Aboard the MSC’s Orchestra and out at sea heading to Mozambique, Welcome Lishivha finds sublime views, the energy to party and time to rest from the hustle and bustle of the city.
The Orchestra is one of the 17 ships owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, and it leaves the Durban Harbour on Monday arriving at Pomene in Mozambique on Wednesdays and returns back to Durban on Friday. With over 3000 guests and 1000 crew members, you would expect it to be an administrative nightmare of long and unmoving queues, but not. I found the staff to be generally well-organized and ready to offer help, barring the rude Gerry.
With a menu made up of pasta, pizza and tiramisu, their menu reflects the origins of the Aponte family from Sorrento in Italy who started the company 300 years ago and brought Italian cuisine to their fleet. On the Orchestra, dinner is divided into first and second seating, where you will be generously offered delicious bread. Do indulge you in the fresh bread, as a preamble to the three-course meal ahead. You’re required to dress up for the occasion, which although might feel like an imposition, created a jovial mood around dressing up which I had missed.
If that’s not your thing, head over to the buffet area where you could easily moderate your portions, or not. Get food at the buffet and eat in your suit or order room service. If you fill in their breakfast form before heading to bed, they’ll deliver coffee, croissants, and muesli in your room first thing in the morning.
The queues for food were reminiscent of the ques at weddings, except faster an with varied options like fried banana. My highlight from the trip is that black South Africans were in the majority, which you almost never find in many tourist establishments. It is a lovely sight when elderly women are singing and dancing and once in a while, you find strangers out-dancing each other in a circle or jamming together to old school jam. The variant music made everyone all the more merrier. From Brenda Fassie to Rihanna, to Sho Madjozi and Makhadzi, the music was mostly a lovely mix of old school and contemporary hits. It felt like one big black family party. From big & small families, women’s support groups and bridal gangs, the experience had such a familial touch that I wish I had brought my aunt and grandmother with.
The team is efficient in managing the flow of food and drinks between people. It never feels too overwhelming for the number of people on board. They have a big crew dedicated to various aspects of managing over 3000 guests. They were quite rigorous with safety and temperature screenings detecting fever possibly caused by Coronavirus and had signs everywhere with hand sanitizer encouraging people to wash their hands, which had me feeling at ease.
The amenities include a spa and relaxation area, gym, children’s area and a total of 8 bars. The suites have balconies with ocean views, chic interior decor and comfortable sheets. There’s a covenant garden theatre where you will find a dance production every night and the Calabranca Pool ideal for a day swim and Palm Beach Casino for those who are inclined. We went for sushi-tasting at one of their three restaurants, Shanghai. There are stores selling lux brands of jewelry, perfume and bags.
After two nights and three days, we arrive in Pomene on Wednesday morning. Farries transport us from the ship to the island on a 10-minute ride that easily gets choppy with the wind, offering a free speedboat experience along the way. The process of disembarking was faster than I had expected. In about 30 minutes my feet were on the mushy Mozambican sand beach in Poneme.
On the island, we arrive to stalls selling colorful hats and bags with various prints of cloth and beautiful hand-made artifacts that I spend some time adorning through the market before heading for a swim in the humid heat. Hat, sunscreen, and the MSC towel Orange towel in hand, I busk in the sun, swim in the lovely Indian ocean before continueing busk some more. There are drinks and lunch is served. As we head back into the ship, we leave the towels by the security and temparture scans – only to arrive to a clean towel in my suite.
The next remaining days we spend aboard the ship heading back to Durban. “I don’t want to go back at land,” I overhear one lady in a food que as Friday draws closer. I can relate and even the idea of being quarantined at sea doesn’ seem too awful. It is sad and unbelievable. But I go back rejuvenated by the expansiveness of sea, where water spans as far and wide as the eye can see. In the five days of the cruise, I have observed the sun set and rise with unique hues of orange and pink canvassed by the might sky. It is a sublime affair, not a pretty one, and it is inspiring to witness. Sublimity and prettiness are separated by so great a distance, says A.C Bradley, that our sudden attempt to unite them has a comical effect. The endless and mesmerizing beauty of the sea is truly sublime. Bradley correctly calls sublimity the highest of all forms assumed by beauty, in nature or in works of imagination. And I can’ think of a better way to savour in one of nature’s most powerful elements than the morning when I was awakened by the warm and golden glow of the sun on my face as the it rose above the horizon of the sea, taken in from a bed with fresh, comfortable cotton sheets and a restful yawn.
Prices range from R5800 (on special) for four nights from Durban to Mozambique and back. Drinks range from R50 to R80 with packages of all-inclusive drinks ranging between R550 to R1200 per day unlimited drinks.
The cruises cover the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Asia, North Europe, South America, Abu Dabi, Dubai, Qatar, and Southern Africa.
This article was first published by the City Press.