April 11th, 2024

We awoke and we were still in port. The Captain came on about 8:30 and said that the wind would remain high all day and maybe we could get out around 10pm. Viking was working on getting the immigration officials to let us off but they were not having much luck and they would continue working on it.

First thing in the am and there is just a little table cloth over Table Mountain.

I went down and played Mah Jongg and we all were waiting for the announcement that we could go on shore and it did not come while we were playing. The Captain did not do his usual noon report which we thought was strange since it was supposed to be a sea day.

Around 1pm the Captain came on to explain why we were seeing smaller ship exit and enter the port and explained wind surface area and how a tug could not control us if the wind got a hold of us. He also announced that Viking was still working with immigration to let us off.

It was very frustrating because it was a beautiful day and we really wanted to go out and explore Cape Town since we did not see any of it on our tour. As the afternoon wore on we realized that going on shore was not going to happen. I even jokingly asked our room steward to get me a bunch of sheets so I could climb down. It really made no sense to us why people that they just checked in and out yesterday could not go back in. I guess the country is so rich they did not need the cash that us affluent cruise ship passengers had to offer.

The day was perfectly clear by mid day and you could see Lion’s head on the left and signal hill on the right

A panoramic from the top of the ship.

The bad thing was that the Queen Victoria was supposed to dock in Cape Town but could not since we were in their berth. We could see them out in the bay just waiting. One of the passengers from the Queen Victoria posted on the Viking world cruise Facebook page that they were waiting for us to leave so they could come in. It was actually kind of cute. She also asked for recommendations of what to do in Cape Town.’

Sunset over Cape Town

We were finally told that the wind was breaking enough that we could probably get out around 10:30pm. Kathy and I went to bed around 11 and we still had not left. I woke up at 1 because I felt the ship moving and when I looked out the window we were already out of the harbor. People on board said we left around 11:30pm.

Due to the late departure the Captain said that we would have to miss our next port of call which is Luderitz, Namibia and proceed straight to Wallis Bay Namibia.

Friday would be a sea day.