Annoying Questions to a Sailor.
“Is seasickness a real thing?”
“Have you suffered from a seasickness?”, “Is it safe?”, “Have you experienced the storm?”, “Where are you sleeping”? — all this questions and many other ones I am getting every time when somebody finds out that I am a former cruise ship sailor. And in this article I`ve decided to answer them.
During my six years at the high seas I have crossed Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans multiple times, visited countless amount of destinations and met thousands of people from all over the world. All this experience will help me to shed a light on this questions. Most of this information will be relevant for a cruise ship industry, but can be applicable to sailing in general. Without further due let`s start.
“Have you suffered from a seasickness?”
This is, definitely, the most popular question I am getting and, as it seems, the most concerning to the general crowd. And the answer is — not really. And by my observations, 99% of people on ship are not suffering as well. The reasoning of it comes from understanding of what seasickness is.
In scientific terms, seasickness is a result of a conflict in the inner ear, where the human balance mechanism resides, and is caused by a vessel’s erratic motion on the water.
Modern cruise ships are too big and too stable to cause excessive motion in normal conditions. They even have a wing like stabilizers that they can deploy under the waterline to smother the sailing. In case of a approaching bad weather, in most cases cruise lines will divert their ships from a planned route to avoid the rough seas.
Still, even the light motion of the ship will affect you. Your inner ear, beside the regular “solid ground” duties will fight additional movement and eventually will make you fill tired.
“Have you got into a storm”?
Yes, I did. And not only a storm, but I`ve experienced the super typhoon— Trami followed by another super typhoon — Kong Rey.
As I`ve mentioned above, ships usually avoid any serious weather disturbances. The main priority is obviously the safety of the guest, crew and ship itself. Bridge team and a captain as a main decision maker with assistance of a shoreside team are constantly analyzing the weather conditions to coordinate the ship appropriately. But in rare cases storm avoidance might be not possible.
In mid September 2018 we were crossing the North Pacific during our repositioning cruise from Sitka in Alaska to Tokyo. Japan was just recovering from a violent Super Typhoon Jebi. As we approached the northern Japanese's island Hokkaido it became clear that the new intensifying typhoon is turning our way.
The difficulty of the situation was that we were near the end of the cruise with more than two thousands guests ready to disembark. Two thousands new cruisers were ready to join the ship in a few days.
In order to solve this logistical problem and not to put in danger our guests the plan was to skip the last port of Aomori and to sail straight to Tokyo to finish the cruise earlier. A lot of arrangements were made in Tokyo to accommodate all current and new cruisers in hotels for a few days while the ship was in preparation to withstand the upcoming typhoon.
Cruise ships are ones of the most durable and powerful vessels. They are build to survive really rough weather if necessary. The main danger during the storm or typhoon is not outside of the ship — but rather inside. Thousands of unfixed objects from chairs, silverware, bottles and many other things due to the motion may cause a severe damage to all inhabitants and to the ship itself. Our preparations were focused on fixing and fastening everything that can get in motion.
Hours before the approach of “Trami” with only crew onboard we reached the center of enormous Tokyo Bay and were ready to meet the “monster”. Typhoon, after making the landfall in South Japan was weakening due to the lack of evaporation over the land. However, the night it passed above us in sheltered bay, the waves were reaching the height of 9 meters. The bridge team were using engines to keep the ship in a position opposite to the wind to be as aerodynamic as possible. We were not tilting too much, but rather were shaking and trembling due to the chaotic nature of the typhoon.
With a first light of sun ship officially passed the “stress test” as well as all of the crew. Since that day the ripped remnant of the company flag is decorating the main ship alley.
Continuing with the new cruise we faced the next Super Typhoon — Kong Rey. He was aiming for a South Korea so were we. By extending our stay in Kobe, we decided not to “jump under the train”. while Kong Rey was messing with South Japan. As he passed — we just followed.
“Where are you living while working on the ship?”
Answer is obvious but I am still getting it. There is even funny myth associated with this question:
One old lady, while cruising, asked one of the crew member where they spending their nights. The crew member, possibly annoyed by this question, decided to take fun of a lady. He replied that every evening when all job is done a bunch of helicopters are coming to the ship to transport all the crew to the nearest island for sleep and next morning they bringing them back. On the next day old lady came to the Guest Relations desk to complain that she couldn’t sleep last night due to the noise of the helicopters…
Well, for those who is still guessing, all crew are living on the ship.
More interesting thing is that the most of the crew are spending their nights under the water. Technically. Modern cruise ship are so big that their hull is more than 8 meters below the water line. This 8 meters of depth multiplied by the length and width of the vessel equals of a lot of useful space. Beside the engines, oil and water tanks and other important equipment the majority of a crew cabins are located below the water line. And preventing the question: “Is it scary?” I would say — “It is not”.
In general, the accommodations and food are free for a crew members. Most of the cabins have designed for two people with a bunk bed and one bathroom. The size is averaging 120 square feet with no portholes. Higher ranking officers and staff have a bigger single occupancy cabins with a window.
“Do you have a days off?”
It might be shocking, but no I didn`t have. And this is true for the most of the crew with exception of an entertainment staff. For the whole duration of the contract, which is averaging six to seven month, you don't have a single day off. The reason why people are not getting crazy while working every day long hours for a seven month in a row is in a matter of a ship life.
Look, there is no groceries, no cooking, no commute. All the time onboard is divided by the working time and free time. Beside the sleeping and eating your free time is not wasted on a daily fuss. So, basically, you have enough time to hang out with a friends, get an extra nap or enjoy the new destination while the ship is in port.
Still, ship life is not easy. Being for the most time locked in a “metal box” away from family and friends somewhere in a middle of nowhere may contribute to a depression and homesickness. Crew members are fighting it by different means: by chatting, getting into relations but mostly drinking. My remedy was traveling and I did it as much as I could.
I can keep going on and on with questions as I am getting a lot of them. Not to make it a never-ending essay I will cover the most interesting ones in another article.
Stay tuned if you like all this mix of words above. More traveling stories and guides are coming. While you here you can enjoy another articles:
What I`ve Learned After Visiting 70 Countries.
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