BACKCHAT is very impressed with the lengths Norwegian Cruise Line is prepared to go to keep guests cool and happy on its new ship, Norwegian Sky.
When sailing in the Caribbean, guests who get too hot will be hosed down with Evian mist by waiters, while those who look like they’ve had too much sun will be sprayed with Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion.
Meanwhile, those party-loving NCL bosses booked kitsch-but-cool ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again to entertain the travel industry when Norwegian Sky stopped at Dover last week. The band turned out to be a mighty popular choice with guests, who were soon bopping in the aisles and screaming out the words to their favourite songs.
Even news reader Michael Buerk, invited along to present the charity raffle prizes, rose to his feet and jiggled around a bit to the music.
Only UK executive director Bill Ellerington looked a bit low during the celebrations.
He was being plagued by one of the guests, a bearded chap known as Keith, who insisted the two of them had been at school together.
Keith kept popping up and engaging Ellerington in reminiscences about short trousers and schoolboy caps, much to everyone’s amusement.
“We weren’t at school together – he was there 10 years before me,” moaned Bill.