Alistair Baillie

We’ll I have now been onboard the Island Escape for just over a week and a half and am all settled in. There was a little bit of confusion when we arrived – no one knew we were supposed to be coming – but that was all sorted out quickly, and we got put into a passenger cabin for a few days until they had a cabin ready for us.

Our training is a lot more organised this time, with both Marc and myself having drawn up a plan of what we are going to do over the next 4 months and as with the Island Star all the officers seem happy to help us learn.

The Island Escape wasn’t originally built as a cruise ship, and this is apparent with the maze of corridors which make up the crew and some of the passenger areas, especially all the random stairs, so it’s taking a bit of time to get used to it.

So far we’ve really been just completing the safety tasks, finding our way around and working with the fire patrol guys with the lifeboats. We’re also helping the LSA officer with his monthly life boat inspections – this ship has 10 open life boats and 4 tenders so there a bit different from the Island Star.

I’ve also been on the mooring decks for arrival / departure or up on the bridge dealing with the paperwork, talking to the pilots and getting used to the different way of working.

Marc and I have also been dancing for the passengers, the dances are a bit different on this ship – so that confused us – especially when its the same songs, just different steps (not that I can dance anyway)!