Our crew mail crate did not arrive on the 14th, so we will be getting 1 months worth of mail on the 28th... hopefully. It's just depressing knowing that I have mail from home that is not getting to me right now. :(
Things are going well. In 2 days I will officially have been onboard for 6 moths. It's been a long time to go without a day off.
But last night I fell asleep at 11pm and woke up at 10am this morning feeling like a million dollars. I - was - tired.
I'm really excited to help plan my mom's upcoming birthday party - born in 1956, turning 56, celebrating on 5/6... it's going to be awesome. And it's going to give me a good reason to use some of the things I was hoarding up on for my upcoming wedding. Which makes me feel better about things, somehow.
Another day, another dollar.
Showing posts with label Celebrity Cruises. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebrity Cruises. Show all posts
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO
Well, happy new year everyone. I hope the holidays treated you well.
My life has turned a little upside down lately and I'm kind of in a haze. All of which is the result of my own actions and decisions.
ANYWAY...
On the 1st - I was ASLEEP from thoroughly enjoying a very successful New Years Eve event I was in charge of. I was jerked awake by the announcement BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO over the emergency PA system.
For those of you too lazy to look back through my old posts and find out what that means... or to take the 10 seconds to google. BRAVO means fire. A publicly announced BRAVO means really big fire. Hung over (perhaps still half-drunk) me, laid in bed, eyes closed praying that the fire was neither in my corridor nor in any entertainment area so I could stay in bed. (Yes a normal person would be very very worried). I hear Deck 9 aft location announced and could not be happier.
I did not find out until later that the fire was MASSIVE and that both deck 8 and deck 9 guest staterooms had to be evacuated. The underside of one of the Jacuzzis on deck 10 had caught fire, causing the entire pool system to catch fire. There was burning plastic everywhere and both decks were full of fumes and gas. It was actually a huge deal and 2 crew members got injured fighting the fire.
Luckily, I was able to sleep like a princess since it was a "safe" distance away... How safe can any distance be when you are still trapped on a ship?
The onboard marketing manager, Natasha, was one of the officers evacuating the staterooms. One guest turned to her and noted, "I cannot possibly go in a lifeboat because I have not had breakfast yet." That is the crew quote of the month. Awesome. Idiot.
Long story short, the guests will not stop bitching about how "inconvenient" the fire was. The two guests corridors still reek. And they have been working on repairing our still-not-functioning-even-though-its-one-week-later jacuzzi system.
And that's the story I have to share for now!
My life has turned a little upside down lately and I'm kind of in a haze. All of which is the result of my own actions and decisions.
ANYWAY...
On the 1st - I was ASLEEP from thoroughly enjoying a very successful New Years Eve event I was in charge of. I was jerked awake by the announcement BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO over the emergency PA system.
For those of you too lazy to look back through my old posts and find out what that means... or to take the 10 seconds to google. BRAVO means fire. A publicly announced BRAVO means really big fire. Hung over (perhaps still half-drunk) me, laid in bed, eyes closed praying that the fire was neither in my corridor nor in any entertainment area so I could stay in bed. (Yes a normal person would be very very worried). I hear Deck 9 aft location announced and could not be happier.
I did not find out until later that the fire was MASSIVE and that both deck 8 and deck 9 guest staterooms had to be evacuated. The underside of one of the Jacuzzis on deck 10 had caught fire, causing the entire pool system to catch fire. There was burning plastic everywhere and both decks were full of fumes and gas. It was actually a huge deal and 2 crew members got injured fighting the fire.
Luckily, I was able to sleep like a princess since it was a "safe" distance away... How safe can any distance be when you are still trapped on a ship?
The onboard marketing manager, Natasha, was one of the officers evacuating the staterooms. One guest turned to her and noted, "I cannot possibly go in a lifeboat because I have not had breakfast yet." That is the crew quote of the month. Awesome. Idiot.
Long story short, the guests will not stop bitching about how "inconvenient" the fire was. The two guests corridors still reek. And they have been working on repairing our still-not-functioning-even-though-its-one-week-later jacuzzi system.
And that's the story I have to share for now!
Friday, November 25, 2011
The crossing...
Well, this is it folks. Today we sailed from Tenerife, Canary Islands and in 1 week I will be back in the states. Seven days without seeing land. Seven days of moderate to rocky seas. But best of all, in seven days I can use my cell phone again.
Let's hope I'm still sane :D
Let's hope I'm still sane :D
Sunday, November 6, 2011
I'm sorry it's been a while...
I've had a crazy last couple of weeks. Last voyage the AV Manager left, and I was forced to do both of our jobs for 7 days until the new AV Manager (Matt) signed on. I was tired and stressed to the max. Likely as a result, the day after Matt got here I slipped into grossness and was sick as a dog for 3 days. I got signed off duty by medical, but because we are training a new lights, a new sound, and with a new AV Manager I had to work all of the shows anyway just to make them go as smoothly as possible. Needless to say no fun.
Then by the time I felt healthy I had 3 days to prep for the incoming cast - who arrived today. I was working from 9am-1am with no down time ... So today... it is now 10:15pm. I have a show starting in 15 minutes... I slept for 4 hours last night. I am beat beat beat. I will sleep very well tonight.
I don't have an impression of the new cast yet. But I know that I will miss the old cast.
It turns out that Matt is only here for 3 weeks, and then the new lighting tech will take over as AV Manager and we will get a new hire lighting tech. What. a. mess.
Then by the time I felt healthy I had 3 days to prep for the incoming cast - who arrived today. I was working from 9am-1am with no down time ... So today... it is now 10:15pm. I have a show starting in 15 minutes... I slept for 4 hours last night. I am beat beat beat. I will sleep very well tonight.
I don't have an impression of the new cast yet. But I know that I will miss the old cast.
It turns out that Matt is only here for 3 weeks, and then the new lighting tech will take over as AV Manager and we will get a new hire lighting tech. What. a. mess.
Monday, October 24, 2011
A long long day...
I allowed myself some drinks last night because the guest entertainer asked if we could hang out. It was nice - we had some wine and watched the theme night "Dancing with the Stripes" - our cheesy version of dancing with the stars involving our officers dancing with guests. It's always good for a laugh. I always feel a bit bad for the guest entertainers since they are onboard for about 10 days at a time... not really long enough to get to know anyone. And they are not allowed in crew areas, so it's not like I can invite them to come to the crew bar for a - much cheaper - drink.
I clearly had a few too many because when my alarm clock went off at 9:30am I was not feeling it. The crew talent show was at 10:30am, followed by the crew farewell, followed by Star Chefs - our cooking competition based on Iron Chefs. After that was a backstage tour. Then Israeli immigration. In 20 minutes I start technical rehearsals for tonight's variety show. It's just a long day no matter how you cut it.
Tomorrow, Mike, the AV Manager, is leaving. His replacement isn't coming for 7 days, so I have to do both of our jobs for the next week. I am NOT looking forward to it. That and I just don't know all of the aspects of his job, nor do I have enough technical knowledge to be able to do everything he does.
I got a comment today about looking skinnier!
*sigh*
I clearly had a few too many because when my alarm clock went off at 9:30am I was not feeling it. The crew talent show was at 10:30am, followed by the crew farewell, followed by Star Chefs - our cooking competition based on Iron Chefs. After that was a backstage tour. Then Israeli immigration. In 20 minutes I start technical rehearsals for tonight's variety show. It's just a long day no matter how you cut it.
Tomorrow, Mike, the AV Manager, is leaving. His replacement isn't coming for 7 days, so I have to do both of our jobs for the next week. I am NOT looking forward to it. That and I just don't know all of the aspects of his job, nor do I have enough technical knowledge to be able to do everything he does.
I got a comment today about looking skinnier!
*sigh*
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Celebrity's Biggest Loser
First, you should check out the updated Athens post here (http://ridingone.blogspot.com/2011/10/today-was-day.html) because I just added pictures at the bottom. I also put a back-dated post up today from an evening in Istanbul (http://ridingone.blogspot.com/2011/10/night-on-town-in-istanbul.html). Enjoy!
---
So a lot of you have asked what the heck is going on with Celebrity’s Biggest Loser. Well, this week is Starring Crew Week – so there are a lot of exciting new events happening that are all designed to boost crew moral and show corporate appreciation for everyone onboard. Altogether a very nice gesture.
The one major activity in which I have chosen to partake is the weight loss competition, Celebrity’s Biggest Loser. Very much a mini version of the TV show.
So here’s what’s been going down. On the 16th we had our introductory meeting. October 17th was weigh-ins. I wasn’t as mortified as I usually am by my weight since everything is in kilograms, however, upon doing the conversion later I was a bit disappointed in myself. I weighed in at 133kg (you can do the math if you want). Later that day we had to go to the spa and meet up with the trainers to get our BCA tests done. I still don’t entirely know what that means – nor have I gotten to see my results – they go over that tomorrow in our group meeting.
Every voyage there are 3 workout sessions. Right now, since we are in OPP outbreak, all of the workouts must take place at 6am. Very unfortunate for those, like me, who work until 1am on a regular basis. But that’s just what I have to do.
Our first workout was in Marmaris on the 19th. It involved jogging for longer than most were able. I managed to finish the distance without walking. Very proud. And then some extreme circuit training. I was pretty sure my heart was going to explode by the end of the session. But I was so energized afterward it took me 2 hours to get back to sleep.
Today was our second training session. It involved more jogging, and lots of sprints and other exercises on the sports deck. Squats are killing me – I feel like I have no hamstrings in my entire body. Unfortunate.
I have been exercising outside of the trainings, too. In Santorini I hiked back up the mountain and down again. And yesterday Iain and I went on an hour long power walk through Piraeus, Greece. I have also stopped using elevators altogether – I think I average about 60 flights of stairs per day on the ship. My calves and quads might be inflating that number due to exhaustion. I also do backstage workouts with one of our technicians during our slower shows.
I’ve also stopped drinking anything but water – or soda water if I am feeling frisky. I only eat vegetables, rice cakes (like Quaker at home), fruit and occasionally sushi. I did cheat and have some chocolate last night. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
So far I am down 4 kilos. Very impressive. Someone said that they already notice my upper arms shrinking. I’m flattered.
Anyway, the competition ends on December 17th – a good day for me since I should be seeing my Mommy and my BriBri on that day. Nothing like a reunion and looking FINE!
Did I mention that the winner gets an iPad2? Another motivator.
---
So a lot of you have asked what the heck is going on with Celebrity’s Biggest Loser. Well, this week is Starring Crew Week – so there are a lot of exciting new events happening that are all designed to boost crew moral and show corporate appreciation for everyone onboard. Altogether a very nice gesture.
The one major activity in which I have chosen to partake is the weight loss competition, Celebrity’s Biggest Loser. Very much a mini version of the TV show.
So here’s what’s been going down. On the 16th we had our introductory meeting. October 17th was weigh-ins. I wasn’t as mortified as I usually am by my weight since everything is in kilograms, however, upon doing the conversion later I was a bit disappointed in myself. I weighed in at 133kg (you can do the math if you want). Later that day we had to go to the spa and meet up with the trainers to get our BCA tests done. I still don’t entirely know what that means – nor have I gotten to see my results – they go over that tomorrow in our group meeting.
Every voyage there are 3 workout sessions. Right now, since we are in OPP outbreak, all of the workouts must take place at 6am. Very unfortunate for those, like me, who work until 1am on a regular basis. But that’s just what I have to do.
Our first workout was in Marmaris on the 19th. It involved jogging for longer than most were able. I managed to finish the distance without walking. Very proud. And then some extreme circuit training. I was pretty sure my heart was going to explode by the end of the session. But I was so energized afterward it took me 2 hours to get back to sleep.
Today was our second training session. It involved more jogging, and lots of sprints and other exercises on the sports deck. Squats are killing me – I feel like I have no hamstrings in my entire body. Unfortunate.
I have been exercising outside of the trainings, too. In Santorini I hiked back up the mountain and down again. And yesterday Iain and I went on an hour long power walk through Piraeus, Greece. I have also stopped using elevators altogether – I think I average about 60 flights of stairs per day on the ship. My calves and quads might be inflating that number due to exhaustion. I also do backstage workouts with one of our technicians during our slower shows.
I’ve also stopped drinking anything but water – or soda water if I am feeling frisky. I only eat vegetables, rice cakes (like Quaker at home), fruit and occasionally sushi. I did cheat and have some chocolate last night. But a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.
So far I am down 4 kilos. Very impressive. Someone said that they already notice my upper arms shrinking. I’m flattered.
Anyway, the competition ends on December 17th – a good day for me since I should be seeing my Mommy and my BriBri on that day. Nothing like a reunion and looking FINE!
Did I mention that the winner gets an iPad2? Another motivator.
Friday, October 21, 2011
OPP Red Code Level 2: OUTBREAK!
Well, I have officially reached my first OPP Outbreak. Over 2% of our guests and about 1% of our crew is ill at the moment. That's in the neighborhood of 50 people in an confined space with highly contagious GI... no fun.
What does this mean?
Sanitize. Sanitize. Sanitize. We wipe down every frequently touched surface every 30 minutes on the entire ship. You cannot enter the ship, a dining area, the gift shops, the theater, or the movie lounge without compulsory hand sanitizing. No crew can dine in any guest area - not the free buffet, the $5 Bistro, or either of the specialty restaurants.
But what's the real drag?
The messes.
No one is allowed to serve themselves any more. This greatly slows down the rate that they are able to accommodate people in any given mess, so all three messes have a line wrapping halfway down the crew corridor. Officers take rotation at the hand washing station inside the door verifying that everyone who enters washes their hands for 20 seconds. You walk up to the buffet line where an aggravated mess attendant is holding a plate and glaring at you while you tell them, scoop by scoop what you want on your plate. You really don't end up getting the right quantity of anything, and they don't even put salad stuff on top of one another, it's just a mess. And then they hand you your plate and you feel so bad for them that you just say thank you even though you are a vegetarian who some how ended up with beef steak and meatballs on top of their spinach salad.
I mean - it's the same in the guest buffet - they have to get everything served to them. But the guests aren't exactly in a rush to get to their next shift, you know. If it takes them an hour and a half to get through their 4,000 calorie meal, who cares except our ratings.
There is rumor that one of the ice machines onboard tested positive for something (either Ecoli or something else that they tested for). So after that gets deep cleaned and we reach turnaround day on the 25th and get all of the guests the hell of the ship, maybe we'll have a clean onboard bill of health again.
Fingers crossed.
ON THE PLUS SIDE. I weighed myself for the first time since "Celebrity's Biggest Loser" started on the 17th. I am down 4 kilos (8.8 lbs). Very fast weight loss, leads me to believe that most of it is due to eating less and healthier. But in any case, I'll take what I can get.
What does this mean?
Sanitize. Sanitize. Sanitize. We wipe down every frequently touched surface every 30 minutes on the entire ship. You cannot enter the ship, a dining area, the gift shops, the theater, or the movie lounge without compulsory hand sanitizing. No crew can dine in any guest area - not the free buffet, the $5 Bistro, or either of the specialty restaurants.
But what's the real drag?
The messes.
No one is allowed to serve themselves any more. This greatly slows down the rate that they are able to accommodate people in any given mess, so all three messes have a line wrapping halfway down the crew corridor. Officers take rotation at the hand washing station inside the door verifying that everyone who enters washes their hands for 20 seconds. You walk up to the buffet line where an aggravated mess attendant is holding a plate and glaring at you while you tell them, scoop by scoop what you want on your plate. You really don't end up getting the right quantity of anything, and they don't even put salad stuff on top of one another, it's just a mess. And then they hand you your plate and you feel so bad for them that you just say thank you even though you are a vegetarian who some how ended up with beef steak and meatballs on top of their spinach salad.
I mean - it's the same in the guest buffet - they have to get everything served to them. But the guests aren't exactly in a rush to get to their next shift, you know. If it takes them an hour and a half to get through their 4,000 calorie meal, who cares except our ratings.
There is rumor that one of the ice machines onboard tested positive for something (either Ecoli or something else that they tested for). So after that gets deep cleaned and we reach turnaround day on the 25th and get all of the guests the hell of the ship, maybe we'll have a clean onboard bill of health again.
Fingers crossed.
ON THE PLUS SIDE. I weighed myself for the first time since "Celebrity's Biggest Loser" started on the 17th. I am down 4 kilos (8.8 lbs). Very fast weight loss, leads me to believe that most of it is due to eating less and healthier. But in any case, I'll take what I can get.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Hang out in my cabin!
I'll be honest, I am not quite sure when these pictures are from. My best guess is October 16th because I was still drinking then (it would be the day before the biggest loser started). But I really wanted to include these pictures because a: there are pictures of Valeria and she looks beautiful, and b: you can see the beginnings of my cabin mural :) Iain, of course, is there as well.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Today was a day...
Today Elizabeth was signing off the ship - her contract isn't over she is just transferring to the Summit to work in their gift shops so she can be reunited with her boyfriend. Since it was a long goodbye, we (Iain, Christhian, Aglie, Valeria and I) were going to get her to her hotel in Athens and then hang out and use the hotel pool and perhaps get a bite to eat. I - as always - needed to return before everyone else, as my first rehearsal of the day was at 4:15pm.
We headed off the ship just after noon. Here, the place where the ship docks is quite far from the port terminal, so you shuttle to the terminal. Once through the terminal, you can walk into downtown Piraeus (the ship does not actually dock in Athens) or taxi somewhere else. Considering how many of us there were and how much luggage she had we decided a pair of taxis was the way to go.
When she showed her reservation to the driver he raised his eyebrows, informing us that the hotel was over 30km away. In the hustle of tons of drivers begging us for business, there being a few too many of us, and dozens of guests bustling about... logic kind of slipped away from us. Algie was mentioning to me that we should just hang out near the port and then send Elizabeth off in a taxi when it was time to go. By the time she had finished explaining what - in hidsight - was a very good idea, Elizabeth's luggage was already in the back of one cab and a price had been negotiated by Iain.
So we split up into the cabs and enjoyed our 35EUR trip through Athens and into the - quite boring - hotel district. The hotel itself was actually lovely. We checked her into her room, and as agreed previously, all proceeded to the rooftop pool and garden. STUNNING. Iain was the first to put his feet in the pool and reported back that it was quite cold. If you knew Iain you would then understand that for a normal person this meant that the pool could possibly have been liquid ice.
Iain braved it and jumped right in. I followed... and was the only one to follow. We swam for about 10 minutes, and then the bitching (excuse my language) about some people being hungry, some people being thirsty, some people being bored, some people being tired started. I was NOT in the mood to deal with it. The hotel restaurant was decidedly too expensive, so Iain and I dried off and the lot of us headed out to find some street food.
Meanwhile the group - not including me - had come to the consensus that it would be better to take the metro back as it would be much cheaper. Great. Not.
The hotel gave us a map and circled the closest subway stops, so we walked in the direction of one and bumped into a cute gyro joint and stopped to eat... it was about 2:30pm by this time. Once everyone had eaten, most had smoked, and some had eaten some more it was 3:10 and I was starting to panic. I announced that it was time to leave.
We succeeded in finding the nearest subway station, and went underground where the first bout of people-not-knowing-what-they-are-doing happened. Everyone - except me because to me subways are very self explanatory - kept second guessing me as to which line and in which direction we needed to go. Not even to mention that there were 8 different types of fare cards and other crap that had to reach a 7 out of 7 decision. I was DYING ... I was losing my precious minutes.
Finally I got the whole group on the blue line headed in the CORRECT direction. It was about 4 stops to our transfer... about 2 minutes per stop... plus the 6 minutes we had to wait for the subway to come in the first place. UGGHHHH.
We got off in some random greek name of a station to switch to the green line which was to head directly into Piraeus. The group of We found the entrance to the rail car green line, but it was blocked off and not in operation. AWESOME. not.
Everyone started laughing about how ridiculous this was and I just snapped. I turned to Iain and said I am getting in a cab. I ran up multiple flights of stairs to outside, walked through a - what I am sure what beautiful but it's a bit of a blur - square and walked up to the nearest cab. I turned around to see Iain and Algie running after me. I yelled at the driver - for which I later apologized - to get the hell in the cab and drive me to the cruise port terminal. Iain and Aglie climbed in - some combination of not wanting me to go it alone and also figuring, "well, as long as there is someone to split the fare with..."
After about 5 minutes of not talking and realizing that I had chosen the most cautious taxi driver in the greater Athens region, I asked how long the drive would be. He said, depending on traffic, probably 25 minutes. It was 3:37. I was having a stress-induced stroke.
I am never late for work.
Ever.
I am always early.
Less than 5 minutes early and I start to panic.
Left to do: 25 minute cab ride, run through the terminal, pass through port security check point, shuttle from the terminal to the ship, pass through the ship security check point, run to my cabin, change into my uniform, and make it from deck 2 to deck 11 for my 4:15 rehearsal. CRAP.
The cab ride went as quickly as my pre-employment rectal exam. Eventually we could see the ship growing closer and closer in the distance. But when we finally got through the terminal, the cab flew right past it and parked outside a locked gate that was closest to the ship... we had no way to get through. I couldn't speak... Iain explained to the cabby that he had to take us to the terminal and we couldn't get in where he'd stopped. He U-turned and had to double back about a mile since the road was divided, and then looped into the terminal. For some reason I got stuck handling payment when all I wanted to do was RUNNNNN.
I paid, and started to run through the terminal. Got stuck behind an old asian couple - the guy had a cane - and neitehr of them could find their ship boarding cards. I was ready to die. I threw my bag in ahead of their stuff, and ran through the metal detector. Outside of the double doors the shuttle was waiting. I ran in with Iain and Algie. Shuttles sit until they are full before they make a run.
We waited about 5 minutes. I was DYING. It was 3:59. Halfway through the shuttle ride, the driver stopped to chat to a buddy who was driving in the opposite direction. I whistled LOUDLY and got a look but the bus started to move again. One minute later we pulled up at the ship and as soon as the door opened I ran out to be the first in line for security.
Luckily (the first lucky thing that happened to me all day), there was absolutely no line. I literally threw my bag through xray and ran through the metal detector. The entire security team - who know me quite well - were laughing. I suppose the panicked security-process for a crew member running late to a call of duty looks the same no matter how many stripes you have. It was 4:07. I got to my room, threw off my clothes. Found clean work clothes. Threw them on. Couldn't find my name tag. Panic. Crap. Found my name tag. Slapped it on. Grabbed my phone, room key, and a diet coke. Ran to the elevator. Sweaty. No breath. Hair gross and half up half in tangles from the pool.
Who saunters around the corner? One of my cast members. At least I wouldn't be the last one. We took the elevator to deck 11. Everyone was casually gathered around. It was 4:15pm on the dot. Someone was smiling down on me.
I haven't spoken to anyone I went out with yet... I just don't have it in me. I was a bit of an ass, but I'm a little pissed about the lack of interest they paid my situation.
Needless to say it has been a long, long day. My department is hosting the crew party this evening, so I have to make an appearance. But it will be brief. And I will then go to bed. Period. I'm exhausted.
Pictures added 10/22/2011
The cab driver took this picture for me, clearly while driving. I wish it had come out better because this sculpture is actually really really cool. It is made of stacked sheets of glass. So it looks like someone running in a blur of speed. Hard to describe, but very cool.
The rooftop pool. AMAZING VIEW.
We headed off the ship just after noon. Here, the place where the ship docks is quite far from the port terminal, so you shuttle to the terminal. Once through the terminal, you can walk into downtown Piraeus (the ship does not actually dock in Athens) or taxi somewhere else. Considering how many of us there were and how much luggage she had we decided a pair of taxis was the way to go.
When she showed her reservation to the driver he raised his eyebrows, informing us that the hotel was over 30km away. In the hustle of tons of drivers begging us for business, there being a few too many of us, and dozens of guests bustling about... logic kind of slipped away from us. Algie was mentioning to me that we should just hang out near the port and then send Elizabeth off in a taxi when it was time to go. By the time she had finished explaining what - in hidsight - was a very good idea, Elizabeth's luggage was already in the back of one cab and a price had been negotiated by Iain.
So we split up into the cabs and enjoyed our 35EUR trip through Athens and into the - quite boring - hotel district. The hotel itself was actually lovely. We checked her into her room, and as agreed previously, all proceeded to the rooftop pool and garden. STUNNING. Iain was the first to put his feet in the pool and reported back that it was quite cold. If you knew Iain you would then understand that for a normal person this meant that the pool could possibly have been liquid ice.
Iain braved it and jumped right in. I followed... and was the only one to follow. We swam for about 10 minutes, and then the bitching (excuse my language) about some people being hungry, some people being thirsty, some people being bored, some people being tired started. I was NOT in the mood to deal with it. The hotel restaurant was decidedly too expensive, so Iain and I dried off and the lot of us headed out to find some street food.
Meanwhile the group - not including me - had come to the consensus that it would be better to take the metro back as it would be much cheaper. Great. Not.
The hotel gave us a map and circled the closest subway stops, so we walked in the direction of one and bumped into a cute gyro joint and stopped to eat... it was about 2:30pm by this time. Once everyone had eaten, most had smoked, and some had eaten some more it was 3:10 and I was starting to panic. I announced that it was time to leave.
We succeeded in finding the nearest subway station, and went underground where the first bout of people-not-knowing-what-they-are-doing happened. Everyone - except me because to me subways are very self explanatory - kept second guessing me as to which line and in which direction we needed to go. Not even to mention that there were 8 different types of fare cards and other crap that had to reach a 7 out of 7 decision. I was DYING ... I was losing my precious minutes.
Finally I got the whole group on the blue line headed in the CORRECT direction. It was about 4 stops to our transfer... about 2 minutes per stop... plus the 6 minutes we had to wait for the subway to come in the first place. UGGHHHH.
We got off in some random greek name of a station to switch to the green line which was to head directly into Piraeus. The group of We found the entrance to the rail car green line, but it was blocked off and not in operation. AWESOME. not.
Everyone started laughing about how ridiculous this was and I just snapped. I turned to Iain and said I am getting in a cab. I ran up multiple flights of stairs to outside, walked through a - what I am sure what beautiful but it's a bit of a blur - square and walked up to the nearest cab. I turned around to see Iain and Algie running after me. I yelled at the driver - for which I later apologized - to get the hell in the cab and drive me to the cruise port terminal. Iain and Aglie climbed in - some combination of not wanting me to go it alone and also figuring, "well, as long as there is someone to split the fare with..."
After about 5 minutes of not talking and realizing that I had chosen the most cautious taxi driver in the greater Athens region, I asked how long the drive would be. He said, depending on traffic, probably 25 minutes. It was 3:37. I was having a stress-induced stroke.
I am never late for work.
Ever.
I am always early.
Less than 5 minutes early and I start to panic.
Left to do: 25 minute cab ride, run through the terminal, pass through port security check point, shuttle from the terminal to the ship, pass through the ship security check point, run to my cabin, change into my uniform, and make it from deck 2 to deck 11 for my 4:15 rehearsal. CRAP.
The cab ride went as quickly as my pre-employment rectal exam. Eventually we could see the ship growing closer and closer in the distance. But when we finally got through the terminal, the cab flew right past it and parked outside a locked gate that was closest to the ship... we had no way to get through. I couldn't speak... Iain explained to the cabby that he had to take us to the terminal and we couldn't get in where he'd stopped. He U-turned and had to double back about a mile since the road was divided, and then looped into the terminal. For some reason I got stuck handling payment when all I wanted to do was RUNNNNN.
I paid, and started to run through the terminal. Got stuck behind an old asian couple - the guy had a cane - and neitehr of them could find their ship boarding cards. I was ready to die. I threw my bag in ahead of their stuff, and ran through the metal detector. Outside of the double doors the shuttle was waiting. I ran in with Iain and Algie. Shuttles sit until they are full before they make a run.
We waited about 5 minutes. I was DYING. It was 3:59. Halfway through the shuttle ride, the driver stopped to chat to a buddy who was driving in the opposite direction. I whistled LOUDLY and got a look but the bus started to move again. One minute later we pulled up at the ship and as soon as the door opened I ran out to be the first in line for security.
Luckily (the first lucky thing that happened to me all day), there was absolutely no line. I literally threw my bag through xray and ran through the metal detector. The entire security team - who know me quite well - were laughing. I suppose the panicked security-process for a crew member running late to a call of duty looks the same no matter how many stripes you have. It was 4:07. I got to my room, threw off my clothes. Found clean work clothes. Threw them on. Couldn't find my name tag. Panic. Crap. Found my name tag. Slapped it on. Grabbed my phone, room key, and a diet coke. Ran to the elevator. Sweaty. No breath. Hair gross and half up half in tangles from the pool.
Who saunters around the corner? One of my cast members. At least I wouldn't be the last one. We took the elevator to deck 11. Everyone was casually gathered around. It was 4:15pm on the dot. Someone was smiling down on me.
I haven't spoken to anyone I went out with yet... I just don't have it in me. I was a bit of an ass, but I'm a little pissed about the lack of interest they paid my situation.
Needless to say it has been a long, long day. My department is hosting the crew party this evening, so I have to make an appearance. But it will be brief. And I will then go to bed. Period. I'm exhausted.
Pictures added 10/22/2011
The cab driver took this picture for me, clearly while driving. I wish it had come out better because this sculpture is actually really really cool. It is made of stacked sheets of glass. So it looks like someone running in a blur of speed. Hard to describe, but very cool.
The rooftop pool. AMAZING VIEW.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Best Mail Day EVER!!!
OK - today was kind of a drag. It's going to be a long day - not even close to over yet. BUT... I swung by crew welfare today to talk about the possibility of performing a production show for the crew one night. While that conversation ended up being a scheduling nightmare, and has yet to be resolved, the Crew Welfare Specialist - Jerny - remembered seeing some mail for me. My heart lit up when I had not only 1 but 2!!!! packages waiting for me! SUPER exciting.
The first, not so exciting, but VERY necessary, was a shipment of undies from my momma! THANKS MOMMA!
The second, very exciting, and very necessary, and very PINK! was a care package from Terry!!!! THANKS TERRY! The collection of letters cards and pictures I have taped to my wall is slowly growing in a very homey way :) And now I am well stocked with lots of things - like knee highs, and razors, and toothpaste, and several other great things too. And finally a new pair of earrings so that I can acutally feel like a girl again even when I am stuck wearing mens clothes 24/7. Hahahaha.
Thanks to mom & future-mom-in-law!!! You guys are incredibly wonderful.
I haven't had enough time in my cabin yet today to unpack all of my gifts yet, but as soon as the second show finishes - midnight or so - it's like i get to move in all over again! AND the BEST PART is that I got new socks and new underwear on laundry day. But I forgot to pick up my laundry before the facility closed for the night, so I don't have to go commando and/or sockless sneakers tomorrow. It's like the best hi-five from fate ever.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Oh, and for those of you who didn't know - the onboard phone card machine was broken for over 5 weeks. I just talked to Brian for the first time since he went to Australia the day before yesterday. Only 12 minutes until our satellite reception was cut, but it was worth it! I bought 2 cards, so you can be expecting phone calls sooner than later! :D
Love!
The first, not so exciting, but VERY necessary, was a shipment of undies from my momma! THANKS MOMMA!
The second, very exciting, and very necessary, and very PINK! was a care package from Terry!!!! THANKS TERRY! The collection of letters cards and pictures I have taped to my wall is slowly growing in a very homey way :) And now I am well stocked with lots of things - like knee highs, and razors, and toothpaste, and several other great things too. And finally a new pair of earrings so that I can acutally feel like a girl again even when I am stuck wearing mens clothes 24/7. Hahahaha.
Thanks to mom & future-mom-in-law!!! You guys are incredibly wonderful.
I haven't had enough time in my cabin yet today to unpack all of my gifts yet, but as soon as the second show finishes - midnight or so - it's like i get to move in all over again! AND the BEST PART is that I got new socks and new underwear on laundry day. But I forgot to pick up my laundry before the facility closed for the night, so I don't have to go commando and/or sockless sneakers tomorrow. It's like the best hi-five from fate ever.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Oh, and for those of you who didn't know - the onboard phone card machine was broken for over 5 weeks. I just talked to Brian for the first time since he went to Australia the day before yesterday. Only 12 minutes until our satellite reception was cut, but it was worth it! I bought 2 cards, so you can be expecting phone calls sooner than later! :D
Love!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Just sayin' hi!
It's been a while since I have just plain old written something here. Not that it's an excuse, but it was a 5-day project getting that Athens post done (if you haven't seen it, it was post-dated for the 17th. There are tons of pictures and you should check it out!!! Best day I've had onboard so far.
I have been onboard for just over 2 months now. Just under 6 months to go. I believe my sign off date is officially March 24th.
I am trying like crazy to sign Brian on for a voyage over Christmas time. There are only 2 voyages he can make based on his break from tour, coupled with the fact that no guests can come on the first time we dock in Ft. Lauderdale because we spend the whole day doing Coast Guard inspections. Not to mention that I can't technically sign anyone on because I haven't worked with the company for 6 months yet... so I need to make friends with someone who has single-berth priviledges and who will be here in December and who has been employed for a minimum of 6 months. It's a bit tricky. All of the singers qualify except their contracts end in November so they can't have December guests, and the new cast won't come onboard soon enough for me to ask one of them because I will need to have completed the paperwork prior. I think the Activity Manager, Kirsty, might be my best hope... but she is a stickler for following the rules, so blatantly asking her to break one may not be the best decision I have ever made...
THAT ASIDE,
I think I'm doing very well. I have more than my share of friends, I have figured out how to meet all of my job requirements while getting off the ship nearly in every port. I'm getting my tan and freckle quota. I am trying to be conscious about tan lines prior to the wedding, but at the same time... BEACHES ARE FUN!!!
Yesterday I went to Adaland, the largest waterpark in all of Turkey (another awesome crew tour). I didn't take any pictures, but once I steal some from Christian, you can expect a post-dated blog entry about that, too. It was absolutely incredible. I won't share the best part now, because without photos I cannot do it justice!
I do get a little home sick every now and then - which is really quite normal. I just miss how easy things can be at home... like RUNNING ERRANDS. I can get a tour bus to the Acropolis easier than I can buy pantyhose *sigh*.
I got a postcard from my mom a few days ago - that was really nice. I always feel special when the mail list comes out and my name is on it. :D
Currently we are in OPP Level 2... only a few GI cases away from Red Code. I am NOT looking forward to this whatsoever. Poor Iain was demoted today to forced hand sanitization. He literally has to stand at the entrance to the shops with a squeezy bottle full of purell stuff and force guests to sanitize before entering the gift shop area. If guests refuse, they are denied admittance. Regular cruisers know what all of these extra precautions mean and ask the crew about it all of the time. We are not, however, allowed to say anything about it to prevent hysteria.
All in all, I really like it here. I like the people, the job, and being an officer :D
Hope all is well at home. 6 months will fly right by!
I have been onboard for just over 2 months now. Just under 6 months to go. I believe my sign off date is officially March 24th.
I am trying like crazy to sign Brian on for a voyage over Christmas time. There are only 2 voyages he can make based on his break from tour, coupled with the fact that no guests can come on the first time we dock in Ft. Lauderdale because we spend the whole day doing Coast Guard inspections. Not to mention that I can't technically sign anyone on because I haven't worked with the company for 6 months yet... so I need to make friends with someone who has single-berth priviledges and who will be here in December and who has been employed for a minimum of 6 months. It's a bit tricky. All of the singers qualify except their contracts end in November so they can't have December guests, and the new cast won't come onboard soon enough for me to ask one of them because I will need to have completed the paperwork prior. I think the Activity Manager, Kirsty, might be my best hope... but she is a stickler for following the rules, so blatantly asking her to break one may not be the best decision I have ever made...
THAT ASIDE,
I think I'm doing very well. I have more than my share of friends, I have figured out how to meet all of my job requirements while getting off the ship nearly in every port. I'm getting my tan and freckle quota. I am trying to be conscious about tan lines prior to the wedding, but at the same time... BEACHES ARE FUN!!!
Yesterday I went to Adaland, the largest waterpark in all of Turkey (another awesome crew tour). I didn't take any pictures, but once I steal some from Christian, you can expect a post-dated blog entry about that, too. It was absolutely incredible. I won't share the best part now, because without photos I cannot do it justice!
I do get a little home sick every now and then - which is really quite normal. I just miss how easy things can be at home... like RUNNING ERRANDS. I can get a tour bus to the Acropolis easier than I can buy pantyhose *sigh*.
I got a postcard from my mom a few days ago - that was really nice. I always feel special when the mail list comes out and my name is on it. :D
Currently we are in OPP Level 2... only a few GI cases away from Red Code. I am NOT looking forward to this whatsoever. Poor Iain was demoted today to forced hand sanitization. He literally has to stand at the entrance to the shops with a squeezy bottle full of purell stuff and force guests to sanitize before entering the gift shop area. If guests refuse, they are denied admittance. Regular cruisers know what all of these extra precautions mean and ask the crew about it all of the time. We are not, however, allowed to say anything about it to prevent hysteria.
All in all, I really like it here. I like the people, the job, and being an officer :D
Hope all is well at home. 6 months will fly right by!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Gibraltar... I shall never know thee...
Today was the only day the ship docked in Gibraltar... We were only there from 7am to 11:30am. Any hour before 10am is a joke to me since I work until after midnight everyday. On top of that we had a crew drill today at 10:30 which ended at 11:15 - the exact time of crew all aboard. So thanks, but no thanks, Gibraltar. We were just not meant to be.
Boat drills...
There are a minimum of 3 drills a cruise. Before we set sail on embarkation day there is a passenger drill. And then there are 2 crew drills during the voyage. Passenger drills are okay, except they bitch the whole time about having to do them. Crew drills suck because they last forever. They usually incorporate an Echo (positioning emergency), Oscar (man overboard), Bravo (fire), Star Code (medical) or Delta (bomb threat) drill and then roll it into a boat drill.
Needless to say, I roll straight out of bed at 10:20 in the morning, strap on my life vest, smell like the crew bar, and stand in the theater for 30 minutes, until we hear the secondary alarm at which point I go stand underneath lifeboat 03 for 30 minutes. At which point hopefully the drill is over and I can go shower.
Crew drills are miserable miserable things that should not exist.
Period.
Boat drills...
There are a minimum of 3 drills a cruise. Before we set sail on embarkation day there is a passenger drill. And then there are 2 crew drills during the voyage. Passenger drills are okay, except they bitch the whole time about having to do them. Crew drills suck because they last forever. They usually incorporate an Echo (positioning emergency), Oscar (man overboard), Bravo (fire), Star Code (medical) or Delta (bomb threat) drill and then roll it into a boat drill.
Needless to say, I roll straight out of bed at 10:20 in the morning, strap on my life vest, smell like the crew bar, and stand in the theater for 30 minutes, until we hear the secondary alarm at which point I go stand underneath lifeboat 03 for 30 minutes. At which point hopefully the drill is over and I can go shower.
Crew drills are miserable miserable things that should not exist.
Period.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
UGHHHHHH T4 Connectors
UGHHHH... some of our production equipment is just falling apart - starting with the wireless microphones we use for our production shows. Our T4 connectors just aren't cutting it. For those of you who had never heard of a T4 connector (just like I hadn't until a few days ago) there are pictures to help you understand. But the long and short of it is the T4 connector holds the microphone's cable in the microphone pack. If the two are not connected then guess what... the microphone just ain't gonna work. Just like we regularly have singers onstage that cannot be heard and then you have techs running onstage with handhelds that usually aren't turned on in time to solve the problem. Needless to say, from a production viewpoint this is just embarrassing.
There are lots of good sides to being with a large company like Celebrity Cruises. However, there are an equal amount of absolutely annoying issues with this system. T4 connectors - which cost a few bucks a piece - should not be a difficult thing to replace. However, we now have to wait for another ship that is having the same problem to receive their shipment of T4 connectors, implement them, and decide if it solves their problems (est timeframe of 6 weeks) before we are even allowed to order new ones for this ship.
ABOSLUTELY RIDICULOUS!
This is a time when I wish my shoreside boss was not also my friend - because I think it's a battle worth fighting. But in all actuality, the ball is in the AV Manager's court so I'm just going to step back and let him handle the situation however he feels best.
Won't keep me from bitching though. (Sorry for swearing, grandma!)
There are lots of good sides to being with a large company like Celebrity Cruises. However, there are an equal amount of absolutely annoying issues with this system. T4 connectors - which cost a few bucks a piece - should not be a difficult thing to replace. However, we now have to wait for another ship that is having the same problem to receive their shipment of T4 connectors, implement them, and decide if it solves their problems (est timeframe of 6 weeks) before we are even allowed to order new ones for this ship.
ABOSLUTELY RIDICULOUS!
This is a time when I wish my shoreside boss was not also my friend - because I think it's a battle worth fighting. But in all actuality, the ball is in the AV Manager's court so I'm just going to step back and let him handle the situation however he feels best.
Won't keep me from bitching though. (Sorry for swearing, grandma!)
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Sea Sick... SO Sea Sick...
Last night we had some really rough sea conditions. Waves were about 25' and the whole ship rocked violetly from 3pm until 5am this morning. Needless to say, I now know that I infact do NOT have my sea legs yet. After rehearsal (around 4:30pm), I immediately went to my room where I proceeded to vomit/dry heave until about 9pm. During some heaving intermission, I called the AV Manager - Mike - and asked him to run the shows that night, and called Sue - the Cruise Director - to let her know I would not be in that evening. I passed out sometime around 10pm, only to be awoken at 1am by the sound of tens of thousands of pounds of chain doing what sounded like falling down a staircase. Apparently that's what the ship's emergency anchor sounds like.
Whenever you pull into a port, you embark someone called a Pilot who is very familiar with the channels and underweater terrain and can safely lead your vehicle into the port. Normally the pilot is in a speedboat that pulls up next to the ship, we open an exterior door, lower a ladder, and he climbs onboard. Well, with 25' waves that simply cannot happen. So we had to drop anchor at 2am in the middle of the channel, so the Pilot could be flown in on a helicopter and land on our helipad.
After all of that the city would not let us enter the canal because it was too dangerous and the odds of damaging the canal were just as high as the odds of damaging the ship. So we had to drop anchor yet again. Normally we pull into Amsterdam at about 4:30 in the morning, but today we did not get here until 8:30am. Several guests with early flights missed them, and the turnaround time from disembarking in the morning to embarking in the afternoon got cut down from 6 hours to 3 hours, so everyone was stressed to the max. In the end, we sailed out of Amsterdam on time - and everyone seems to have survived. The housekeeping staff looks a little worse for the wear, but embark day is always rough on them no matter what.
To me the worst job onboard is being assigned to luggage duty. Housekeepers and stateroom attendants literally start hauling luggage at 9pm the night before disembarkation day, finish getting luggage off the ship by 8am, and start hauling new luggage in immedaitely - a process that usually lasts until 8pm. I would probably kill myself if I had to do that.
By the next morning I was pretty much back to normal. We were at port so the ship was rocking only slightly because it is physically chained and tied to the dockside.
Apparently, in my absence, the show last night was a complete mess. It was the "EVERYTHING MUSICAL" show where all of the lounge acts come onstage and do one number, sort of as a farewell to all of the guests. The band master had distributed the wrong show time to his staff, so the show started with no bass guitar. We had to rearrange the order of the acts because one group didn't show up in time. The strings trio comes out from the trap room, but Sue had forgotten, and was introducing them while standing on the pit lifts, so we were unable to send them down to put the musicians on. One of the cast members tripped when the ship rocked, and started laughing so loud she totally flopped her solo... It was just a mess.
But in a weird way, that horrible show is the best job security I could ever ask for.
Whenever you pull into a port, you embark someone called a Pilot who is very familiar with the channels and underweater terrain and can safely lead your vehicle into the port. Normally the pilot is in a speedboat that pulls up next to the ship, we open an exterior door, lower a ladder, and he climbs onboard. Well, with 25' waves that simply cannot happen. So we had to drop anchor at 2am in the middle of the channel, so the Pilot could be flown in on a helicopter and land on our helipad.
After all of that the city would not let us enter the canal because it was too dangerous and the odds of damaging the canal were just as high as the odds of damaging the ship. So we had to drop anchor yet again. Normally we pull into Amsterdam at about 4:30 in the morning, but today we did not get here until 8:30am. Several guests with early flights missed them, and the turnaround time from disembarking in the morning to embarking in the afternoon got cut down from 6 hours to 3 hours, so everyone was stressed to the max. In the end, we sailed out of Amsterdam on time - and everyone seems to have survived. The housekeeping staff looks a little worse for the wear, but embark day is always rough on them no matter what.
To me the worst job onboard is being assigned to luggage duty. Housekeepers and stateroom attendants literally start hauling luggage at 9pm the night before disembarkation day, finish getting luggage off the ship by 8am, and start hauling new luggage in immedaitely - a process that usually lasts until 8pm. I would probably kill myself if I had to do that.
By the next morning I was pretty much back to normal. We were at port so the ship was rocking only slightly because it is physically chained and tied to the dockside.
Apparently, in my absence, the show last night was a complete mess. It was the "EVERYTHING MUSICAL" show where all of the lounge acts come onstage and do one number, sort of as a farewell to all of the guests. The band master had distributed the wrong show time to his staff, so the show started with no bass guitar. We had to rearrange the order of the acts because one group didn't show up in time. The strings trio comes out from the trap room, but Sue had forgotten, and was introducing them while standing on the pit lifts, so we were unable to send them down to put the musicians on. One of the cast members tripped when the ship rocked, and started laughing so loud she totally flopped her solo... It was just a mess.
But in a weird way, that horrible show is the best job security I could ever ask for.
Monday, September 5, 2011
What Time Is It? PARTY TIME!
September 5 happened to be Mike, the AV Manager's birthday. For scheduling reasons, we opted to celebrate the night before. Well, the celebration really started at midnight, so maybe we had the days right after all. The AV Techs converted our prop/scenery storage locker into a party zone. I was actually quite impressed by everyone's effort. A little confused by the baby pink balloons... but you know what? It was fun.
Here's the gang... and girlfriends. The guys in the red shirts are from the party band. Eric is in blue - one of our stage hands. Doy, another stage hand is in teh white shirt all the way on the left, Jefferson - our lounge guitar/singer is giving the "ROCK" hand symbol, and Mike the birthday boy is the black guy in the back wearing a white shirt.
Eric in Blue, Ron in yellow. Ron's a lounge technician and Eric is a stage technician. And yes, everyone is filippino. Mabote.
Sam, our AVTS (sound engineer) and his girlfriend, Sara - who works in the online department helping guests with internet.
The birthday boy/DJ.
Bronson, one of our stage techs... and he's just awesome. Salamat.
From the left: Doy, Animal (the drummer from the party band, sadly I don't know his real name), and Bronson.
A horrible misuse of production costumes that I am claiming sheer ignorance of.
Continued misuse.
This is Costas. He is here for 1 voyage to overhaul some of our technical issues. Primarily he is an audio equipment specialist, so he wanders around and fixes all of the speakers that do background music and stuff. But he's very handy and has helped us out a lot while he's been here so far.
From the Left: Ronald, Gomer's Girlfriend, Mike's wife, Costas, Mike, Singer from Party Band, Gomer (Lounge Tech).
At this point maybe we had had a bit too much to drink. Everyone likes seeing your boss drunk. So everyone must have had a good time since Mike and I both overdid it a little bit.
DJ Sam.
Gomer. Mike. Mike's Wife.
Here's the gang... and girlfriends. The guys in the red shirts are from the party band. Eric is in blue - one of our stage hands. Doy, another stage hand is in teh white shirt all the way on the left, Jefferson - our lounge guitar/singer is giving the "ROCK" hand symbol, and Mike the birthday boy is the black guy in the back wearing a white shirt.
Eric in Blue, Ron in yellow. Ron's a lounge technician and Eric is a stage technician. And yes, everyone is filippino. Mabote.
Sam, our AVTS (sound engineer) and his girlfriend, Sara - who works in the online department helping guests with internet.
The birthday boy/DJ.
Bronson, one of our stage techs... and he's just awesome. Salamat.
From the left: Doy, Animal (the drummer from the party band, sadly I don't know his real name), and Bronson.
A horrible misuse of production costumes that I am claiming sheer ignorance of.
Continued misuse.
This is Costas. He is here for 1 voyage to overhaul some of our technical issues. Primarily he is an audio equipment specialist, so he wanders around and fixes all of the speakers that do background music and stuff. But he's very handy and has helped us out a lot while he's been here so far.
From the Left: Ronald, Gomer's Girlfriend, Mike's wife, Costas, Mike, Singer from Party Band, Gomer (Lounge Tech).
At this point maybe we had had a bit too much to drink. Everyone likes seeing your boss drunk. So everyone must have had a good time since Mike and I both overdid it a little bit.
DJ Sam.
Gomer. Mike. Mike's Wife. It was a great evening. It was nice to get to know everyone a little better and it was nice to get to spend time with people without having to be Production Manager Maddie, too.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Coopenhaaaagenn
Well today was a day full of big plans. Most of which fell fairly flat. BUT I did manage a lovely afternoon in Copenhagen, Denmark with my boss and Joe. Originally we were going to be out from about 11:30AM to 3:00PM. The goal was to go to Tivoli Gardens. Which I didn't realize until we were on the shuttle is an amusement park... not a garden. I really did not dress appropriately. Plus I brought my giant Vera Bradley "day bag" (as I affectionately call it which is funny because I pretty sure it could accomodate 4 people for an overnight).
However, by the time we took the 20 minute shuttle ride into town, lost our bearings, and then got distracted by a giant shopping district, we realized that we had no time to get to Tivoli Gardens. So, instead we ended up eating a nice little lunch at an adorable restaurant named Mama Rosa's. I had amazing pizza :D
Another crappy photo of the shopping district. It's a pedestrian mall about a mile long. Very fun and a good mixture of high and low-end :D
Beautiful town sqaure... well circle... The gardens and landscaping surrounding the statue are stunning!
I wish I had taken the time to stop and take a better picture of this than I did. It's a little inner city river lined with boats, trees, and beautiful buildings. Really much more breath taking than this picture would lead you to believe.
They have painted elephants all around the city, much like cities are doing now in the US.
An awesome clock tower that you can see the peak of in my skyline shot later in the post.
A really cool street corner where the angle is so acute you can see both sides of the buildings. And the buildings themselves are really quite huge - I couldn't belive they spanned the entire block.
Cool dragon sculpture over the doorway of a beautiful building. Reminded me a lot of Gringotts bank in Harry Potter. Yes, my inner nerd just stepped out for a minute.
An awesome statue.
Then we walked the 30 minutes back to the shuttle, and arrived back to the port at about 2pm. We were docked with the Eclipse again, so Joe asked if I wanted to go take another look (since there were lots of things onboard I didn't get a chance to see a few days ago in Russia). Of course I said yes. He took me up to the lawn (yes they actually have grass on the top deck where you can play lawn games and lounge).
A view of the grassy area on the top of the Eclipse.
He showed me around the onboard specialty restaurants. Super cool. One called Q-sine is very "new agey" with experimental foods and more interactive. Lots of "build your own" style courses.
The view of the Copenhagen skyline from deck 14 of the Eclipse. You can see the clock tower I took a picture of in the distance.
Cool island structure thing you could see between the two celebrity ships from port.
The founder of Celebrity Crusies is a greek gentleman with the last name Chandris. The CH letter in greek is "X", hence the logo. This is Joe.
Me in front of the Celebrity 'X'. Horribly unflattering, thanks, Joe.
This puppy statue is outside of the Michael's Club on the Eclipse. It reminded me remarkably of the dog painting I did at CMU and gave to my Uncle Myron and Aunt Rezza.
Last night was CELEBRATE THE WORLD - our final production show of the voyage. And, I am happy to report - was the best show call I have had since I've gotten onboard. Two really solid performances with no technical issues from top to bottom. Very rewarding.
After the shows and my post-show paperwork, I went down to the staff bar for wine & cheese night. One of our lounge groups - Carl William - was playing. They're a bunch of really nice French guys with an awesome sense of humor. And it was prime entertainment since they are disembarking in Amsterdam on the 26th - they just had a good time.
After a glass of riesling, Joe and I went up to the martini bar where he recommended what is called the "20 Year Martini." It was the most delicious drink I've ever had. Martini coated in passion fruit and ginger foam, topped with a few leaves of sage. It was just like dessert :D The drink was designed and named after Celebrity Cruises' 20th anniversary.
All-in-all a really good day.
However, by the time we took the 20 minute shuttle ride into town, lost our bearings, and then got distracted by a giant shopping district, we realized that we had no time to get to Tivoli Gardens. So, instead we ended up eating a nice little lunch at an adorable restaurant named Mama Rosa's. I had amazing pizza :D
Then we walked the 30 minutes back to the shuttle, and arrived back to the port at about 2pm. We were docked with the Eclipse again, so Joe asked if I wanted to go take another look (since there were lots of things onboard I didn't get a chance to see a few days ago in Russia). Of course I said yes. He took me up to the lawn (yes they actually have grass on the top deck where you can play lawn games and lounge).
He showed me around the onboard specialty restaurants. Super cool. One called Q-sine is very "new agey" with experimental foods and more interactive. Lots of "build your own" style courses.
After the shows and my post-show paperwork, I went down to the staff bar for wine & cheese night. One of our lounge groups - Carl William - was playing. They're a bunch of really nice French guys with an awesome sense of humor. And it was prime entertainment since they are disembarking in Amsterdam on the 26th - they just had a good time.
After a glass of riesling, Joe and I went up to the martini bar where he recommended what is called the "20 Year Martini." It was the most delicious drink I've ever had. Martini coated in passion fruit and ginger foam, topped with a few leaves of sage. It was just like dessert :D The drink was designed and named after Celebrity Cruises' 20th anniversary.
All-in-all a really good day.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Oh, and I forgot to mention...
That today marks the day that I have officially been on board for 1 month.
The cruise director pulled me into her office today and really made me blush with flattery. She passed along her personal contact and made sure I knew that if I ever needed a letter of recommendation she would like to be first in line to write one. She called me one of the best production managers she has ever worked with onboard. I just... it made me really happy. To feel so incredibly appreciated in such a large company was just unreal. It's actually really nice to realize that in a work environment where I have 1000 coworkers, I am still becoming one of those people who knows everyone's name. I mean it's going to take me a while, but I am making an absolute genuine effort to do so. It's nice to see how many people smile when they see me. :D
I think they find me refreshing because I'm not an officer who refuses to talk to the crew members.
Did I ever mention that I am a 2-1/2 stripe officer? Oh yes. My boss is 3-1/2, her boss is 4, and the captain is 4-1/2. I'm over halfway there! Just kidding. I never want to be captain.
Bye!
The cruise director pulled me into her office today and really made me blush with flattery. She passed along her personal contact and made sure I knew that if I ever needed a letter of recommendation she would like to be first in line to write one. She called me one of the best production managers she has ever worked with onboard. I just... it made me really happy. To feel so incredibly appreciated in such a large company was just unreal. It's actually really nice to realize that in a work environment where I have 1000 coworkers, I am still becoming one of those people who knows everyone's name. I mean it's going to take me a while, but I am making an absolute genuine effort to do so. It's nice to see how many people smile when they see me. :D
I think they find me refreshing because I'm not an officer who refuses to talk to the crew members.
Did I ever mention that I am a 2-1/2 stripe officer? Oh yes. My boss is 3-1/2, her boss is 4, and the captain is 4-1/2. I'm over halfway there! Just kidding. I never want to be captain.
Bye!
I got on another ship!
So the Constellation (affectionately called Conny by most), docks overnight in St. Petersburg. These days are referred to as "1st St. Petersburg" and "2nd St. Petersburg." Days of the week do not exist here. Days of the week are referred to by our ports of call or by sea day count. For example... instead of saying your week is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, our week is:
Embark
At Sea 1
Rostock
At Sea 2
Stockholm
Helsinki
1st St. Petersburg
2nd St. Petersburg
Tallinn
At Sea 3
Copenhagen
At Sea 4
Disembark // Embark
So intead of talking in weeks, we talk in thems of voyages (right now we are on voyage 317), and our voyages are 12 days long. The ports/sea days change depending on the itinerary, but we are currently finishing up the second of our three baltic runs this season.
You might say somethign like:
"Do you want to grab lunch on Helsinki?"
which means something entirely different than:
"Do you want to grab lunch in Helsinki?"
The former implies getting lunch onboard the day we are at port in Helsinki (a 20 minute commitment), the latter implies that you will get off the ship together and find a local restaurant (a 2 hour commitment). Always good to get your prepositions correct. Also, you have to relearn the "days of the week" for every itinerary. I have just started to get used to this one, and now we will be going to a Mediterranean itinerary so everything will be changing soon.
So on our last Helsinki (Aug. 19), the Eclipse docked in St. Petersburgh for its "1st St. Petersburg." Thus, our 1st St. Petersburg and its 2nd St. Petersburg were the same day so the two celebrity ships were both docked at the same port. The production manager on the Eclipse emailed me inviting myself and my staff over to see the tech run of their production show. So yesterday I got to visit there ship. I arrived around 1:30pm, the tech was at 3:45pm, and was off the ship by 4:45pm. Perfect timing with their 6pm sail away time.
I am not sure if I have explained this before or not, but Celebrity's ships are broken down into three classes. Each class share it's name with the first ship to sail of it's class. I do not know all of the ships, but will give you the basics.
The oldest class is the Century class. Now this class only consists of the Celebrity Century. There used to be others but they have been sold to smaller companies to make way for the newer vessels.
The next class is the Millenium class. It consists of:
Celebrity Millenium
Celebrity Summit
Celebrity Infinity
Celebrity Constellation
The newest class is the Solstice class. It consists of:
Celebrity Solstice
Celebrity Equinox
Celebrity Eclipse
Celebrity Silhouette - this ship launched for its maiden voyage last month, so it is brand spanking new.
Celebrity Reflection - this ship launches for its maiden voyage in November 2012. There is already rumor that I may be on the start up team for that. We'll see.
The real point of me explaining the classes is to get to this: The Solstice class is BIG PIMPIN'! My ship is 12 decks tall, Solstice ships are 16. The ceilings are high. The PM office is huge. The shows involve so much flying I could die. It's awesome. The unfortunate part is that the shows on board just aren't that good. Celebrity contracts the shows from production companies. We use QDos on the Millenium Class, but they use Poet on the Solstice Class. The production values are very different between the companies.
It was really nice to get onboard another ship to see what it looks like and how things are run. But honestly, the best part was meeting another production manager. Her name was Heather and she has been with the company for nearly 4 years now and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Also, the AVTL (AV Technician Lighting - there is also AV Technician Sound) on the Eclipse went to school at CMU with me. Apparently we had similar Julie-related hiring experiences. It was just funny to bump into him on a cruise ship... in Russia. Odd.
Things are going quite well. Everyone seems pleased with the job I am doing and how the theater is being managed. I'm a bit tired with what I believe are now permanent bags under my eyes. But am feeling the constant professional and personal challenge a bit refreshing. Not that I didn't like working with IN THE MOOD, but in all honesty I could not have found the job less intellectually stimulating.
Change is good.
Even though I miss Brian.
Our 2 year anniversary is just around the corner :D.
Embark
At Sea 1
Rostock
At Sea 2
Stockholm
Helsinki
1st St. Petersburg
2nd St. Petersburg
Tallinn
At Sea 3
Copenhagen
At Sea 4
Disembark // Embark
So intead of talking in weeks, we talk in thems of voyages (right now we are on voyage 317), and our voyages are 12 days long. The ports/sea days change depending on the itinerary, but we are currently finishing up the second of our three baltic runs this season.
You might say somethign like:
"Do you want to grab lunch on Helsinki?"
which means something entirely different than:
"Do you want to grab lunch in Helsinki?"
The former implies getting lunch onboard the day we are at port in Helsinki (a 20 minute commitment), the latter implies that you will get off the ship together and find a local restaurant (a 2 hour commitment). Always good to get your prepositions correct. Also, you have to relearn the "days of the week" for every itinerary. I have just started to get used to this one, and now we will be going to a Mediterranean itinerary so everything will be changing soon.
So on our last Helsinki (Aug. 19), the Eclipse docked in St. Petersburgh for its "1st St. Petersburg." Thus, our 1st St. Petersburg and its 2nd St. Petersburg were the same day so the two celebrity ships were both docked at the same port. The production manager on the Eclipse emailed me inviting myself and my staff over to see the tech run of their production show. So yesterday I got to visit there ship. I arrived around 1:30pm, the tech was at 3:45pm, and was off the ship by 4:45pm. Perfect timing with their 6pm sail away time.
I am not sure if I have explained this before or not, but Celebrity's ships are broken down into three classes. Each class share it's name with the first ship to sail of it's class. I do not know all of the ships, but will give you the basics.
The oldest class is the Century class. Now this class only consists of the Celebrity Century. There used to be others but they have been sold to smaller companies to make way for the newer vessels.
The next class is the Millenium class. It consists of:
Celebrity Millenium
Celebrity Summit
Celebrity Infinity
Celebrity Constellation
The newest class is the Solstice class. It consists of:
Celebrity Solstice
Celebrity Equinox
Celebrity Eclipse
Celebrity Silhouette - this ship launched for its maiden voyage last month, so it is brand spanking new.
Celebrity Reflection - this ship launches for its maiden voyage in November 2012. There is already rumor that I may be on the start up team for that. We'll see.
The real point of me explaining the classes is to get to this: The Solstice class is BIG PIMPIN'! My ship is 12 decks tall, Solstice ships are 16. The ceilings are high. The PM office is huge. The shows involve so much flying I could die. It's awesome. The unfortunate part is that the shows on board just aren't that good. Celebrity contracts the shows from production companies. We use QDos on the Millenium Class, but they use Poet on the Solstice Class. The production values are very different between the companies.
It was really nice to get onboard another ship to see what it looks like and how things are run. But honestly, the best part was meeting another production manager. Her name was Heather and she has been with the company for nearly 4 years now and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Also, the AVTL (AV Technician Lighting - there is also AV Technician Sound) on the Eclipse went to school at CMU with me. Apparently we had similar Julie-related hiring experiences. It was just funny to bump into him on a cruise ship... in Russia. Odd.
Things are going quite well. Everyone seems pleased with the job I am doing and how the theater is being managed. I'm a bit tired with what I believe are now permanent bags under my eyes. But am feeling the constant professional and personal challenge a bit refreshing. Not that I didn't like working with IN THE MOOD, but in all honesty I could not have found the job less intellectually stimulating.
Change is good.
Even though I miss Brian.
Our 2 year anniversary is just around the corner :D.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
I don't even know what a long day is anymore...
As of yesterday I have been away from home for 1 month... I can't believe that a month as come and gone already. It's nuts.
In true Maddie style I am getting sick. Slight fever/sore throat/runny nose/sneezing today. I am hoping I can sleep it off tonight since tomorrow is a lighter day than today was.
The mail ended up being a sweet note from Harriet, a girl I studied with at Carnegie Mellon wishing me the best. Harriet: if you're reading this - thank you it was so nice of you to write me. It literally made my day :) Not a lot of people get mail here, so I felt very elite.
Tonight is Indian Independence Day so there is a huge curry party in the provisions area of deck 1.
I have not been off the ship for 8 days... I'm getting a bit stir-crazy. I just find it so difficult to get motivated to leave the ship at 9am when I work until 1 or 2 every morning. I have been trying to rest more, and especially now that I'm getting sick... *sigh*
It is very difficult to establish routine here since personnel is constantly changing over since people are usually on 6 (or fewer) month contracts and even when they come back they usually rotate throughout the fleet... so you really never get the same combination of people twice. The activity manager who I have become besties with is signing off on the 26th and my supervisor (the cruise director) is signing off on September 6th... So I feel like I have to start all over again with my working relationships. Whereas the AV manager I don't much care for is stuck here until mid-November. Oh well.
We also just got a new hotel director and associate hotel director (my boss's boss onboard the ship), so that is changing the dynamic around here as well.
There is a lot of butt covering going on.
I mostly just try to get my job done with the minimal amount of effort possible. :D
There are two kids onboard right now that remind me of... well... me. They are stage-managers-to-be, so they will be shadowing me running technical rehearsals tomorrow. I think it's really nice to be giving back to the technical theater community. Lots of good karma.
I miss you all.
In true Maddie style I am getting sick. Slight fever/sore throat/runny nose/sneezing today. I am hoping I can sleep it off tonight since tomorrow is a lighter day than today was.
The mail ended up being a sweet note from Harriet, a girl I studied with at Carnegie Mellon wishing me the best. Harriet: if you're reading this - thank you it was so nice of you to write me. It literally made my day :) Not a lot of people get mail here, so I felt very elite.
Tonight is Indian Independence Day so there is a huge curry party in the provisions area of deck 1.
I have not been off the ship for 8 days... I'm getting a bit stir-crazy. I just find it so difficult to get motivated to leave the ship at 9am when I work until 1 or 2 every morning. I have been trying to rest more, and especially now that I'm getting sick... *sigh*
It is very difficult to establish routine here since personnel is constantly changing over since people are usually on 6 (or fewer) month contracts and even when they come back they usually rotate throughout the fleet... so you really never get the same combination of people twice. The activity manager who I have become besties with is signing off on the 26th and my supervisor (the cruise director) is signing off on September 6th... So I feel like I have to start all over again with my working relationships. Whereas the AV manager I don't much care for is stuck here until mid-November. Oh well.
We also just got a new hotel director and associate hotel director (my boss's boss onboard the ship), so that is changing the dynamic around here as well.
There is a lot of butt covering going on.
I mostly just try to get my job done with the minimal amount of effort possible. :D
There are two kids onboard right now that remind me of... well... me. They are stage-managers-to-be, so they will be shadowing me running technical rehearsals tomorrow. I think it's really nice to be giving back to the technical theater community. Lots of good karma.
I miss you all.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Productions Onboard
So I’ve realized that I have actually managed to speak little to none about the actual productions onboard. I’ll attempt to rectify that now while I am currently in my office between shows.
In general…
There is a production everyday. There is always a technical rehearsal of that production in the afternoon, and then there are two performances (otherwise referred to as “seatings”) that evening. The theater is designed to be able to hold half of the ship’s capacity, so in theory all guests may see all shows if they so choose. Seating times are either 7:15pm & 9:15pm (early shows) or 8:45pm & 10:45pm (late shows). The times are structured around the two available dinner seatings for the guests. Each guest is assigned to either late dinner or early dinner. So, if we do late shows, you eat at your dinner seating and then go to the performance afterward. If we do early shows, those with an early dinner reservation go to the late show, and those with a late dinner reservation go to the early show. For some reason this never ends up working out as designed. But that’s the logic behind the evening’s scheduling anyway.
Production shows…
On any given Celebrity ship there are 3 full-scale, full-cast production shows. These shows are almost always on formal nights and have late seatings. The three onboard the Constellation are:
1. iHollywood
2. Land of Make Believe
3. Celebrate the World
They are all of the same genre – a mishmash of popular songs (mostly popular in the US, but in Celebrate the World especially there are hit songs from many countries). Land of Make Believe has a loose plot line that is some combination of The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. iHollywood is the most technically complex, and just features a lot of great moments in film history – largely focusing on pirate movies, James Bond, Judy Garland, Little Mermaid, etc.
These shows are each performed 1 day per voyage. They use all 5 singers, 10 dancers, and 2 aerialists. iHollywood uses the onboard orchestra, and the other two run off of track. During these shows I operate from the rigging booth (shown in a picture in a previous post). That is where I run the fly system, turn table, and lifts. I also call any track cues, deck cues, and pit cues from there.
Opening & Closing Night Shows…
The exact content of these shows varies from cruise director to cruise director (they really get to decide the entertainment makeup while they are on board). Currently, our cruise director’s name is Sue Denning. She is a lovely British woman with a fabulous taste in shoes and short blonde spiky hair. For her, the opening night show (which is performed one time on embarkation day at 10:45pm) is called “A Taste of Things to Come.” It opens with an orchestra feature, goes into a cast “bumper” (a piece 10-15 minutes long that is a mash-up of many songs in very similar style to the production shows), a piece done by the aerialists, a number by the onboard a cappella group, and perhaps one or two more pieces contributed by onboard musicians.
The closing night show is called “Everything Musical” and it is literally just that. The cast does a bumper, the orchestra does a feature, and every musical act on board comes through with one piece. It is a technical nightmare with a million changeovers. Right now on board we have a band called Great Ideas (the cheesy party band), Carl Williams (a ballroom dance music group), Expression Strings Trio (violin, viola & piano), Lemon Squeezy (an a cappella group), Jefferson Ang (a guitar/vocalist)… and probably more that I’m forgetting.
//so now I’ve accounted for 5 nights of a 12-night cruise.//
Guest entertainers…
At any given point in time there are 2 guest entertainers onboard. They always swap out mid-voyage so they can perform for one group of guests at the end of their voyage and the next group of guests at the beginning of their voyage. So 4 nights of the cruise you will have guest entertainer performances. These range from vocalists, to pianists, to comedians, to magicians, to ventriloquists, to (playing tonight) a violin duo. You name it, they try to have it. Just like every other show, they do a rehearsal in the afternoon and perform twice on their evenings.
///so now I’ve accounted for 9 nights of a 12-night cruise.//
Local Folkloric Shows…
When a ship does an overnight, they will try to bring a local group on to perform one evening (one seating only). For this voyage, the local group is called Moroshka and they are from St. Petersburg, Russia. I pick them up from the gangway at 9pm, they immediately rehearse and ravage the backstage hospitality, and then they perform once at 10:30pm, and they’re off the ship by midnight. Pretty easy.
//so now I’ve accounted for 10 nights of a 12-night cruise.//
Variety Night…
Not much of a variety, really. The two onboard guest entertainers do a split show. Two 25-minute sets each, typically.
Perry Grant…
Perry is the onboard pianist who plays mostly in the Michael’s Club (usually a VIP lounge). His style is very… umm… flamboyant. And his jackets are very sparkly. He is a terrible singer, but a great entertainer. He sounds a lot like a goat when he sings. I don’t quite get it, but there are literally hundreds of people a year who book cruises just to attend his shows. Literally. No joke. They’ve done studies on it. Anyway, he’s always feeling a bit “under the weather” to get a bit of “sympathy.” So we appease him just so he’ll get on the damn stage every 12 days.
//so that’s it for performances in the Celebrity Theater.//
Theme Nights…
Usually on nights where there isn’t a full production show there is what’s called a Theme Night. Simply put, this is like a miniproduction that happens late at night, using some contingent of the cast, and ends up being a pain in the butt most of the time. Our onboard theme nights that I am involved in are Live@Sky, Broadway Nights, and Sizzle.
Live@Sky is a 1940s theme that has … well … most of the music from IN THE MOOD. Not done as well, but there are many more swing dancers.
Broadway Nights is a cabaret-style evening where each of the singers sings a few Broadway hits. Which was probably exactly what it sounded like so why am I still writing?
Sizzle is a latin dance night. It’s really to get the party atmosphere going. The singers don’t do sizzle, but there are many choreographed dances done by the production dancers. It also features the brass and saxophones from the orchestra.
There are also…
Captain’s Club Celebration
A Cappella Matinees
Aerialists Show
Sue’s One Woman Show (the cruise director)
Captain’s Toast
Crew Talent Show
Star Chef
… and probably more that I’m not thinking of right now.
In general…
There is a production everyday. There is always a technical rehearsal of that production in the afternoon, and then there are two performances (otherwise referred to as “seatings”) that evening. The theater is designed to be able to hold half of the ship’s capacity, so in theory all guests may see all shows if they so choose. Seating times are either 7:15pm & 9:15pm (early shows) or 8:45pm & 10:45pm (late shows). The times are structured around the two available dinner seatings for the guests. Each guest is assigned to either late dinner or early dinner. So, if we do late shows, you eat at your dinner seating and then go to the performance afterward. If we do early shows, those with an early dinner reservation go to the late show, and those with a late dinner reservation go to the early show. For some reason this never ends up working out as designed. But that’s the logic behind the evening’s scheduling anyway.
Production shows…
On any given Celebrity ship there are 3 full-scale, full-cast production shows. These shows are almost always on formal nights and have late seatings. The three onboard the Constellation are:
1. iHollywood
2. Land of Make Believe
3. Celebrate the World
They are all of the same genre – a mishmash of popular songs (mostly popular in the US, but in Celebrate the World especially there are hit songs from many countries). Land of Make Believe has a loose plot line that is some combination of The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland. iHollywood is the most technically complex, and just features a lot of great moments in film history – largely focusing on pirate movies, James Bond, Judy Garland, Little Mermaid, etc.
These shows are each performed 1 day per voyage. They use all 5 singers, 10 dancers, and 2 aerialists. iHollywood uses the onboard orchestra, and the other two run off of track. During these shows I operate from the rigging booth (shown in a picture in a previous post). That is where I run the fly system, turn table, and lifts. I also call any track cues, deck cues, and pit cues from there.
Opening & Closing Night Shows…
The exact content of these shows varies from cruise director to cruise director (they really get to decide the entertainment makeup while they are on board). Currently, our cruise director’s name is Sue Denning. She is a lovely British woman with a fabulous taste in shoes and short blonde spiky hair. For her, the opening night show (which is performed one time on embarkation day at 10:45pm) is called “A Taste of Things to Come.” It opens with an orchestra feature, goes into a cast “bumper” (a piece 10-15 minutes long that is a mash-up of many songs in very similar style to the production shows), a piece done by the aerialists, a number by the onboard a cappella group, and perhaps one or two more pieces contributed by onboard musicians.
The closing night show is called “Everything Musical” and it is literally just that. The cast does a bumper, the orchestra does a feature, and every musical act on board comes through with one piece. It is a technical nightmare with a million changeovers. Right now on board we have a band called Great Ideas (the cheesy party band), Carl Williams (a ballroom dance music group), Expression Strings Trio (violin, viola & piano), Lemon Squeezy (an a cappella group), Jefferson Ang (a guitar/vocalist)… and probably more that I’m forgetting.
//so now I’ve accounted for 5 nights of a 12-night cruise.//
Guest entertainers…
At any given point in time there are 2 guest entertainers onboard. They always swap out mid-voyage so they can perform for one group of guests at the end of their voyage and the next group of guests at the beginning of their voyage. So 4 nights of the cruise you will have guest entertainer performances. These range from vocalists, to pianists, to comedians, to magicians, to ventriloquists, to (playing tonight) a violin duo. You name it, they try to have it. Just like every other show, they do a rehearsal in the afternoon and perform twice on their evenings.
///so now I’ve accounted for 9 nights of a 12-night cruise.//
Local Folkloric Shows…
When a ship does an overnight, they will try to bring a local group on to perform one evening (one seating only). For this voyage, the local group is called Moroshka and they are from St. Petersburg, Russia. I pick them up from the gangway at 9pm, they immediately rehearse and ravage the backstage hospitality, and then they perform once at 10:30pm, and they’re off the ship by midnight. Pretty easy.
//so now I’ve accounted for 10 nights of a 12-night cruise.//
Variety Night…
Not much of a variety, really. The two onboard guest entertainers do a split show. Two 25-minute sets each, typically.
Perry Grant…
Perry is the onboard pianist who plays mostly in the Michael’s Club (usually a VIP lounge). His style is very… umm… flamboyant. And his jackets are very sparkly. He is a terrible singer, but a great entertainer. He sounds a lot like a goat when he sings. I don’t quite get it, but there are literally hundreds of people a year who book cruises just to attend his shows. Literally. No joke. They’ve done studies on it. Anyway, he’s always feeling a bit “under the weather” to get a bit of “sympathy.” So we appease him just so he’ll get on the damn stage every 12 days.
//so that’s it for performances in the Celebrity Theater.//
Theme Nights…
Usually on nights where there isn’t a full production show there is what’s called a Theme Night. Simply put, this is like a miniproduction that happens late at night, using some contingent of the cast, and ends up being a pain in the butt most of the time. Our onboard theme nights that I am involved in are Live@Sky, Broadway Nights, and Sizzle.
Live@Sky is a 1940s theme that has … well … most of the music from IN THE MOOD. Not done as well, but there are many more swing dancers.
Broadway Nights is a cabaret-style evening where each of the singers sings a few Broadway hits. Which was probably exactly what it sounded like so why am I still writing?
Sizzle is a latin dance night. It’s really to get the party atmosphere going. The singers don’t do sizzle, but there are many choreographed dances done by the production dancers. It also features the brass and saxophones from the orchestra.
There are also…
Captain’s Club Celebration
A Cappella Matinees
Aerialists Show
Sue’s One Woman Show (the cruise director)
Captain’s Toast
Crew Talent Show
Star Chef
… and probably more that I’m not thinking of right now.
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