Dentist at Large – Cruising on the High Seas

Time for a holiday… long overdue. So, with another family, we did our first high seas South Pacific cruise. It’s what a lot of people are doing. You know it by the amount of people you see boarding the ship at the international terminal. There are almost 3,800 people on board with nearly 1,200 crew – that’s one crew member for every three passengers. In all, about 5,000 people to feed, clean after, entertain, make cocktails for and get every one home safely.

All you have to do is think of what you want to do for the day. There are a lot of activities on offer, almost 24 hours worth, or you can do nothing. The one thing you can’t avoid is the food and drink. The other thing you can’t avoid is hand hygiene stations everywhere. You can’t go into food areas unless you do a “washie, washie”. No cross contamination for you! No one I knew got sick. And no, I am being not paid by the cruise company.

They should have weighing stations around the place as well. It’s so easy to gain weight in a short time. What counteracts it is walking to various parts of the ship. Sometimes it’s quicker to walk the stairs than to wait for a lift. There are 14 decks to walk up and down, so it does wonders for the knees and you quickly learn how unfit you are!

I would often find the young adults of our families in the spa watching a movie on the top deck at night. That’s relaxing. We were very fortunate with the weather and the calmness of the seas. How did the surgery survive without me? Well the computer played up and …… no, it was serene.

Seriously, all the staff and Dr Kim Nguyen were amazing, but special mention goes to Roni for dealing with the technology, via the questionable satellite link, on the high seas. OMG. That’s one for the memoirs.

The cruise was a great adventure and fun. Everyone should do one cruise in their lifetime. Some people never get off the boat; they are either on the ship or thinking about being on the ship.

 Next week: Happy New Year – Highlights of 2017 – Part 3