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How a cruise holiday helped my teen daughter find her calling

The Paul Gauguin cruise ship, which sails the South Pacific, has a resident PADI scuba dive instructor
The Paul Gauguin cruise ship, which sails the South Pacific, has a resident PADI scuba dive instructor

Things were not going well. I was bobbing around in the Caribbean sea off the island of St Thomas with a six-year-old throwing what I can only describe as a ‘wobbly’. The reason? Our guides were chucking dog food in the water, causing hundreds of fish to swarm around us and my daughter, who picked the outing to see the scaly critters, decided she didn’t like them.

Scratch that. Ilana decided she was terrified of them. But where I freeze when I see a spider and back away quietly, my daughter was in such a panic that the guides told me to get her back to the catamaran we came on so she didn’t upset the other children. No mean feat given the water was choppy and we were encumbered with masks and snorkels.

Thankfully the rest of our holiday – a sun, sea and sand jaunt in the Caribbean with Disney Cruise Line – went swimmingly. As Ilana’s first cruise, it was a bit of an experiment but she and the ship passed muster with flying colours.

She became my trusty guinea pig, testing out not only how large ships with pools, waterslides and clubs for children and teens worked for youngsters, but also luxury ships, sailing yachts and river cruises with only adults for company. She took them all in her stride as long as we stayed out of the sea.

We cruised the Mediterranean, the Baltic, in Greenland, the Arctic and the Nile in Egypt. By the time she was in her mid-teens, and with more than 50 cruises under her belt, I saw her advising passengers why they might like to do a river cruise or sail to Antarctica.

Ilana and Jane playing golf on Saga Sapphire
Ilana and Jane playing golf on Saga Sapphire

Was a career in travel calling, I asked. No, was the short answer. Ilana loved travelling (we also managed a squeeze skiing and trips to France between cruises) and had no idea what she did want to do, but was adamant it wouldn’t be a career in travel.

Growing up her father and I had known exactly what we wanted to do so once we had suggested our respective professions – me a journalist, him a landscaper – we were stumped.

And then came that rabbit hole moment. “Mum, I’ve seen this cruise where I can go scuba diving”. It was in the South Pacific with Paul Gauguin Cruises, a cruise line with just about the only ship in the world with a resident PADI scuba dive instructor. Sounds great, I agreed, but you are not a diver and you don’t like fish, remember. Oh and by the way, it will cost a fortune to get there.

My objections were ignored. She persuaded her dad to take her to Cornwall to do a PADI Open Water course, leaving me – in truth already sold on a cruise in the South Pacific - to organise everything.

The journey to Tahiti was a labour of love – 11 hours from London to Los Angeles, another eight from LA to Papeete and then the same to get home – but boy was it worth it.

Papeete is the none-too-attractive commercial centre of the Society Islands, but the rest of the archipelago is blissful. Coral beaches, calm seas, sunny days and a bit of snorkelling (equipment is provided free) did it for me, while Ilana spent as much time as possible under the water. Even sharks couldn’t instill the panic of that Disney cruise long ago.

Back home she announced she was going to be a scuba diver. Fast forward seven years – six of them spent in Australia – and she is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, has just completed a BSc degree in marine biology at the University of Adelaide and, once Covid-19 restrictions relax, will be back diving. She is also applying for permanent residency.

We have lost her to Australia but it is an extraordinary turn of events after years of fearing fish. I will be forever grateful to Paul Gauguin for this. After all, who knew a cruise would help my daughter find her vocation?