People who write columns (including me) are always looking for a hook upon which to hang a column. It's fun when one uses an experience they've had that I've also had, and I realize they are "milking" their experience perhaps more than is warranted.
For example, this PJ Media column by Tom Knighton about a long cruise Carolyne Jasinski took on the Sea Princess, with particular emphasis on the portion across the south end of the Arabian peninsula sailing "the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal." Hat tip to Stephen Green at Instapundit for the original link. She writes there was concern about pirates and measures taken to avoid them.
Back in 2013 the other DrC and I took an equivalent cruise through these pirate waters on the Legend of the Seas during a period when the concern was equally high. Yes, we were blacked out at night, yes we steamed at speed, and yes, there was a small group of extremely fit young men jogging and doing one-armed pushups onboard from Mumbai to Alexandria, likely ex-Israeli paras or Blackwater mercs.
I was certain at the time these men had arms, though I saw none. Any such probably came aboard labeled "machine parts" and went ashore labeled something equally innocuous.
The most interesting thing we experienced was one day off the coast of either Oman or Yemen we were buzzed at near supersonic speed by a jet fighter flying within 100 ft. of the water - very likely a hot-dogging Maverick-wannabe F-18 off a U.S. carrier in the Persian Gulf. I wrote about it at the time, a brief, noisy thrill in an otherwise peaceful trip.
