How I Survived a Cruise Despite a Crippling Fear of Boats

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I was catching a boat a few weeks back to the Perhentian Islands, in Malaysia (more on that later, it's an amazing place). And it reminded me of another boat ride I took, a cruise with my parents, and how crazy it was that I was on yet another boat - nothing like travelling to make you confront your fears.

Having recently celebrated their 40th anniversary, my parents are very much the matriarchal and patriarchal figureheads of the family. Every year, the extended family spend Christmas at their home and once a year, they’ll take at least a few of the grandchildren on holiday with them. So for their Ruby anniversary, it only seemed fair that me and my two brothers treated them to something they really wanted. The one catch: the only thing they wanted was a Mediterranean cruise and I was/kinda still am deadly afraid of boats, the sea, drowning, sharks, mermaids – the whole package.

After some pretty desperate protestations, I agreed that we owed the parents this treat after everything they have done for us. So we booked a seven day cruise for 15 of us aboard the Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas, with daily excursions to Mediterranean cities (at my insistence - I did not want to be stuck on a boat the whole time).

My boyfriend offered little support when I confined to him my reservations (“we’ll just chuck you in the sea before we set sail so you’re used to it and the fear will go, that’s how I learned to swim”) and so I had to develop a strategic plan for surviving the high seas.

With a bit of research into the ship we were cruising around the Med on, I developed a personal daily itinerary designed to occupy my mind as much as possible and keep me distracted. With a couple of nephews and nieces also on board, I decided that a bit of babysitting could help alleviate my concerns about being abducted by pirates.

I dragged my poor boyfriend to a number of the shows. I know Chicago isn’t really his cup of tea, but I assured him that he would enjoy it (he says he didn’t, I think he’s lying). I developed a keen sense of navigating the ship so I could make my way from our room (an internal cabin, thankfully) to the theatre or restaurants with minimal exposure to the madness of the seas.

When the ship docked for the daily excursions, I was very much at the front of the queue to get my feet on dry land. I decided to make the most of these opportunities to enjoy the holiday as much as I possibly could, so I was dragging family members left, right and centre to enjoy the sights.

It was my first opportunity to see Rome, so this became a bit of an obsession of mine and I researched it like a thing possessed. I decided on the Church of Sant’Ignazio di Loyola due to the beauty of the décor and the fact I thought it wouldn’t be as busy as some of the more tourist trap attractions. The relative peace would allow me to show off my extensive knowledge accrued from the floating internet café in an uninterrupted manner.

So even though it wasn’t as relaxing a holiday for me as the rest of the family, it was as enjoyable as facing your biggest fear can be. It just took a fair amount of work on my part. Plus the parents loved it and that’s the most important thing (but they better ask for a normal holiday for their 50th).

More helpful stuff:

This was the boat: Liberty of the Seas

We booked the cruise through Cruise 1st

If you visit Rome, you MUST visit this place: Church of Sant’Ignazio di Loyola

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