Finally in Operation!!

Well, we are officially an operating cruise ship. We are on our second cruise with paying guests to the Eastern Caribbean. Our ports of call this week include St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Nassau.
New York was amazing for the 4th of July. I don't know if anyone watched NBC on the 4th but they filmed and hosted the fireworks spectacular from our ship. It was a lot of work getting NBC loaded on and all set up, but it was worth all the hard work when the fireworks started going off. I literally had the best seat in Manhattan to watch. Just to give you an idea of how good of a seat I had, the guys that were controlling the launching of the fireworks were sitting at a table behind me.
After all the celebrations in New York, the crew had our own little celebration on board. There is a law called the Jones Act that prevents international ships from carrying passengers from American port to American port, so on our journey from New York to Miami we were passenger free. These three days were like a much needed vacation for most of the crew. For me, we didn't have any shows so I didn't have to work at all. We were free to go anywhere on the ship and were free to explore the pool deck, spa, and most importantly... the water slides!! That's right, I had three non stop days of fun in the sun on the worlds only water park at sea... and I got paid for it. The second day of the trip, the ship threw a huge party for all of the crew on the pool deck outside and we all had an amazing time taking advantage of an occasion that would never happen again.
Last week in St. Maarten a few of us went snorkeling for a friends birthday. We saw some sunken sail boats, colored fish, coral, and some weird sea urchins that stick to you like suction cups.
Now that we are in normal operation this cruise ship life isn't so bad. Work is going well, getting into our routine and getting used to having 12 shows a week. It is crazy being in these tropical ports every week and getting to explore something new nearly every day. The to do list now includes swimming with sea turtles and parasailing. Next week we are doing our Western Caribbean route for the first time and our ports include Costa Maya Mexico, Roatan Honduras, and Cozumel Mexico, and all I plan on doing is eating lots of real Mexican food.

I'm in the Middle of the Ocean

I don't even know where to begin. Right now I am in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean sailing from Southampton, UK to New York City. It feels like so mush has happened since we left dry dock in France for the first time. The sea sickness was pretty bad at first but I am finally getting my sea legs.

The sea trials went well, I mean we didn't tip the ship over or anything so that has to be good. When we got back to France we had just about a week to get ready to leave and have guests on board. We had lifeboat drills for the crew everyday for that week to prepare for any emergencies. The drills are to simulate and abandon ship situation and we report to our muster stations during the drills, life jackets and all, and head out to the lifeboat dock. During these drills they simulate real emergencies like fires, injured passengers, and children separated from their parents. For these simulations involving people they recruited the youth counselors to play the roles of the passengers and children. During one of the drills I had the pleasure of seeing the youth counselor manager play the role of an 8 year old having a tantrum screaming and wanting her parents and candy. An experience I'm sure I will never ever see a supervisor do again.

Leaving France almost felt like leaving home, but since we have been gone I haven't missed it too much, and something else I didn't think I would ever say, but I am glad to be going back to the States. Our next stop was Rotterdam Netherlands and we picked up our first group of passengers. I was able to get off the ship and explore the city for a few hours, but wish I could have seen more. It was quite a large city with a lot of history. At first glance, the coolest part was the staggering of the old dutch buildings among the modern architecture and sky scrapers.

Our next stop was Southampton, UK. I got of the ship there for a grand total of an hour and a half, but I made it count. We went to this little pub and had steak pot pie, mashed potatoes, and the best coke I have tasted in the last 2 months. Oh and I can't forget the best part, English sticky toffee pudding mmmmmmmm, it was soooo goood, good enough to last me until the next time I am in England. Being on land for just over an hour wasn't worst thing in this town because our ship was actually at the most historic place in the town anyway. Southampton is where the Titanic left from on its way to New York.

We've now been at sea for four days and have three more to go before we arrive in New York. It is so surreal to think about where I am in the world at this very moment, an experience that in our generation so few have the opportunity to do. I can only imagine what the sunset is like out here in the middle of the Atlantic, but unfortunately I have shows every night. I have set my alarm for 5am the past two days to try to get up to see the sunrise, but so far I have been unsuccessful at getting myself up. We do change our clocks back and hour every night so it should get easier to get up.

Cirque and Sea is all I See

Bonjour from the ship. Things are really starting to look good on the ship. There have been a few hiccups over since last time, but we are still on schedule for going to Rotterdam, Southampton, and New York for the 4th in which I think we arrive on the 1st. I haven't heard who we are getting to perform on the ship for the 4th of July celebration yet, but I have heard some A list rumors.

We began doing safety drills yesterday where in case of an abandon ship situation so we will all know what to do. These drills are sort of like a huge fire drill, but for obvious reasons we can't just leave the building. We gather at different muster points where there are heads at each station who make sure everyone is accounted for. I believe later this week we will even practice taking out some of the life boats. In combination with the drills, we are are doing sea trials over the next few days. Sea trials are when we go out to sea for a few days and do some testing of the ship for the new build and push all the equipment and the engine to their limits. I have heard they do things like throw the ship into reverse, or make sharp turns, or basically making doughnuts in the middle of the ocean to see how far the ship will tip without actually tipping over. I have a feeling I am going to be getting sick a lot during the next few days.

You guys, it's getting really exciting here now that we are getting closer to actually having guests on board. I cannot believe it has already been a month, a month today actually, since I got here. Also, most of the crew switched cabins this week into our permanent cabin, and I am happy to no longer be on deck 2, sort of like the projects of the ship. Now cabin is on deck 6 all the way forward with the rest of the entertainment staff. Right below our area is the crew gym, the crew bar, and the crew lounge. Once the ship is completely finished I will get some pictures up of the different areas on board.

As far as my show is going, we are adding in costumes tomorrow and will be inviting audiences in on Sunday or Monday. It has been an intense rehearsal process, I'm actually in the middle of a 15 hour rehearsal at the moment, but we are almost there and the show is looking great.

Things have been progressing a lot here. More and more every day things are getting finished and it is looking like a place you will want to vacation. More crew members continue to arrive and I am meeting lots of new people from all over the world. New hires are required to complete a series of safety training courses and we began this week. The first one was in crowd management and I received an official certificate and everything that is valid for five years. We were taught the codes in case of certain emergencies such as code bravo (fire) or code Oscar (man overboard), and told how to calmly handle an emergency with 5,000 guests on board. There are other courses coming up where I will learn basic fire fighting skills, CPR, and we will be trained in the life boats.

Not much else has been going on other than lots of rehearsals. Our show is coming along very well, which is good because we are supposed to open in like 15 days or something. It's so exciting that we will be on our way in just a couple of weeks. I can't believe it has already been three weeks, it has gone by so fast, but at the same time feels like I have been here for years.

PS. I just watched the final episode of LOST a few minutes ago, so you all can rest knowing that I am no longer suffering.

Cirque du Circus

You guys!! I ran off and joined the circus, literally. So I found out when I got to the ship that I was switched to the other theater on board. I was a little bummed to find out that I won't be working with Blue Man Group, but when I found out what I am going to be working on, I realized how cool it is going to be. So the show is called Cirque Dreams & Dinner and it is sort of like Cirque du Soleil but on a smaller scale. There are a bunch of Russians that are part of the cast and can do some amazing things. We Stared rehearsals two days ago and have gotten about 40 minutes into the show and so far there is a tight rope walker, plate spinners, juggling, people flying, a hula hooper that uses 7-25 hoops on her arms legs, body, and much more. There are a few American actors that serve as sort of the MC's for the show and to move through the plot of the show. It is in a theatre where the guests are served dinner as well so the wait staff is incorporated into the show during certain parts. My role in this crazy show is to be in charge of the props and sort of an ASM at times. I think the experience I am going to get form working on this show is going to be amazing and is going it is going to look incredible on my resume. I am on good terms with the trainer for the show and he caught be stretching backstage yesterday and asked if i could touch me toes. If I'm not careful I may end up flying on the trapeze before my contract is up.

En Francais!!

I made it!!! I'm on my boat... well it's called a ship actually. There is so much to tell. The voyage over here wasn't bad. They did loose my bag and there was a bit of confusion at the airport so I had to call someone to pick me up, but my bags came the next day so it all turned out alright. The ship is still very much a construction zone, they are a bit behind but hopefully will be able to catch up in order for an on time departure. We were issued hard hats and steel toed boots upon arrival. I have actually decided that this whole thing is a psychological experiment to see how long you can last in a confined constructions zone before you snap and kill everyone. Our theatre space isn't finished yet so we have been working on other things that are "related" to the entertainment aspect of the ship. We have been delivering TV's to all the employee cabins on board, in the maze that is the crew cabin area. We felt like rats stuck in a maze. The other thing that is making us go crazy is the french techno music that starts at 7:30am for the french workers that are on the ship working as well as the speaker testing where they say something in french, then say A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H Terminate... en francais of course. This happens once a day for about 2 hours and is repeated 3 times every 2 minuets. They like to start the testing when we are dismissed and about to take a nap.

It really isn't all that bad, and is getting better by the day. We are supposed to get our theatre in the next few days and will be able to begin our work. In the meantime we have been taking lots of trips into town to explore and have a beer. As of now we are supposed to leave france in the middle of June, but everything is subject to change. There is still lots more to report but its a french holiday today and we have to celebrate with them!

Au revoir!!

In One Week I Will Be Lost Without LOST

It is official! I finally got my flight information and I leave Sunday night (May 9th) for France, so a week from today I will be on the boat. I found out that after our month in France we are going to Rotterdam, Netherlands for about a week before Southampton, UK and NYC. I have never been to the Netherlands and don't know much about it other than it is famous for wooden shoes, so it should be fun to see.

I am spending this week getting everything around and trying to mentally prepare for what I am about to go do. I am getting very nervous/excited because it has come up so quickly. In order to avoid stressing and thinking about actually being on the boat and how crazy/amazing/chaotic the next couple months are going to be, I have been concentrating most of my energy on how I am going to watch the last few episodes and series finale of LOST. You guys, this is a very serious matter and I am starting to freak out!! I will have limited internet, but since I will be abroad I can't watch from the ABC website. After talking to some friends, I have determined that itunes may be the answer. If anyone has another solution I am all ears. Although, I like to just think that during my travels at sea we are going to stumble upon the island and it won't matter that I didn't see what happened because I can just ask Jack and Kate what I missed when I get there.

Become the Epic Star

I think with the pool of talented people I know, SOMEBODY I know should be able to win this and spend a week with me.

Hurry! You only have until April 25th to get your submission in.

Me and My New Nautical Themed Job

So, I got a new job on Norwegian Cruise Line. It is going to involve a lot of traveling over a six month period and I'm sure a lot of adventures to share as well. I created this blog to make you all jealous about how tan I am going to get, all the food I am going to eat, all the cool people I am going to meet, and all the scuba diving, exploring, and adventure seeking I will be doing.

Details:
Go to France May 10th 2010 to get on the brand new Boat.
Sail to UK, NYC, then Miami for its maiden voyage.
Boat is called Norwegian Epic, Miami based and will sail the Caribbean.
I will be working backstage with Blue Man Group, and Legends in Concert.
It's a six month contract.

More when it's time to ship out!! In the meantime entertain yourself with this.