December 9. Sunday.
James, Rosie, Jess, & I got off the ship early and got breakfast in the French quarter to kill time since the mall didn't open until 11. Then we went back to the port and waited for the crew bus to the mall instead of taking a cab. That was a mistake. It took forever. We finally made it to the mall at noon and discovered it opened at 9am for holiday shopping. Annoying. Our time is precious people! Anyways, we all got most of our Christmas shopping done in a few hours & took a cab back to the ship.
Kaci met us by the port to drop off some mail and packages that had been delivered for us that week. She's literally the sweetest. While the cast was in their tech rehearsal I had a fitting with the replacement singer that was sent to cover Jenna's spot in Shout. Her name is Jacqueline & she's a ship veteran. Lucky for me she fit into everything! & Later that night after all the performances I had fittings with the cast for the Christmas show. So many sequins!
December 10. Monday.
Sea day. Jess & I worked the shopping talk and then I went to the art auction. I've never worn heels this much in my life! That night we had two successful Band On The Run shows.
Earlier that day I complimented a passenger on his Big Bang Theory t-shirt. (Its a popular tv show) It turns out this mans name is Professor Tony & he has like a five hundred doctorate degrees. He is friends with the guy who invented the Butterfly Effect and Chaos Theory. Seriously. He is the most intelligent human I've ever encountered. I am the queen of ADD & I even had a hard time following his train of thought. After talking to him I felt like I'd been hit by a train. I just love making friends with strangers!
December 11. Tuesday.
Costa maya! It was a rainy day but Patty, Jacqueline, and I had fun on the beach at Forty Cannons. Some of our Second City friends were there too & through email I meet two of their famous friends! First, Megan told YouTube comedy sensation Brian, The Sassy Gay Friend, that I was a huge fan & he said I was cute and called my a stupid B! Don't worry, that's his tag line. I died. Then Brett emailed a dorky picture of me waving to his friend TJ, also known as the guy in the passenger seat of those funny Sonic commercials. Too funny.
My hilarious day just kept getting better. That evening I was going out to dinner with the captain! As in the guy who is in charge of our entire vessel. Unreal. A highlight was walking past the art gallery with him and watching all the silly art boys jaws drop. (Insert hair toss here.) He took me to the French restaurant La Bistro. Fantastic food and great conversation. Captain Kostas is from Athens, Greece, has been a captain for over 14 years, and adores traveling. He also thinks I'm hilarious, but who doesn't?
December 12. Wednesday.
Belize. I stayed on board because I had to be at the Shout tech rehearsal. Jacqueline, the new replacement, was doing the run in her costumes so she could practice the quick changes. Afterwards Jess & I worked on the Christmas costumes until show time. We put rhinestones on everything possible. It's my latest obsession.
December 13. Thursday.
Roatan. I slept in and worked for a little. Patrick & I went to the gym together that afternoon. He is so fun to do activities with.
That night James, Rosie, Martina & I made plans to dine at the Japanese steak house restaurant. I called the captain to invite him to join us but he declined. When the four of us arrived at our reservation time the hostess said there wasn't room for us. Right then the Captain showed up! He went up to the manager & suddenly there was room! We couldn't believe what was happening. Kostas didn't join us for dinner but he sent over a bottle of wine AND picked up the bill. Talk about feeling like Cinderella!
After our delicious dinner we wandered downstairs into Gatsby's lounge where the art guy were hanging out. James & Rosie went to bed but I stayed with the silly boys. Luke, the English auctioneer, gave me a hilarious compliment: "You're hair is looking like sleepy golden ribbons of awesomeness." Everything really is better with an accent.
December 14. Friday.
Cozumel. Patrick & I went to breakfast & then spent the rest of the day lounging in the sun at the No Name bar. After an hour we got bored and decided to take a walk. We stumbled upon a little park with a ton of strange woodland creature and disney character mannequins. It was so random. I wanted to steal a penguin but patty said he'd be mad if he had to bail me out of a Mexican jail.
Back on board we had the final dress rehearsal before the opening night of "A Holiday Wish". Both performances that night went great! I was backstage during the first one to work out any kinks with the quick changes & I watched the second show from the house with patty & Jess. & The Captain came and sat next to me in the front row. During Dana's number "Santa Baby" she came off stage and sat on his lap! He turned red. Too funny.
Everyone was so happy the show had opened successfully and James led a toast backstage. There wasn't much time for the cast to relax because everyone had to go get ready for the midnight Burlesque show. But the celebration continued in the Spinnaker Lounge afterwards, then made its way down to crew bar. At the end of the night a handful of us ended up in James & Rosie's cabin. Nothing bonds people like eating room service pizza and chicken fingers on the floor at 3 in the morning.
December 15. Saturday.
Sea day. I got to sleep in! I headed up to the art auction at noon. & I just love the passengers. There was this spunky 40 year old Baton Rouge lady named Kathy who was there with her mom & 6 year old son. They met me at the beginning of the week & greeted me with big smile and hug every day after that. They adored all of the costumes. I also met a lot of Alabama fans that week including a couple from Boaz! (I have family that lives near there.)
That afternoon I went to work & to the gym. I was calm and ready for Elements that night, but when I arrived in the theater all hell broke loose. Stay turned for the full story in my next post about Flood Gate 2012.
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