October 25, 2008 – Manama, Bahrain

We arrived at the dock in Manama at 9:00 and the ship was cleared by 10:00. We were greeted by musicians, men in Arabic robes dancing in a circle, a table serving Arabic coffee and sweets and 2 men with their falcons which we could hold and photograph. It was another hot, humid and hazy day and we opted to take the shuttle bus into the city to roam on our own. Unlike the Emirate cities, Manama has dirt & litter laying around, the busses were worn and the city isn’t as organized looking. There are a few modern skyscrapers like in Dubai, but the entire city’s worth of them would fit into 2 city blocks in Dubai. We were dropped off at the souk area which consisted of narrow streets lined with small shops. There were some gold and spice shops however the majority looked like Mexican border town stores selling Dollar Store seconds. It was rather underwhelming and we returned to the ship for lunch after walking around for an hour. I’m sure there would be much more of interest to see if we had more time.

This evening there was a special complimentary event for all guests. We were taken by bus for a 45 minute ride to the Formula I race track where we were on levels 4 & 5 of the VIP tower. That’s the tower for royals and dignitaries but We didn’t hob nob with any of them because we were the only ones there. It is a beautiful modern facility and we were greeted with wine, cocktails, and snacks. The rooms were circular with balconies surrounding them to give views of all areas of the track. After about 45 minutes of socializing and gawking we were treated to an exhibition race (not formula I cars) with 6 cars doing about 7 laps. It was at night so we couldn’t see the cars well but it was a fun experience anyway. We returned to the ship for a pool deck BBQ that was one of the best I’ve had on Regent (which says a lot because they are always spectacular.) There was everything from sushi & sashimi to salads to cold seafood bar to numerous grilled meats and on and on and on. It was a real treat. The band played during dinner and then picked up the pace with a couple of hours of dancing to the band and Regent singers. Cody, of course, got us all hopping. The LCT group boarding in Cape Town is really going to enjoy the new format.

This cruise segment is port intensive – a port each day for the first 6 days and then 2 sea days before Mumbai. Sorting and loading photos on the Shutterfly link takes time and will not keep up daily with this blog, but they’ll be there soon.