Monday – May 11, 2026 – at sea to Civitavecchia (Rome) day 3
A couple days ago at breakfast, Shiv announced that her husband, Richard, had entered a photo in the PAzz contest, it had been shown in the last segment of the voyage and was now in a group of 6 from which the best animal photo would be chosen. PAzz combines jazz music with still images submitted by passengers. The photo staff selects 100 images from those submitted (usually around 1,000) and presents them in the theater on a screen while the music is played/sung. When the cruise enters its final days at sea, the photo staff chooses 6 photos from each of 5 categories (people, animals, landscapes, city views, miscellaneous) and those are shown for the passengers to cast votes for best photo in each category and best photo overall. Today’s featured photo is Richard’s photo (taken with his cell phone) of 2 crocodiles in a park in Mauritius. I’m not sure what title he will give the photo, but I believe the one he is leaning toward is “I’ve Got Your Back”. The voting for best of each category took place last evening and Richard won the animal category with this photograph!
There wasn’t much activity (at least on our part) today – Jan and I spent time on the balcony basking in the sun. It felt great to do nothing! During the day I took photos of ship we saw. Now that we are approaching the Strait of Gibraltar there is more traffic with different types of ships. You’ll see a variety in the gallery.
We had lunch today in the restaurant and connected again with a waiter we know from the 2025 World Cruise – Saurabh from India. It was nice to spend a few minutes catching up with him. As our days on the cruise tick off, we realize we might not see some of the crew again before we disembark in Genoa.
Following lunch, I took more photos of ships. We prepared for a party in the early evening to help reduce our stock of snacks and drinks. Carl, Shiv and Richard (with his photo award) were able to join us in our cabin. You can even see another ship in the background of the party photo taken in our cabin.
We should pass Gibraltar tonight. Last year I stayed up to capture that passing. It was unimpressive as I couldn’t make out the Rock of Gibraltar – it wasn’t illuminated like Table Mountain in Cape Town. I decided I am going to sleep tonight.
Gallery for today is here.
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