Working on board a cruise ship gave me the opportunity to visit some destinations that had been on my “wish list” for quite some time, the main one being New York.

Finding out that I was going to work on board the QE2, famous for its transatlantic voyages from Southampton to New York was a dream come true. Excitement didn’t come close! Experiencing the sail in from Southampton, the sun was coming up behind the skyline and sailing past the Statue of Liberty was a very surreal experience. Later that day we ventured to Times Square and seeing the vastness and vibrancy of the city was mind blowing. Seeing things that New York is famous for like yellow cabs, NYPD, Empire State Building made it feel like you were on a movie set. Further visits on QE2 and later with Carnival were just as great as the first and it was always great to do a sail away from New York on a summer evening. Two years ago, I went back to New York and made a trip back to the Port to where it had all started for me, it was very nostalgic. It was nice to be able to explore the city and for the first time not be sight seeing to a sailing deadline.

South Beach in Miami is another favourite of mine. The pastel coloured buildings and shops are reminiscent of the 1960’s. Purely by luck, myself and some of my team members stumbled across a Vogue Fashion Party to which we blagged an entry and had free champagne all night, whilst pretending we were experts in the world of fashion of course and we seemed to pull it off.

Monte Carlo was another great place to visit, although our timing was slightly out in that the Grand Prix had just finished but admiring the super yachts in the harbour while having a glass of wine wasn’t the worst way to spend a day off.

The Caribbean is beautiful and it would be difficult to choose a favourite place as they all have special memories for me. From Seven Mile Beach in Cayman which is picture perfect, to San Juan or Cozumel for a night of partying, life on a ship is definitely the most fun way to see the world.

Author Amanda

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