Africa West Coast

[never2home]

We have booked the November/December 2020 cruise from Lisbon to Cape Town.  What are your experiences with ports on the western coast of Africa?  I am trying to decide if this is an itinerary we really should complete.

[captjohn]

Be interested to see your responses since we are booked also. There is an active Roll Call, so you could take a look at it.

Where in AZ are you ?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2575368-lisbon-cape-town-november-14-2020/page/2/

[JMARINER]

I did this itinerary on the 2010 world cruise. IMO west Africa was  the last place I would tell anyone to visit. (Other may disagree). West Africa is very different that East or South. No animals and nothing much interesting to see.

 

J

[1982CruzStart]

1 hour ago, JMARINER said:

I did this itinerary on the 2010 world cruise. IMO west Africa was  the last place I would tell anyone to visit. (Other may disagree). West Africa is very different that East or South. No animals and nothing much interesting to see.

 

J

We did this itinerary in 2018 i found the West Africa ports not very interesting.  Not anything like the cruise that took us along East Africa. Infrastructure is very limited in the east african ports and our time in some of the ports was very disruptive to the locals as we had police escorts stopping traffic so our caravan of buses could get around. 

 

I don't regret taking it as it started in one of my favorite places (Lisbon) and ended in another one (safari in South Africa) and well it was a cruise on a beautiful ship. I can't recommend it to others but would also try not to dissuade anyone from going. What each person finds interesting can be very different.  

 

Flossie009 and I did a thread on the trip so if you are interested in our experiences i recommend you read through it. 

[flossie009]

5 minutes ago, 1982CruzStart said:

Flossie009 and I did a thread on the trip so if you are interested in our experiences i recommend you read through it.

 

Our joint blog may be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2609622-explorer-lisbon-to-cape-town-nov-28-until-dragged-kicking-screaming-off/

 

Page #5 onwards covers the West African ports. We found some of the ports culturally challenging but very interesting. This itinerary offered us a unique opportunity to visit some of the locations and we are extremely glad that we chose the cruise.

 

Summaries of the cruise may be found on page #13 (posts 305-308) and page #14 (post #326)

[Catpow]

We were also on this cruise in 2018 with Flossie and 1982Cruzstart.  It WAS a different cruise and not all passengers loved it.  We did, as it was entirely different to anywhere we'd travelled before; we basically treated it as three holidays: Lisbon and the Canary and Madeira islands, the African West Coast and Cape Town and the end of cruise safari.  It was new territory for the Explorer under the fabulous Captain Serena: its longest cruise at 24 nights, first time south of the equator and other firsts like their first Country Fair.  There were some logistics issues like running out of items - restocking en route was not an option.

 

It was largely a cultural tour, with some nature thrown in.  There was a low key emphasis on the slave trade as some passengers were very interested in that aspect.  We saw much music, dancing and were able to sample the food and drink typical to each region at most stops.  We travelled to many areas where tourism was desperately needed and we were welcomed on this basis.  Happy schoolkids waved at us, and at many ports we were greeted or farewelled by local musicians.  Yes, we were as of much interest to many of them as they were to us.

 

The contrast between each port and the effect of European colonisation on their current culture and beliefs was probably what we took away from the trip.  And yes, we would do it again without hesitation.  And no, it was not six star luxury on land - that's what the ship is for.

[Keith1010]

I have done the West Coast of Africa two times on another cruise line.

 

The reality is you will visit third world places.  

If you are looking for something like Cape Town or Europe or other places like this you will not see this on an itinerary that is focused on the West Coast.  There is certainly some history to see including some related to our own country.

 

Be advised that touring will be more challenging as vehicles will not be up to the standards you will normally experience.

 

With that said this is the world we live in.  The world is diverse.

 

Also Africa as a whole is projected to have phenomenal growth in the future including the economy.

 

Again if you are looking to tour places where you can easily do it on your own and where facilities are 20th and 21st century this is not the itinerary for you.

 

If you want to experience another area of the world that is very different from other places this might be for you.

 

Keith

[DeepFreeze63]

4 hours ago, Catpow said:

We were also on this cruise in 2018 with Flossie and 1982Cruzstart.  It WAS a different cruise and not all passengers loved it.  We did, as it was entirely different to anywhere we'd travelled before; we basically treated it as three holidays: Lisbon and the Canary and Madeira islands, the African West Coast and Cape Town and the end of cruise safari.  It was new territory for the Explorer under the fabulous Captain Serena: its longest cruise at 24 nights, first time south of the equator and other firsts like their first Country Fair.  There were some logistics issues like running out of items - restocking en route was not an option.

 

It was largely a cultural tour, with some nature thrown in.  There was a low key emphasis on the slave trade as some passengers were very interested in that aspect.  We saw much music, dancing and were able to sample the food and drink typical to each region at most stops.  We travelled to many areas where tourism was desperately needed and we were welcomed on this basis.  Happy schoolkids waved at us, and at many ports we were greeted or farewelled by local musicians.  Yes, we were as of much interest to many of them as they were to us.

 

The contrast between each port and the effect of European colonisation on their current culture and beliefs was probably what we took away from the trip.  And yes, we would do it again without hesitation.  And no, it was not six star luxury on land - that's what the ship is for.

Thanks, you convinced me. If I'm still around in 2022, I'm going to take this cruise if offered by Regent.

[alidor]

Thank you for this.   We are on the 2020 cruise and this is pretty much what we are expecting. I don’t expect to find a European type vacation or a Cape Town.   Maybe like Tanzania where we were last Christmas, but without the animals.  But, I guess that is why we travel because we like to see the different parts of the world and understand their ways of life.

[never2home]

On 12/14/2019 at 11:12 AM, captjohn said:

Be interested to see your responses since we are booked also. There is an active Roll Call, so you could take a look at it.

Where in AZ are you ?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2575368-lisbon-cape-town-november-14-2020/page/2/

Thank you, I have been following that Roll Call.  

We are in Fountain Hills.

[never2home]

On 12/14/2019 at 10:13 AM, never2home said:

We have booked the November/December 2020 cruise from Lisbon to Cape Town.  What are your experiences with ports on the western coast of Africa?  I am trying to decide if this is an itinerary we really should complete.

I love all of the responses to my original question, both positive and negative.  The decision is still up in the air but I am leaning toward taking the trip.  We have traveled to several Third World countries.  Seeing the people, their living conditions and their attitudes is part of realizing what a small grain of sand we are in this hugh world.  Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed comments.

[never2home]

On 12/14/2019 at 1:34 PM, flossie009 said:

 

Our joint blog may be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2609622-explorer-lisbon-to-cape-town-nov-28-until-dragged-kicking-screaming-off/

 

Page #5 onwards covers the West African ports. We found some of the ports culturally challenging but very interesting. This itinerary offered us a unique opportunity to visit some of the locations and we are extremely glad that we chose the cruise.

 

Summaries of the cruise may be found on page #13 (posts 305-308) and page #14 (post #326)

Wow!  What a great blog.  Thank you for the heads-up and referencing the proper pages.  Very, very informative.  The pictures give lots of information, too.

[Wherenextcruiser]

We too are on this cruise.  Chose it because it is so unusual and these for the most part are places we would never think of going typically.  Looking forward to meeting those of you on it.  Should be an adventurous bunch.