Laselase, Nadroga native Ikavote Ratudamu was happy to be back home. He arrived with the 830 crew members of the P&O Australia Cruises Pacific Explorer cruise ship on Tuesday, August 15.
Mr Ratudamu works as a content coordinator on board the cruise ship and is one of the ten local crew working on the vessel. The Pacific Explorer arrived from Auckland, New Zealand and was expected to be in Sydney, Australia on August 20 at 6am.
Mr Ratudamu has been in the cruise industry since 2015. In 2018 he took a break. He joined P&O Australia Cruises two months ago. Prior joining the cruise, he worked at the Holiday Inn and InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa: Luxury Fiji Resort.
“It’s the best feeling, I have been personally looking forward to this day, usually when I go on board the first thing I check is the itinerary,” he said.
“Coming home is the best feeling ever. I and the rest of the Fijian crew celebrated this day. He said there were a total of 32 nationalities working on board the Pacific Explorer.”
“I must say that there’s a really good mix of culture, you get to learn, appreciate and recognise people’s culture and they appreciate your culture as well,” he said.
He described the emotion among crew members after receiving a warm welcome from vendors and entertainment groups serenading tourists and crew members as the vessel docked at the Port of Lautoka.
“Singing the national anthem in front of our team is a totally different feeling altogether,” he said.
“We are really grateful and privileged to have the opportunity to sing today so that was a good boost for us all.”
Feedback: salote.qalubau@fijisun.com.fj