the singing sailor

a view of the Mountains across Propriano, Corsica, France

It sounds so horrible….doesn’t it?  “Ladies and Gentlemen Flight XYZ has been diverted to….” That’s usually when you hear the mention of some small obscure place and everyone sighs.  In fact, that’s exactly what happened to me as I was trying to join the ship early last month.  So when we got the email from Captain that read: “Bonifacio Cancelled” we were all a bit bummed out, because Bonifacio is really a lovely place and we were all looking forward to walking around there again (I have an earlier blog post from Bonifacio – the one with the bonus photo!) But this time we traveled further north to a more sheltered part of this island off of France, because the winds were just too rough in Bonifacio.  We would be unable to offer tender service to shore-side which, would have bummed out everyone for sure.   I’m not sure that there were many people who knew what a treat we were in for until we docked and started to walk around.  Propriano, Corsica, not typically a port-of-call for our vessels, was a beautiful place.  Lovely restaurants, and shops – and of course…an amazing view!  These are the mountains in view from the town of Propriano, and all a part of the beautiful island of Corsica.

the channel leading to Bonifacio, Corsica

I’ve always enjoyed working on smaller vessels, and after 2 years on the Riverboats in the Pacific Northwest and in Alaska, I knew that I wouldn’t enjoy a ‘monster ship.’  It’s true that we don’t have the most amazing crew food or activities, but getting to know our guests (and they get to know us!) and see them regularly throughout the cruise makes the small ship much more enjoyable.

Of course another advantage to working – or traveling – on a small ship is the chance to get up close to land as you are sailing, or in this case, get into the tiny channels that lead to true gems – small marina towns that the other ships just can’t get to.  Here on our way to Bonifacio, Corsica, an island off of France, we had the most beautiful view.  I had to share both pictures (which I haven’t really done until now) just to give you the perspective of where we were sailing.  Because we had sailed into this channel, and it was too narrow to turn the ship around once there, the Captain and the Pilot took the ship out ‘aft’ first.  I felt like I was on a subway seat facing the opposite direction we were traveling!  It was pretty “awe”some that our ship (with the bridge forward, mind you) was technically going backwards!  I know people that can’t even back a car into a parking space!  Enjoy the view…

from Open Deck 7 leaving Bonifacio just before the Porthole picture was taken

We had a very special treat last cruise – an unexpected meeting at sea with the newest ship in the Seabourn family, the Seabourn Quest.  We were off the coast of France on our way to Livorno – traveling east, and the Quest is slowly making her way to Barcelona, where she will begin her maiden voyage next week.  When the Captain started to make an announcement ship-wide, I had to admit I held my breath as I was sitting in the crew mess enjoying dinner – you usually don’t hear announcements unless we’re docked and re-fueling (no smoking allowed!) or there is an emergency.  So after he said: “Ladies and Gentlemen, Collegues, wonderful news.”  I was able to exhale.  Scarf down dinner and grab my Nikon.

We have a great Captain, and he was just as excited as we all were– he brought us so close to the vessel that we could see our friends out on the decks – we were yelling back and forth to each other, waving and snapping pictures, and as we circled around the Quest, I ran down the 4 decks to the portholes just to snap this picture.  It was a great moment and I’ll never forget it!

One of the things I love most about working on a ship is seeing the sun set in the evening.  When we have a late sail from a port where we are anchored it can be especially beautiful.  With warm colors of oranges and pinks just touching the tops of the ripples on the water, it really is so peaceful.  This picture was taken when the Legend was in the French Riviera last summer, but no matter what part of the world these moments really are my favorite.