Passing through the Suez Canal

Room service this am, lots of fruit and eggs. Good way to start the day.

Tony then went to a lecture on the Suez Canal which he enjoyed.

Lunch was Mexican which I avoided, am trying to keep with the salads.

This was supposed to be in Port Said as this was cancelled so had a lazy day. Usually we are into the sports games but as to date have not bothered.

Tried our luck in the casino before dinner, Tony got a $5 win but I lost my $10. They have a couple singing and playing piano in the Voyager lounge each night and are rather good, so went in there before we made our way to the Compass Rose for dinner. Sat with 4 Poms who were entertaining and fun. Then back to the lounge for a dance and Karaoke

which was hilarious at times.

Ray Solaire’s show was a grand event, he’s got some new material and songs and was a joy to watch him again. He was our cruise director from Mariner around South America.

Tomorrow night we are having dinner with him and his sister, which should be fun.

Sat. 10th Nov.

Today Tony was up and about early for views of the Suez Canal, a very different canal to the Panama. This was constructed from 1859 and done by hand and 10 years later the world celebrated the inauguration of the Suez Canal. Shares were sold to build the canal and from this point a French and British consortium managed the canal ushering in the British influence that lasted until 1956 when Nasser expelled them from the country.

 A convoy of ships behind us.

In principle, the British agreed to let any nation use the canal. It was closed again by sunken ships in 1967 during Arab-Israeli war and didn’t reopen until 1975. 3 years later Egypt lifted the ban on Israeli ships and in 1980, a 10 mile long tunnel was built under the canal to facilitate the passage of motor vehicles into and out of the Sinai.

We attended a Seven Seas Society brunch at 9am in one of the lounges, they had a musician and all playing breakfast music, was a lovely start to the day.

From then until about 3pm we watched our transit thru the canal. Very interesting, one side is Egypt and the other Sinai, they are completely different. Plenty of civilisation on the Egyptian side and virtually nothing on the Sinai side except a lot of guards sometimes one off other times quite a number.

A military outpost on the Sinai side with a group of soldiers congregating under cover.

Was a great experience and as the sun was shining made the day great. We sat on the terrace for lunch and watched the ships come thru. We were supposed to be 16th in line but ended up in no 2 position after the Brittany Lakes.

The City of Suez at the Southern end of the Canal.

Tomorrow we will dock in Aquaba Jordan.