Cruising Through Retirement

How the older generation toughs it out

If my Mum were to read any of my output here on Medium and saw how much thought I was putting into mortality and the afterlife, she would probably call me a daft ha’porth to be worrying about such matters.

And she would have some justification. While I’m comfortably into my sixties, she is mid-eighties and still going strong. My Dad is a little less steady on his feet but just about keeping pace. Both of them together are enjoying a peaceful retirement in their little place in Durham, punctuated by as many cruises as they can rustle up funds for.

Which the rest of the family treat as a harmless little quirk, by and large. Except that they have one scheduled for a few weeks time, which they show no inclination to cancel or reschedule. Maybe not so harmless, after all.

A few weeks ago, a list of countries most affected by the Coronavirus epidemic had China and Korea in first and second places, with the cruise ship Diamond Princess in the third slot. Yes, this little microcosm was crowding out the rest of the countries in the infection stakes.

Since then, numerous other cruise ships have been refused entry into various ports. Off San Francisco, half of the passengers and staff tested on the Grand Princess turned out to be positive, with the result that the rest aren’t rejoining the general public any time soon.

I run my fears past my Mum and she pretty much brushes them aside, despite the planned cruise being scheduled to visit the most infected countries in the Mediterranean.

The cruise firm has been in touch and all passengers will be checked before boarding and again on their return to the ship after any land-based visits. No mention of what precautions will be taken against transmission by the crew.

In one way it is admirable.

Mum and Dad belong to the opposite of the snowflake generation. Let’s call it the coalface generation, where you just toughed out your challenges and got on with whatever you needed to do without complaining and stopped when you were told to stop.

There’s another generational aspect of their approach which is more questionable. They are accustomed to assuming that the people in charge know what they are doing, and if you just await their instructions then all will be well.

Investigative journalism (and sixty years of existence) suggest just the opposite to me. Those in power seem just as clueless as the rest of us and are basically making up their next move as they go along. You should only trust the Nanny state if the Nanny doesn’t reek of cheap spirit.

In the case of the cruise firms, I would say their advice is somewhat conflicted, since if they have to cancel their sailings or refund the majority and sail half full, they will not last the Summer. One airline in the UK has already paid the price of cancelled bookings, and gone into administration.

I cross my fingers that the decision will be taken out of my parents’ hands, by a government clampdown on cruising, or the cruise firms deciding that they don’t want their boats to be treated as plague ships.

But if it’s down to my Mum and Dad, I’m sure they will be on that cruise.

It’s down to that thing I often overlook about the generation before mine.

Their over-abundance of sheer bloody-minded determination.

Many thanks for reading!

More family fun below:

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