A link from the Washington Post caught my eye, its article lamenting the
demise of libraries on cruise ships. It paraphrased Linda Garrison, travel
writer for About.com: “Oftentimes, the bigger the ship, the smaller the
library.”.
Maybe
so. Having not sailed on a big cruise ship, there being no desire to be penned
into a balcony cabin – sorry stateroom
– or share a confined space with over 3,000 other people, I can’t comment.
However, of the two ‘comfortable’ size ships I have holidayed on from the UK’s Cruise
& Maritime line – Marco Polo 850
passengers; Azores (now Astoria) 550 passengers – I can
recommend both for their libraries, though a passenger needs to be in there
fast to grab the guidebooks to the next port of call.
I
found Marco Polo, especially, was
well appointed for its clientele with thick carpeting and comfortable
wrap-around chairs and, more importantly, one wall of floor-to-ceiling fiction
and another of non-fiction, including some beautifully illustrated coffee table
tomes that started a covetous itch in this reader. The ambiance was missing only
an open fire, but of course there was a wall of windows with an ocean view so
no one was complaining.
By
mutual understanding it also ran a Silence regime which I – who should have
known better – fell foul of in my exuberance. There may have been no actual
tutting, but it was inherent in the sudden turn of heads, wonderfully
refreshing when compared to modern dry-side public libraries where it can
sometimes be difficult to hear myself think.
Kindle and tablet
readers held their own alongside paper readers, seen on deck and in the lounges
no matter the time of day, inspiring to a writer considering what else was on
offer: lectures, craft workshops, bridge and Scrabble groups, deck and lounge
games, show, cabaret and nightclub, quizzes and demonstrations, to say nothing
of the port excursions. Despite there being hardly time to sleep there was
always time to read, and to discuss a title with a fellow passenger over coffee
or lunch.
C&M’s
cruises are child-free, their ships small enough to sail from regional UK ports. Perhaps that’s why the experience
is so relaxing, a lounger and a good book preferred to a climbing wall or a
multi-level shopping experience. And to find your fellow passengers such
interesting people.
On
my recent twelve day cruise of the Baltic I read two novellas and a novel, and
there’s my cue to upload the reviews. And yes, I did donate one of my own
titles to the ship’s library. It’s called soft marketing.