Transiting the Suez Canal

This morning we opened the drapes and we saw that we were in the Suez Canal. It’s fun opening the drapes because you never know what you’ll see each morning. I guess the quote of the day came from Mom with regards to the Canal – she said, “it really is nothing but a big ditch”! She was looking for the locks, which would be typical of a canal except for this one.

Since there is only 1m difference in the sea level from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, there is not a need for locks. We were impressed with the vast desert that was before us. We were in a Southbound convoy with 15 ships, with us at the back. Since we had some time in the canal, Mom and I went down to breakfast around 9:30, not realizing this is when the dining room closes. Oh well, they were kind enough to let us eat. We then went up and sat on our verandah and enjoyed watching the scenery go by.

The Commodore informed us that our transit through the Suez will cost about 500,000 GBP which is equivalent to almost 1 million US dollars. Shortly after noon we were in the Bitter Lakes where our convoy was rearranged and now we were to lead the convoy down to the Gulf of Suez. I managed to sneak in a Waltz class – did much better this year than last. In fact I actually enjoyed it! The rest of the day was spent enjoying the scenery and we even went out on the deck, but after 30 minutes it was just too cool and windy.

We decided to come in and have tea since we had skipped lunch. After tea we went back to our room and called Dad. We have cell service since we are so close to land. It wasn’t long before Prakasan arrived with canapés and an enormous plate of sushi. We figured we didn’t even need dinner, but decided to get dressed and head down a little later. We had a light dinner with a special dessert – Crepes Suzette, one of our favorites. We took a photo of the lovely couples who have been with us since New York.

We came up after dinner so I could download some items and get my camera cleared for pictures tomorrow. Of course we had to go down to the Queen’s Room for a little dancing, but we didn’t stay very long since we have to be up at 5:30 am tomorrow to be down in the Royal Court at 6:45. Our tour lasts about 13 hours, so I am sure we are going to be beat. Best get on to bed.