Cruise 03: Four Days at Sea

Saturday, February 15, 2025 – Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Port: NONE - Days at Sea

The next four days were spent entirely at sea as we sailed from the mainland to the isolated islands of the Seychelles. There was nothing particularly remarkable about these days and I enjoyed the leisure time quite a bit. I was able to sleep in a bit, lounge around the boat to read, and relax. I spent time in the coffee shop lounge during the days when it became too hot to be outside much. I ended up buying one drink per day, usually a coffee from the Starbucks café (the free coffee at the buffet was dismal) – this was still much cheaper than paying for any beverage package though.

I discovered that the outdoor area on deck six was designated as a walking route for passengers. One lap around the deck was roughly the equivalent to a quarter of a mile or half a kilometer (rough estimations). I decided to make a daily routine of walking ten laps around the deck so I could get some exercise, rather than just lounging around all day. The deck also contained the shuffle board areas for passengers and I watched several groups playing during my laps each day. The pathway ran the entire length of the ship. At the rear I could look over the railing and see the back of the boat and the wake being churned up from the rudders. It was a bit strange to stare out at the endless vastness of the ocean – to not see a speck of land anywhere on the horizon!

I had also decided to take the stairs when on board the ship, rather than taking the elevator. I had not once taken the elevators since boarding – a decision made more out of expediency than anything up to this point. There were always several people waiting outside the banks of elevators and it was just quicker to take the stairs. Now I would consciously avoid the elevators in order to squeeze in some more exercise during the cruise.

The ship offered various forms of entertainment throughout the days and evenings, ranging from trivia games to music performances to shows in the theatre. The lounge where I spent the afternoons regularly hosted musicians who would either play the piano or the guitar. All of the singers had good voices. One performer, who played the guitar, quickly became my favorite. He played a lot of older music that the elderly passengers onboard would be familiar with (and which I knew thanks to my parents – yes mom and dad, I’m calling you old!).

Every evening the staff would leave pamphlets outside of each cabin that detailed the following day’s activities, entertainment and dining options. Aside from the dining options included with our cruise fare, there were several restaurants onboard where passengers could make reservations and pay extra for their meals. I would regularly see these people heading towards dinner dressed to the nines each night. I had neither packed nice clothes nor planned to eat at any of these restaurants because they were ridiculously expensive. I contented myself with the included dining options, which primarily meant the buffet. Even though the food wasn’t great, it would see me through the duration of the cruise. The pamphlets also included various ads for the shops and extra-cost activities on the ship, which I just discarded. While I appreciated being kept up to date with the daily information, it was a lot of wasted paper to print these out for each cabin every single day.

Each day the cruise director would make regular announcements about the entertainment options, the day’s activities, and any other news for passengers. One thing that kept being hyped up was that the ship would be crossing the equator during our voyage to the Seychelles. I overheard several passengers discussing it at the buffet restaurant as well. I’ve crossed the equator several times over the years, so it wasn’t anything special for me and I didn’t understand the hype, but it was mentioned during announcements several times until we finally sailed south of the equator. That evening I found a certificate placed in my room commemorating the crossing of the equator. It was all a bit corny. I took a picture of the certificate for laughs and then included it with the growing pile of daily pamphlets, which I hoped I could recycle at some point during the cruise.

One thing that particularly surprised me happened at night on the ship. Being out in the middle of the ocean, I had expected to be able to see an incredible number of stars in the night sky since there wouldn’t be a lot of light pollution to block them out. While I could still see a lot of stars, it was nowhere near what I had hoped for, unfortunately.