20250217 Seabourn Sojourn Grand Africa Cruise Day 84/96 - Sea Day

Grand Africa Cruise Trip Day 84/96 - Sea Day - Rocking and Rolling in the Atlantic Ocean

I closed yesterday's blog by mentioning that the seas were increasing and that we would be rocked to sleep. That was the case, and this morning, we were rocked awake as we moved even more.

We enjoyed a nice sunrise since the sun came up around 7:30.

I looked outside and watched as we bounced through the waves and swells.

You knew were rocking significantly when the crew placed sickness bags on the trash cans near the elevators.

We started the day with Baggo.

I made it to the finals and had the win in hand, but I got too cautious with my final throw and lost. Oh well. We're already flush with Seabourn prizes.

When we reach the Canary Islands in a couple of days, the current cruise segment will end and the final segment of this journey will begin. All the in-transit passengers who will continue on had to come to Seabourn Square this morning and collect their passports. It was unclear if they would remain with us for the remainder of the journey or if we would turn them in again. We will visit Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, Spanish Morocco, and finally Spain (Barcelona), so perhaps we will just keep them.

It was beading day again in art today. Arlona augmented items she had already made.

She made earrings and a bracelet to match the necklace

She made earrings to match the bracelet 

She made an ankle bracelet too

We played trivia and overall, had a good day. Our misses:

• In the 2004 movie, Troy, what character was played by Brad Pitt?
• We had no idea - it was Achilles
• Who won the 1974 boxing match dubbed the Rumble in the Jungle?
• We guessed Frazier (who, as it turns out, wasn't in the fight - Foreman was) but it was Ali
• In the play, The Glass Menagerie, what figurine was special to Laura?
• We guessed a ballerina but it was a unicorn

We nailed the 100-point bonus today, a riddle:

With pointed fangs, I sit in wait, With piercing force, I dole out fate, Over bloodless victims proclaiming its might, Eternally joining in a single bite. What am I? (answer below)

Today's highlight event was Seabourn's signature Galley Market Lunch. The Colonnade was closed for lunch. Guests could arrive at The Restaurant for lunch between noon and 2:00. Once we had a table, we were free to go into the galley where a fabulous array of food was available and officers were everywhere, serving the dishes. I had to rush several photos so I didn't hold up the other guests. Apologies for the few blurry ones.

Sangria, anyone?

If wine won't work, perhaps icy shots?

Entering past the mandatory hand washing stations

The starters

Starters, round #2

A little tomato soup

Pretty sure that's the captain

The curry station

A little of this

A little of that

A huge encrusted salmon

Hotel Director Harry and Captain Kyriakos, getting in on the act

Guest Services Manager Soso

Truffled spaghetti

More of this

More of that

Monster Nigerian shrimp

Yup - desserts

A little baked Alaska

More seafood

Amazing bread, flanked by African buffalo loaves

Crocodile loaves

Entertainment Manager Rhys dishing out the bread

It was a terrific lunch. This is the third Galley Market Lunch on this trip. We missed the first one when I was under the weather and the second one when we were on our overland adventure for a week. We finally were able to experience it, and it was wonderful.

We played Name That Tune. The theme today was songs from movies. We did well, scoring 32/40, naming the title and movie it was used in for 20 songs. Of course, that left us a little short as another team scored 34/40. It was a fun category today and we did enjoy it.

When we returned to the suite, I looked outside and saw a bird flying along with us, just off our balcony. I grabbed the camera and shot a few photos. Then, a few more showed up. Then, they were all over the water, sitting. Then, they all took off and hundreds, perhaps thousands were flying along with the ship. It was incredible. My best guess is that they were cape gannets, but northern gannets look similar. The black tail on the adults tipped my opinion toward cape gannets. The darker birds are younger.

Looking for diner

More and more kept coming

This one was carrying what appeared to be a piece of a fishing net

They were still flying along as we enjoyed cocktails in the Observation Bar. They were diving in front of the ship, grabbing fish for dinner, and cruising along with the ship.

We ate a smaller dinner in The Restaurant since we had such a good (and big) lunch. 

Tonight's show was another installment of Liar's Club. It was a real hoot tonight. The panelists were Hotel Director Harry, Entertainment Manager Rhys, Captain Kyriakos, and an actual Diamond Elite guest sailing on this journey, Roxie Von Muffin (pronounced moo-FAN).

The panelists and host Nick

We didn't do well today, missing nearly every truth-teller. The liars were very good tonight. Harry continued with his tails of legendary sailor and his former roommate, Demetrius Papados and the Captain continued with his endless repetition of his time at age 14 when his parents drove him up a mountain for his agōgē - a week-long test of strength and survival to be able to be called a true Spartan. It was all quite funny.

They said this was an old term for someone who made high-quality socks - I find no evidence online to support that definition - it is a heavy blow, but that definition wasn't given; it can also mean an exceptional person or thing, so I guess that's a stretch

They said it is the button on top of a graduate's mortarboard where the tassel attaches - again, I find no evidence of that, and it is spelled liripoop, not lirapoop - and it is the pendent part of a clerical scarf

Guest Roxie Von Muffin (Seabourn Six singer Ronnie), straight from the spa, hanging on the Captain's every word when he wasn't taking selfies and ordering champagne

An animal that died by mistake - typically from accident or disease

Some of the definitions took so long that Nick took to vacuuming the stage and generally cleaning up

An unarmed combat sport introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC

Two teams were tied and faced a tiebreaker word.

A soup or stew made by boiling meat paste, flour, and vegetables

There were lots of laughs and poor definitions notwithstanding, a fun time.

We will be at sea again tomorrow as we continue sailing north toward the Canary Islands.

And finally, the trivia riddle answer: A stapler