A cruise in the Baltic, in the first half of May, is a crap shoot. Investigate the average temperatures in May for cities such as Helsinki, Stockholm and St. Petersburg, and numbers like “high of 62, low of 48” will come up.

The first few days of the Celebrity Constellation’s lap of the Baltic came under leaden skies, stiff winds and temps in the 50s. A little below what they ought to be, but not way out of line. That’s life, in northern Europe, even in May.

And when the sun made an appearance, somewhere south of the Swedish island of Visby, dozens of people did some Euro-style sun-bathing, up on the pool area on the 10th deck.

And what is Euro-style bathing?

Yes, it could be with almost no clothes on.

But, more generally, it is facing the sun, under a blanket.

The sun doesn’t have to be strong to have people in the north worship it.

It’s the vitamin D thing … the sun helps bodies produce it, and after a long winter, residents up here are almost desperate for it.

So, the ambient temperature was perhaps 60, and we had a bit of wind, but with the plastic sheets around the 10th deck cutting the breeze, and a blanket taken from the giant stacks of them, we could laze under the light and read … or nap … and almost feel warm.

It was another “sea day”, and no one was in a hurry to go anywhere. Which is why so many people were around the pool in the late morning. Waiting. Hoping.

And then the clouds parted and the sun appeared, on the southeast horizon, slowly moving to the southwest (sunrise was at 5:02 a.m.; sunset at 10pm). The sun remained visible for the next four or five hours.

It wasn’t Speedo weather (it never is, for most of us), but it was enough to project a bit of warmth, and a bit of color on pale faces.