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A woman who worked on a cruise has spoken about what it’s like to be in a relationship onboard the ship, explaining why it doesn’t count if people cheat.
Destiny – who goes by @destinybenway on TikTok – recalled how she worked as a dancer on a cruise ship a couple of years ago, and was stunned at how ‘normal’ it was for crew members in relationships to cheat on their partners.
A woman has spoken about relationship culture on a cruise ship (Getty Stock Photo)
Working on a cruise ship while your partner is at home inevitably means long periods of time away from one another.
But Destiny explained it’s not just long-distance relationships that are impacted by the culture onboard, but also those between staff members.
“If you guys think hook up culture is bad on land, wait ’til you hear about it on ships,” she said.
“I worked as a dancer on a cruise ship last year and I am low-key scarred.
“It’s basically just a lot of cheating. Whether it’s on your wife back at home or with other crew members onboard, but the crazy part about the whole thing is how normalised it is.”
Destiny explained that essentially, the consensus is that if you’re on the ship, sleeping with somebody who isn’t your partner doesn’t count as cheating.
“Where I’m from, cheating is like ‘oh you messed up’. But on ships they literally use the phrase ‘ship life’ as an excuse to cheat,” she continued.
“And when I first came onboard I was so confused, I was like ‘what do you mean, ship life? It’s just real life’, and they were like ‘no it’s just ship life, I can do what I want’.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of everyone’s relationship, maybe they have some sort of agreement, but it rubs me the wrong way.”
Destiny also explained that if you do get into a relationship onboard the ship and then you leave, it’s basically as if you never existed.
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Apparently, cheating doesn’t count onboard the ship (Getty Stock Photo)
People in the comments were quick to agree, with one person writing: “This was honestly my biggest shock my first contract.”
While another said: “Haha 100% true! It’s wiiiiiiiild!”
And a third said: “Oh yeh I have a girlfriend… But it’s a ship relationship so let’s sleep together.”
Meanwhile, others were concerned for their own relationships, with a fourth writing: “The fact my bf is on a cruise rn crying.”
And another added: “Bro my girl is going on a cruise without me nah that’s worrying me so much I hate this so much.
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Many of the thousands on board the ship initially thought the incident was a case of special effects, until the horrifying reality emerged.
Watch below:
The scare on 7 November took place over rough sees in Spain as one guest was injured during the minutes-long incident. Photos and videos of the moment the ship tilted have since been shared on social media.
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said the 12-night cruise, travelling from Barcelona, Spain, to Miami, US, was diverted to Las Palmas so the individual could receive medical treatment.
“During an unexpected wind gust near Tenerife, Spain, one of our sailings experienced sudden movement,” they said.
Passengers onboard Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas were struggling to stay on their feet as the ship ’tilted 45 degrees’ (Kennedy News and Media/Bookeeping.ai)
“One of our guests was injured and requires additional medical care, so the ship will make a call in Las Palmas, Spain for a medical disembarkation.
“We are communicating these changes directly with our guests.”
Passenger Dan – from Toronto, Canada – told The Sun: “When I left the pub I could hear screaming sounds, glasses were falling around and the cruise had started tilting.
“You can see a whole advertisement sign hit a guy and he saves himself and grabs his girlfriend.
“He was in a state of shock. I wondered if this was a normal thing but the more I heard people screaming that’s when I got scared and had to turn the video off.”
Shops and social areas were trashed as a result (Kennedy News and Media / bookeeping.ai)
He said ‘it was like the Titanic’, before adding: “I was writing my last message thinking that I would die.”
Randy Moore, another passenger on the cruise, said: “First there was a lot of screaming going on in the theatre. Then 30 seconds later the ship tilted even more to one side.
“That’s when a lot of screaming started and stuff started to slide across the stage and it was kind of scary for a minute.”
Traveller Jonathon Parrish also spoke to CBS News: “Right then and there you could hear all the glass dropping from the bar and breaking.
“They had a grand piano that flew across the stage.”
After the ship full stabilised, Royal Caribbean said it arrived in Miami three days later without any issues.
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There’s plenty of options too from a simple alcohol-free cruise to the more unique ‘spicy cruise’ where couples swap partners. But next week, something a little more extreme will set sail.
On board the ‘endless cruise, passengers can spend their entire life on there.
The ‘first perpetual world cruise’, the 31-year-old Villa Vie Odyssey will set sail on 30 May after intense refurbishment and cosmetic work.
Residents can spend their life on board. (Villa Vie Residences)
Offering an ‘intimate, new cruise lifestyle’, it will begin its voyage from Belfast, Northern Ireland, with around 300 passengers, or ‘residents’, on board.
One of only two residential cruise ships in operation, it will be able to ‘reach parts of the world that larger ships cannot access’.
The Villa Vie Odyssey will visit a whopping 425 ports in 147 countries across all the seven continents of the world as it circumnavigates the globe every three and a half years.
Passengers have the choice between pay-as-you-go and ownership options. Under ownership, residents can ‘own a villa’ and ‘customise’ the living space. Owning means residents have a villa guaranteed for 15 years and it starts at $99,000 (£77,696).
The ship itself features eight decks with three restaurants, five bars and lounges, a pool with two Jacuzzis, a spa and fitness centre and a library.
There is also private offices and conference spaces onboard, meaning those who work ‘remotely’ can take it to the extreme can work online from anywhere in the world.
It will travel the world. (Villa Vie Residences)
Villa Vie Odyssey’s ‘segment one’ will explore northern Europe where residents can ‘savour Nordic culture under the Northern Lights’.
It will then go to the likes of ‘Greenland and Beyond’ before the Caribbean and then onto South America.
You can book onto the different segments, or for the more dedicated, residents can comit to the ‘endless cruise’ and just, well, stay on the boat.
The CEO of Villa Vie Residences, Mikael Petterson, said: “Villa Vie Odyssey will be customized for her immersive, 3.5-year global circumnavigations, ensuring all the comforts and amenities of home. Named by the residents themselves, Odyssey reflects the company ethos of creating a community to share unforgettable moments of discovery on an extended journey, connecting people, places, and self.”
Well, a life travelling the world on board a ship seems like quite the commitment – but there’s plenty of people out there who choose to live on cruises.
More than 1,500 passengers were left trapped on a cruise ship over travel issues as the ship docked in one of Europe’s most popular cities.
The MSC Cruises vessel found itself stuck in the port of Barcelona over issues with some of its guests’ rights to set foot on Spanish soil.
The ship itself, the MSC Armonia, had journeyed from Brazil and arrived in the Spanish city, where authorities were rushed to sort out the issue as quickly as possible.
But the vessel was forced to keep everyone on board as it arrived in the Mediterranean.
Pictures from the scene showed its passengers stood around their balconies and top deck as they looked out over the side of the grounded ship.
The issue concerned 69 Bolivian passengers who were not allowed to leave the MSC Armonia because they didn’t have valid visas to enter the European border-free Schengen area.
David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
This is a part of Europe with an ID-check-free travel zone comprising 29 European countries that Spain is part of.
Those from Bolivia, which included families and children, were to disembark from the cruise ship at Barcelona, with the vessel sailing on across the Med.
MSC Cruises said: “The passengers appeared to have proper documentation upon boarding in Brazil.
“We have been informed by the authorities that the visas are not valid for entry into the Schengen area. As a result, passengers have not been able to disembark in Barcelona, which was their final destination.”
One passenger told the local press that she felt like a ‘criminal in a prison’ and was convinced her travel documents were all in order.
The situation is now being treated as a possible fake visa scam, according to Solange Duarte, a Bolivian diplomat in Barcelona.
David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported that the visas had cost up to $10,000 (£7,940) per person for all the Bolivians on board the cruise ship.
Since the issue came to light this week, the Bolivian passengers have been taken off of the MSC Armonia which has since set sail once again.
The cruise company has now agreed to provide another boat from Livorno in Italy for the Bolivian passengers, the Spanish government statement said.
David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images
It is not clear if that boat would remain in Barcelona until the situation is resolved or take the Bolivian passengers elsewhere.
MSC Cruises will also provide food and healthcare for the impacted Bolivians and immigration officials will work to resolve the passengers’ visa problems as quickly as possible.
According to a dating coach, there is one word that indicates if someone is interested in you – or if you’re just wasting your time.
This is one for all the singletons out there, whether you’ve just connected/matched with someone, or you’re currently in the dreaded and unpredictable talking stage, you’ll probably want to listen up.
People will probably tell you to look out for signs that the other is interested in you or to be wary of any red flags that could crop up – the last thing anyone wants is to be ‘sledged’ this Christmas period.
There’s so many dating trends to keep track of, you’ll probably get a migraine trying to remember them all while talking to someone.
The dreaded talking stage can be cut short if you hear this one word (Getty Stock Photo)
So, what is the one word you’ll want to look out for above all?
Relationship expert Sabrina Zohar, who boasts over a million followers on TikTok, is primarily known for giving fans advice on maintaining a healthy relationship, tips on dating and how to overcome mental health barriers.
Zohar is also the host of a podcast, which is named after her, where she addresses the same topics in long-form.
Known as @sabrina.zohar on the social media platform, she simply asked: “Wanna gauge someone’s interest in you?”
I can imagine thousands of users screamed ‘yes’ at their screens, because if dating was that easy, then nobody would be single, right?
