The Avid Cruiser

The cheerful steward who attended daily to stateroom 620 on Maasdam was Hery Afandy. He hails from central Java, is father to a boy and girl, and confides that he likes to stay busy so that he doesn’t have time to think about his family. After all, thinking of them would only make him homesick.

And so Hery cleans, “15 staterooms with no assistant,” he boasts, and adds with equal pride that he does so at a rate of about 20 minutes per stateroom. Do the math, that’s three staterooms an hour — or all 15 in five hours. And don’t forget that Hery does this each morning and each evening, working from about 7 a.m. until about 2 in the afternoon (if you’re questioning our math, remember that Hery has other things to do other than clean rooms).

He returns for the evening shift from 5:30 until 9:30. Guests return to their rooms with curtains drawn, the bed linens pulled back, and a chocolate — or two — on their pillows and a desire to have someone like Hery at their homes.

But while Hery stays busy so that he won’t think about his family, it’s not like he dreads his job. In fact, he appears to love it. I never saw Hery when he wasn’t smiling — and at times, it appeared as though he was about to erupt with laughter, which he often did.

You cannot help but smile when you see Hery. So don’t feel bad for him even when he is half a world away from his wife and kids.

And Hery is not without family on Maasdam. His brother Fredy is a night steward. The young men (Hery is pictured left, Fredy, right) are joined at the hip, and on turnaround days, when work is hectic and when Hery wants to get off the ship to phone home, Fredy helps.

“We don’t think about the money (meaning Hery must share his tips with Fredy),” Hery says. “He just does it because he’s my brother. That’s what brothers do.” And if you think one brother is cheerful, just wait to you see the two of them together.