Day 96 – Wednesday 16th
April 2014 – At Sea & Abu Dhabi
In the early
hours of the morning the ship passed through the Straits of Hormuz, famous
stretch water which separates the Arabian Sea from the Arabian Gulf. The narrowest point separates the states of
United Arab Emirates and Iran.
At 11.30, we
were invited to the Captain’s cocktail party for world cruisers held in the
Commodore Club and an informal affair. A
wander around chatting to the other officers and guests, while Alfie, one of
our well known Pilipino waiters, made sure we never missed out on the freebies.
This party
lasted the longest, about an hour, then off to the Golden Lion for a cod and
chips lunch with the Speckled Hen. The
rest of the afternoon on a lounger on Deck 3 asleep and watching the sea
rolling by, this is what cruising is all about.
As we were ahead of
time, due to increasing speed for the Medivac at Muscat, we arrived alongside
in Abu Dhabi at 18.00.
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| Dancing Tug |
While coming
alongside, two harbour tugs were there in case they were needed, and to welcome
us, they had their fire hoses going, while turning in circles to the
accompaniment of Arabic music, this was a lot fun watching their antics.
Abu Dhabi,
the name means ‘Father of the Gazelle’ in Arabic - is the name of a city and
the emirate surrounding it in the Middle East.
The city is the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a federation
of seven individual emirates or states, including Dubai, Sharjah, Ajam, Umm Al
Quwain, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah.
 |
| Welcome mat |
At 19.00 we
got the shuttle bus which after twenty minutes dropped us off at the Abu Dhabi
Mall. Another newly built shopping
precinct but in this Muslim country, there are no bars in here, so had to
content myself with hot chocolate. At
least, inside the air condition worked, as outside it was hot and sultry. After a couple of hours of in and out of
various shops and bought nothing, we headed back on the shuttle bus.
Into the
garden lounge for night caps and looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure in the
big city.
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