It was late before I slept, early when I awoke. I went hunting coffee at 8am, sat on the aft deck, feet on the railings, watching the wake of the ship. It was heavily overcast, thick dark clouds blocking the sun, the wind strong in my face even though we were sailing away from it.
That all prevented anybody else from joining me. I had half the deck to myself, the wind, the sea. It was excellent.
Back inside I tried to find the football score and found instead the internal network broken. They use a gateway that routes through to the ship’s guest intranet page and also controls access to the broader internet. The gateway’s certificate has expired, and everything is broken. I called to let them know, found out “Our IT manager is working on it.”
How good is the IT manager on a cruise ship? To be fair it must be a very varied role, five star customer service expectations fixing idiots’ iPads while keeping the ship’s internal systems with minor roles like navigation and power working.
I didn’t offer to help. I could figure it out, especially with internet access, but I lack the access credentials needed and my skills are geared more towards fixing IT for the whole corporation, not a single ship. Call me lazy but I delegate that type of thing.
May have been linked to the Ericsson certificate expiry that’s shafted smartphone users globally. I’ll read up on that later.
Currently sat in a cafe by the port in Gladstone. The port has a water park, the access road to which has been lined in market stalls especially for the cruise ship. The locals have taken it as an opportunity to take a Sunday stroll by the sea too, as many of them browsing the pop-up market as cruise ship passengers.
Walked past a waterfall to get here. “That’s the biggest waterfall I’ve EVER seen!” said someone small that needs taking to Iceland.
The cafe’s wifi is overwhelmed by my fellow passengers, but it only cost me a coffee and I got to drink that too. I’ll count this a win.
Time to stroll into the town centre, find something to repair my bag. The metal clasp on the shoulder strap snapped while going through customs on Sunday..