Whisper WC.7 Dubai to Venice

Now that the DT's have gone home we are relying on Mysty to provide an update.

How are the anti pirate preps going?

Is the Pressreader working yet?

Anti-pirate applications are in place. We are currently in the Gulf of Aden. We will be in Safaga on April 17th. So far, smooth sailing. I don't know about the Pressreader. Sorry Silver Spectre!

I knew I could leave you in charge![emoji4][emoji568]

Hope all is going well DT! Know that you are missed here!

Our grand adventure is almost over. It is amazing how quickly time flies! We were in Salalah, Oman yesterday. Our Frankincense Trail excursion took us to Mughsail Beach. It was awesome! Here are a couple of pictures.

Thanks for keeping us updated Mysty. Great photos of the beach, I remember being there in 2008 on the day Gordon Brown was accused of declaring war on Iceland!

pressreader is still not working

It would appear the head office is ignoring the plight of the local tech Paul who is superb and just treating is as a minor problem. Too the best of my knowledge the network seems to be better but the extra like vod and an electronic version of the chronicle have never worked in the 14 weeks i have been onboard.

It rained yesterday morning (1st for months) but improved later.

Deck 5 is still out of bounds and will be until later in the week as we run the gauntlet.

Still 2 weeks to go but the packing has to start now:(

st

This is probably a dumb question, but what is on Deck 5?

Deck 5 is where you could normally go outside to view sea use gangway but now contains some of the gear used to protect against pirates as we are travelling in that area of the world.

The extra guards are very nice:)

pressreader is still not working

 

It would appear the head office is ignoring the plight of the local tech Paul who is superb and just treating is as a minor problem. Too the best of my knowledge the network seems to be better but the extra like vod and an electronic version of the chronicle have never worked in the 14 weeks i have been onboard.

 

It rained yesterday morning (1st for months) but improved later.

 

Deck 5 is still out of bounds and will be until later in the week as we run the gauntlet.

 

Still 2 weeks to go but the packing has to start now:(

 

st

Thanks for the update, agree Paul was both knowledgeable and extremely friendly. Unfortunately the issue is between HO and Pressreader and Norman is totally uninterested, so no pressure from the ship. Keep safe.

I had reason the speak to the UK GRM yesterday and surprise, surprise they consider its Norman's problem and were also totally uninterested.

pressreader is still not working

 

It would appear the head office is ignoring the plight of the local tech Paul who is superb and just treating is as a minor problem. Too the best of my knowledge the network seems to be better but the extra like vod and an electronic version of the chronicle have never worked in the 14 weeks i have been onboard.

 

 

st

Not good. :(

You might contact Jason Cohn who was IT and infrastructure director responsible for working with pressreader to provide this service. He would possibly be the best senior person to resolve this quickly for you. I think he is a VP now. It wouldn't surprise me if he isn't even aware of the problem. Why not go to the desk and ask them to get him on the phone for you explaining why .... insist ....... it might just nudge things forward for you.

Hope this helps! It should at least alert senior management if not already, and possibly provide you with some answers.

Good luck,

:)

Jeff

I have now spoken again to Paul and Its not just us all the ships are missing the reader.

I have the email address of a couple of the Head offfice staff who have helped me in the past. I will talk to Norman and at the same time drop a note to them.

Meanwhile life is easy and we continue to progress up the Red Sea towards Egypt.

As usual all the crew are preparing for the crew show very few rumours at present so i will have to wait.

st

I have now spoken again to Paul and Its not just us all the ships are missing the reader.

 

 

I have the email address of a couple of the Head offfice staff who have helped me in the past. I will talk to Norman and at the same time drop a note to them.

 

 

Meanwhile life is easy and we continue to progress up the Red Sea towards Egypt.

 

As usual all the crew are preparing for the crew show very few rumours at present so i will have to wait.

 

st

Last years crew show was magnificent, Anne-Marie was great and Oliver was outstanding. Enjoy.

It has been busy here. We took the 13 hour tour to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings from the port of Safaga. Long trip but we enjoyed it. Here is a picture from Luxor Temple.

Next day we took a 9 hour tour to Petra from the port of Aqaba. Here is a picture from Petra.

Yesterday we were in Sharm El Shiekh. This place is beautiful. The tourist trade has been heavily affected by world events and it is now almost a ghost town. Many hotels are closed as well as a number of shops. It is definitely suffering. We did a glass bottom boat tour that was excellent.

Today we are transiting the Suez Canal.

We spent Thursday and Friday in Israel. I was a little nervous about being there because of the bus that had been bombed in the Jerusalem area a couple of days ahead of our visit. I need not have worried. Israel is a beautiful country and we loved our time there. Security is definitely tight and very visible.

On Thursday we took the Day in Jerusalem tour from Ashdod. Here is a picture from King David's Tomb.

On Friday we took the Acre and Crusaders' Kingdom tour from Haifa. Here is a picture taken on our 2.5 hour walking tour through the old city area of Acre.

Thanx so much for the pictures! Israel was one of the major reasons we took the trip. I can hear your voice and know you are still having a great time! Keep up the good work! Enjoy.

Thanks DT! We are loving every moment! Only 6 days left and we do not want to leave!

Echo duct tape's thanks--Mysty your pictures are wonderful, thanks for sharing not only now (Israel) but throughout your World cruise--most CCrs do not have an idea how much time (your cruise time) it takes to post pix.

Thanks DT! We are loving every moment! Only 6 days left and we do not want to leave!

Thanks for keeping us up to date. Enjoy your final week.

Thanks Wes and Silver Spectre! It is time consuming to load the pictures. However, I wanted to give back to all the generous CC members who offered advice and suggestions when I was planning this grand adventure. My way of saying "Thank You". :)

We are entering the twilight of the 2016 wc but still some nice places to visit this week.

Sailing into Crete at present and the weather is a shock for all the wc's who have been used to warmer climates.

I have found the venue for the Grand Venetian Ball Palazzo Pisani Moretta which looks wonderful. We depart on Thursday evening by motor launch.

More later

st

I am going to need details about the Ball. My mask, boas and The Hub's top hat will be attending in our stead. Enjoy!

Mysty -

Thanks for taking time away from your trip to share so many wonderful experiences with us.

Enjoy the last few days and have a safe trip home.

Thanks Emtbsam! This went by way too quickly!

Today we docked in Corfu, Greece. We had no excursion booked so we decided to walk from where the ship was docked at the New Port to the Old Fortress. It was about 2 kilometers. Here are a couple of pictures taken on our walk.