Cruise ship worker reveals STI fear that leaves some staff 'really worried'

A cruise ship worker has opened up on the reality of people having a romantic fling at sea after her colleague spoke about worries of catching something rather nasty.

Lucy Southerton has worked on cruise ships since she was just 19 years old, leaving her native Birmingham for the open water.

A decade on she's still loyal to the industry that she has made a career. The only different now is she spends her down time posting about life on board vessels and revealing industry secrets via her Instagram and YouTube channels.

In one post, Lucy has spoken frankly about the sex life of some of those who work on cruise ships.

"It's well known that a lot of stuff goes on on cruise ships. It's all kind of incestuous in a weird way," she says.

Many vessels have more than 1,000 staff on every ship that spend their days and nights making sure those paying to be there have the time of their life.

But employees also get down time, having a drink in staff bars and often getting more than well acquainted.

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Lucy put it bluntly: "When you live a in small town there's only a certain amount of people. Friends end up hooking up with friends who then end up going with other friends.

"And that's like cruise ships. Ultimately there's only a certain number of people to choose from. Things are going to 'cross over' at certain points."

But as with any sexual relationship where people have been mixing rather frequently, some get worried about STIs and STDs. But there's not too much to worry about, Lucy explains.

"My friend was really worried about catching something like an STI or STD. He was like 'are people just rife?'," Lucy says.

"Firstly when you have your medical done to work on a cruise ship I would say 80 percent of medicals test you for sexually transmitted infections and diseases so in that sense it's quite safe because the majority of people who work on a cruise ship have been tested for something.

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"And if they have something they will know about it and they will have gotten rid of it or they will be living with it and know about it. So I would say no in that sense. You don't need to come on here and worry about catching something. It's like anything, you just use contraception to protect yourself."

But for Lucy, the important thing with any sexual or romantic relationship you might want to explore on a cruise ship is time.

"The only thing I would say when it comes to sleeping around and getting boyfriends or girlfriends, just give it some time," she says.

"Having worked on ships for many years I have seen some situations arise that you just wouldn't believe and I would just really recommend getting on board and for the first two weeks just abstain. Don't get in anyone's knickers.

"After two weeks you'll know the dynamics are with certain people, you'll know if they're together or not together. If the person you fancy is single or not.

"When you're first on board especially if you're a girl you will have people message you. Because you're fresh meat... and if you've never experienced that before it is flattering, it's overwhelming. It happens to everyone and the people trying with you are also trying with every new girl that comes on board, most likely. Give it a minute, understand the dynamics that are going on."