A whiff of the future

Grabbed this photo at the last minute as we left the cruise ship and only when I opened it up later in the computer did I see that I had snapped a couple holding hands.
 
Its just another sign of how the clientele on cruise ships are changing, not only younger but also appealing to the gay and multicultural communities too.
 
A big change though is in the staff. For some reason the Indonesian staff in the dining areas have been replaced by East Europeans, mainly Serbs though Michael who made me freshly squeezed orange juice every morning was a former British Telecom manager from Oxford made redundant and now manages one of the restaurants.
 
We were not the only ones who found this change somewhat disconcerting: the friendly, smiley faces of the Indonesians replaced by stone faced East Europeans.
 
Clearly they were not happy doing catering work but it was also the only work available.  Occasionally I tried to talk to them and instantly they relaxed and would chat but only for a minute then their eyes would scan the restaurant fearful that their supervior would see them.
 
The ship was almost double the size of its predecessor yet there was half the staff. They were run off their feet.
 
Gone too are the team of photographers. They have been replaced by one photographer and rows of machines, which automatically display all photos.
 
Gone too are the middle market shops on board shops now replaced by high-end designer shop.
 
Sad to see the library room had disappeared by three bookshelves in the corner of The Coffee Pot, a quiet area. Likewise the Internet room has gone- everyone uses their smartphones or tablets.
 I felt out of step with the zeitgeist of our age by producing a laptop.
 
While this  new ship is the pride of their fleet ( no guessing which line it is) and while it is unquestionably high on glamour and glitz one wonders at what price has been paid for this.
 

PS. And I have not even mentioned the climbing wall, outdoor cinema and rooftop golf course…