Walking on Water
April 3rd, 2008. Filed under: Thursday's Travels.
Yes, I really did walk on water. I spent ten years doing it. I worked and lived on ships and some of those suckers are big. There’s a lot of walking to do on a ship. Don’t let anyone tell you that taking a cruise is a laid back and relaxing thing to do. That only happens if you’ve taken a large number of cruises and have all the sightseeing and tourist things under your belt. It takes a long time to get that all done and that’s only while you’re in port. Back aboard the ship you have things scheduled nearly 24 hours a day. Of course, you don’t have to participate in them all or go to all those meals and midnight buffets. But get real. You’ve already paid for this cruise and you only have a week to get your money’s worth out of it. Listen, you can’t kid me. I’ve been there on both sides.
I loved being at sea so much, I would work doubles and 12 hour shifts for almost three weeks straight so I could take a week off every month and cruise. If I hadn’t turned into such a repeat cruiser, I may never have had the opportunity to work on a ship. I fell into my first job. Not really, I choked my way into it. I was enjoying the seafood cocktail and got a fishbone caught in my throat. That necessitated a journey to the ship’s infirmary to see the doctor. I was accompanied by the food and beverage manager who later sent a bottle of champagne. (I’ve learned since then that people actually sue for things more minor than this.) After the doctor extracted that nasty little bone, we spent some time chatting and over the course of the next few months became friends. It was this friendship that led to my first job as a ship’s nurse. The doctor’s wife was the ship’s nurse and was having a very difficult time adjusting to sea life as she was continually sea sick – so much so that she had to be hospitalized and then sent back home to the Philippines. I hate to see people that sick, but thanks to her body’s inability to adjust to sea life, I became a ship’s nurse and started walking on water.
Do you all like to walk on water? Share some of your cruising experiences and questions with me.
April 4th, 2008 at 08:01
I’ve never been on a cruise but would like to go. I just have to wait for our two-year-old to get his little sea legs!