Friday, 23 June 2023

Time and Technology taunt the Travellers

Diva admits that being an hour ahead of ship time on the first morning was because she misread the instructions. But she was baffled when two days later they were an hour ahead again and they entered a breakfast Dining Room empty of all but crew laying tables. And the day after that they were an hour behind official ship time.  It turned out that in the night the phones were choosing which time zones to communicate with and they were resetting the time themselves. The phones have now been instructed not to do this again.

Microsoft and Google have also introduced obstacles. By demanding passwords, refusing to recognise correct ones, switching to recovery accounts and generally delaying use of IT by many hours. At one stage, TSH’s iPad went into ‘loading’ mode for many hours and had to be reset by the wonderful Guest Services officer. Some of the issues might have been cause by timing – the Internet on the Spirit of Adventure is extremely slow, even by maritime satellite standards.

TSH and Diva have now crossed the Arctic Circle and are wearing extra layers, especially when walking around the outside deck. They have been invited to ‘an exclusive event’ to see a glacier with the ship’s officers. ‘Bring warm clothing’.


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