A Day In the Life

My beyond talented college friend Michael Hughes (check out his CD!) has put out a request that I not only write blogs more often because he’s so bored, (thank you Toronto theatre scene!) but to basically give a run down of my day-in-the-life as a cruise ship performer.  He himself is about to embark on an ocean liner for an extended period of time for the first time (to my knowledge), and perhaps I can impart some words of wisdom as he sees a rundown of the daily events of life onboard. 

I am fortunate to be able to wake up later than most 9-5 employees.  (Cue several of my family members rolling their eyes.)  Because the majority of our work takes place in the evening, as long as I'm up before breakfast ends upstairs, I'm good.  Adam & I usually brew a pot of coffee (currently we are blessed with Tim Hortons thanks to our home port of Vancouver) and watch an episode of Life, from the Planet Earth series.

The TV situation on ships is abysmal.  CNN, BBC & Headline News confiscate three of the channels, and we currently have ESPN, TCM,TNT, a cartoon sort of channel and TruTV, which are quite special.  Any and all of these stations can go out at a moments notice if the weather is bad, the ship is surrounded by mountains, or the cosmos are out of alignment.  It seems that just as the verdict on Law & Order is about to be announced, the screen goes black and  reads "No Signal".  Oddly enough, it comes back on in time for me to hear the closing theme.  We also have Princess TV, which are basically 6 or so channels filled with safety information, general promotions and other useless broadcasting that is on a continual 24 hour loop.  I never thought I would miss simple things like the Shopping Channel or infomercials, but I do.

So, lesson #1 Michael: Bring lots of DVD's, or even better, fill up an external hard drive to keep luggage light.

We then have breakfast, which this week has been one of three options.  The buffet upstairs actually does a decent breakfast, so we go there a few times a week, we have cereal or yogurt in our cabin, or we have recently taken to making pancakes and omelettes on our flat griddle.  The one bonus of being in Alaska is the access to grocery stores.  I currently have bacon, cream, cheese and egg beaters (thanks Eric) along with pancake mix and syrup.  It makes a huge difference being able to cook for yourself when you're away for this long.  So...

Lesson #2: Bring contraband electronic appliances into your cabin.  Just make sure you hide them for any inspections that may take place.  (Who doesn't have a hot pot, coffee make, popcorn maker, toaster oven or other things in their cabin anyway?)

On a show day (which is often) we usually are free until sound check.  I've been occupying my time recording videos for my niece Emilie, reading and I have also purchased a piano book to get back to playing.  Getting out of the cabin is essential to ones sanity so a mini lesson is to make sure you have a few projects going while you're onboard.  It helps a lot.

Sound check is usually 15-20 minutes long, and is just before dinner.  Princess does give us the pleasure of not doing tech runs on a show day.  Other companies make the cast run the entire show for technical purposes the morning of a show day, and it makes for a really long day.  Once sound check is over, I usually have something small to eat (again, thanks to my food cupboard filled with chips, granola bars and other delicacies) and then begin to get ready for the show.  45 minutes for hair and make-up, (Mike I hope you don't take as long!) and then we have a half hour call backstage to pre-set our costumes, and to get into "show mode".  Usually I'm doing a crossword puzzle, or butting in to help Eric with his.  Two shows later, I'm back home ready to either order room service or make something (again, God bless the person who invented the hot pot) and then perhaps enjoy a libation or two with Adam.

Lesson #3: Enjoy libations.  Find the crew bar.

So that's my day.  I hope it exceeded your expectations and answered and questions you may have had.  "Do I get to sleep in like a teenager?"  You sure do!  "Is the internet connection dial-up slow but twice the price of land charges?"  It sure is!   I know you'll have a blast. 

Just remember to pack your hot pot.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michaelhughes