One cruise earlier this year stands out. The ship was full of Americans, a good percentage of these, from my conversations, retired Texans, and many had made their money from oil. They are probably the most privileged people on Earth. But there was relentless complaining about minor details, such as the fact the ship no longer provided plastic water bottles to take on excursions.
I once stayed in a cabin next door to an elderly woman who clearly couldn’t stand her husband and told me she spent her life on cruise ships with him because she at least had the company of strangers as a buffer.Maybe that’s what makes the grumpy men grumpy. The things that annoy them about their wives are magnified on board.is the founding editor of Harper’s Bazaar Australia.