My voyages

MY VOYAGES.

Even though I have always loved ships and the sea, the cruising bug only bit me in February 1986 when I first went down to Durban to see the Queen Elizabeth 2 which was passing through on its last World Cruise as a steamship. I also managed to spend a day on the tug Coenie De Villiers as well, and while it was on duty I saw the Royal Viking Sea which was calling in Durban. That was the beginning of a life long love of cruising. Unfortunately, voyages from South Africa were virtually non-existent since the demise of the Union Castle Line and the general downturn in shipping since the 70's.
There was only one ship which was doing cruises locally, that was the Achille Lauro, which was on charter to TFC Tours for the November to January season. I pondered mightily for 5 months before venturing forth to make my first booking, the bug had bitten me thoroughly.
13 years later, I have sailed on 10 ships, done 11 voyages and spent a huge amount of money doing so. I have wonderful memories and souvenirs to carry me for life. I have not been to sea now since 1997, finances, crime waves and apathy have tempered the need to voyage. I hope though it will re-awaken soon.
The listings below open in a voyage report. Some images have associated photo pages.

Achille Lauro 26-12-86 to 03-01-87 Durban-Mauritius-Durban		Betsy Ross. 10-12-88 to 12-12-88 Durban-Durban
Oceanos. 01-12-89 to 08-12-89 Seychelles-Durban		MCV Berg. 08-11-90 to 22-11-90 Durban-Walvis Bay-Durban
Aegean Dolphin. 20-01-92 to 24-01-92 Durban-Bazaruto-Durban		Canberra 19-03-92 to 21-03-92 Durban-Cape Town
St Helena. 23-01-93 to 05-02-93 Cape Town-Tristan Da Cunha		Symphony. 12-03-95 to 14-03-95 Durban-Durban
Rhapsody. 26-03-96 to 30-03-96 Durban-Bazaruto		Oriana. 22-03-97 to 24-03-97 Durban-Cape Town
Symphony. 25-03-97 to 28-03-97 Cape Town-Durban

Given the chance I would make the following awards to:

Most dissapointing ship: Vistafjord, Kahazhstan II
Most easily forgotten ship: Rhapsody, Vistafjord, Kahazhstan II
Most impressive new ship: Oriana, Marco Polo
Most impressive old ship: Rotterdam, Canberra, QE2
Most impressive dining room: Sagafjord, Royal Viking Sun
Most impressive foyer: Royal Viking Queen
Friendliest crew: Marco Polo, Canberra, Sagafjord, St Helena.
Most surely crew: Aegean Dolphin, Achille Lauro
Best service on a cruise: Canberra, Oriana, Oceanos, St Helena
Worst cabin service on a cruise: Achille Lauro
Best Dining room service: Canberra, Oriana
Oldest ship sailed on: Symphony
Oldest ship visited: Dolous
Ship seen the most: Achille Lauro (at least 8 times), QE2 (3 times), Symphony (3 times)
Best engine room: Rotterdam
Best buffet: Rotterdam, Oriana
Most unattractive exterior: Aegean Dolphin
Most drab interior: Kazakhstan II
Most promising ship: Marco Polo, Royal Star
Most irritating announcements: Achille Lauro
Worst ship for ship visits: QE2 (2 failed attempts)
Smallest ship seen: Avalon
Most decrepit ship: Betsy Ross
Most impressive shopping: QE2
Biggest toast: Aegean Dolphin
Worst tasting water: Aegean Dolphin
Most incomprehensible crew: Aegean Dolphin
Best seaboat: Betsy Ross
Worst seaboat: Oceanos
Most fun on a cruise: Oceanos, St Helena
Visitors not allowed on board: Mermoz, Europa, QE2, Canberra
Best cruise of all: RMS St Helena