Cruise people in blackpropaganda

Just some thoughts about the cruise from a personal perspective. The ship had about 750 passengers - and I would guess the average age was about 70, or maybe a little older. Many of the passengers had cruised on the ship many times - and as this was a commemoration of it being built in 1965 they made sure they were taking part. We had done one cruise to the Baltic on her - but did not have the ‘love’ that others showed.
There were some younger people (in their 40s) but mostly they were retired couples, or widowed. There were a large number of ladies of a certain age (75?) on the ship. Otherwise it seemed totally uxorious - couples doing their thing together - and we were no different - although I did branch out to sing and paint on my own (ie in a group). There were also a number of gay couples who were great fun.
We ate on a table of six with the same two couples every night - and luckily we got on OK - in fact we were all like chalk and cheese, but had things to contribute to any discussion - apart from politics, which after some heated issues we decided to keep off - my Grauniad reading outlook was not shared by others - and best to keep off anything to so with Mrs Thatcher!
Many of the passengers were on a ‘drinks package’ - they each paid £17 a day, and could drink from a whole range of things - and drink as much as they liked. I noticed a few people took advantage of this - and when love went out of the window it was better to get pissed. We enjoyed having wine which we chose - and sparkling for special occasions.
There seemed to be no gossip on the ship - apart maybe from the relationships among those doing the shows - obviously, if you are disabled, or older, and find it difficult to move around you are not looking to shag anyone - even if you do have a penchant for the older ladies. There was a younger couple (50s) who we got to know - and she was attractive - and rather put down by her ex-policeman husband. I wondered if I should tell her she had the best cleavage on the ship - but thought better of it!
A lot of people caught a coughing virus which toured the ship - we were lucky but it caught up with us as soon as we got off. No novo virus stuff though - they were continually cleaning everywhere - and that was a great relief.
Ships are great places for people watching - and I did a lot of that!