life at sea?

[thomaslambert]

could anyone one tell me what its like being on a cargo ship or oil tanker? is there much to do? much socialising? thanks

[Randomist]

Re: life at sea?

Welcome to the forum thomas!

[dawg]

Re: life at sea?

Well, it's probably quite boring if you haven't got any hobbies... you might get frustrated by a limited range of entertainment media available. Socialising might consist of bumping into a Filipino deck hand on the way to the toilet, and flashing a sheepish grin. (You won't get a decent answer, if you don't ask a decent question!).

[penfold]

Re: life at sea?

Much fun can be had guessing how the breakfast eggs will be served; fried, fried or fried?

[Ben]

Re: life at sea?

hi,
the social life can really depend on how the crew are, ive found that the crew on both ships ive been on to be very talkative and helpful.The language barrier can be a problem but if your good at charades then youll get your message across no problem
Overall on 2 ships i've not really had a problem with talking to people, if you talk to them then they talk back but as with any job there is a couple that won't be willing to talk. It will take some getting used to at the start but after a while it goes away.
As for things to do, i have email, sat phone, a small gym and table tennis aboard but id say take plenty of films, TV series away and some games as that passes the time quite well.
both my ships have been container ships.

hope thats helpful to you,

Ben

[thomaslambert]

Re: life at sea?

thanks a lot for the advice. im looking forward to it.

[Malim Sahib]

Re: life at sea?

Depends on the ship, on those with bars the social side tends to revolve around them. Theme/fancy dress nights are common, quiz nights, deck games, crib/darts tournaments etc, all sorts.