Stories from my travel around the globe.
The Flight from Hell: As a former seaman, I have been on hundreds of flights. Most of them are forgotten after a day, and some are remembered for a long time. The last “long flight” will be remembered for a long time, but for negative reasons. The first thing one notices when we were more or less ready for departure was that the crew seemed … Continue reading The flight from Hell.
Down the Memory Line….. Entering Halong Bay in Northen Vietnam back in the mid 90s. Sunrise as we sail in to the bay. Quite a spectacular sight. An amazing sight is opening up in front of us as we sail further in, to anchor off the town of Hon Gai, for an overnight stay. At anchor for the night, with Hon Gai town in … Continue reading Entering Halong Bay, Vietnam.
Remember when we sailed up this river, using 3-4 hours. Starting around 5 AM. All the twist and turns as the river snakes and bends? Then it turns out it is still another hour before we are there. Again, because of the river is not straight up and down.😁 rgds Sailor Kai Ståle Ødegård Continue reading Up Saigon river….
Today’s picture is just a bragging picture. It always looks so glamorous to work on a cruise ship and walk around in the fancy uniform when one is a Senior Officer on a cruise ship. The fact is, the fun working on the cruise industry disappeared a long time ago. Sure it is still interesting and one can see the world if working on the … Continue reading At work on a Cruise ship.
Working on a cruise ship, is more than just pretty uniforms with a lot of gold stripes on your shoulders. The days can be very busy with a lot of stuff happening. And contrary to what urban myths tell you, Cruise ship offices need to take part in dozens of various job activities, which is not always that fancy. The pictures in this little blog … Continue reading A regular day on a cruise ship.
Relax, it was just a drill. The weekly drill all ships in the world must conduct, according to international maritime law. And the kind of drill should be fairly easy to guess. Yep, it was a Biohazard drill (or chemicals). It goes back to early 2000s when this was a real deal around the globe. Especially the scare and fear for these kinds of attacks. … Continue reading When the alarm bells are sounding.
I have over the years been asked many times about how it is to work on a cruise ship when bad weather sets in. Well, as I always would reply, it kind of depends of the ship’s size and how bad the weather is. But regardless of this we will notice the weather one way or another. It might only be some slight rolling (side … Continue reading When bad weather sets in.
The date is 19th of October, 1995 As I walked up the gangway on M/V Seabourn Pride, in Piraeus, I was greeted by the Second Officer whom I was supposed to replace (relieve) as he was soon going on vacation. But first we needed an overlap, or a “handover period” in order for me to understand what my new job on this particular type of … Continue reading The journey begins.
In March 2020, the cruise industry shut down. There are no qualifiers to that sentence– it’s not that certain ships from certain companies in certain countries shut down, it’s that every ship from every company in every country stopped accepting passengers in March 2020. That’s unprecedented! Never before, in modern times, has there been such a complete, global shut down of an industry of this size. … Continue reading The Insane Logistics of Shutting Down the Cruise Industry.
Something many of us forget, is the fact we do not know everything about the town, or city we are from. Especially if we are from a city with a couple of hundred thousand people. And when your city or town is very old as well, then there are a lot to really take in, before you know it all. My city is called Bergen, … Continue reading Walking around and getting to know my own town better.
Women can now opt for female drivers when they hail a ride from Bangkok’s predominant ride-hailing service. Grab users can now find female drivers as an additional option for trips anywhere in the metro area by selecting “GrabCar (Lady).” It costs the same as the “GrabCar” option, which summons private drivers and costs a little more than commercial taxis. While taxi drivers are held in … Continue reading Women can now book female Grab drivers in Bangkok.
We see it in movies and tv-series. Many people still think that the ship’s Captains can marry people. This is not really true anymore. It was possible in the past, depending upon what company and the flag the ship was flying (the flag state). But these days, I have not heard about anyone giving this “power” to a ship’s captain. I guess the Legal stuff … Continue reading Blessing on the Bridge.
If you happens to be in Bangkok, Thailand, and you plan to stay in that area for a few days, one of the things you should visit, except for all the other regular touristy spots, are the two cemeteries from world war 2. The cemeteries are located near the city of Kanchanaburi, located about 125 KM west of Bangkok. This is about a 3 hour … Continue reading River Kwai bridge and the Chungkai war cemetery.
Today’s picture is to remember good times during summertime in Northern Norway. It can actually be very warm during the summer far north in Norway. Warm enough to just wear a (very short) shorts. And the days are long, due to the midnight sun. For months, the sun never sets (goes below the horizon) at all, so the daylight is 24 hours. Crazy to experience … Continue reading Today’s picture.
Check Inn 99. The name will forever be connected with good memories for me. This was by far my favorite go to place, any day in the week. So I will use this opportunity to share a few pictures from good times. I bet there are a few familiar faces here. 😉 First, a few of my young brother, and myself. Good times. The band, … Continue reading Check Inn 99, Bangkok.
BANGKOK — Thailand will receive its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine from China by the end of next month, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha said as the country logged a new virus death and the highest-ever spike in case number on Monday. The country reported record-breaking 745 cases of COVID-19 on Monday, though most of the patients were reportedly found during active case-finding operations in Samut Sakhon. PM … Continue reading 2 MIL. DOSES OF CHINESE VACCINE WILL GO TO FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS.
Today’s picture reminds me of a simpler time. A simpler time for us who work in the Cruise Industry. The picture here is in the end of the so called Good old days, where customer satisfaction was the highest priority, before it slowly started to change. These days, the most important is to prevent lawsuits and other issues which might be of negative impact. Report … Continue reading Today’s picture.
Today’s picture reminds me of a simpler time and place. The picture is taken in the province of Kalasin (Karasin), in north east Thailand. This part of the country is called Isaan. The picture is taken in early 2000s, when my future wife and I went to visit her family. I was very well taken care of by all the family members, as well as … Continue reading Today’s picture.
To spend Christmas and New year onboard a ship as a crew member, is a very special time. This is something which only must be experienced to fully understand, because it is really something different. I will try to explain this feeling many crew members have during the holidays onboard, and post some pics from the years I spent onboard, far away from the family … Continue reading When the ship’s crew celebrate Christmas onboard.
BANGKOK — The government’s pandemic response center on Wednesday appeared to adopt a new policy of leaving out numbers of new coronavirus cases in Samut Sakhon in today’s news briefing. The Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration reported only 46 new cases nationwide today, without mentioning how many were found in Samut Sakhon province, where at least 1,000 cases were discovered in recent days. Center spokesman … Continue reading GOV’T VIRUS TALLY NOW EXCLUDES FIGURES FROM SAMUT SAKHON.
