World Cruise Day 99/152 - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - Ding dong the mask is gone, and so are we from Saudi Arabia

Cruise day: 99/152

Ports days: 42
Sea days: 57
Countries: 16
Continents: 5
Ports: 30

We awoke this morning a little late since we had nothing planned.  We got ready to go up to breakfast and did our normal checklist:

• Key card - ✅
• Phone - ✅
• COVID tracker - ✅
• Insulated drinking cup - ✅
• Face mask - wait - we don't need them on the ship anymore!

It's been kind of a weird day in a good way.  First, it was wonderful seeing all the smiling faces at breakfast.  We saw people when they were eating, but now, when we pass them in the Cafe, hallway, or wherever on the ship. It is amazing the difference you feel when you can see someone's face. At least three times today, I got up and started walking and then thought, Wait - I don't have my mask on.  Then I realized I didn't need it.  Arlona said the same thing happened to her multiple times as well. I'd estimate that somewhere between 5%-10% of the passengers that are choosing to still wear masks in public.  For the rest of us, it felt like freedom.

I feel bad for the crew as they still are required to wear masks.  I hope that will change sometime soon but we will see. 

We received another itinerary update yesterday.  Israel is being a bit of a pain and requiring every passenger on the ship to take a PCR test that is administered by Israeli health authorities.  For that reason, we have to arrive in Ashdod a day early, anchor and have them come on and test everyone.  That's a little crazy in my opinion, especially given that we are PCR tested every single day on the ship.  Their country, their rules.  I get that, and I realize that I am being somewhat naive thinking that common sense will come into play anytime soon. We will anchor at noon and spend the afternoon anchored and get everyone tested so Israel can validate that everyone that PCR tested negative that morning can PCR test negative in the afternoon.  Whatever.

With that change, we had to adjust and Alexandria, Egypt got kicked from the itinerary.  Oh well, we still have multiple other Egyptian ports to visit.

Next up were congestion issues in Civitavecchia (Rome, Italy) and Lisbon, Portugal. We are losing Sicily, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal. They moved Civitavecchia to a different day and swapped in Leixões, Portugal for Lisbon.  That's all fine with us - we're going where the ship is going.

Speaking of going - we didn't go anywhere today.  We saw pretty much most of what we could in Yanbu yesterday, so we just stayed on the ship.  We got some reading in this morning and played bridge this afternoon.  Our next-door neighbors, Rob & Deb, ventured out and captured these photos of what appears to be the matrimonial union of our Captain Olav and our Cruise Director, Damian. Thanks to Rob & Deb for sharing the photos.

Olav and Damian of Arabia

While we were reading on our balcony today, we could hear the call to prayer from at least three mosques in Yanbu.  A little later, we thought there was another call to prayer, but it sounded more like a sermon than a lyrical call to prayer.  Arlona suggested that it must be tough living near a mosque if you have a small child that naps anywhere near prayer time.  The call to prayer is broadcast from atop the mosque via loudspeakers and is quite loud.

While we were playing bridge this afternoon, we experienced what appeared to be a ship-wide total power outage.  Lights went off, air handling stopped, and only emergency lighting remained lit.  A few moments later, the lights came back on, and eventually, everything else powered up and returned to normal.  We saw the captain later and asked him about the power outage.  He said a big fuse blew.  I'm not sure if that was actually the case or if he was attempting humor.  We also asked him why we have seen potable water trucks loading the ship with potable water when we have tons of excess production capacity on the ship.  He informed us that our freshwater production system only functions when the ship is moving, so they buy water when in port.

Dinner tonight had an Arabian Nights theme. Many of the crew were dressed for the occasion as were many of the passengers that purchased Arabian wear over the last four days.

Lamb

They were cooking meat for wraps out on the Aquavit Deck in the open air.

Chicken and lamb

The makings for wraps

Yoyo & Piyanute, greeting weary travelers looking for a meal and a drink

Faizel, one of our outstanding waitstaff

Cruise Consultant, Hamed, doing his best Aladdin impression

Financial Officer, Chris, doing his best Gordon Ramsey impression

Oh, those desserts...

Dessert dealer Ruth

Bartender extraordinaire, Aaron

Magician Leo Ward performed again this evening and we enjoyed some magic and laughs before heading in for the evening.

Some thoughts on Saudi Arabia:

• As far as tourism goes, the country simply isn't ready...yet
• They have a project called Vision 2030 and tourism is part of that plan - they have the resources to pull it off so it will be interesting to see how it goes
• Jeddah had much more potential to see for a tourist than Yanbu in my opinion, although a fellow traveler said she liked Yanbu much better
• We were prepared to be looked down upon and judged, and while we did feel that from a few seemingly jaded Saudis, the vast majority of folks were warm, welcoming, friendly, curious, and decent people trying to make a living - the number of waves, "welcome" shouts, smiles, and offers of assistance was surprising and wonderful
• Do I want to go back? Not really - at least not for a while.  They need to streamline their immigration process and determine what kind of tourist destination they want to be.  There are beautiful beaches in Jeddah.  No swimming allowed.  Yanbu had beaches but you have to be completely covered essentially until right before you enter the water and then cover upon exiting the water.  Not exactly tourist-friendly.

We are definitely glad we got to experience Saudi Arabia.  I would certainly wait a few years before I'd consider returning as a tourist, depending on how the country's tourism plan and industry developed.  Meeting a large number of Saudis did change the opinion of the Saudi people in general that I had formed based on the media.  As I said yesterday, most places you go are filled with decent, hard-working people that want to be friendly and Saudi Arabia is no different.

Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way north through the Red Sea, into the Gulf of Aqaba for the nearly 500-mile sail to Aqaba, Jordan. We will spend two days in Aqaba followed by a day in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and a day in Safaga, Egypt.  We have some big excursions coming including a long day traveling to Petra and another traveling to the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. It means some late nights processing and posting images are coming.