Wednesday 2/26/25
At sea
We departed Fremantle, Australia on 2/23/25 heading West toward Africa. We have several stops scheduled on the continent of Africa with the first being Port Louis, Mauritius. It will take us a full week at sea. Most days we spend in the gym, in the morning, maybe take in an enrichment talk, read / blog a bit then play a game. On this afternoon we are playing a game of Monopoly Deal down on deck 5 at Good Spirit’s lounge because the weather is not good. We found a small table near the rail on the inside of the lounge and there were a few couples sitting at the tables along the outside of the rail. The staff begins setting up for a fashion show put on by the shops (both clothing and jewelry) so we think we will have great seats to view the show.
At about the middle of the show a man came to the steps to watch the show which blocked the view of many of us sitting back a little to allow people to walk through. Eventually the man sitting near us along the rail politely said he and his wife were trying to watch the show and asked if he could please move to the side just a bit. Joanne was shocked when she saw what happened next: the man standing came over and put his face in the others guys face and said, “look man, I’m not in the mood today” and began pummeling the guy in the face! It happened so fast the sitting guy didn’t even have a chance to respond. Joanne started yelling for help and that prompted Mike to look up and see what was happening. Without even thinking Mike jumped up and got the assailant in a hold so he couldn’t make any more punches! We were both shocked that Princess crew didn’t step in sooner and even when they showed up they never got the guy under control. Once he saw crew coming in his direction he ran off. Mike had been assured by staff that they knew who the guy was, but later they came to us and asked if we knew who he was or if we could identify him. We had never seen the assailant before and did not know who he was. At this point we were totally disappointed in the way Princess handled the situation.
The guy was loose on the ship for most of the rest of that day and when security came and asked us to complete a statement we did not feel confident that he would remain contained or that we would remain anonymous to him so we did not agree to complete a written document. We did meet with the head of guest services and told him what happened. The head of Guest services said the Captain was meeting with the assailant now and the passenger would be confined to a cabin and be put off the ship in Mauritius (several days away). We told him that if he wasn’t confined and under security’s watch that we wanted to be told and he said he would tell us. We have no idea if this happened as they never reached out to us again. We also inquired about the victim and he wouldn’t tell us his name or any status which really bothered us. The victim had terrible injuries and we were concerned about him and his wife.
Serendipitously, a week later Joanne recognized the victim and his wife walking on deck 15 and I approached them to introduce my self and inquire how they were doing. The wife immediately recognized me and embraced me in a hug with tears. I can honestly say Watson & Elizabeth from Australia via Scotland were two of the nicest, sweetest people we have ever met. It was a tragedy what happened to them, through no fault of their own, and it was a travesty how the Cruise line handled the situation and treated them. We know he has had several surgeries since and is still dealing with the fallout of this terrible attack. We continued to connect with them several times during their time on the boat and made sure they had our contact information. Most importantly we hope he will be ok long term and we sincerely hope they receive justice from the cruise line and the assailant. In our entire life neither of us had ever witnessed such a malicious physical attack and hope we never do again. Our thoughts and prayers continue for Watson & Elisabeth…
Fortunately each day as we sail closer towards Africa the weather is beginning to improve; getting warmer, less windy and the ship isn’t rocking so much. So we are hoping for more outdoor time in the couple of sea days we have before we dock in Mauritius!
Monday: 3/3/2025
The Island Nation Mauritius
As we pull into the Port Louis port we find a nice clean port with some dancers and music as we clear the ship and find our excursion group.
This excursion was planned by a fellow passenger and posted on Facebook group for the cruise. Joanne saw it and reached out to the passenger names Steve (From New York) that is organizing the tour. He let her know approx 30 people are going and we are divided among three small busses. On the tour were several other passengers we had already met.
The tour looks to be a 6-8 hour day and it ends up being just fine. Once people are divided among the busses we take off and make our way out of the crazy port area. The tour guide for our bus (Karen) does a great job educating us about the island, the city and the people that make this their home.
Our first stop is at a market. When Karen first tells us this we both have the same thoughts; another tourist trap to get us to spend money in a market, but it actually ends up being a great stop. We are guided into the back of a shop which is set up as a workshop for miniature/model ship building. Here we can watch the process of the building from a woman sewing the sails to another one gluing wooden pieces together, to another burning pieces. It was fascinating to watch. From the back we were then escorted into the actual shop where the rest of the trinkets, jewelry and other touristy items are sold. We didn’t find anything for us to purchase but other passengers did.
After the store we are off to the next stop. Joanne really enjoys these (small) bus rides as she gets to see a lot of the countryside and how other cultures live. Mike just falls asleep between stops or as our good friends Dee (Dublin) and Peter (Wales) who lived on “Isle of Man” for years often say getting a “SCAN” (Senior Citizen Afternoon Nap…) – Mike says “SCAN” when you can … and he does!
Next up we stop at The Shiva Statue. It is one of the largest statues of Shiva in the world and a very important religious significance to Hindu’s in the area. Also located in the same area is Ganga Talan; a sacred lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. The water of the lake is used only to bless people. Around the lake are several goddess statues. The Shiva Temple is also located there so if people wanted to go into the area they could if they took their shoes off. It was an interesting stopover that demonstrated much about the culture of this country.
As we drive away from this area we stop at a lookout along the way to view the famous Black River Gorges National Park. With the blue sky, green mountains and waterfall it is beautiful!
Next up is the tallest single-drop waterfall in Mauritius at about 100m high, the Chamarel Waterfall is a striking piece of nature standing amid dense vegetation. Fed by the waters of three distinct streams pouring into Saint Denis River, it has a powerful rush with a peak flow rate in excess of 40,000 m³ per minute. Traffic is tough here as it’s clearly a big tourist stop but once parked we walk up to two different viewing area to see the waterfall.
Departing the Falls we take the short ride to Seven Colored Earth Geopark. The Seven Coloured Earths are a geological formation and prominent tourist attraction found in the Chamarel plain of the Rivière Noire District in south-western Mauritius. It is a relatively small area of sand dunes comprising the sand of seven distinct colours. It is interesting but not as impressive as we thought it would be. More interesting is the huge tortoise refuge. Some of these tortoises are hundreds of years old! When we got there one was on top of another and it was clear they were mating! The one on top (most likely the male) was making loud grunting sounds and the whole thing was a riot to watch!
At this point we are about 1 hr 20 minutes from the ship so the bus heads back that way. To get down from the National Park are many switchbacks and the tour guide asked if we wanted to hear some authentic Mauritius music. The driver had to turn the AC off to navigate the roads so with the hot bus, loud music, sharp turns… people started to complain about getting motion sickness! The driver slowed down some and that was helpful.
As we got pretty close to port we stopped at another temple so people could get some photo’s and then another stop at Caudan Waterfront (marketplace). The guide said from the Waterfront we could do the easy walk back to port or take a shuttle bus already waiting there. We decided to walk back. We wandered through some markets then started the walk back. The info the guide gave us was totally misleading and we ended up taking the shuttle. And it’s a good thing! The walk was much further than she indicated along busy roads with no sidewalk!!
As we debriefed our day we both agreed it was a great day but the country of Mauritius is “one and done” for us. Looking forward to our time in Cape Town even though the big bike race will be going on the first day we are there.
Sunday Mar 9, 2025
Cape Town
The day began around 5 am when Joanne heard the ship’s horn blow. She thought this is pretty unusual, as this has never happened before pulling into any other port. Turns out, when she opened the curtains, we were blanketed in heavy fog!
We were both concerned because our excursion was scheduled to start at 9:30am, right after disembarking (and a detailed email we had received two days earlier stated; “if we do not meet the bus at the assigned time they will not wait for us!” ) It was a bunch of money we had a risk since we had booked this excursion with a private tour operator as opposed to Princess.
Regardless, we continue with the plan we had made the night before: shower, go to breakfast, and get to Crooners lounge to pick up our ticket to disembark. We are there right at 7:00am, as instructed the day before by the person at guest services . We had asked them very clearly and let them know if we need to arrive earlier we would as we didn’t want to miss our excursion. They had confirmed we would be fine if we arrived at 7:00am.
Registering at 7:00, where we thought we would be in the first group to leave the ship, turned out to be a real problem when we discovered we were in group 8. How could this happen if they opened at 7:00am. Apparently the rules had changed since last night and we were stuck now.
To say we were upset would be an understatement. Mike went to Customer service and explained what had happened and they said don’t worry it will be fine. Mike realized there was no way this would be fine and we were no doubt in a position to loose the money we had paid for our Afican Safari Excursion.
The ship finally docks around 9 and they begin getting people off. Thankfully Mike had made enough noise, they get us to the head of the line and then off around 9:15 with the crew. Good thing. The disembarking at this port was a total disaster for many. We heard later on that many people in Group 8 never got off until 11:30am, with many losing their money. We also heard the number system went out the window completely in the first hour as so many passengers were in the same predicament as us. In hindsight this was the biggest disaster for disembarkation on the entire cruise and good thing it was an isolated situation.
After meeting up with our bus driver he loads us onto the small bus with several other people and ask us to wait there while he rounds up the rest of the excursion people for our tour. We are all gathered in the bus except one missing couple by 9:45 am though we are still missing that one couple.
Mike spoke to the driver several times but he was not budging without that last couple! So much for the email we received! We are all pretty frustrated sitting there on the bus for over 2 hours waiting for the driver to find the last couple. By 11:45 we were all onboard and we began the two hour drive up to the preserve. Along the way the driver gave some commentary about the areas we are driving through including wine country, a few very poor settlements, the beggars, and animals we may see along the way…
-We actually see a group of about 8 baboons hanging out along the side of the road! This is certainly the teaser start for the day.
A bit closer to the preserve we see some giraffes and then we arrive at “The Sanctuary”, where there are a few lions. The first one we see is very large, although he is only about two years old. The keeper gets playful with him with a water hose which the lion loves…
Then we head over to where an adult male (“Mufasa”) is and an adult female. It is a hot day so the male doesn’t come out of the shelter though we can hear his breathing which definitely communicates this is a big cat. The female comes over to “pose” for a few pics for us. We then head over to the main building where we first have to “sign our lives away” for lability purposes!
The tour includes a basic South African meal and a glass of Cape Town wine. We are all pretty anxious to get into the jeep and begin our actual safari, because we are so late. The tour operator assures us they will not skimp on time at all and will give us everything we need on to explore the preserve. In hindsight they were true to their word and the adventure turns out even better than what we had paid for and expected. The late afternoon actually nearing dusk is when we are out on the safari and they said there is always more wildlife this time of the day. When we booked the tour originally a late afternoon departure had a premium price on it, which was much more expensive but since our tour had been delayed so much in the spirit of customer service they didn’t charge us extra and gave us the premium tour. Everything worked out in spite of the disembarkation disaster.
When we do pull out in our Safari jeep we almost immediately come onto a heard of giraffe’s, then some elephants, ostrich’s, and baboons. A short drive later we see some Zebra, water buffalo, and rhinoceroses before we head to the lion area which is separate from the rest of the animals. The lions (three females and one male) are right next to the jeep taking in a late afternoon snooze in a ditch on the side of the road. Hard to believe we are allowed this close to them! While we can tell they know we are there they make no move except to continue their resting! We stay here for a bit so we can all get great photo’s.
After the lions we all think we are heading back to the welcome center as we can see the sun beginning to get low in the sky but instead we take a beautiful scenic drive many miles deeper into the preserve. We end up at an oasis where there is a building set up for us to rest, and have another glass of wine, use the rest room and talk about what we have seen so far! The baboons are everywhere here at the Oasis and give us quite a show hopping from hut to hut.
We are here for maybe 1/2 an hour and then begin our trek back to where we began our day at the welcome pavilion. As we are rounding the road to pull into the center, the driver see’s the giraffe’s moving to a more open area for the night and drives us close to get a few more close up pics. It is a mama and her baby. So cute! Then on our final turn into the center we can see the elephants one more time and watch the sun go behind the mountain.
We get a chance to use the rest room and thank our jeep driver before we load back up into the van for the 2 hour drive home. It is pretty quiet in the van and it starts to rain before we get back to the port but we are all pretty satisfied with our day! By the time we get to our room it is almost 9:00PM so we head up to the buffet to see what we can scrounge up to eat. We end up with some pizza and a couple glasses of wine out on the pool deck watching the movie under the stars (terrible movie!). We forego any other activities and head to bed as tomorrow is another day in Cape Town and we will be up early again!
The start of the day was precarious but it turned out amazing and such a memorable experience…..
Monday 3/10/25
Cape Town day 2
There are so many things we could do today but last night we decided to get tickets for the HOHO (Hop on-Hop Off ) bus that include’s tickets for the cable car up Table Mountain. Our DSRV friends from Ontario, CA, Gordon and Debbie Moon, highly recommended this and then many people that were here last year said also Table Mountain is not to be missed. Joanne saw that some people are meeting in Crown Grill then heading out to the pick up point for the bus so we head there directly after breakfast at 8:00am. No one there! Though we are a few minutes early so we wait for a bit of time. Eventually we say forget it and depart on our own. The walk to Victoria Market, to pick up the bus, is an easy 15 minute walk and we meet up with our friends Heather and Kevin from Penticton, CA along the way. They plan to do the blue bus and we plan on the red bus but we meet in the same place to start off so we walk together and talk about what we each did yesterday.
When we get there we are a few minutes early so have time to use the rest room in the station before we board the bus. What is nice about taking the HOHO bus is the commentary about the area we are driving though. The ear pods are all packaged and clean and the narrative is clear. It is a beautiful day so we feel very fortunate. The line for the cable car is quite long but we chat with a mother and son that are doing the cruise together so that makes the time go a bit faster. Eventually it is our time and we board the cable car.
The cable car can transport quite a crowd at one time and there really isnt a bad place to view everything as it miraculously spins/rotates completely around during the ride…
Once on the top the view is spectacular! We were told it can get windy and chilly up there so fortunately we each had brought a sweatshirt and windbreaker. Definitely was a good plan…
We can spend as much time as we want up at the top so we wander around to all different access points to get amazing views from all areas of Cape Town and the surrounding areas. The beaches as well as the mountains are spectacular! At the top there is a place where you can arrange to repel down a bit but not all the way to the bottom and then must climb back up along a hiking path. The son we chatted with while in line did do that and he said it was great!
There is also a gift shop and restaurant up top where you can get a drink or lunch. We chose not to. After about 2 1/2 hours we get the cable car back down (many less people on the descending cable car…)
As luck would have it as soon as we got down the HOHO bus pulled in and we got right on! The route for the bus was right along the coast and sitting on the top section of the bus allowed us to get great views of the beaches and the expensive homes / hotels along the route! Both of us really liked the Bay Area and would consider coming back for a visit again and staying in that area.
We rode the bus for the entire loop and got off back at Victoria Market and spent the last two hours of our time in Cape Town browsing the shops and areas around the waterfront before heading back to the ship, going through immigration again before getting back onboard the beautiful “Island Princess”!
As we are relaxing, with a cold beverage, up near Salty Dog Cafe Joanne reads that a Princess excursion bus had broken down and no way is it going to make it back in time for sail away time! So we know (because it is a Princess excursion) we will be delayed for sail away until that bus with passengers arrives back.
A wonderful VERY MEMORABLE time in Cape Town, South Africa!!
Post Script: We had heard that a man from the ship got mugged while he was in Capetown walking by himself, even in the tourist area. Several guys apparently mugged and robbed him and he ended up in the hospital. We also heard he eventually had to fly home for surgery. So be careful out there!
Wed 3/12/2025
Walvis Bay Namibia
Last night(Tuesday 3/11/25) we had connected with our friends Heather and Kevin up on the pool deck and Mike began exploring what their plans were in Namibia. They had decided to do a 4 X 4 Jeep/ Dunes Tour. It sounded very interesting as we had made plans but canceled our Viator excursion for this port when we had seen what happened to so many in Cape Town with the disembarking delays. Our original excursion here in Namibia was to begin at 9:30 but we weren’t supposed to dock until 9:00. That left only 30 minutes for any adjustments. Not worth the stress so we had cancelled and were looking for an alternative plan.
What Heather and Kevin were doing seemed perfect so Mike reached out to the company via “WhatsApp” and we were able to tag onto their excursion. We all met at Wheelhouse on the ship to go through immigration and disembark together. The process was very easy and the group of 6 of us got off the ship together and found our guides right away. There were two Jeeps so we divided the group into 3’s for the day. We were with Holli while Cindi went with Heather and Kevin. Heather had had a friend use this company and it had come highly recommended.
Our guide was Evan (pronounced E- Von) and he was awesome. We started with a drive along the beach right along the waves. The dunes were next to us. We passed some seals on the beach and two Jackels sunning themselves on the sand. Evan described what our day would be like and we headed out quickly along the shoreline to Sandwhich Harbor. If we didn’t move quickly we would be caught by high tide and wouldn’t be able to get there. We stopped a few times along the way for some educational talk and eventually arrived on the top of the dunes at Sandwhich Harbour where the dunes meet the sea! It was absolutely beautiful! We had time up there to get photo’s and talk with other people (mostly from the ship) that were there.
Once we finished at Sandwich Harbor we started the inside dune drive away from the coastline which was like riding a roller coaster in a jeep! We couldn’t believe how steep the downhills were! And the soft sand…!! We did this for quite awhile before arriving at a place to stop for our Champagne lunch they had packed for us. They brought out a table, tablecloth, and a beautiful spread of food. With lots of time to enjoy, take pics and talk and reflect on the day so far. It was an amazing spread in the middle of the desert!
The rest of afternoon was mostly spent on the dunes then a drive past the salt flats where we stopped for Evan to explain how it worked and what the salt was used for. He also made a stop on the beach and took a close up picture of the sand using various IPhones. When we saw the picture we couldn’t believe all the colors in the grains of sand! The picture was beautiful but it showed all the different mineral elements in the sand. From there he used a magnet to pull out all the ore. He drew a picture in the sand of Namibia and then surrounding countries and described how all the various minerals arrived down in this area via the river.
We were back to the port by 3:30 and all reflected on how educational the tour was as well as being fun. A few people opted to walk down to a small marketplace in the port where there are a few venders and a restaurant. They got some beers and sat for a bit and bought souvenir magnets to take home. They also witnessed native people in their native clothing (topless for women). We missed this …
Being sandy and sweaty from the drive, we showered and then felt too tired to dress for dinner so hit the buffet and called it a night! Trying to do a fancy dinner and show for 117 days would be difficult for anyone to do so we just headed to bed early though not before looking over some of the awesome pictures of our Namibia adventure!!!!
March 17, 2025
St Patricks Day 2025
Departing Namibia we had several sea days before last African stop of Cape Verde. During that time was our 2025 Island Princess St Patricks Day Celebration. Everyone one on the ship got into the mood of green with dress, music, food, beverages, and just flat out fun… Paddy O’ Reilly was playing in our favorite bar on-board “The Wheelhouse” (Actually it was our guitar player friend Danny Rembrandt but boy he did a terrific job with classes like “Whiskey in the Jar, Galway Girl, and so many other Irish Classics).
Thursday March 20,2025
Mindelo Cape Verde
Our last stop on the African Continent is Cape Verde Islands. Cape Verde is considered part of Africa, specifically West Africa, despite being an island nation located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the northwest coast of the continent. The country is made up of ten volcanic islands and is geographically situated off the coast of West Africa, near countries like Senegal. The official language is Portuguese, and the most widely used language is Cape Verdean Creole (Kriolu), the native mother tongue for most residents.
Our port of call here is the capital city of Mindelo. Mindelo is the cultural capital of Cape Verde, located on the island of Sao Vicente, known for its lively music scene, vibrant nightlife, and colorful colonial architecture. Key attractions include Laginha Beach, Monte Verde for hiking, the lively markets, and the opportunity to experience live music at bars and restaurants.
Joanne had done some necessary research and also spoke to some people that have done this port before and discovered there really isn’t much to do here except wander around. We had a leisurely breakfast onboard as we did not have an excursion to catch. Once we exit the ship we head to the right into the center of town. We are always cognizant of the people around us when in port and we were even more prudent of this action in Cape Verde. The port area gave us some concern so we make sure back packs, cameras, phones… are not as visible or accessible as we walk for the day. There are some markets and cool sculptures to take photo’s of. The ocean / beaches / water is gorgeous blue. There are a lot of sailboats and fishing boats in the nearby marina. We find the markets; one a fish market which held no interest for us as we can’t bring it onboard; and a craft / clothing / souvenir market.
We wander through but don’t make any purchases. As we begin to head to the beach area Mike spots an eye glass shop and heads in to see if they would be able to repair his extra pair of sunglasses which were missing a screw. They said they could. With that in mind we head to the beach which is on the other side of the ship (to the left of the ship). It’s a pretty quick walk and we see right away that the beach is absolutely beautiful! However… the wind sends the sand flying and we begin getting sandblasted! We take a quick walk along the sidewalk directly next to the sand but continue getting wind blown all over us. We do get all the way to the far side of the beach and walk along the pavement pier to get some great pictures but then immediately head back to the ship.
Walking back from the beach, our plan is for Mike to pick up his secondary pair of sunglasses and head over to the shop for repair. It doesn’t take long at all and they complete the repair without charging anything!! Although Mike does leave $5.00 US for them as a Thank You. We end up back on the ship shortly after 1:00 and meet Peter and D getting on the ship at the same time. We agree to meet up at Salty Dog Cafe on the top deck for drinks. This leads to several hours and several drinks pp! Around 4 we call it an afternoon and return to shower off the sand and get ready for dinner. The show tonight is Cher and it is spectacular! We almost missed it as we were tired and ready for a quiet night in. So glad we stayed up for it!! We both agreed it was the best show we have seen since we got on the ship in LA!!
Sailing out from Mindelo, Cape Verde…
Well that a wrap on Part 3 of this 2025 World Cruise Adventure. With the continent of Africa now behind us we next start to turn East again entering the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea…
