Day 21: Sea Day 1 – Sailing from Safaga to Salalah with Holland America
Day 21: Sea Day 1 – Sailing from Safaga to Salalah with Holland America
Holland America Africa Explorer Cruise – 49 Days from Rotterdam to Cape Town
Date: Friday October 17, 2014
Weather Forecast: Sunny; 28 C/82 F
At Sea – Sailing towards Salalah, Oman from Safaga, Egypt
Dress Code: Formal
Location Information:
Safaga, Egypt is located on the Red Sea and ms Rotterdam is cruising towards Salalah, Oman on the Arabian Sea. This is a high risk pirate attack area and ships are in convoys and carefully monitoring the waters around the clock for any approaching vessels.
WJs Day:
We love sea days! We especially love sea days after the exciting ports we have experienced in the last week. Exploring 6 new ports in Israel, Egypt and Jordan has worn us out. So now we’re going to rest, relax and enjoy the many activities aboard Holland America Line ms Rotterdam as much as possible.
Our morning started with breakfast in the Lido Restaurant followed by a 10:00 AM On Location presentation by the Shore Excursions Team and Location Guide KK. The topic was African Highlights and Ports of Call: Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. We have plans to meet friends in Port Elizabeth and have previously spent time in Cape Town, so won’t be booking any excursions at this point, but we always recommend Addo Elephant Park as a great excursion from Port Elizabeth.
At 12:30 PM we made our way to the Lido Pool to observe dance instructor Caroline teaching passengers Bedouin dancing.
Floral Arranging with ms Rotterdam Florist Rustadi in the Culinary Arts Center was at 1:00 PM, which ended just in time for the Team Trivia with Cruise Director Michael Langley at 1:30 PM.
The Explorations Speaker Series with Werner Salinger at 3:00 PM continued, with today’s topic being Africa – the giant awakes and some of the continents 55 countries are now among the fastest growing in the world.
Tonight’s entertainment in the Showroom at Sea was Naomi Edemariam – an extremely talented and entertaining classical pianist.
Today’s movie in the Wajang Theater was “Grace of Monaco” with Nicole Kidman. An excellent movie and interesting storyline – we had no idea how close France came to invading Monaco in the early 1960s.
Next – Sea Day 2 Sailing towards Salalah, Oman
