Sea days

Regular cruisers love sea days – and as a regular cruiser I must say that I absolutely love them. Don’t get me wrong – I love visiting new ports- and old favourite ones – but there is something about being in the middle of the ocean with the whole day ahead of you that I adore.

There is usually lots to do on a sea day – most cruise lines put together numerous activities so if you want to learn to cha cha, take part in a quiz or a crossword challenge here’s your chance. Some ships will have cooking classes, lectures by experts or you can just hang out on the top deck and watch a film on the big screen. I just love relaxing as you can see from this recent picture taken while I cruised last week on the Celebrity Solstice.

While going on a long cruise from Durban, South Africa, to the Seychelles we had a long stretch of sea days so that we could visit the Bassas da India – an uninhabited atoll in the Mozambique Channel. Apparently there are loads of wrecks around this area because the atoll is not always visible – so it is in effect a watery graveyard. As we sailed past the Captain ordered drinks for everyone on board and we stood in silence in tribute to those brave sailors.

Then there are the foggy days where you cannot even see where you are going. There is something so magical about the sound of the foghorn as you pass through the mist. I felt I should be hopping out to the front of the ship to sing a song. Alas it was barred to passengers and I cant sing anyway.

So I think on my wishlist I should include a transatlantic sailing. Lots of time at sea and little places to visit that you wouldn’t normally get to like the Azores – or even Madeira. I think perhaps this is one where I would revisit Cunard and do a transatlantic on one of the Queens. Southampton to New York. How emotional that must be sailing into New York, seeing the Statue of Liberty, and imagining the feelings of all those immigrants from all over the world. I think my heart would be with the Irish as I am half Irish and many of my mom’s friends took that route to see a new life in America.

Mind you – my wishlist is quite long when it comes to cruising. Apart from doing a transatlantic I would love to do the Scottish Isles in the far north, Iceland – oh yes, and the Corinth Canal. I can’t say why this idea grabs me like it does but I really think that would be interesting. Of course the number of ships you can do this on is less because only small ships can get down the canal.

So many places on my list …. what about you?