August 27, 2014
I’ll be living on a ship for three and a half months, but something I didn’t consider was my lack of nautical term knowledge. I really thought the crew would just use it and everyone else would speak English. Instead, I am told to go “aft to deck,” or “meet at starboard side,” or “face the bow.” I’m learning how to speak like a sailor (I hope I don’t develop a sailor’s mouth), but the hardest adjustment is time.

For example, dinner is at 1730 hours. I don’t know about you but my watch has twelve hours on it. I’ve always known how to use ship time but never had to actually live by it. I don’t like doing math to decipher when I can eat next. I’m learning though.

I have also learned by others that there are three things one must refer to when talking about sailing on the seas.

It’s not a “cruise,” it’s a “voyage.”

You don’t have a “room,” you live in a “cabin.”

And for goodness sake, this object that we are traveling on is NOT a “boat.” It’s a “SHIP.” Why, if you say that “B” word, it’s blasphemy.

It’s not that harsh, but we are expected to use nautical terms. They just don’t teach you this stuff on Spongebob.