roemin around

Arrived back home at midnight to -3 degrees, it was +30 a few hours earlier. Celebration had to anchor in the harbour at Sharm al Sheik and we disembarked by tender. The Costa Europa cruise ship was tied up on the wall (left) after being damaged trying to dock last week.  3 crew members of the Europa sadly lost their lives in the accident - see bbc news. It meant a lot of extra work by our already hard working crew After the other accident near Marseilles a few days later, cruising is getting a lot of attention. Elf and Safety and 'No win, no fee' lawyers will be rubbing their hands with glee no doubt! Checkout a selection of our photos here.

A night away from the boat in 5* luxury at the Nile Palace hotel for a visit to the Karnak Temple and the Valley of the Kings. Not allowed to use a camera in the valley! How did I cope? - by taking sunset pictures of the Nile of course. Just as we imagined it would be. Maybe we will go back for a cruise on the upper Nile some day. 

Who would have thought that a trip to the hidden city at Petra in Jordan could be cancelled due to fog and snow! Well it happened - the road thru the mountains was closed so the 16 coaches were turned back by the police. Very disappointing so we spent the afternoon browsing around the old town instead. Apart from that - an enjoyable cruise so far. (original blog from boats internet 'cafe' - photo added later)

We are off cruisin on the Red Sea on the Thomson Celebration this Thursday. Its Rosemary's birthday in 1st March so its a good excuse to get away from the cold weather for a week every year. Well its what we did last year so it may become a habit. I may try and update the blog from the boat too.