Welcome aboard!

Oceania welcomes us all, a bump on the head, a stub on the toe, you’re on a ship now!

Get your gear stowed in your locker and enjoy a tour with the skipper or first mate.

Time to learn the ropes! The vertical ones that pull things up and down, the horizontal ones that pull things in our out, there are plenty of them.

Before we go it’s time to stow! Food for the voyage, gear and equipment, all hands required!

Ships briefing, safety, roles and responsibilities, watches and watch mates.

Time to loose the bonds to shore and set sail! Thanks shore party! See you soon!

It’s a very different life at sea, an emotional place, everything from angry raging gales to soft embracing calms and we enjoy it as a crew, together, each doing their best to contribute.

Woken at ten to midnight by my alarm! I’m up and getting my watch gear on, safety harness is a must at night. Making a hot drink and checking the course on the plotter I make my way up on deck. “How’s it been?” “Pretty quiet, only two ships now well astern.” We look around, check out the starry sky and the rolling waves in the darkness, we chat and share stories, before you know it, three hours has passed and its back to a warm bunk.

Days pass navigating, keeping things shipshape and cooking. Oceania looks after us well, at home in the ocean riding it with confidence, bringing dolphins and whales to visit and amaze us.

Our time is too short out here, before we are ready it’s over and we are once again surrounded by the noises of the earth.

All of us keep an Oceania song in our hearts, perhaps we will get to hear it again one day.

~Simon Jones (Oceania Crew Member)