Crusader

Things are happening again in Papeete. The cruisers have been back this week. Moving skyscrapers that sneak up early in the morning and moor at the pier and leave again late at night to cross the Pacific, often with Australia as their destination.

Cruise ship in Papeete, Tahiti

Today's crusader, not to be confused with the crusaders who responded to Pope Urban II's call to liberate Jerusalem. The crusaders who set out in 1096 and besieged the city for over a month in 1099 before it was taken were probably of a different breed to today's crusader. On the harbor promenade, the common crusader moves at a much more leisurely pace, but probably has just as much weight to carry as the crusader with chain mail and weapons did back then. However, this is not due to his outfit or the equipment he carries with him. Rather, the crusader today is characterized by a certain overweight. It remains to be seen whether he moves so slowly because of his body mass or due to other physical stresses, but it is noticeable.

The Crown Princess, Tahiti

The nineteen-storey Crown Princess skyscraper is currently in front of us. In technical jargon, by the way, it is not called a floor, but a deck. The passenger capacity is 3080 passengers. In addition, there are another 1200 crew members, which is a huge number of people. With a length of 290 meters and a height of 59 meters, this ship is probably one of the larger ones. In addition to various sports, which can be enjoyed in one of the nine pools, there is also a 9-hole golf course on the ship. If you don't like sports, you can spend the day in art galleries, auctions or in the library. And what would a real cruise ship be without a wedding chapel? The whole thing is rounded off by various boutiques and duty-free stores where you can buy designer clothes at reasonable prices. However, the cruise ship passenger is not a potential customer for this type of clothing. Perhaps it's more for the nurse traveling with him. Whatever the case, the people strolling along the harbor promenade are wearing khaki shorts and a striped T-shirt. Unaccustomed to the temperatures, damp patches of varying degrees form under the armpits. The legs, which are obviously protected with the highest sun protection factor available, differ only in nuances from the white socks tucked into comfortable sandals. A hat and sunglasses protect the head from the sun's rays. The Crown Princess serves as a photo motif, which you now try to capture in its entirety on your cell phone from a certain distance. Unfortunately, the sailing yachts in front of it are a nuisance, so you have to walk along the entire promenade to get a clear field of vision. And then, due to the size of the ship, it's still quite difficult to get everything in the frame or on your cell phone. Once you've finally managed it, there's not much time left to get to afternoon tea in time and then prepare for dinner. There are three dining rooms and five specialty restaurants on the ship. There are also several cafés offering 24-hour dining. If that's not enough, there is also the option of 24-hour room service. In addition to two cinemas, there are various bars - I think they call them lounges these days - where you can wind down at the end of the evening.

Open-air cinema on the Crown Princess, Tahiti

Of course, the whole thing comes at a price. Not only for the passenger, who has to pay around 3,000 euros for a three-week trip, but also for the environment. Considering that a nursing home in Germany costs around 4000 euros a month, full board on the ship is a real bargain. You guessed it. It's not the passenger who pays the bill, but the environment. If you move a ship like this, 650,000 liters or 530 tons of diesel are quickly blown through the chimney every day. Even in port, 60,000 liters or 50 tons of diesel are still used per day to generate electricity. All in all, you have to bunker quite a lot to get across the Pacific. The distance from Los Angeles to Sydney is around 7500 nautical miles. The Crown Princess would need 14 days for this if it were to drive through. That would be 9,100,000 liters or 7420 tons of diesel. Each person would then consume around 152 liters of diesel per day. Our Katinka would take us 62.5 days to cover the same distance under engine power. We would then consume 72 liters of diesel per day, i.e. a total of 4500 liters. As there are two of us, the theoretical per capita consumption would be 36 liters per day. So not even a quarter. Well, we don't have a 5-star menu and our entertainment program is limited to such crossings, then more or less to our e-readers. But we do see dolphins and at least have fresh fish from time to time. But the sun protection factor on their legs is phenomenal. I'll have to ask one of the crew members what sun cream they recommend to their passengers. On that note, no hard feelings: always fair winds and keep a stiff upper lip.