Shipping the light fantastic!

MOST PEOPLE put their feet up and take life a little easier when they retire.

But for Jack Hargreaves, from Bingley, it was time to get out his dancing shoes and enjoy himself!

For five years, until eye problems forced him to put ashore for thge last time, Jack has sailed the world in his role as a gentleman host on a cruise liner.

From Rio to Norway, Mombassa to Cape Town, Jack has seen it all as he's accompanied hundreds of passengers on cruises around the globe.

In return for his passage, food and drink, Jack's job was to socialise with guests, accompany them at dinner and dance with the unaccompanied female passengers during dance classes and in the evenings.

Says Jack: "You get quite a number of unaccompanied ladies who are widowed or divorced on cruises.

"A typical day would be to attend a dance class in the morning, sometimes at the unearthly hour of 9am, then later on there would be an afternoon tea dance, followed by an after-dinner spot between 8.30pm and midnight.

"We'd also sit with guests during dinner and circulate afterwards so we could approach people who were unaccompanied."

But, says Jack, don't get the wrong impression!

"We often used to see some of the same faces on the various cruises and sometimes struck up friendships with them, but the rules were pretty strict.

"There was no creeping into other people's cabins at night - it all had to be above board.

"If you were found to be misbehaving yourself you could be put ashore. You could be hundreds and thousands of miles away from home, and the threat of that was enough."

Jack's travels on ships such as the QE2 could last anything from two to 13 weeks. There could be anything from four to ten gentlemen hosts accompanying each cruise.

His career on the cruise ships sprung from his interest in amateur theatre, a passion he maintained throughout a career in the clothing industry and still keeps up today. It was two of his good friends who were to introduce him to the delights of travels at sea.

Says Jack: "They said to me, 'we've got a new challenge for you, you've danced all your life, why don't you have a go at this?'

"I finally discovered the agency which handled the gentlemen hosts, had an audition, and the rest went from there."

Since then, Jack has crossed the Atlantic 15 times and travelled to the corners of the earth in his role, which he's now been forced to give up due to eyesight problems.

And despite some tricky crossings weather-wise, on the whole Jack's memories of his experiences on the oceans are happy ones.

Jack says: "In 1998 I was on a ship called the Rembrandt going from the Mediterranean to America and it was a very difficult crossing.

"Three weeks later I was back on the QE2 setting out for New York and it was equally as dreadful with high winds and high seas. The captain said it was the worse sustained spell of weather he'd ever experienced. There was no real panic on board though. I've always been a very good sailor, so it didn't bother me.

"I've got some very happy memories of my days at sea.

"You met the odd person who was difficult, but for the most part, people were there to enjoy themselves and have a good time."

A floating city you can never tire of

Thirty-four-year-old Mandy-Jo Walters, of Shipley, has been working as the Captain's Secretary on the QE2 since April 1997. Here she describes her experiences of life at sea.

My contract is roughly two months on and one month off. I have to take 132 days off on leave a year. Each day and every day consists of ten office hours a day, followed by cocktail parties and hosting Captain's tables in the restaurant.

You just keep on going. Christmas Day and New Year's Day you probably had a lie in, but I was up at the usual 6.45am, but the work was not so heavy.

The 2000 World Cruise is, in my mind, a special one, therefore I will be on board until April 14. I am looking forward to April 15 - a long sleep in!

I joined the ship early November, to be on board for the QE2's dry-docking in Bremerhaven, Germany. It was incredible to see the ship out of the water and with literally everything switched off; i.e. no lights, no elevators, no sanitation, no whistle of the air conditioning. Just like she had given her last breath of life! One month later this floating city had everything switched on again and the life returned.

The cocktail parties are fun. I have no problems speaking to people and going up to passengers saying, 'Hello my name is ...' Due to my extensive travelling I find I always have a few countries in common to talk to people about.

What do I like about my job? Well, I like the opportunity for travel - if it's Tuesday it must be New York, that kind of thing. However, the itinerary for the QE2 is very varied - Transatlantic, Mediterranean cruising, up to the North Cape in Norway for the Land of the Midnight Sun cruise, Bermuda cruising, Jazz Festival in Newport Rhode Island, New England and up to Quebec for the 'fall', Caribbean cruising - not to mention the 104-day World Cruise every year commencing in January and finishing in April.

Also I like the friendly atmosphere. With more than 1,000 crew on board the QE2 and 40 nationalities, everyone tends to get on well. Over my five years with Cunard, many of the officers have transferred from ship to ship, my first chief engineer on the Countess is now chief engineer on the QE2.

There is no travelling to work - no traffic jams or trudging through the rain and snow. It is a large ship, which I have to walk around a lot to different departments - my way of keeping fit!

Uniform is provided, and as an officer I have to wear it all the time around the ship, with the exception of in the cabin, going sunbathing, or going ashore. Sometimes crew parties are arranged in which case we are allowed to wear our own clothes.

I like the social side, the cocktail parties, hosting Captain's table in the Mauritania and Caronia restaurants. Two years ago we had a large passenger contingent from Yorkshire, including Yorkshire Television, therefore I became good friends with presenter Gaynor Barnes, artist Ashley Jackson, classical pianist John Briggs and the ex-English cricketer from Baildon, Brian Close.

My work is very varied, working alongside the staff captain producing operational orders - with future port information, berth confirms etc and liaising with the port authorities. Also dealing with Captain's correspondence with passengers, arranging bridge visits, cocktail parties, senior officers' table lists. A lot of inspections are carried out throughout the ship, many safety-related, therefore I deal with the paperwork for those including passenger drills.

Working with the Captain for five years, I know the way he works, and he likewise with me - which is a good 'relationship' to have with your 'boss'. If I take time off in a port (not much, mind you - I'm talking of just an extended lunch hour) then the Captain knows I will stay later to get the work done.

Also you know when he presents me with an envelope of foreign stamps every week or so for my father, an avid stamp collector, that he's a great person to work for. Many people write to the Captain, and he can honestly say that he has never thrown a foreign stamp away in his life!

Being on a ship gives you a small taste of each country. On the world cruise we have a 'Welcome Home' sign above the gangway, which is very welcoming after being in a third world country for the day, where the temperature is in the 100s and the smells and sights are different to back home.

Do I ever get homesick? Not really (sorry mum!). I am the baby of five children, three brothers and one sister. One brother has his own car business in Baildon and my sister is in insurance in Bradford! They are used to me coming back home with cases and a suntan, then disappearing again shortly. This is my 73rd overseas journey away from Shipley. Leeds Bradford and Manchester airports have seen a lot of me.

My motto has always been - I don't want to regret not doing something when I am older. I may not be rich in money, but am very rich in memories.

Christmas was spent at sea. Christmas Eve was Puerto Limon in Costa Rica and Boxing Day was a partial transit of the Panama Canal. Hot, humid and shower bursts. The female officers were allowed to wear our own long evening gowns in the wardroom (our bar) and also for dinner.

The officers had a traditional dinner in the evening in the mess, including the Captain and four-stripe officers, with all the trimmings of crackers, cranberry sauce, speeches and toasts,

New Year's Eve was spent at sea around Barbados, to see the fireworks.

The aft deck was the extended dancing area from the yacht club with a band outside and champagne under the stars. I moved around the ship to enjoy the atmosphere out on deck and also inside with the crew.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.