Sea Day #1- The Indian Ocean

March 14, 2025

Today is our first taste of cloudy and somewhat “cooler” weather (if you call 80F cool).  It’s really a nice relief from all the heat and humidity.  We were as hot in the Seychelles as we were in Malaysia until we went up to the beautiful mountains where it was lovely.

The Captain comes on the loudspeaker every day at noon on sea days to give us a report on things like our location, sea depth (2 miles currently) and the weather.  Everyone’s ears pricked up when he started describing tropical cyclone “Jude” which is currently located between Mozambique and Madagascar.  Our route to the African continent apparently will take us through the residuals of it in a few days and swells of 30 feet may cause an “unavoidable rolling motion”. D’ja think??  Yikes!  Tod was listening to his book, so he didn’t hear the announcement.  All I could do was laugh as I pictured us plowing through 3 story waves.  At the end of his message, the Captain said anyone that wanted a printout of his report today could go to guest services and get one.

Making sure I didn’t mis-hear him (he’s Dutch with an accent and he mumbles to boot) I dashed downstairs to get a copy of the report.  As it turns out he said 13-foot waves. WHEW! Waves 1 ½ stories I can handle (I think).  Being from the PNW (Pacific Northwest) I’ve been in a few rough seas in my time.  I’ve only gotten seasick once in my life, and that was on Tod’s parents 26-foot boat crossing the Straight of Juan de Fuca in the ‘70s. 

When you set off on a cruise halfway around the world you anticipate these things and accept them as part of the experience.  Everyone seems so good natured on this ship with none of the usual moaning about this or that you can hear on shorter cruises it should be fun.  In fact, I didn’t even hear anyone complain about the fish smell that infused the entire ship for hours yesterday except for one waiter last night who said it made him feel a little queasy. 

Another sea day tomorrow!