By Guess or by God

At Sea

March 8, 2015

Eight Bells

Every day at noon an announcement is made from the bridge. First, someone rings a bell eight times. Then we get a report on the distance traveled since yesterday, our current coordinates and the current weather and sea conditions. Finally, we get a bit of nautical lore. Today the topic was navigation. In the old days they used stars, wind, currents, etc., but they often had to navigate "by guess or by God."

Today the weather is mostly gray and the sea is gray. The surface of the water looks fairly smooth. There is a considerable swell, but very little chop. This means a lot of rolling but not a lot of pitching. It doesn't feel that bad, but occasionally it's hard to walk in a straight line.

The Ship's Company

In the shipboard announcements, the term "the ship's company" is often used. In our case the ship's company consists of about 2600 passengers and 1100 crew members. The passengers consist of:

800 first-time Princess cruisers

630 Gold level

400 Ruby

530 Platinum

270 Elite

There are still a lot of people from Northern California, but not so overwhelming as on the last segment. A lot of us are from northern climates. This batch of passengers seems to be nicer and quieter than average. They don't have all the bad habits you see on cruises with lots of Elites. They don't slam doors, they don't shout in the hallways when you are trying to sleep, they don't cut in line, they don't try to get on the elevator when people are still getting off, they don't reserve seats, they don't hog seats in the public areas all day. I'm not saying they are never rude; I'm just saying they seem to be a little more polite.

Baby Boomers

The average age on the ship is probably around 70, though there are plenty of folks in the 55-65 range.  We have noticed a BIG disconnect between Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation, not just on this cruise, but on most cruises. We are trying to analyze the what and the why of it. The Baby Boomer cohort consists of those born between 1946 and 1964. The Silent Generation was born from the late 1920's through 1945.

As a general rule: The SG has different cultural references than the BB's. The SG got married much younger. They are now great-grandparents. Their world outlook is a lot more black and white than the BB's. The SG are financially conservative and frugal. They tend to be more politically conservative. The SG did not grow up with television. Their music is different. They dress differently. Their gender roles are much more strictly defined. If you see two SG couples talking, the women are talking to each other and the men are talking to each other.

It is more likely that an SG has had the same job all his/her life and the same spouse. They were rule followers. But when some of them reach a certain age, they don't feel obligated to follow the rules any more.

Thus, it is usally easier for us to carry on a conversation with someone 10-15 years younger than with someone 5-10 years older.

Daily Activities

Ken went to a lecture on Natural disasters in Hawaii (tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanoes). Our PhD scientist/lecturer is not the best and should probably spend more timegathering her facts before she lectures. And if her goal was to deliver a 40-minute lecture in 70 minutes, then she has succeeded brilliantly.

Tonight is Formal Night and most people have made the effort to dress nicely. Before dinner we went to the Captain's Circle party. Captain Nash gave a little spiel. He is a funny guy and better than some of the comedians.

The dinner in the dining room is always extra nice on formal nights. Tonight they had another one of their Chocolate Journeys desserts. It was a caramel-chocolate concoction - really really good.

After dinner we went to see a production show called Stardust. It featured popular songs from the 50's. It's not quite Baby Boomer music, but it is familiar to us and we enjoyed the show.