It Worked!!!!

Yesterday was the day to hopefully NOT see pirates….and we were very successful in that venture. Several things happened during the course of the day for protection and preparation in case of a sighting.

The night before last the crew and staff all watched the movie “Captain Phillips.” Can’t for the life of me figure what that was supposed to accomplish for the dedicated staff and crew who are so well trained anyway. We decided maybe it was to teach them to follow orders no matter what. Still seemed a strange source of entertainment for the audience and the location….sort of like watching the Titanic while you are on a cruise crossing the Atlantic. Since we haven’t seen the movie, we are hoping it will come up on the Movies on Demand option on our TV.

Water Cannon

Jim went wandering the ship in the afternoon and discovered there were water cannons on either side of the first open deck- Deck 5- in the bow of the ship. They looked more like giant whitish-gray fat snakes as they peered over the deck railing waiting for a target.

Sonic Blaster on the stern

Continuing his walk-about he found a sonic blaster thing on the stern of the ship on Deck 5 outside of the Horizon Lounge. It uses high levels of sound to make it uncomfortable for the pirates to come aboard.  Personnel were standing by all of these pieces of equipment and the deck was closed with a sign saying “Deck Closed –High Wind.”

In the late afternoon when Ketut delivered our usual canapés of veggies and dip, we discussed the pirates. Ketut is from Bali and is a Hindu. He grinned and said we have one person on board who's job is to protect this ship and all of us. We wondered what his answer would be and he replied with great confidence, "God."

Last evening the Barnetts and the Irvines went back to the Italian restaurant on Deck 11, and we noticed as people sat by the little tables for two by the windows a dark shade was pulled down over the windows. They said it was to obscure the view. Also all the exterior lights on the ship were extinguished. Maybe it was because the Captain and his wife were also dining in Sette Mari last evening.  Since the Captain could go out for dinner, we knew we had nothing to worry about.  

We have safely cleared the most prominent area for pirates and are happily and quickly sailing toward Salalah with about 500 nautical miles to go. So I guess our mission was successful….and we didn’t have to hear the voice calling Yellow (close the curtains and turn off the lights), Orange (move to the middle of the ship) or Red (hit the ground) alert.

Today is bright, sunny with calm but rolling seas. So we’ll continue to do what we do best- be lazy and watch the world go by.