4 days and 4 nights upon the MSC Sinfonia was the perfect way to relax and have a fun filled holiday with family and friends.
We left home for Durban on the 9th Jan where we stayed at the Garden Court Hotel on the beach front so as not to rush to get to the ship on the day of the cruise due to possible flight delays etc. I think this was a good idea for future travels of the same kind. Everyone was nice and relaxed going to the harbour the next morning.
Some of the group had their first 'bunny chow' treat. I have had it before in CT but first time in Durban. Had one for lunch and Dinner.
The morning of the 10th we checked out of the hotel and had a shuttle pick us up and transport us to the harbour where the cruise liner was docked.
It was quite a wait, about 2 hours in total, to board the ship. No fault of the cruise liner itself as we were later told. It is the insufficient services of the port itself that resulted in the huge delay. Not the best way to start the holiday but none the less we stayed in positive spirit.
Once aboard the Sinfonia we had to load cash onto our 'cruise card'. They have a cashless system on board the Sinfonia so all purchases are made using this card. Each of us loaded about R2k on our cards which was about enough. We had the option to load more later on if need be.
We then went on to our rooms and were surprised at how small they were. We selected the cabin for four people and it was really big enough for only two people. It was cramped with a queen size bed and two bunks above the bed for two people on each bunk. Cupboards were relatively small as well and the bathroom takes quite getting used to.
The weirdest thing was always when showering, you had to balance as the boat was moving as well.
So with the resolve that we were not gonna spend much time in the cabin itself we left to check out the facilities on the boat itself.
We spent the first hours on board on deck 11 which is the open air (top deck :)) deck. As well as deck 12. There was a live band jamming to summer tunes and people were already swimming in the pools. I expected the pools to be much larger than they were though. There were also two jacuzzies. People were all in a festive mood, many first time cruise liner travelers like us.
Each night has a theme night with regards to dress code. The first night was a formal gala theme. So we all unpacked our suitcases (well only me actually in my cabin) and we put on our finest. You are not allowed to use irons in the cabin for your clothes due to the fire risk it poses (:0). So most of the guests were dressed smartly in crinkle cut suits. At least it didn't come out on the photographs...
Before we went our first dinner sitting which was at 2145, we were first treated to some entertainment at the theater. There we also took pictures with the captain himself. The theater performances was awesome, professional and entertaining and AWESOME. What made them even better was that they were 30 mins in duration. Thereafter we'd go to our dinner sitting or dinner SIT-IN shall I say rather. Three course meals (or four if you like), all the meals were excellent. The service from our dedicated table waiter Kumar was excellent. You never had to wait more than 10 minutes for your food. If you are allergic to nuts like me then you have to be particularly wary of what you eat and I purposefully asked him everytime i ordered something whether it had nuts or not. The dinners were all basically the same and with the final night came the sad realisation that it was all coming to an end.
The theater performances were also similarly the same in satisfaction. The main difference that at the theater, seats were not reserved for you, it was first come first served. Which was fine the first couple of days. As the popularity of the shows increased though, we had to get to the theater so much earlier to get a seat. Many people would come an hour or two early and 'book seats' for their friends and family who would only arrive 10 minutes before the time. This got out of hand in the final show.
We arrive at Maputo the second days morning at the harbour where we disembarked. We spent the day there on a tour of the city and experiencing the city and museums. I think in hindsight most of this we could've done just by reading up on it but sometimes if its your first time to a place you need to experience it for yourself. It was interesting though the people, the history. I had the misfortune of having my sunglasses stolen from my table while at a restaurant in Maputo. We suspected the staff but had no proof and they didn't seem like they cared to even look. God was good to me, and even though I had given up on them, the restaurant phoned the tour guide that they 'found' my sunglasses. Whether it was dishonesty or a genuine mistake, i don't really care any more. My assumed version of events will always be that.
On the second night the waters were at its worst. Apparently according to staff, never in the two years of it running these waters had it encountered such bad ship movement. People were running to bathrooms to throw up, you could visually see on faces that all was not well.
Many like me however did not feel the roughness of the seas and were perfectly fine. Except for maybe walking from point A to point B. The cruise director pointed out that one thing that always works for him is that when walking like a drunken man when the seas are rough, he normally gets considerably drunk, and viola! he somehow transforms and can walk on a straight line during the worst of seas.
We then arrived just off the coast of Inhambane where we had to get onto rubber ducks which then took us to the shore. That was an amazing sight as we left the massive ship the Sinfonia, and headed towards the beautiful coast of Inhambane, the Barra Lodge resort to be exact.
Again we went on a tour guided trip around the place but this one was not a good one. The tour guide not as well educated as the previous tour guide we had for Maputo. He also was working double shifts for some reason so was clearly tired. Also, and i guess more importantly, Inhambane has nothing interesting about it. We would have done better just to stay on the coast and enjoy the warm beach water and soft sands. The local market we went to was dirty and boring, unlike other local markets i've been to at home, in Tanzania, Zanzibar and even Maputo.
We did return to the coast however on return from our tour where we swam. Even though it was raining, the weather was great and the water was warm. Perfect for swimming. After cracking open some coconuts to drink their juice we then climbed on the next rubber duck and headed back to the mother ship.
