On Mon, 10 Sep 2007 19:03:11 -0700, Jack Hamilton wrote:
>What did you do? You worked for a cruise line contractor?
No--a bit hard to explain, but I will try as long as you
asked. I have been on ships since I was 2; the Gripsholm (Swedish
America Line) was my first ship in 1958. In those days (let's call it
1944 through 1978--the years that my parents sailed--with one, two or
three of us kids, depending on which year you are asking about and the
order of our birth coupled with the timing of our going off to High
School or University!!), the ship's officers literally LIVED on
board--not just for a few months, but for as much as 4 to 5 YEARS at a
time; 2 years was considered a "Short" contract for any officer back
then. The ships were much smaller and there were few (if any)
"cruises"--the vast majority of my 15 voyages in those early years
were "crossings" from Point A to Point B. Published passenger lists
were the norm (cabin number, home address, current employment,
etc...), you had to reserve your deck chairs with the purser, children
were not allowed to eat dinner with their parents, adults dressed
formally for dinner every night, all first class passengers had open
access to the Bridge or Engine Room at just about any time they
wanted, smoking was allowed everywhere--there was even a special
"ashtray" piece of china at each place setting in the dining room
etc.... Needless to say it was a very different" world" on the ships
in comparison to what we know today!
My father was a Diplomat, so "first class" service and
treatment was the norm, especially from the Master and other Senior
Officers of the vessel. I cannot recall a single voyage where we did
not have meals regularly (even breakfast and lunch--which included
me, mercifully) with the Master or other Officers. My father was a
kind and generous man--for every ship that we boarded, he always took
a large gift bag--usually food and newspapers from the home country of
origin for the Master and Officers to share. It was a treat for them,
gave them a break from the boredom of their daily fare (just try
eating the same meals every day on the same schedule for a few
weeks--then imagine that stretched out for years at a time!!), and was
a thank you for the treatment he knew that he and our family would
receive on board, simply by virtue of his job title. It was/is sort of
like taking a bottle of wine or flowers with you when you are invited
to someone's home for dinner even nowadays. And yes, just about every
first class passenger did it--my Dad just took it to the extreme!!
Flash forward to my husband's and my first voyage together on
Celebrity's Meridian in 1993. It was simply "normal" for me to take a
gift bag to the Captain and expect to meet him, have a meal with him
and get to know him--and his family. Fortunately, the Master on that
first cruise for Derek and myself, had already had a long career with
Chandris/Celebrity, so he knew exactly what was going on. When I
realized that the Meridian was one of the older vessels that I sailed
on as a child (under a different name--in a former incarnation), he
was just as enthralled to meet me as I was to meet him, and we
developed a very friendly relationship (between myself and Derek, and
the Master and his wife--that incidently still continues to this
day!!), which made our voyage all the more happy, interesting and fun
for all of us. It was that chance meeting that began an 8 year
relationship between ourselves and the Celebrity officers. That
particular Master made it possible for us to meet many others, and
they (in turn) introduced us down the line to even other officers. Of
course, we sailed at least one voyage with the line each
year--eventually two per year (once we could afford it)--and met other
senior officers that way..... It got to the point where we even had
the President/CEO of the line on our speed dial!!! For a few years, it
was rare that I did not have a conversation with the President/CEO at
least once a month, especially when it came to design plans for the
newer ships!! We had id cards cards issued to us and a standing
invitation to be on board each week to relax, enjoy the ship, and even
bring many other guests with us over the years--some of whom are even
active (or used to be) on r.t.c. We made friends--good friends--among
the officers and many crew members, and were happy to do what we could
for them to make their lives a little brighter and easier. They, in
turn, gave us "the run of the ship" on any weekend that we cared to
come on board. It was terrific--for all of us. Do bear in mind that
this was also in the years before internet access on the ships,
especially for the crew--so they benefitted perhaps more than most,
especially from the wide variety of newspapers (printed out from the
internet and xeroxed for both ships) that we brought on board each
week!! There were other "shore services" that we did too, especially
taking care of banking business for many of the officers--just as an
example, I got off the Horizon and Zenith one weekend with over
$40,000 in my purse that I deposited the following Monday for several
officers!! Of course, all that changed with 9/11/01--through no fault
of ours.
>I'm quite sure that the captains on the ships I've been on had no idea
>that I even existed, and couldn't do much to make me unhappy if they
>had (I suppose they could instruct the cabin stewards to put dirty
>towels in my room, but that would be about it). What power did the
>ship's captain have over you?
No, most Masters, " Captains", or other senior officers have
no idea who is on board for any given cruise, and (you are quite
correct) they don't really care. There are still a few out there who
do, but today it is impossible to get to know everyone on board--the
voyages are too short, the passengers regard them as "the drivers" or
"the hired help", there are way too many passengers on board for them
to meet each one in person, security is too tight to allow visitors on
the Bridge or especially to the Engine Room, technology has taken over
seamanship, passengers do little but grumble and complain whenever
they do have a chance to meet an officer or the Master, children run
wild through the ship and misbehave in the pool or at the dining
table, etc.... A lot of the old delights (for Officers, Crew and
Passengers) of being on a ship are gone. More's the pity, from my
POV. Today it is far more of a "business" than it used to be--and
that it is to put it mildly!! But, there are still some of us out
there who DO care--and I am one of them. I want to meet the man in
charge and his colleagues! I enjoy being at the Captain's Table, or
being invited to visit the Bridge, or finding a bottle of wine or an
appetizer in my cabin with a little card that tells me someone on
board still cares!!! I am used to it and I expect it. To me, that is
a VERY large part of what a voyage is all about!!! Always was, always
will be....for me! To be perfectly honest, I would rather be on the
Bridge for each arrival and each departure, watching the activity and
marveling at the technology--or even learning how some of the machines
work, rather than to hop off at any given port just to get a bad sun
burn on the beach or at some local site--or get "Delhi Belly" from
eating some local snack!!!!! LOL That is probably why the Premier/
Dolphin sailings we did on the IslandBreeze, SeaBreeze and OceanBreeze
are undoubtedly still the most memorable voyages to both Derek and
myself!! The hours that we spent on the Bridge, in the Engine Room and
with the officers of those vessels are some of our most fond
memories--for us and for the officers that we got to know so very well
and who are still in touch with us!!!! Just as an aside, on 9/11/01 it
was not my mother or brothers, or Derek's family members that put in
the first phone call to us to see if we were okay--it was Captain
Chilas (Master of the SeaBreeze for 2 of our voyages) calling from
Greece to be sure that we were alright!!!!!!!!!!!! An exceptionally
good friend--back at the time of our voyages, and still to this day!!
I still want to be of help if I can to Officers, Staff and
Crew--even if only to honor my father's memory (he died in 1994). Some
regard it as "smoozing", others think it is too old-fashioned, others
don't understand because they have no experience of it. Their
loss...... and they have no idea of what they are missing!!!!!!!!!.
NCL officers seem to understand. Even the tradition of having
your photograph taken with the Master still exists on their
ships--although now the man stands alone smiling while everyone walks
by him with a puzzled look on their faces wondering why he is standing
there all by himself and not up "driving" the ship!!. We have seen
any number of Captains this way, and had some terrific conversations
with them--while other passengers pass him by as they race off to the
show lounge or the casino! They honestly have no idea of what they
are missing--IMHO!! These guys are AMAZING, and have so very much to
share and learn from!!!!! Stories of storms, difficult arrivals or
departures, difficult passengers, drunk passengers, dead passengers,
weird passengers...you name it!! They love to talk about it all....and
really appreciate it when you can understand and participate in the
conversation. Gossip about their colleagues on other ships or now
promoted to headquarter office jobs are VERY popular too!!
>It does seem strange that they didn't realize it was out of your
>control.
Yes, this was the saddest part of all. They blamed us (or at least
most of the Captains did--one in particular) for not being there any
more--and no amount of explanation about tighter security that we
could no longer just walk through would change their minds.
Someday we will go back to sail with Celebrity again--but no bookings
planned at the moment, beyond those on the Gem (for Christmas) and
Spirit (B2B next July)!
I apologize for rambling too much, but I hope I got my point across!
Cheers,
Peg
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