Day 9-Dubai to Venice-Suez Canal Cruise-PASSAGE THROUGH SUEZ CANAL

We entered the Canal during the night. Passage began while we slept. We had planned to greet the Canal on the top deck while listening to and watching the Beatles Celebration. High winds came up so the celebration was cancelled, and the deck closed for safety reasons.

Wake up call was set for 6am so we could see everything. Our balcony view was all desert. More civilization was on the port side. We headed to our regular Upper Deck, had breakfast and then decided we wanted to be outside around the edges of pool by windows. We got colder and colder in the wind. Ray said he wasn't this cold all winter while skiing in California!

We are part of a convoy of 30. Some of the ships were ahead of us in the Great Bitter Lake waiting for us to pass and get behind us as we continue into the two way New Suez Canal.

Opened in 1869, The Suez Canal is a link between the Mediterranean and Red seas. Ships normally travel in convoys along the narrow waterway where mainland Egypt meets the peninsula. The canal separates the African Continent from Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans. It is one of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes and one of the most important waterways in the world. The Suez Canal has no locks because the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea's Gulf of Suez have approximately the same water level. It takes around 11-16 hours to pass through the canal and ships must pass at a low speed to prevent erosion of the canal's banks by the ships' waves.   

This is my favorite picture of passing through the canal. A lady took our picture for us then said she was supposed to meet her husband on the back of the ship and didn't know what happened to him. Sue told her that this was the front of the ship. She hurried to meet her husband telling Sue thanks.

        

About halfway down, there are some fascinating monuments that honor the Israeli Egyptian War. (three pictured above) During the time of the Israeli occupation of the Sinai, the Suez Canal was the border between the two countries.

-----------------------------------

Sue and I did attend Jeffrey Davidson's lecture on 

Basic Organizing-Organizing your Emails, Photos, Songs

To the man with a hammer everything looks like a nail.

Email should never be something we serve.

Confusing, Overwhelming

Don't beat yourself up.

Don't forward

Subject headings matter

By numbered topic-saved emails

    Categories and sub-categories 

Create folders by month system

08 Projects

     Clean Air

     Clean Water

     Landfills

Create labels that make sense to you

     Any old time

     FYI Only

     Contact Info

     Could Be Useful

Jeff takes on Inbox

     ***Once read-0 in there***

     

Favorites or Folders Directory with Subfolders 

Cruises

Hotels

Airlines

----------------

Photos

Quicker photo renaming

More adept photo editing

Easier File Folder Creation

16 Feb

16 Jan

15 Dec

15 Nov

Travel folder

Music

Artist Name, Song Title

Transfer to Computer

Simplicity Rocks

Musical

---------------------------

Cocktail Seminar #3: MOJITOS

                   Another trick from Francisco as he makes a classic Mojito. 

He fixed us each our favorite Mojito to take with us. Great. Sue and I took ours to go so we could keep them  for Happy Hour. 

Tonight's entertainment is in the Centrum, Aerial Spectacular (unfortunately cancelled because of rough waters). Disappointed, we headed to bed. Tired. Busy day.