Day 23

Day 23 – Dubai – Salalah. Thursday 7/6/12

Weather – Fine and Sunny 31C - 37C

Sunrise – 5.22am

Sunset – 6.49 pm

Time difference - minus 6 hours ex Sydney. (Yay, a day without changing time zones!! :)

Throughout the day we headed on a south easterly course transiting through the Gulf of Oman, close to the coast of Oman. At around 10.20pm we passed the traffic separation scheme of Ra's al Had, then turned to the south west and continued through the Arabian Sea, along the coast of Oman, approximately 53 miles offshore. The area is rich in oil, and as a result there are many oil tankers on our passage.

A relaxing sea day again, awww gee shucks, someones gotta do it :). The start of a new sector is very much like the start of a new cruise, but with a heavy dose of continuity thrown in. It was not hard to notice some of whom had boarded in Dubai, and who had not been on this ship or it's sister ships, as they were the ones walking with map in hand.

As well as new passengers boarding the cruise for the first time in Dubai, we also welcomed back the 60 odd people who had disembarked the ship in Mumbai, for the 3 day overland tour of the Taj Mahal. Word has it that the logistics of overland tour did not go well, although I would expect they would have been thrilled to have seen such an iconic place to photograph.

Now I previously said that I would not report on our trivia performance unless there was anything of note to report..well there is..dont get too excited, we did not win, but we were only one off the winner, so there was much backslapping, and general self esteem enrichment to be had :)

Much excitement out on deck 7 today when a few very lucky people (including us) witnessed an outstanding show by a pod of dolphins. They were coming out from under ship and dancing in the water, it really was quite a sight, so Donna is now happy as she has seen what she had been hoping to see since we left Sydney. There was also this enormous turtle swimming by, it was the size of one of those small circular outdoor coffee tables. The water here in the Gulf of Oman is just so clear, you can easily see fish swimming just below the surface, it is like your looking down the top of a fish tank.

We had a Cool Cruisers meet and greet today to welcome the Dubai boarders. Again it was nice to see such a large group coming along again. We also had a visit from the Asst Cruise Director who came along and mingled for a long time.

Formal night yet again tonight. We only had one 3 nights ago, and just could not front up again in the monkey suit so soon, so we elected for a pizza/pasta dinner with friends. Then cocktails with other friends in their suite, followed by a movie on the big screen pool deck – Thor. I gave it long enough to eat a small bag of popcorn and left Donna to watch it to the end.