Cruise 05: Four (More) Days at Sea

Friday, February 21 – Monday, February 24, 2025

Port: At Sea and Mombasa, Kenya

Leaving the Seychelles behind, we set off towards mainland Africa, which would take two full days of sailing. I spent the days at sea much as I had during the previous ones: breakfast, reading, lounging, afternoon snacks, walking around the ship, etc. I had managed to develop a rather pleasant routine on board and I didn’t end up getting bored at all, which surprised me.

One night there was a magician performing in the theatre, so I decided to go and check out one of his shows. I didn’t have high expectations, but it was free, so it would help pass some time in the evening. The theatre was very crowded with passengers when the show began. The magician had performed around the world, though it seemed like cruises were his primary gig. He performed some very amusing tricks that were fun to watch. His banter with the audience though was cringey. He tried too hard and was overly sarcastic, which quickly lost any semblance of humor. The crowd, like me, enjoyed his illusions, but people seemed disengaged from his banter.

The best part of having my work pay for the onboard WiFi service (which was provided by Starlink), was that I could chat with Thinh the entire time! We messages throughout the day and night, and had several video calls as well. I could only have WiFi on one device (my computer) and I managed to get WhatsApp Web working there, thankfully. I was missing him like crazy ever since he flew home back in Prague. We both knew that being apart this long would be difficult, but he has always been incredibly supportive of my desire to travel the world. Nevertheless, I was counting down the days until I could fly home and be back together with Thinh.

The next port of call was in Mombasa, Kenya. I had not booked any shore excursions for this port because they were all horrendously expensive! While the ones that I had taken were around $75 each, the ones in Mombasa were $300+ per person and I could not justify spending that much money on a day tour. Besides, I visited Kenya back in 2016 during my safari trip; at that time, I saw and experienced far more than these shore excursions could possibly offer.

My plan was to spend the day onboard the ship, enjoying the relatively empty public areas while everyone was ashore. I was able to spend a long time near the pool, laying back in the cushy chairs while I read my book. The buffet hall was nearly empty when I went to eat, which made it much easier to find a seat. Usually at mealtimes the tables were all occupied, and I often had to circle around in search of an empty table. Later in the afternoon, while I was doing my daily laps, I was able to look down at the cruise port where a group of locals were waiting to both greet and bid farewell to passengers as the came and went. They were dressed in traditional clothing, playing music, and performing a simple dance. It reminded me of a time during my 2016 safari when we had visited a small village – the people living there had done almost the exact same thing.

Our next port was supposed to be in Zanzibar, Tanzania. However, the itinerary had been changed during our days at sea. Several countries in the region have strict health requirements for visitors to enter (for example, yellow fever vaccine). The ship was due to dock in Madagascar after Tanzania, which is where the health issues cropped up. Madagascar had introduced some strict health guidelines for tourists who had visited certain countries prior to arrival, including Tanzania, and these would essentially prohibit the ship from visiting Madagascar if we first went to Tanzania. The ship was basically left with the decision of skipping Tanzania or Madagascar – there was no way for us to visit both as originally intended. The captain had made the decision to therefore skip the stop in Zanzibar. In exchange, we would visit a second port in Madagascar!

I was personally thrilled by this announcement! First, I had not planned on going ashore in Zanzibar (I’ve been there before and thought it was just so-so). Second, Madagascar was going to be a new country for me to visit, so I was happy to have an opportunity to visit more than just one port in the country. Obviously, the news was not as well received among the other passengers, many of whom had been looking forward to their time in Zanzibar. However, the captain made the wisest decision possible given the situation. If we had docked in Zanzibar (and therefore skipped Madagascar), we wouldn’t have any other destinations to add the itinerary to compensate for missing Madagascar. By skipping Zanzibar, it was relatively easy to add the second stop in Madagascar though.

The schedule change resulted in us having an entire day at sea after leaving Mombasa. By this time I was starting to get a little stir crazy from being cooped up on the boat for so long. The four-day stretch of sailing from Dubai to the Seychelles had been long, and I’d had another four full days onboard after leaving La Digue (that was partially my own fault since I skipped Mombasa).

With the addition of a new port, the staff distributed a list of new excursions that passengers could book. Those who had booked excursions would have their payments refunded to their ship account automatically, though it didn’t stop a ton of people from lining up at the reception desk on deck six. I perused the list of new tours, but nothing jumped out at me. I was also wary of paying for another tour that would turn out to be a disappointment, like all of the previous shore excursions. In the end, I opted to not sign up for anything new and to just spend the day walking around the town on my own when we arrived.

I was eager to arrive in Madagascar so I could both visit a new country and get off of the ship!