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Low life

Jeremy Clark: Was this a cruise ship — or Colditz?

16 December 2017

9:00 AM

16 December 2017

9:00 AM

We ascended the gangplank and were smartly directed to the ship’s library, where the seated purser swiped my debit card and took our passports. This purser’s face was prematurely aged, disfigured by misfortune, implacably hostile. Would she be keeping our passports until the voyage end, we asked humbly? We would get them back at the end of the cruise and not before, she barked, furious at our ignorance of the ship’s rules.

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