Well hello fellow humans. So then, I won't go into detail on the topic, as I am pretty sure the title gives it all away. Land life vs Ship Life.
I can not express just how different the two are, and unless you have lived onboard and experienced it for yourself there is very little I can tell you that will give you the full picture. As a crew member you take the courageous decision to leave all your home comforts, friends, and routine for a life of uncertainty, and brand new surroundings in a place sooo different that you think you have gone to Mars. From the moment you step on that gangway you enter a completely different world. A fairy-tale world like no other. You know no one, you have no home comforts, and you will probably be sharing with a complete stranger from a completely different part of the world. But do you know what, you either love it or hate it. For most of us, it is the most amazing experience we will ever have. Upon arriving you have maybe 20 minutes to yourself before you are shifted off to you first welcome training to hand in medicals, and passports. That's it, you are on board. Then from this you move straight to get your uniforms, and take your stuff to you room.
Let me get this straight as many of you on land think we are on a constant holiday. We barely have unpacked our suitcase before we are off to pre-departure safety training, followed by guest drill of which you learn your role and you must take it seriously. You go from a member of the public this morning to being someone partly responsible in ensuring that guests are safe in the event of an emergency by the afternoon. Following this mandatory drill, the guests will go off to get their bearings, and you are off to start your first shift, and there you go, you are now a crew member.
Ships are very strict on ensuring that all crew members are able to take care of themselves and fellow guests in the event of an emergency, but there are many other training's about making sure we do not pollute the ocean, keeping ourselves healthy and safe, and how to recycle properly. In fact for at least the first two weeks it is constant intense training alongside your normal duties. We work hard, I know you only see the beach selfies and crew parties, but it is purely because when we work, we don't have time to take a work selfie showing you that we actually are working! Not only that, but we don't have signal when at sea. This gives you a break from social media and 24/7 connectivity, which I think is one of the best things. There is nothing better than being at sea for days, completely un-accessible and cutoff from the rest of the real world, and I loved that part of it. We work incredible hard, but with that in mind, we also have very little time to spend the money we are earning. It becomes increasingly easy to save the dollars and come home with a nice lump sum after a 4-8 month contract. When we do go ashore its normally to the beach with little picnic from the shop, and that's us sorted. Bluetooth speaker at the ready, and we create our own parties.
You become friends with people in your team exceptionally quick compared to how you would on land. You live, eat, sleep, work and party with these same people. The whole ship is not just a group of friendships, but you become more like family. When one persons contract comes to an end, it's incredibly difficult to say goodbye. Days are likes weeks, and months are likes years and you are living in such a compact little city, that everyone knows everyone.
I'm home on land now and have been for a while, and It becomes and still is incredibly difficult to adjust to life on land. It's all so different. It's such a fast paced life on land and everyone seems in a constant rush and stressed to the max, and you don't get this on ships. Yes, we work long days, and yet we stay so calm, and still every night you will be in the bar meeting up with friends and making new ones along the way. We don't worry about tomorrow, we really do live in the moment. I have been sat in the bar after work, finishing at midnight, and knowing at 6am I have gangway duties, yet do you know how many times I have been sat there chatting with people and the sun comes up and the room mate is like, mate we have work in half hour. But it doesn't matter! We are loving our time, and we still end up on the beach during our time off once we finish our duties.
This is what makes it so hard when we come home, the bits that people don't understand. We work so hard and yet smile at every second of every day, yet we go to the bar and see friends every night, and we are not distracted by useless pointless social media posts about things that do not matter which are not in the now. Live in the Now. We come home and are bombarded with texts, dodgy phones calls asking about this apparent accident we had last month, friends dealing with struggles and it's sad to see. It hits us with a bang when we get home. Also for the first few days or maybe weeks we are constantly seeing people, as they want to hear your stories. But then, day by day, the contact fades and simmers off. This is when it hits you! You have gone from being surrounded by people who you have fun with and seeing people every night to slowly it becomes once a week maybe. It's tough! You feel completely lost. This is why it's so hard to stay away from ships.
Now I'm not saying it's all good on ships, because that is also untrue, as we have tough times on board. Relationships for example.. If they end, you have to get over it in minutes, no chance in having space. There is no space! You are going to see these people all day every day, and you will see them with other people and you have to get over it. No time to get down about it, and believe me that's easier said than done, especially for someone who really falls in love. You also miss your family and friends so much, especially at Christmas and the New Year. We don't like to think about it, but life goes on without us. Friends get married, people die, babies are born, anniversaries are had, and we miss it all. This is what is tough! We get over it in the end but it is hard, and probably one of the main reasons we call coming home our vacation and going back to ship going home. 6 months on and 2 off, it's bound to happen. But each contract is different. It's not uncommon that the next ship you will know no one, but after a few trips you will always meet someone you knew from a previous ship, which is always good.
It's a love hate thing with ships, and I cannot lie to you, I miss them. I made it to Activity Manager (Assistant Cruise Director) after starting as a DJ, and stayed in that position for a couple of years, but then I decided I needed to come off after 6 years at sea, as there was so much going on that I had to be home for. But I'm glad I did it and have no regrets. I had the pleasure of being part of two of my closest friends wedding and to be the best man for a best friend of 20 years. Also for the first time in 6 years, I get to celebrate my families birthdays and indeed my own at home. Cant remember the last time I did this.
Anyway, here is a little insight to land vs ocean. We do work hard, but we play hard, and become very close to everyone we meet. Lots of love to all of my ship family out there. I hope you are all enjoying your contracts and I will see you if our paths cross again.
