The quote below was the subject line of a marketing email from the cruise line for next springs grand adventure:
"Save on Wi-Fi so fast, you’ll forget you’re at sea
"
Oh hell NO. The photo above is what you want to be mesmerized by on a cruise. If you are going to spend your days staring at a screen, on your phone, on a tablet, or on a laptop, stay home. On our Atlantic crossing last April, we did have Wi-Fi, it was included as part of a discount package, and honestly it was terrible. It was spotty, working one minute and not the next, it was SLOW, and it had built in preferences, Facebook always loaded, blogger often took five minutes to load. I won't do that again. There will be about ten days next spring when I won't be able to reply to comments. A digital detox - many of us need to do that from time to time (fret not, I will schedule posts so you have something to read each day.) I will get away, by getting away and not dragging my wonderful electronic world along with me every minute.
Last Thursday evening we attended a National Symphony Orchestra performance. There was a couple, about ten rows back from the stage, who spent most of the evening staring at their phones. I guess the Orchestra was just background music for whatever was engaging their minds. Sad really that they found it impossible to escape into the glorious noise for two hours.
I often miss calls to my smartphone. I leave it on the desk or the bedside table when I am in the other room, or I have the ringer turned off. If it is important, leave a message, and I will call you back. Even better send me an email, I will read and respond when I can.
My mood this Monday. Ready for a digital detox.
Riding back from Silkstone Common last Friday, I looked around me in my railway carriage and noticed that EVERY other person was glued to their smartphone screen. Apart from anything else - that's a lot of extra electricity being used quite unnecessarily in my view. SAVE THE PLANET! CHUCK AWAY YOUR SMARTPHONE! I bet they did not discuss that at the recent climate conference in Brazil.
ReplyDeleteAt times I want to shout, look up and see the wonders around you. The phones don't use much electricity, about the same as a 6 watt led bulb.
DeleteMultiplied by about 4 billion, that is a lot.
DeleteI did not like my last cruise, one major reason being the lack of internet access. It is not like I would be glued to screen, but being connected is part of my life now, and not one I will willing give up.
ReplyDeleteI keep eyeing those ten day Pacific Crossings and thinking what great time to relax,
DeleteWhat a sales pitch for a cruise!
ReplyDeleteHard pass.
I, too, leave my phone laying about when I'm home and often miss calls. But I call back, or text back.
I mostly get shocked by couples at dinner who are each looking at their phones instead of one another. Why go out??
The cruise line is trying to sell the service at about $500 per person for the 14 day cruise. I try to leave my phone in my pocket when we go out to eat.
DeleteI'm amazed at how much time we all spend on our phones or computers. The number of people looking at their phones while out and about - instead of making eye contact or just smiling at other people - is always discouraging to me. I find it so sad.
ReplyDeleteI try to look up and see the wonders around me.
DeleteA digital detox is something we can all use. We do spend a lot of time on computers and phones.
ReplyDeleteThe ship will force the issue for me
DeleteYou're absolutely right! Vacations are for digital detox!
ReplyDeleteI do have international phone service when we are in port.
DeleteI'm like you are I take a vacation if you're just going to be looking at a screen the whole time. I mean I very seldom even blog or look at belongs but I'm on vacation let alone anything else online or news.
ReplyDeleteWe should vacation more often.
DeleteWe could all do well to ignore those devices we once didn't have.
ReplyDeleteWe lived without them for decades.
DeleteYour blog is covered in adverts and pop ups dearHeart , not an easy read x
ReplyDeleteI agree it is getting annoying, esp on smaller screens.
DeleteThe other day, ads kept popping up when I was reading, covering up your lovely posts. Either those or drop downs. Either way, it was covering up what you wrote. I had to keep refreshing the page.
DeleteWIthin a month, I will reach the next payout from Adsense, I am probably going to get rid of the adds after that. I am so close.
DeleteI’ve never tried a digital detox. Maybe not a bad idea. When I was working and on cruise ships I needed to be connected to the office and to Jerry. The reliability was awful.
ReplyDeleteShips look like a difficult place to work.
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