Long Overdue Update: Dragon Edition!

Dragon is off and away working as a cruise ship RN. This is the long overdue update: dragon edition because its been over ten days since the last update on her cruise ship adventure. Check out ‘Getting a Dragon to Norway‘ if you want to hear the story of getting over to the ship. This update will give you a recap of where she’s been on this current voyage. There have also been some requests for more of a day in the life of a cruise ship RN. We’ll touch on some of those details as well.

Land of the Midnight Sun

Dragon’s ship ported in Southampton, UK to change over guests before beginning a new journey up the coast of Norway. The planned voyage was a round-trip which included multiple stops along the Norwegian fjords to above the arctic circle with a stop in Newcastle, UK prior to returning to Southampton. Turnover day also involved a change of staff with some of the medical team ending their contracts and new team members arriving. Dragon now had her own cabin and was officially part of the three nurse team.

Day In The Life Of

Many of you are wondering what a day in the life of a cruise ship nurse looks like. Let’s talk about some of the details, without getting into anything patient related. Patient care is the same no matter what environment you are in. The details really revolve around the scheduling more than anything else. As mentioned earlier, there is a three nurse team as well as two physicians.

The ship runs a clinic twice daily with hours in the morning and afternoon. The hours vary depending on whether it is a sea day or a port day. Being the only medical staff onboard, they have to also cover emergency call. For the nurses that means someone carries the call pager at all times utilizing a 12 hour rotation: day, night, off. So the team works seven days a week in both the mornings and afternoons as well as covering call. There are opportunities for rest, relaxation, and exploration in port, but there are no days off. On port days the nurses can go ashore in between clinic hours as long as they aren’t on call that day.

There are also sea days where the ship is simply travelling in open water to the next destination. Those days involve longer clinic hours. Obviously there are no opportunities for visiting new shores on sea days. More people on the ship with nowhere to go often means more visitors to the clinic as well. Without dwelling on the sea days, here are some of the highlights from Dragon’s current voyage up the coast of Norway.

Port: Haugesund, Norway

Haugesund is a town along the North Sea with a population of around 37,000 people. The weather was perfect. Dragon enjoyed a walk through town taking in the interesting architecture, murals, and statuary.

Port: Andalsnes, Norway

Andalsnes is a much smaller town that is reached travelling far up one of the fjords. The town is surrounded by mountains that seem to descend right down to the water. Port at Andalsnes was a day shift call day for Dragon. Day call in port means staying on the ship.

Port: Trondheim, Norway

Trondheim is a large city with a population of over 200,000 people. The city has been an important location in Norway’s history including being the capital at certain points as well as being a religious hub. It is home to many churches, the gothic Nidaros Cathedral, and the Archbishop’s Palace. It was a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the sights in Trondheim.

Tender: Gravdal, Norway

Some ports are not suited for cruise ships to port along a dock. Those ports require a smaller boat, called a tender, to take people to and from the ship. The village of Gravdal was a tender port. It was also another day call shift for Dragon, so no going ashore in Gravdal.

Port: Tromso, Norway

Tromso is a city of close to 80,000 people. It was another glorious day in Tromso, but brisk enough for a light hoodie. Tromso is home to an alpine botanical garden with so many amazing flowers. It was a highlight of the day in Tromso.

Port: Honningsvag, Norway

Honningsvag is a small city of less than 2,500 people and is known as the northernmost city in mainland Norway. It was really far north and well above the arctic circle. Honningsvag had some cute statues greeting visitors. It also had a nearby hill to hike overlooking the town. It was an overcast day and quite windy at the top.

Return Trip to the UK

After porting in Honningsvag it was time for the return trip to the UK. That meant three sea days in a row before a port in Newcastle where she will be on day call and unable to go ashore. Dragon is in the midst of that journey at the time of this posting. Back to the United Kingdom before a new voyage begins.

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