Living on Cruise Control

This picture is from my last voyage working on board M/S Peter Wessel. The smile was there but I felt very sad, I lost my home away from home that day. Working on board a cruise ship is like having a second family and a second home.

Christmas party on board M/S Peter Wessel

Nothing to be done about that, the ship was sold to Italy and I was assigned to a new ship. A brand new sparkling speed ship that sailed from Larvik to Denmark in little over 3 hours. It was like working on a water Taxi. No soul, no festivities, no atmosphere. Leaving home for two weeks at a time was just not worth the sacrifices my family made for me, not anymore. My career as a sailor was over as quicky as it had began.

Super Speed



The first ship I worked on was M/S Fantasy. A cruise ship that went from Oslo to Germany. It was a beautiful ship and  probably the most scarriest job I have ever had. In order to get a job on a ship we had to learn how to save lives in a crisis. I had to learn how to flip a life raft, escape the ship through rubber tunnels that were thrown over the side of the ship, fight fires, learn evacuation techniques and how to survive in freezing water. My body was put to tests that I didn't think I would have the strength or courage to do.

Fantasy

Lucky thing we had such good training because a fire broke out on the ship M/S Peter Wessel. We were an hour into port when it happened. The alarms went off, smoke filled the corridors and there was panic, lots of it. The fire was put out relatively fast, but it took out the whole electrical system in the ship and we were drifting out to sea. It took hours to tow is in to another port that had the facilities to "Dock" the ship and make repairs. Without electricity there was no light, no heat and no toilets. You can imagine the smell that created. Anyways, the ship stayed in Dock for repairs for over 2 months. I had nightmares for a long time after that, but the fire had brought all of us even closer together. Post dramatic stress disorder will do that. 

A part of me will always miss the sea, but at least I do live close to it. Sometimes I lay in bed and hearing the waves I can almost imagine the gentle rocking and quiet engine humming while falling asleep on a ship. I will never forget what it was like living a life on cruise control.

Getting a kiss good-bye from a passenger

Out to Sea

Drifting out among the waves’
Heading out into the sea
You call the sirens song its clear
The rocks are far away yet near
You cannot see you cannot see
The crashing waves in front of me
The tide once here is gone
No ones left to hear its song 

-----Siv Maria