Sailing the Open Seas...

Yes it has been forever since I have updated this lovely blog. After being on board for a month, we are now headed for Hawaii! I'm very excited for sunshine and warm weather. Our schedule changes now, because Alaska was 7-day cruises, and Hawaii is about 2 weeks. This means more free time for the cast, though! Here's an example of my current schedule for this cruise (our first one to Hawaii):

Day 1:
-free morning/afternoon while the passengers board the ship
-3:30pm boat drill. I look like a football player, wearing my sexy lifejacket and Traffic Director vest. I stand near the back of Deck 3 and direct passengers to either go left or right (that's Port or Starboard side, folks!) to their lifeboats. One time a couple took my picture while I was wearing this lovely outfit.
-4:30pm rehearse for our “bumper” show. This show basically introduces the cast to the passengers and gives them a little taste of what's to come.
-free time; usually dinner and/or gym
-8:30pm get ready for our bumper show
-9:30pm perform!
-10:30pm done with the show and free for the night.
(it gets a bit rocky the first few nights on our way to Hawaii, and I threw up this night...at least it was in my room after our show and not during a performance!)

Day 2: Sea Day
-freeee morning and afternoon. I usually always get breakfast with a few cast members a little after 9am and then go back to my room and take a nap. Then I'll wake back up for lunch or I'll eat a snack in my room, and then we go to the gym around 2:30pm. I'm surprised I haven't fallen off any machines yet with a rocky ship! I love the gym though, because the view is always so pretty, whether it's simply open waters or mountains with small waterfalls.
-6pm or so we eat dinner
-7pm go over notes about our upcoming show with our dance captain
-midnight rehearsal of the upcoming show. We do these late night rehearsals because it's the only time we can get use of the theater, and it's a brain refresher.

Day 3: Sea Day
-breakfast
-11:45am tech rehearsal with microphones for the show we're performing this night.
-lunch, nap, gym, free time
-7pm called to get ready for show
-8/10pm perform show for 2 different audiences

Day 4: Sea Day
-free day! Pretty much wake up for breakfast, maybe take another nap, lunch, gym, read, watch movies, write letters to people, lounge about in the ship, etc.

Day 5: Sea Day
-breakfast
-2pm help teach a short dance class with one of the dancers from my cast (this week is swing!)
-free the rest of the afternoon

Day 6: Hilo
-free to get off the ship and explore for the day

Day 7: Lahaina
-50% of the crew has to stay on the ship at all times, so this is my day to stay on board. I signed up to get a hot stones massage on the ship though, and I get a nice crew discount. Can't wait! :)

Day 8: Honolulu
-get off the ship and explore
-11pm rehearse for the show for the following night

Day 9: Nawilliwilli
-noon tech rehearsal for the show later this night
-7pm get ready for show backstage
-8/10pm perform show twice!

Day 10: Kona
-music rehearsal in the afternoon
-11pm rehearse for show the next night

Day 11: Sea Day
-noon rehearsal for the show later this night
-7pm get ready for show backstage
-8/10pm perform show twice!

Day 12: Sea Day
-free day!

Day 13: Sea Day
-free afternoon
-7pm notes for the show the next night
-midnight rehearse for show

Day 14: Sea Day
-noon rehearsal for show later this night
-7pm get ready backstage
-8/10pm perform show twice!

Day 15: Sea Day
-10:30am sing farewell song in the theater
-free day

Day 16: San Diego
-passengers leave in the morning, new passengers arrive in the afternoon, and it starts all over again with a boat drill later in the afternoon!

Times can get a little confusing because we move 1 hour back 3 different nights on our way to Hawaii, and then the clock moves 1 hour forward 3 different nights on our way back to San Diego. So we always have to make sure we remember to change our clocks on the appropriate nights!

I haven't quite looked up what all I want to do in Hawaii, but riding a hot air balloon is definitely on my list. Perhaps some hang-gliding. And of course beach time. And playing with dolphins. And sea turtles. And whatever else there is. :)

Love and virtual hugs to you all!