Day 89, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan

The guests for Good Morning Amsterdam were Black Label artist Tara, Zed the Jeweler and Teresa the Belly Dancer. Tara mentioned that there hasn’t been much activity in the Black Label studio and that plenty of good appointment times were still available. Teresa will be holding classes at 1pm in the Crow’s Nest and is also selling beaded veils in the Sports Bar.

Barbara discussed our two Israel ports, Haifa and Ashdod. The Amsterdam will be in Haifa on a Saturday when most everything will be closed until sunset. We are scheduled for an all day tour, so that shouldn’t affect us too much. Barbara didn’t discuss any special security issues concerning these two ports.

Another Sunday at sea meant, another Sunday brunch, and with only one more Sunday at sea remaining on the cruise, the folks at our table decided to skip breakfast and meet at 11 am to give the Brunch a try. We arrived for Sunday Brunch a little after they opened at 11 am and were seated at a rectangular table along the windows on the starboard side. After a little chit chat we started thru the buffet line armed with large dinner plates. First stop was the delightful pastry table with mounds of delicious looking, breads, rolls and muffins. The buffet has two identical lines on either side of the dining room. For my first pass thru I selected some salmon, a few jumbo shrimp with sauce, a slice of prime rib, an eggs benedict and sausage patty. They also had fried chicken, hot vegetables, bacon, link sausage and other choices which all looked delicious, but I resisted the temptation to take some of everything. Once back at our table, waiters were circulating with Champagne or Mimosa on trays while coffee of juices were available to order. The food was all delicious, beautifully presented and we had a wonderful time.

Judy and I have never played dominoes and our tablemates invited us to join them for a game of Mexican Train dominoes.   It was pretty easy to learn and we had a wonderful time playing before we were interrupted by the Captain’s announcement that we would soon be transiting the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. We paused our game and went out to the stern to take a look. Yemen was close by off our starboard side, but due to poor visibility, we couldn’t see Somalia off the part side.

It was a little hot and sticky out on the deck, so we retreated back to the air conditioned spaces after a few minutes then it was time for Crafts and Texas Hold’em. Judy made a note card with the sign language symbol for ‘I Love You’ on the front and I didn’t finish in the money at Texas Hold’em.

We gone to Bingo a few times early on in the cruise and decided to give it another go today at 4pm. Unfortunately they only had 15 people show up and they needed 20. We learned that they had enough people to play Bingo every sea day from Sydney thru Dubai, but since Dubai they have only had enough people to play once.

Tonight was a Gala night with only two more Gala nights remaining. Harmonica Virtuoso, Bernie Fields, who put on a masterful performance few nights ago, joined us for dinner. We had a wonderful time learning more about Bernie’s background and how he switched from playing the Clarinet to the Harmonica as a teenager. Bernie is from Montreal but now lives in Los Angeles with his wife. He will be flying back to LA from Haifa, but we will see him again when we transit the Panama Canal after the World Cruise as he is already booked for that segment.

The highlight of the menu was Filet Mignon and Lobster tails – both outstanding. The Snicker Cake for dessert was wonderful as well.

David Kidd, performed a Tom Jones tribute show tonight on the main stage. He put on a wonderful high energy show including my personal favorite, “It’s not Unusual”.

After we returned to our cabin we discovered that we they had received a Blue Porcelain Holland America Line Heritage Logo Box by Tiffany & Company in their distinctive blue box as our 7th “pillow gift of the cruise.  Pictures of all the pillow gifts are shown under the World Cruise Reference Tab

• David Kidd