Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018

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Trip start
April 20, 2018
Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
And we're off.
April 20, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
The Emirates flight from Manchester to Dubai, was ok and uneventful, except for the father of the family in front of us trying to steal our Joe's colouring books and pencils.
It had slid under his seat, and instead of asking who they belonged to, he put them in his bag in the overhead locker. Anyway when Nicola asked him if he had seen them he said he'd put them in the overhead locker for safekeeping, when he opened the locker they had mysteriously slipped into one of his bags!Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
Dubai
April 21, 2018 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
The hotel we stayed at was nice enough, with exceptional staff most of who came from Nepal 🇳🇵.
Nic and I went out to see the Burj Khalifa, while Sheila stayed in the hotel with little Joe who was knackered and fast asleep.
We were only out for about 3 hours as we didn't want to leave Sheila to long with Joe incase he woke up, we were both tired anyway and after our trip to the top of the Burj we jumped a taxi back.
We were going to go out and get a bite to eat, but, I didn't particularly fancy another taxi ride in to the city, so, I suggested having a meal in the hotel, which had 3 restaurants.
It turned out to be a good idea as we had a brilliant Jalfrez and a few 2 for 1 drinks served by some amazing Nepalese staff, who were among the best we've met.Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
$32.99 !! Wtf!
April 23, 2018, Arabian Sea ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We took Joe into the pool today, and he loved it. The lessons he had off Emma have paid off in spades, he's totally confident in the water and is swimming like a fish. At one point he actually jumped in the pool and swam a width easily. When he goes in today we are going to see just how far he can swim.
The only problem was the water in the pool is sea water and very salty, and it was stinging his eyes, so I nipped down to the shop on deck 5 to get him some swimming goggles, and the only ones they had where $32.99! Lucky he's worth it 😁
He's been a star in the evening as well, everyone loves him. But the concierge told Nic that one person complained about him being in the lounge. You will always get one moaner, but he's allowed in and he's behaving, so stuff them.Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
Pleasant and uneventful trip so far.
April 26, 2018, Gulf of Aden ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
It's been a nice uneventful trip, and as usual we've made new friends and met a lot of old ones.
Joe's been a star and everyone loves him.
Not been anymore complaints about him being in the lounge but as I say he's allowed in and he has been very well behaved. Speaking of the lounges, the ships management have got the diamond free drinks time very well organised. With there being so many diamonds and above on board, they have opened the Viking Crown lounge and the card rooms as well as the diamond lounge its self, just for the members, which is brilliant. But when you show your card in Boleros, and the Schooner Bar during the free drinks time, you can get unlimited drinks in there also. As well as 4 drinks each night in any of the other bars and restaurants during this time. This is the first time I have experienced this on any ship, when there are so many members on board.
Well done the Mariner staff.Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
Suez transit
April 30, 2018 in Egypt ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
This morning we started the transit of the Suez Canal. I have done the transit 5 or 6 times before, but it still amazes me.
The manpower it must have taken to dig out what is essentially a massive trench between Suez and Port Said, is gobsmacking.
Here's a quick fun fact about the canal...
A fleet of ships was once stranded in the canal for more than eight years.
During June 1967’s Six Day War between Egypt and Israel, the Suez Canal was shut down by the Egyptian government and blocked on either side by mines and scuttled ships. At the time of the closure, 15 international shipping vessels were moored at the canal’s midpoint at the Great Bitter Lake. They would remain stranded in the waterway for eight years, eventually earning the nickname the “Yellow Fleet” for the desert sands that caked their decks. Most of the crewmembers were rotated on and off the stranded vessels on 3-month assignments, but the rest passed the time by forming their own floating community and hosting sporting and social events. As the years passed, the fleet even developed its own stamps and internal system of trade. The 15 marooned ships were finally allowed to leave the canal in 1975. By then, only two of the vessels were still seaworthy enough to make the voyage under their own power.Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
Aqaba Jordan
May 2, 2018 in Jordan ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C
Today we docked at Aqaba in Jordan, this must be my fifth visit to the port and I've still not done the trip to Petra. Two main reasons are firstly the price its so bloody expensive from the ship. And secondly if you do it privately it's a 2.5 hour drive each way, so if you have any delays then you could miss the ship. 20 years ago that wouldn't have bothered me, but nowadays I'm a bit more cautious, lol. OK, OK, it's mainly the price.
Anyway I had a walk around the town, with Nic, Joe, and John & Mable. And as none of them had ever been inside a mosque, we decided to have a look around the nearest mosque to the bus station, which is the Sharif Hussein bin Ali Mosque.
As we entered the grounds of the mosque, there where a couple of guys, who were sort of security, they were very polite and helpful, they gave the women some cover up garments. It is quite a nice mosque, and the locals were friendly, when we got in side the building our Joe ran about a bit and I was trying to stop him, when a guy doing some repairs to the mosque smiled and signaled to me that Joe was fine and doing no harm.
After we came out of the mosque John & Mable went back to the ship as the heat was a bit to much for them. Nic Joe and I set off to find the ruins of the old town which are quite interesting.
That was after a quick stop at Macdonalds to get a cold drink and to feed Joe. We were lucky in Mackie Ds, as we only had English money 💷 which they didn't take. But a very nice Scottish bloke standing at the counter said to order what we wanted and he'd lend us the money, till we got back to the ship.Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
Jerusalem, Israel
May 3, 2018 in Palestine ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Today we docked in Ashdod, Israel 🇮🇱. We should have come here a couple of years ago, but we couldn't dock as there were missiles being fired at the Town, so sailed on up to Haifa, so I didn't get to see Jerusalem that time.
This time everything was fine, so Nic and I did a ships tour to Jerusalem. It was only a half day tour so we only saw a small part of it, but it was well worth going. Without getting into the politics of the whole Middle East thing, it's such a shame that they can't all live together in peace. Because there are parts of Jerusalem where it happens. Our guide pointed out one particular area where Jews, Muslims and Christians all live together, with churches, Synagogues and Mosques. She said that the Catholic Church held concerts in its grounds at times, so you would find Jews Muslims and Christians going to the church to hear a concert, then going to the Arab restaurants after.
Anyway back to Jerusalem, we visited the Western Wall, which used to be called the Wailing Wall, I suppose it should still be called the wailing wall with the amount of people crying, our Nic included, lol.
After that we went to the Holocaust Museum, which was very moving, we didn't have anywhere near enough time to see it all, so it would definitely be a place I would visit again.Read more
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Mariner Dubai,Barcelona 2018 Rulocal
Chania (Souda), Crete Greece
May 4, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C
Today we arrived at the Greek island of Crete. The itinerary says Chania, but we actually docked at a place called Souda, which is about 5km from Chania. There was a local bus service into the town, but the queue for tickets was long and I couldn't be bothered to wait, so I had a walk through the tiny town up into the countryside, which was nice.
I came across a tiny chapel type building, very similar to the one I saw in Piraeus, last year.
I'm guessing this type of chapel/Church is peculiar to Greece, as I've not seen the like anywhere else.
Further on up the lane, I came across a beautiful cemetery, where most of the graves were above ground tombs.
All in all it was a nice couple of hours stroll, and was different from the usual trip into town that tourists usually do.Read more
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