Grand Africa Cruise - Crossing the Atlantic

Cruise Day 2  At Sea

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Every morning when the room stewards clean our room they leave a card with a saying on it relating to travel.  Some of them are quite good so I decided to include the quote in the blog every day.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” -- Marcel Proust

We book our cruises based on the itinerary and the ports we will visit, but we do love our sea days and today is the first of seven consecutive days at sea as we cross the Atlantic.  Sea days are very relaxing and there is plenty to do on board and as a wise cruise director once said "You can do as much as you want or as little as you want, just enjoy yourself".

As will be the case most days, we started the day with a light breakfast in the Neptune Lounge before heading to the Crow’s Nest for a Meet and Greet with our Cruise Critic Roll Call members.  Cruise Critic is a website dedicated to cruising and they have various forums related to cruising in general as well as cruise line specific forums.  The roll call forums are divided by the cruise line and then by each cruise ship and finally by the cruise itself.  It allows everyone who has booked a specific cruise to gather online and get to know each other, plan onboard activities and probably most importantly, share independently booked tours organized by various people on the roll call.

For the Grand Africa cruise our roll call was very active and had more than 300 members as it has been going on for three years so there are a lot of posts.  The Meet and Greet is our first chance for us all to get together in person and connect the online acquaintances with real people.  With over three hundred people in the roll call, they had reserved the entire Crow’s Nest and it was very crowded.  The Crow’s Nest is a large area on the forward area of the top deck that has a 180 degree view and is used as a lounge area or at times for events or a meeting place.  There is comfortable seating and a bar for drinks.

The Crow's Nest

The Meet and Greet was mostly just for getting acquainted, but also the main organizers introduced themselves and spoke about some of the activities scheduled for the sea days.  There were also several people who were sponsoring some charity things being done by several sub groups during the cruise.

Tne Meet and Greet gets underway.

After the Meet and Greet we returned to our room.  Val spent most of the morning reading out on the balcony while I caught up on the blog and then joined her until lunch.  We had a nice lunch in the Lido Buffet and then spent most of the afternoon back out on the balcony.  It was a beautiful day with very moderate temperatures; I guess the only complaint I had was that the humidity was a little more than I like, but still very nice.

A nice day to spend out on the balcony.

One of Val’s favorite things to do on our sea days is the team trivia competition.  Usually there is one in the afternoon just after lunch and then another in the evening just before dinner.  Val does the afternoon trivia and then, even though it’s not my favorite thing to do, I join her for the evening one.  This cruise there is no evening team trivia and no early afternoon trivia, but they have combined them into a 4:30 time.  I wasn’t interested, but Val decided to go, but she came back less than enthusiastic so I don’t know whether she will continue to go.

We had an enjoyable dinner followed by our first visit to the casino.  Our daily gambling allotment went quickly and we were back to the room before 10:00.  The clocks will be set forward an hour tonight as they will almost every night as we do our eastward crossing of the Atlantic.  That means we will be losing an hour of sleep most nights and while we’ll enjoy the extra hour of sleep on our return voyage, we don’t much like it now.  Oh well, it doesn’t really matter as we have another sea day tomorrow, but we do have another Cruise Critic Roll Call event tomorrow morning.   

Cruise Day  3  At Sea

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

“I would rather own little and see the world than own the world and see little of it.”    – Alexander Sattler

After losing an hour off the clock last night, we overslept and didn’t wake up until 8:30.  Normally this would be fine, but we have an event scheduled for 9:45 so we had to jump out of bed, do our morning chores and get breakfast in the Neptune Lounge.  We finished with ten minutes to spare so all is well.

Our event this morning is a group slot pull organized by Nona, one of the participants in our Cruise Critic Roll Call.  A slot pull is where a group of people pool their money and put it all in a single slot machine.  In this case each person put in $15 (actually $16, but $1 was set aside as a prize for the person with highest win) and with 27 participants, we had $405 to play with.  The idea is that by pooling your money, you have more spins on the machine giving you a better chance of hitting a big jackpot.  No matter what each individual wins, all wins are added up and divided up among all the participants after the initial money pool is gone.  In this case the money was put into a dollar slot machine where the maximum bet was $3 a spin.  That meant that with a $15 buy in each person got five spins to try and hit it big.  It may sound a bit confusing, but once you do it, it’s really quite simple.

We all met in a lounge next to the casino and Nona collected all of the money and the slot pull was underway.  We went into the casino to the machine that the casino had assigned and started to play.  Val and I didn’t win anything on our spins, but others had more luck.  There were quite a few small wins and a couple of bigger wins including one woman who won $162 (she got the $27 prize for the highest win) and, in the end when all the wins were totaled we had all won our money back minus the $1 for the biggest win prize.  This was actually a bit of a happy surprise as typically you only get a small percentage of your money back.  It was very fun playing as a group with lots of cheering and groaning depending on the results.  There will be another slot pull in the second half of the cruise and Val and I will definitely participate.

The slot pull group gathers and the money is collected.

We all gathered round while each person got their five chances to win.

After the slot pull, Val and I each had $15 we didn’t expect to have so we decided to pool our money and put it in another slot machine.  Surprise, surprise, we cashed out $100 and we each had turned our initial $15 investment into $50!

By the time we finished it wasn’t quite time for lunch so we went back to the room and relaxed for a while out on our balcony before going to lunch.  The weather has been beautiful in the short time we have been at sea and today was prefect.  It was a little cooler today with a much lower humidity so sitting outside was very nice.

There hasn’t been the usual number activities such as lectures and presentations on the cruise so far, but we think it’s because of Covid.  For the first seven days of the cruise it is mandatory to wear a mask in all public areas of the ship and on the fifth day everyone will be required to do a Covid self-test and report the results.  This is probably a good idea as despite having to take a test three days before sailing, most people were flying in and staying in hotels after being tested so there is a chance that some might have picked up the virus.

Because of the large number people grouped together, sickness can spread quickly if not controlled.  On previous cruises things like a cold have spread quickly and now with Covid, things could get more serious so I think with a voyage this long, it is good to be cautious.  The good thing is that almost everyone is complying with the masking rule as we have some wonderful ports ahead and no one wants to be sick or in quarantine when we visit them.  Some countries won’t even allow the ship to dock if there is too high of a percentage of Covid cases on board.

There weren’t really any activities to do after lunch so we spent most of the afternoon reading and relaxing out on our balcony.  We did actually have a little bit of rain as we passed through a squall, but it quickly dissipated and the sun came back out.

I am not complaining about the lack of things to do as there will be plenty to keep us busy by the end of this week.  After the hectic couple of weeks before the cruise and then the stress of flying and embarkation, it has felt great this week to just to relax, eat and sleep.

Late in the afternoon I decided to get out and get some exercise so I went down to deck 3 (the Lower Promenade Deck) where you can walk completely around the ship and is popular with walkers.  One lap is about three tenths of a mile and I did six laps.  I hadn’t intended to walk that far, but once I got going it felt good so I just kept going.  There was a pretty good wind blowing so one side of the ship was very windy and the other side was shielded from the wind and very calm.

The Lower Promenade Deck wraps all the way around the ship and is a good place to get your daily walking in.

After my walk I took a little bit of time to cool down and then it was time for a shower before getting ready for dinner.  Tonight is a formal night so it took a little extra time for us to get dressed.  I rarely wear a tie so it takes me quite a bit of time to just remember how to tie it.

There was a special menu for dinner and Val and I both opted for the Surf and Turf although Val, not a big fan of lobster, skipped the surf.  The meal was good, but not great.  When Covid hit, the cruise industry lost a lot of money and took on a lot of debt before they could resume sailing and although the service is as wonderful as always, we have noticed some subtle cutbacks in things compared to our last pre pandemic cruise.  We think food is one of the areas that they are cutting back; the food is still good and we are not dissatisfied, but there does seem to be a bit of a drop off in the quality, variety and quantity of food both in the main dining room and in the Lido buffet.  Again, we are not really dissatisfied as we are still enjoying what we eat, but there is a difference.

After dinner we made a short visit to the casino and then back our room for another early night as we will be losing another hour tonight as they move the clocks ahead.

We had heard that on a Grand Voyage there was a gift given out on each formal night and tonight it was a box of candy commemorating the Grand Africa Cruise.

Day 4  At Sea

 Thursday, October 13, 2022

“Travel makes one modest – you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world”         -- unknown

The time changes caught up with us today, and we didn’t wake up until after 9:00.  It didn’t matter as we had nothing urgent to do, but we did want to attend a port talk on Madeira, our first port.

After breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, we had a bit of time before the presentation so we relaxed out on the balcony while our room was being cleaned.  After that it was time to head to the theater for our port talk which turned out to be very good.

Two of our ports are in Namibia and when we had tried to book ship excursions in those two ports, but they were full so we were put on a waitlist.  After returning from the port talk, Val spoke to Kristine, the Neptune Lounge concierge, about where we stood on the waitlist.  It turned out that both of the tours we were waitlisted on had a very small capacity and we were way down on the list so it appears we have little chance on getting on either tour so we started searching for an alternative.

In one of the ports, we found a ship tour that would be acceptable and still had space so we booked it.  In the other Namibia port there were only four excursions offered, but only one was available and we weren’t really interested in it so Val started looking at some of the independent tours that members of our Cruise Critic Roll Call had arranged.  Unfortunately, those were all full also so it looks like in our first Namibia port, we will just have to play it by ear and see if there is anything to do around the port.

At this point we were getting hungry and headed off for a late lunch.  The rest of the afternoon was spent in our usual fashion of reading and relaxing.  Around 5:30 I decided to go down to the Lower Promenade Deck and walk again.  It wasn’t nearly as windy today and a little cooler, perfect for a walk.  I walked four or five laps (I lost track) and noticed there were some dramatic cloud formations off the back of the ship so I cut my walk short and got my camera and took some pictures, then returned to our room to get ready for dinner.

 

We had a nice sunset tonight.

Dinner tonight was good, but as has been the usual so far on this cruise, not great.  The food is usually very good with a few more options, but we think that with all the debt the cruise lines built up during the pandemic, they're cutting a few corners and food appears to be one area there doing it in.

After spending some time in the casino it was again another early night for us as we once again will have to move the clocks up one hour and lose another hour of sleep. 

Day 5  At Sea

Friday, October 14, 2022

“It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”              -- unknown

We overslept again this morning and had to hustle get up and around to get dressed and get breakfast.  Since the beginning of the cruise, wearing masks has been mandatory in all public area of the ship.  This morning every passenger is required to take a mandatory Covid test that will determine if the mask mandate continues or is loosened.

Just after I had gotten dressed, there was a knock on the door and our Covid tests were delivered.  Val and I went through the testing procedure and we both tested negative.  We weren’t surprised or worried about this test as we have been very careful around the ship and we had gotten our Omicron booster before we left.  Some weren’t so lucky though as we did hear of at least one person who tested positive and will now be quarantined in their cabin for five days when they will be tested again.

After the testing was complete, Val and I headed for the theater for another port talk, this time on the Canary Islands, our second port of the trip.  It was again an interesting talk and very well presented.  The cruise director, Jeremy, is the one who puts together and presents them and has done a great job.  Holland America used to have a dedicated port expert onboard, but that went away a few years ago and on our last cruise that job was taken over by the cruise director who did a terrible job so we didn’t have high hopes for this cruise, but Jeremy is very knowledgeable and very thorough so he has been a pleasant surprise.

After the port talk, we were off to lunch and then afterward we decided it was time to vote. We’ll be gone on election day and we left before the ballots were even mailed out so we had to make arrangements to be put in a special program for people who are overseas and received our ballot via e-mail.  You are sent a special code and then fill out your ballot online, but you can’t submit it online for security reasons.  You have to download and then send them via surface mail with various signatures and signed oaths required.  It was a bit of a lengthy process, but we were able to vote.

We downloaded our marked ballot and the other documentation required and I took it to the Neptune Lounge where Kristine was able to print everything out.  We will have to pay for postage, but she will then handle the process of mailing them when we reach the Canary Islands.  The Neptune Lounge and the concierge is one of the main reasons we keep going back and booking Neptune Suites.

After updating the blog and taking care of a few other things on my computer, most of the afternoon was gone, but at least it’s all taken care of and I can relax.  Late in the afternoon, I took my daily walk.  It wasn’t very windy, but the deck was wet on the starboard side as we had just passed through another rainstorm.  I did six laps again and went back to the room to cool down before dinner.

There were some rain showers in the distance and as a result we saw this full rainbow.

We did our usual routine of dinner and the casino and returned to our room to relax a bit before going to bed.  We are getting a break tonight from the clocks being set ahead an hour so we’re hoping to catch up on our sleep.

Day 6  At Sea

Saturday, October 15, 2022

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”                      – St. Augustine

Today is another sea day and we didn’t have anything planned for today so we had a leisurely morning.  Breakfast was as usual in the Neptune Lounge and then we went out on the balcony while our room was being cleaned.

Later in the cruise, Val and I will be getting off the ship for five days and going on a safari.  Because we will be getting off the ship in one country and getting back on in another, we had to fill out some paperwork with our itinerary and contact information so I completed that and turned it into Kristine in the Neptune Lounge.

The rest of the morning was spent out on the balcony reading and relaxing, but we did hear the results of the Covid tests yesterday.  It turned out that between 20 and 25 (we heard different numbers from different people) people tested positive and will be required to quarantine in their cabins for the next six days and then be retested.  If they continue to test positive, their quarantine will be continued.  Any positive test results are not good, but the overall percentage is just a little over 1% so that’s not bad and it appears that none of them are seriously ill and many have no symptoms at all.  We also have learned that five members of our Cruise Critic Roll Call have tested positive which is not surprising as the roll call group is about 25% of the total passengers.

We had our usual lunch in the Lido Buffet and then returned to the room.  Shipboard life is quite different with the threat of Covid.  There is less socializing and we haven’t really met anyone besides the few we have met in the roll call group.  Normally every day we would eat with someone at lunch as most of the tables are for four, but so far on this cruise, everyone is keeping to themselves.  The threat of Covid is bad enough, but with vaccination and boosters there is no longer a big threat of a serious illness, but the fear of testing positive and missing ports is a real fear.  For us, after planning this cruise for three years, missing our safari would be a huge disappointment so we are keeping as safe as possible.

We got a little antsy around mid-afternoon and took a walk around the ship and Val explored some of the shops.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to do my walk and Val decided to come with me and do a couple of laps.  It was a beautiful day and the temperature was just right.  Val called it quits after her two laps but I continued on for another five laps which meant a two mile walk today.  I hadn’t intended to do that many today, but I felt good and just kept going.  I want to take advantage of the mild weather as I expect it will be much hotter as we travel around Africa and I won’t be very inclined to do any walking in the heat.

After cooling down from the walk, it was time for dinner and the casino, but for a change we had a pretty good night in the casino and stayed quite a while.  We had intended to go to a show tonight, but we forgot all about it.

Tonight we lose another hour of sleep as the clock will be moved forward yet again so it’s early to bed for us.

Day 7  At Sea

Sunday, October 16, 202

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it is lethal.” – Paulo Coelho

Despite the time, change we managed to get up at a reasonable hour this morning and were able to get to the Neptune Lounge for breakfast before 9:00.  As usual, we spent the morning relaxing and reading, but did a little bit too much relaxing – late in the morning we looked at the clock and realized we had forgotten about the morning port talk for Agadir, Morocco.  Oh well, they show recordings of the talks on the television so we’ll catch it later.

We have most of our tours already planned for the cruise, but we hadn’t booked anything for our two day visit to Tanzania as it had been a late addition to the cruise after our stop in the Seychelles had been cancelled.  After lunch, Val did some research on the available tours and found an interesting one for our second day in port.  She had been reading a book called Into Africa that is about the African explorations of Dr. Livingston and the search for him by Stanley, and she found a tour that has ties with some of Livingston’s and Stanley's time there.  She has told me about the book and it sounded so interesting, I added it to my Kindle and have started reading it too so the tour sounded interesting to me also.  We decided we would just explore the port on our own the first day.

I worked on the blog and wrote some e-mails and then we watched the port presentation of the TV.  After that it was time to prepare our ballots so they would be ready for mailing when we reached the Canary Islands, our second stop on the cruise.  We had to sign an oath swearing that we were who we said we were and our information was correct and then we put that and our ballots into an envelope for mailing.  I took the envelopes and address labels to the Neptune Lounge where Kristine had the tape and materials to attach the labels and we were good to go.  We paid for the postage and she would make sure they were posted when we reached Arrecife in the Canary Islands.

By now it was time for my afternoon walk which I did, but for some reason it seemed a little harder today to walk those two miles.  After walking, I realized I had forgotten my mask so I called Val on WhatsApp and she brought it down to me; it is still mandatory any time you are inside in any public area on the ship.

It was dinner and the casino as usual and then back to our room.  It is a welcome relief not to have a time change tonight so maybe we can catch up on our sleep.  Tomorrow is the last day of our Atlantic crossing before we reach our first port in Madeira.

Day 8  At Sea

Monday, October 17, 202

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and I remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

Today is our last sea day before we reach Madeira, our first port of the cruise.  I slept very poorly last night and woke up feeling very tired.  I went right to sleep, but woke up an hour or two later and was wide awake and unable to get back to sleep.  I think my body still hasn’t adjusted to the time change as I wake up when it is still early evening at home and then tend to go back to sleep around my usual bed time.  Because the time changes are gradual, I usually don’t have much trouble adjusting, but maybe because I am older or because we have been seven days at sea, I am having a harder time adjusting on this trip.

It was breakfast as usual and then we spent most of the morning out on the balcony reading.  In a few days we will be arriving in Agadir, Morocco where we will be taking an overnight ship excursion to Marrakech before returning to the ship in Casablanca and this morning we got all of our trip instructions so we spent some time going over them.

We went to lunch in the Lido and afterwards Val and I both downloaded our mail onto our laptops (Val brought her laptop on this trip too) and then I updated the blog and downloaded the miscellaneous pictures I have taken so far on the trip.

Tomorrow we will be in Funchal, Madeira and will be going out on a ship excursion so we spent some time getting our day travel bags together (cameras, extra memory cards and batteries, water, jackets, etc.).

Val joined me again on my late afternoon walk and it was time to get ready for dinner when we finished.  The captain made an announcement this afternoon that after looking at the results of the Covid testing, mandatory mask wearing will no longer be required, but will be encouraged.  Val and I will continue to wear our masks in public areas and when we are on buses during excursions as we don’t want to take any chances on missing any of our ports.  The people who have tested positive will spend the first three or four ports we visit in isolation.

After dinner and the casino, it was back to the room and to bed as we have an early morning tomorrow.  We will be arriving in Funchal tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM and we have booked a tour that will leave at 8:00 so we have to get up at 7:00 and get ready, but thanks to another time change, we will be getting up at 6:00 by today's time.