On board.

We have now left Yokohama ( which was a pleasant surprise and reminded us of Baltimore but with palm trees ) and have joined the Palo Altoans on our ‘environmentally friendly cruise ship . The brochure in the cabin informs us the ship is‘ large  enough to weather the worlds roughest waters but small enough to visit places other cruise ships can’t reach’. Today is a ‘sea day’ and the sunshine of recent days has been replaced by something more Scottish and blustery.

The passengers are for the most part a cheerful bunch although some display a reserve that suggests they are less than delighted to have had to change their meal time seating plans to accommodate these late arrivals. As a group they tend to the  formal. For dinner last night the majority of the men wore a cruise uniform of blazers  with white button down shirts. The women displayed greater creativity but tended towards wearing black cocktail dresses and a lot of artisanal jewelery . Exceptions are a sharply dressed younger ‘techy’ couple - he in a light blue expensive looking shark skin jacket, she in black vest , matching leggings and heavily embroidered turquoise felt slippers . There is also a lady of a certain age called ‘Gwinny’  who dresses eccentrically in floral patterns and is travelling with a much younger man  in a track suit who attentively  strokes her hand during dinner . We assume he is her college age grand son.We may ,however, be wrong in this assumption. ‘Gwinny’ ,according to the wine waiter,is fabulously wealthy having  inherited a controlling block of shares in an insurance company founded by a previous husband. All on board consume alcohol as if it’s going out of fashion.

Our accommodation is at the rear of the boat. The designers have adopted a 1970’s era La Guardia airport Holiday Inn look with eau de  Nile coloured carpets and lots of brass  wall fittings. A large cherry red sofa somewhat surprisingly completes  the decor. We have three wash basins, one loo and a thin corridor that leads to an enclosed dining area dominated by a mural of a Greek goddess standing in a field of flowers. This unusual configuration leads us to believe the owners originally planned to instal more cabins here but the ships pre-existing plumbing  layout defeated them.’ The world is full of cabins but our cabins are uniquely ours . It’s all about us as individuals ‘says the brochure in florid English.