The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Cruising and By-Elections Some time ago, The Corner featured an article on cruising and observed that one of the best features of a cruise is the different people you meet. The latest one taken by my wife and I and a number of friends was a transatlantic voyage from Miami to Barcelona and Spain. We were on the Norwegian Jade, a huge vessel with 11 eating places, eight bars plus a monster duty free shop. The cruise was cheap Ð about $50/day each Ð but cruise lines are in business to make money and find many ways to separate the cruiser from his/her money. First there is a $10/day each service charges for gratuities to the servers and chamber people who all work hard, long hours for little pay and are very deserving. Remember, most cruise ships are registered in the Bahamas or similar places to avoid labour laws, which may mean minimum wages and benefits for he workers. DidnÕt former prime minister Paul Martin register his shipping line in the Bahamas? Off-ship tours are heavily promoted and costly. On this cruise there were tours of the Azores, Lisbon, Gibraltar, and three ports in Spain. Many people caught a cab for half the cost and had the driver show them the sites. On-shore goods, services and foods were anything but cheap. Everything was in euros, which were then trading at about $1.60 U.S. On the ship, drinks are roughly double what they are at home, with the only freebies being juices and ice tea. Every ordered drink has a 15 per cent tip added. Specialty restaurants also have a cover charge of as much as $20 each. The ship had over 2,000 passengers and 1,200 crew members, so of course there is a wide variety. Most of the servers are from eastern Europe, Indonesia and Asia, and the officers are from western Europe. One man I met was in charge of off ship excursions. His name is Shane and he was born in Regina. While at university, Shane worked one summer at Deschambault Lake and spoke highly of the fishing. We also met another couple from Flin Flon who live at Bakers Narrows. We had a great chat talking about Flin Flonners, the company and things back home. People say cruising is all about eating, and the ship does everything but force-feed passengers. There were 250 chefs on staff and the food was great Ð always available and lots of it. One crew member mentioned that a normal person can gain up to 10 pounds during a cruise if they get involved in the feeding frenzy. Fortunately this writer gained very little. How? By having a late breakfast, skipping lunch or having some fruit, and not over-eating at dinner, plus working out in the beautifully furnished gym. Cruising is a great holiday! * * * What about the St. PatrickÕs day by-elections back in Canada? They werenÕt the bye-bye elections they could have been for Stephane Dion, but it was a close call. Had he lost Vancouver Quadra, a former Liberal bastion, more Grits would have been calling for DionÕs head. They only won by 150 votes over the Conservative, a female professor who will surely run again. The Liberals won their two Toronto seats with Bob Rae, the former NDPer, and former Liberal cabinet minister Martha Hall Findlay prevailing. Dion was ecstatic, but why? He just has two more rivals in his caucus. The most interesting contest was in Northern Saskatchewan, where Tory Rob Clarke won (did they think they were voting for Bobby Clarke?) by beating the favoured Joan Beatty, a New Democrat-turned-Liberal, by 48 to 31 per cent. Beatty bravely said she will run again, but she was soundly beaten and next time will have to run for the party nomination. Dion is batting zero in the candidates he has personally selected as by-election candidates without a nomination meeting. Keep picking them, Stephane! It will be much better for Northern Saskatchewan to have a government member as an MP rather than one in Opposition. It also looks like no general election until 2009. RogerÕs Right Corner runs Wednesdays.
