Captain Martini's Blog

Keeping track of an old sea-dog.

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Homeward Bound & No Nuts to the Guy in 1D!

Wednesday 1st April, 2026 – Barcelona, Spain.

Back aboard for the last time yesterday, we finished the packing and went for our final pre-dinner drinks with Linda and David just having got back from hoofing it all the way to Sagrada Familia and back.

Fortunately, they had pre-booked tickets to go inside and were suitably blown-away! Here’s another couple of my pictures from my visit in 2017.

Of course, me being ‘Captain Martini’, I figured it was about time to raise the Martini flag…. I had two, by the way!

We chose casual dinner in the café for our last night – the seafood selection on Viking is second to none!

Making our farewells to our new friends Linda and David, who will be departing earlier than us, we reflected on the last 3 weeks. It’s been a truly wonderful cruise, with the relaxation of glorious sea days and some really interesting trips ashore.

But preceding the cruise with the 4-day extension to Rio de Janeiro and the Iguazu Falls was fabulous and the best decision we ever made!

Today, sadly, we disembarked at a bleary 8am and with the Spanish baggage handlers and ground staff in midst of an industrial dispute, delays and issues were expected.

However, much to our bemusement, we were checked-in at Terminal 1 of Barcelona Airport by 9am and (notwithstanding some confusing signage) we were through ‘fast track’ security and Passport Control by 9.30. Consequently, we were actually a bit too early to be permitted into the Executive Lounge and had to bide our time for 45 minutes.

Strange as it may seem, after all these years of cruising, we’ve never concluded a cruise in Barcelona and have only ever flown into Barcelona Airport twice to start a cruise! So today’s experience was entirely new.

Handling 70% of all Barcelona’s air traffic, Terminal 1 was inaugurated in 2009 and I must say we were impressed by its apparent efficiency (though not necessarily the signage!).

There’s no dedicated British Airways lounge but BA Business-class has access to the Aena/Vip Lounge, which is quite large and occupies the gallery overlooking the main duty-free area.

Before too long, we were aboard our British Airways A321neo and taking off 10 minutes early. If this is what happens when the ground staff are in dispute and working to rule, well…..’nuff said!

Much has been reported regarding the reduced catering on BA recently, especially on short-haul. However, one passenger in 1D declared a severe nut allergy, so there was a PA announcement that no nuts were to be served to, or consumed by, anyone on the flight!

With barely 2 hours in the air, the drinks and meal service was a bit rushed and Andrew was most displeased at being one of the last to be served his meal in seat 3D. It didn’t bother me particularly and anyway, I was too absorbed in my book to notice!

The rather simple Red Leicester Pasta was a bit luke warm, though still palatable, especially with two double gin & tonics under my belt!

Our amazing holiday all but over, it was time to start thinking about the next one……..!

The next cruise (for me at least, as Andrew goes cruising without me in a few weeks!) will be in June, when I board Sea Cloud II in Malta for an 8-night ‘real sailing’ cruise to Athens. In the meantime, here's the link to an Index of my Cruise & Bermuda Holidays from 2013 to date.

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Gaudi and the Price of Popularity

Tuesday 31st March, 2026 - Barcelona, Spain

One of the many great things about this cruise is having an overnight in port before we disembark, enabling us to see something of Barcelona instead of the last day being the usual ‘downer’. Being told that we had to be ‘on parade’ for Immigration Inspection at 8.15am wasn’t the most promising start but in fact it all went quite smoothly; well organised, no fingerprints needed, just a photo and a rubber stamp required.

Having visited this lovely city a few times before, the influence and fame of architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) is evident almost everywhere you look and today we chose an excursion to see three of his masterpieces.

First stop was at Casa Vicens, where our tour laid on a ‘second breakfast’ for us before opening to the public. Built 1883-85, it was Gaudi’s first major project at the age of 30.

This turreted private summer residence was at that time in the outskirts of Barcelona for stock and currency broker Manuel Vicens i Montaner. It was extended in 1926 in the same style by one of his partnership colleagues.

Sadly, the beautiful gardens it once had are gone and the city has encroached upon it but it’s still a fascinating masterpiece.

Today the property is owned by a bank, fully restored and now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The next stop on our tour was to see the famous Sagrada Familia church, the largest unfinished catholic church in the world, its unique modernist style combining Art Nouveau and Gothic.

Only recently, the enormous glass cross was lifted into place on top of the tallest spire, making it 566 ft high (172.5m) and the tallest catholic church in the world.

Unfortunately, our tour did not go inside (that would have taken too much time) but because of parking restrictions, it was also quite a long walk from the bus for just an outside look! Apparently, such is the fame and popularity of Sagrada Familia that the Basilica (it’s not a cathedral by the way) gets around 12-15,000 visitors per day! No wonder then, that they now plan to demolish the 1960s block in front of it to build a grand bridge to the as yet unfinished main façade.

Back in 2017, I was fortunate enough to get a ticket and have a good look inside, so I was not overly upset by not doing so today. Andrew, of course, doesn’t realise what he missed!

Final stop of our tour (plus another long walk!) was at Casa Batllo ‘House of Bones’ (1904-6) a redesign of an existing house built in 1877 for textile industrialist Josep Batllo i Casanovas.

With its ‘scooped-out’ windows, squiggly shapes and walls covered in broken mosaic tiles, the design intent seems to have been to avoid any straight lines! One assumes that Mr Batllo found the redesigned house satisfactory because the family lived here until the 1950s.

Today, being right in the city centre, it was swarming with people, so even with our priority tickets, we still had to ‘follow the herd’. Sadly, it’s one of those places that would best be appreciated without the teeming throng of Instagrammers and Selfie-takers!

One unexpected feature, on the way out actually, was a stop in the digital light-room. Wow!

So it was then back to the ship to finish packing and have our final dinner on board before disembarking tomorrow…..

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The Last Croissant.

Monday 30th March, 2026 – At Sea.

Returning to Malaga yesterday after our trip to Mijas, it was really busy in town; not only was it Palm Sunday and the beginning of Easter week, which is taken quite seriously in Spain, with street closures and parades of religious icons etc, but there were two other ships in town.

Tui’s Marella Explorer 2 (the ex-Celebrity Century of 1995) has around 1,800 passengers but the monster beyond her is Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, with 5,500 passengers.

At 226,963 tons, she’s nearly 5 times the size of Viking Jupiter and as our Cruise Director Graham commented last night in his one-man comedy show, “The only thing harmonious about her is the name on the back!” We watched both ships depart ahead of us yesterday from Linda and David’s cabin during sharing of their bottle of complimentary Champagne – and no, that’s not a salute they’re giving….

Dinner last night was a final return to Manfredi’s, where the last of the Asparagus looked a bit sorry for itself compared to earlier in the cruise.

However, the Seafood Ravioli was the evening’s special and was really good and the waiter even managed to rustle-up some garlic bread (oddly not on the menu) and I managed to improvise my own ‘Affogato’ (also, oddly not on the menu) by ordering Vanilla Ice-Cream and an Espresso Coffee!

I rounded-off the evening with Cruise Director Graham’s one-man comedy show. I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in a long time!

Today, however, was the beginning of the sadness that develops towards the end of a wonderful cruise. With our final port of Barcelona tomorrow (and thankfully, an over-night there) we have a day at sea to start the process of packing. But then there was that last croissant at breakfast……

In another ‘last’, dinner tonight was a final visit to Chef’s Table; this time for the Mexican menu. If I’m brutally honest, it wasn’t my favourite memu.

The Amuse Bouche of Octopus was fine, although it fell to bits down my front eating it, so wasn’t the most customer-friendly of starts!

However, both the first course and grantita had an overpowering flavour of coriander (which I dislike intensely) and if there was any chicken in the first or lemon in the granita, as there was supposed to be, you could have fooled me!

The main course of spare rib was slightly better, though frankly, it was more like brisket to my taste buds – and at least there wasn’t any coriander in it!

The dessert meanwhile, was all chocolate and pretty good – and I will admit that the wine pairings of Gavi de Gavi, Chardonnay, Syrah and Madeira were quite decent too.

All in all, not the best of Chef’s Table but in the good company of our new friends David and Linda, it was a lovely evening.

The Captain’s farewell and Beatles show, we’ve seen so many times, we really didn’t need that!

We arrive in Barcelona tomorrow, have immigration to go through, then an excursion, before an overnight in port and finally, disembarkation. Word is that the baggage handlers and ground staff are on strike this week, so we may expect issues at Barcelona Airport - oh joy!

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Gales, Tapas and Toreadors

Sunday 29th March 2026 – Malaga, Spain. 

The clocks back home and in Europe went forward last night, so we had to lose yet another hour’s sleep!

At 7am it was still dark and it was quite peaceful swimming in the tranquil water of the pool, as the pool lighting slowly cycled through its rainbow of colours.

As dawn approached, however, many passengers today chose to take the 9-hour trip to Granada but we’ve been there a number of times over the years and it’s become so crowded and ‘over-touristed’ these days that we felt it better to remember it in quieter times (1990 and 1992).

Instead, we chose the half-day excursion to somewhere I had not visited since 1985 with my friend John; the Andalusian hillside village of Mijas.  

Being now over 40 years since I was there before, I wasn’t sure if Mijas would still hold the same charm but I’m pleased, indeed relieved, to report that it did. Even the traditional donkeys were still there – and a lot better cared-for than the poor creatures on Santorini!

The Romans maintained a strong trading relationship with the local ‘Tartessians’ who established Mijas during the Bronze Age but then there came the Visigoths, followed by the Moors who were around until 1487, when the city of Malaga finally fell during the re-conquest of Spain by the Catholic monarchs.

Today, Mijas is a picturesque, traditional ‘white village’ (Pueblo Blanco) nestled in the Sierra de Mijas mountains, above Fuengirola on Spain's Costa del Sol, famous for its whitewashed houses, cobblestone streets, artisan shops, and stunning sea views from 1,410ft (430m).

One change that had taken place since my last visit with John was that the beautiful little Plaza de Toros, a unique oval-shaped arena built in 1900, held its last bullfight in 2018 and is now a museum.

What these photos do not reveal, however, is that although there were clear blue skies and sunshine, the temperature was only in the mid-60s and it was extremely windy; so much so that it felt quite cold and some visitors were clearly not prepared for it! Fortunately, our excursion included refreshments and a light tapas lunch in a local restaurant, which offered some respite from the cold wind.

Notwithstanding the cold wind, it was a really enjoyable trip and for me, a happy rekindling of memories from the past. But it was now time to return to the present - and our ship in Malaga.

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Sunrise

Saturday 28th March, 2026 - Casablanca, Morocco

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Play it Again, Sam!

Saturday 28th March, 2026 – Casablanca, Morocco.

Last night’s anticipated ‘Movie Under the Stars’ on the Lido proved a disappointment because all the seats had been taken (or were being saved for people who had other things to do!) by 20 minutes before the film started.

I was not happy but luckily, ‘Casablanca’ was available on the stateroom TV, so I was able to watch it there!

Set in German-occupied French Morocco during World War II, the film ‘Casablanca’ was one of a number of patriotic movies rushed into production following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains, filming was completed in less than 3 months and the movie premiered in November 1942, just as Allied troops invaded French North Africa and recaptured Casablanca itself. The film’s subsequent general release in January 1943 also coincided with the Casablanca ‘Anfa’ Conference between Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt.

The film’s script is filled with memorable lines but it’s also memorable for the song, ‘As Time Goes By’, sung by Sam (Dooley Wilson), the black pianist loyal to Rick.

However, Dooley Wilson didn’t play the piano (that was mimed) and no-where in the film does Humphrey Bogart ever say, “Play it again, Sam”, despite it being one of the film’s most oft-quoted lines. It's been called "probably the most misquoted line in cinema history" not least because it's usually attributed to the wrong character.  The closest line to the mis-quote actually comes from Ingrid Bergman’s character when she says, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By’”.

So that leads us to the quote, “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.” (which does come from Humphrey Bogart!) People inevitably ask, “where is Rick’s Café?” Sadly, apart from the final airport scene, which was filmed at Van Nuys Airport, Los Angeles, the movie was filmed entirely at Warner Bros Studios and they never came near Morocco, least of all to Casablanca!

However, there is a ‘Rick’s Café’ and it was not far from where our ship docked. Opened in 2004, it has nothing to do with the film other than its name, although the owner has designed the interior in the style of the film sets used in making the film.

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Knockers - Short and Sweet!

Saturday 28th March, 2026 – Casablanca, Morocco.

Today we took the complimentary 3-hour excursion ‘Casablanca: City of White’. Casablanca literally means ‘white house’ and the city owes its name to the Portuguese ‘Casa Branca’ given to the town that grew up around the old one they had reduced to rubble in an earlier bombardment - as per usual!

However, the biggest expansion came in the early 20th century and there is Art Deco everywhere – though a lot of it is more what I would term ‘Shabby Deco’!

First stop on our tour was at the Hassan II Mosque, located on a low promontory overlooking the Atlantic. One of the largest mosques in the world, it was completed in 1993. Its minaret is 60-storeys high and is topped with a laser-light directed towards Mecca. At 689 ft, it’s the second tallest minaret in the World.

The building and its courtyard can accommodate 105,000 worshippers, 25,000 of them inside the main building (which we could barely see from our vantage point). The mosque’s grandness and scale say a lot about King Hassan II, in my view…..

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II made her only state visit to Morocco in 1980. Dubbed ‘The Tour from Hell’, the visit did not go well. Marred by security issues and delays; at one point, she arrived to find that the venue had been changed and on another occasion, had to wait 2 hours in a hot tent while King Hassan moved to an air-conditioned caravan! Nevertheless, the 4-day visit ended in the two heads of state bonding over their interest in horses and the establishment of a closer relationship between the UK and Morocco.

Next stop on the 7km long Corniche was for Mint Tea, which was rather nice. They use Gunpowder Tea in it, apparently, as well as mint and a lot of sugar!

Our tour then stopped in the Habous Quarter, the new Mdina, developed in the early 20th century but along Islamic lines.

Here we learned about (amongst other things) door knockers and how they indicated the number of marriageable daughters in the house.

There were the obligatory stops at a carpet co-operative shop, a pastry shop (for baclava) and an Argan oil shop, all of which may have suited some but which involved a lot of standing around waiting.

We were supposed to see the Royal Palace and Casablanca Cathedral (another Art Deco masterpiece apparently) but all we saw of them were the back and side walls, respectively!

Finally, we were left at another shop in United Nations Square, near the old Mdina, where I back-tracked to photograph the impressive Palais de Justice in Mohammed V Square, in Moorish-Andalusian style completed in 1923.

At the opposite end of this vast square and in extreme contrast is the new Grand Theatre, inaugurated in 2014.

We did stop briefly near ‘Rick’s Café’ – luckily, I was on the right side of the bus!

It was not the best of the excursions we’ve had but not the worst either! However, they made a big thing about us having to take our passports ashore but in the swish new Cruise Terminal, opened in September 2025, they hardly looked at them!

It was a rather short stop in Casablanca, just 8am till 1pm and the ship’s clearance was slow, so the tours were late getting going. Consequently, they all got back at the same time and lunch on the ship was a right bun-fight – honestly, you’d think the passengers hadn’t eaten in days!

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Choppy Waters!

Friday 27th March 2026 - At Sea aboard Viking Jupiter

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Ship Model Challenge & Lobster-Gate: the Return!

Thursday 26th & Friday 27th March 2026 – At Sea.

Continuing northwards, the sunrises and sunsets are getting later and we lost another hour on the clocks on Thursday night, putting us on Euro-time.

The ship is still at full speed against strong headwinds and with our suite being all the way aft, the swell is more pronounced and with the vibrations from the propellers at maximum revs, it’s a bit like driving over cobblestones all night; not a particular problem for us but some passengers might not like it.

Yesterday, we had late breakfast with David and Linda in the restaurant for a change. But then I felt obliged to go and walk at least some of it off and in doing so, was witness to the weekly crew safety drill – a not altogether unwelcome reminder of how Viking’s commitment to safety was put into real practise in 2019!

Other highlights yesterday included the ‘Ship-building Challenge’. Announced earlier in the cruise, a number of teams had been constructing improvised model ships and Thursday was the test.

Six teams took part and various approaches and designs turned up from odd modest little affairs to grand designs that showed they were really taking the challenge seriously! Here’s our new friend Ron, the ship’s General Manager, who was one of the judges.

All six models passed the floatation test but when it came to the load test (six cans of coke!) one poor model capsized – much to everyone’s slightly sadistic glee! Ironically, it was called ‘Can-Tanker’ and their team, ‘Can-tanker-us’, which I thought quite witty.

But for the remaining five models, even the ‘rough sea test’ didn’t sink them! Needless to say, the biggest, grandest model won first prize, though my favourite, ‘Viking Australis’, came second – complete with a little Koala Bear at the top of the mast!

There was another challenge on Thursday, though not mentioned in the daily programme.

The unfortunate business of ‘Lobster Gate’ the other night (where a steamed lobster was caught masquerading as Lobster Thermidor) had been brought to General Manager Ron’s attention (ahem!) and although we did not request it, a ‘proper’ Lobster Thermidor was presented for dinner – just for me, David and Linda, I should add, as fish-hating Andrew preferred the duck!

Our palpable excitement was rewarded with a fine whole lobster each, properly done Thermidor-style, and in my eagerness to try it, I nearly forgot to take a photo!

It was very good and the Chef and Maitre d’ were visibly relieved to receive our appreciation! As an extra treat, we were also given a delicious Vanilla soufflé with rich chocolate sauce for dessert. Fabulous!

In the bumpy early hours, we passed Fuerteventura and Lanzarote in the Canaries and this morning saw the pools closed because of the choppy weather.

This time, I thought I would be ill-advised to repeat my unilateral rope-removal trick, lest something unfortunate happened! With grey clouds and plummeting temperatures (low to mid 60s now) our balcony was not so inviting, so I set up camp in my next favourite spot on the ship, the Lanai.

Tomorrow, we arrive in Casablanca, Morocco, so there’s the film ‘Casablanca’ playing on the big screen in Lido tonight……..!

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Goldilocks and the Spa Jets

Wednesday 25th March 2026 – At Sea.

Departing Sao Vicente in the Cape Verde Islands, Viking Jupiter set course full speed for Casablanca, our next stop in 4 days time. It was a bumpy night and the clocks went forward again, which led to some under-sleeping and early grumpiness!

Having been assured (not for the first time, I might add) that the side jets in the Spa tub were now working, I decided to try them out again.

Eureka! (I bounded like Archimedes from his bath!) The jets were working at last and my lower back gave thanks!

The outside temperature had fallen into the 70s and there was a cool breeze but with clear skies again, it was still warm in the sun. Heading into the north-east trade winds, we were making some nice spray from the bow.

Otherwise, aside from eating and the pleasant diversion of a rather witty presentation by Olivia Cox on diplomatic dining successes and faux pas during her time in the British Foreign Service, much of the day was spent looking for the ‘Goldilocks spot’ on the balcony.

Now that we’re north of the Equator, the sun makes its arc south across the back of the ship (rather than to the north) and bits of our balcony are either too hot, too shaded or too windy! Luxury has its dreadful problems sometimes!

For dinner, we rang the changes a bit; David and I went to Chefs Table. The menu ‘California Cuisine’ didn’t appeal to Andrew & Linda, so they went to the World Café instead. The Amuse Bouche had blue cheese in it (an unusually strong flavour for an amuse bouche and one that wasn’t mentioned on the menu).

Next came Crab Cake with avocado and fennel, topped with orange pieces. Delicious! The Granita palate cleanser was a Moscow Mule. What’s in a Moscow Mule? Vodka, lime and ginger beer – and yes, all the flavours were there!

The main course was Seared Halibut topped with a roasted cauliflower crumb and it was just perfect.

Sadly, the dessert rather let the meal down, in my humble opinion. The Mandarin Parfait was suitably sweet but seemed little more than a whip with an orange topping (more orange, you notice - that’s the nod to California I suppose!). But then, I’m not much of a one for desserts.

The premium wine pairings were pretty good though; a Portuguese Quinta Avelida and a Chateau St Michelle Riesling from Washington State being perfect choices but I never would have paired a Sangiovese Chianti with the Halibut. However, it kind of worked! But David and I both agreed the Moscato from Puglia as the dessert wine was just not sweet enough. Nevertheless, overall, it was a splendid meal.

Way back, when we first sampled Chefs Table, we had the Silver Drinks Package and hence the premium wine pairings, for which they change the glasses so that the waiters know which ones to pour. For this, I coined the expression ‘Glass Distinction’!

The evening’s entertainment was a comedy magician called Taffy Spencer from Wales and the theatre was choc-a-block. Clearly, the other passengers were also longing for something different from just singing! Whether or not it was worth the effort to get seats is another matter. With too many wife jokes and a mediocre performance of tricks, he was no Tommy Cooper, that’s for sure!

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Departing Sao Vicente, Cabo Verde

Tuesday 24th March 2026 - At Sea

For Dinner - Asparagus, radish and beetroot salad; Roast duck breast & potato gratin; Caramel Mille-feuille. After Dinner - A cosy chat and a night-cap in a deserted Explorers’ Lounge.

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Cobbles, Dunes, Sharks and a Belem Tower!

Tuesday 24th March 2026 – Mindelo, Sao Vicente.

We arrived in Mindelo at daybreak on the island of Sao Vicente, one of the northern group within the Cape Verde archipelago, off the West African coast.

Settled by the Portuguese in the 15th century, the islands prospered, particularly during the Slave Trade, because of their convenient location on the Atlantic trade routes, which also made it a useful refuelling station. Indepenedent since 1975 nine of the ten islands in the group are inhabited, with the capital Praia on the southern island of Santiago.

Meanwhile, Sao Vicente is about 15 miles wide and 10 miles from north to south, and most of the population of the island live in the capital Mindelo, located within the breached volcanic crater into which we sailed – along with Costa Favolosa, unfortunately!

Today, we took the complimentary 3-hour panoramic tour, which was supposed to have just two photo stops but in fact had four. There are no big buses on the island and we soon found out why. Our 22-seater mini-bus wound through the colourful streets of the town to our first viewpoint overlooking Mindelo with the larger island of Santo Antao in the background.

Then we took a tortuously bumpy and at times precipitously winding road up Monte Verde, at 2,440ft the highest point on the island – from a distance looking not unlike Cape Town’s Table Mountain, I thought.

Surfaced Portuguese-style with tiny cobbles, most of the roads on Sao Vicente are not built for modern posh coaches and our mini-bus was strictly ‘economy-class’!

Also, as nearly all today’s excursions went up Monte Verde, things proved a bit chaotic when we got to the top but the view was impressive.

Next stop was at Praia Grande, on the north-east coast, where sand from the Sahara has created dunes and a beautiful beach. But you cannot swim there, as it’s notorious for sharks!

Bumping our way along, together with Louis, our ageing and rather rough-edged guide, the next stop was in tiny Porto Calhao in the extreme east of the island, to visit the ‘Turtle Hospital’, where poorly sea turtles are (supposedly) rendered fit to be returned to the sea.

However, ‘hospital’ might be too grand a name for the establishment; one poor old specimen had been there 5 years, had just three fins, was blind and senile! So would you be, stuck in this tiny pool for 5 years!

From there, it was bumpily back to Mindelo and our ship, somewhat dwarfed by the beast opposite! Uncomfortable though it was, the tour was pretty good really, giving us a good flavour of the island. It’s an arid island, not very ‘verde’ and a bit down at heel but not without colourful charm – including it’s own little ‘Belem Tower’ on the waterfront!

Departing shortly after 4pm, we have another 3 days at sea ahead of us before our next port of Casablanca, Morocco.

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Lobster-Gate and an Anniversary!

Sunday 22nd – Monday 23rd March 2026 – At Sea.

Yesterday, Sunday, having crossed the Equator, we were in the North Atlantic Ocean about half-way on our crossing to the Cape Verde Islands.

Although bumpy during the night, the threatened rain held off and while the stunning blues of the previous days were somewhat subdued by the clouds, it was another pleasant day at sea on the balcony.

Breaking our reverie for Captains Coffees in the Living Room, we were entertained by the daily ‘Baggo Challenge’ on the atrium staircase! It’s a bit tame but just a bit of easy participation fun.

And yesterday being Sunday, I broke with my rule of ‘soup and a sandwich’ for lunch in favour of some roast turkey, sweet potato gratin and roasted mushrooms before feeling obliged to do 4 times round the Boat Deck in penance! There was quite a nice swell….

So much for penance; it was Lobster Thermidor for dinner last night in the Restaurant – but oh dear, ‘Lobster-Gate’ again!

Back in the summer on Oceania’s Marina, I took issue with them not finishing the Lobster Thermidor properly with cheese under the grill. Last night however, was a worse crime; the lobster was simply that, just a nicely cooked lobster in half its shell, set on top of a creamy prosecco sauce. It was quite nice but it was nothing like Lobster Thermidor!

(For the uninitiated, the lobster meat should be taken out of the shell and cooked in a rich, creamy sauce with egg yolks, wine and cognac, then put back in the shell and browned under the grill with gruyere cheese.)

Needless to say, the Maitre d’ and the Chef were informed of the travesty but there were no Monty Python-style suicides across the table, just a rather sad-faced apology, like naughty schoolboys who had been caught and told off!

The ABBA Songbook was next; performed by the two Georges, Leah and Devon. Sadly, while they can all sang quite well, their obviously well-rehearsed choreography just looked a bit ‘naff’ and their verbal links seemed forced and awkward. Not their best offering.

Today, Monday, the clocks went forward again and although it was getting cooler as we proceeded northwards away from the Equator, it was still warm enough to sit outside. And today being the 23rd March, it was an anniversary….

Seven years ago today, we were aboard Viking Sky in heavy seas and gale-force winds, en-route to Stavanger, Norway when the ship suffered a complete engine shut-down, resulting in the ship almost foundering on the rocks. Friends Angie and Wendy had to be winched-up in a helicopter and Andrew & I spent over 20 hours at Muster Stations in the theatre, at one point eating life-boat rations, before the ship was able to make her way into port the following afternoon.

Fortunately, no-one lost their life in the disaster and to commemorate that day in 2019, I donned my ‘Viking Sky Survivor’ T-shirt and Jacques and Aloysius got out their life-jackets, just in case!

In the afternoon, visited Charaine, the future cruise consultant and another new friend we’ve made on board (goodness, we’re collecting them like stamps!) and yes, we booked another Viking cruise – a new itinerary on Viking’s new ship ‘Lyra’ in 2028 around the British Isles and Ireland! By then, that’ll be cruise no.90-something……!

Entertainment-wise, there’s been a lot of singing but not much else. George #1 did an afternoon show today, though he cheated a bit because he was joined by the other singers for some of his numbers.

This evening though, after a casual dinner in the World Café for a change (where the seafood selection is always excellent!), there was Canadian vocalist Marc Devigne again.

He’s highly attractive and there’s no doubting his stage presence and vocal skills but I couldn’t help feeling that he’s devoted all his concentration on his technical skills at the expense of the heart of some of the songs; which he sang very well but just failed to move me. Sorry, Marc!

Tomorrow, we will be in Mendelo on Sao Vicente in the Cape Verde Islands – a kind of ‘service station’ stop on our 9-night motorway crossing of the Atlantic. And Costa Favolosa (which has been matching our course) will be there too, with all its 3,780 passengers………

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Passing Costa Favolosa

Monday 23rd March 2026 - At Sea en-route to Sao Vicente

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Our Accommodation.

Sunday 22nd March 2026 – At Sea on board Viking Jupiter

Our nautical abode for these 21 nights is an ES2-grade suite located aft #5109 on the starboard side.

While we have previously had a number of other grades on Viking’s ships, including an ES1 forward, this is a new grade and location for us, so it’s something of an experiment.

We’ve had aft corner suites on other ships before but not on Viking and, as you will already know (if you’ve been following earlier postings) in certain sea conditions, part of the well furnished balcony is prone to occasional waterfalls from the Infinity Pool which projects two decks diagonally above us. It remains to be seen whether or not this is a regular problem.

One slight shortcoming, compared to other ships, is the limited overhang which doesn’t give you much protection from the sun or occasional showers - as often happen at sea.

As to the interior, we have a spacious ‘Skandi-style’ living room with lots of comfy seating and a proper dining table, banquette and chairs for in-suite dining, should you so wish, but which is useful for me to work on my blog late at night without disturbing ‘himself’ in the separate bedroom.

Meanwhile, there’s a desk too and a fully stocked mini-bar (replenished daily) as well as the usual coffee maker and Viking’s hallmark rechargeable ‘Quiet Vox’ units for use on excursions ashore. These are really useful actually. Upon request, you can also have a kettle, which many cruise lines don’t let you have and instead make up untrue safety excuses for not providing one!

The bedroom itself (which can be set-up as a large double or twin beds) is about as big as a standard cabin on most cruise ships with a second tv (sorry, forgot the really big one in the living room!) but where the bathroom usually is, we have a gorgeous walk-in closet with plenty of hanging space, shelves and drawers, even for heavy packers like us!

The bathroom, meanwhile, is off the bedroom on the side of the ship, with his-and-his basins, the loo and so much storage, even we can’t use it all. There are the trademark non-misting mirror, heated floor and towel-rail, which you can independently control, as well as Freyja toiletries.

The big difference between the ES2 and the ES1 is that whereas the ES1 has a separate shower enclosure, we have a combined bath/shower wet-room that has a view to die for. Mind you, it would be a nightmare to keep clean at home but we have the luxury of two extremely hard-working stewards, Made (pronounced ‘Maddy’) from Bali and Chris from the Phillipines.

By the way, both grades have a third tv (yes, I said a third!) hidden in the mirror above the bath, so you can also soak-in the news while you soak in the suds!

Finally, that balcony is furnished with a large bed, two wooden loungers, a table and four chairs, all with various cushions and covers. It’s lovely like this on sea days…..

[captainmartinisblog]

Crossed the Line!

Saturday 21st March 2026 - At Sea, South-North Atlantic

[captainmartinisblog]

Times Change & Crossing the Line!

Friday 20th - Saturday 21st March 2026 – At Sea.

Departing disappointing ‘Hess-ee-fey’ on Thursday, things quickly improved with Escargots a la Bourguignonne and a beautiful Dover Sole for dinner!

Then the first of the production shows by the ship’s vocalists was ‘Decades’ (no, not deaf-aids!) It was quite good (for a change!) and Leah, Devon and the two Georges all have decent singing voices.

Friday, instead of that ‘Mindless Yoga/Stretching’, after my customary swim and light breakfast, I tried out the spa thalassotherapy pool.

It was nice and quiet at 8am and the heated beds and hydro-pool were relaxing, although the side jets were not working, which was a pity because I could have benefitted from them on my back.

After lunch, there were two astronomical events in the daily programme; a presentation in ‘The Dome’ (the planetarium) on the Night Sky and another later in the Theatre about the Moon, both given by astronomer Dr Paul Riley. The latter especially, about the moon landings etc, was really interesting. The Dome is a feature on just two of Viking’s ships. The circular ‘mini-planetarium’ seats 26 and occupies the middle of the Explorers Lounge Upper Deck (shown below).

Otherwise, yesterday was a gorgeous blue day at sea, rounded-off with a special dinner in the private dining room next to Manfredi’s, hosted by Ron Schweighardt, the ship’s General Manager. Our new friends, David and Linda know him well from a recent World Cruise and so Andrew and I were invited too! Also there were Kristine the Guest Relations Manager, Charaine the future cruise consultant and her partner Natasha, along with Ed and Dorothy, two more ‘world cruisers’ – so just an exclusive group of 10!

The meal was excellent of course but almost incidental to the lively and sometimes hilarious conversation that occupied over 3 hours! Indeed, we were so engrossed that we nearly missed catching a glimpse of Marc Devigne from Canada, the latest talent to be brought on board.

And as his stage name suggested, I must say he had an amazing singing voice, as well as being extremely easy on the eye (ahem!).

As we proceed north and eastward, the clocks went forward Friday night, and today there were the inevitable signs of people realising they were an hour late (not us of course!) There was a time (sorry!) that we used to get a little card on our pillow, yellow for forward, blue for back but things have changed over the years.

These days, people rely on their digital phones so much that they don’t realise their fallibility when at sea. Even the stateroom stewards used to deliberately leave your tv on with a notice on the screen during their evening turn-down but they don’t even do that anymore. Indeed, not all cruise lines offer a turn-down service at all, so we really are ‘living the life’!

One tradition that is still followed, if only for its entertainment value and for that matter, heavily sanitised, is the ‘Crossing the Line’ ceremony. We crossed the Equator around 5am this morning and there’s usually someone who says they didn’t see the line!

The ‘ceremony’ at 11am however, though well attended and with no shortage of ‘Pollywog’ volunteers (people who have never crossed the Equator before) turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. Back in 2007, when John and I crossed on Fred Olsen’s ‘Black Watch’, it was an elaborate (and messy) affair.

Sadly, gone are the days of King Neptune and rituals like kissing fish (hygiene rules!) and being covered in goo and gunk before being thrown in pool.

A few errant crew members were lined-up and accused of some dastardly but funny crimes before bowing to the fish and jumping in, then the passenger ‘Pollywogs’ did the same and were rewarded with a shot of Aquavit – which frankly is more like another punishment, if you know what Aquavit tastes like!

With equatorial rain clouds gathering (you can just see Costa Favolosa on the left in the distance), it was 82degrees and extremely humid, with thunderstorms predicted, so I spent most of the afternoon in the Spa, enjoying the ritual hands of Vishal……