Caroline James Finds Fiction Gold – On a Cruise Ship

I never wanted to go on a cruise. I couldn’t understand the attraction of being stuck on a ship with the same people every day, rarely venturing further than the ports listed on the itinerary. But my sister changed all that. She loved cruising and even got married at sea. She asked, ‘How can you criticise something you haven’t tried? If you were a guest speaker, you could try cruising.’ So, I took her advice and set sail on a smaller ship where the passengers were ‘of a certain age.’

I hadn’t been on board for long when I realised that a cruise ship is a floating stage where characters naturally come to life. On my first sortie to the bar, I met an elderly gentleman wearing a Captain’s hat and a T-shirt with the slogan, Lost At Sea. Throughout the cruise, he remained glued to his corner seat, moving only to change his T-shirt. During the cruise, I observed the ever-changing slogans and began to develop a framework for a character and my first cruise novel was born.

My fictional people are generally later in life, and what better place to include them in a story than on a cruise like this, where the built-in character dynamics are already in place. Different personalities offer endless opportunities for a plot, and any sudden event that strays from the regimented daily activities instantly adds drama. A ship is a self-contained setting, and there’s no need to invent new locations because they are all there – the theatre, the pool, the restaurant, the cabins, etc. Offshore, follow the cruise itinerary, make notes, and voila! You have an outline.

I write romantic comedy. It’s not a term I like because it suggests something fluffy and light, but romance, when done well, demands as much technical craft and graft as a thriller. Romance readers expect a specific emotional arc with conflict leading to a resolution, and the love story features cliffhanger ups and downs, complemented by good comedy and lots of chemistry between characters.

A cruise offers all this. I discovered that a ship is a natural setup for comedy. Once a ship sets sail, it is cut off from the outside world, and the passengers are immersed in its world. Guests might range from wealthy retirees to solo travellers or friends celebrating a special occasion. Assigned seating at dinner can bring an instant sitcom clash of personalities, or strangers soon becoming companions. Flirtations spark, tension simmers, and everyone is in a melting pot with no escape until the final port.

But it’s not just romcoms that benefit. Cruise ships are also ideal settings for thrillers and mysteries, rivalling classic backdrops such as grand mansions, luxurious trains, or remote exotic islands. Hidden areas on a ship with a maze of corridors and off-limit zones, a maintenance shaft or a lifeboat station make an excellent setting for a chase, a secret rendezvous, or a sudden disappearance.

I discovered on that first cruise that port stops were a scene waiting to unfold. In Ibiza, the vibrancy of a busy market square in the heart of the sun-drenched town, where every street café was filled with the scent of sizzling tapas and colourful flamenco dancers ignited the cobblestones with their rhythmic stomp. On board, sailing slowly through the narrow Corinth Canal, as the sunlight vanished to be replaced by darkness, felt like slipping into the spine of the earth. The ship seemed to hold her breath as the captain skilfully negotiated through the rocky corridor, so close that you could reach out and almost touch the jagged walls. If I felt the tension and captured it on the page, readers would feel it, too.

There’s no substitute for placing yourself in the world you want your characters to inhabit. No amount of online research can replicate the reality of being there. How the salt air clings to your skin, how the ship gently sways beneath your feet, or what it feels like to stroll on the promenade deck at midnight under a Caribbean harvest moon. It’s those moments when inspiration can strike. Like the older woman I spotted on a steamer chair, her hair wrapped in a silk turban, a martini glass balanced in one hand while she painted her toenails a fierce scarlet. These are the unexpected details that breathe life into a scene. Will there be more cruise stories? Absolutely. As long as I can eavesdrop on strangers and meet characters who step straight from reality into fiction, I’ll keep writing them.

Happy cruising!

The Cruise Club by Caroline James is published by Avon on 3 July 2025