At Sea

February 25^th, 2025

The Herald said we would be in the Strait of Gibraltar today. Well I would have thought we went through the Strait yesterday. I looked outside, and it looked like we were indeed not in the Strait but were passing a rather impressive mountain range in Spain.

We are heading for Melilla on the North African coast so we are way far north of where I would have thought we would be.

I did notice that there were several cargo ships in our vicinity.

Maybe, like in the English Channel, there are shipping lane in the Western Mediterranean. That would account for our rather northerly route. In any case the mountains were beautiful, it was great to see land after so many sea days spent at sea with no land in sight, just the endless ocean.

Today there was the Gala lunch for the Grand Africa guests. After trivia we headed down to The Restaurant on deck 4. We asked for a table that would seat 8 of us, and were ushered to a table for 10. The exciting news was that the captain and chief engineer were hosting our table.

Yay! I am at the captain’s table at last. I wasn’t sure that it really counted because I had been looking for a table for 8 and that is where I ended up. Is it better that the captain has actually chosen to seat you at his table? We were there only because of a numerical advantage. But not to worry – it’s the captain’s table and I am sharing a gala meal with him. All is good.

We had a 5 course set menu, each course was delicious. Chef Ainsley and his team really excel at preparing the gala dinner food. I particularly love the lobster.

In the evening there was the final farewell for the Grand Voyage folks.

It opened with the Seabourn 6 and Nick and Rhys singing Toto’s Africa. This very badly scanning song has been the theme song of our cruise. It was first sung as we left Barcelona 3 months ago, today was the last time we will hear it. It made me very tearful.

Then Nick showed the slide show he had put together from photos we had all sent in. Some of the wildlife photos (including Brian’s) are amazing. There are some very talented photographers among us. The photo I submitted was of Sojourn people. As much as I love animals, it is the people who have made this cruise so great.

After the slideshow Nick read a lovely poem he had written,

and the Captain gave a speech.

The great news is that the slideshow and poem are on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKzFlCHylts

After the poem, the entertainment group sang “The Circle of Life”. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room. The whole presentation had been so moving, and meaningful to us all.

Showtime tonight was a threesome from the UK called Gravity.

They were good, and I enjoyed them. The trouble is that I prefer the Seabourn singers. I could listen to them every night, but they do need a break! I will certainly miss all of the entertainment on board. It really has been amazing. The acts were very well chosen to bring a good range of entertainment, but I think my favorites were Bowjangles and Clare Langan.

Bowjangles were just so weirdly absurd, a total breath of fresh air. Clare never fails to please. I think having the shows at 9:30 has worked out well for us. By 10:30 on Cunard I am often ready for bed. The production shows on Sojourn do not rely on fancy costumes or set changes, but the background graphics and simple costumes work very well. It is certainly not Cunard or Princess, but we have no complaints. In fact it is hard to think about anything to complain about on this cruise!