Cruise Ship Luxuries

Cruise Ship Passenger Areas. Just some of the luxuries which passengers get to enjoy and relax in while on holiday or a cruise. Now wouldn't that be nice to experience one day. Well you can. There are some Cruise Ship companies which allow you to enjoy some of the same luxuries as the passengers. For example like using the passenger gyms, pools and Jacuzzis, attending shows and performances in the theatres, dining in the restaurants and buying from the on board shops, and some companies even encourage their crew and staff to join in on shore excursions and tours when the ship is in port. How awesome does that sound? How does a nice wine trail and tasting sound, or visit to the local art gallery or museum? Fancy a bus tour around a historical village? Or a trip with an explorer boat to go and swim with dolphins? These are just some of the joys of working at sea!

The Navigation bridge on a ship

This first photo is from the bridge wing of a Cruise ship looking aft towards the stern. You can get a good view of the side of the ship where the life boats are situated below the passenger balconies. Just about all cargo ships have open bridge wings where the Captain and Pilot will control the ship from outside the bridge. There are limited services on open bridge wings. Usually only controls for the bow thrusters, telegraph, helm and emergency stops. Whereas on enclosed bridge wings on all Cruise Ships and some Ferries the services which the Captain and Pilot have access to are far more than those on an open bridge wing ship. They have all the luxuries of CCTV Radar, ECDIS on conning display, Echo Sounder, Speed log, cameras, GPS, VHF radios and shelter from the weather. So you can see why most Captains like enclosed bridge wings. Me personally I prefer open bridge wings as you get a better feel for what the ship is doing when you can look over the side of the ship and feel the wind when making a decision in manoeuvring.


The second photo is a typical lay out of a navigation bridge on a ship. You see the central conning display which is situated in the middle of the bridge with a small wheel allowing the quartermaster to do hand steering. Yes most ships still do have chairs for the Captain and Officer of the Watch to sit in. Bridge areas on Cruise Ships and Ferries all have carpet on the floors whereas Cargo ships tend to just stick with lino floor covering. This is my favourite area on a ship. I spend half my day on the bridge of ship either on watch of doing admin for routine safety checks. Go AMOS!

MEDIVAC - Via Helicopter on the Australian Coast

MEDIVAC - A Medical Evacuation via Helicopter is the last resort for any medical case on board a ship. If the Doctors or Officers on board are not able to do any more for a patient then depending on where the ship is located a medical evacuation will be considered.I witnessed my first helicopter evacuation on board my last ship. I can see now why English is the required language for communication in emergencies. We had 7 different nationalities on the bridge during this scenario. Dutch, Polish, British, Latvia, English, Scottish and Pilipino.The overall outcome of the evacuation was a success and the paperwork afterwards only took 2 hours to complete. Thanks to the admin Officers on board - 3rd Officer.

10 Magical Wonders of the Sea

One of the 10 magical wonders seen on the ocean. It’s not every day you get to see the tale of a whale on more occasions than one.These are the 10 wonders of the sea as I see them from my journeys so far.
1- Sunrises and Sunsets seen on the horizon.
2- Sea Life and wild life. Whales, Dolphins, Seals, Birds and fish.
3- The sound of the sea against the hull of the ship, complete peacefulness and serenity.
4- International travel by sea and see the world while you work.
5- The Fresh air, ocean breeze and clear starry lit skies seen most on most nights.
6- Personal satisfaction from achieving set goals.
7- Strength, self-confidence, competence and perseverance gained from being on a ship.
8- Rough weather voyaging. Encountering near death experiences.
9- Experience different cultures from all around the world. Learn a number of languages.
10- The pay package you take home at the end of your contract is so worth it.These are only just some of the wonderful reasons to pursue a dream to live and work on the ocean.

Support Woman At Sea - Cause Campaign

I have started up a Cause Campaign on Facebook in the hope that more Women can be encouraged to pursue a Career at sea and stay strong in the midst of tough times. It’s a chance for woman to come together to encourage and show their support to other woman who are working in the Maritime industry. A chance to speak up about tough issues they have faced at sea and also sharing their exciting stories of experiences they have had at sea.The time has come for Woman to speak up. There are so many of us out there who have dreams to become Chief Officers and Captains of Cruise Ships, Product tankers and Bulk Cargo Ships. What is stopping us from stepping up and rising to the challenge? Male domination, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, male over-powering, insecurity? There are a number are factors that may be relevant, but in each case is different for every woman.I have started up a donation link on the site to raise money to sponsor a trainee to go on the Spirit of New Zealand. All donations go to the Woman for Woman International fund. When the goal amount of $1500.00 is reached, I personally will bring forth the $1500 for the young teenager to go on the Spirit of New Zealand. The Spirit of Adventure Trust will be contacted and a trainees name will be given to me who I will then pay for. This trainee will be mentioned on the website before they go on the ship and then they will write a small letter to us on completion of the voyage.I love my career and life at sea so much that I want others to experience the same passion which I have. I endeavour to spread the Word through the medium of the sea with other young woman out there. It is a fantastic career to start; you get to travel the world, see amazing places, work with a ship full of crew that becomes like family over time and have the responsibility of taking command of a bridge watch for two 4 hour shifts a day. The people you get to meet, places and sights you sea and the pay package at the end of your travels are only a few highlights of this chosen profession. So take that step and show your support to woman already at sea.

Milford Sounds Scenic Cruising

Milford Sounds Cruising on board the Volendam. Scenic Cruising through the beautiful hills and inlets of the South Island of New Zealand is defiantly a highlight on a South Pacific voyage on a Cruise Ship. The Milford Sounds area is much like the Marlborough and Queen Charlotte Sounds with fewer boats sailing and touring in the area. The wildlife is pretty much the same, with huge amounts of dolphins, birds and sea life. There are numerous amounts of waterfalls running down the hills and cliffs at the waters edge.Can you believe that we get paid to do this kind of stuff! Its amazing isn't it. Travelling around the beautiful New Zealand seeing wildlife, sea life and hills covered in native bush. I personally can’t dream of anything more spectacular that this!

Christmas 2008 - In New Zealand

Christmas 2008. For the last two years I have been at sea for Christmas and New Years. This year was different. I spent Christmas on land with my family. It was so nice to enjoy a day of celebration with my grandparents, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles and parents. Although I left all my Christmas shopping till the last minute, last minute meaning Christmas Eve afternoon, there was no stress involved this year.New Years this year I will be doing the same as what I have done for the past two years. I will be on working on board the Aratere. My favourite ship as 3rd Officer. Maybe this year I won’t be the youngest crew member on board. Haha what am I kidding, of course I’m going to be the youngest again.
This photo is of me with my mum and two younger sisters. There is no seafaring history in my mums side of the family, the seafaring part of me comes from my dad and his father. My dad’s father did some service in the Navy when he left school and my dad works on the Spirit of New Zealand Sailing ship, volunteer coastguard skipper and loving taking our boat out fishing and tubing. You wouldn’t get my mum or sisters near the water even if you bribed them with chocolate. My dad on the other hand you would just have to mention the word sailing and he’s out already. I love my family to bits and was so very thankful that I was able to spend Christmas with them this year rather than in khakis on a ship working.

-^-^-The Joys of working at sea-^-^-

What other job description comes with the opportunity to see the sun rise and set each day from your workplace window or cabin porthole? To have the chance to experience international travel to exotic places and remote destinations around the world is just one of the many bonuses of the job. You get to work with a multi-nationality crew. Reap the rewards of personal satisfaction and a good pay package. Have well earnt time off in chosen ports of call. Get paid to train and learn. - To become a Deck Officer, Master or Chief Engineer. What ever area you choose to work in the rewards and joys of your job out number any other job you could think of.You will be faced with the challenges of decision making for navigation in dense traffic situations, but these times of hard concentration are usually followed by peaceful days of single watch keeping on the bridge in the middle of the ocean. Surrounded by beautiful scenery around the coast of islands and countries, and the soothing sound of the sea and gentle sea breeze when your on passage. With a job at sea it comes with the possibility of advancement and promotion to a higher rank. With promotion comes a whole new level of responsibility. Being more involved with the crew training and passenger lifeboat and emergency training if on a cruise ship.Any job comes with paperwork mentioned in fine print at the bottom of the application form. If only those words were bigger then we would be able to have a better perspective on the amount of paperwork involved in a job at sea. Time management makes the paperwork side of things a breeze.Seafarers especially deck officers are in high demands now days due to the shortage over the last few years. Its a goal of the future to see more young people choose to take up a career at sea and travel and work their way to become captains of the future.Through the New Zealand Maritime School they offer a Deck Officer Cadetship training programme consisting of a few years of study and sea time on board a ship of your choice. On completion of this time successful students gain a 2nd Mates Foreign Going Ticket, a Certificate of Competence, and a Diploma in Nautical Science.The next stage is to step back on board the ship with a gold stripe on each shoulder in a rank of a 3rd Officer.It would be awesome to see more woman take on the challenge and experiences of working at sea to become Captains.

NZ Mates and Masters Graduation - 2008

Some of the woman of the night. From the left there is a young lady who used to be a catering attendant on a Rail ferry and is now married to the 2nd Mate. In the middle is a young woman who used to be hair dresser on a cruise ship and is now seeing the Chief Officer of her last ship? And that’s me on the end a 2nd/3rd Officer, now working on cruise ships. So as you can see from this photo woman work in all areas at sea. Not just in the cleaning side, but in passenger services and in the nautical deck department. This was a great night of celebration as the recent Mates and Masters received their awards at the presentation evening.

Look in the mirror and like what you see.

We all long to be loved and feel beautiful. Part of being a woman means that we come ready made with the gene of beauty.Working on a cargo ship and tanker of a crew of 18 and me, being the only woman on board I was in two mind-sets as to what beauty actually meant to me in my chosen profession in life. On one hand I could pamper myself daily before stepping out of my cabin. Then I take the risk of giving the guys on board the wrong impression. On the other hand I could not bother about presenting myself well each day and just go natural like the guys. And guess what? That’s what I did for 10 months. During this time I learnt a lot about myself and what it truly means to be a woman, especially working and living in the industry that I'm in. I am in this profession because that's where my heart is and I have a passion to live my dream out. What I did learn from this though was that by not looking after yourself and your beauty you slowly start to lose your self-respect. That didn't sound too appealing. So I sat down and thought to myself, if I am going to live a life as an inspiration and encouragement for future young woman who want to head into this industry then I’m going to have to start to take care of myself. By this I mean making a new mark. Presenting myself well so that I am comfortable with who I am and also in a way that I represent woman when I’m on the bridge or deck of a ship. With this then will come strength, courage, confidence and endurance. If you look in the mirror each morning and like what you see that is the best way that you can start off a day, being comfortable and happy with whom you are.Words of advice: "Don't dress to impress, or select to neglect!" Choose to make a stand for woman working and living in the Maritime industry. We are all of the same make-up - (genes of beauty).

Where is the sun in the Northern Hemisphere???

Earlier this year on a voyage to Singapore I crossed the equator on a ship for the first time in my life. Now tradition has it that for each person’s first equator crossing this deserves a christening - normally an unpleasant act is played on the person. Thankfully we crossed the equator at 0630 on my 4-8 bridge watch so nothing was done to me. I watched the GPS as we crossed the line from Latitude South to Latitude North. I was expecting the GPS to take a mind of its own and spin around in circles but it didn’t. The numbers just counted down then when it reached zero to 3 decimal places it started counting back up again, this time with the letter 'N' next to the latitude co-ordinates.I noticed that as we approached the equator the sun was rising and setting in more of an Easterly and Westerly direction than we see in New Zealand. Recalling my studies from 2nd Mates I remembered that: From between the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer the Sun sets anywhere from a south-westerly direction to a north-westerly direction, and from the equator to the Tropic of Capricorn the sun rises anywhere from a north-easterly direction to a south-easterly direction, depending on the time of year. At the Equator (0° latitude), it sets due west at the equinox in March. So it was quite easy to know each day where the sun would rise and set by just observing the compass in at bearings of 090 in the morning or 270 in the evening. By observing sunrises and sunsets as we were 2 degrees either side of the equator, it was seen that when the sun reached a height of its diameter above the horizon, it seemed to fade away, so that made it very difficult to take an amplitude for obtaining a compass error, as we need the sun a semi-diameter above the horizon for the calculation.For everyone back home, the sun in the northern hemisphere is just the same as what you see back in New Zealand.

Personal Satisfaction

One thing that I have realised since being at sea is that "Receiving recognition for doing well in your job is not as important as personal satisfaction and achievement."
It’s hard enough for a guy to ask a woman to do a job on a ship let alone thanking them and telling them they did well.
In my case when I prevent cargo spillage on a tanker or load a Rail Ferry to maximum capacity in record time, you would expect even just a little bit of thanks or praise for my work.
Some people need to be given thanks and praise in order to keep strong and feel good about themselves in what they do. The career path that I have chosen doesn’t offer praise to employees. For a woman that is hard since all woman like to be told when they do something well. So I have learnt to strive on personal satisfaction in my work. Doing what I do well, giving it 110% and looking back and thinking that I couldn’t have done what I did any better. That’s the sense of achievement that gives me courage to stick with what I do.

"Believe in yourself and you can achieve anything!"

Holland America Line - Cruise Ships

A New Journey awaits. I’m joining a Holland America Line Cruise Ship as a Deck Officer in November 2008. It’ll be a change of lifestyle for me as I’m used to working with cargo, independently and with having a crew of 18 males on board. I am looking forward to working together with the bridge team and socialising with the crew when off watch. And I won’t be the sole woman on board. So that has to be a plus! Voyaging to where? New Zealand and Australia, the South Pacific voyages. To work for a month as a relief 3rd Officer. Maybe I’ll decide to take up a full time permanent job with them in the near future. I do know though that HAL has a 5 star rating of EXCELLENCE and practice safety at all times. So that’s a change from previous ships I’ve worked on. Bring on the professionalism, 8 pairs on uniform and polished shoes. I may even have to learn how to iron-oh no wait there are dry cleaners on board. When I return to New Zealand and have some time off in early 2009 I may be heading to some schools to give some motivational talks and speeches to the student leaders and careers advisors. This could be the first step in the door for more women to follow their dreams of working at sea. In the near future I hope to do some promotional marketing for woman working in the Maritime Industry. It’s another year away yet though. "A day in the life of a female Deck Officer on board a Ship." From Sailing ships to rail ferries, to Cargo ships and Product tankers now to cruise ships - I wonder what awaits me next.

How to stay in shape on a ship.

Most would say it’s really easy to control your weight at sea by only eating two meals a day and viewing ship work as quite physical. Well it’s actually the opposite. The food on the ship is so good that you don’t want to skip a meal. Not to mention on a cargo ship if you don’t show up for a meal the steward comes to find you. For exercise then when on watch there is a place to do pull ups outside, squats and leg lifts inside and pacing from wing to wing in the mean time. When off watch I do Pilates daily in my cabin. This is a good way to relax and de-stress after a hard day at work. :) Pilates is a good way to develop strength and flexibility while listening to music in my cabin. It sound weird but the best upper body exercise that I have found is doing hand stands against a wall then press ups in that position. That way you are using your own body weight to work out. Then there leaves cardio. Every chance I get to go ashore I go for a run, mainly aim for the hills and run to the top and back. It’s good to get a breather and change of scenery to. In this photo you can see that it will take a while to get ashore from the ship. I long tanker jetty that takes 9-10 minutes to walk the length of. (Botany Bay - Australia)

By one person speaking someone elses life changed...

I have recently just been on a 10 day youth development voyage as 2nd Mate on the Spirit of New Zealand. 40 teenagers aged between 15-19 years old. Youth from all over the country including exchange students from Germany, Sweden, Brazil, Italy and Chile came on board for a life changing experience. Three girls in particular really stood out from the other 37 teens on board. These three girls have life long dreams and goals ahead of them which they hope to live out one day. When they stepped onto the Spirit of New Zealand for the first time they knew no one. Despite being exchange students and having English as their second language they didn’t let that hold them back from putting in 100% in the voyage and getting back 110%. One girl had such a bubbly personality that made everyone smile every time she talked to them. She had dreams to travel the sea and work on a boat. But behind the scenes she had pressure from her family to join the Royal Navy. She likes to please people and always puts others before herself. Towards the end of the voyage she came up to me and shared that she was really scared about leaving the Spirit because she would then be heading into the navy. I could see her spark fading as she talked with me. She asked if there is any other way she could live out her dreams at sea and still please people. I shared with her my story of how I first went to sea and developed a career out of it. I gave her a letter with gave her 122 other options for pursuing a career at sea, one which she will enjoy, her parents may accept and the different roles which woman serve in on a ship or boat... She cried as she read it. A follow up chat with her the next day reignited her spark and she was on fire again and her smile reappeared :-) The young girl left the Spirit of NZ buzzing to tell her parent of her life changing experiences she had on board and also about her career options for when she leaves school. She is planning on joining a cruise ship to work in hospitality industry. She is so excited about her new found dream. She will then get to travel, work, have a social life, and enjoy each day as she lives out her dream of working on the water. Who ever new that by one person speaking it could make such a difference in someone else’s life.

Living your dream out. Not working to reach your dream.

Follow your dreams, persevere, stick with it, and let nothing take your dream away from you. You who follow the ways of others may find it hard to see the end goal in times of challenge. But she who believes in herself and lets nothing and no one push her around at sea, she will be the one to reach her reward in the end. That’s the dedication which will get more woman seafarers into Captain Roles. Sounds all good, but is far from being easy... With working in a male dominated industry RESPECT is something that has to work both ways in order for a safe comfortable working environment is to be created. And this isn’t always possible. No matter how hard you try. The best option for woman then is to protect themselves, put heir own needs and wellbeing before their job. If you work on a Tanker and think to yourself every night before bed; "Why am I doing this? Why am I working on a tanker, isolating myself from the world when I have so much to offer? "If you are a social person and love talking to people, socialising and have a bubbly personality, then why would you want to work on a ship where there are only 17 guys, it doesn’t make sense if you ask me. Wouldn’t it make more sense to work on a Cruise ship or Passenger Ferry where there are 1000’s of people on board, of both genders...?What ever your dreams maybe at sea. Whether it be to become a Captain, work in the bar and hotel services or in the deck department then I urge and encourage your towards reaching your goal. Stay focused and give it all you have, 110% at all times. It’s not about spending your whole life trying to reach goals that look so distant, it’s about living your dream out your entire life until you reach your destination. Your whole life is a dream of planning and living, so do all you can do to enjoy every tack you end up travelling on.

Drydock in Singapore.

Singapore Drydock on the Kakariki...
If you think it was hard being the only chick on a tanker for 3 months strait, you have seen nothing till you have done a drydock in Singapore. You would think there would be at least one woman working in the dockyard in Sembawang. Well your wrong, there was none!
There were literally 100's and 100's and 100's of guys there. All Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Bangladesh and Singaporeans. And having a few guys watch you as you walk the catwalk on deck its ok, but having the whole ship stop working and heads turning as you do your deck safety rounds its kind of intimidating don’t you think. After 4 weeks there they should have got used to seeing me on the ship, but they didn’t and they continued to stop working to watch me walk.

This photo is of the deck of the Kakariki during the lay up period alongside the wharf waiting to go into the floating dock. We had two ships more up alongside up, was the Western Star which recently had an accommodation fire so the whole accommodation block was burned down. That’s the photo below.

Pretty scary aye. And i fire to this extent only takes seconds to go up. You could actually see how the steel work buckled with the heat when we looked close up. I’m am never leaving my cabin light on anymore and always sleeping with a fire extinguisher and EEBD in my cabin.The crew all abandoned the ship using the free fall life boat. At the bottom of the photo you can see the retrieved lifeboat on the deck of the ship.

"She's a Chick????"

I couldn't believe what i was seeing. But then again it should have been expected. This is what i am used to now working on tankers. (being the only woman on a ship you kind of expect to be stared at now. i have got used to it.) You have to!

I walked from the control room out to the manifold to check the hose connections. I could see the guys standing on the jetty who were talking amongst them selves. You could see them peering up to at the ship every so often passing around a five dollar note. I knew what they were up to just by the way the guys were trying to be suspicious while trying really hard to win the five dollars back. I walked back along the catwalk to the control room but just as I turned around I pulled off my hard hat and turned to look at the guys on the jetty. I turned around slowly and the guys mouths dropped. The words spoken next broke the painful silence. “She’s a Chick!!!” They couldn’t believe it, that there was a chick on board a tanker and better still a young chick.
I gave the guys a wave and then walked back into the cargo control room, laughing away to myself at what had just happened.
Oh the joys of being a woman, it has its advantages and fun times.

Size Doesnt Matter...

As this photo shows height doesn’t matter. You are always able to make yourself taller, you cant ever make yourself smaller. Advantages of being small... On the Spirit of New Zealand when the seas come over the bow the wave breaker at the wheel protects you from getting wet, no need to duck. Its not size that determines how good you are at steering a ship, nor does it show how competent you are with cargo operations or personal relations with passengers. Sole Deck Officer on bridge Watch in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The Inter Islanders ferries are run by one deck officer during the cook strait crossing in good conditions of visibility. During the red zone - pilotage waters in Tory Channel and Wellington Harbour, the Master, Mate, Quarter Master and Lookout are also present. Just think. A ship of the Aratere's size with up to 399 POB, 100 Cars and 8 Trucks followed with 4 rakes of rail. The lives and safety of all on board is under the competence of the deck officer on the bridge keeping watch. Watch Keeping Officers, the Master and the HOD's all carry with them UHF Radios for in an emergency situation. This has been and will always be my favourite ship to work on in my lifetime. The Inter Islander Ferry the Aratere. Sole Deck Officer on bridge Watch in Cook Strait, New Zealand. The Inter Islanders ferries are run by one deck officer during the cook strait crossing in good conditions of visibility. During the red zone - pilotage waters in Tory Channel and Wellington Harbour, the Master, Mate, Quarter Master and Lookout are also present. Just think. A ship of the Aratere's size with up to 399 POB, 100 Cars and 8 Trucks followed with 4 rakes of rail. The lives and safety of all on board is under the competence of the deck officer on the bridge keeping watch. Watch Keeping Officers, the Master and the HOD's all carry with them UHF Radios for in an emergency situation. This has been and will always be my favourite ship to work on in my lifetime. The Inter Islander Ferry the Aratere.

Voyaging around the beautiful New Zealand Coast...

Working on a product tanker for 9 weeks on the 4-8 watch your my body clock had to adjust to a daily start of 0330. Taking down a piece of marmite on toast and black coffee, I now have my kick to keep me awake and alert for the next 4 hours. Whether it is on bridge watch in uniform or cargo watch in overalls, I would now be the sole deck officer in charge for the next 4 hours.Such a peaceful feeling being on the bridge of a ship for the sunrise each morning, a nice way to start the day. And then to top off a hard day at work I get to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sunset each evening. Oh and people say life is hard and work isn’t fun. Well I’m happy to say I love my life and my career. It has its moments but the joys out weigh the downtimes. This photo is taken from the bridge of the Kakariki when I was on watch one evening. The voyage was when we were heading to Botany Bay in Australia. Beautiful westerly winds and sunset. That’s the deck of the Kakariki at the bottom of the photo. A pretty large product tanker. She carriers products such as PMS, RMS, AGO, HFO, LFO, JET and Bitumen, various grades of each. In short I call the products premium, regular, diesel, Ferry Fuel, Skinny fuel and Plan Juice... :-)My times served on the tankers were great. I have some great memories from the 4-8 watches. Places visited and times on board with the crew. No desire to pursue a career on tankers though. I need to have people around me who I can talk to. I’m not anti-social, far from it. So cruise ships and ferries is more my seen. And having other Woman around me to will be so great.

3rd Officer on a tanker

I am currently employed as a 3rd Officer with Silver Fern Shipping - a New Zealand Coastal Tanker company. A 6 week on/off roster. My work shift on board is 4-8.thats 0400-0800 and 1600-2000. Loading, discharging, heating, tank washing and draining... time is something that you never see the end of. Trading around the coast of New Zealand from Marsden Point to Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson, Lyttelton, Timaru, Dunedin, Bluff and New Plymouth. Via Cape Rienga. Beautiful scenery, whales, dolphins, seals, birds, gannets and wildlife.