I thought I’d never go on a cruise – this adventurous voyage from Dakar to Lisbon changed my mind

The SH Diana navigates its way through still waters - (Swan Hellenic)

In the days leading up to my very first cruise, I felt a certain apprehension. My mind was full of horror stories one hears about these behemoth floating cities: the diesel fuel and the sewage; the seasickness and the virus outbreaks; but above all, that feeling of being trapped on board, unable to escape one’s fellow passengers.

The minute I stepped aboard the SH Diana, at the Port of Dakar, in Senegal, these fears were allayed. This 125m polar ice-class expedition ship – one of three in the Swan Hellenic fleet – is oceans away from the mass-tourism vessels you see in the cruise ports of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. At full capacity, it accommodates 192 guests and 141 crew, rather than the thousands seemingly crammed like sardines on the larger ships. And after walking up the gangway to a welcoming committee of smiling crew, I discovered that, for my leg of the cruise – from Dakar to Lisbon, via Western Sahara, the Canaries and Madeira – there were only 59 other passengers aboard in addition to my wife and me.