01 November 2017; At Sea, Day 2.

With an hour back a lot of guests were up and about very early. I normally have my breakfast around 06.30 in comparative solitude while only continental breakfast is being served; but this morning it was well before 0700, when full breakfast is available, that large groups were already marching into the Lido. So maybe we have another phenomenon in the making here, guests take a long cruise with sea days, solely to get up early in the morning. Of course our guests are welcome to do whatever they want, and we have coffee available to help any early riser problem, but there is not that much to do this early. Apart from observing me having breakfast. (Cornflakes and orange juice)

If you look at the daily program of today, highlight of the early morning was a 02.00 hrs. setting the clocks one hour back but as that ritual takes place on the bridge it is a restricted-access affair so not much of interest to the guests. Next is at 06.00 the Fitness is open for guests (counting six early risers on the torture machines) and then next thing is Fitness class at 07.00 hrs. Then, apart from Breakfast, there are no activities until 08.00 when Mass is celebrated in the Main Show lounge. Thus the ship does not give much reason to raise that early but still a few hundred people were there. As bright and shiny as can be and not willing to wait for the Dining room to open at 08.00 hrs. (Unless they went for a 2^nd breakfast, that is)

One of these early risers cornered me after having recognized me as being “somebody from the ship, and asked rather indignantly why there were only foreign newspapers available. On the stand where the British, Dutch, and German newspapers (Spanish and others are available by request) but no American or Canadian. I had to think for a moment and then it dawned on me that this also has to do with time differences. Our company has a newspaper subscription and the papers covered are released when the real, local newspaper, goes to print. So the ships version is also as actual as possible. Hence the printer receives them early morning and they are available at around 06.30 hrs. New York is still four hours behind us, and the New York Times version has not been released yet then. It will only be available around 09.00 or 10.00 hrs. Ship’s time, when it is around 05.00 hrs. in New York. The closer we come to Eastern Standard Time, the earlier the Canadian and American newspapers will appear. I explained this to the guest but looking at his facial expression I got the impression that he did not believe one word of it.

When we sail in Alaska it is the other way around at Breakfast time (4 hrs. earlier than New York) the two North American papers are available but Europe is so far behind, that we start running a day behind in the newspaper business; e.g. getting old news compared with the New York Times. Still we get the news and in the morning, and there is a steady stream of guests passing by the Front Desk to pick up the morning (foreign) copy and then closer to lunch time there is another stream passing by the pick up North American papers.

The weather today was the same day as yesterday, mainly overcast but quiet and with a nice gentle temperature on the outside deck. Not T shirt weather, but not sweater weather either. Tomorrow the sun is supposed to break through with a slight increase in wind but not anymore swell.