Ship Life

I know some of you are wondering what life is like living on a ship. Here are some of the unique things about ship life…

Time revolves around meals – breakfast 7am-9am, lunch 11:45-1:30pm, dinner 5:45-7:30pm. Your body gets on a strict eating schedule with these hours. If you want food between meal times you can purchase stuff at the snack bar.

You eat breakfast outside on the top deck of the ship – sometimes a bit chilly, rainy or crazy hot. Lunch and dinner are served in a large dining room, 5 decks down from the top.

You never know what date or day of the week it is. We operate on Blue Days, Green Days, Pre- and Post-Port Days. Even in port we don’t think in terms of days of the week or dates. We just think….Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Really rough days at sea (like today) – EVERYTHING creaks. Since this ship is mostly made out of wood (unusual these days) it creaks horribly when it’s rough. I have to use earplugs at night just to sleep. Another weird thing happens when it’s rough – the plumbing system goes crazy – the toilets gurgle and spit and sometimes a horrible sewer smell oozes out of them all day and night.

When the seas are rough class and work become challenges – they always continue but can be a struggle to get through. There’s always kind of a strange vibe on the ship during rough seas – it’s a little bit like a snow day – a mixture of excitement, caution, fear and sympathy for those who are not well. I’m lucky – I rarely feel nauseous – usually I just get a little bit lethargic or headachy.

Laundry – you can get your laundry done on the ship for $5 per bag but you risk not getting items back or having things returned damaged. For those reasons I opt for hand washing most of my clothes. I only sent two bags to the laundry last semester.

There is a gym on the ship with free weights, machines and cardio equipment. There is also some cardio equip up on one of the top decks so you can look out at the ocean. Can’t say I’ve made it to the gym too often – I’m sticking to the fitness classes to keep active.

There are exercise classes in the mornings, dance classes, language classes and RAD classes in the evenings.

About every other night or so there is some sort of event or activity – Cultural show, Movie night, Picture showcase from our prior port, Theatre performance, Crew Talent Show, etc.

We are in a completely different country and sometimes different continent every 3-12 days – THAT is really crazy for me to wrap my brain around!

You are NEVER away from work. People will catch you at meals, in the staff lounge, while you’re watching a movie or working out and jump right into work questions or issues. That can become tiresome and it’s difficult to create boundaries.

You don’t have any private space other than your cabin. Because you live with the people you work with it feels a tad inappropriate to be walking around the ship in pajamas. Some people do it but I always feel compelled to be presentable – brush my hair and put some real clothes on. This can be a pain when you’ve slept late and want to grab breakfast before it ends – who has to get dressed just to grab some cereal for breakfast?

One person’s behavior or circumstance affects everyone. Someone gets very ill or hurt? The entire ship is impacted when we have to divert the ship to medically evacuate him/her. Someone does something stupid, inappropriate or offensive? The entire ship can get up in arms about it very quickly. Rumors fly like wildfire too.

The close quarters also creates a very tight community – people rally around those who are sick, birthday celebrations can get quite festive and become a community affair, people quickly engage to confront issues to keep peace in the community. We really are a dynamic and intense international village floating out in our own isolated world.

Coming up in a future installment - I’ll share a typical day for me on the ship…that’ll probably be posted after South Africa.