DAY 101-HAIFA, ISRAEL

DAY TWO IN HAIFA
Not sure why the writing below is in black instead of white.  Sorry!!
       I was suppose to depart the ship at 6:25 this morning for an "Old Jerusalem" 10 hour excursion but I woke up at 3:00 am and turned off my alarm clock.  I decided not to go because I had seen it back in 2013 and nothing had probably changed.  You saw those photos on yesterday's post.
       It is a lovely day with temperature in mid 70's and low humidity.  After we both did our workouts we headed off the ship for the mall.  It is at least a half mile walk from the ship.  I went there yesterday afternoon but it was closed.  We got there today and it was closed again.  I guess the Israelis celebrate Easter on Sunday AND Monday.  Oh well, it was a lovely day for a walk and more exercise.

      We enjoyed some lunch up in La Veranda at noon.  It is so nice today on the ship as most all the passengers are off on excursions.  After lunch I interviews some crew for my "Meet The Crew" section.  It is not easy to do an interview with crew member as they are usually very hard at work.  Today it is pretty quiet for them.  I have so much fun talking to them during my interviews.  They all have a great sense of humor, are very smart, and seem to enjoy putting up with us old folks!       

MEET THE CREW

This is Teresa who is from the southern part of Italy.  Fittingly, she is a waitress up in the Italian restaurant, Sette Mari, during the evenings and La Veranda during the day time.  She is 24 years old and is single.  She claimed not to have any boyfriends but said she is still waiting for the right guy to come along.  This is her 3rd contract with Regent but has also worked in Australia for 5 months.  She liked it there but it was just too far from her family:  parents and 3 older brothers.  She loves her job here on Regent.

 This is I Made.  (pronounced with short "a" sound)  I could tell from his name that he is from Bali.  He is 24 years old and has a girlfriend back in Bali.  This is also his 3rd contract with Regent and currently is a wine steward in Prime 7 restaurant.  When home in Bali he helps his parents work in their rice field.

This is Allysa.  She is one of our two suite stewards and is from the Philippines.  She is fairly new to Regent as this is her first contract and been on board for three months now since San Diego.  Previously she worked on a cruise ship out of the Philippines.  She is 22 years old and likes to just "chill out" when back home.  I jokingly asked her how many boyfriends she had and she said, "Three"!  Then she corrected that and said three ex-boyfriends.  She has a new one on board now however.

Here is the link to some photos that I took of Haifa yesterday and today.

https://goo.gl/photos/FBNprxXTGtV8D1WU6

       At 7:00 this evening we will set sail for the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.  We will be glad to get away from Israel.  For the past couple days here they have blocked the satellite tv signals to both our ship and the NCL ship behind us.  So we have had no news channels.  We will be in Cyprus from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm tomorrow and have a morning 5 hour excursion scheduled.  We were also here in 2013.  Right now I hear the nap monster calling me!!
       On a lighter side, it seems the Israelis have been blocking our ship's and the NCL Spirit's tv satellite signals so we have had no news channels the past couple of days.  So last night a gentleman comes walking into the Compass Rose restaurant with a large piece of aluminum foil on his head like a hat.  He said he was just trying to pick up FOX NEWS!