Category: 2014 – Costa Fortuna, Dubai to Savona, 28 Mar – 15 Apr

After 4 straight sea days today was a most welcome change and a port we have been really looking forward to. Before the itinerary was changed, we had pre booked a private tour with a company called Memphis Tours, Egypt but when that port was cancelled we were able to use the deposit against a similar tour in Aqaba but still with Memphis.
After leaving the ship at 8:15 and meeting up with Joseph, our driver for the day. We drove for about an hour and a half to Wadi Rum, stopping briefly at Wadi Rum railway to see the old Turkish train.
At the Wadi Rum visiter centre we were introduced to our 4×4 driver, a Bedouin called Abdul. We had arranged for a 2 hour trip through the park and can only say what a shame it was only 2 hours. Absolutely amazing scenery which I cannot really begin to explain. The photos do not do it justice either and it is difficult to select which ones to show.
We were then taken for another hours drive to Petra where we met all the ships tours coming out. Great planning on our guides behalf. Again the long walk down the gorge was a photographers dream and I can only apologize for not being able to show more at this time.
We then we taken for a 3 course meal at a restaurant in Petra before the long drive back to the ship. The itinerary was advertised as 10 hours but we actually arrived back at 8:30 so we had an extra 2 hours. Exhausted but very happy.

Today was our 4th consecutive sea day as we continued our crossing of the Red Sea to reach Aqaba.
Once again we have had calm seas, clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine with temperatures slightly lower than yesterdays.
Over the last 4 days things have been fairly routine for us with breakfast around 8:30 to 9:30, then lying up on deck in the sun until 12:00 when we do our walking round the jogging track (we are now up to 25 laps). Then its back to the sun beds until 1:30 when we go to the buffet for a nice big salad and a couple of drinks. Back to the sun beds until around 4 – 4:30 when we go down to the atrium for a couple of drinks & Costa nibbles.
Its then back to the cabin to shower and get ready for pre dinner drinks which preferably would be in the atrium. However we have only managed to get seats there twice so have usually moved on to one of the other bars.
Dinner is at 9:00 and we usually finish around 10:30 and then retire for evening. We have on the odd occasion gone for a walk after when we have had a particularly large meal just so we haven’t gone to bed on a really full stomach.
All this is just to let you know that we don’t have it easy!!!! Its tough work being on a cruise especially on a sea day.

Tomorrow is going to totally different as we have a 10 hour tour planned. Its going to be a real shock to the system!
……..And fingers crossed, I might be able to send more than 1 photo!!!

The third day of our 4 day stint of sea days has now passed and today we have continued in a north westerly direction towards Aqaba. We have had clear skies and a nice light sea breeze today with temperatures between 27C & 29C. Perfect for a sea day.

As there has been little happening for us then perhaps I could tell you about a few of the crew who have been making our cruise what it is. I will start with our steward Raul who is from Goa, India and has the biggest grin you could imagine and constantly on the go but can always find the time to greet you when you pass in the corridor.
Next we have our waiter Gilbert and his assistant Julius both from the Philippines. Gilbert is a veteran of 10 contracts and knows the ropes well. Julius on the other hand is only on his third, and unfortunately was on the Costa Concordia the night it went down. We have deliberately not pursued the subject with him as we could tell when he initially told us that it wasn’t a pleasant experience for him. Fortunately for us it hasn’t put him off and we think he will quickly climb the ladder as he has all the attributes to make a good waiter himself.
We have also chatted to many of the bar staff and found a few of them to be great fun. Dennis from India on his 17th contract and Jamie from the Philippines on his 10th just to name a couple. The crew we have spoken to have come over as very loyal to Costa so they must be doing something right to keep the staff happy and renewing their contracts.

Tonight is the second Gala night on this cruise and we will again be dressing to suit the occasion. It is always nice to see the waiters all dressed up too.

Today we continued our cruise through the Gulf of Aden which is now known all over the world for the possible activities of piracy. Any ships passing through this area are guarded by international naval forces. The scheme for ships passing through this area is called the ‘Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor’ which the Costa Fortuna entered into fully at 3:00am this morning.
We arrived at Aden at 8:00am to disembark at passenger needing medical attention which took just over an hour. We then proceeded as planned and didn’t actually start our transit through the strait of Bab el Mandeb into the Red Sea until 3:00pm because of the earlier diversion.
The strait has a small island called Perin which divides the channel into two. I was hoping to get a phone signal strong enough to post a couple of photos of us passing through but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.
Apart from that there is nothing much to report today, we have spent the day lying in the sun on deck and the occasional foray into the buffet for something to eat.

To finish with I will mention that for the first time on Costa I have made Pearl status in the Costa Club, and like all loyalty schemes it aims to provide you with some little perks not available to other passengers. Looking at what there is available to us has left me wondering what it is actually worth. Lots of things seem to have disappeared since our last Costa cruise. I suppose the biggest thing on offer is the free meal in the speciality restaurant but to be honest we are enjoying the food and waiters in the main dining room so may not bother.

As we continue our cruise from Dubai to Savona, today was the first of 4 sea days which are then followed by the next port which is Aqaba, Jordan.
Although we have only got off the ship twice since departing in Dubai we are still managing to stay fairly active. We always use the stairs to go between decks and have also taken to walking at least 10 laps of the running track every day which works out at a minimum of 1800 metres every time. Today we did 15 laps.
As well as that our breakfast routine has become well established now and we head for the aft pool area were there is a grill servery and also the main bar which services all of rear end of that deck. From here we can easily attract one of the bar staff to bring us orange juice and coffees. The nice thing about the all inclusive drinks package is we can have Lavazza coffee in various styles, from Cappuccino, Shakerato, Corretto and even iced. We are particularly fond of what they call Espresso Americano. Its by far the best coffee we have ever had at sea and we often have several cups. As with sea days on most cruise lines there are the customary sales of useless tat and today was without exception, 70% off a line of bangles the name of which just rolls off the tongue as a market leader (Not).
The weather today has been absolutely marvelous, it did start off a bit cloudy but they soon disappeared and combined with a nice sea breeze it was perfect for sitting up on deck.
A bit of excitement this afternoon when we were flown over by a helicopter. Apparently we are under constant surveillance due to our location. There is ourselves and the MSC Lirica both relocating via the Suez canal and cruising very close together. We are currently between Somalia and Yemen which is pirate territory.
I will attempt to upload this on the ships WiFi with 1 photo because I think it is the size of the post which is timing out the connection. Fingers crossed.

Having said we wouldn’t get off we changed our minds and then changed them back again. With 4 sea days straight after this stop we thought we would get the shuttle into town and go for a walk. What shuttle? The ship is berthed in a very commercial port and there is only a courtesy shuttle provided by the port to get you to the gates where presumably there will taxis waiting to take you into Salalah itself. Sorry Salalah but its not for us, there’s too much effort required to see nothing much of any interest to us.
Again the weather is absolutely glorious and we are just going to enjoy the hotel facilities of the ship.
I maybe quiet for the next few days but if I get a chance to post I will.

Being as it is a sea day I will talk about the ship a little. Like every Costa ship we have been on there is a theme throughout the interior. The Costa Fortuna’s decorating theme pays homage to classic Italian vessels and every public room is inspired by and named after a particular ship. There are photos of ships all over the place and loads of models. The weirdest being the ones on the ceiling of the atrium, they just doesn’t look right to me sailing around upside down. All said though I really do like the inside of this ship and for Costa it has almost been done quite tastefully, yes there are bright glittery areas but it wouldn’t be Costa ship if they weren’t there.

I will finish today’s post with a few casual observations of some items that I have noticed so far.
Firstly the crew is one of the happiest we have ever seen, equally attentive, helpful, polite and nearly always smiling.
I have been trying to work out how the service charge works with the bar staff and in particular with the all inclusive so I will try and find that out in time. We bought our package before joining the ship which didn’t include any service charge. The bar staff seem more than willing to run around after you even though they appear to be getting no added benefit. I did wonder if there was a big pot and they got a bigger share of it if they served more drinks? Everything is still recorded so it does make you wonder.
At a guess I would also say the average age of the passengers would be mid 60’s, the bulk of which being Germans, French & Italians. I have only seen half a dozen kids so far so that will give you some idea of the passenger make up.
The photographers are a big nuisance too, much more so that any other cruise we have been on. They are set up for portraits on deck 5 every night in about 6 or so places. You have to run the gauntlet if you want to visit the bars at the other end of the ship.

Today we were in Muscat and we did get off. The temperature was given as 31 degrees as we were leaving the ship at 9:25 so we knew we were in for a hot one.
Our plan today was to make use of the local hoho, a company called Big Bus Muscat. Tickets were advertised at 20 Omani Rials per person for a 24 hour ticket and a full circuit took 2 hours with 10 stops at various locations around the city. However if you purchased your ticket via Costa for €38 it meant we could catch it directly outside the ship without getting the shuttle into Mutrah. For the sake of ease that is what we did and in the end pleased because it also meant we could get back to the ship quicker and into the pool to cool off as it did get very hot. Along the way we listened to a commentary of what the local landmarks were and I took many photos which I have attached a small selection of above and below.
As we left the ship we were given an Oman Tourist Entry Permit which we had to hand in on our return. Today we elected not to get off as the bus fulfilled our requirements which was to have a tour of the city. We are not really into Mosque’s or Suq’s so the bus tour pretty much ticked all our boxes.

Tomorrow is a sea day so I maybe quiet but I hope to be back the day after when we reach Salalah, Oman. I very much doubt we will get off here either there is little or nothing there we consider making the effort to see.

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.

It was our intention to do a trip to a local hotel today and use the beach facilities, however having discussed it over dinner last night we elected to stay on board. The ships tours suggest little of interest to us and so it was an easy decision in the end. All the ship offered was Fujairah and its traditions, Desert and Wadi Safari or A day at the beach!
We have an all inclusive drinks package, the ship won’t be full and there will be food that won’t require us spending any money.
The port is a very commercial area and we were berthed in an area full of containers. Even more amusing was they were even being used to form a perimeter around the ship.

The day was spent just lounging around by the pool and making the most of the excellent weather. Its a wonder how I am managing to sleep doing so little! Plenty of wine from the all inclusive helps!

Finally, the ships WiFi is an absolute nightmare and so I have resorted to making use of my phone to make the posts, the phone signal is excellent and there is plenty of 3G so fortunately I am just about able to keep the blog going for the time being. If I go quiet then its because the technology has let me down.

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Khasab was our first port of call on this cruise and here I had booked a half day Dhow cruise with a company called Dolphin Khasab Tours. We arranged to meet in the cruise terminal at 9:15 where we taken by mini bus for a short 10 minute drive to the Dhow. There were only 8 of us plus 2 crew and so we had plenty of space onboard. We were immediately made to feel at home with a welcoming cup of tea. The Dhow itself has 2 large carpets in the centre and there are really comfortable cushions all round the outside to sit on. There were also complimentary drinks and fruit available throughout the cruise which was a nice touch.
We set off on our trip to what is described as the “Fjords of Musandam” in the hope we would encounter some dolphins as well as taking in the stunning scenery. It is widely said that you will be extremely unlucky if you don’t.
It wasn’t long before we spotted our first dolphin but nothing could have prepared us for what we were treated to after that. The Dhow crew knew exactly how to entice the dolphins to swim along side the Dhow and they did this on several occasions. It was wonderful to see the dolphins swimming along side the boat and of course being so close. I have managed to get some absolutely fantastic photos which I hope that it will be possible to share with you at some point.
The cruise took just over 4 hours and is something I would describe as spectacular and never to be forgotten.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing on deck in the sun and we found it difficult to stop thinking about the mornings activities.
On another note, we have a table for 6 in the dining room but as of yet nobody has joined us. Its not all bad as were are getting extra attention from the waiter as there a few other empty tables on his patch as well as our empty seats.

Posted from WordPress for BlackBerry.