Day 32, Thursday, March 27, Arrive Cape Town

The Crystal Symphony is in Singapore. The MS Amsterdam is at sea from Reunion Island to Durban, South Africa.

The day got off to a rather frustrating start. Seas had been the roughest yet of the voyage, and I started the day by putting some laundry in the washer and then going for coffee. I normally go up the forward stairs to the lido deck and then back to the lido. Noticing that the first 2 doors to the outer deck were roped off I continued back on the promenade deck and found all 6 entrances closed. I would normally drink my coffee as I walked around the deck but that would not be an option. In desperation I went to the dreaded fitness center and walked 1 1/2 miles on the treadmill. I love walking the promenade deck but find the treadmill pure drudgery. (The promenade deck did open by 7:30 and I did walk the remaining 12 laps there).

My misery continued after returning with my coffee and moving my laundry to the dryer. I went online and found that my email password was invalid. Apparently Verizon changed the password requirements but never informed me of the change until things stopped working. I probably wasted 30 minutes of computer time getting my password and email working again.

Once email was working again things started to improve. I think World Cruise segmenters on any cruise line are pretty much relegated to guarantees, and I didn’t know what cabin I would have on Serenity until I was actually on board. It was looking like the same thing would happen with the Amsterdam, but an email from my travel agent cleared things up. My inside guarantee is now a nice oceanview cabin.

The ship has been running several overland tours in South Africa. Most are safaris, but there was also a Rovos Rail journey while the ship was on the way from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town. World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston was an escort for that tour. The ship’s morning show was quite funny as the Ensemble’s male line captain Shane Morely appeared as Stacey wearing a wig and shawl. Stacey also made a brief appearance via a TV hookup.

With our 6PM arrival in Cape Town it wasn’t technically a sea day but it might as well have been, with a full schedule of Crystal Visions Presentations. Ken Rees started things off with a presentation on Cape Town, followed by Rob Caskie with “The end of the Zulu War”. In the afternoon Bill Toone finished things off with a talk on the many ways animals reproduce.

In lieu of the normal noon trivia there was a “Name That Tune” trivia in Palm Court. I joined “Aussies + 3”, the team with the 2 Aussies from Table 102, but we did not do very well. We ended up with 13 points while the winners had 24. I did supply one answer “Chariots of Fire” that the team likely wouldn’t have gotten without me.

Most of the afternoon was involved with packing. There were only 4 of us at dinner with the Aussies in Silk Road and others off on shore excursions. The evening entertainment was an encore show by Peter Cutler, then back to packing. This went a little slower than usual as I would normally just throw things in the suitcase, but here I am in effect packing for the Amsterdam. I put my last bag out in the corridor about 10:15 and then did some writing until about 11.

Today’s parting shot is becoming a tradition. Getting the words to line up was a bit of a challenge, but here it is:

“I see a bright silver moon, grand mountains too
sandy beaches beckon, lovely flowers bloom
And I think to myself What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, beaches of white
A pretty morning rainbow, dolphins swimming by
And I think to myself What a wonderful world

A gleaming pair of awesome ships, sitting side by side
Crews and guests united in a day we wont forget,
I see friends shaking hands, sayin’, “How do you do?” They’re really sayin’, “I love you”

I see children play, A village of hope
With the love of caring people, they’re secure and safe.
And I think to myself What a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself What a wonderful world Oh yeah”

Roy

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