Steve and Cathy's Blog

Because we left Myanmar in the touching way that we did the previous afternoon, I have taken the literary license to end the post at that time. However, our evening held a special event for us: dinner with Conny Hammelmann, Executive Concierge of Insignia. This is a very important position on the ship, as Conny is responsible for so many of the clerical functions that make our journey possible. She is in overall charge of Reception, which is the center for all the myriad details both on the ship and in dealing with local customs and immigration officials. If the job is done right, we never know it. If it’s not, our journey can become unbearably complicated. Conny has made our journey a breeze.

Dinner begins at 7:15 in the Grand Dining Room. On our way down the stairs from our stateroom, we pass Peter Croyle. When we tell him of our evening plans, he tells us we are in for a treat. And indeed, within five minutes of sitting down with Conny, we get where Peter is coming from. She was born to be in hospitality. She has a large, positive, engaging and infectious personality that seems to thrive on being with other people. She is perfect for her position.

She also has a very interesting background, especially interesting to those of us Cold War kids, which included Ed and Marcia from Decatur AL, the other couple with whom we shared Conny’s company. She comes from Halla, a town several hours south of Berlin but within three hours of the West German border. In other words, Conny grew up in East Germany. She had the benefit of having parents with good careers, and her first hospitality gig was working at her mother’s restaurant. She also had the opportunity to watch West German television, so she was always well aware of the real world beyond the one the East German government tried to hide from its people. She was fifteen when the Berlin Wall fell. We couldn’t ask enough questions about her childhood and subsequent career, and she was very willing to share her experiences with us.

Her English, by the way, is flawless and almost accent-free, a result of her long experience dealing with Americans. After receiving her degree in hospitality management, she went to work as a Reception Manager at a brand new Grand Hyatt just opening in Berlin. After a stint there, she joined Princess Cruise Lines working on their huge ships. After several years of often seventy-hour work weeks working in guest relations (you wouldn’t believe the stuff she had to deal with as the “guest relations manager,” which included dealing with next of kin of passengers who died on board as well as domestic violence issues), she sensed burnout. Rather than leave the industry, which she loved, she opted to switch to the more premium market with smaller ships, with Oceania being an obvious good fit.

Well, as you can tell, the evening went very well. Another great learning experience for the cruise newbies that we are. One last thing to note: the morale of the employees of Oceania is fantastic. I think we have mentioned this before, and it is confirmed every time we have one of these dinner experience with the officers as well. The people working on this ship really like working on this ship. Of course, if they did not, grousing to the guests about the place would get them discharged, but we have been on board long enough to have developed our own independent conclusions. It is yet another reason we are so comfortable despite this being our first cruise experience.

Okay, now on for what actually took place today. Nothing.

Ha Ha. Not true, although you might think so sometimes. In the afternoon, we attend a Peter Croyle lecture introducing us to Malaysia in general and Kuala Lumpur and this region of Southeast Asia in particular. As always, it is full of good information, and we are finding these lectures “must attend” events to inform us of our upcoming port of call.

The evening also had a special event for us, our first ever dinner at the Polo Grill. This is one of the two specialty restaurants on the ship, this one being a high-end steakhouse. And it is high end. Cathy – who, as we all know, is a foodie encyclopedia – compares this restaurant favorably with Ruth’s Chris. The occasion that brought us here was a “Rovos Rail Reunion,” suggested by Kreg Roth. Kreg and Judy, BJ and wife Joanne, Mike and Jalayne and Cathy and Steve were the “Oceania Eight” that took the Rovos Rail adventure together. We all got along well, and Kreg and Judy and BJ and Joanne were disembarking in Singapore, so we all celebrated our friendship at the Polo Grill.

It was as convivial as was our entire Rovos Rail journey. Except for Mike and Jalayne, with whom we have developed a good friendship, we will probably not have the opportunity to see the others again. But we can certainly chalk it up as a very good experience with very nice people. Were all our travel experiences be as much fun as being with them, we would consider ourselves lucky indeed.

We are up late for Cathy and Steve. Thankfully, tomorrow is another Sea Day. We will need the time to recharge. ZZZZZZZZ.