At Sea

February 4^th, 2025

The highlight of the morning was the Teddy bear tumble, where an unsuspecting little bear is cast into the abyss of the atrium, with the goal of ending up in what looks like a garbage can. It’s actually a lot less tacky than you would think, and much fun was had by all, except the bear.

Nick made an apology to us at trivia today. He came dressed for battle in case there were some restless members of the teams. Indeed depending on your source, Atlanta could be considered the busiest airport in the world, so to make people happy, even those who said Istanbul, we all got an extra 50 points. I am not sure that this was helpful as it is the point difference between the teams and not the total score that counts in determining the overall winner, but I suppose it was a nice gesture.

The cooking exhibition today was chef Ainsley making white tomato cappuccino soup. Yes, you read that correctly. Not what you expect to see on your average diner menu, but certainly very inventive. However, I will not be ordering it tonight.

We are heading into the Gulf of Guinea. That means pirate territory. Not as bad as around Somalia, but certainly the ship takes this seriously.

Brian’s walk around the promenade deck was curtailed. They were testing out their LRAD and Hyperspike equipment on deck 5 aft so that area was closed off. Apparently the noise levels reach over 145 decibels, which is very loud. This is meant to deter pirates from attempting to board the ship. Hopefully we will not need them.

Brian did his walking indoors instead, not an easy feat on a small ship.

We had dinner at the specialty restaurant, Solis, again tonight. I don’t think the food is that much better than in the Restaurant, but I love the room. It’s intimate without feeling crowded, the acoustics are better than the Restaurant, and the wait staff are very attentive. You are only meant to eat there once a week, but we have been able to eat there more often as the ship has not been full. Now there are apparently nearly 400 passengers on board, so we nay have to stick to the rules.

The ship certainly feels a lot different with so many guests. Luckily there are no queues for anything, and you can always find a seat, but every venue seems to feel full, and you can’t always sit exactly where you used to or would like to. It’s not a problem, but with so many new people on board the ship certainly feels different. I am not sure I like it, but it must be a good thing for Seabourn it can’t be economical when a ship is half empty.

The real test will be if the sun ever comes out, will we be able to spend the afternoon in one of the clam shell loungers? I will not be happy if they are all taken, but I suppose I may have to share. Time will tell.

John Barron, the fleet cruise director, performed for us tonight. He sang several George Michael songs. Apart from “wake me up before you go-go” I am really not a fan of George Michael’s music, however John did a great job with his show. My mind was wondering during the performance, trying to remember what his birth name was (it was Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou) and what accent he had when he was thought to have foreign accent syndrome after a head injury (West Country). I am sorry that John did not sing “wake me up before you go-go” it has been a long time since I have heard it, and it brings back memories of singing along with it whilst driving home from work in the 80s.

John is also a very good comedian, although I think that some of his jokes may have been a bit too risqué for the audience. Or maybe I’m just getting old!