Drydock - Day 2

Cold shower this morning. Absolutely freezing water. What a way to start the day. Woke up to Sarah calling me letting me know someone was already taking care of our shuttle bus tickets into town - the ship hired shuttle buses but is making crew pay for tickets to subsidize them.

We took the bus into downtown Brest. Cute little city, not a lot to offer, but enough to keep us busy during the days I suppose. We walked around a bit, and found a cute place to get a sandwich for takeaway. While in line, however, TJ and Josh spotted a Zara, so I bolted. I love this store! I found a great t-shirt there, as well as other things I decided I didn't need to buy. I bought the t-shirt and continued up the street. We found a couple small malls, and swore we would just "map out" our route for tomorrow, but instead we went to H&M and dropped more money. Oh well. It's not like I can shop at H&M at home or anything.

On the way back to the bus we met up with the group and then ran like hell to make the shuttle. Once back on board, we tried to get a drink on the back of deck 10, but the computers weren't working. Instead, Sarah and I went to the gym. Afterwards, Josh, TJ, Mandy, Sarah and I played Pictionary. What an awesome game. Lots of fun ensued, and when Sarah and Mandy left, the three of us focused on a serious game of Scrabble.

I headed home (it was around 9:30pm at this point) and then met up with the group in the crew bar for Jermaine's sendoff (even though he's only gone for 4 days it was super dramatic). I just got back from Seaside with Ember, Nat and Sarah, where we had late-night burgers and dogs. So much for losing weight this contract.

Good night!

Drydock - Day 1

We awoke to the port of Brest, France around us. The ship was docked in the lock, but we were still surrounded by water. Throughout the day, the lock would be drained and the boat would come to balance on a series of blocks. The Port Manning meeting went by without a hitch.

As the ship is being secured today, no one is allowed to sign off the ship and travel into town. Maybe tomorrow.

Today was another big day of Scrabble, food, gym time, some viewing of 24, and then drinking. Very productive - ha! I met the Kids Staff up at the bar on the back of the ship on Deck 10 for some wine. Before I realized it, I was pretty drunk. Fortunately at around 1am I realized they were serving chili dogs and burgers right inside at the buffet/grill. I refueled and headed to the crew bar. I danced the night away, made out with Katie, then headed back up to the buffet for some more dogs. I reckon I was about 46% processed meat at that point. Yum.

Oh, I forgot to mention that at 9pm tonight, all the hot water on the ship was turned off. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I don't exactly look forward to my shower tomorrow. Grrr.

Southampton, England - Debark for Drydock

This morning, the passengers disembarked, but as we are heading to a 19 day drydock, no new passengers came on board. Hundreds of contractors boarded however, and the ship later set sail for Brest, France, where we will be living for the next three weeks.

In preparation, the housekeeping staff had to cover literally every walkable or sittable surface in common areas with cling plastic to protect them while drydock work is completed. All meals would be served in the passenger buffet area, and the staff and crew mess halls would be closed. Meals will be served nearly 24 hours a day - which is amazing. Additionally, only certain bars would be available during drydock.

One bar open is the Cova Cafe, a coffee and spirits bar located midship on deck 5. I had only been there once before, but we decided to meet there to grab a coffee and see what there was to do. Mandy, Josh, TJ and I decided to start a game of Scrabble in the nearby Card Room... it will likely become one of our favorite activities to kill boredom over drydock. Sarah and Des joined us and started playing too. After awhile we were asked to come back out to the cafe area, as the Card Room had yet to be plasticked.

Dinner was pretty good, and several of us got together for a movie night at Jermaine's. We watched Clue, the 1985 comedic murder mystery based on the board game. It was good times. Now I'm tired though, and have to get up for a meeting tomorrow re: port manning.

(Port manning requires at least 1/3 of the crew to be on-board overnight from 6pm to 6am in case of an emergency. We have to sign up so that we know in advance which nights we will get free from port manning. Fun.)

Dublin, Ireland

Got up bright and early for Dublin today - it's Kinsey's birthday, and she wanted to set out for the Guiness Factory. Along the way we stopped at various landmarks and such throughout the city, including St. Patrick's Cathedral.



A few more blocks away, we found a small Irish pub called Grumpy Jack's. Once inside, we settled down for a pint - albeit 11am - and kicked back to watch music video programming. But it wasn't just any programming - this particular program was "So Awful But We Love It" and featured such hits as "Walk Like An Egyptian," "Karma Chameleon" and "Africa" by Toto.



We continued walking toward the Guiness Factory, but unfortunately when we arrived, the line was around the corner and almost a block long - we were told it would be at least an hour wait, and we were to meet the rest of our group back downtown shortly, so we turned back. Here's a shot of the outside of the brewery:



We figured the best thing to do after being turned away from a brewery was to visit a whiskey distillery. So, we headed to the Jameson's Distillery, also conveniently located in Dublin. I'm not much of a whiskey drinker, so it was slightly less exciting, but the inside looked really cool.



After chilling there, we headed back downtown to meet up with the rest of our crew (about 20 people) at the Temple Bar. There is an entire block of bars which is called "Temple Bar" - and most of the bars located there are called "Temple Bar" or include it in their name, which can make it confusing when meeting people at a central location... but after a short time everyone met up. I decided to go shopping with TJ and Josh (a deadly combination, as they have shopping addictions as well), and later joined everyone for a couple drinks before heading back to the ship.



When I got to my room, the voicemail light was blinking - I knew it was the message I had been waiting for about drydock - and none of our department has to do fire patrol, which is great. Now I don't have to quit!

Til tomorrow...

Cork, Ireland

This morning I awoke to go to the "fire watch" training. I was told we would be working ALL of drydock with only 2 days off, for 8 hours each day with few breaks. Not cool. We would basically just stand around where work was being done and if fire broke out, either fight it ourselves or notify the safety team. Sorry, but that wasn't in my job description. We were shown how to use the various fire extinguishers, the fire hoses and our own Personal Protection Equipment.

Fuck that.

I went to speak to Renata the Assistant Cruise Director about this. Half the cast would possibly be exposed to dangerous environments as a result of the fire watches, and it wasn't safe for us to do so, especially with our roles as production cast members. She made some calls and told us she would take care of it. I hope we don't have to do fire watch... I vow to leave the ship if they make me do it.

All because the new Hotel Director has it out for the entertainment department. Whatever. She can bite me.

Anyway, after that drama in the morning, Mandy and I set out for Cork again - this time, focused on seeing the Blarney Castle. We took a train into downtown Cork, grabbed a cab, and enjoyed the ride through the Irish countryside. We arrived at the Castle, which was actually a large piece of property with gardens and other sights in addition to the Castle.



After climbing the narrow spiral staircase to the 10th floor, we kissed the Blarney Stone. I remember hearing that you kiss the stone on your back, but I had no idea that you had to lay curled backwards over the edge of the castle while looking 10 stories down. Nonetheless, I laid back, grabbed the handrails, and kissed the stone. I immediately wiped my mouth to avoid the introduction of germs into my system.

We then climbed back down the castle, bought some postcards, and strolled around the gardens. It soon came time to find our way back to the ship. We boarded a bus that dropped us back in downtown Cork. We had about 5 minutes to catch our train, so we got off the bus early and just started running until we couldn't run any further. Fortunately, the train was late so we made it. Upon arrival, we went back to The Quays, a restaurant right next to the ship, for some beer and chips (fries) - when I come back to the States, I'll be all screwed up with British vs. English terminology.

Here's a quick review...

chips = French fries

crisps = potato chips

Would you fancy that? = Would you like to do that?

More to come....

St. Peter Port, Channel Islands, England

Went out today with Sarah (dancer) and Pete (Broadcast Manager) for a stroll around St. Peter Port. We walked around the small cobblestone streets and tried to find a breakfast place. After trying a couple places, we found a restaurant that served an all-day proper English breakfast. It was damn good... sausages, ham, eggs, mushrooms, and toast and coffee. We walked around the rest of the town and stopped in some small shops here and there.



After a great afternoon off the ship, I came back to my room and got a voicemail that I had been selected for "fire watch" during our upcoming drydock period. Ships go into drydock for maintenance... they dock in a water lock, the water is drained from the lock, and work is done all over, from engine and propeller repair or replacement, to reapholstery of fabrics and carpeting, to new cabins getting built. Anyway, as part of this drydock, the safety crew wanted portions of each department on board to participate in fire watch. I am not very happy that I was selected. I'm not sure what the commitment is, or how often I will have to work, but it doesn't seem fair that some people will be on the ship for drydock, not working, yet making the same money as I will. Grrr. We'll see tomorrow at the training.

Sea Day #5

Two more days at sea! I'm starting to get a little cabin fever! I've been sleeping way too much lately... there's not a lot to do, even with our reblocking rehearsals and tech runs.

We opened Rhythm of the Night tonight. It went well, and I made my costume changes on time, which I was a little worried about.

Sea Day #2

Today I had my first acupuncture treatment ever. My friend Nikki, who happens to be an acupuncturist on the ship, gave me a seasickness treatment. She placed needles in my feet, legs, stomach, hands and head to focus on the pressure points that are affected by seasickness. She placed the needles gently, slightly tapping them to get them to stick. Then she turned on some music and left me to lie for about 25 minutes. It was one of the most relaxing things I've ever experienced. Later we had rehearsal in the afternoon and I wasn't feeling so great (despite the acupuncture treatment) so I slept a bit. I've been told it takes awhile to kick in.

I felt a little better later in the evening, and went up to eat. That always seems to help.

Sea Day #1

We opened "Celebrate the World" tonight. I really like this show.

The ship is starting to get a little rocky in the evenings as we've gotten away from shore quite a bit. I'm going to try to get an acupuncture treatment so I don't get seasick. More to come.

Fort Lauderdale, FL

New cruise starts today. New guests, new faces, and some new crew as well.

We left the US today for Europe. The next seven days will be spent at sea. I've been told the trans-Atlantic cross will be the trip that weeds out anyone who will be seasick - ever - as the waters get pretty choppy that far out from land. It will be even worse if we experience any storms along the way.

Tonight was our "Bumper" opening - a 5 minute medley of rock tunes by the likes of Elvis. Our costumes are pretty cool, mostly silver and white with lots of bedazzlement. Before we went on, the managers from various departments gather on stage with the Captain to have a Captain's toast - it allows the department managers to introduce themselves to the guests and let them know what their department offers, such as Food & Beverage, Entertainment, etc.

After our Bumper, the a capella group, as well as the flyers perform short sets. After that the Activities staff introduces themselves in a well-choreographed number.

Oh, I lost my cell phone today too. That makes two inside of a couple of months. Great.