ships , however modern , are more or less the same -- -the corridors to port and starboard of the engine room , rows of cabin doors , which largo explained were occupied , the large communal bathrooms , the galley , where two cheerful-looking italians in white smocks laughed at largo 's jokes.about the food and seemed pleased with the visitors ' interest , the huge engine room where the chief engineer and his mate , germans it seemed , gave enthusiastic information about the powerful twin diesels and explained the hydraulics of the hydrofoil depressor -- -it was all exactly like visiting any other ship and saying the right things to the crew , using the right superlatives to the owner .