A life at sea

While I was having dinner yesterday, I managed to strike up a conversation with a British fellow named Tom. He told me that the meal which he was enjoying, was the one hour of a 7 day week that he literally had to himself. Tom work's as chief engineer on one the cruise ships that run the Southeast Alaska circuit for the summer season. He commands a crew of over 60 people. All the machinists/mechanics are from Indonesia, all of the officers are from India and all of the cleaners hail from the Philippines. I naturally became quite inquisitive about Tom's position and proceeded to barrage him with questions.
How many engines on board? What's the speed? How long have you worked at sea? What's the craziest thing you've seen?
I found out that Tom has worked on boats for over 40 years. Of those 40 years, he has spent well over 60% of the time at sea. He started off in the 70's wanting to travel but couldn't afford a plane ticket. Traveling around as a merchant marine was the next best option. On any given week, Tom can travel from Anchorage, Alaska down to the Panama Canal, then onto Australia. While in Australia the boat can be moored from 3 to 12 hours and then head back. He can travel across the entire globe and never set foot on land. Time zones and calendars have no barring on his schedule.
I find this fascinating that one could travel the world in such a short amount of time. I can't imagine some of the things he has experienced. The only place he has never set foot on is the Far East.
With a 3 month schedule on and 3 month period off, I don't imagine to many people wanting to commit to such a demanding job.
Hopefully I'll get to run into Tom again and pick his brain over a nice cold beer.