Sailawaze UK | I grew up on cruise ships – what's it like to live on one?

For most of us, life at sea is no more than a week or two on a cruise holiday, but for Emma Swan it was the majority of her childhood. From ship-school to behind-the-scenes access, this is what growing up at sea looked like.

Words by Emma Swan

When I was little, I grew up on cruise ships. My parents were Cruise Director and Deputy Cruise Director for P&O Cruises and so I spent a lot of my early years in our cabin, down on Deck four.

This meant sailing through the Panama Canal or exploring a rainforest was normal, but buying bread from a supermarket or having a friend my own age was not.

My nautical start to life inspired my debut children’s book, Cruise Ship Kid: Thief At Sea (currently Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month for July), about a little girl who lives full-time on a ship, solving crimes, with her over-80s pals. It’s a celebration of life at sea.

By the age of five, I had been on five world cruises. As an adult, I am so grateful for this, but as a child, I wanted normal things. My Mum remembers me standing on the aft-end of Deck seven, watching Mount Etna erupt, surrounded by passengers. Everyone was, “ooh and ahh-ing” at the sight, but I said, “I’d rather be in Cleethorpes with my grandparents.” The passengers on deck laughed, but as a child I didn’t realise how lucky I was to see what I did (I do still like Cleethorpes!).

For a few years of my early childhood, my Mum ‘ship-schooled’ me and we had lessons in the onboard library. I did my piano practice on the grand piano in the theatre. I have many memories backstage with the theatre’s Show Company, spending time with the wonderful dancers and letting them dress me up in different costumes. They inspired me to become an actor (as well as being a children’s author, I also act in the West End with ‘Horrible Histories’).

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During ship-school, my brilliant Mum encouraged me to keep diaries and I am so glad she did, as these diaries have shaped ‘Cruise Ship Kid.’ The back of my book encourages readers to start their own diary and it would be wonderful to think children might take Cruise Ship Kid on a cruise holiday to read and maybe even start their own diary onboard!

As the child of crew members, I had access behind some ‘Crew Only’ doors and I played in the hidden guinea pig corridors that ran between the passenger areas.

All these experiences inspired the setting and the plot for Cruise Ship Kid. The book is a funny sleuthing adventure set onboard a cruise ship where two diamond globe watches go missing (not that this ever happened on my ships). My main character Silver, who is 10 and ¼ (the ¼ is very important), hunts for the watches while also searching for a best friend.

A highlight of living on ships was of course, the food! I used to be able to eat in the ‘Officer’s Mess’ or the passenger restaurants. I always loved having my breakfast up on Deck 12 outside, watching the waves crash together below. I still believe there is no better feeling than being out on deck, on a sea day, breathing in the salty smell.

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During my childhood, the people who will stay in my heart forever, along with the wonderful onboard staff, were my over-80s pals. My grandparents cruised a lot, and I got to know their regular cruising friends. I would often sit with them playing cards or dominoes when there were no other children onboard.

These friendships helped create ‘The Gang’ in Cruise Ship Kid. Main character, Silver, has an over-80s, ‘line-dancing-loving’, group of friends who help her solve crimes. My book has been compared to ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ for kids, and this is why!

I still love going to a line-dancing class or playing dominoes; I lost my grandparents, Tommy and Sylvia, a few years ago and these activities remind me of them. They were the best people I’ve ever known, and I have put them directly into ‘The Gang’ in my book. Cruise Ship Kid celebrates intergenerational relationships and I hope children will finish reading it and then want to pick up the phone to their grandparents, older relatives or friends.

I have wonderful memories at sea, but I will leave you with one that still makes me laugh, and my mum cringe…As a crew member’s daughter, I had to always be on best behaviour. At age five, I entered myself into an onboard talent show. It was a formal night.

My mum went to watch the show, not realising I was in it. All the other children were dressed in ballgowns and mini tuxedos, but I wasn’t. The Kids Club had run a finger-painting class that afternoon. I sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in a T-shirt and shorts that were covered in multicoloured paint. Whoops!

Cruise Ship Kid: Thief at Sea by Emma Swan, illustrated by Katie Saunders, is out now in paperback from Usborne for 7+ readers. Available from Waterstones or online here.