The Suez Canal

Sunday we transited through the Suez Canal.   We've done the Panama Canal several times but this was our first time through the Suez Canal.  The Suez Canal is much different from the Panama Canal which made it quite interesting.

The adventure started the previous evening as we were eating dinner and the ship anchored off of Port Said with other ships as we awaited our designated morning time to join the convoy through the canal.  Ships pass as a convoy so that they can safely pass ships coming the other way in a section of the canal that is divided into two channels.  We were supposed to begin approaching the canal at 4:00AM, subject to change, of course.  At 4:00 I looked out and got a great view of the moon and Venus as we waited to approach the canal.  It turned out we would be an hour behind schedule.

At about 6:00AM, we were well on our way and I went up to the fitness track for my morning jog/walk as the sun rose.

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By the time we went to breakfast, we were in the canal and the most fascinating aspect of the canal was obvious.  On the port side of the ship was the Sinai Peninsula which is largely desert.  On the starboard side was a much more developed part of Egypt.

As the day progressed, we continued to get interesting views.

One of the odder sights was a monument built by the North Koreans to commemorate the 1967 war.  It is in the shape of an AK47! 

We eventually came to the split part of the canal where we saw the ships coming the other way.

Our day of viewing was interrupted by a wine tasting experience.  It was a Red Challenge where we blindly tasted 3 pairs of wines, each pair having one French and one California.  It was led by a wonderful young sommelier, Glyne.  Interestingly, most of the attendees were successful in identifying which wine was from California and most preferred the California reds.

More sights as we made our way through and finally exited the canal after the 11 hour transit.  The other major difference from the Panama Canal, is the absence of locks on the Suez.  It's just a straight channel through the desert.

Our day ended with one of our favorite events on board - the Wine Bar.  You get to build your own flight of wines to taste and enjoy along with what are essentially tapas.  By the time we were done with that, we didn't need dinner.

Now we are looking forward to tomorrow and what promises to be one of the highlights of this cruise - the Pirate Drill!  We will be entering the so-called HRA - the High-Risk Area for Piracy.  We have been told that we will be in permanent contact with U.S. and U.K. Naval forces that are assigned to protect vessels.  We've done one pirate drill on a past cruise.  Stay tuned for a full report!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry