Several days at sea......

Wednesday, 16th JUNE – AT Sea
Very heavy seas. Pools closed. Formal night tonight to meet new Captain. Ship broke down again last night and we drifted for 3 hours.

Thursday, 17th June – At Sea
Pools still closed. Captain says he may have to cancel Safaga – Bugger!!!
We had booked a tour to do the Valley of the Kings and a Felucca Ride on the Nile.
Swam in little pool at back this morning and then had a spa.

Friday, 18th June – At Sea
Woke at 7.30am. Seas very calm. Within 20mins wind blew up and white caps everywhere.
Temperature is 31C. Pools are open.
Today we transverse through the Arabian Sea into the Gulf of Aden between Safaga and Yemen.
Ship’s speed is slow.
We are definitely not stopping at Safaga . Princess are talking compensation. Now we have 7/8 days at sea.

Many passengers are complaining about noisy cabins. Most seem to be located at either Front or Back of Ship on all decks.  Nothing wrong with Caribe C505 though - we love it.....

Saturday, 19th June – At Sea
9.30am – 32C. In Red Sea between Yemen and Ethiopia
DARN..... Red Sea is not red!!!!!    Very hot on decks. Usual routine planned today.
Walk AM. Work on laptop or knit while Ray swims before lunch then we both go to the pool in the afternoon. Drinks at 5 – 5.30pm till whenever.......................

Sunday, 20th June – At Sea
Swam, walked Deck 7, Watched Movie Under the Stars – shared popcorn.
Early afternoon we were in the middle of the Red Sea

Monday 21st June – At Sea
Longest day of the Year.
Walked this morning then went for swim before lunch. We will be entering the Suez Canal in the early hours of the morning and arriving Port Said about 6pm tomorrow.
Currently we are still in the Red Sea (at the northern end). Seems that they are going to re-assess the problem with the ship and hopefully fix it while we are in Port Said.
Looking forward to the Pyramids, Sphinxes and our Nile River Cruise.

Been told to be wary of Rides on Camels because after they will not let you off the camel (or worse still, lead you off into the Sahara Desert) unless you pay more.

Rumours have been spreading rapidly as to the likelihood of us continuing our journey in view of the technical problems onboard the ship.   For two days we didn’t have any access to Maps showing our location which are usually available on our Princess TV channel.  Leaves you feeling very uneasy - felt like we were just drifting aimlessly.
Hoses have been removed from decks – Pirate hazard seems to be over.

12 NOON Announcement
We have cruised 2724 nautical miles since we left Dubai. We are cruising at an average speed of 17 knots (31 kms per hour). We are in the far north Red Sea – 70 nautical miles off Egypt. Soon we will be in the Gulf of Suez.

Celine Dion concert tonight on big screen (Movies under the Stars)  – probably watch 5pm session while having our drinks with Karen and Julie. As it turned out – Karen hates Celine Dion and the sound was dreadful. Drinks were good though.....

GREAT EXCITEMENT – This afternoon, our 7th day at sea and we have just sighted land – our first glimpse of Egypt. A sand haze blankets it. Several oil wells are located between us and the coastline and there are lots of ships going to and fro past us. Most of them are carrying oil. Mood on the ship is much cheerier.        About 4.15pm – a helicopter flew low over the deck of the ship............