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Mariner Barca, Dubai May 2013
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Mariner Barca, Dubai May 2013

A 23-day adventure by Rulocal Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 7, 2013
    RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Barcelona Port

    May 7, 2013 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    How many times have I said that? I've lost count lol.
    Last night I fell asleep at the dinner table!!
    In my defence I had been up since 2.30am and was very tired.
    I don't think it had much to do with the 2 bottles of wine I drank LMAO!!!!!
    But that's my excuse anyway lol.
    The ship is nice, very like the Independence ots.
    I've already seen a few people I'd met on other cruises (small world this cruising fraternity)
    But that is one of the main things I love about cruising often, you do get to see the same people and quite often they become friends.
    I've just thought of another reason for my falling asleep at the table last night, I was forced to have a drink in the afternoon!!!
    Which is something I can't handle nowadays lol.
    This afternoon session, which if I'm honest was only one bottle of Heinekin.
    Anyway on a more interesting note, just before we sailed Ken and I saw the Greenpeace boat leaving Barcelona harbour.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    I've said it before

    May 8, 2013, Iberian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    I know I've said it before, but the cruising community is relatively small.
    Besides Ken and Denise and Maz and Sue who we're travelling with.
    There's also Liz and Mike from Huddersfield, who we knew were coming on.
    But also Nigel and Freda (Fred) from Cleckheaton who had booked this trip as soon as they found out we'd booked it, and didn't say anything about it to us because they wanted it to be a surprise.
    But I spotted Nigel at the airport, I mean he's a big six foot something Yorkshire man, so not very easy to hide
    As I walked across to him I saw Fred hiding behind a post.
    It was brilliant to see them and I honestly had no idea they were coming.
    As well as all that lot I've spoken to at least ten others from previous cruises, as I might have said before small world this cruising world lol    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Nice ship

    May 8, 2013, Iberian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    All things considered I think the Mariner is a lovely ship.
    It's very similar to the Independence ots, but somehow nicer.
    The diamond lounge is really nice and well laid out.
    Same with the concierge lounge similar to the Independence but better laid out.
    Don't know if I've mentioned it, but instead of our usual inside cabin we've splashed out on a balcony cabin because of the Suez canal it was great last time to be able to sit on the balcony and watch the transit.
    The cabin is nice and spacious although the balcony is rather small.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Progressive Quiz

    May 9, 2013, Western Mediterranean ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Five of us have started to play the progressive quiz of a morning, our first day wasn't brilliant we only scored five points out of twenty.
    The saving grace was that the top team only scored ten points, so we're not completely out of it, and we've got an American lady joining us so that will help as most of the questions are American biased.
    I mean how would we Brits know when the university of South Florid was founded.??
    Anyway it's still good fun.
    The rest of the day was spent doing nothing just chilling and eating.
    Oh yes there was one bit of interest when a Us navy plane flew past us, Egbert a German friend said it was a submarine hunter and it looked like it was flying practice search patterns.
    He knows this kind of thing as he is ex German military his hobby is all things military especially WWI & WWII.
    Later we went to see the comedian on the theatre he was good, I've seen him before he's a Scouser name of John Martin.
    Up to now it's been a good cruise with just a few minor hiccups, none worth mentioning.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Oh oh, Complaints

    May 10, 2013 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    What is it with Royal Caribbean nowadays?
    Their entertainment standards seem to be slipping.
    Last night the act was advised as Soul Sisters and Kings of Pop, but instead of Aretha Franklin or Michael Jackson, tributes or the like.
    We got two girls and two guys from Spain who tried to sing soul in very heavy Spanish accents.
    They were actually better when they sang song's in Spanish, even though we couldn't understand the words.
    Seems like RCCL are cutting costs wherever they can.
    One saving grace is that Karl Lornie is boarding today with the Beatles Celebration tribute band and they are brilliant.
    Anyway we're in Alexandria today, which is a bit of a shit-hole, so probably won't be getting off, unless Ken wants to have a look around, as he's not been before, then I'll go with him.
    Btw, the weather has been brilliant and today we're expecting 27°so I'll be hammering the P20 sun screen.
    We got the Wigan vs Swansea result yesterday, what a disappointment, it looks like they'll be relegated which is a big shame after 9 years in the top flight.
    It's really disappointed Ken, and doubly cheesed him off as it looks like we'll not get to see the FA cup final either, because of the lack of satellite coverage or so they say.
    In my cynical opinion I think RCCL will not pay for the coverage.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Lazy Day

    May 11, 2013, Eastern Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Not a lot happened today, we stayed on board ship and caught some sun by the pool in the solarium.
    Well I say not a lot happened, that is until Sheila and Denise went to the gym and while sheila was entering her weight on the treadmill she somehow set the speed to 7.8 kmh.
    Well apparently she took off like the roadrunner being chased by Wile e Coyote and couldn't keep her feet and spun off the machine and ended in a heap on the floor.
    Being the good friend she is Denise cracked off laughing and couldn't help lol.
    So with a twisted ankle and a bruised shoulder and knee she rejoined me by the pool to sunbathe.
    That is until the heavens opened lol, for about 20 minutes it poured down and the wind got up so we transferred to the diamond lounge for a coffee and watched it through the widow.
    Later seven of us did the quiz in the schooner bar, we split into two teams to improve our chances but still bombed out lol.
    Evening time Sheila and I first went upstairs for a drink with Maz & Sue and Egbert & Chris.
    Then after dinner we went down stairs for a drink with Ken & Denise and Nigel & Fred, later Maz & Sue joined us and we finished the evening off there
    Well I say evening, Sheila and I turned in about 9pm, we're getting to be old fogies lol.
    But in Sheilas defence her ankle was still hurting from her fall, I had no such excuse, I'm just an old fogie lol.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Night in the cabin

    May 12, 2013, Eastern Mediterranean ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Sheila was still very shook up after her fall the other day and she ended up not coming out for drinks last night.
    Hopefully she will be okay today.
    We are a bit disappointed that no one from the ship has been sent to see how she is.
    I mentioned this to Eric, the diamond concierge last night and it will be interesting to see if anyone gets in touch today.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Suez Canal Transit

    May 12, 2013 in Egypt ⋅ 🌬 19 °C

    At about 1am this morning we started our transit of the Suez canal we are in convoy with at least five other ships and travelling very slowly, I'd guess that we're not doing more than ten knots.
    We've just gone under a new road bridge that I don't remember from last year.
    Being in a starboard cabin is definitely a better than port side as there is a lot more to see.
    The port side is mainly just the Sinai desert, on starboard you do get to see towns a lot of military outposts, plus some desert.
    When we get to the Great Bitter Lake, which is about half way through the canal we will stop to let the south/north convoy through then we will continue our north /south transit past the town of Suez and onto Safaga.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    A night spoiled

    May 13, 2013 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    How come I always seem to find the obnoxious people who spoil your night?
    Last night in the diamond lounge, I went to the bar to get served and all the bar stools where occupied, so I stood between two and asked the barman for my order.
    He put two of the drinks on the bar and a woman in one of the chairs glared at me and as I reached over to pick them up she deliberately turned her stool to try and stop me reaching my drinks.
    As I moved away from the bar her stool spun back and she started shouting about whiplash then she said that I should go to the end of the bar to get served.
    When I said that this was a bar and that service was available anywhere along it, she called me an asshole, (which I may be) but she had no right calling me one.
    Then her husband started shouting about not treating her like a lady, to which I replied, if she acted like one I would treat her like one.
    Then just like the song in the musical Chicago 'He said' would I treat my wife like that, and 'I said' my wife would not act like his wife did.
    Then some fat American woman in their company came up shouting something at me. What she had to do with it I don't know.
    Anyway Eric the diamond concierge stepped in to calm things down, he had heard her call me an asshole and this being against the guest conduct policy, he called security and both the woman and I gave stop separate statements, both very different I'm sure.
    Then after that unwanted excitement I went to bed.

    Posted by Rulocal at 06:23    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Safaga, Egypt

    May 13, 2013 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today we are docked in the port of Safaga in Egypt.
    Don't think I'll be bothering to get off as there is nothing here to see.
    We only dock here so the ship can run it's tours, and as we're not doing a tour there's no reason to get off.
    Also the other reason is the weather we've just been informed that the temperature will reach 94°f which is approx 30°c, so plenty of sunblock and a lay by the pool is the order of the day.
    Also the incident with that stupid woman last night has put me on a bit of a downer at the moment, so maybe I'll change my mind about going off the ship later... We'll see :-)    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Medical Centre

    May 14, 2013 in Egypt ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    For the first time ever we had to visit the medical centre, as Sheila had to have an xray on her ankle and back after the fall she had in the gym four days ago.
    It has taken all this time for someone in authority to get in touch.
    We made a complaint to the diamond concierge that no one had been to see Sheila about the accident, and said that we would be writing to Miami when we got home.
    Since then the spa manager has been to see Sheila and said all medical expenses concerning the accident will be covered by the spa.
    She's also offered us free spa treatments and offered to take us for a meal, all of which we've refused, because to be honest we've wasted four days of the cruise due to Sheila's injury and we think that is worth a bit more than a meal and a spa treatment.
    The machine concerned has been pointed out to the spa manager, and she found the safety stop to be faulty, also, there where no spa staff on duty when the accident happened, and there should have been. so now we are just waiting to see what happens next.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Aquaba Jordan

    May 15, 2013 in Jordan ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Well I didn't do Petra again.
    This is my third visit to Aqaba to Jordan and I would like to see Petra, but I refuse to pay the exorbitant entrance fees.
    According to the Jordan website it used to be about £5 to get in to the site, now they are charging over £50 which in my opinion is a rip off.
    Plus it's a two hour taxi ride to get there, so it's going to be one of the things that stays on my bucket list lol.
    Instead I took the shuttle bus to the town with Ken, Denise & Nigel and Freda.
    We went to Macdonalds for a coffee and some free wifi.
    We then had a walk around a small archaeological site which is the site of the original town of Aqaba and dates back to 630 ad.
    We made our way back to the shuttle, except for Nigel and Freda who went to find a taxi to see some of the town.
    When we got back to the ship we headed for the solarium and a well deserved rest on the sun beds lol.
    Later on Karl from the Beatles Celebration came past and we had a chat, well I say a chat it was more of a listen as he can talk for England lol.
    He's a great guy and the Beatles show be puts on is superb.
    Later on he once again blagged his way into the diamond lounge for a free drinks evening with us, lol.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Operation Safe Haven

    May 15, 2013, Gulf of Aden ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Well we've just done our pirate safety drill it's called operation safe haven.
    When that code word is announced on the tannoy we are all supposed to congregate somewhere in the centre of the ship.
    I'm guessing this is to save the pirates having to search for us and round us up.
    I think it is very considerate of Royal Caribbean to do this as it will save a lot of time, and the pirates would then be able to send a ransom email to miami, very quickly.
    That is as long as they have enough internet minutes on their account.
    If they don't I'm sure Eric the diamond concierge would put some extra minutes on for them, for a small charge ;-) lol.
    We will now have four days at sea where every evening at sundown most of the ships external lights will be extinguished, and passengers will not be allowed on open decks, until Sunrise. Also we have armed private security on board for our protection, all in all its quite exciting.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Good company, average food

    May 16, 2013, Gulf of Aden ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Well it's grumpy old man time again......
    Six of us, that's Maz & Sue, Egbert & Chris and Sheila & myself, went to Chops Grill last night and the company was great, but I'm sorry to say, the food wasn't up to much.
    The place is a steak house so we all had various steaks, which were all good, except for Sues, which was dry.
    The second problem was that the potatoes and vegetables were cold which spoiled the main course.
    Then to top it all, for dessert three of us ordered a spectacular looking creme brulet, which was flambéed in front of you and looked wonderful, but when tasted was a thick gooey mess, and a big disappointment.
    The saving grace was that we were playing for the meal on two for one vouchers, even so it still cost $30 per couple and we could have got better food in the normal restaurant or even the Windjammer buffet for free.
    Other than that we had a great day and in the afternoon progressive quiz we did very well, getting the joint highest score of the day.
    I think that puts us in second place overall.
    Most of us spent the rest of the day by the pool, and the weather was hot hot hot...    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    My god it's hot !

    May 17, 2013, Arabian Sea ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Spent a big portion of the day in the cabin as it was so hot outside, tried the balcony for about half an hour about 10am, but the humidity drove me inside then I decided to lie on the bed.
    Well it was 1.30pm when Sheila woke me up to remind me about the progressive quiz which was starting at 2pm.
    We did OK in the quiz, but I wrongly vetoed three questions :-( so we only scored 13 points instead of 16.
    So today I'll keep my big mouth shut lol....
    Still not heard from the ships management over Sheilas fall, the only time we have been contacted is when I complained to Eric the diamond concierge, and he contacted the spa manager, who came to see Sheila.
    My mate Adam will be getting a very strong letter when we get back home, or before, if I can get some free Internet time off Eric.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Dear Adam

    May 18, 2013, Arabian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Yesterday after much thought, I sent an email to Adam Goldstein about the lack of contact from the ships management over Sheilas fall in the gym.
    In the meantime I'd also mentioned this lack of contact in the mid cruise comments form I filled out two days ago.
    And low and behold the manager from the spa phones Sheila to ask how she was.
    Now call me an old cynic but I'm sure that the only reason she phoned was because of the comments form I'd filled out.
    Anyway I'm afraid the complaint still stands, and I await Adams reply.
    On a lighter note, we had a great laugh trying to explain to Egbert what a Brazilian, was.
    He'd pointed out a woman down by the pool who he thought looked Brazilian, and Chris said she didn't look Brazilian, but she may have one.
    Well the whole company cracked off laughing, all except Egbert who looked a bit blank, not understanding the joke.
    It was even funnier trying to explain to him.
    Then Maz said there were two types of Brazilian, one with a runway and one without.
    He said middle eastern men always had a crash landing, as middle eastern women don't have a runway. I'll leave you to figure that one out for your self.... Lol
    Later after the show we went to the casino with Ken and Denise, to use our match play vouchers and hopefully win $15 using the black and red, or odd and even system.
    As luck would have it we all won.....    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Happy birthday Chris

    May 19, 2013, Daryā-ye ‘Omān ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Yesterday was Christiana's birthday.
    Six of us went to Giovanni's Table, the Italian speciailty restaurant for dinner to celebrate, and it was excellent.
    It is the cheaper of the two speciality restaurants on board, but by far the better one.
    After dinner we made our way back up to the diamond lounge for a couple of drinks (can't miss out on the free drinks) lol.
    Then it was down to the theatre to see the Beatles Celebration tribute show, and as usual Karl and the lads were brilliant and brought the house down, as they they did in the early slow, according to all reports.
    We've known Karl for a couple of years now and seen the show a number of times, and it's always brilliant. (don't tell him I said that... Lol)
    After that it was off to bed as me being an old fart nowadays, was tired.
    We'd been in bed about half an hour, when there was a tap tap tap on the cabin door, when I answered it, it was Ken and Denise both a bit shall I say tipsy to be polite Lol.
    Apparently they'd missed us coming out of the theatre and guessed that we'd be going to bed not long after the theatre, and left a message on the cabins answer phone. The only problem was, it was not our cabins answer phone she left it on!!!
    So now some complete stranger thinks this mad woman called Denise, is meeting her in the solarium tomorrow morning, LMAO    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Jumeira beach Dubai

    May 22, 2013 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 40 °C

    Well we are now at Maz and Sues apartment, it's fabulous, it over looks the palm at Jumeira beach.
    Both Maz and Sue have been brilliant and are showing us places tourists don't normally see.
    Last night we met up with Egbert and Christiana and Maz took all six of us for a superb Arabic style meal, at the Wafi gourmet which is a wonderful Lebanese restaurant in Wafi mall.
    The food was seriously amazing.
    Maz did all the ordering and we tried all kinds of dishes that we'd have never known about.
    Everything was fantastic, but the lamb cutlets were to die for, I have never had lamb as nice they were superb.
    To top it all Maz paid for everything which was very good of him.
    You could see how proud he was of the Arabic food and his culture, and rightly so.
    This is what pisses me off with people generalising, be it Arabs or Scousers, people are people.
    The majority of Arabs are like Maz, normal people, they are Muslims but not extremists and don't go around blowing people up.
    Just as Scousers are not all thieves and vagabonds but just normal people like everyone else.
    Anyway rant over lol. Oh yes one last thing.....
    The only real problem with Maz is that he's a Manchester United supporter, but then again no one is perfect LMAO ;-)
    After the meal, Maz dropped Egbert and Christiana off at the airport for their flight to Germany, there where lots of sad goodbyes as we'd all had a brilliant time together on the cruise, despite the many problems on the ship.
    Today Maz has got lots of things planned for us from visiting the Palm Jumeira beach to seeing the Sand dunes in the desert.
    And stuff in between one of which will be a visit to Starbucks, he and Sue are both Starbucks addicts lol.
    Then tonight Maz, Sue, Sheila and I are meeting Ken and Denise, and we're all going up the Burj Khalifa, I went up last year and its an amazing sight from the top.
    None of the others have ever been up before, not even Maz. I'll let you know how we go on.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    From the Burj to the desert and back

    May 23, 2013 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 38 °C

    2nd day in Dubai, and Maz took us all over.
    From the sand dunes miles out along the road to Oman, to the top of the Burj Khalifa.
    After a lovely breakfast at Paul's cafe on 'The Walk' we set off across the city to the Meydan racecourse, it is an amazing place, with an hotel and racecourse combined.
    If you booked a room overlooking the winning post you could sit on the balcony and watch the Dubai Gold Cup while sipping champagne, that's if you could afford champagne after paying for the room.. Lol
    One saving grace is that you wouldn't lose a any money on the horses as there is no gambling in Dubai, well no official gambling.
    Btw I forgot to mention that the temperature at this time was about 40°C, so hot that in just about 5 minutes of taking pictures my camera was red hot.
    As it was a blisteringly hot morning we then drove about 70km out in to the desert to see the sand dunes, as you do... Lol.
    Then we drove back to the city, and stopped at the Dubai Co-op for some provisions, and Maz's favourite freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, which I must admit is beautiful.
    Then it was off to the Burj al Arab, famously known as the sail hotel, for some photos.
    Next to the Burj al Arab is an other hotel, who's name I can't remember, but it has a beautiful souk and canals like a small Venice but with little dhows to take hotel guests from the souk to various parts of the hotel.
    Later that evening we went to the Burj Khalifa for our trip to the top, which we had booked online before we came away.
    After a bit of a nightmare getting a parking space we met up with Ken and Denise for our ride to the top.
    Well I say the top, it's actually the 126th floor, the Burj goes up a further 12 or 13 floors.
    Anyway the view from the 'top' is brilliant, you can see the whole of Dubai and beyond.
    When you think that only 20 or so years ago most of what you can see as a massive sprawling city, was just desert.
    It makes the whole thing that much more unbelievable.
    After the Burj, Ken and Denise went back to their hotel, as they had been sight seeing all day and they were knackered.
    Maz, Sue, Sheila and I went down to watch the dancing waters, then to a lovely restaurant in the Souk Al Bahar and had some more amazing Arabic food.
    I must say that the food we've been having has been brilliant.
    Last year our hotel was in the old town and we had all our meals in the hotel.
    It was OK but it was English food and not the traditional Arabic food we've been having this time.
    When we got back to the apartment it was straight to bed as it had been a long, but brilliant day.    Read more

  • RulocalMariner Barca, Dubai May 2013Rulocal

    Jumeira Palm

    May 24, 2013 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    Today Maz and Sue took us to the world famous, Jumeira Palm Resort.
    We drove all around it and then went into the beautiful Atlantis hotel it is an amazing hotel with its Marine Adventure , Water Park, Aquarium, Dolphin Bay... the list goes on.
    The main thing that surprised me about the palm, was the size of it all, and the amount of properties on it.
    It starts off with lots of huge apartment blocks, all luxury of course lol.
    That is on the trunk of the palm, then on the fronds you have your private super luxury villas, which are fabulous, but surprisingly close together, the developers obviously wanted to get as much money from the project as they could, and they did.
    The local joke is that the millionaires can shake hands with each other through their kitchen windows.
    At the very top of the palm you then have the Atlantis hotel, or to give it its full title, Atlantis the Palm Hotel and Resort Dubai.
    All in all it's a beautiful place and an amazing piece of engineering, that has to be seen to be believed.
    Then later that evening we took a stroll along 'the walk' and had a pizza for dinner along with some lemon mint drink Maz had introduced me to.
    At the moment The Walk is having some more redevelopment, but it's not to intrusive and will be beautiful when it's finished adding even more to the attraction of the place.    Read more

  • Trip end
    May 29, 2013
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