Revelation on the high seas

Here’s another example of how small the world is. While on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas, a Filipino crew member whispered something that blew me away the other day. He revealed that ship captain Johan Malmberg’s father-in-law is a former PBA player.

You’re probably wondering what on earth I was doing on a cruise ship. Over a week ago, my wife Menchu and I boarded the 915-foot long vessel from Tampa for a seven-night voyage through Honduras, Belize, Mexico and back. We planned this trip for over a year to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary with our siblings. Initially, we signed up for the cruise to leave last Jan. 14 but postponed it when our daughter Cristina got pregnant. Cristina gave birth last Jan. 11 to our first grandchild, Jose, so we postponed the cruise to leave on March 21. Luckily, the Royal Caribbean agency in Manila was able to arrange the postponement with no difficulty and our siblings also made the change in their schedule. The only downside was Cristina, her husband Mark and newly-born son couldn’t join us because it would’ve been too soon for their baby to travel.

Menchu’s brother Pepito and wife Mae joined from their home in Calgary. Another brother Robert and wife Menchu came from Seattle. Menchu’s sister Vicky traveled with us from Alabang. My brother Ramon and wife Sandy flew in from New Jersey as did my sister Irene. Another sister Vicki took a flight from Virginia.  Menchu’s cousin Tess Xerez-Burgos Loanzon completed our group of 12. It was the first time that siblings from Menchu’s and my side got together in 40 years or when we were married in 1977.

The cruise was like a dream come true. Not only because the trip was wonderful but also because we were together with our siblings. Word quickly got around in the ship that Menchu and I were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary and after dinner one night, the chef prepared a delicious cake to toast us with his kitchen staff. When I found out the ship captain’s Filipina wife Karen is the daughter of former PBA player Romeo Frank, I knew I had a scoop.

On the second night of the cruise, Menchu and I were invited to dine with the captain on his private table with three other couples.  It was quite an honor since there were over 2,300 passengers and we were among only eight invited to join the captain for dinner.

Malmberg, 44, has been fascinated with ships and boats since he was a boy. He grew up riding ferries to and from his home country Sweden. In 1999, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nautical science as a Master Mariner at the Chalmers Institute of Technology in Gothenburg.  A year later, he joined Royal Caribbean as a second officer with the ship Visions of the Seas. On his second assignment with the ship Explorer of the Seas, he met a Filipina whom he fell in love with. They now live in Sweden with a son and a daughter.

Malmberg went from second officer to first officer to chief officer to staff captain and finally, in May last year, to captain. He was a staff captain for eight years before his promotion to captain. Malmberg is on his 17th year with Royal Caribbean and a thesis away from earning a Master’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering at Chalmers.

Working with Filipinos on the ship is a blessing, according to Malmberg. On our Rhapsody of the Seas cruise, there were 228 Filipinos among the crew of 765 from over 50 countries. “Filipinos are very dedicated to their work,” said Malmberg. “But what impresses me most about Filipinos is their devotion to family. They work hard to send money back home to their families and it’s the reason why they do a good job wherever they go.”

Malmberg is well-loved by the crew on the ship. I asked some staff, not only Filipinos, about him and they spoke highly of his competence as a skipper, his intelligence and his concern for the crew. “Captain is very hands-on and I think he knows the name of every crew member on board,” said a waiter.

Malmberg said he hopes to visit the Philippines with his family in November. His father-in-law Frank, who turns 70 in July, played in four PBA seasons with U-Tex up to 1979, averaging 7.8 points in 150 games. Frank was known for his defense and rebounding. A PBA pioneer in 1975, Frank was a 6-2 center who played alongside Danny Florencio, Rudy Kutch, Larry Mumar, Ricky Pineda and Turo Valenzona with the Wranglers.