Western Europe
Perhaps the greatest impact the cruise ship "Constellation" had on me was seeing a chandelier made by glass artist Dale Chahuly (he aptly named his work "Constellation Chandelier 2002"). It was hanging over a beautiful red velvet settee named " Tatlin" made by Italian artists Rocky Semprini and Mario Caransi. The items were in a walk-in glass tower in the upper deck of the ship. I caught a glimpse of the work of art through the tower's glass roof, just about sunset. The sun's rays touched numerous fingers of the chandelier and the effect was magical and radiant. The enchanting sight utterly enraptured me. It is part of a contemporary art collection that tastefully abounds on the ship.
The Constellation is a friendly ship. Passengers and crew alike greeted each other with a smile and a hearty hail when they meet. The captain plus his officers are Greek, the cruise staff are American /European and the hotel staff are at least 50 nationalities. I made an effort to know the names of everyone I met on the ship specially the hotel personnel and greeted them in their indigenous tongue. I learned to say please, thank you, hello, goodbye, good morning, good night in Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Croatian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Indonesian, Thai, Hindi, Arabic, and in Filipino which is my native tongue. They all spoke English and didn't hesitate to teach you new foreign words when asked.