They work long hours seven days a week so they have little time to rehearse.

The weather was much better than it has been since we left home. It was about 75 degrees and sunny, and the humidity seemed to have dissipated somewhat. It was very comfortable out on the deck where a large amount of guests were enjoying the pool and the sun.

The ship was having a cancer fundraising event called “On Deck for a Cause” where guests can walk a 5K around the ships deck to raise money for six international cancer organizations. Guests could sign up at the front desk to receive a free t-shirt and wristband. The Holland America Foundation sponsors this event.

Our first lecture was by KK, our locations guide as she discussed things to see and do in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The second lecture of the day was about sports and the British Empire. Games like cricket, rugby and soccer were discussed in great detail and how they evolved over time. The afternoon lecture by Werner Salinger was about his 2003 book titled “Tugboats and Towlines”. The book is a coffee table style picture book on tugboats and their Captains around North America.

We each did our walking separately before Mark’s watercolor class and Kent’s visit to the gym and sauna to melt off last night’s dinner.

The entertainment on this night was a new show by the vocalist Paul Fredericks that had performed a few nights ago.

This was another quiet sea day with few activities on the schedule. In the afternoon we attended a lecture on what some people call the “Little Tigers” known as South Korea and Vietnam. South Korean far outpaces Vietnam in Gross Domestic Product including the production of more than 5,400 Hyundai cars produced daily in a huge plant employing some 80,000 people. Korea has had more time since the Korean War to rebuild itself as compared to the short time since the Vietnam War.

Mark attended the watercolor painting class again while Kent went to the gym and sauna.

The LGBT group had cocktails in the Crow’s Nest and then had dinner in the specialty restaurant onboard called the Pinnacle. They charge a surplus of $29 to eat in the Pinnacle but the ambiance and food is a bit more special than the regular dining room. The specialty of the Pinnacle is the steaks that come in a variety of sizes from a 7oz filet mignon to a 36oz steak that comes with a $57 supplement charge. They have a lobster bisque soup, a couple of salad choices and a variety of sides including, French fries, mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, asparagus, brussel sprouts with pancetta, mushroom caps and whole carrots. Since we were a large group they brought us all of the side dishes with our meal. After dinner they serve a few desserts like premium ice cream, a vanilla soufflé, and a chocolate lava cake, with hand made chocolates and coffee. We get a 50% discount on the specialty restaurants due to the number of days that we have sailed with the Holland America Line.

The night’s entertainment was a show by the Rotterdam singers and dancers titled “Variations”. It was a bit livelier than their last show but they just don’t have much pizazz.

This was another sea day as we exited the Red Sea and entered the Sea of Aden, between the countries of Aden and the horn of Africa. Our original itinerary included a stop in Egypt for people to visit the temples of Luxor but due to safety issues this port was cancelled some months ago. The sea was a bit smoother and the weather was warm and a bit more humid.

We had breakfast in the dining room with a couple from La Jolla, the husband a retired pilot for Delta and the wife a retired flight attendant for American airlines. KK and the shore excursions manger presented a talk on the upcoming shore excursions in India and Sri Lanka. Kent attended a class on the basics of the Arabic language while Mark attended a cooking class on making a Moroccan vegetable tagine.

After lunch in the dining room we walked for several miles on the promenade deck where 3.5 laps around the ship equals a mile. It is easy to loose count of the number of laps that you make so we find it easier to walk for about 45 minutes.

The afternoon lecture by Werner Salinger was on Japan and its shrinking population of 127 million people. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has worked hard over the last several years since elected to strengthen the economy and increase defense spending. Since World War II, Japan’s constitution has limited its defense budget to just 1% of its gross domestic product. With a shrinking population and GDP this has left little money for defense spending.

Mark attended the watercolor class where he finished his coffee filter flower from yesterday, and Kent went to the gym and the sauna.

The evening’s entertainment was a performance by the B.B. King’s All Stars who perform nightly in the crow’s nest. This group usually performs several shows nightly in the bar but on this night they took the big stage to perform music that made Memphis famous.

We continued transiting south in the Red Sea under warmer weather and clearer skies although it was very windy. The temperature was in the low 80’s with winds of about 45 miles per hour. The captain said that until we exited the narrow strait at the south end of the Red Sea, we would have high winds.

KK, our location guide, spoke this morning on things to see and do in our next port of call, Muscat, Oman. When the location guide gives these lectures they include practical information on things like the local currency, times that museums and shops are open, any dress requirements to enter places of worship, places you can walk to on your own and much more information.

At 11:30 the folks who are traveling on the entire 89 or 91-day journey were invited for a special Rijsttafel lunch in the dining room complete with complementary wine. This style of lunch is an Indonesian lunch that is very popular in the Netherlands because of the fact that Indonesia was once a Dutch colony. The lunch included a salad with peanut sauce dressing, a chicken consommé soup with coconut, fried rice, shrimp in a spicy sauce, pork in a sweet soy sauce, chicken skewers with peanut sauce, stewed beef Sumatra style, chili spiced green beans, banana fritters and Rice pudding with caramel sauce for dessert. With the exception of the salad, soup and dessert, everything was severed on one plate and was very delicious.

The afternoon included a lecture on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. These are ten nations located in south Asia who trade among themselves and work together for the common good of all involved. China is not a part of this alliance.

We did our walking on the deck to burn a few calories, Kent went to the gym and the sauna while Mark attended the watercolor painting class. The watercolor class created flowers using flat style white coffee filters cut into pedals. The petals were then attached to a wire using floral tape. Once assembled the flowers were painted with watercolor paint. Everyone was painting them very different colors so it was nice to see the variations of color and style of flowers even though everyone started with the same materials. Mark created a gorgeous pink and white rose.

It was another gala evening (read formal) this evening and the theme was black and white. We had dinner in the dining room with new friends Dennis and Alex from Berlin,Germany, Joakim from Sweden—living in Berlin– and our old friend Tom from London. After dinner a family of three performed a show titled “The Cruise Night of the Proms,” where they sang a variety of opera songs. Songs from singers like Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban and composers like David Foster, Puccini and Verdi.

They also had a black and white ball in the crow’s nest where the ships officers were there to dance with the guests. Mark really enjoyed dancing with the officers!! Not!

Kent’s Birthday Lunch

Dinner with Friends

Happy Birthday Kent!

We attended a virtual tour of the ship’s bridge presented with slides in the main showroom by a couple of the officers onboard. They gave us information on all of the ships officers’ duties, as well as the navigation tools used on the bridge.

We learned to make Dutch pancakes with the cruise director, Michael–who is from Holland–in the culinary arts center onboard. Michael is young and energetic, although he claims to not know how to cook other than using the microwave. The culinary arts center is the same room as the movie theater onboard and they present a variety of cooking related shows each day when they are not showing movies.

For Kent’s birthday we had lunch in the dining room with friends we had met on the 2013 world cruise: Tom from London, England; Robert and Dennis from Cambria, CA; and Kathy from PA and her friend and cabin mate, Carol.

In the afternoon we attended another lecture on China and how it struggles to maintain control of small-uninhabited islands. The islands are not of significance but if you control the island you control the earth and sea twelve miles around it. Kent attended a lecture on Damascus and Syria while Mark attended the watercolor class.

For dinner we went to the Italian restaurant onboard called the Canaletto. The menu had changed since we were last on one of the Holland America Ships. They now serve the meal family style with small or large shared plates rather than each person ordering off of a menu. New friends we met onboard John and Steve from San Francisco joined us, as did Tom from London. After we ordered, a woman, Marieka – Dutch, living in Calgary, Canada and Florida, came to our table and asked if she could join us, rather than eating by herself. She had followed us into the ship’s dining room before and joined us a couple of times, which had put us off somewhat in that she is not the most pleasant/interesting person. This was a difficult situation, but Kent said “Yes, of course,” to the others’ dismay. We did make it through the evening and Marieka did sing Happy Birthday in Dutch—a real treat!! The Canaletto staff brought Kent a cake to share, so all ended well!

The night’s entertainment was another show by the comedian Kevin Devane. There are two shows each evening, one at 8:00pm and one at 10:00pm. We usually attend the late show after we have dinner. Kevin is from England and has a very quick delivery of his material, one right after the next. He also wanders back and forth on the stage acting out what he is talking about and laughing all the way. Very entertaining. He reminds us of Mark after a few drinks! HA!!

We attended a lecture on the port city of Aqaba, Jordan and the town of Petra that is well known for its red sandstone carvings. We will be visiting Jordan for two days on our return to Rotterdam.

Lunch is available in the main dining room most days where you can select from several soups, salads and appetizers to start. Next you can choose from several main dishes like a burger of the day, pasta, a fish, or maybe an Indonesian dish or something unique. Lastly there is always the dessert menu to tease you with items you would never have at home but are difficult to turn down on the ship. We shared a table with an older woman from Iowa today who was very interesting. She is traveling with a group of 48 from Road Scholar, formerly known as Elder Hostile. She has taken 45 trips with them over the years. The Road Scholar group has its own onboard lectures as well as tours in each port that are included in the price of their trip. I’m curious what the price of the cruise is through Road Scholar.

Our afternoon included a lecture on the changing nation of China by Werner Salinger. China’s development has been extremely fast in comparison to other developing nations and the world is scared about it future development. Can this country that has such an impact on the entire world continue to grow and develop or will it falter and take the rest of the world down with it?

Mark attended another watercolor class where he painted a stained glass window in a rainbow of colors in the background of a large leafless tree. Kent went to the gym and sauna to burn off lunch. The weather was cloudy but the temperature continued to rise and was in the low 70’s today so we walked around the deck for 30 minutes. Yeah!

The evening’s entertainment was a production show called Iris and performed by the ships ensemble of singers and dancers.

We began our transit of the Suez Canal at the town of Port Said about 3:30 in the morning. Some of those who were very interested in the canal were out on deck at this time of morning to be sure not to miss a moment of the transit. Since we will be transiting the canal again on our return to Rotterdam, we slept in until much later.

The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through Egypt. The canal opened on November 17, 1869 after ten years of construction. The canal is at sea level so there are no locks to transit. The canal allows ships to transit between Europe and South Asia without having to go around Africa. The canal is approximately 120 miles in length and about 79 feet in depth. In 2014 construction was begun at the cost of 8.4 billion dollars to create a bypass allowing ships to transit more quickly and to increase capacity from 49 ships a day to 97 ships a day. The new bypass channel opened on August 6^th of 2015. Prior to the new construction, the canal raised five billion dollars a year in revenue from ships transiting the canal. A small sailboat may be charged only $500 to transit while an oil tanker or a container ship may pay tens of thousands of dollars. It takes about ten hours to transit the entire length of the canal. Ships are only allowed to sail at a slow speed to prevent a wake that may cause damage to the shoreline.

The canal splits Egypt into two regions. The western portion is part of Africa while to the east of the canal you have the Sinai Peninsula that is part of Asia. The western shoreline is very populated with agriculture, houses, mosques and large cities. The eastern shoreline is mostly barren desert. There is one large bridge for automobiles to cross the canal and one train bridge, which is a swiveling bridge with one section on each side of the canal. We exited the canal about 2:00 in the afternoon at the town of Suez.

The weather had finally begun to warm up. The skies were clear by the afternoon and guests had replaced their winter coats with shorts and swimwear. The evening’s entertainer was a young magician/comedian by the name of James Long. He is a very talented magician but his delivery was a bit slow.