Thursday – April 30, 2026 – Walvis Bay
Our cabin for this World Cruise is one that will be included in the Yacht Club once this cruise finishes in May. We liked the cabin so much that we chose to book as Yacht Club members for the 2028 World Cruise and for 2 weeks in December 2026 on the MSC Grandiosa for a cruise in the Caribbean. But we weren’t sure exactly what benefits Yacht Club offers (other than this cabin or one like it). We asked the Future Cruises Manager – Lorena – if we could see the Yacht Club facilities we will be able to use. She suggested we look at those during a day in port because there would be fewer passengers on board. The featured photo shows us with the Hotel Manager (Guglielmo), Yacht Club Concierge (Monica) and Lorena as we began our tour of those facilities.
We do not have an excursion booked for today. We wanted to repeat the trip we made last year into the Namib desert but it was full. So we decided to explore the ship and spend time at the area near the dock. Namibia requires a face-to-face check before entering the country. This check is performed on the ship by group letters or excursion numbers. We had picked up tickets for a group at 9:30 am but could go for our interview until 11:00 am. We also had plans to visit the Yacht Club facilities on decks 13 and 16 at 9:30 am. Our decision was easy – tour of the ship first then the immigration interview.
We met Lorena at her desk on deck 7 and took the forward elevator to deck 13. At the elevator we were met by the Yacht Club Concierge – Monica. The 4 of us walked to the Top Sail lounge which is located at the front of deck 13. There is a concierge desk there and waiting for us at the desk was the Hotel Manager – Guglielmo. We met him early in our cruise as his cabin is near ours on deck 12.
Guglielmo, Monica and Lorena began our tour with an explanation of the Top Sail lounge followed by a walk through the thermal area also on deck 13. We took the elevator to deck 15 then walked the stairs to deck 16 where we were shown the bar, restaurant, jacuzzi, pool and chaise lounges. You can click here to see what these facilities look like on some of the other MSC ships. Before concluding the tour, we were invited to join Guglielmo and Lorena for lunch on Friday – we accepted.
Completing the immigration face-to-face was easy and quick. Our passports and visas were checked, passports were stamped and signed and we were done. We left the ship and walked toward the pier that had shops and restaurants. At a souvenir shop Kelsey bought an addition to her collection of stuffed animals – a zebra. I found a t-shirt. Jan passed. It was near noon, so we looked for a restaurant and found one that advertised Hawaiian burgers with chips (fries) for 80 NAD ($4.84). While we were waiting for a table, we looked at t-shirts that were for sale at the restaurant. Jan and Kelsey found one that is shown in today’s gallery.
The weather was great, so we chose a table in the sun outside the restaurant. Each of us ordered a Hawaiian burger and a drink. As we were waiting for our food and drinks to be delivered we noticed many staff from the ship stopping at or looking over the same restaurant. We saw 3 of the 4 main theater singers, many wait staff from the restaurant and some of the cruise staff. Sonia and Cristian chose a table closer to the interior of the restaurant. Our food and beverages arrived and we chowed down. It was so nice to have a made-for-us burger and it tasted great!
We made our way back from the pier to the ship and did little the remainder of the time in Walvis Bay. I did take some shots of the area and created a time lapse as we sailed away. In that video you can see a bloom (swarm) of red jellyfish located next to the dock. The bloom moves back and forth in the time lapse.
Tonight there was a special presentation in the theater – the cruise staff gave us a variety show. The show included singing, dancing, comedy and a special message at the end for all the passengers. There are plenty of stills and video in the gallery from the show. One of my favorites is a clip with 11 of the staff in a line each with physical moves that could hurt the people next to them if they aren’t done at exactly the correct time. Kelsey hangs out with many of the people in the show so she asked to have a photo with them. You’ll find photos of her with most of the staff and her nearly-daily hug person – Sonia.
You can view today’s media here.