There are two men, one of which is a captain, and the other is an individual who is trying to board the ship.  The ship in the background looks like a rather luxurious vessel, therefore the price to board the ship is rather high.  In this picture the man who is trying to board appears to not have the sufficient amount of money in order to board the ship, this is indicated by the captain rubbing his fingers together to signify that he needs more money.  So, the man who is trying to board is potentially a poorer man who is desperately trying to get on the ship and travel to the featured destination.  A possible ending to this story would be that the man who didn't have enough money to board at first, goes an sells some of his possessions in order to get enough money in order to board the ship.  And they all live happily ever after... even though he had to sell some of his possessions.
