This is a fine picture of my brother during the "nap" phase of the rigorous and exhausting training programme he undertook prior to his P&O cruise.

Fortified by a bowl of, not too hot puréed meat, soft vegetables and potatoes Eric managed the 25 metre sun lounger shuffle, beating several cruisers to the recliners where, after his wee nap he was well set for the next challenge, organised queuing. Queuing for a trip ashore while wondering if he really should have risked skipping that visit to the Mens Room.

However I was recently assured my vision of these cruise ships as floating care homes was somewhat erroneous. Consequently when one docked yesterday as we passed through Auckland I paid special attention to the demographics of the guests and yes, it seems in fact, I may be wrong.

While yes, the majority were past retirement, and rightly so as we can't have today's yoof skiving off and not paying the taxes to fund our retirement and health care, it seems it's not wholly an age thing. It's more that they are simply in "cruise" mode. My new theory is that the shuffling gait that can often be associated with the old and infirm actually stems from the fact that, having gone to sleep on island X or city Y, overnight, while they are fast asleep (other than the four trips to the loo), they wake up totally confused looking at a yet another new island or city in their 10 day "Cities of Culture" or other misnomer, cruise where, after the obligatory queuing they are dumped on the dock or street dressed in their pressed, long shorts, quite uncool Hawaiian shirts and brilliant white "adult" Nike Airs, blinking in the sunshine wondering where the hell they are now, where their mates from dinner last night are and where the hell should they go.

It's at this moment we, the other scruffy cruising community members usually catch sight of the shuffling mass of confused humanity and it's this that leaves the impression it's the cast of One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest rather than the previously decisive, energetic and successful business people they probably were and probably still are outside the organised shuffling that seems part of big ship cruising.

That's my theory anyway. (Can you tell it's raining today and our Grand Tour of New Zealand is on hold for 24 hours while we go and shuffle round the town wondering where we are?)