We are on the ship for 22 days, but about half the passengers have already been onboard for over 70 days and will be on board for another 70. They are doing the world cruise. If they are traveling in a regular suite (or a cabin to you and I) with a balcony it is costing them something in the region of $80,000 per person. If they are traveling in a penthouse suite (large enough not to be called a cabin) as many of them are, they are spending over $140,000 EACH.

It is one hell of a wealthy and very select crowd. And they know it. They show no interest in acknowledging the rest of us. They don’t say hello when they pass us in the corridor and they certainly make no effort to engage us in conversation.

The nearest we had to a breakthrough was when two gay men showed a mild interest in talking to us. We had just returned from a day in Melbourne and they were leaning against the bar enjoying a drink. I asked them what they had done in Mellbourne

“Oh, we shopped” they said “We always shop. What else is there to do?”

I could tell them, but there was no point. They didn’t want an answer.

“What did you buy?” I asked.

“Oh, something aromatic. Don’t you find these penthouse suites have an unpleasant smell?”

I didn’t tell them that we have never had the chance to find out how a penthouse smelled, but I suspect they already knew that.

“We like to buy a different smell for the suite every month so that we don’t get bored”

They were young, which on this ship means they were in their fifties, tall, slim and I am very happy to say, rather unattractive. They spoke with an air of disdain and disinterest. They were already bored by us. We weren’t going to last anywhere near as long as one of their “aromatics”

But I was anything but bored by them. They were definitely blog material. I had to ask more questions

I asked where home was and they replied “Nowhere. We just travel”.

They looked so pleased with themselves.

I just wanted to smack them.

They had already booked the Seabourn World Cruise for 2024 and 2025. I asked them where the world cruise in 2024 was going. They just shrugged and said “We didn’t look”.

One smack was not going to be enough.

I asked them what they were doing after this cruise ended. I don’t know why I asked. I knew their answer would annoy me even more, but I was trying to be polite – a rare occasion for me.

“We are going to buy a nice car so that we can tour Europe (they ran off a list of countries) and then we go on to Africa to do a safari or two.” I wondered what a “nice car” would be and what would happen to it when they go on to Africa. Presumably they would just throw it out with the trash.

“But first we have to go to Amsterdam” they continued “we have to check on our apartment and organise a few things”

“So you do have a home”, I so desperately wanted to say.

But before I could, they said with as much sincerity as they could manage, which was very little

“Well, it has been nice chatting with you”

And with that they left

More than a week has passed since that day. We see them around the ship.

They don’t see us.

And tomorrow our part of the World Cruise comes to an end. We disembark in Bali.

Will anyone notice?

10 days in Bali is designed to be totally relaxing. So if nothing exciting happens, this will be the last blog of this trip.