A Week At Sea

Prior to this cruise, the longest Rob and I had ever been “At Sea” was five days. We quite enjoyed the leisurely treks across the Pacific to Hawaii and the North Atlantic to Iceland. So we were excited about the prospect of seven uninterrupted days surrounded by nothing but deep blue South Atlantic waters. And we were right to be!

It was so blissfully relaxing! So much much-needed sleep. And reading. And staring out at the endless, lightly undulating ocean waters. And breathing. And not worry about much of anything (eventually).

So what else did we do to entertain ourselves?

We walked laps around the Promenade (2.8 laps equals 1 mile), and kept an eye out for flying fish.

We started off with Australian 
bottled water. They just started
handing out South African bottles.

I streamed “The Longest Day” about D-Day thanks to Amazon Prime, a Wifi package, and 3 hours to fill.

I gave myself a manicure.

I wrote a couple of blogs.

I caught up on a 2-month backlog of our local newspaper. I hadn’t read the newspaper since April 8 because these days, that’s about as current as I can stomach. Nevertheless, I skimmed along and - for better or worse - I am all caught up.

The news on April 9

We tried the Irish Lunch at the onboard pub (O’Malleys), whereupon I remembered I don’t like Guinness out of a can.

We checked out the tablecloth-and-linens lunch in the dining room. I felt so rogue wearing shorts and sneakers in there (allowed at lunch).

I wandered many upper decks looking for a lounge chair in the shade. I learned shade is very hard to come by near the equator.

Tiny bit of shade at the bar. And
those smart folks weren't budging.

I browsed the ship’s boutiques and did not buy the lovely scarf for $70.48 US. I did, however, buy the colorful, breezy pool cover-up for $10.54 US that I can use as a head covering as needed in upcoming places of worship.

Follow me for style tips.

We attended several destination talks about upcoming ports.

We transitioned from Pollywogs to Shellbacks upon crossing the equator on the morning of June 9, 2026.

I've got some tweaking to do before I print it out,
but not too bad! HA on you, joyless Guest Services Desk.

We did our best to comfort Patricia, who was having a heat-related seizure on a stairway as we awaited so many of the ship’s medical and officer staffs. Her late-arriving husband, Phillip, gave Rob a hearty, “Good on ya!” as we confirmed Patricia was in trained hands and our presence was no longer needed.

We attended two wine tasting events, including one at which Rob won a raffle. Cheers to that!

He got to choose the bottle, so he
selected a red from Italy. Dedicated
to not bringing any wine home with 
us, we shall enjoy this with dinner
sometime soon. Hopefully there's
no corkage fee.

We got to play a short game of Laundry Switcheroo. One of Rob’s t-shirts is still enjoying an unsanctioned tour of the ship.

These fine shirts belong to a 
Mr. Woodcroft

Thanks to the wonders of technology, we got to virtually celebrate the arrival of a new nephew! Welcome to the world and family, Henry!

Trust me when I say that William, James, and
Henry are absolutely adorable!

While we are eager to explore land and remember what it is like to walk without swaying, we are both sort of sad that our week of lazing about the ship has ended. We truly could have used a few more days of blissful nothingness. But onward we go! To Cape Verde!