Two weeks DONE! Holy cow and I am not even working yet! And I still have one more week as a “passenger”. If you could call it that…..
I have not updated this week as much as I would like. Chris’ parents came to cruise with us this past week and that is always exhausting when family comes on a cruise ship to visit. It didn’t help that it was my first time meeting the parents and was quite nervous so I was on my toes as far as best behavior is concerned. So aside from schmoozing the two of them over numerous dinners and trips to Orlando, Nassau and watching shows, I did do a few other things and took some time to make a few observations this week in reference to the job and lifestyle itself.
I did some piano playing this week first off. Practiced quite a few hours in preparation for the start of the contract next week. Honestly, the area of my wrists where the operation was performed is still a bit sore. I find myself massaging the scar areas quite often. I was told carpel tunnel can reoccur in some cases which makes me mildly paranoid to say the least. We’ll see I guess in the next few weeks how it goes. Chris was happy to hear me play again and it was nice to have him as a private audience in the piano bar where I was practicing which leads me to one of my favorite observations of my lifestyle…..
If you have cruised before as a guest and are reading this…don’t take offense to this next section. Take it as an opportunity to learn what things are like from our perspective living on a ship and how you can massively endear yourself to crew members by not being “that person”. Anyways……it’s interesting to me that people vacationing here completely lose the reality that as performers we LIVE here! It’s like every week, having 3,000 or so strangers drag themselves into your living room then want to invade every private nook and cranny of you household. Even if I gave you money to enter your house, I am sure you would still not want me hovering over you at dinner or following you into every room, closet or whatever and then hound you insistently over every nonsensical detail that entered my mind. You may go beserk. So I went to the piano bar during a quiet time of the day each time I went. There are no private places for entertainers to practice on ships. Try as we may, no matter how many “rehearsal in progress” signs we put up or how many doors we shut in an obviously quiet lounge, someone still seems to think that we’re ok with whatever spectator chooses to enter and stare at us and then drown us in nosey questions. While usually, we never mind talking to people or answering questions, here’s the case……if you see a performer or performers that are obviously attempting to rehearse something whether it be music or singing or dancing or if there is a sign posted mentioning it and to keep out or the door is locked…..it would probably be a wise assumption to just keep walking and find something else to do. I mean….it’s a cruise ship for crying out loud!!!!! There are a million things to do and see and I know there is something to do besides infringe on the little time someone has to get something prepared for work. I know not everyone knows this sort of thing…hence the reason I write them down to educate!!! It is a frustration though, when you know in the back of your mind that you only have a limited amount of time to use a lounge or specific instrument before you get hustled out by an activity or before someone comes trying to invade your privacy. Kind of like when you are trying to get work done at home and the kids keep screaming for your attention….only you are not allowed to tell them to go away (for the most part) or have the opportunity to relocate yourself or better yet, them. So, when the guests consistently would pass by the glass walls of the piano bar, see me (in pretty much sweats and a t-shirt….not really performing attire) practicing in an empty bar and then proceed to still try and open the locked door then bang around waiting for it to be opened (which I ignore) I could not help but be baffled, a little frustrated and mildly amused by it. And of course, as I was experiencing that, Chris was in production show rehearsal experiencing the same….huge closed doors with signs signaling rehearsal and to keep out and still a frazzled dance captain having to nicely shout at intruders claiming to “not have known” what was gong on. It’s a constant and ongoing battle!!! Of course not every person is like that….these are the minority we are talking about here. They just seem to be able to sniff us out and have an innate ability to get under our skin!! It’s a lesson in patience for me especially. I do get in a mode of feeling like my home has been invaded by an annoying aunt or something and wanting to hide out in my room while she comes barging in uninvited and I do remind myself a lot that people just don’t understand. I still get caught off guard when people ask….so you live here? I have no idea where they think I would go otherwise but yes….I live here!!! 24/7 on this ship until the contract is over with. There are a million other quirky guest habits that I will thoroughly enjoy describing later, but as this is my last week before work, I am going to enjoy spending all the free time with my boy that I can! Our one year anniversary is this week and I am so happy to be able to spend it with him! I am so lucky to be experiencing all this craziness and such an adventurous lifestyle with the love of my life! I think I fall more in love with him every day if that’s possible……….he’s dong a show right now and I cannot wait until he gets back so we can enjoy more of this “normality” in our little closet of a room watching movies and cuddling! At least here we don’t have to chase anyone off!
