Thursday, 30 April 2026
At Sea on Seabourn's Quest
Today is my fourth day at sea and the Atlantic has calmed down a bit. Although I have been on many ocean crossings, this is the first time I have been quite so aware of the movement of the waves. It is not uncomfortable at all, but because this is such a small ship the rolling side to side has been pretty continuous--until today when the weather has cleared and the whitecaps have disappeared. Side to side is not bad--as long as you sleep in the middle of the bed. The up and down movement, which we haven't experienced, can get quite difficult. On Monday and Tuesday the afternoon temperatures were in the mid to upper 70s, but yesterday and today the air has cooled a bit to the mid 60s. Of course, I brought all the wrong clothes.
I have been spending my time eating and drinking and playing team trivia every morning at 11:15 for an hour. The team I belong to--"The Shipwrecks"--is in fourth place of the 11 teams, but there are still many days to go. I can't say that my contributions are particularly helpful, but every so often I do come up with an answer. But even when I'm stupidly wrong, the other nine team members treat me kindly. In fact I am often invited to eat with them whenever they see me at mealtimes.
I take my evening meals in the Restaurant, which is the primary dining area, except on the two formal nights when I dine in the Colonnade, not having brought along the required sport coat. You may recall the many lunchtime dessert buffet photos from the Encore this past fall; that was one of my chief daily temptations. Fortunately for my A1C there is no gargantuan display of desserts on the Quest, so I am able to confine my sinning to one dessert per day, usually at dinner, where there is a different individual souffle on offer every night.
Seabourn really tries to make its solo travelers feel welcome and included. Every morning I receive a personal invitation to dine with a crew member and four or five other solo guests. Knowing my penchant for having dinner alone, I have so far only attended two of these groups. On the first night, the Assistant Destinations Manager--think tour guide--originally from Peru hosted the group. Last night a member of the Seabourn Six--the group that performs at evening shows--hosted a bunch of different solo travelers. It's a nice idea, but there's usually one person who attempts to kidnap the conversation; that's when I get silent and retreat into my champagne glass.
There are at least two lectures per day. The morning talk focuses on the life and work of Nelson Mandela, by a South African expert. The afternoon talk is from a familiar face from previous Seabourn cruises, who worked at the American embassy in Moscow during the 1980.
I will close this blog with a few random photos:
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