Picto Diary - 10 to 11 December 2023 - Tea, Persian Gulf
Above: Observation Lounge. Tea. Persian Gulf, aboard Seabourn Encore. 10 December 2023.
Above: Seabourn Singers. Tim Rice compilation. Sea of Oman aboard Seabourn Encore.
Above: Dinner. The Restaurant. Arabian Sea aboard Seabourn Encore. 11 December 2023.
Addendum:
Dubai is the one place I would go back to. They are the city of the future.
Bridge,
Palm Beach, FL
Thanks Steve. Wonderful write up.
Enjoy your travels. We miss both of you.
Hoops,
Pelham, NY
I enjoyed reading your last-certainly happy Margaret got on the airplane and I am sure Marco would’ve been the same as you being nervous and Avi would’ve been calm taking care of business 😎
Mr. Z3,
Palm Desert,
CA
Wonderful Picto Diary. Thanks very much.
Nathans,
Massapequa, NY
Steve,
A Merry Christmas to you and Margaret.
From your Picto Diary it looks like you two may have taken a cruise similar to what Gael and I have planned for her 80th birthday.
We are going on a ship named Le Bougainville of the Ponant Line, a French cruise line. We board on Jan 5th in Muscat and head through the Hormuz Straight into the Gulf with stops in Daymaniyat Islands, Khasab, Doha, Abu Dhabi and end up in Dubai. Gael’s birthday is the 12th and we will spend the day and night in some outrageous ostentatious hotel in Dubai - don’t know the name as I write. Any recommendations?
I have been a bit concerned given what’s going on with Israel and Gaza and now the Houties are getting adventuresome. I have been a bit uneasy about going through the Hormuz Straight with Iran immediately to our starboard. But, you were just there.
Any hint of concern with your ship’s crew? My rationalization for deciding to go is that the cruise line has a multi-million-dollar ship that they don't want boarded and taken by the Iran Navy, or blown out of the water, not mention 120 passengers.
I would love to hear from you about your thoughts on the wisdom going and if so, what we should not miss on our stops.
Tom,
Aspen, CO
Tom,
Merry Christmas!
You will enjoy Ponant. My friend Espresso and Mwah (sic) did Ponant's Antarctica cruise in January of this year aboard Ponant L'Austral, round trip from Ushuaia. Yours looks to be a bit more of an adventure cruise than our current Dubai to Singapore Seabourn sailing. We have sailed this route, one direction or the other four times now. We have had previous cruise stops in Oman... Muscat and Salalah.
Since October 7, The Persian Gulf, where you will be doing your sailing, has been free of the types of incidents (hijackings, drone attacks etc.) that have been occurring in the Red Sea near the Straits of Bab el Mandeb. As a lot of oil flows thru the Persian Gulf, direction east bound, it would seem that it's in the interest of all nearby oil producers to keep the Persian Gulf free of conflict. Our three days stay in the UAE was without incident. Dubai was hosting a 70K attendee global climate conference while we were there which seems to be indicative of the fact that war concerns were attenuated.
Our cruise ship, the Seabourn Encore, started its voyage to Dubai in Piraeus, Greece and transited the Suez Canal and the Straits of Bab el Mandab (again, where you will not be going) before we joined the cruise in Dubai. A crew member of the ship said that the Red Sea section of the voyage was done in a convoy and that there were no incidents.
Since our last sailing through the Red Sea in 2017, where the cruise line had armed commandos join the ships as they sailed through the Straits of Bab el Mandab, the Coalition Task Force (CTF) was organized in 2019 by the US, the UK and Australia to protect shipping in the Red Sea. Countries joining the CFT later included Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Lithuania, Estonia, and Albania. Up until recently, the CTF, which organizes convoys led by armed ships to transit the Red Sea and the Straits of Bab el Mandab, has been pretty successful in keeping hijacking at bay. Though there has been the occasional incident between US Navy and Iranian Navy in the Persian Gulf over the last ten years, no such international coalition for shipping protection has been deemed necessary for the Persian Gulf.
Regarding travelling in this region today: one has to stay informed on global conditions, for sure. In general, in the absence of specific warnings or instructions from the cruise line, we were always "good to go." The Encore is about 2/3 full. I think Seabourn lost some customers worried about conditions in the Middle East. Offered a discounted price to upgrade to a suite, we took it!
Based on what we have seen, as of today, a Persian Gulf cruise adventure experience sounds like a good thing to do! Have a great trip.
SDT
PS. I have mused about doing one of Ponant's adventure cruises along the northwest coast of Australia. Also, with the full ice breaking capacity of Ponant's ship, Le Commandant Charcot, Ponant is the only cruise line offering a voyage over the actual North Pole. It's pricy, but it does qualify as a bucket list thing. I look forward to hearing about your upcoming cruise with Ponant.
PSS. Notwithstanding their smaller size, the Ponant ships offer a full international class, five-star living and dining experience.
SDT