Sunday

At sea

Once again I slept through the sunrise. Awoke at 7.30am to bright sunshine and oppressive heat and humidity (on the balcony, it was air-con cool in my cabin).

At 10am I went to a talk on the arrangements for the next three ports; Pago Pago in American Samoa on Thursday, Suva in Fiji next Sunday and Port Vila in Vanuatu on the Tuesday after. The presenter gave a brief history of each country, some cultural background, the sort of welcome we as tourists could expect to receive; the locals everywhere will be very happy to see us except in Suva where if we wander away from the main business district there is the possibility that we will to be robbed and beaten up. I suppose in the latter case the locals are still happy to see us, they just express it in a different way.

At the risk of offending Ipad users, using an Ipad as a camera just looks silly; like the person taking the photo is holding a large thin book at arm’s length, as though they need reading glasses. I first noticed this at the Grand Canyon where there were so many people with rigid arms taking Ipad photos that parts of the canyon rim were looking like a Nazi rally for obese people.

There is also the Ipad video; where the Ipad is carried while walking to video the scene in front of the user; the device thereby blocking out the view of the very thing that the person has come to see.

About 11.30am I suddenly felt tired and slept for 3 hours – must have been all the excitement of the morning at sea catching up with me! It had started raining while I was asleep and has continued to do so on and off during the rest of the afternoon.

Life on board isn’t quite as exotic and sophisticated as the brochures and advertising for Holland America Line would have you believe but it is very comfortable; although probably a bit quiet for anyone under 70 years of age. I’ve never seen so many people using walking sticks, walking frames and wheelchairs; it’s like being in a retirement village at sea.

The staff are constantly pleasant, even in the face of the most witless complaints from passengers. I heard that someone had complained that the trivia questions weren’t “international” enough; no idea what this means, probably that the complainer didn’t know the answers to any of the questions. I don’t think I’d be suited to a career at sea on a ship like this one; at least not since flogging on the quarter deck ceased to be a daily activity.