Daily Life when at Sea

People who read this may think life when cruising is boring. Nothing could be further from the truth - there is just so much to fit in.We should explain that there are two main eating locations on board, a running buffet on the Veranda Deck and a five star dining room on the Upper Deck, this has full waiter service and is as good as any hotel we have visited. Everywhere on this ship there is too much good food, keeping the weight down is a constant problem.
Our day starts around 8.30 or 9.00 with a visit to the Veranda where we usually take breakfast outdoors under the early morning sun before going off to do our own thing.JB usually is off to the Gym, then a sauna and a swim while Sue goes for a golf lesson with the resident pro or listens to one of the visiting lecturers. We usually take lunch together back on the Veranda, trying not to be tempted by the vast range of things on offer. In the afternoon there is a water colour painting class for Johnny and Sue takes the dance class where she is frequently chased by elderly men eagerly looking for a partner! JB has asked for 12 cows as a dowry but so far no takers except one Zulu who offered 11. Afternoon tea is at 4.15 in the Ballroom to the accompaniment of the resident pianist
Early evening it's time to freshen up, pre dinner drinks and then depending on the on the function we dress for dinner 10pm is cabaret time and the quality of the entertainment has been excellent, comedians, dancers, singers and all kinds of shows - so far we have not been disappointedIf we don't fancy the light entertainment, there is a cinemaZimmers are oiled and people take a last stagger round the dancefloor to round off the day and it's off to bed and a restful night lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the boat as it cruises to its next destinationNot bad for old folks (and us) goodnight readers wherever you are!

EAST LONDON & DURBAN, 28 & 29th JANUARY

EAST LONDON & DURBAN, 28 & 29th JANUARY
Despite our misgivings about East London it proved to be one of the highlights of the trip because of our excursion to a native village, Kaya La Bantu, home of the Xhoa people. Their lives seem very much unchanged depsite the march of Western civilisation in the remainder of SA. As we jumped off our coach we were greeted by local children singing and dancing in a spectacular welcome ceremony. Then a lecture by 84 year old Mama Tofu, the village elder. JB was interested to note that in their tradition all the cooking, cleaning and washing is done by the women of the tribe while the men make the beer and go hunting all day. We could learn from these people! Sue says Yorkshire men have already done so. The male guests were separated from the ladies to hear about the local circumcision rites which all males undergo at 18, suffice to say it did not sound like a lot of fun. Anyway an excellent expedition and when we get to an internet cafe we will post photos.
Sunday too was fun. A vist to a Zulu village where they too put on a show, which while it was entertaining was a little "overproduced" in the Hollywood tradition, but it made a good film to be shown on our return. After lunch on a game reserve we were driven through the park by the manager, George, who ensured we came, literally face to face with 3 Rhinos, too close for JB's comfort, and lots of other species, antelope, hippos, zebras,ostrich and giraffes. We saw more in that 2 hours than we had seen in three days when we were here last.
Sailed away from Durban at 7.30 Sunday evening. A large hot and sweaty city where every home is surrounded by barbed wire and electric fences which gave us a very uncomfortable feeling. With 45% unemployment and a large percentage of the population having no formal education what can you expect except competition between the "haves" and the "havenots"?
We are now at sea for three days until Friday February 2 when we arrive at Mayotte in the Comoros Islands. We've just put the clocks forward by an half an hour which seems a little odd and have to get out our Euros as Mayotte is a French Colony. Let's hope they have an internet cafe there.

Setting off on the Ocean Waves

While our first day in Cape Town was exceptionally hot , sunny and 41 degrees, the next was the opposite, cloudy and cool. We took an open topped bus tour of the city's more interesting and colourful sights before joining the Saga Ruby at 2 pm.
The ship which is to be our home for the next four weeks is just wonderful. The staff, who are mostly Philippino, went out of their way to make us feel welcome and we were soon settled in our comfortable cabin. We just managed to squeeze in the Afternoon Tea and buffet listening to the sound of the resident pianist. When we first got on board those fellow passengers who had not gone ashore looked somewhat elderly, we thought we had arrived in one of Martin Parmiter's Care Homes by mistake. As the day wore on more people came back on board and we were soon chatting away and making new friends.
As we prepared to "Sail Away" from Cape Town at 10 pm an enourmous BBQ had been set up on the rear sun deck with every kind of meat and fish. Dining to music from the Saga Ruby Orchestra ( it's actually a six piece band ) but good enough to make JB get up and dance the odd jig with Sue. The Waterfront looked beautiful with the twinkling lights at dusk and the backdrop of Table Mountain, as we pulled away from the dock with the aid of a large tugboat. A very romantic start to our cruise as we sailed into the Atlantic, soon to be Pacific Ocean under a moonlit sky.
Winds were force 5 to 6 which meant a slightly choppy ride as we sailed round the Cape of Good Hope to our next destination East London where we have arrived this Sunday morning. Not very impressive at first sight, in fact Sue said,"East London in the UK looks positively attractive by comparison". We are off to visit an African village so more news as we go along. We cannot add photos off the ship's system so you will have to wait for those until we find an internet Cafe at Durban.

In Cape Town

The trip over was fantastic thanks to Lufthansa Busines Class. We were worried about the snow in the UK so set off an hour early from Skipton, arrived at Heathrow, Sue's daughter Georgie came to say farewell and we managed to get an earlier flight to Frankfurt. Lufthansa were terrific and we arrived there with an hour to spare to make the Cape Town connection. What a wonderful service, seats like huge armchairs with every possible combination of adjustment and full on screen entertainment. After an excellent meal we reclined the seat s and slept until we arrived in South Africa. The pilot did an excellent job of circling Table Mountian and Cape Town before coming in to land. Great views with a fine sight of our ship, the Saga Ruby in the harbour.

We checked in to our hotel for a swin, 40 plus degrees which was a shock to the system after leaving the UK at 4 degrees but we coped with the aid of lots of cold drinks!

A super supper in the Waterfront area which has over 80 different restaurants, lobster fillet steak etc etc which I am sure you don't wantto know about, we staggered off to bed.

There would have been pictures but it looks as if the silly man in charge of techincalities has brought the wrong USB lead so until he can sort that out there will be ashortage of pics!

More news as we go along, we join the Saga Ruby at 2 pm tomorrow.

Checking

We are more or less ready to go, I'm just checking how to add things to this site.

Weather in Yorkshire threatens to be snowy on Wednesday so we have asked for the car taking us to the airport to come an hour earlier. Georgie is coming out to Heathrow to have a farewell drink see us off.

John & Sue World Travellers

Hello to all our family and friends

This is a blog set up by us for those of you who might be interested in our progress as we set off for the other side of the world.

We are getting very excited and somewhat apprehensive as we are due to leave the cold north of England on Wednesday January 24. At the time of writing we have exceptional gales, 100mph and storms. We are worried that a heavy fall of snow next week might jeopardise our drive to London where we are due to pick up the first flight from there to Frankfurt, Germany and then onwards from Frankfurt to Cape Town, South Africa.

After one night in Cape Town we board our cruise liner, the Saga Ruby which will be our home for the next four weeks.

As we travel we will try to report our progress and post some photos of what we have seen.

More news as we get on our way.