Sailing away on a cruise

I haven't wrote much in a while as I've been taking a break, and a step back to evaluate what I should do next. (Like figuring out whether I should continue this Federated experience or go back to Wordpress or something else)

I have a lot to catch up but I thought I would touch on something straightforward first.

A cruise ship is docked in Singapore. Source: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kreuzfahrtschiffe_am_Terminal_in_Singapur.jpg

I just came back from a cruise trip. Obviously I have heard of them but I considered them inferior to flying to a new destination. After some curiousity and bouts of cajoling, I decided to do it.

It turned out to be an interesting experience, to say the least.

As an independent and immaculate planner, I am used to being in control of my itinerary. On a cruise though, you have a menu of activities, and nowhere else to go.

Although I find many of the activities honestly lame, I did appreciate the fact that I didn't have to organise or fix up all the details around the holiday, including contingency plans.

Furthermore, before and during the cruise, I didn't have much of the information I am used to. The website was short of details (except the upselling), and the app was useless.

The best and only way to get accurate information on what's going on in the ship was: to ask someone on the ship.

Anyway, if being on holidays was about gaining new experiences, I think my family and I adapted OK to this strange way of having a holiday.

This is a great reminder that there is a critical mass of people who don't like to go through websites, guides and RTFM to do things and rely on their networks to gain information and connections.

So if you're wondering why people simply don't want to fill in your form or talk to your chatbot even when it's the simplest and most convenient thing in the world, there's probably a different perspective.

Or at least you can wish they can be sent off on a cruise to nowhere.

Author Portrait Love.Law.Robots. – A blog by Ang Hou Fu