The World From The Emirates Air-Line
I had actually gone over the cable-car to see if I could get a good picture of the cruise liner; The World. This was the best I got.
The World From The Emirates Air-Line
It has been reported that Greenwich is going to get a new berth for cruise ships, which will be nearer to the cable-car.
Now This Is What I Call A Tunnel!
This story from the BBC web site is more significant than you think. Here’s the introduction.
The Norwegian government has backed an ambitious plan to create the world’s first ship tunnel. But why has nobody tackled this engineering feat before?
At 45m high (148ft) and 36m (111ft) wide, the Stad Ship Tunnel will be the only one of its kind – a passage through solid rock able to accommodate 16,000 tonne freight and passenger ships.
Ship canals have long been used to make journeys more direct and safer but the Stad peninsula is a mountainous divide, peaking at 645m, between the Norwegian Sea to the north and the North Sea to the south.
it may or may not go ahead, but it does show how confident engineers and tunnellers are in their hole digging.
And that is the significance of the story!
Crossrail in London is being dug in soft ground, but it shows how by-passes can be created under London with relative ease.
We shall be seeing a lot more tunnels in the next few decades, as the technology is just getting better every year.
Lady Moura
This super-yacht was docked in front of us.
Lady Moura
It’s funny, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a yacht like this, owned by someone I respect.
Lady Moura is owned by Saudi businessman; Nasser Al-Rashid.
The Maverick
This ship was docked in front of the Oriana in Casablanca.
For whatever reason, I don’t know, it was stuck in the port, so the captain of the Oriana sent some of our food to keep the crew of The Maverick going for another few days.
The Maverick
I would assume that the owners didn’t have the money for port fees or something.
Everybody thought it was right, that the Captain took the action he did. But then it is a law of the sea to help fellow seafarers.
Walking Back To The Oriana
I took these pictures as I walked back to the Oriana.
They do illustrate, what I said in this post about there being a need for a good walking route from the tram to the dock.
I always photograph daisies.
My Room On The Ship
I really couldn’t complain about the room on the ship. I had been upgraded to one only two decks below the main deck with its buffet restaurant for lunch and tea, when I wanted one. This deck also contained the gym and a good bar, so everything was close at hand. Especially, as I was close by one of the staircases with a set of lifts.
The room was very well equipped as the pictures show. I had a proper atlas, binoculars, a very comfortable bath and shower, a bed that I slept well on, plenty of mirrors, cupboards, drawers and places to sit and more than enough good towels. The only thing that was a bit suspect was the air-conditioning, which tended to dry the room.
Sadly, I was unable to test that, as I’d left my humidity meter behind. It was also not the sort of weather to sit on deck to get some fresh air.
I wasn’t the only one who found the atmosphere a bit oppressive.
One nice touch was that I was able to get a sharps box to dispose of my lancets, that I use for INR testing.
Uncommercialised Santiago de Compostela
The first port of call on the cruise was Corunna, where I went on an organised trip to Santiago de Compostela.
The trip across the Bay of Biscay had been a bit choppy, but that didn’t bother me, as I haven’t ever suffered seasickness since I went gluten-free. Before that, a couple of times, I had real problems, especially in small boats.
I took these pictures at Santiago de Compostela.
You will note that it wasn’t raining, but the weather couldn’t be described as anything but freezing. I was starting to regret, that I hadn’t brought more cold weather clothing.
What surprised me was how uncommerialised the city was. There was perhaps one stall selling trinkets outside the parador, but compared to some famous places, I’ve been it was refreshing to see so little junk on sale.
Admittedly, it was cold and March, so perhaps it had kept the vendors inside.
The main cathedral is magnificent and it is true to say that I like Romanesque and Norman churches, like St. Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield. They seem to have a certain dignity of a very old age. The London church is on my list of must see places in London.
I Don’t Know My Port From My Starboard
Although, I was a private pilot for many years, if you ask me quickly I always had to think, if port is left or right.
You can do it by remembering that port has the same number of letters as left or by noting that POSH could stand for port out starboard home, which meant that passengers going to and from India and the Far East from the UK, got the northern or cool side of the boat.
There’s a discussion on the explanation of posh here.
My next door neighbour, at one time, had been a British Army colonel, who’d served in India and he told me the standard explanation many years ago. He also told me, how on the voyage back to the UK, they used to throw their pith helmets into the sea with great gusto after they had passed through the Suez canal.
I have no evidence to the origin of the word, but having heard many tales of life in the Army many years ago, the word could have been cooked up as a friendly term of abuse, by a group of very hot squaddies. I bet today, those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, have developed some words of their own. After all, the word Blighty for the home country, was very much a word developed by those stationed overseas, that has entered the English language.
P&O Cruises Wi-Fi
I can accept that wi-fi on my P&O cruise was expensive, but quite frankly it wasn’t the best.
They did put in a disclaimer that it was slow and again that I will agree with, as satellites aren’t the best way to connect to the Internet. I’ve used it myself in the past and even that with a dish fixed to the ground had problems.
But I will take issue with the login and the account, which I highlighted here, as it wasn’t the easiest one to connect to, if you accepted the speed. Typing the password on a small Samsung tab device is not easy, especially when it has to use a name it doesn’t usually use. It could have been a lot better, if I compare it with the systems on some of the train companies, which surely have a similar connection to the Internet problem, although they can use the mobile phone network.
I also found a couple of times, that the system didn’t disconnect properly and consequently, I lost some of the wi-fi minutes I’d bought. It didn’t worry me too much, but some will get angry.
If I went on a P&O cruise again, I wouldn’t use the wi-fi, but rely on the normal 3G coverage, I got in the ports, which was generally excellent.
The Anonymous Widower 