Crew Show

Saturday, April 21, 2007
We participated in the Crew Show. The Crew show is a talent show that is for the crew and stars the crew. We were the only theatrical material—the rest was rock, pop and love ballads. And a traditional candle dance from the Philipines that was my favorite.

Also, a pretty long Jesus rock number that was actually pretty good.

The show started around midnight, and the crew welfare team served beer and wine and a lot of crew members from the ship got to see us perform 10 minutes of material.

It was strange being backstage--it's always just us, and for the crew show, there were dozens of performers milling about in traditional costumes, Britney Spears costumes, Hip-hop costumes and many were practicing their dances in front of the mirrors.

I enjoyed the mixxing it up a bit---and a reminder of how lucky we are to have our job.

Afterwards, we ended up at Maharini’s, the nightclub in the back of the casino.

At the Crew show, I showed off my new haircut and highlights.

Phil Pil Fil

Friday, April 20, 2007.
A week of lasts.

Our Shore Excursions manager, Phil. He’s leaving NCL all together, and going to White Horse, Alaska to hang out and figure out his next job.
He’s been a great friend to all of us at Second City and we’ll miss him a ton.

We’ve attended a lot of goodbye gatherings and “lasts” in Phil’s honor since the new guys have come along. However, as they keep pointing out, every day is filled with Phil’s last something. Phil’s last night in crew bar. Phil’s last night at the Scriptless show. Phil’s last night at the Stardust. Phil’s last scrabble game. Phil’s last night on GSC, the private island. And, finally, the true last, Phil’s last day on GSC.

But, at last, Phil is really now gone. Phil loves puns, so here are a few to say goodbye (though I don’t think he reads this)
• We’ve had our “Phil”.
• We’re all “Phil”led up.
• He’s searching for Ful-“phil”-ment

Super Ray

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
I went to Cocoa Beach today and had a great time hanging with our Asst Cruise Director, Ray-Ray. The thing with the Cruise staff, is that they always have to be “on”. So, it’s always lovely when we get away from the passengers, and can just have a chat. We mostly soaked up the sun, with Ray-Ray keeping himself on a pretty strict flipping regiment, and me continuing to wear my sunglasses, resulting in a raccoon-look that is so big this spring.

Everyone on this cruise is feeling a lot better to be on solid land. Even the most seasoned cruising veterans were feeling the rockiness of the boat.

And, we’re all watching the sad news coming out of Virginia Tech. It’s just really really sad.

Nor'easter, not Easter

Monday, April 16, 2007
We’ve been hit by a big Nor’easter and the boat is definitely a rocking. We’re all bearing it pretty well, considering that it’s the longest we’ve been consistently rocky. I had a great time just wandering the boat—grabbing the railings, lifting my foot and having it land somewhere other then where I planned.

Our new cruise director is Darrin, and he seems…enthusiastic.

Rain rain rain

Sunday, April 15, 2007
Boy, today was a rainy one! I got off in NY and walked right into the middle of the big old rain storm. I found some protection under a bus shelter, but then had to run to the library to return DVDs. I took a cab there, and was still soaked. It was kind of fun, because it wasn’t that cold and I played a game wondering how wet I could get. I think I won, because I was pretty soaked.

I met up with my friend Abby for about half an hour, which was lovely, but too short. With our 2:30 back on board policy, our NY days are just long enough to get errands done, but too short for a real sit-down social visit.

I wanted a bath after coming home to my cabin. That's one thing I miss hard core---a bath.

Saturday, April 14, 2007
“All these kids on this boat are mainly douchebags.”
Jeremy Sosenko.

I hosted a spontaneous gathering around 11:30 pm on Saturday night. Homer had popped by to lay on my chair after a delicious and filling dinner at Cagney’s, our steakhouse on board. We took our friend Phil for dinner there. Phil is the Shore Excursions Manager on the Spirit, and our frequent Scrabble companion. He’s leaving this week to go back to the Yukon and figure out a new job. Anyway, we ate a ton, and were pretty stuffed. The kind of stuffed that the food is all the way up to your esophagus, like on Thanksgiving. The boys (as we’ve taken to call Jeremy and Brian) swung by after their dinner date at Windows. Then, Carly and Darryl popped up to sign Julie’s card so we all hung out.

The gathering was unplanned and we were all super-giggly. There’s a new energy afoot in this cast and its fun getting to know each other.

Then, Carly, Darryl, Homer and I headed down to Crew bar to say goodbye to our friend Meghan, the tattoo artist.

Full disclosure: These images are not from Saturday, but from earlier in the week. But, I wanted to include them.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Overheard in the Stairwell outside of Raffles—a teen boy and girl:

Boy: “You mean you don’t like crab legs?”

Girl: “I don’t know, I’ve never had them.”

Boy: “Wait, why are we on the 12th floor”

Girl: “I don’t know.”

Boy: “Well, I followed you!”

Girl: “No, I followed you. You ran ahead of me.”

Boy: “Well, that’s because you’re so f-ing slow.”

I bet that boy’s dad isn’t very nice to his mom.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Today, Homer, Brian, Jeremy and I went on the caves and mangroves tour in Samana, Dominican Republic. It was really amazing---with some of the pictographs in the caves dating back to the pre-Columbian era. There was much speculation among our party about exactly where and when Columbus first landed. It seems he was all over the Caribbean…everywhere we go on our exotic cruise, they are claiming Columbus as the one who came in, and killed the indigenous peoples within 50 years. What the h, Columbus?

Here’s a picture of new music director, seeking some knowledge from our tour guide about the local culture and history of DR. He also asked about a lot of the Dominican baseball players, too.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Ch-ch-ch-changes

This week, we lost Jeff and Joe, and gained Brian and Jeremy. The new guys are totally showing me up. They are already taking time out of the day to write and workout and explore the boat. It’s good motivation to get some stuff done.

The first Stardust show went great—they were both fantastic and fun to work with, to boot.

We also heard that our castmate, Darryl, is being promoted to Toronto Mainstage. This is fantastic news—he is great on stage and great to work with—so I’m very excited for him.

Phil, our friendly Shore Excursions Manager, is leaving next week. I do a mean impersonation of Phil, so it’ll be sad that it won’t be relevant anymore.

Meghan, our airbrush tattoo artist is also leaving to go back to Canada.

Finally, our beloved cruise director, Julie, is leaving on Sunday. It’s a bummer for us, but a huge opportunity for her.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Homer and I went to mass this morning, for Easter. It was strange having mass in the Stardust, home to our mainstage show and many comedian/hypnotist/magic/dancer/singer acts. The venue puts a lot of pressure on the priest to do some tricks or fancy footwork. But, being Catholic, the deck is already stacked with in-service miracles, and on Easter, we’re celebrating the pretty biggest miracle of all in the Catholic world, so I think the attendees gave the priest some slack. He was old, and kind of preachy, which is unusual for a catholic priest. We had to sing a cappella, and, as it turns out, Catholics everywhere are pretty un-spirited singers.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

NY day. I met up with Homer and went to Office Depot to get more pictionary pads and we ran into Phil. We decided to grab pizza and found a place that was just around the corner. Phil decided to get a Blue Moon, and they served it in a 32 oz. fountain Coke to-go cup, with a straw and lid. We were running short on time, so Homer went to get our beloved Starbucks, while I went to Duane Reade to pick up Easter/spring candy treats for the cast and crew. Phil trotted along, with his beer in a to-go cup, and I had more then a few anxious moments, since he had an open container of BEER, in a drugstore on a Saturday in Times Square. He didn’t make it any easier when he told me he was really getting a buzz because he was drinking the beer through a straw. I tried to send him to meet Homer and help him with the coffees, but he didn’t follow my directive. Then, the security guard circled past us twice, and Phil knocked over a couple pre-made Easter baskets on the high shelf, so I made him leave. He claims he wasn’t loopy and that I’m over sensitive to perceived security threats but he was making me very nervous.

Friday, April 6, 2007

We had dinner at Shogun’s tonight with our departing cast, Jeff and Joe. The dinner was nice, but we were all a bit subdued. We went down to Crew bar for a cocktail, and then eventually, Blue Lagoon for a late night snack. It’s strange to see these guys go—but I think they were both, in their own ways, done with the Spirit.

Homer loves this nautical sweater and we love giving him sh@t for it.

Guest blogger, Lis Dunson

Friday, March 30, 2007

Guest Blogger: Lis Dunson:
Thanks to Becky’s generosity I am aboard the Spirit for an EXOTIC 8 day Caribbean cruise. I found out that my cruise is EXOTIC when I read it on a poster by the reception desk. Indeed I have had a lot of exotic adventures during my cruise. Some highlights:
1.) As the guest of a “Guest Entertainer” I was granted a pass enabling me to drink in the crew bar ($1 beers – woo-hoo!).
2.) On St. Thomas I saw an iguana in a palm tree.
3.) We played scrabble nearly every day.
4.) One night at Maharini’s Bar, the bar with beds everywhere, I hung out with the hypnotist that Becky mentioned in her last blog. We were interrupted by some MIT students who wanted him to hypnotize them, right there, in the bar. So, he went over and…seemingly, hypnotized them via a method that combined tapping their forehead repeatedly while having them switch their shoes around to be worn the opposite foot. To prove they were hypnotized he had them dirty dance with each other.
5.) One day I did not leave our room until 2pm.
I have loved my Becky va-ca. This is the 3rd time I’ve visited Becky in a beautiful vacation spot where she is being paid to perform. How does she do it? Talent, brains and boobz. Nuf said. -LD

A good year

Friday March 30, 2007
Lis is here! It’s been lovely. She got here at around 10:15 am on Saturday, and now it’s Friday and we’re sitting in my cabin, drinking coffee and watching the French movie with Russell Crowe.

Drag lite

Friday March 22, 2007

Sitting in the Café playing Scrabble..there was just a dolphin sighting off the starboard side.

I heard a group of friends in Raffles at breakfast.

Middle-aged Lady: “Did you party last night?”

A couple responds by smiling with interested looks on their face.

Middle-aged Lady, with great pride: “We did.”

They all giggle together, and then describe the “craziness” of the fairly tame drag show we have on board, a cabaret tribute. It really shocked them to see a man dressed as a woman.

They should come down to a pride parade or one of our plays—there’s drag busting out all over.

You can dance if you want to

Thursday, March 21, 2007
So, we went to Bambu last night and it was still that lovely snow day feeling. Like, can you believe that we’re getting away with this? I had a great time…hung with the cruise staff, shore ex, the tattoo artist Megan and some of the production team.

Highlight of the evening, for sure, was getting our music director, Joe to dance. I taught him all the old college standbys—shopping, starting the lawn mower, opening a window that’s stuck, the washing machinc on spin cycle.

Good times, for sure.
Today is super-rocky, and we saw some lovely puke on the way into our show…so that’s fun.

Rough first show, hoping for some magic in the second show.

Dustin, dancer, grandson

Wednesday March 21, 2007, part 1
I’m sitting in Starbucks with Carly, Darryl and Dustin. Dustin’s a 19-year old dancer with the NCL production company. All of the dancers and singers, save two, are leaving on Saturday. The replacement cast is here, and have been on the outskirts of our social circle, but I’ve been mostly ignoring them.

Dustin is my special friend….as predicted by my predecessor, Ali Davis.

He’s full of energy and super sassy and young and sweet. I like him a lot…he’s sort of an unlikely friend that I’ll miss.

He’s adopted Homer and I as his grandparents, which sounds a little bit like silly high school drama, but such is boat life. Grandma is happy to adopt him, I think Grandpa is a little more indifferent.

Snow Day in Nassau

Wednesday March 21, 2007..part 2
Oh my gosh! We just heard the most exciting news in Starbucks—the rumor was that the ship was going to overnight in Nassau! This is the first time we’ve veered from our itinerary, and it is very exciting. We all bustled back to the ship to find out it was true! While we anticipated that we would add a second show, we also anticipated that the passengers would be VERY angry. I hope for a full-scale riot on our hands. Even as much as I sympathize with upset passengers, and the extra burden on all of the cruise staff and shore excursions, and we have to add a second show, I still feel like it’s a snow day! We get to stay overnight! In the crappiest port in the Bahamas! Boarding, we saw a bunch of dancers who are just THRILLED! They can party it up at Senor Frogs! I’m really hoping that Carly, Darryl and Homer will want to go to Paradise Island for the afternoon. It’s lovely and fun for just a day.

This is the most exciting day ever!

I wish I would have showered earlier…

Insert requisite Steve Erwin joke

Wednesday, March 21, 2007, part 3
So, at first, old Homer didn’t want to go to Paradise Island. But, he acquiesced once he saw the water taxi was only $5 roundtrip. Homer loves a bargain, so we went! I am overusing exclamation points…but that’s how I feel. We just had a lovely, relaxing day walking to get ice cream, walking through the casino, lookin at the aquarium for a long time. We saw a huge ass sting ray and just basked in the sun’s lovely warmth. It was one of those unexpected moments, when I was looking up at the bridge suite between the two towers at Atlantis, and thought, that’s nice I wonder what the suite is like insde, oh my freaking goodness, it’s a Wednesday in March, and I am in the Bahamas…how lucky am I.

The ice cream was so good—melting down the sugar cone and licking it up as we walked by gigantic white yachts..named “Nice n Easy”, or some such nonsense.

Then, we took the water taxi back, and came onboard. All of the crew is abuzz about this place called the bamboo room to go late night. Ok—sounds good. Or maybe not? Whatever! It’s a snow day and we are not going to the private island.

At dinner, I sat with Homer, Jeff, Joe and we were all pretty giggly.

We had out show, and then went to Bambu.

Low Brow kind of gal

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Today, I went to the Merritt Square Mall in Cape Canaveral mall and bought some major cruise wear. Cabana wear, admittedly, is not good for the mortgage, but I did it anyway.

On another note, I finished up Julia Child’s book, in which she, at one point, embraces the US mass grocery store. I loved already about how she loves France, but at the same time, doesn’t hate America. There’s no cynicism represented in her, and she is just a delight to read. I also recall how Ira Glass one time told me through the radio about a history professor who had died. They replayed a segment of him going to check out the authenticity of Medieval Times---I think they expected him to hate it—but he loved it! It was really refreshing to hear him exclaim about all of the turrets and symbols and flags and such.

In the movie, Music and Lyrics, they talk a little bit about that idea—high brow v low brow. And not embracing low brow culture for its’ kitschiness, but for what it is—lovely and wonderful in its’ own way. Drew Barrymore loves these 80s songs that Hugh Grant co-wrote, and encourages him to perform them because they are great and surprising and people love to hear them.