Move away from the Captain!

Last week I read a little article that sent me through a roller-coaster of reactions whilst reading it. It was reported that whilst on a Transatlantic crossing aboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 the guests were told that they were not allowed to shake the captain’s hand. And the reason? To prevent the spread of Norovirus.

Nope – there were no traditional hand-shakes when meeting the captain, no pecks on the cheeks from the ladies (or the gents for that matter), however you were allowed to stand next to the captain to have your photograph taken, but God forbid if you got too close! What next? Why not give the captain a few boxes of disposable gloves so he can change after every hand shake?

My train of thought went from…..

What an absolutely ludicrous situation. The world has gone health and safety bonkers. It’s ruining long-held traditions. Sack the health and safety police!

Then To……

Hmm….from a practical view they have a point. Just imagine how many people the captain must meet on your average Captain’s Gala dinner evening. It will be hundreds upon hundreds on the bigger ships. It’s a huge opportunity for that pesky norovirus to spread itself round the ship.

Then To……

What on earth is wrong with me? Am I turning in to the Health & Safety police? How come we’ve survived 175 years of Ocean cruising and all of a sudden we have a problem?

Then to…..simply shaking my head and thinking that there will be nothing left of tradition the way things are going. Although I don’t miss coming home from a night at the pub smelling like an ashtray I do miss some of the old characters who used to settle in for the night puffing on their pipes telling tales of days gone by. Most of them went there as they no longer had anyone at home and it was their only social contact. I hate that the skipping rope is no longer a part of play time fun in the schoolyard -clearly it developed in to a deadly weapon over the years. I’ve also heard of sports days getting cancelled due to ‘wet grass’! It’s no longer the norm to be able to take your kids up to meet the captain on a plane – the terrorists scuppered that for us.

Whilst the last thing I would want is for any cruise ship to have an outbreak of norovirus it saddens me to see more traditions being pushed out by health & safety. Let’s face it I survived conkers & clackers in the school play ground so I feel pretty invincible! And for the younger ones confused by that last comment. Ask your parents!