World Cruise Day 106/152 - Suez Canal and Port Said - It wasn't a port day but now it is

Cruise day: 106/152

Ports days: 47
Sea days: 59
Countries: 18
Continents: 5
Ports: 35

Today didn't turn out as planned.  Today, we planned to transit the Suez Canal.  The plan was to dock this evening to get passports stamped and immigration paperwork done in advance of excursions tomorrow.  For whatever reason, we docked early and were allowed to get off, so, today went from a sea day to a port day and that's OK, even though we won't be getting off.  More on that in a bit...

When we woke up this morning, we were well into the canal and it looked like #2 in the caravan.  Here are some random sights from the transit.

Some type of semi-permanent piping

It was hazy all the way through the canal today

You can see the caravans in both directions

There were lots of ships of all sizes in the canal today

Our escort tug

The next three in the caravan behind us

There were a ton of little fishing boats in the canal.

How's this for size comparison - check out the five craft in this photo - the large one, the small one coming at it, the tiny one in the foreground, the really tiny one near the buoy off the bow of the big ship, and the small sailboat in the middle background

Following us under the bridge

A vehicle bridge that is swung open for ship traffic

The car ferry that runs when the bridge is open

You can see three cars lined up to drive on

One loaded upfront, one loading in the back, and one more in line to board

All three on their way across

This sculpture was along the road that parallels the canal

Part of our security escort - this police vehicle was cruising at the same speed we were - just keeping pace for miles and miles as we sailed

Guards and checkpoints along the canal seemed friendly.  They were yelling when we went by.  Lucky for me, I'm pretty loud and hollered "hello!".  They all started jumping and waving - nice to see friendly faces.

These trees along the canal were absolutely loaded with egrets.

At times, what appeared to be a mini-sandstorm appeared on the shore - it was pretty windy.

Bridge lessons and play went well.  Trivia did not - it was rough today.  Our crash-and-burn answers:

• Rama, the great warrior prince was married to this princess?
• Sita
• What sauce takes its name from the Italian word meaning 'to pound'?
• Pesto
• What season is the first in Vivaldi's Four Seasons?
• Spring
• Who wrote the lyrics for Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?
• Tim Rice
• In the Bible, Judas betrayed Jesus for how many pieces of silver?
• 30
• Galeophobia is the fear of what?
• Sharks
• Who does Beatrice marry in Shakespeare's play, Much Ado About Nothing?
• Benedick
• There was a tiebreaker - How many episodes of Seinfeld were produced?
• 180

At lunch out on the aquavit deck, a visitor got a lot of attention.  This pigeon was fearless.  It didn't matter how close people got - I even petted it - didn't phase it in the least. I'm not a big fan of pigeons, but this bird was beautiful.

Profile shot

You lookin' at me?

Here's my good side

Look deeply into my eyes - you do not want the rest of your food...

Hey, Ed...you gonna finish that?

Mmmmm...thanks for sharing

Alex, the pigeon wrangler

Sir, here's your entree

Don says, "Tastes like chicken!"

After the afternoon fun, Arlona went to art class where they were once again working with watercolors to produce their impression of camels in the desert.

The inspiration

Arlona's once again excellent interpretation

As we approached the rather small dock in Port Said, Egypt, I shot a few photos of the area.

The rather small dock I mentioned

The port area

The Greatness of Egypt Statue

We docked in Port Said around 3PM for a technical stop to get immigration issues handled before tomorrow.  That happened quickly and those that wanted to were cleared to leave the ship.  The locals knew that was happening because as we were docking the local vendors were setting up tables.

The port is right downtown and in a residential area with tons of apartments facing the ship

In the evening, we attended a renewal of vows ceremony for a couple we met on this cruise, Rose & Ted.  They were renewing their vows after 44 years of marriage.  I served as the photographer for the event and will let them post photos as it was their soiree.  It was a lovely evening with the ceremony in the Wintergarden and dinner in The Restaurant. Viking did a terrific job with snacks, drinks, entertainment, and officiants including the Captain and Cruise Director.

Arlona & I popped out for a few more photos of Port Said at night and called it quits.  

A mosque, all decked out for Ramadan

We leave at 7AM tomorrow morning for an 11-hour excursion to Giza to see the Sphinx and great pyramids.