Just below the lowest open air decks, the Amsterdam is now festooned with silvery coils of razor wire. We leave Mumbai tonight at 9 pm to begin our voyage across the Arabian Sea to the Gulf of Aden (aka pirate central), and thence to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Maybe the extra anti-pirate measures are just to reassure anxious passengers. Or maybe there is New Intelligence that indicates a more serious threat.
I trust Holland America not to expose its passengers to danger, of course, but at this point in the trip, it would cost them huge amounts to re-route us -- canceling existing port arrangements and excursions in Europe, making new ones at the last minute to get us around the Cape of Good Hope and back to Ft. Lauderdale by April 28, if it's even possible to get there by then via the longer route. Plus the negative publicity for cruises at a time when there is already plenty of that in the air. Though an actual pirate attack would be worse, even if there were no casualties.
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A challenging time to run a cruise line.
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