Colin The Cruising Cat

We cats might not like water, but we have nothing against going on a cruise.
Take Colin, who lives at Westgate’s tanker terminal, Port Taranaki, New Zealand.
Wanting a change of pace, Colin boarded the tanker Tomiwaka, when it was in New Plymouth. She (yes, despite her name, she is very much a female feline) made herself comfortable sleeping on the sofa in the second engineer’s cabin.
Hey, the "Statendam" it isn’t, but still, not too shabby. She flew back to New Zealand from South Korea, which I find a relief considering the preference of the Far Eastern palate…

Eight-month-old Diamond Lil' took a more extensive cruise: she boarded a vessel in Chicago that sailed to Charleston, Illinois, then on to New York and to finally arrive in England.
England is tricky country to arrive as a foreign feline– they want us cats to be quarantined for 6 months. I don’t understand why, we’re clean and disease free.
I understand you want to check out dogs, serpents, lizards and the like, but felines?!
Another cat that ended her cruise in England was Lucky. She didn’t really want to embark on a sea voyage, but was caught in a crate of razor blades that was shipped from Israel to England.


It’s not just modern-day felines that take to sailing.
Since always liked to have us cats on board since we bring good luck to a ship.
(If you don’t believe me, take a jump and hand over your vessel to me!).
Since we are happy to take up residence on ships, we have migrated around the world.
We first hooked up with sailors in ancient Egypt. OK, we had to do a lot more work than nowadays (keeping vermin at bay is hard work!) but we were considered to be very important and respected crew members on any vessel.

Now I have been thinking – why doesn’t my Provider go on a cruise and I will join her.
I suggest that we sail to Scandinavia, where they have some really good fish for me.
And if her b-f joins us, my cat friend Ariel can come along and share a scrumptious fishmeal with me. My friend Bundy is also invited to come along; it will give him a well-deserved break from those pesty canines.
I better go online and download some info and price quotes…cat ahoy!