15. Sea Days on Norwegian Jade

Since I wanted to attend a Sunday worship service led by the Cruise Director, I woke early and found the coffee service at the outdoor restaurant. A coffee, some fruit, and a book to read provide the perfect elements to start any day, but to have a bright, blue ocean horizon for the surrounding view is like icing on the cake. After some reading time, I returned to the cabin to wake Cynthia, before attending the worship service in one of the lounges. It was a special treat to be a participant again in the kind of service I have led so often on the Easter and Holy Week cruises in the past. Following the worship service, we went immediately to a discussion of the various ports we will be visiting. It was helpful to see pictures of the docking area of the ports before we actually arrive there. We will be visiting Alanya, Turkey, Limassol, Cyprus, Haifa and Ashdod in Israel, and Port Said and Alexandria in Egypt. I was pleased to learn that the ship will actually enter the Suez Canal for a short distance before turning around and docking adjacent to the city of Port Said, named for the King who oversaw the building of the Suez Canal. A Late lunch and resting time on a deck lounger added to the relaxing nature of this day at sea. An actual nap time in the cabin later in the afternoon did not hurt either, since it seems I keep falling asleep every time I sit down for last 24 hours! I think I was ready for some extra relaxing and napping times while we are away. The Norwegian Jade is already living up to all expectations in that regard. Monday, October 22, 2012 The only excitement of this sea day was the requirement of the Israeli Immigration service to process through one of the lounges to re-claim our passports. We had been required to relinquish our passports as we boarded the ship on Saturday. The reason became clear in the documentation found in our cabins. While we sailed on the preceding sea day, the Israeli immigration officers were reviewing each passport, and producing an Israel Boarding Pass for our visit to Israel later in the cruise. So this morning, we were required to go to the Spinnaker Lounge to present ourselves in person to Israeli Immigration and receive back our passports and the landing pass with our identification information already entered on the pass. While it seems a cumbersome process, there is considerable comfort in knowing that the Israeli government is taking seriously the security of all the passengers on the ship, as well as screening in advance each person desiring to enter their country. The other consideration that made the extra mandatory activity not so burdensome is the weather today. While the Sea has remained very calm, it has been cool and breezy on deck for most of the day. So there has been very little temptation to go to the pool. Instead, it has been a perfect day to read up on the Israel destinations we will visit in just a few days. I continue to be amazed the more I learn about the turbulent history of Jerusalem, with Romans, Jews, Christians, and Muslims continually handing it back and forth every few hundred years, usually with great violence and bloodshed, as the city has survived into the modern era. Today’s political conflict, primarily between Israel and her Muslim neighbors, has as much to do with their history of religious conflict as it has with any current border considerations. I wonder if the border considerations will ever find a peaceful settlement, given the long-standing practice of waiting for the next pendulum swing of domination achieved historically only as a result of warfare and violence. Ironic, too, that this geography is the very place where the one who came to be known as the Prince of Peace took up his residence on planet earth.