Cruise Nurse Husband On Board

We recently did an informative post on what cruise nurse life looks like. After reading that post there were some additional questions. Two questions that we hear a lot are: can a spouse live and travel on board the ship and what is life like for the HOB, the husband on board. Let’s get into all the glitz and glamour that is cruise ship life of the cruise nurse husband on board.

Spouse On Board

People new to sea life often wonder if it is possible to have their spouse live on the ship with them. This question has several variables that may impact the answer: cruise line, ship size, crew rank, and tenure. We can only speak to our situation, because every cruise line varies. Dragon works under the umbrella of the Carnival Corporation, which includes multiple brands such as Holland America, Princess, Carnival, P&O, and more. Officers of a certain rank can request that their spouse be permitted to live on the ship, sharing their cabin. It is subject to approval, may be subject to a waiting period, and can involve a set fee as part of the process. We’ve actually met several other spouses and family on board. In our case, we have been fortunate to be approved for Dog to travel on both the Island Princess and HAL Oosterdam.

Service Staff

The official role of the HOB according to Dog’s badge is “Service Staff”. I am never referred to as service staff and only occasionally as husband on board. My unofficial name on the ship is “Spare Husband” or “Spare Daddy”.

Of course there is a story there. When Dragon joined the Oosterdam she came on as an extra nurse for the Antarctica voyages. She was immediately dubbed “Spare Nurse” (a loving nickname) and Dog was subsequently dubbed “Spare Husband”. When I told them I have a website where I blog about our journeys, there were immediate suggestions that my site should be called “Spare Daddy”… So yeah, there you go.

Of course I had to follow up on that! For the record, the domain spare husband is already taken as a handyman service. Ironically, searching for the domain spare daddy was blocked by IT security. No surprise there…

The crew and officers enjoy having new people join and they quickly welcomed us as new members of the team. We have gotten to know people all over the ship; room stewards, servers, shore excursion staff, engineers and bridge officers. Like our experience on the Island Princess, the crew of the Oosterdam are fantastic and really make you feel welcome. We’ve even had the chance to spend time with some of the high ranking officers like Staff Captain, Chief Engineer, and Captain who are all as approachable as the rest of the crew.

Mornings

Between the ship’s varied clinic hours and the call rotation, Dragon’s work schedule plays a huge role in governing Dog’s day to day activities. So let’s just talk in somewhat general terms about what mornings look like for the HOB.

Mornings actually go by quickly. At the most basic level they tend to look like: shower, breakfast, “chores”, and “work”. We have the option to take breakfast together in the officer mess every day. Breakfast is over at 0800 though. Sometimes things change the schedule, for instance if Dragon was on night call and had a patient all night then we’ll miss breakfast. When we miss breakfast in the officer mess I go upstairs to grab a bite in the Lido market. There are so many options and I love breakfast. I’ll grab some breakfast and enjoy it outside on the aft pool deck.

So what are morning “chores”? Spare Husband’s two primary chores are laundry and coffee run. With set clinic hours and close to 2000 people on the ship the medical team is busy. I frequently make a morning trip to the coffee shop on Deck 10 to get a flight of coffees for the medical team. Along the way I like to stop into the ship’s library to grab a copy of the NYT crossword. One copy for us and one for Senior Doctor.

Another chore for the HOB is laundry duty. Usually once per week our laundry needs washing. While Dragon’s scrubs are laundered for her, our personal clothes are Dog’s responsibility. There are multiple laundries on the ship and the officer laundry is just a short walk down the hall.

Mixed into the breakfast and chores routine, morning clinic is prime time to get on the laptop and get some work done. Blog posts, website changes, learning new skills, managing bills back home, etc. Like I mentioned before, mornings seem to fly by. There are always things to get done before lunch during morning clinic.

Afternoons

If you read the post on Cruise Nurse Life you’ll know that clinic hours on sea days end at noon. Port days are an entirely non-routine variable that I’ll touch on later. Dog and Dragon eat lunch together every day, typically in the officer mess. The officer mess is busy at lunch time. We usually enjoy lunch with the medical team, as well as many of the engineers and bridge officers. Occassionally we’ll head upstairs for lunch at the Dive-In burger / taco shop.

After lunch is usually our exercise time. You can’t tell from the pictures, but we actually work out daily. There is a crew gym and a guest gym. For awhile our gym workouts were treadmill/eliptical and core. Of late, we’ve been doing the Insanity workout (killing me TBH!). In case you had questions earlier, now you know where the laundry frequency comes from. We also like to spend some time outside during the afternoons. We walk or run laps on Deck 3 or Deck 10.

By now you’ve discovered that absolute routines are next to impossible due to the nature of working in medical on a cruise ship. Afternoons can also be a good time to chill together. On days when Dragon has night call she is relieved of afternoon clinic to rest. As long as she isn’t napping we can do those crosswords, watch a show in our room, or play a game like cribbage, backgammon, or farkle. When Dragon is napping or in clinic, its back to the laptop to get more work done.

Evenings

Regardless of clinic and call rotation Dog and Dragon typically eat dinner together. Multiple options exist for dinner: officer mess, lido market, dining room, or one of the fine dining restaurants on the ship. It really doesn’t seem to matter where we eat, the food on these cruise ships is excellent. Hence the need for the Insanity workout. I cry…

So what about after dinner? Just like back home people want to get together after work. There always seems to be something going on aboard cruise ships. Whether we are going to the main stage for a show, attending a karaoke party in the crew lounge, or meeting someone for a glass of wine we just seem to keep busy every single night.

Even if we’re just hanging in our room there are options for movies, more games, having people stop by for a chat or glass of wine. Of course there is also time for more work, whether that be the social media obligations, working on the blog, building an online store, or trying to figure out something I haven’t quite mastered, like Pinterest.

Port Days

Of course the port days are what this is all about. Port days look completely different from the sea days I’ve mostly been discussing. If you follow the Dog and Dragon Instagram account you get a regular stream of images from our trips ashore. The ship’s clinic hours are shorter when we’re in port. That means we are usually heading ashore by late morning. Sometimes Dog will still make a coffee run and then try to get some computer work done during morning clinic. After that its time to leave the ship.

I almost forgot one of my other “functions” as HOB. When Dragon is on day call she cannot leave the ship. On those days I usually go ashore with other medical staff and fellow spouses-on-board. Anyone who wants to go. Its nice to have company and there is a comfort in numbers, so she likes to volunteer me. I’m fairly certain it goes something like, “Take spare husband.” Honestly, a lot of these South American port cities are pretty sketchy. Its better when we travel in packs.

You can read about our many adventures ashore by checking out the other blog posts. While we do occasionally see if the shore excursion team needs any extra chaperones for specific trips, for the most part we just explore these port cities on foot. Walking around strange towns in far away places is a thrill in and of itself. We’re always taking pictures of cool stuff we encounter, looking at local goods, finding tasty cuisine, and searching for that unique local beverage.

Verdict

The bottom line is that I stay really busy. I’ve had very few days where I’ve thought I was bored. I didn’t even mention the other amenities on the ship: pools, hot tubs, sauna, ping pong, corn hole, pickleball. Honestly, there is so much to do, see, and be a part of. I am literally busy every single day. I’m frequently wiped out by the time some of the crew want to meet up in the officer bar for a tasty beverage.

Not going to lie though, the beer selection sucks. Correction: Shortly after writing this we discovered the officer bar was stocking a New England IPA from Patagonia Brewing. That was such a surprising treat it deserves its own picture! Still, I think about those tasty hazy IPAs at New Image and all the other amazing Colorado breweries often. Alas…

I miss friends and family every day. Do I think fondly of throwing discs in the park, heading to a craft brewery, or getting tacos at T|ACO in Boulder? For sure! Having said that, life as Spare Husband, the HOB, is most excellent. I have no complaints. Maybe I’ll update you all down the road if that ever changes and I can’t take the stress of being the cruise nurse husband on board. It may be awhile to be honest. Until then, cheers!