March 7, 2020 - Saturday

Azamara Quest Cape Town to Athens 

Cruise Day 17 - Sea Day

Pictures to follow with better internet

My 4 mile walk this morning was fantastic. The sea was like glass. The breeze was very gentle. 

After breakfast Alice worked on her scrapbooking. I went to the Destination Enrichment lecture on Kochi. That is another spelling for Cochin. The lecture was a bust. 

At 11:15 I attended a question and answer session with cruise director Stephen. The first question was about Stephen’s background. He explained his education and his work prior to joining ships. He described his career with Azamara to bring us up to date. 

Next several passengers complained about the poor quality of the Destination Enrichment lecturer. Stephen indicated that passenger feedback is welcomed and forwarded to the home office. It does have an impact on future booking decisions.

I asked what he most liked and most disliked about his job. His response was much as I suspected for the most liked. He relishes the passenger interaction. He least likes the many hours of computer and paperwork he has to perform each day. 

An example is that because we cannot disembark anyone when we stop for provisions and fuel in Colombo, the singer who performs tonight will have to stay on to Cochin. Because this is in India, Stephen had to procure an India visa for her on short notice. He also had to arrange the change in transportation for her as well as for the new acts coming onboard there. As for the visas, I got ours in ordinary time. It was quite an effort and took almost half a day to complete. Stick that into an otherwise busy sea day schedule, and you can understand some of the time demands of the job.

Another challenge for him is that some of the lecturers scheduled for future cruises, like our next two, either are not being allowed to fly to join the ship or have opted to stay home. Stephen is working to secure alternate speakers or to get some of the lecturers to  videotape their presentations.  Coronavirus impacts us even without infecting us.

I just came in from our veranda because the sun is coming around and it is getting hot outside. The sea is like a mirror. The breeze is gone. The only air movement is from our 12 knot speed. I have seen flying fish moving away from our waves just below. It is amazing to see how far some of these propel themselves above the ripple. While I was looking for some of these, they do not appear constantly, I spied a sea turtle swimming about 15 feet away from the ship just below me. My phone was inside, so no picture. Just a memory.

Big Red performed her second show for us tonight. She featured songs from the jazz and blues read. This show was good, but we preferred her first show. This one tended to be a bit raucous. We must be showing our age because it seemed that most of the crowd was very satisfied. 

Big Red will leave us in Cochin.