Secrets of a Cruise Ship Doctor, Joanna Nell, Best Selling Author, The Joy of Cruising Podcast, 1/25

This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome Joanna Nell, bestselling author, medical doctor, and advocate for positive aging. Born and raised in UK, Joanne studied medicine at Cambridge and Oxford universities, then trained as a general practitioner in UK before emigrating to Australia with her husband and kids, where she lives today. It was an Australian publication where I learned of Joanna by reading her essay, Secrets of A Cruise Ship Doctor. That title would stop any cruise ship geek in their tracks, especially a podcaster always looking to bring fascinating guests to the show. As I read the article a broad smile came over my face, as rather than a dry, clinical—pun intended—recitation of the day-to-day activities of an MD at sea it was a fun, well-written, and touching composition. It ended with, “And though I wasn’t expecting to find actual love on The Love Boat, I did. A year after I left the sea, I married the second engineer. Twenty-five years later, our son is following in the family tradition and is now a ship’s engineer.” Yep, I knew I had to try to reach out to Joanna.


No wonder the article was nicely done. I didn’t know it at the time, but Joanna is a best-selling author having written five novels. Her newest, Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year, was just released November 1st and Joanna is in the midst of a book launch tour and media events. So, The Joy of Cruising Podcast is especially fortunate for Joanna to take the time to chat with us.

​www.thejoyofcruisingpodcast.com or Home