'I lived on cruise ships as a kid - there's so much holidaymakers don't see'

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Life at sea is usually no more than a couple of weeks of fun in the sun on a cruising holiday, but for Emma Swan it as so much more with a bulk of her childhood spent living on a P&O cruise ship
School book in hand. Sitting in a library. Music lessons up next. It might sound like the average day at school for a UK child but in fact, for Emma Swan, now 32, none of these stereotypical school moments took place inside a British classroom. In fact, she wasn't even on land. She was on a cruise ship - for her entire early childhood years.
The West End actress lived full time on P&O Cruises up until the age of six, and even until 10 she would still spend every school holiday back on ship, seeing things reserved only for those behind-the-scenes. She has incredible memories - from honking the Captain's horn on the bridge at the Millennium and watching Mount Etna erupting to chocolate-only buffets and the most exquisite marine wildlife, it's little wonder Emma loved her time growing up.
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Speaking exclusively to us she said: 'I love cruise ships, it's a celebration of life at sea. In my early years I lived full time on ships, living in a cabin with a porthole at the bottom of a ship. I spent my childhood around the rest of the crew from the cabin stewards to the people who work in the restaurants. It was a brilliant start to childhood. I would explore everywhere - there are lots of crew-only doors that I could go inside.'
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Originally from Rotherham, Yorkshire, Emma revealed the fun she had despite the unusual upbringing.
'I used to see the corridors like guinea pig tunnels that you could get around in. I could walk around the normal passenger areas and then open a door into the crew areas back down to my cabin. It was a very unusual start to life.'
Emma's parents, Sharon and Hughie, worked as Cruise Director and Deputy - and as it turns out, Emma's life behind the theatre curtain on ship might just have moulded her into the West End actress she is now.
Starring this August in Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain at London's Apollo she admitted to spending a 'lot of time backstage with all the dancers.'
'I have childhood memories of being in the dressing rooms with all these amazing showgirls in huge feather costumes and then dressing me up like that. I was a four year old thinking these are the coolest people I've ever met. It has inspired me to go on being an actress in the West End.
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'I had access to a hidden world - the stage behind-the-scenes.'
Emma, who now lives in London, enjoyed lots of world cruises by the age of just five but believed she was still 'just a normal kid.'
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Laughing, she revealed: 'My mum recently reminded me of a time when I was 4 or 5 years old on the deck, full of passengers, and we were seeing Mount Etna erupt, thinking, 'oh wow', and everyone's going, 'this is amazing.'
'I turned to my mum and said, 'I'd rather be with my nan and granddad' and everyone burst out laughing. You just want your family. Going to the playroom on the ship was my favourite thing rather than seeing a wonder of the world. I wish now I could appreciate the things I saw.'
As well as exploring the secret corridors on ship, she spent a vital amount of time being 'ship-schooled.' Emma's mum, Sharon, was previously a school teacher so Emma would enjoy time with her mum when she wasn't working, learning her subjects just like any other child - except her lessons were at sea.
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'Travelling the world and being able to go to ports was the best part. I did amazing projects when I was small and would do a little mini project about a destination and then could go and experience the culture of the place for real.
'Living full time on the ships, you'd miss out on some of the holiday aspects of the trips because it wasn't a holiday, it was a way of life.
'I remember a chocolate buffet onboard. I've got such vivid memories of a buffet table literally full of chocolate, huge statues and animals made of it. But then mum would say 'no you can't do that, we've got to do maths', and I'd say 'there's a chocolate buffet on, or we're in Venice', but lessons were lessons.'
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Out went a conventional classroom and in came getting creative. Emma and her mum didn't squeeze into their cabin with school books and stationary - instead they came up with a genius plan.
'We'd really utilise the whole ship for lessons. I'd do them with mum in the ship library and for things like piano lessons we'd use the piano that was in the theatre on the stage. I remember being in a lift one day with my mum and a random lady. I said that I didn't want to play piano today, and the lady said I should have a break and that I'm on my holidays. We just smiled at her, thinking nope, this is my actual homework.'
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Despite loving time with her mum and living the life of a storybook pirate - Emma remembers being lonely. Something her little girl diary confirmed.
'I've read some of my old diaries from when I was on ship as a kid living at sea. There was one thing I was desperate for when I was little - a best friend. I think a lot of kids share that, but it was desperate to make a best mate, and when I was small, I wasn't quite sure how. I used to think I had to change my clothes to have friends, or look more like them.'
After the age of six, Emma moved back to land in Yorkshire, living a split life, and attended what she refers to as 'land school'. She went back to primary school in Rotherham, but still went on a cruise ship fulltime during any of the school holidays.
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'Land school, after being on ship for my early years, was quite scary because I'd only ever had friends before for a maximum, 2 weeks and 2 days. Kids got on for their summer holiday but then they got off again.'
Whilst keeping friends was tough for a little Emma, she did relish in making some strong friendships - with a much older audience.
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'I met some amazing older people in my early years on cruise ships. My grandparents often cruised as well, and so I became friends with their friends, too. It was a very multi-generational start to life and I think those relationships are so important to kids.'
Emma has released her debut book, Cruise Ship Kid, which is loosely based on her life, and there's one takeaway that she would love little readers to gain.
'I really want to promote how fantastic our older generation are. I'd love a kid to pick up Cruise Ship Kid, get to know the gang, and then think, 'you know what, I'm gonna ring my grandma or granddad tonight.'
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'Or if not them, then to think, 'I want to know our neighbour', or 'I want to know my mum's older friend.' My grandparents have unfortunately passed away now, but they were the best people I've ever known and I've put them in the gang directly. They're Tommy and Sylvia in my book.'
The children's summer book is meant 'to be read with a pen or pencil,' with quizzes, places to draw and puzzles - it's truly a book to be scribbled in.
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On a recent research trip in the Caribbean for her second book coming soon - called Kidnap in the Caribbean - Emma admits that cruising life is a bit different nowadays.
'I hadn't been on a ship for quite a lot of years but I still knew my way around. The hardest part though? I see a crew-only door and I'm not allowed through it!' she laughed.
For a woman who gained her sea legs from such a young age, she summed up her memories pretty sweetly.
'Cruise ships are like mini villages. They're like living inside a cake because they're layers on top of each other with a big candle at the top. Perfection.'
Cruise Ship Kid by Emma Swan (illustrated by Katie Saunders) is out now in paperback from Usborne. It will be the Waterstones Children's Book of the Month for all of July, so watch out for fun window displays.