By 7am I woke up due to the starting of the stern thruster as I am parked in a Guest cabin near the stern of the ship. The ship has a number of staff and service engineer’s cabins for people who have to travel with the ship but they were full with entertainers and maintenance men and thus I was parked in a Guest Cabin. I am not that bothered about where they put me as long as I have a good bed, a good shower and a decent desk to work from. I am carrying two laptops with me and thus I need a little bit of space to work on. The stern thruster woke me up and that indicated that we were indeed arriving on time and as per schedule.
While I was with the Maasdam last week in Quebec we were docked in the side harbor; this time we were back at the main berth of the Cruise Terminal. Behind us arrived the Regatta but they were only staying until 1800 hrs. We will be in port for three days. Today is the final day of this cruise and the official port visit day for Quebec, tomorrow is change over day, and then the last day is the official Quebec visit day for the next cruise.
My day was filled with training again and today was also the All Crew Indoctrination for the new alarm system. In two sessions all the crew was made aware of the coming change in our alarm procedures. Although they are all extremely busy and can hardly miss the 45 minutes that it takes, they all seem to be very eager to attend. A sort of outing without leaving the ship. For some it will be the first and also the last time during their contract that they visit and sit in the Show lounge and maybe that is the reason for their eagerness.
There is even a pattern in their behavior. The engine department normally moves from area to area until they realize that they can sit on the upper level as well, and they happily park themselves there. The kitchen always tries to sit in a corner where they then try to get 25 people in an area that sits 15. That does not work so they have to move and in-variably end up somewhere where they cannot see the screen and then they have to move again. The Caucasian crew, Concessionaires (shops, Casino etc.), Entertainment and Officers sit for some reason always in the 2nd ring of the lower level. The front of the sitting area, where there are the loose tables on the dance floor, remain empty until there is no more room in the rest of the lounge. It almost seems as if they are afraid that I will ask those questions if they sit very close to the stage.
No doubt a Psychiatrist would have a good explanation for this typical behavior of groups but I do not have that knowledge so I am just amazed. I have been doing a lot of Full Crew presentations in the past as well and the pattern is still the same. It is understandable that groups that work together, like to sit together and those related (or in the process of trying to get related to each other) sit together but it is this sitting in specific locations is something that amazes me.
Another thing that is always the same is that we never start on time. The Caucasians arrive ahead of time. The motto being, being on time is being 5 minutes early, but the Asians start walking towards the lounge at the time that the presentation is supposed to start. As we cannot get everybody checked off at the same time, we invariably run 10 minutes late. It is just something that you have get to get used to. Nobody seems to mind as the lounge is one noisy area with 500 crewmembers chatting away in earnest.
The 2nd meeting for those who could not attend in the morning is always a lot quieter. Most crew try to get in, in the morning as they either have their rest in the afternoon, or want to go ashore and thus the balance is always 80% in the morning and 20% in the afternoon.
Tomorrow will be the 2nd day in Quebec and the weather promises to be great. Windy but sunny. As it is a Saturday we will have a lot of people looking at the ship as there is a sort of promenade with a double bicycle path right in front of the ship. I will have to pack up tomorrow as I will have to move cabins. Mine has been sold for next cruise, so I will be parked somewhere else.
October 9, 2014 at 5:03 pm
You are right, Captain; it is quite possible that preferences of feeling comfortable in specific locations has a psychological meaning (hopefully not psychiatric yet …. The study of human behaviour is, I assume, still psychology these days) Many studies have been conducted involving children; childhood behavior can carry through in adulthood.