April 19, 20 and 21, 2023

Yesterday (April 19) we had the official announcement that we would not be going to our port in Yangon, Myanmar. We already kenw that because they are at a level 4 (red) advisory due to the unrest there. Oceania didn’t officially announce it until they had a new itinerary to announce. We have been to Myanmar three times and had some memorable land tours of both Bagan and Mandalay, so it is not disappointing to us and for safety reasons it is the right move. So now we will be going to new ports of Port Blair, India; Sabang, Indonesia; Langkawi, Malaysia and spending an additional day in Phuket, Thailand. the three added ports are all new to us and I know nothing about any of them, so I will need to do some research before May 9. We were also supposed to have an around the world event in Myanmar and we have heard that they are trying to arrange something in another location. We will see what might be added.

These ports will all be in our 5th segment of the world cruise. The 4th segment ends on April 26 in Dubai.

Last evening we were invited to dinner with our two female singers, Abby and Laura. Laura happens to be from New Jersey – Hackettstown to be exact, which is not far from where I grew up. Marilyn and Charlie were with us and Laura decided to ask us to make it a formal night. Marilyn got pictures but I don’t have them yet, so here is one of Marilyn and Charlie at the Oceania cocktail party before dinner. It was fun to get to know these women better – Abby is 22 and Laura is 27 so we are old enough to be their grandparents!

Today (April 20) we had another Around the World brunch. It is always just fabulous, as artistic as it is delicious. Of course we started with mimosas (me) and bloody marys (Norm). Here are some pictures which really don’t do it justice.

Tomorrow we have another sea day and on Saturday we arrive at Salalah, Oman.