Normally the passengers either fail to see or don’t attend to a lot of activity that is out in the open but might qualify as behind the scenes. Cleaners are all around the ship 24 hours a day, but most people don’t notice them. These are the busy, often Philippine workers who industrially clean railings, public restrooms, elevators, lounges. The next time someone complains about having a consolidated service charge instead of leaving “tips” up to them, they should think long and hard about those extra workers who are key in the battle to combat infectious disease risks on the ship (the self-same risks created by passengers who simply can’t figure out how to use water, soap and hand sanitizers). They also should think about laundry personnel as they drop perfectly clean altho damp towels on the floor every morning.

Had one gentleman tell me that “he had a right to a clean towel every morning because he was paying for it.” I posed back the question “do you do this at home?” No, of course not, I pay utilities. And exactly why does he not think that the utilities costs (power and water) are not contributing to the cost of his cruise? Off that soap box.

What I had a chance to observe the otehre morning were some of the other activities – the off-loading of recyclables, the loading of supplies. In this case, the sommelier had mentioned he was expecting a shipment of wines. Our morning waitstaff were talking about more produce and coffee beans…