My February blog – in which I take on Ant and Bear with tips for survival…
This weekend I looked out at the shoots of daffodils in my garden, peeping their heads through the solid ground with its dusting of frost and reflected on the past year. This time last year we were hearing rumours and stories of a virus in China which was spreading across Asia. As we sat in Svalbard meeting room in Carnival House I remember distinctly looking at a map of our ships across the globe and hoping it wouldn’t disrupt the world cruises too much. Little did we know right at the start, that a year later we would have experienced a global pandemic which would affect every element of our personal and professional lives.
A wise friend of mine has always said “everything happens for a reason” and whilst I am a great believer in fate, I do normally dismiss the sentence as being fairly trite. However, if someone were to have designed the world’s hardest training exercise or the most intense team bonding meeting, it would probably look like 2020. The invitation would drop into your calendar and it wouldn’t just be an hour or two, it would be a full twelve month session.
What I have also learned from “Twelve months during Covid” are some simple but essential personal survival techniques. They are probably not included in the Ant Middleton or Bear Grylls books but they have certainly worked for me so feel free to try them too.
Firstly, choose your news channels wisely and don’t listen to or read news round the clock. Many websites and channels are essentially “click bait” and trying to sell you products or increase their visitor numbers. They do this by creating alarmist and mis-leading headlines and if you are already feeling fragile, worried or going through difficulties this will not benefit your mental health. Choose an objective and non-commercial news source and limit your exposure to it.
Secondly, whilst mindfulness and self-help books are often fairly dry and earnest, I would thoroughly recommend 10% Happier by Dan Harris. His self-deprecating view of himself and how he got through a very public embarrassment (no spoilers) and changed his whole lifestyle and mindset is a joy to read. At the moment I’d certainly take 10% happier if a Caribbean cruise isn’t available….Do read it and let me know what you think.
Thirdly… give yourself something to look forward to… plan a holiday, preferably one in the UK which has much more certainty of happening. Spend time researching, choosing and planning, we all know that’s a key part of the anticipation. With something bright to look forward to it gives you a goal, and also a new topic of conversation! (By the way, I can thoroughly recommend the Isle of Wight for beaches and the very best crab sandwiches, as well as having an average of 2,000 hours of sunshine a year!)
We do have reasons to be cheerful. We will be revealing the name of Iona’s sister ship later this month, and following the many hours and months of design debate, work will begin properly with the steel cutting ceremony of this second Excel class ship.
Looking ahead to March we will also launch our winter 2022/2023 holidays which will include this ship’s maiden season and Iona’s second winter programme, as well as several other new itineraries.
And as the vaccine roll out progresses and gains pace, with every single jab comes new hope. From a professional perspective it is new hope of our return to service and from a personal perspective’ a sense of relief at knowing vulnerable loved ones are protected.
As spring comes with its longer and lighter days we will all graduate from the year-long survival course to find we’ve all passed with flying colours. We’re closer and stronger.
And though it feels like a cliché, just like the daffodils, as a business we too will soon come out of hibernation to bloom and flourish.