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 Now that the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have become, well, a lot less fatal, people are eager to do the things that they couldn’t do when we were forced to isolate and maintain our distance from each other.  The travel industry seems to be experiencing a boom and partying and social gatherings seem to be valued so much more after all that we’ve been through. In light of this, I present to you the best way to do both: If you’re into both partying and travelling, cruising is for you! 

Having worked for two different cruise lines, and with friends who work for many others, I compiled a list of what theme parties you can expect on which ships. So if you’re looking for the best theme parties at sea, this is where you can find them: 

(If you’re that type of cruiser who likes to be prepared, this list will also help you pack the right outfits or costumes for the relevant theme nights on board.)

Cruise ship deck party

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Robot concierge at hotel sky

I recently got the chance to check out Cape Town's Hotel Sky, A.K.A ‘the robot hotel’ and this is what I thought about it: 

If you want to find out how you too can meet and befriend a robot concierge, how you can ride the Sky-HI Ride and what else the Hotel Sky has on offer, read on.  

Disclaimer: I didn’t actually stay at the hotel but my friend Bronwyn did and I frikkin love hotels so I found a way to make use of all its amenities as if I was staying there (not the gym, why would I bother with that?). I even made friends with the concierges, (human and robots alike). 


What I liked about it: 

The decor

I love that the Hotel Sky is a testament to the fact that you can’t go overboard with chandeliers, ever, you just can't. But I appreciate that they tried. The excessive use of gold tile in the foyer and outside the hotel’s entrance sounds kitsch too, but nah, it’s awesome! 
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(A.K.A: Katy Perry has Just been Named the Godmother of a 142,500 Ton Baby and I’m Jealous!)

*Originally published in The Sunday Times as Once upon a time: The tale of Katy Perry (and other cruise godmothers)
Katy Perry as Cruise Ship Godmother her role in its christening
Photo: Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line just announced that Katy Perry will be the godmother to their latest ship, the Norwegian Prima, launching later this year. But what does that even mean?
 Where does the cruise ship godmother tradition come from and what does it entail?

Why do cruise ships even have godmothers?

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& 50 Incredible Things to Experience Nearby


Whether you are coming to Cape Town to embark on a cruise or stopping here for a day or two as a port of call on your cruise's itinerary, here is everything thing you need to know to make the most of Cape Town and your cruise experience. 


Why Cape Town may be one of the World's Best Cruise Ship Ports

Having worked on cruise ships for six years and lived in Cape Town for two, I have to say that I believe that Cape Town is one of the best cruise ship ports for visitors in the world. And I’ve been to a LOT of cruise ports!

Arriving at any international destination by ship can be daunting. When you don’t opt for expensive cell-phone roaming services and you’re unfamiliar with a destination’s currency, language and transport systems, together with the added pressure of needing to be back on board by a certain time, these factors can make a port visit a bit stressful. 

To add to this, a city’s cruise port is usually located a fair distance away from its attractions, sometimes in industrial or shipping areas, forcing visitors to travel by unfamiliar transport systems to reach the main tourist hotspots and often making them easy prey to being scammed or overcharged. 

If anything, often the only thing visitors can rely on is a very familiar collection of souvenir and jewellery stores right in the port terminal, built especially for the cruise ship tourists but giving them absolutely no impression of what the destination is actually like. (Well, apart from what is depicted on the souvenir fridge magnets and shot glasses that they sell.)  

Cape Town is definitely not like this!

With MSC having recently resumed cruises off the South African coast and NCL now expected to begin its inaugural South African season later this year, in this post, I explain why visiting Cape Town by cruise ship or embarking on a cruise from this location is such a treat!

The V&A Waterfront: The Ultimate Guide to Cape Town as a Cruise Ship Port

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Normally adventure tours and educational history tours are not the same tours but I recently discovered that they can be! If you’re looking for an unusual way to explore the city of Cape Town and its history, you should consider journeying underneath it on a secret underground tunnel tour.


When I first moved to Cape Town I was working for a company that wanted me to compile a travel guide to the city for visitors from China. Of course, the pandemic ruined that dream job but before it did, it inspired me to compile a long and exciting Cape Town bucket list (that I will get around to publishing one day soon: Watch this space!). Since the beginning of 2020, one of the top items on my list has been to do an underground tunnel tour. 

Recently, Good Hope Adventures gave me my chance. 

Silhouette in underground tunnel

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Title image: Travel experiences not worth having

We've all heard of a bucket list, a list of things you want to do before you 'kick the bucket'.  F**k-it lists, however, are much less common. A f**k-it list is basically a list of things that you fully intend to avoid for the rest of your life. After a year like 2021 I feel like maybe it's time we all wrote one, here's why:


As someone who takes just about any opportunity possible to experience just about anything good that this world has to offer, some of my friends associate me with the very concept of FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out). When one of them stumbled upon an article on JOMO, they felt the need to share it with me. 

JOMO is obviously the Joy of Missing Out (and, yes, also the first name of a very famous South African soccer player).  JOMO is that feeling you get when you decline an invitation or, for some reason, are given permission to miss that thing that you didn’t really want to attend anyway. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an extrovert, but I will choose to risk a bad experience going out any day over the expectation of a decent experience staying in. I don’t relate well to the concept JOMO.

2021 has not really been the year we expected it to be. I don’t know about you but in 2020, I believed that if I could just make it to the end of the year, things would be better. 2021 started off feeling a lot like 2020. Then the vaccine came out and I’m so grateful that its rollout happened faster than I anticipated. 

Towards the end of the year, things were looking up. Travel was happening, life seemed to be returning to something closer to normal and I was literally invited on the media trip of my dreams! An all-expenses-paid, more-than-a-week long, international travel experience that filled me with excitement beyond anything I’ve experienced since 2019! It felt like I had won a really big, expensive, exciting prize. A specific prize that I had been fantasising about for years and never fathomed I would get to experience.  

Yes, I knew there was a fourth wave coming but I also assumed that between my two vaccinations and my youth (sort of), it wouldn’t affect me. And then Omnicron came around and crushed all my dreams! By the time the world realised that it wasn’t that bad, it was too late, my trip was cancelled. 

I’ve been feeling very stuck in different aspects of my life and I really believe that literally moving your body to a different part of the planet, even temporarily (i.e. travelling), is a great way to shift your mind, your perspective and your trajectory. For the last two years, I have been fantasising about international destinations that I don’t seem to be able to travel to in a way that is safe, affordable and doesn’t require long and expensive quarantine periods. I know I am not the only one who is feeling stuck and a bit frustrated by all this as well as the unpredictability of it all. 

So, in order to maintain a positive state of mind, one that is filled with gratitude and not bitterness, I have decided to try to apply the concept of JOMO to travel. Instead of focusing on the places I want to travel to but can’t, I’ve decided to forget about my bucket list for now and focus on my travel F**k-it list instead, filled with places or experiences that I have zero intention of experiencing and thoroughly enjoy missing out on.
*I will reconsider for a large enough sum of money or enough free stuff. 

My Travel F**k-it List:

Here are 10 travel destinations or experiences not worth having, all illustrated through some bad photoshop for your enjoyment:

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The De Hoop Nature Reserve is home to an incredible combination of wildlife, birdlife and marine life. The approximately 340 square kilometre reserve extends into a protected marine area that stretches three nautical miles off its shores. This becomes the breeding ground for the Southern Right Whales between June and December each year. 

This is also the location of The De Hoop Collection, a selection of impressive accommodation options that forms part of the Cape Country Routes. Here one can have an enjoyable stay in the midst of incredible natural surroundings. Not only is this beautiful place a World Heritage site but it is also just a three-hour drive from Cape Town.  

If I haven’t already convinced you to go there, here are 20 reasons to visit the De Hoop Nature Reserve:

De Hoop: The ultimate Western Cape weekend getaway
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About the Sharonicles


The Sharonicles is a travel humour blog that has gone viral on more than one occasion for its light-hearted views on all things ‘travel’. 

Here you will find helpful tips on South African travel (from a local), cruise travel (from the perspective of an ex-cruise ship crew member) and international travel (from someone who has travelled to 57 countries on a crew member / South African budget.) 

But, you will not find any pictures of me running through a lavender field wearing a fedora. 
Sorry. 
It's not that kind of travel blog.

P.S. There’s also a flamingo!


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