The heading of this blog is catchy, isn’t it? There are still pirates on the ‘high seas;’ it’s just that we don’t hear about the on a day-to-day basis – instead it’s Mueller and Brexit. When we cruised in 2012, we were in the area around the Suez Canal, known for pirates-in-the-news. Now that news has died down, those pirates are fewer but it seems there are still pirates out in the Indian Ocean. At least Google tells me so.

Also, we have a piracy drill today. This is a regular occurrence on cruise ships so people will know what to do just in case the pirates attempt to board or even shoot at our ship. Cunard’s number one concern is the safety of its passengers. I like that! The drill will last around 30 minutes and we will all know what to do if an event ever occurs. Meanwhile, we will keep a look out for Blackbeard. And somehow this skull picture fits in with the lectures by the Archeological Forensic expert!

Any pirate taking over this ship, we are convinced, would regret the decision. After all, trying to fulfill the many needs and respond to the many complaints of this crowd would make them reconsider selecting privateering as a profession.

And now that pirating is not front-page news, getting our fellow passengers to take the passenger drill seriously may be a challenge. On our 2012 world cruise, just the opposite was the case: People were frightened and the captain and crew did everything in their power to ease the tension. We learn that the pirate activity seems to be in the area of the Seychelles- our next stop.

It’s now evening and we have spent the day “preparing for pirates” drill, eating lunch, attending a lecture on Pompeii and a cocktail party by the Captain. A busy day at sea.