The boat

The ship is a sort of mix of the connectivity and communications of the Starship Enterprise, the cleanliness and perfect finish of a pharmaceutical sterile production facility and the uniformed staff nearing the polish and dignity of the staff of the English Royal household .  Quite an achievement. The goal of the owner is to far exceed the expectations of the guests onboard. There are questionnaires, of course.

There's some thoughtful touches too. In each of the 930 guest rooms there's a painting done by a child in school in China of a Norwegian scene that the child has copied in their own way. Each painting is signed. You could say it's a cynical marketing exercise but it is also a good idea.

There must be a staggeringly large laundry facility, processing at least 3000 linen table napkins a day plus at least 500 large towels and many smaller ones and dozens of sheets. They are fanatical about cleanliness, which is understandable, but they whip stuff away from you and stick it in the laundry if you so much as blink.

The food has to be seen to be believed. Every single platter is a work of art and there's hundreds of them and that's only one of the restaurants. The rest are 'posh' but still no extra charge but you must book in advance. It's so tempting knowing that they'll be no bill! You just eat and whatever you like whenever you like. Some guests really take advantage of it and it looks awful.

There are so many different dedicated areas each with good artwork -not just paintings but collections of driftwood or silver birch branches in pots etc etc.

Every area has a different feel to it. You can see why people come again and again, especially if you don't want to drive or have a mobility problem (and there's quite a few in that category, otherwise known as morbid obesity).

Today 500 passengers left the ship (I think it was something Mary said at dinner last night) but fortunately they found 500 more on the dock to replace them.

Nobody's dressed particularly well or elaborately and some look real slobs. Most fit the 'smart casual' category.