We could see today that the cruise season for the Mediterranean is gearing up. There was another cruise ship in port today, embarking new guests and also more ferries as the number of ferry departures increases in the summer. The ship stayed overnight and some of the crew went out for the evening. However interest was less than before as by now they all had become aware about how expensive Venice is. St. Marks Square will set you back 50 euros’ for four drinks and that makes quite a dent in the expense account. A good bottle of White wine is only 10 euros’ and gives 5 glasses. So the choice is easy.

Most of the crew is looking forward to the coming Baltic season where their hard earned dollars will have a bigger impact. Especially our Indonesian and Philipino crew like to stack up on knick-knacks to take home. The family is eagerly awaiting the return of the seafarer and nephews and nieces all demand presents. I once came across a cook who had no less than 26 fluffy toys in his luggage. When I asked why 26, he answered that is how many nephews and nieces he had. Forgetting one would result in calling down the wrath of some senior family member upon him, so he stacked up.

Talking about crew luggage, it is amazing how much luggage the crew take home for their family. As most of the crew come from Indonesia and the Philippines, it is often better from them to buy outside their country and then to bring it home. Both countries apply quite high luxury taxes on imported goods (to protect the home economy) and that makes the rest of the world relatively cheap for luxury goods. To get all their purchases home, the Holland America crew has a special item that they use. The carton-nite. Nite comes from the word samso-nite the well-known suitcase maker and carton from carton of course. Near the end of their contract a crewmember will built a carton box. This box has exactly the maximum size that is allowed by the airlines. First the carton is covered with colorful papers. Then the whole box is taped over to make it water proof and the edges are re-enforced with strong Duct tape. A string net is woven around the box to make it possible to carry it.

If a crewmember can not make a box him or her self, then there will be another crewmember who will do it for a certain monetary reward. As a result there are always one or two crewmembers that have a little “cottage industry” going with making these boxes. Where they find the material, I do not know, and I really do not want to find out either………………… When they then go to the airport you can see a very amazed bus driver, who gets 5 or 6 crew for his van but has to cope with luggage for 25. Our transport man in Florida has solved the problem by having a separate box trailer behind his van. At home the whole family will be at the airport or the bus stop when the crewmember reaches his home town, including a whole gaggle of nephews and nieces, waiting to get their hands on the fluffy toys.

Going to the Baltic means that there will be pawn shops galore for the good deals. Also a call at the town of Dover with all its charity shops is very popular. Same for Russia where a –legal- copy of a recently released DVD is about the third of the price of anywhere else. (the illegal ones are even more cheaper)

Tomorrow will be a sea day and it looks like a sunny day as well.