Monday, May 2nd (2)

At lunch today our waiter was Clive from India.  I wonder if he is named after Robert Clive who became famous for killing any Indians who objected to British rule.  At the next table is Mark from Mindanao in the Philippines who is looking forward to voting for   Duterte in the forthcoming Philippines election.  Duterte is like a Filipino Donald Trump but voting is very tribal there so he will pick up the votes from Mindanao.  Our waiter in the dining room is Seri from Thailand who wears horn-rimmed glasses and reminds me of my friend Brian from Cambridge.

Our Choir Director is Victoria from Canada who is an absolute delight.  The Cruise Director is Billy London, one of the old-time variety performers which England churns out in the thousands.  Others on the entertainment staff include Robbie from Brazil and Oskar from Serbia.  Jase is another Englishmam who spends 6 months of the year on cruise ships and 6 months leading expeditions to every corner of the earth.  He loves to talk about his exploits and had the cheek to put a baby photo of himself in a trivia quiz as a Who Am I? The assistant cruise director is Andrew from Canada but very forgettable.

We were talking to one of the wine waiters the other day.  It was his son's birthday and Dad is proud of the fact that he will be going on to University, the first member of the family ever to do so.  All paid for by Dad's earnings and tips on cruise ships.