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I’m HERE!!!!!!!! Ok, well, I have been here since Sunday now, but it still doesn’t feel real to me yet. For as many times as I have done this, this time has been the most profound so far.

   I knew I missed Chris massively for the past however many weeks and months, but you really have no clue how much you miss someone until you actually see them face to face after so long. He really is the person who makes me feel complete and makes me a better version of me. I never want to spend that much time away from him ever again. Fingers crossed we never do!

    So, getting on the ship was more of the familiar feeling of déjà vu when you get on a class of ship you have been on before. For those of you who do not know what “class of ship” means, in our fleet, there are obviously different sizes of ships, but are referred to as “class” and the Pride falls under the “Spirit class” size. Not too overwhelmingly big, but big enough to give you a sense of having plenty of room to explore and have lots of things to see. So in other words, this being my 3^rd Spirit class ship means walking on to a differently decorated ship makes it feel like someone invaded my house, and re decorated all the rooms in it! I do like the décor though. It’s very gothic/romantic with electric candelabras and dark “wood” scrolling all over the walls with classically styled painting murals on the walls. Lovely. There are always the few lounges that make you wonder what bad drugs the designers were on (aka the disco littered with rainbow colored women’s torsos…think Winged Glory placed everywhere and neon painted…what?) but nevertheless, it’s a beautiful ship. I met everyone in entertainment the first day on, and was more than happy to hear from everyone how excited my boyfriend has been for my arrival and how incessantly he has talked about me in my absence. He’s wonderful! The entertainment department seems very nice, a lot more people our age than not which is refreshing. There are quite a few familiar aces for me here as well and it’s always nice to see old friends. I feel very much at ease and at home here.

   I am staying in Chris’ room with him…of course….but it makes me laugh sometimes. People assume sometimes that as a soloist, Chris gets a larger than normal room. Not so much on this ship! We literally have to crawl over each other to get to the closet and squeeze against walls and the bed to cross paths to the bathroom. I store half my things on the top bunk in my suitcases due to mass lack of closet space. And even with all those restrictions….we still have seemed to manage to have a coffee maker, a water filter and my favorite…a lava lamp on the desk. Our walls are littered with pics of us, letters, artwork, cards from one another and many other personally defining mementos of the two of us.

  What’s funny, is with this big, gorgeous ship, the sunny ports we visit, watching my boy perform in his shows (he is so talented and makes me so proud. I was so happy to watch him again!!) and all the other many perks that come with this lifestyle, my favorite luxury right now is the tiny cramped cabin. There is nothing that makes me feel more at home or more at ease and relaxed and like myself than cuddling up to my favorite person in the entire world and doing something as normal as flipping on the tv while lounging in our pajamas. Or being able to kiss him or hug him whenever I want. Basically, just having him with me is the biggest luxury I could ask for. I am smiling just writing this with him sitting on the bed with me. It’s an amazing feeling! Everything else is just icing that I am very grateful for. This is going to be a wonderful contract. I will write again soon as I could write a lot more now, but I would like to go back to hanging out with my handsome man! All the best to everyone! 

Nearing The End of Skype

I don't want to do this anymore crosses my mind quite a bit lately......not I don't want "THIS" as in the most amazing, wonderful, meaningful, forever relationship with the most amazing man in the world...but THIS as in Skype communication. This for me, has been the bane of my "ship life" downfalls. There are many things about this lifestyle that aggravate me to no end, but this is the worst. 

   Chris and I have not "worked" on the same ship for 10 months. We are not in that lucky group who get to jump ship to ship together, spend those blissful months side by side having adventurous excursions, walking arm in arm to the disco on formal night, enjoying simple things as eating meals together, watching movies, laying outside on sunny days, and even at the most basic, talking whenever we want, having that person there for stressful or happy moments, just seeing the person face to face, hugging, kissing, etc etc....nope. We get what I refer to as the "face in the box". 

   Skype has been our eternal friend and enemy in our relationship. Our social schedules revolve around each other's best time to hop online and share anywhere from a few minutes to a very expensive few hours updating each other on events, and trying our best to feel some sort of emotional connection as hard as that can be so many miles away staring at what is most of the time a blurry representation of that persons' face. It's disheartening and welcome all at the same time. When on a ship, we have to pay for that luxury as well, 20 dollars for 3 hours when we are not in a port with free online access. It's awful how much money we have gone through to talk to each other. 

  Of course I am grateful for whatever time I get. I do find myself feeling insanely hostile when I hear people we work with who maybe have to only spend weeks at a time apart whine loudly over the short duration about how much they miss that other person, knowing full well that person will be on that same ship with them in days to spend months on the same contract. The longest span of time Chris and I have spent in each other's presence is 2 months. The temptation to write hate mail on learning some tact when people know OUR situation is overwhelming....I try and not hold it against them though. Their reality is different as well as the situation. So we carry on. There are days when Skype does not want to connect....there are days when people are hogging the connection and it's made me cry in frustration. There are times when internet cards have run out mid sentence and no one has a 20 dollar bill for the card machine. And then there are those times when the connection is crystal clear and for a little while you can see small details on the other person's face and it makes you tear up a little because it helps you remember all the little things about how they are in person. And this is 0ne of the things that keeps us going. Apart from a deep and honest love we have for one another, I do find myself glancing at the clock in anticipation of when I get to see and hear from my favorite person in this world. I can't wait to get to the Pride. I miss my man so much there are days when it's almost hard to handle. But nothing is better than the amazing feeling I get when I finally see him in person and get to wrap my arms around him and know, especially this time, for a few very good long months, I will not have to see the "face in the box" for a very very long time. And then it's all worth the waiting and the frustrations that come along with all of this. I love my Chris, and cannot wait for this contract to start.....9 days.   

That Last Week...

It's a little over a week to go before the Pride. To a normal person who would normally go on a cruise ship for 3-8 or so days, this would seem like a super out of the ordinary time of excitement! Well.....exciting, yes. I get to see Chris after 4 months apart and I am stoked!! I can barely see straight I am so thrilled to be with him again! Now the rest of the process can be somewhat of a headache when one steps back to look at the logistics which is where I am right now as I look at the insane amount of mess in my room...and I don't just mean the clothes and music strewn about haphazardly....

   So here's the scenario, you go to a ship for 4-6 or even more months. Think of the normal living circumstances you have on land in a moderately normal house. Even packing to stay in that environment can be a daunting task when you look at it. Now take the smallest room in your house with maybe half the closet space. Add a bathroom to it that is maybe the size of a closet itself. Then you have a small desk with limited shelf space, a small tv and a couple drawers. Oh, and by the way, you're sharing the room with someone. Now you take into consideration the climates you will be in. Sure, you're going to be in beautiful tropical locales, but then there are the days in the ever changing temperatures of your American ports to consider. Now you're stuck with two suitcases (trying to avoid weight charges) trying to pack enough clothes for multiple climates over a long period of time, enough different things to cover work outfits, formal wear, beach wear, casual wear, pajamas, shoes, jewelry, bathroom supplies etc etc etc...you get the idea!!! And then, in my case, lots and lots of music.....yikes!!

    You would think after doing this for a while you know exactly what to take and what not to, what to expect and such. Every contract is just a little different though, and at some point you usually find yourself staring blankly at the closet feeling like you have worn everything 15 times in one week! Mind you, NONE of this is a complaint!!! It just comes with the territory and is one of the many things people are curious about. At the moment, I am feeling overwhelmed with putting my life back into suitcases. I have 2 different concerts I am playing piano for and feel massively underprepared for both, not to mention one falls the night before I leave!! I have friends who want to see me before I leave, a brother's graduation to go to, among other things while of course keeping up my daily Skype dates with Chris before I finally see him in person next weekend!!! Thinking of that makes the busy and mildly stressful week ahead all worth it! So with that all in mind, I have some things I need to get to! Next update will probably come right before I leave for Baltimore! Can't wait!!  

Another Beginning.....

    Here we go again! I am starting another blog (as my last one was a massive fail...I was quite lazy with it) only this time will be documenting mine and my boyfriend Chris' lives as entertainers on a cruise line. People ask questions all the time about every aspect of what we do, so I thought this would be a good way to let people in behind the curtain to see the inner goings on of what ship life is really like. In a nutshell.....it's insane. And personally I usually say it takes mildly insane people to not only choose entertainment as a lifestyle, but to choose this method of it. 

 

   In less then 2 weeks, I will board the Carnival Pride to start a 4 month contract as a solo piano player. Chris is already there singing lead vocals in their production shows so I will be joining him after not having worked together for about 10 months. It has been pretty brutal to say the least!!!! I can't wait to see him! And I can't wait to get back to the warm weather, the beaches, the ports, playing music etc etc.....it's a rough life I know! But there are, like any other jobs, down sides too...some which people never expect to hear about and I can't wait to share all the craziness with everyone!! I will try my best to update this as constantly as possible so keep checking back and if you have questions I am not covering or want to remind me to get on here more, please write and tell me!! Looking forward to telling our stories!!! All the best!

  

   -Alison