Four Days of Rest at Sea

Wednesday, November 25th - Saturday, November 28th
Route of the Ancient Traders
Day 15 - Day 18
M/S Nautica
At Sea
Mostly Sunny – Lower 80s

Wednesday, November 25th
Day 15

We are finally enjoying four days of rest at sea. We are looking forward to enrichment lectures, good books, and long naps in the sun. We need a vacation from our vacation!!!

After leaving Jordan last night, Nautica made her way South through the Gulf of Aqaba and into the Red Sea. We will continue SouthEast down Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula through the Red Sea, until Friday when we will make a left turn and head NorthEast through the Gulf of Aden, between Somalia and Yemen. We will arrive in Salalah, Oman on Sunday. This is not scenic cruising. We will be in open water with no land in site.

These can be dangerous waters. M/S Nautica was attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on November 30th, 2008. The same ship, under the same captain, in the same water we will be sailing through. The captain and crew successfully fought off the attackers and the incident has become the stuff of legend.

Captain Jurica Brajcic gave a lecture this morning on the modern history of piracy, how he deflected the attack on Nautica last year, and the countermeasures being taken to ensure our safe passage.

Modern piracy is a real threat to maritime activity throughout the world, but has been growing rapidly over the last five years off the Eastern cost of Africa with just five attacks in all of 2004 increasing to 156 attacks in just the first half of 2009.

Pirates work from a mother ship in open waters. Many of the mother ships are in fact maritime ships that have been pirated previously. They attack during daylight hours with just one known exception on a night lit by a full moon. When the pirates identify a target, usually a ship laden with cargo traveling under 14 knots with open decks close to the water, the mother ship dispatches one or more skiffs to execute the attack. These tend to be wide, fiberglass boats with round bows and outboard motors going 20 to 25 knots and carrying a crew of 5 or 6. The skiffs intercept the target vessel firing automatic weapons and approach via the side or stern. They lean a ladder up to the side of the ship and board by force. Once control of the bridge has been established, they hijack the ship and take it to Somali waters. From there, they issue a ransom demand, usually in the neighborhood of $3 million. Shipping companies and their governments have often chosen to pay the ransom rather than risk a rescue. The ransom is dropped on the deck of the captured ship by parachute and the pirates release the ship to its crew. The captain was very clear that this is not terrorism. Their goal is not to commit violence or change policy. The pirates are motivated by money and can make far more with one score than they could expect to make the rest of their lives. This problem will persist until poverty in the region is alleviated.

The international community and the maritime fleet have responded to this threat with a number of countermeasures. The United Nations and the European Union have joined forces to establish a new shipping corridor through the Gulf of Aden. This corridor is 500 miles long and 12 miles wide, allowing for East and West shipping lanes 5 miles wide with a 2 mile buffer in between. It is in International waters further out to see than the old shipping corridor which was in Yemeni waters and clogged with local traffic that made identifying threats much harder. The shipping lanes are monitored and protected by a fleet of more than 20 warships from around the world and a number of surveillance aircraft. All traffic must report to this monitoring service. Vessels are grouped by speed and transit the corridor together. The goal of the program is to provide a robust response to any distress call within 15 to 20 minutes.

Nautica, and other ships in the region, have implemented several safeguards to ensure that that they can survive an attack for 15 to 20 minutes until help arrives. The first of these are due to the characteristics of the ship itself. Nautica cruises at more than 18 knots and her lowest open deck, Deck 5, is 20 feet above the water line. Also, there is no easy access to the stern from the water. Any approach there would be thwarted by propeller wash. All of these characteristics make it hard for pirates to mount an attack. Captain Brajcic put the ship on high alert beginning with our transit of the Suez Canal and continuing though the remainder of our Cruise and into the next one when the ship docks in Darwin, Australia. The open parts of Deck 5 are closed to passengers indefinitely. We boarded six Israeli guards in Ashdod to assist with our security. They are on guard 24 hours a day monitoring radar and scanning the horizon for threats. Maritime law prohibits merchant and passenger vessels from being armed. No one wins a shootout. We don't know whether our Israeli protectors are armed, but there is no doubt that these are bad-ass dudes. Nautica is equipped with two LRADs - Long Range Acoustical Devices. These emit a high frequency sound that is very painful and can cause permanent hearing damage. They have a range of up to 600 meters, but they are optimal at 100 to 150 meters. There are water cannons mounted on Deck 5 to make it difficult for pirates to get a hold on the side of the ship. In the event of an attack, the captain would begin evasive maneuvers and deploy these and other countermeasures that are classified.

On the morning of November 30th, 2008, the weather was fine and the seas calm. The captain, however, was uneasy. There had been reports of attacks the previous day and he expected to see some action. At 9:28 two approaching skiffs were spotted from the bridge. They fit the profile of pirate attack vessels and the captain sounded the alarm. Passengers were finishing breakfast and looking forward to another uneventful day at sea when they were ordered to come in from outside decks, stay away from the windows, and sit on the floor in the middle of the ship. One skiff approached the bow in an effort to intercept the ship, the other approached from the stern to attempt a boarding. They started firing automatic weapons and the captain deployed all available countermeasures. The pirates soon realized that the logistics were not in their favor and they pulled out and raced back to their mother ship. The captain sounded the all-clear and notified other ships in the area to be on the lookout. The same pirates attacked a cargo ship that passed Nautica going in the other direction. This time they were successful and captured the ship. Nautica had narrowly escaped disaster.

We left the lecture hoping for a little adventure and confident that we are in good hands with Captain Brajcic at the helm.

Later in the day, we joined guest lecturer Dr. Doug Sturkey for "The Bear, the Lion, and the Persian Cat - Strategic Rivalry Between the British and Russian Empires for Supremacy in Central Asia from 1813 to 1907."

Thursday, November 26th
Day 16

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We celebrated the holiday floating in the middle of the Red Sea, not the typical Turkey Day. We were invited to Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room with the shore excursions manager, Nicki. She is a sweetheart from Munich and she is one of our favorite members of the crew. Two of our favorite couples from Australia joined us as well. The Aussies and the German enjoyed hearing about our Thanksgiving traditions. They joined me in having turkey and trimmings and in mocking Tres for having steak. We gave our thanks for family and friends and the chance to take this adventure. We miss you all and are thankful to have you in our lives. We are looking forward to returning home to another great year with you in 2010.

As the American national Day of Food, this seems the appropriate time to provide a restaurant review of the dining options aboard the M/S Nautica.

There are five dining venues on board and we have sampled them all on several occasions. Here is the rundown:

The Terrace - This is the casual dining room for breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets. It is at the stern on Deck 9. The main room is indoors, but there are a few outdoor tables as well. The food here is just fine. Average, or slightly above, compared to other cruise lines. Better than the Old Country Buffet, but wouldn't make the Top 25 in Vegas. Breakfast is pretty standard fare: eggs and bacon, made-to-order omelets, etc. Pastries are made fresh daily on cruise ships and are often a highlight. Tres has one pan au chocolate every morning. It's no Thomas Haas, but still fun and flaky. Lunch at the Terrace features a different ethnicity each day. None of it is authentic, but it's all pretty tasty. There are also cold cuts and salads, a couple of hot entrees, and a carving station. Ice cream, cakes, pies, and cookies for dessert. Dinner is more of the same, but they call it Tapas on the Terrace. They offer a selection of cold and hot tapas that are always among the winners of the menu. The service here is outstanding. Most cruise lines only offer busing service in their casual buffet dining rooms, but Oceania provides full service. There is always someone to deliver water and other beverages, carry your plate to the table, and pull out your chair. The servers are from all over the world and they are a pleasure to talk with. We appreciate the effort, but we find the over-the-top service to be suffocating. Sometimes you just want to be left alone. This has become our go-to option for three meals most days. It's not great, but it's quick and there is enough variety that there is always something satisfying.

Waves Grill - This is a walk-up bar serving hamburgers, hot dogs, and panini all afternoon on the pool deck, just fore of The Terrace. The sandwiches are fine, but we really like the steak fries. They have a small salad bar and an ice cream stand for cones, sundaes, and shakes. No standouts here, just solid fare.

The Grand Dining Room - This traditional cruise liner dining room on Deck 5 serves sit-down breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have only been a few times, including tonight. The formal breakfast is nice on sea days and offers a few more choices than the buffet, including grilled breakfast steaks and lamb chops, and several varieties of pancakes. Dinner is standard cruise fare in six courses. You can select from a variety of starters, salads, soups, mains, sides, and desserts. Our first dinner here was dreadful. Mediocre food and terrible service. Tonight was a little better. The culinary program at Oceania, which they advertise as, "simply the best at sea," is supervised by Executive Culinary Director, Jacques Pepin. The Grand Dining room offers several of his signature dishes, but they are no better than the rest.

Many cruise lines have been trying to offer premium dining services while creating new profit centers. They have one or two special dining rooms that serve higher quality food in a smaller, more refined setting, for an additional charge. Oceania has two such restaurants, but they don't charge a premium to dine there. The cost is included with your cruise.

Polo Grill - This is a premium steakhouse at the stern on Deck 10. Polo Grill is the only steakhouse at sea serving USDA Prime grade beef. The steaks are excellent, properly seared and cooked to the correct temperature. About half the size of a real steakhouse steak, but real steakhouse quality. The prime rib, however, is anything but. Tough and flavorless. The Queen's cut was enormous, but even the court jester would refuse to eat it. They offer the usual assortment of steakhouse starters, sides, and desserts. They are all fine, but the quality can't match the prime beef. Dessert was preceded by a presentation of two fruit gelee, apricot and blackberry. A bite of each was plenty, but we were served a total of 16 pieces. We played tic-tac-toe with the leftovers. The bar specializes in single malt Scotch and offers a tasting flight.

Toscana - This premium Italian dining experience is really the only superlative on board. They start you with bread service including your choice of six single-source olive oils, four infused oils, and four premium balsamic vinegars. Very few land-based restaurants offer that kind of choice. There is a full wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano in the dining room, from which they carve nuggets to enjoy with your bread. The menu is exhaustive including hot and cold antipasti, soups, salads, pastas, mains, and desserts. Our favorite starters are an asparagus salad with coppa, Parmigiano-Reggiano and baby greens in a roasted tomato vinaigrette, and a smoked swordfish carpaccio salad with shaved fennel and a lemon vinaigrette. There is also an outstanding eggplant involtini and a solid calamari friti. Several of the pasta selections feature fresh handmade pasta. They have all been superb. The best was a special one night of handmade tagliatelle with prosciutto and porcini. As good as any pasta we have had anywhere. The mains are hit and miss. I had a fillet of beef that was fine one night and a lobster dish that was inedible on another. Veal saltimbocca was salty and tough with an off-flavor, but the veal chop was excellent, and the veal osso buco was unctuously delicious. Dessert begins with biscotti, then a strong take on the standards like tiramisu and our all-time favorite canoli.

Overall, the food is nothing special, but the cruise has been nothing but special. We are having a great time and have much to be thankful for. We hope the same for you.

Friday, November 27th
Day 17

Happy Birthday Celeste!!!

Celeste was in our thoughts as we relaxed the day away on deck.

We came inside only briefly for another talk by guest lecturer Dr. Doug Sturkey, "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Modernization Poses Problems for the Oil-Rich Kingdom, Birthplace of Islam." This was an especially interesting lecture given that Doug served as Australian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1979 - 1984.

Saturday, November 28th
Day 18

Dr. Doug presented another lecture today, "Sea Stories - An English Samurai - An English Pilot Reached Japan in the 17th Century, Earned the Trust of the First Shogun, and was Awarded Samurai Status."

After four days of floating rest, and no pirate attacks, I am fully recovered from my fall in Petra and Tres is almost over his cold. We are ready for more exploration.

Next Stop: Salalah, Oman