Thursday, December 26, 2024

At Sea

Keeping his highness entertained while docked at a world class city is one thing. Keeping him occupied solely within the confines of a cruise ship is an entirely different thing. I think we did a pretty darn good job with what we had, though.







I didn't end up buying Starlink for this trip but it definitely captured my imagination. If I have a remote job and could actually trust that I'd have a solid internet connection... I could cruise for months at a time! To anywhere on the planet!







Ern returned to his important project of becoming more melon than human at the ship's cafeteria.





We explored every inch of the ship.









There have been a few moments today where the sun was shining and the ocean was passing peacefully by and we didn’t have a care in the world or anywhere we needed to be. Ernie was running or playing something happily nearby. I got a weird feeling that this is what heaven would be like. It wasn’t entirely a good feeling. Almost like things were too perfect so something must be wrong. To be in heaven you have to be dead, after all.









We jingled every jangle.



We examined the numerous and sprawling gingerbread cities.



It's funny how quickly your entertainment tastes change when you have little to no internet and a lil guy to amuse. A chef showing you how to make animal sculptures out of fruit? Yes I'll watch that.











In addition to the beautifully convenient buffet, there were several restaurants on board as well.







The loss of instant food gratification was a little painful, I must say. We had more entertainment work to do while waiting for our order.





I was amused whenever the cafeteria and the restaurant food overlapped. Ern's lunch melon was in different shapes than his breakfast melon.













We walked through the onboard shops several times. Maybe more than one time a day. One highlight was smelling all of the expensive perfume sample bottles.









They're kind of weird about drinks. For example you aren't supposed to fill up a water bottle with anything at the cafeteria, even water. The sink water is kind of gross. So we bought numerous cases of bottled water. It's funny that it sort of seems to be whatever kind of bottled water that was available at whatever the last port was. On our previous cruise on the Norwegian Dawn I recall the water was in carton box things while this time it was in glass bottles.

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Christmas in Sharjah

Ernie had another visit with Santa Christmas morning, this time aboard the Norwegian Dawn.



We continued our efforts to eat every melon in the middle east.



We had another beautiful day to spend at the port of Dubai. This time we got off the boat and left Dubai immediately.



The United Arab Emirates is comprised of 7 emirates but I’d only ever been to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, so a trip to Sharjah was exciting. It seemed less glitzy and more devout than the other two.







We excitedly crossed the bridge to Al Noor Island.



Butterfly Park was full of butterflies, believe it or not.








There was a playground on the island as well.







We admired Central Souq Sharjah from the exterior.



Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization







Observatory of Jantar Mantar

Jantar Mantar in Delhi was the first of the observatories to be constructed around 1334 AH/ 1722 AD during the Mughal rule in India. The observatory features fourteen geometric devices in stone. Astronomers used them to measure time, predict eclipses and track the movement of stars.

The largest instrument is a 21 metre high sundial called the Samrat Jantar.
On its top stood a small cupola (a domed structure) from which astronomers announced eclipses and the arrival of monsoons.

The Jayaprakas are a pair of concave hemispheres marked with astronomical scales. The hemispheres reflect the dome of the sky above.

Jantar Mantar has been restored and was declared a national monument in 1367 AH/ 1948 AD.

We actually saw Jantar Mantar when we visited Delhi in the brutal heat.



They had all kinds of inventive ways to keep time.



Rosewater Still



























The cafeteria people spruced up dinner with some very cool carved fruits.



We capped our night with a Christmas show in the ship's theater.