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Out of almost three thousand passengers on “Constellation,” our cruise ship that sailed, recently from Florida, to five countries in the Caribbean Sea, it seemed that more than 99 percent of them were Whites. A ship staff said that about 1,500 of the passengers were Americans and that there were sizable numbers from Britain, Canada France, Germany and Australia. I saw about five or six Blacks, an Indian couple and few Spanish-speaking people.

As for the Whites, my first observation was that the Americans were more at ease, friendly and fun-seeking. Probably because of stereotypes, the British seemed to have “stiff upper lips”, the Germans spoke in shouting words, like “Achtung”, the Australians were more wild, the French talked in a funny way, and the Canadians probably more “refined” than the Americans.

A waiter said some British resented being served coffee with the dessert at the end of formal meals — like most Americans tended to do — and wanted tea instead of coffee, and not with the dessert, but at the very end of the meal. The waiter also said that some French insisted on speaking in French when ordering their meals; some Australian didn’t “know how to eat in a civilized way”; and the Latinos “and their children make a big mess in the dining room.”

My second observation was that, as in other cruises and during more than 30 years in America, I didn’t notice or feel any discrimination against me because of the color of my skin. Actually, a long time ago, I: (a) realized that my color didn’t have anything to do with my identity and (b) decided not to be self-conscious about my color.

But, obviously, as I recognized other peoples’ colors, I expected others to recognize mine, and, so, they most probably thought I was one of very few Black passengers on the ship. I believe that was natural; for example, if there were three thousand Blacks in the ship, they most probably would have notice the presence of, say, only ten Whites among them.

Some of those Whites might have a variety of negative feelings towards me because of my color, and, if, I believed they were very few. All in all, I didn’t notice or feel any discrimination from the beginning of the trip until its end. During those few days, living so closely and in a tight environment to so many strangers, I, again and again, confirmed my conviction that it was the behavior, not the color that mattered. That was an important feeling because of my years-long confusion, sadness and anger because of the pre-occupation of Black Americans, even in the age of President Obama, with their color.

Also long time ago, I decided to, generally-speaking, demure in front of Christian Whites after I realized that, inspite of their mistakes and problems, they were the founders, and now the leaders, of this great Western Civilization. On my Islamic and African sides, there are no civilizations for me to be proud of: the Muslim one fell a long time ago, and there was never an African one.

Arriving at this conviction has calmed me and protected me from living in a state of denial. I have found salvation in being realistic. So, during 12 days in that ship, I felt surrounded and engulfed by this Christian Western Civilization, but never felt defeated or inferior. Actually, I became more appreciative.

One day, I had a short talk with a retired German couple: the husband was an engineer with Siemens, a leading German company that he said built giant electric plants in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, and the wife did a Ph.D. on Gutenberg, the German inventor of the printing press (1439). On another day, I ate breakfast next to a retired British couple who said they were professors at Oxford University in Britain. Once, I had a brief conversation with a Frenchman who said he used to work at the Palace of Versailles. And once had a conversation with an American who was a space shuttle’s engineer at Houston Space Center, in Texas, and said he worked in Apollo program that sent the first man to the moon in 1969.

Then, there was the captain and the leading engineers of “Constellation,” the cruise ship itself. One day they explained their jobs, and answered questions, in the main theater in front of about 200 passengers who, probably like me, were amazed at how those few men were able to control and manage this sailing and highly civilized “small town.”

The ship itself was an example of the advance of Western science and technology:

Passengers could: make calls from their rooms to anywhere in the world; watch world news on television sets in their rooms; pick up daily printed copies of multi-language news-letters summarizing leading world’s newspapers; find, every evening on their beds, printed news-letters about the following day’s activities; and connect via the Internet to the outside world.

Then, there was the most modern spa I have been to: acupuncture “to recover balance and harmony between the physical, emotional and spiritual you”; aqua spa “for deep, whole-body massage, treatments and therapies to restore, refresh and renew”; and beauty salon “to add fullness to your features.” There were facilities for “reduction of facial wrinkles”; “elimination of cellulite”; “aromatherapy facial”; “lime and ginger body massage”; “hot stone massage”; and “teeth whitening“ – yes, “teeth whitening” on a cruise ship.

As I said in earlier pieces, the food, the way it was served and the people who served it were very modern. But, I wasn’t prepared for the most civilized meal I ever had in my life: at “Ocean Liners Specialty Restaurant.” This was the menu:

Starters: lobster bisque, tomato soup, Caesar salad, diced lobster and vegetables salad, smoked salmon, tuna Carpaccio, goat cheese soufflé, frog legs, chilled asparagus and foe gras (duck’s liver). Entrees: whole sole fish, fillet of sea bass, scallops, lobster, duck with pear, rack of lamb in pastry, shrimp flambé, veal with prosciutto, risotto with mushrooms and steak with cognac. Dessert: zabaglione with marsala, coconut burlee, chocolate soufflé, chocolate mousse cake, lemon cheese cake, selection of ice-cream, petites fours, bite-size surprises, and coffee.

Now, as much as I was fascinated by all these types of food, it was the art of serving them that, also, fascinated me.

The four of us (with my wife and her parents) were seated at the most elegant dining table that I have ever been seated at. The waiters and waitresses were nicely dressed, polite and each had a tag of his/her name and country (a nice way of starting a conversation; but, it should be short so as not to distract them from their work).

A waiter form India was in charge of our table, helped by one from Mexico for the water; one from Romania for the wine and one from Ukraine to serve the food with him. So, the Indian and the Ukrainian brought each course to each of us, standing on opposite sides of the table, and describing the food in elaborate details.

When it was time to serve the rack of lamb wrapped in a fluffy pastry, another waiter brought a moving table with the lamb and, in front of us, cut, in an elegant way, chops for three of us. I ordered sea bass on a bed of grilled vegetables, and it was delicious; cutting the fish was like cutting a stick of butter.

As I mentioned in an early piece, I was again, confused about which silverware to use for which task. In addition to ten forks, knives and spoons, there were: a certain knife for fish, and a certain spoon to taste from others’ plates

The six-course meal went for two hours, and could have been three hours if we ordered wine.

I joked that even the President of Sudan didn’t have such a civilized meal, and someone joked that even the President of the US didn’t.