The ship always changes when we dock in Indonesia, just as it changes when we dock in the Philippines. The crew – and by this I mean the ‘real’ crew, not the entertainment department or the officers, but the crew that works below decks, makes the beds, cooks the food, cleans the kitchens and does basically everything else to keep the ship running and sane – almost all has family here.
There was a signup sheet that circulated around the ship’s intranet email several weeks back asking for volunteers to help process the hundreds of visitors that would be coming on board today. I didn’t sign up, not because I don’t support the cause (I certainly do) but because my relationship with the Indonesian heat and humidity is a bad one, and a few hours under the shelter of a tent outside and I would have been down for the count for the rest of the day. That said, the list filled up pretty quickly.
As you walk down the passenger hallways there are handwritten signs on nearly every door, all reading the same general thing: “Dear cabin stewards, please note no service is necessary to this room on March 2nd, enjoy the day with your loved ones.” As petty and difficult as our guests can sometimes be, they truly do have hearts of gold when the chips are down.
So while those of us who have opted to stay on board are chipping away at the ever-present admin work (or just as often reading a book, because honestly it’s so quiet in here at the moment that my admin paperwork got done very quickly this morning), the air is occasionally punctuated with random squeals of laughter which are quickly followed by groups of ten or twelve people – from grandparents to toddlers – all tromping through looking around them with great wide eyes. For so many of these people it’s the only time they’ll see their families all year, and my heart goes out to them. These guys are the core of the ship more so than any of the rest of us, and they don’t get nearly enough recognition for it in my very humble opinion.