And, I'm back

I have neglected you for the past few days and I apologize. The current cruise I am on is a five-day cruise, and these ones are a lot more packed with work then the other ones will be. In addition to the shows and rehearsals, the new cast members still have a list full of training that we need to complete, so our schedules have been pretty tight. My days have been as follows; wake up at 8 or 9 for training (safety or first aid or security), then to the theater for a tech run of the show we will do that night, then I may or may not have time to shower and/or nap before the show. Food is sometimes worked in there, but I have gotten very good at holding off my morning hunger pains until 11ish, mainly because I have no choice in the matter. When we do get the chance to eat, we have to get dressed up to go into guest areas; otherwise we can eat in the staff mess during certain hours. For dancers this food layout isn’t very conducive, because we perform at night from 6-11ish depending on the times of our two shows. By the time we get our costumes off and put them away, everything is closed. The restaurants only offer nuts, and the crew bar sells Pringles, so my timetable of food has become very erratic.

The cruise that I am starting now is a chartered cruise for Best Buy, a younger crowd you can imagine. We have been warned multiple times that the ages are going to be closer to ours, and to remember the boundaries between guests and crew. We docked in Miami for an overnight before we head out tonight for CoCo Cay, Nassau, and Key West.

Last week when we were in Miami I met up with my grandparents and my Aunt Sue, and I was able to take them on the ship and show them the areas that I frequent on a daily basis. After we wandered around the Century for a bit, we met up with my cousin Tiffany for some lunch. It was nice to be able to see my family, because up till now it feels like I am living in an alternate fantasy universe where I get paid to be on a dance vacation. Yesterday a few of us took a bus to South Beach to catch some rays before coming back to the ship for ‘Sizzle’, and the Welcome Aboard show. This is the second to last time we will be porting out of Miami before heading to Europe.

I am starting to get the hang of all this; throwing nautical terms into my everyday vocabulary, telling time military style and rolling with the changes of time zones every few days, and getting to know the people. The dress code rules are still taking some getting used to, and I even went out in Miami today to make some purchases so that my attire will be more suitable for guest areas.

As for my lack of blogging, I will try to not let it happen again. As a first timer of a 5-day cruise I had to devote most of my time dealing with the lack of sleep and food, but things will all turn around after this cruise is over. 5 more days and were off.