The Crew

"We sail the ocean blue
And our saucy ship's a beauty
We are sober men and true
And attentive to our duty"

The crew of the Rigoletto can be divided into two categories. The senior officers are French, and everyone else is some sort of eastern European. I would have said Russian but the steward Andriy told me he is Ukrainian. I can't tell the difference.

I mostly see them at mealtime. The Frenchmen say "bon appetit" and the captain and chief engineer shake my hand. Otherwise I have no idea what they are saying. Or rather, I should say I wouldn't have any idea except the other passenger is a French woman who informs me that their two topics of conversation are work and the food. For me the food is great. The captain said of the chef, "He's not the best. He's not the worst." French people. Aurelie (the other passenger) says she gets frustrated because her friends only talk about the food at meals.

First world problems.

Ahoy.