The more you travel, the more you realise there is no place like home, according to one lucky crew member of a luxury cruise liner docking at Portland Port.

Kerry Eades, aged 33, is the Future Cruise Sales Manager on board the Braemar Fred Olsen cruise ship, which docked near her home town of Weymouth at Portland Port yesterday. 

Kerry said her return to has been particularly exciting, not just because it is her home, but because this is the ship’s maiden voyage to Portland.

She added: “It is nice for the other staff to see where I live.”

Kerry grew up in Weymouth from the age of eight and her family still live in the town.

She said that she was looking forward to meeting her family at the port for lunch at one of the cruise ship’s three restaurants and then going home with them to Southill for a few hours, before returning to the ship at 5pm.

Her interest in the sea started when she joined the Portland Sea Cadets, going on to study travel and tourism at Weymouth College and travelling at the University of Brighton.

She said: “I did a degree in travelling in Brighton and when I went backpacking around the world I worked for a cruise company in Australia. So that’s how I got into the cruise business.”

Kerry said the thing she misses most about Weymouth when she is travelling across the world – apart from her family and friends – is being able to go for a walk along the beach and having the freedom to do what she wants.

She said missing her family and friends was the only downside of the job, which she has now been doing for six years.

However, she said that it is the travelling part of her job which she loves the most.

She said: “Just seeing new places and getting paid to do it. And I work with some fantastic crew. It’s one big family, so you are part of the community.”

When the ship was coming into Portland she said she was on the bridge helping to guide the captain of the Braemar, Captain Jen Gulowsen, into the Port, showing him the way to go.

In her job she has promoted all four cruise ships in the Fred Olsen fleet – the Braemar, the Blackwatch, the Balmoral and the Boudicca.

The Braemar has the second largest capacity of the fleet, able to carry 929 guests and 370 crew, with 485 cabins. 

Kerry added: “The captain says I have the best job on the ship.”