Christmas Time

Ships do not stop for X-mass. They do not stop for Easter or for Thanksgiving or any other national holiday. Ships do not stop at all unless the company says so and especially not for the crew of a ship to enjoy themselves. It would be very nice if they did! It would be excellent if ships crew could just switch off the engines, lock the doors and go home for the weekend, returning on Monday morning to take the chain off the door and sail away once again. Sadly though the ship is usually doing one of two things, sailing across a large expanse of water or in Port discharging/loading cargo and neither of these actions allow for shutting down and going home for the day or weekend.

Out of all the holidays in a year, most seafarers would like to have Christmas and New Year at home. An odd few prefer the summer, so that they can have a long holiday period with their children but overall Christmas is regarded as the most important time of the year to be with the family.

Many fortunate seafarers carefully arrange their trip schedules using bribery, promises or through working longer trips in the summer, to be off during the Christmas period. The unfortunate ones, those who have been cornered or coerced and those that prefer to be away at sea during Christmas anyway, find themselves stuck in a floating steel can with a bunch of other bodies who either don't want to be there or hate the very thought of Christmas itself.

Stuck in a tin can with a bunch of irate and homesick men who don't want to be there and with no escape from them day in, day out!

The big question is.......do these unfortunate souls celebrate X-mass or do they pretend that the 25^th December is just another day in the year? Most ships do celebrate after a fashion and with what they have to hand. Larger ships by and large have a stock of tinsel and a tree stuffed away in some locker or other and smaller ships tend to have the same except less of it! Basically, X-mass and the spirit and style that is associated with the occasion largely depends on whether the ship is in port or at sea! If the ship is in port less emphasis is placed on decorating the vessel and greater input is made into getting off the ship and up to the nearest bar that opens before eleven am. Regardless of which country the ship is in there is usually a bar and a place to eat within walking distance from the vessel.

If by chance the vessel is at sea then a serious effort is made to celebrate X-mass in style. The cook will go overboard (not literally) to produce the most wonderful of spreads and he/she may have spent the last week or two thinking about and starting the preparations for such. Out of everybody onboard the cook probably works the hardest to make the days the special occasion that it is. Other aspects of a X-mass at sea will involve the hanging of the decorations and this usually falls to either a Cadet or the Third Mate, the lowest of the ranks. If the Captain has nothing better to do he will put the lights on the tree, although he will typically short them out and spend the next hour or so explaining to the Engineer how to fix them!

So, a Christmas Day at sea brings a wonderful spread, some poorly hung decorations, a tree with lights on (if the engineers can fix them) and some hats. For some inane reason somebody always seems to have a load of paper hats, found at the bottom of a drawer whilst they where cleaning out their cabin or sent by the Company in the Christmas hamper!. Ah yes, the hamper! Some companies send hampers, the good ones that is! Inside of this cardboard box maybe anything from liver pate to Plum Juice but all received is greatly appreciated by the ships staff. The extra bits that are included like the paper hats are not really required, but are suffered in the name of the Christmas Spirit! And if the Captain is wearing one, well everybody else has to follow suit!

On modern ships every member of the crew usually manages to make it for the Christmas lunch! Except for the Cook, who is busy dishing up the next course and scratching his head as to where he put the Marzipan (which of course has long since disappeared into the Second Engineers stomach). The Engine Room will go unmanned as per normal and only one Navigator will remain on the bridge, they changing over so that all Navigators get a good chance to wear a silly paper hat and to dig into the cooks hard work. At lunch wine might be served, if the company still allows alcohol onboard, and everybody gorges themselves on what the cook has prepared, they talk allot and they sort of forget that they have missed being at home for another Christmas, yet again.

A glass of wine, a paper hat and some good food! That is X-mass at Sea!

Allot depends on the crew as individuals and how they react with each other. Getting together and making the most of the worst is the best way to pass and enjoy the day. The worst possible scenario would be for everybody to ignore the fact that it was a special day and to either continue working as before or to remain in their cabins asleep. Whether at sea or in port it is important that all the seafarers onboard make the most of a situation. The vessels that have a X-mass Hamper sent out to them, those who wear paper hats and have flashing X-mass tree lights on the tree are typically happy ships.