From Perth’s port of Fremantle, it’s eight straight days at sea to Mauritius. Roy had been looking forward tremendously to the many sea days on this cruise – around 15 in total – and he wasn’t disappointed.

What can one say about eight days at sea? On Day One, the prospect seems endless… endless in a good way, if you’re a hardy sailor such as Roy; but if like me you’re already popping the Kwells and calculating whether your stock is sufficient to last all the way to Durban, it may not be an unalloyed delight.

That said, after a couple of days of wind, high swells and general queasiness, I’m happy to report that the sun came out and the Indian Ocean unruffled its feathers, settled down and suddenly turned the mesmerising shade of blue that it should be.

Still, you might wonder what is there to do all day on a ship like the Viking Sun – apart from eating, of course. Plenty, as it turns out, and all laid out in the Viking Daily newsletter that’s delivered to your cabin each evening.

At 8am each sea day, you would generally find me doing whatever fitness class was being offered by the gym crew (Linda or Anna) – be it yoga, Pilates or qigong – around the Main Pool; or perhaps aquarobics in the pool. (You will not find Roy there, oh no. You will find him in bed, reconstituting his cells.)

See the green juice above? I generally order two large glasses of the stuff – pretending one is for Roy; then I take them back to our room and drink them both.

Guest acupuncturist and TMC practitioner Dr Sohash, who was on board just for the eight-day crossing, gave a talk on Naturopathy and Acupuncture, plus several pranayama and meditation sessions that were much better.

Guest lecturers – some on board for the whole world cruise, others for a particular leg or legs of the cruise – give enrichment talks in the ship’s Star Theatre, not only on upcoming ports, but also on a variety of subjects of only possible interest. For example, the resident historian lecturer invited us to “Discover the World of the Romanov Rulers between the 17th and 19th Centuries”.

An Englishman called Robin Petch conducts a Wildlife Watch for a couple of hours each day at the Explorers’ Lounge, located at the front of the ship. Dolphin Man hasn’t had much luck with the Indian Ocean; his glory day was the stretch between Geelong and Adelaide, when hundreds of common dolphins accompanied the ship for a couple of hours. As we approach Durban, where he’ll be leaving the ship, he has promised (or threatened, depending on your attitude) to do a slide show of everything spotted since the ship left Miami.

By far my favourite enricher is the sweet and beautiful American Charlotte Smith, a “globe-trotting fashion anthropologist”  now based in Sydney. Hers is an interesting story:

After unexpectedly receiving the bequest of a priceless collection of 3,500 vintage designer garments from her Philadelphian godmother, Doris Darnell – the Darnell Collection – Charlotte sold her antiques business in Sydney and turned the unexpected inheritance into her life’s mission: studying fashion history, authoring several books, managing her ever-growing treasure trove and touring it around the world. Her ten lecture subjects included: the Little Black Dress, Colour in Fashion, Resort Wear, The Fabulous 50s, and more.

Close Shaves

I’ve managed so far to steer clear of the dancing classes; one of them was line-dancing. Neither have I learnt to play bridge, nor boned up on precious stones at jewellery workshops hosted by the ship’s resident jeweller. Learn to Knit with Beverley sees dozens of worthy women (though not me) coming together in the Wintergarden to create stuff, including tiny baby garments – especially woollen hats – for donation to hospitals at our upcoming African destinations.

(Conveniently for the crafty, the Wintergarden is also where afternoon tea is served daily from 4 to 5pm.)

While at sea, we’re seeing fewer stage shows by the four Viking Vocalists: two guys and two girls from the UK, three of them pretty good but one chap truly abominable. (One night, he casually murdered the remaining two Beatles.)

Instead, there are shows by visiting entertainers. Among them have been: Will Martin, a Kiwi with a great voice and a winning act; guitarist Louie Shelton of Big Louie and the Wrecking Crew, a famous LA session group that played with the greatest names of the 60s, 70s and 80s; and Sydney stand up stalwart Darren Sanders. (Roy and I had dinner with him and his partner Robyn one night, which was fun.)

Between keeping fit on the jogging track on Deck Two, the treadmill and weights machines in the gym, and the wonderful spa; catching some sun at one of the two pools; catching a lecture in the theatre or a movie in one of the two cinemas; and snoozing with my Kindle on a comfy lounger, the days slipped by happily.

Singing with the ship’s band at Torshavn nightclub are two fantastic Filipinos – Patricia and Arar – and we did quite a lot of dancing there.

Sea days are also an opportunity for specially themed meals at the World Café – for example Indian, Greek, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian – usually with a live station doing something special, such as foie gras for the French dinner.

Then came a poolside brunch that pulled out all the stops. Anything that kicks off with mimosas, bloody Marys and killer coconut cocktails served in the shell is going to be a winner.

Over the weeks, we met a lot of people – be it in the launderette, at The Restaurant, at the Explorer’s Bar before dinner, in the spa or at the pool. Some were almost immediately forgotten (embarrassingly), but others stuck, in a good way: Canadians Ilene and Barry; Americans John (the pilot) and Helga; Sydneysiders Gay and John; Linda from Yorkshire and Ingrid from Vancouver; Lynn and Jim from Hawaii and California, and several more.

I promise to add a couple more posts to complete this series – on Mauritius, Madagascar and Mozambique. Right now, however, we’re cruising south from Maputo to Durban where we’ll be disembarking tomorrow morning along with over 300 other passengers, the other 450-odd being world cruisers who will continue on to London.

Cruise Blues?

People are warning us to expect an onset of cruise blues when reality hits, usually a couple of days after getting home. This, they say, is brought on by withdrawal from the luxuries that you’ve quickly become accustomed to: being waited on hand and foot; your cabin cleaned twice-daily and your sheets and towels daily; the constant availability of whatever sort of food or drink you might fancy, without your needing to lift a finger; access to a fabulous gym and a superb spa just an elevator-ride away, just for starters.

And they’re probably right. Nevertheless, after 28 days at sea, I’m ready to come ashore and go home. After that, bring on the next adventure in Travels with Verne and Roy!