The Nipyi Festival celebrated by the Balinese crewmen aboard the Rotterdam.

Squeekie and I learned about the festival and feasted with the guys.

Presti (left), Squeekie, and Xxxxx (right).

Jacques knocks the top off a bottle of champagne.

As the Rotterdam approached Dubai Harbour, blown dust in the air shrouded this Persian Gulf city.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 waiting conversion into a hotel and convention centre

Dubai’s new entry in the race to build the world’s tallest building.

Over the dunes we go . . .

. . . up and down, sliding around and on and on.

Squeek and Moss on the “Dunes of Dubai.”

Squeek learns how to board a camel.

Squeekie at the end of the three-camel caravan

Moss with a falcon.

Squeekie dressed for the desert.

The belly dancer gyrated after dinner in the desert

At the end of the evening in the desert the camels were lead back home.
The lobby of the Burj al Arab seems like the inside of Jeannie’s bottle!

Squeek and Moss at the Sky View Lounge

Looking north from the Sky View Lounge . . .

. . . and looking south from the Sky View Lounge

Squeek and Moss in front of the Burj al Arab “the morning after.”



The Jumiera Mosque

A “wind tower” in the old part of Dubai

Crossing Dubai Creek in a water taxi

A corner of the old Spice Souk in Dubai

The spice store where Moss bought frankincense and myrrh

Squeekie buying a white gold chain in the Gold Souk

Squeekie with the Rotterdam at her right, the Queen Victoria behind her, and the QE2 in the distance.



Sixty-sixth Day (Thursday, March 26, 2009)-- Today was a very welcome “at sea” day, not just because it helps me to catch up on my blog, which seems to be falling further and further behind as the days of this cruise begin to pile up, but also because, as Squeekie asserted in her journal, it helps in getting the unpleasantries of India out of our mind—or at least pushed into distant recesses of our minds. This having been said however, the dining staff aboard the Rotterdam chose this day to serve Indian delicacies at tea and dinner. Still, these food treats seemed better without the controversies of Indian society confronting us.

During dinner, Presti informed Squeekie and I that the Balinese crew was celebrating another festival tonight, and would we like to come. Of course we said that we would be delighted to be there. The festival was called “Nipyi,” and it represents New Year in the Balinese lunar calendar. We arrived at the lower (Fourth) deck of the dining room at the scheduled time of 11:30 pm, and watched as the festival commenced. Several of the guys were there in some form of native dress, and they sat barefooted and cross-legged on the floor. One of the older crew members assumed the leadership role in the religious side of the festivities. Presti later told us that it was not because he had special religious training, but rather because he had a general knowledge of the event thanks to years of attendance. The religious activities included prayer with flowers and rice kernels. Then came the food, and it was very good, even though it was difficult to eat much because we were still full from dinner only three hours earlier. There was a chicken dish, fish, some special bean dish, and white and saffron rice. Two traditional drinks were offered to us, one was sweetened condensed milk poured over chunks of fruit, and the other was ginger, warm water and brown sugar. The dining room steward Komang sat with Squeekie and myself, explaining the details of this holiday and what makes it different than others. I had enjoyed being invited to the earlier festival, and I liked this one to. The Balinese boys were very accepting of us both, and continue to be so even long afterwatd. I am glad that we did this!


Sixty-seventh Day (Friday, March 27, 2009)-- Today is Captain Olav’s birthday. Happy Birthday Olav!

Tonight was the sommelier dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. This special event began on Deck Five in the Ambassador’s Lounge where Jacques, the cellar master, demonstrated his abilites by knocking off the top of a bottle of champagne with a sword. I have seen this before; it was something that historians believe began during the French Revolution, or maybe by Napoleon. It was difficult to do on this ship simply because Security does not permit big knives or swords to be brought on board; this was a special event. Then Squeekie and I went down one deck to the Pinnacle Grill, where we were seated at our usual table, but with a new couple, Jane and Bob Koke from Florida. We enjoyed chatting with them. The wine was paired with a typically French menu, and I loved it, although Squeekie still does not care for caviar. The best part was at the end, when lemon brulee was served with Inniskillen Ice Wine from Canada. It was WONDERFUL.


Sixty-eighth Day (Saturday, March 28, 2009)-- This day began as another at sea day, but at 11 am we left our usual place up in the Crow’s Nest and came down and forward to the open area on Deck Six to watch Rotterdam come into the harbour at Dubai. As can be seen from the picture, Dubai has many high buildings on its skyline, but all were mere shadows because of the large amount of dust that was being blown off the Arabian Desert right into our faces. Later we were told that a serious sandstorm had blown through Dubai a day earlier, and this was the remnant of it. This meant that the high rises could barely be seen.

We came into the harbour and tied up just behind a famous ship, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, which has been purchased and brought here to be made into a hotel and convention centre—I hope they do a better job here that was done in Long Beach with the Queen Mary. Later in the afternoon another ship, Cunard’s Queen Victoria (which looks a great deal like a ship in Holland-America’s Vista Class) came in and docked between us and the QE2. It was quite a sight to see all of these grand ships tied up there!

Our excursion this afternoon was entitled “Arabian Nights,” and we were told that it would combine a safari ride over the sand dunes with a camel ride. We left the ship at 3pm in a fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers, and drove through built-up Dubai and out into the sand dunes to the southeast of the port city. There were four people plus the driver in each vehicle; Squeekie and I were paired with a couple from Pennsylvania who will be leaving the ship tomorrow.

After our convoy came out into the desert the highway seemed to be similar to what we see outside Palm Springs in California, although the sand here is a darker brown colour that what we find in California. We made a pit stop at a gas station and the drivers (they would not let us drive) let air out of the tyres as is necessary when driving on soft sand. I think our driver Vinney told me it was something around 15 pounds of air pressure. When we were ready our convoy crossed over the highway into the dunes on the far side of the road and we were ready to go! Driving up and over sand dunes was as fun in Dubai as it was years ago in California! In fact, we were never very far from “civilization” (if that is the right word) because there was a high-tension transmission line in sight most times as we drove up and over the dunes. It was a grand adventure, slipping and sliding, and sometimes going into the air as we topped dunes. Squeekie was laughing very hard for most of this, but I, about halfway through, began to get a bit seasick. Boy, was I embarrassed!

Eventually we drew up at a camel farm and got out to see the camels being fed. Then it was back off again over the dunes until at last we pulled up at a desert encampment which looked somewhat like how the Bedouin Arabs of ancient times must have lived in (although I am quite sure they did not have toilets in the modern sense of the word). We got out of the Land Cruisers at this point. Three camels were saddled up (and had muzzles on so that they could not spit at the humans around them), and reaqdy to receive riders. Squeekie was one of the first to climb up on the back of the last animal in the line; but I decided that I could not ride because I would be to heavy, so I just watched and took pictures while Squeekie played at being a Bedouin girl.

Squeek had a delightful—but all too short—cruise on camelback out over the desert dunes, and she was sad that it ended all too soon. Getting off the animal was a bit tricky, but she was able to remain on the animal as it clumsily knelt down. Then Squeek and I inspected the rest of the camp. We tasted the Arabian coffee (I did not like this bitter mud!), munched on dates, held a falcon, and even tried on Arabic clothing. Squeekie also tried sand boarding down a steep dune—she loved that! Then we sat on cushions around a low table and ate barbequed beef, lamb, and chicken, and watched while a woman did some belly dancing for us (I was not impressed). Then it was back into the Land Cruisers and back to the ship.

But the night was far from over for us. In our cabin we changed into dressy clothes and headed out again via taxi to the structure down the coast known as the Burj al Arab, which is rated as the world’s tallest hotel, and which brags itself to be rated as “seven stars.” (Of course there is no such thing, it is just a brag.) Squeekie had made reservations several months ago for drinks in the bar at the top of the hotel; these reservations were necessary because you cannot drive out the causeway onto the island where the hotel stands without those reservations in the computer. Not only is access to the hotel limited, but there is a big sign right in the lobby entry stating that the “national costume is prohibited,” which is one way of saying that one must wear western-style clothing in this property. Indeed, the only “national costume” I saw was worn by the doorman. We were greeted at the entrance to the hotel and proceeded to look around. We visited the hotel shop, where Squeekie bought a polo shirt with the hotel logo on it, and a stuffed camel dressed as a butler. I must say that there are no “rooms” in this hotel, only suites, and each suite comes with a butler. As may be seen from the pictures, the lobby of the hotel soars high above the central atrium; Squeek observed to me that it seemed as though we were standing inside a genie’s bottle—perhaps that was the intent! On the floor of the lobby were two sets of dancing water sprays—the small one was in the middle of the escalators going from the front door up to the main deck of the lobby, and the large one on that upper main deck.

As the time for our 11:30 pm reservation in the bar drew closer, we took the special outside elevator up to the bar area. It was a good thing that it was dark night outside, as I would have been very troubled by the view otherwise. On the 22nd floor the Sky View Lounge and Restaurant both are located. A young lady (Asian as I recall) guided us into the bar area, where we sat down and studied the drink list. What were we going to have? The drink menu was thick, and every drink was expensive in the extreme. The menu told us about the most expensive drink—it is even listed in the Guinness Record book; it starts with 55-year old single malt liquor served in a gold decorated glass, with other expensive items added—all for a total of $23,000!!!! Well, we weren’t going to do that because it would be nice to do another world cruise some day, so we settled for easier items. I had a glass of tawny port and Squeekie had some type of martini, and we shared a cheese plate. The sum total for this gentle food and drink request was $150, which just goes to show you that expensive is as expensive does. The bar was packed with people even at this late hour. I think amany of them had come to see the Dubai horse race just held earlier in the day, but I also think that drinks and dinner up at the top of the Burj is one special excitement for the huge colony of westerners who live and work in Dubai and who get lonely for their homeland and their own kind. While we were drinking and eating cheese, the women at the next table, who were almost falling down drunk, got up and moved on. The view out the windows was hampered by the darkness outside (and the tinting of the glass, too), but we were able to see north up the coast toward the harbour where Rotterdam was parked, and south down the coast to the new Palms Island still under construction. To conclude my analysis of the Burj al Arab hotel, I cannot say it was any more exclusive or fanciful that others in which we have stayed (or at which we have had food and drinks) in past years. But it was of interest and going there did fulfill one of Squeekies dreams, and so we did it! We came down to the lobby, walked out the door and boarded a taxi to take us back to the Rotterdam—which latter has, I observe to you all, much better service (and a better view) than the Burj could ever hope to have.


Sixty-ninth Day (Sunday, March 29, 2009)-- Dubai is a desert nation; it hardly ever rains here, we were told, but today it did rain most of the day and with a degree of intensity. We previously had booked a highlights tour for today, and we decided to go ahead with it. So, after only about four hours of sleep (if that) we were off for another tour, this time of urbanised Dubai. Our bus drove through much of the built-up part of the city and eventually we arrived at the beach just north of the Burj al Arab where we were able to get some very fine pictures of this structure we had explored more closely last evening.

Then we drove through the Jumiera section of the city, and stopped at the Jumiera Mosque, although we were unable to go inside this day. Then it was off to Bastakiya, the old part of Dubai, but again we just drove though and didn’t get off the bus for pictures or closer exploration. I was interested to learn of the structure known as the “wind tower,” something from early times that was used to capture errant seaside breezes and use them to cool down homes as a form of natural air conditioning. From here we went to the Al Fahidi Fort which is now the Dubai Museum, where we were allowed to get off and explore the museum’s exhibits, although the time allotted to this task was way too little.

Then we drove over to the oldest souks (markets or bazaars) in the city. First we saw the Fabric Souk. Then we came to Dubai Creek, which we had to cross by a water taxi boat known as an abra to get to the other side. Here there were both the Spice Souk and the Gold Souk. I purchased some frankincense and myrrh and saffron to take home. In the Gold Souk Squeekie found a white gold chain for the black pearl she had earlier purchased in Thailand.

We went back to the ship for lunch, and then took the courtesy shuttle over to the Bur Jalan Shopping Centre. This mall sports high-end stors similar to what might be found at South Coast Plaza. Squeek and I both found it very ironic that the Muslim women of Dubai (at least those who are wealthy) buy and wear expensive, western-style designed clothing UNDERNEATH their plain black Muslim robes. We found a dress that Squeekie would like to have purchased to be worn to the Captain’s dinner, but its $14,000 price tag placed it far outside our league.

Dubai has proven to be a very interesting community, clean and safe to be sure; a refreshing change after Mumbai. Having said that I also found it to be somehow unpleasant, more like a fairy tale town from the Arabian Nights stories rather than reality. The huge buildings being erected (we saw and counted more than 250 construction cranes at work in the town) seem more like boys holding a pissing contest: “mine is higher than yours.” I found Dubai to be an understandable explanation as to why petroleum reached $127 per barrel in the Spring of 2008; it was tacky in the extreme. We encountered almost no native Dubai citizens; instead almost everyone in the nation seems to be a foreigner there for the work. As Squeekie observed in her journal entry, and I quote it direct, “Opulence and ostentation alone cannot create a city; it takes people to give it warmth and soul, and that’s what I found missing here.”