At Sea

December 24^th, 2024

It’s getting to look a lot more like Christmas on the Sojourn.

14 amazing Christmas trees and Christmas decorations have appeared in the deck 4 atrium. They have all been constructed by the crew using items on the ship that can be recycled. Every single one of them is brilliant, and although there are some clear favorites, I think they all deserve praise for their originality. I am always so impressed by how talented the crew are.

The guests are pretty talented too. Today in Seabourn Square there was an exhibition of artwork and jewelry created in the arts and crafts sessions. I really must get more organized and do some jewelry making on the next segment of the cruise. All I managed was one pair of earrings on this segment. Those necklaces looked very nice.

Today’s quiz was Christmas themed.

We didn’t expect to do well, but many of the questions were rather obscure – like who invented the Christmas cracker? Still, it was great fun so although we didn’t star, we had a good time, and that’s really what it is all about. I fear that tomorrow’s quiz is going to be even more Christmassy.

Until now the ocean has been very calm. That changed today when although it didn’t look at all stormy outside there was a big swell. And despite the stabilizers being deployed there was a fair amount of rolling going on. I love this, but not everyone is happy. I thought today would be the perfect day to take a nap in the afternoon and let the ships motion rock me to sleep. Somehow this didn’t happen, and suddenly it was time to get ready for dinner.

We had dinner with a couple we had met on board who are also from western Washington State. The meal was amazing, so many choices, but all were delicious. We were having such a good time, we ended up being the last people in the restaurant and were late for the show.

There was a special Christmas show tonight put on by all of the entertainment staff. It was fantastic, much singing, dancing, and humor.

Even Captain Hamish and the senior officers joined in on the fun, and Father Christmas (AKA Andrew Johnson) paid us all a visit. It was absolutely the best Christmas show I have seen on a ship, and I felt quite exhausted just watching it. The entertainment staff put such a lot of effort into staging the show, they are the best!

When we returned to our suite, there was the cutest little penguin waiting for us there

And a plate full of chocolate goodies. Yay!

There was also the letter we had been expecting. Maputo has been cancelled, and we will be going to Durban instead. We will also be stopping in Durban later on in the cruise, so it would have been nice if they could have found another new port for us to visit, but I know it’s not easy to arrange these things at the last minute.

I know that our safety is a priority, and Seabourn doesn’t want a ship load of tourists wandering around Maputo in the middle of riots and demonstrations, but I am sorry we will miss going there. I had been looking forward to finding some peri peri prawns and showing Brian the beautiful station designed by Gustave Eiffel. I have fond memories of days spent by the pool at the Polana Hotel, I was hoping to stop by there again, but it is not to be. Mostly I feel sorry for all of the tour guides who will have lost income because of our cancelation of the port. It’s just horrible timing coming right before Christmas.