Day 107 - Suez Canal

Sunday, April 27

We waited our turn to convoy through the Suez Canal in the pre-dawn hours.  I awoke about 6:00 and went out on the balcony.  It was cold!  Put on my bathrobe and shoes but could only stay out a little while.  I put the TV on Channel 40 which shows the bow and also carried commentary by Commander Jeff Tall.

Since I had not gone to bed until 1:30, I was still sleepy so I propped myself up in bed and cat-napped between commentaries on the TV.  I got up a few times and snapped some photos and then snoozed some more.

Got up for good at 10:00 and surprisingly did not watch the morning show because I did not want to miss the commentary.

The large forward deck on 5 and the smaller one on 6 which are usually "crew only" were open for us.  I started on 5 and watched for awhile and then went to 6.  ( On my next cruise I will have a front facing cabin on deck 6 on a very similar class ship.  I wanted to see what the view was like.)

Since I had been up off and on since six, I was hungry so off to the Lido at 11:30.  As I was eating Hilda came along and we ate together.

Decided that my balcony had a wonderful view so returned to watch Egypt float by.  I was a rule breaker for once and propped my balcony door open so I could hear the commentary.  The weather was perfect with a light breeze.  The sun did not start warming things up much until about 2 pm and then it was time to get ready for Needlework/Knitting group anyway.

Although I really love the sea, today made me think I might want to try one of the river cruises in Europe.  Being so close to land and watching the farms and roads, towns and houses go by is very interesting.

Only eleven at Needlework/Knitting group today but we did have a gentleman join us for the first time.  He is the father of the production manager onboard.

Trivia was in the Garden Lounge again today (more football in the pub).  Judy and Mike showed up so today we were the "Three Travellers".  We had 14 correct and the winning team had 17.

Picked up an ice cream and came back to sit on my balcony.  Although it was in full sun the breeze kept the temperature very comfortable.  I decided that I should have become a rule breaker earlier.  Leaving my balcony door open allows me to hear and smell the sea better and gives a nice fresh breeze.

Evening trivia only gave me ten correct.

Only Lynn, the priest and me for dinner.  The priest is leaving tomorrow in Haifa.

Picked up my orange juice and got ready for bed.  My tour starts at 7:00 AM!!!  And it is 11 hours long.  Yikes!

Some facts about the Suez Canal---
Opened in 1869
Is sea-level (no locks)
Everyday there are two southbound and one northbound crossing
All crossings are done as a convoy (we were number two of twenty-four going north today)
Speed limit is eight knots per hour
Usually 50-75 ships use it each day
Can hold some ships that don't fit in the Panama Canal (such as QM2)

I managed to take 115 pictures and we did not touch land.  I have picked some of my favorites.

a toll plaza

very fertile land on west side - east side was mostly desert

Suez Canal Bridge (built with the help of the Japanese)

one of the ferries that crosses the canal in between the ships in the convoy

War Memorial

Smooth sailing until next time!