Our Anchor …

This is our third sea day en route to Tokyo, and as promised, it’s time to feature our lovely captain! It’s also my second post of the day as I try to catch up now we’re off the ship and commencing our final two weeks touring Japan. 

Captain Giovanni Shaffiano has been in charge of the Silver Dawn for the last 57 days, 35 of which were spent with full crew but zero passengers as the route around Africa was taken to relocate the ship to Singapore. It’s very clear he is well-loved by the entire crew as the traditional ‘crew parade’ tonight shows. I presume this happens on all cruises - it’s the chance to show appreciation for all members of the crew. I’ve experienced several, but I’ve never known such genuine warmth; most of us are on our feet - for the wonderful crew who have looked after us for the last three weeks, and for the man who has led them. As he puts it, he is the ‘anchor’ that holds the ship in place - useless without the chain links that join together. 

Captain Giovanni can be found regularly about the ship, always happy to talk to passengers, encouraging younger ones to - there are very few in this ship - inviting them up onto the bridge. He was Father Christmas back in December, and joined us all on deck to celebrate new year. He has links to charities in various places and visited a children’s home when we were in The Philippines. 

He spoke about his maritime career in one of our ship lectures. These have been many and varied ranging from destination talks, to history, politics and the natural world. Today, for example we’ve had a talk on Putin, the opening up of the Arctic shipping routes, and the final part in a series of talks about the minds of psychopaths and sociopaths! Hailing from his beloved Genoa, he followed his father into a maritime career. He delivered his talk with his usual warmth and humour, supported by personal photographs. It’s impossible not to like this man. 

And, of course, he’s kept us safe, altering sailing times and routes to ensure things have been as safe and comfortable as possible. We’ll miss you, Captain Giovanni - as will the crew now he’s heading home to Genoa for a few weeks. I just hope we come across him again on some future cruise …..