The People You Meet

As we get closer to the end of our journey, we’ve begun reflecting on our experiences. One of the pleasures of taking a long voyage is meeting people and making friends. Since leaving Southampton, we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know people from over the world. The majority of passengers on the first segment to Cape Town were from the U.K., with smaller numbers from Germany and the U.S. The list of passengers from other countries was like reading a map of the world.

Also, depending on where we were on our journey, the mix of passengers changed, with people from other countries getting on at various ports. For example, when we arrived in Australia, several hundred Australians came onboard. In Hong Kong, large numbers of Chinese and Japanese boarded. It was the same in every major port with people of different nationalities arriving. We always had an interesting mix of people.

Throughout the voyage, we’ve had a Swiss couple in the cabin next to us. Since I don’t speak French or German, and they don’t speak English, we exchanged a Bon jour, Madame and a smile each morning. Often, that’s all you need.

Sometimes we had a brief chat with people sharing a table at breakfast, never to see them again, and at other times we saw people often enough that we became friends. With passengers coming and going, it was always nice to run into passengers who continued to sail with us week after week.

We’ve so enjoyed hearing about people’s lives and their travels. Recently, we met a couple who spent 12 years as missionaries in the Congo. The woman had been the daughter of missionaries in India, and as a very young child, had lived in a boarding school for the children of missionaries in the south of India, three hours from her parents.

The stories of peoples’ careers and travels were equally as interesting. For example, we learned a lot hearing about the adventures of the couple that moved from England to Canada and established a vineyard. Also, we enjoyed talking to a woman who had been an officer on another cruise line and hearing about her visit to Fiji long ago when there were still only straw huts and one newly opened hotel—so new that the waiter had no idea how to open a bottle of wine.

Another woman we met was traveling back to Germany after living in Hong Kong for 12 years. She was uncertain how she would react to life there after so many years in a country so totally different from her own.

We also admired the courage of many of the passengers who had very limited mobility but were determined to see the world, especially the woman who was severely bent over and walked with two canes. She went out at every port, even on the hottest days, and always refused help. Sometimes we didn’t know how she made it back. And the paralyzed woman who only had the use of one hand to navigate her electric wheelchair, but got around the ship on her own. How could anyone complain about little things on the ship with these examples of hardship?

Some of our favorite people were the two couples we’ve shared a table with, who after dining with them for over three months, we still enjoy and find interesting (Molly and Rory from England, and John and Beverly from California). Also among our favorites was a German couple, Helmet and Brumhild, who every time we saw them brought a smile to our faces. And so many others: Robert, a retired English professor from Kansas, Rodney and Theresa from Oxford, Ann and Ed, retired teachers from Detroit, and Antonia and Curt from Florida.

There were so many people who were on the ship for short stays and we were so sorry to see them leave: Jeff and Frances from Wales, and John and Carol from Bromley in England.

We will miss so many people. And then, of course, Kenneth our cabin steward from the Philippines, and Kumar and Muba our waiters from India. All of them have helped make our journey such a pleasure.

On a ship, you also meet people from all walks of life, and when you meet them, you have no idea about their backgrounds. Two of our tablemates had joined a quiz group that met daily for weeks. One day they received a note from two of their quiz partners, who had written to say that they would be leaving the ship because of death in the family and apologized for not being able to tell them in person or say goodbye.  The letterhead on the note read Lord and Lady….  The quiz group had no idea.

Some people know exactly what they want out of a cruise and what’s important to them. One woman, on her first day on the ship, went to the hairdresser on board and booked appointments for the next twelve weeks. First things first.

Then there are those people you can set your watch by. Each day at precisely 12:15 p.m., a tiny German woman walked out on to the promenade deck and race walked for 30 minutes. It’s probably why she was so trim.

And no matter what accommodation you’ve booked, nothing will be perfect. We heard about a couple who booked one of the Queen’s Grill suites, one of the largest on the ship, that vibrated so much that they had to sleep in a nearby cabin until it could be fixed.

And as wonderful as long voyages sound, they aren’t for everyone. We heard of an elderly couple that mortgaged their home to take the world voyage in a Queen’s Grill suite (staggeringly expensive), and discovered that they didn’t enjoy cruising at all. They had never taken a cruise before. Perhaps a short weekend voyage somewhere would have been been a better and cheaper introduction to the world of sea travel. 

Periodically we’ve seen several members of the crew that we recognized from being on the QE2 and the Queen Mary. When we’ve asked them if they had been on one of the other Cunard ships, they always seemed so pleased that we remembered them.

Sea days gave us lots of time to people watch, and we saw some interesting and sometimes humorous things. Such as the woman who dressed everyday in apparel covered in animal prints, even if it was only her shoes. Or the Japanese couple who dressed alike every day, right down to their large plaid trousers. We thought that was funny until one day John pointed out that I had been sitting on a deck chair next to a man who wore a yellow shirt and coral shorts, just like me. For anyone passing, we looked like a couple that had dressed alike.

Of course, like in all walks of life, there have also been some people who weren’t pleasant or thoughtful. Below are some things that we’ve seen or other people have seen and told us about. As a result, we’ve come up with a list of those passengers who have been nominated to walk the plank, or at the very least, should be keelhauled.

In no particular order of severity:

-- Passengers who cut off people using walkers or wheelchairs.

-- People in wheelchairs who cut off other people in wheelchairs—we’ve see it all.

-- Passengers who leave items in deck lounge chairs to reserve them and then don’t return for hours.

-- The man who wrote to the captain complaining about the missing anchovies in his Caesar salad. You can’t make this stuff up.

-- Passengers who ignore the dress guidelines for a country and wear revealing clothing in a place known to be less tolerant.

-- The expert dancers who glare at or push aside less experienced dancers who get in their way on the dance floor.

-- The man in the very abbreviated Speedo swim suit who walked around the deck about 20 times, in case anyone missed him the first 19 times. 

-- The man who removed wet clothing from two dryers in the launderette so he could use them. The things that go on in the launderette would be worthy of its own post.

-- In the dining areas, passengers who get up from their chairs without looking around and nearly collide with waiters carrying heavy trays.

-- Passengers who totally ignore members of the crew who greet them or don’t say thank you for anything.

-- Quiz participants who call out answers spoiling the competitions for others.

-- On formal nights, people who ignore the ship’s dress code when there are less formal areas they could use.

-- In the theater, passengers who push past people seated in a long row to get to the middle seats (and in the middle of a performance), when there are plenty of empty seats nearby.

-- People who continually complain about everything to anyone who will listen.

-- Passengers who take something of everything on the buffet and then leave most of it.

-- Members of tour groups who return late to the bus, keeping everyone waiting.

-- The young couple in the Lido who used nearby dining chairs as foot rests for their bare feet—at dinner.

-- On the promenade deck, people who ignore the guidelines to stay right and walk in the opposite direction of everyone else—expecting on-comers to step aside for them.

-- People who allow their cabin and balcony doors to slam every time they go in or out, day and night.

-- People who play several games of the same sport on the Sports Deck when there is a line of people waiting.

-- People who smoke in non-smoking areas.

-- The people who created such a fuss at their table that the Head Waiter had to personally wait on them.

Some of these things might be minor, but when you’ve been at sea for nearly four months, if given half a chance, you'd gladly push any of these offenders overboard.

Note: The short, dumpy woman with the big hat who, if guilty of any of these infractions, apologizes.