Lieutenant Commander’s Log #3

So how would I compare the Silja Cruise to the Color Line Cruise? That’s tough. They both have things I like and things I don’t prefer.   

The band rooms on Silja are a lot nicer. I like how there are bed covers for the twin size beds. So even if the sheets are all messed up, just throw the bed cover over it and PRESTO, nice bed. Color Line has that elongated pillow-looking bed cover, that no matter how hard you try, it’s always wrinkled up and messy. I like having my room in order, so it bothers me to have a messy looking room.  Of course, only the cleaning staff will ever see the room and the ‘room inspectors.’ But that’s me.  

The Food? I was much happier with the crew food on Silja. I admit, I ate salads most of the time. But it was nice to see pasta and rice almost regularly instead of potatoes everyday and they regularly had soup.  Believe me, I would have been happy to serve myself two servings of rice or pasta with a little gravy of whatever the meat of the day was. But I never eat like that on the ship. Home sometimes. But never while on the ship. I’d rather have need of a life jacket in the water instead of being able to float without one. 

On Color Line, I don’t do salads much because I don’t care for leafy lettuce with stems. It’s like having a built-in tooth pick. I like gambling with deadly Romaine Lettuce. You really appreciate life if you survive the serving.  I also eat sandwiches more on Color Line because the selection spread is nicely layed out and mayo is easy to find. Mayo on Silja was too much work to find, no one knew what I was talking about. To hell with processed foods.

Also on Color Line, it was so nice getting to see some familiar faces and others who after 3 years of working on the ship, can’t look at you in eyes or face and say “Hi hi.”  I find the Portuguese personal to be the nicest. They smile and they actually will talk directly to me. After weeks of living in almost isolation, you really appreciate these little things.

   

I often think of Star Trek when I’m on the ship. I recall that Gene Roddenberry wanted the enterprise to display diversity. Diversity is a nice thing to “see”, but there’s another side to it. There are cultures, ethnicities, etc, that will never like each other. Never.  But they are civil towards each other. Don’t let Romanians and Bulgarians spend much time talking about their history. It can get hostile. I’ve witnessed it.  However, I was quite impressed at how much they knew about each other’s history.  Most Americans seem to have lengthy opinions but don’t know much about their own history. Yet, they speak with authority.  Ah... the privileged.

I have one more week on this ship (Color Line Magic), then it’s six weeks on the sister ship (Color Line Fantasy).