Cruising the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden

May 23 The Red Sea is not Red. Its very blue and clean. Its called the red sea because there is some plankton that under certain circumstances gives off a red hue. It didn't the week i was on it. We sailed for 7 full days and nights to get from Aqaba Jordan to Dubai UAE. Essentially around the Arabian Peninsula. Now we had some hot spots around us. Yemen, Somalia, Gulf of Aden(home of the infamous somali pirate attacks) and finally the Strait of Hormuz. This is some of the busiest commercial shipping lanes on the world. The cruise company looked out for our safety. They had a plan. In Aqaba we loaded a private security force known as VPI. These guys are ex-British SAS and essentially mercenaries. From sundown to sunrise they maned the outside decks. We also ran dark. No running lights, all curtains closed on the ship and we were not allowed outside. We even had an emergency plan and a drill. Nothing happened. I had breakfast one morning with a couple of the security team as  they were on their way to bed. Once you saw these guys, you knew there was nothing to worry about.

PHOTOS HERE