April 22nd

At Sea

Packing Day ☹

Well this day comes to everyone eventually, except I suppose if you actually live on the ship full time. Although there are people who have been on board since before Christmas, I don’t think there are any permanent residents like there were on QE2.

So out came the suitcases from under the bed, and the ordeal commenced.

I was unable to get us on a direct flight to London from Cape Town, so we have to change planes in Johannesburg. The airline that suited us best was Kulula, a branch of the British Airways Comair airline. The price was right, but the luggage allowance wasn’t. They allow 1 suitcase each, weighing up to 20kg. We came on board with 4 suitcases weighing 50lbs each. Not only have we gained weight, but so have our suitcases. Things were starting to look like a challenge.

Luckily we had brought our little portable luggage scale along with us, but as luck would have it, the batteries were flat. Brian went to the shop to see if they sold that kind of battery, but they don’t. However, he bumped in to Evana, and she had a scale that was actually working, so we borrowed it, and set about our task.

The decision was to have 3 suitcases weighing 20kg each, and to let the other one get severely overweight. With great precision we were able to get the 3 to weigh exactly 20kg each, and after placing the heavy items into our carry on bags, the 4th weighed 32kg – which coincidently was the maximum allowed weight. So, although we would have to pay for the 2 extra bags, and one overweight bag, as long as they didn’t weigh our hand luggage the excess fees weren’t going to break the bank.

It was time to celebrate and head to the pool.

Although it wasn’t that warm, it was sunny, and we relaxed by the pool and wished that we didn’t have to go back to work so soon.

We met up with Ricki and David and their tablemates for pre dinner drinks in the Commodore Club, and then had dinner with them in Coriander, one of the alternative restaurants. Then it was time to have after dinner drinks with Dan and Irene, and try to get back to the cabin by midnight so we could put out our last suitcase for collection. The last night of a cruise is always busy, and sad. I hate saying goodbye to the old friends, and new friends we have met along the way.

However, as they say, all good things must come to an end. It has been the most wonderful journey; we have seen and done amazing things. We have learned so much. Now all that’s left to do is to put the last suitcase out into the corridor, and have one more perfect night being gently rocked to sleep as we hug the South African coastline on our way to Cape Town.