Re: Cruises
Originally Posted by
OldGreyFox
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Not too bothered about the crews quarters or kitchens Bruce, but I would love to have a peek at the engines and electrics.....
I've had the fortune to make such a visit. A few years back there were regularly officers on the dining tables. We landed on the CTO's table on P&O ship Arcadia. CTO is the Chief Technical Officer, the main boss of running the ship itself.
He invited the whole table down below which was very interesting.
Firstly went into the "Control room" down below. Not what I was expecting really. I had imagined something like the bridge of the starship Enterprise, gleaming computer panels, flashing lights etc. It was all very dated, big panels, large buttons, some gaffer tape here and there. Quite a contrast to the actual Ship's Bridge up top.
Then it was down some tricky very steep metal steps into the bowels of the ship. Very noisy, quite cramped in places. Saw the large engines and prop shaft areas, saw the water generation systems but the most memorable thing really was something I could only describe as the "poo shaker" !
Imagine if you will a large flat cylinder about 5 meters across and 2 meters high sitting on a tripod of 3 springs. A large pipe fed labelled "sewage" came in from above and piped human waste into the cylinder. Then the entire machine was mechanically vibrated / shaken constantly which is presumably to ensure that all the poo was nicely broken up and turned into sludge. Absolutely delightful !
All in all a very interesting visit. A stark contrast below to the gleaming hotel like conditions above that passengers enjoy.
I was lucky to have been on the CTO's table and gotten this visit free. I wouldn't want to pay £70+ for it TBH.