A woman in her 20s who was a crew member on the Diamond Princess cruise ship when it was hit by COVID-19 recently started a new career as an English teacher, making use of her experiences on the ship, including dealing with passengers' complaints at the time of the outbreak.
"I want to improve my language skills and someday travel the world as a crew member on a cruise ship again," she told The Yomiuri Shimbun, on condition of anonymity.
The woman graduated from a British university last autumn and signed a contract with an American cruise company. Her first real voyage was on the Diamond Princess.
On Jan. 20, the ship departed Yokohama Port to cruise Southeast Asia and other places. The woman was working on the front desk in the gorgeous atmosphere of the ship, which is equipped with restaurants and spas and offers such entertainment as dance shows.
The situation changed completely when the ship returned to Yokohama on Feb. 3. As more and more passengers and crew were found to have been infected with the new coronavirus, most of the 3,700 passengers and crew members were kept on board. Some anxious passengers yelled at the crew, "You're gonna kill us."
The woman had a slight but continous fever and felt like she was cornered physically and mentally.
The passengers were able to disembark at the end of February. She spent some days at a special facility in Saitama Prefecture for follow-up checks and returned to her home in the Kanto region in mid-March. She said she felt comforted when her parents and grandfather, who were living together, welcomed her home by saying, "We're relieved that you're back safe."
The woman recalls, "With the help of the crew from various nationalities, we made it through as a team and gained confidence."
Her contract with the cruise ship company ended, and she chose to work as an English conversation instructor for elementary school students. She said she appreciated life on board a cruise ship, where she met people from various countries and traveled around the world, an experience that can't be compared to life on the ground. So she decided to improve her language skills until she can work on a ship again someday.
At a job interview in April, she confessed that she had worked on the Diamond Princess and wanted to go back to cruising someday. The interviewer understood her intentions and also said, "That must've been tough." The women received an informal job offer.
In mid-May, she was preparing for her new job when a small blue box labelled "Diamond Princess" arrived at her home from her former employer. Surprised, she opened it and found a gold pin engraved with the exterior of the ship with a message to commend her for her efforts.
"I was so proud," she recalled.
She is still in touch with her fellow crew members via social media. Her friends are from India, the Philippines and Ukraine, among other countries. They ask about each other's health and catch up on what everyone is doing. The woman said she sometimes tells them, "I want to meet you again as a crew member on a cruise ship."
The pandemic has made the resumption of cruises uncertain but the women is still passionate about them.
"I want to wear this pin and cross the ocean again," she said.
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