Back in the mid 1990s, I was chosen to be the first cruise director of the Imagination when it debuted in 1995. This would be my second new ship as cruise director following the delivery of her sister, the Sensation in 1994.

Back in those days, the ship would arrive in her homeport (Miami, in this case) and sit dockside for 10 days or so before her inaugural season began. This meant that myself and many of the staff would join the ship in Miami rather than in the shipyard as we do today.

I remember walking off the Sensation and my mate Gordon Buck, who is now vice president of Caribbean relations, gave me a lift down to the pier in his car with all my luggage. Of course, this was before dockside security was at the level we are at today.

I have to say that from the moment I walked on the ship, she instantly became my favorite ship…………and she still is. Why?  Well, the crew, the captain, the decor, the guests (we called you passengers back then), the ambience, the ports and oh yes……..Heidi and I got engaged on that ship a few years later. Overall, it has something “unique” — something very special and it always has. Ask many of our crew what their favorite ship is and the answer will no doubt from many be the Imagination. And you know what? She just got better.

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£3.50 a liter, ($7) it’s bloody outrageous, have they lost their minds? No, I am not talking about petrol I am in fact taking about …………..water. Heidi (she is home by the way and more about that later) sent me shopping. We had friends coming over for dinner and an hour before they were due to arrive, the flag was raised because she discovered we had……….no sparkling water.

I saw pure panic in her eyes and I was tasked to go and get two-liter bottles of sparkling H20. “Can’t we just give them water from the tap? (forcet, fawcet or however you spell it)………………….her answer was to throw my car keys at me and I began my trek to the supermarket.

Anyway, I have to admit that I have no idea about supermarket prices as Heidi has always been in charge of that stuff but I guess as I was on my own and that I approached the checkout with only two bottles of water I realised what a complete rip off bottled water has become. Stick some fancy Italian or French name on the bottle and it appears that you can charge what you want……….Perrier apparently is French for “I can’t believe you are paying all this money for water you English idiot.”

How can we complain about the cost of petrol when water…………costs more per liter than the black stuff…………………it’s a strange world. (more…)