3/27/09: Day 153: Sea Day

Well…I guess it has been a week. Not really much to write about here. I just thought to myself “Hey, it has been awhile since I have written anything.”

I downloaded some old PC games and a DOS emulator recently and have been playing Bard’s Tale 1. I remember playing it when I was a kid. It has been a good time killer.

Other than that I have been playing around with my flash. I’m wayyyy more of a natural light photographer. If I can’t do natural light I prefer my strobes. I just never liked an on camera flash. Something about using it clicked in my brain recently and I’ve been playing around with angles and other variables. Once I apply these angles to something more than tests I’ll post a photo or two.

I’m watching CNN. It is all coverage of the flooding in Fargo mostly, but there was a little tid bit where some country blamed people with white skin and blue eyes for the economic downfall. So…sorry about that y’all. My bad.

3/20/09: Day 146: Sea Day

We’re on our way back to New York. Can you believe we only have less than a month until we go back to Europe? Well, you should…because it is true.

Today I am inspired to write because of the crew channels. All of the crew cabins get an extra 3 channels that usually show movies and TV series repeated for the whole day. Recently the person in charge of scheduling these changed and we lost some variety. For instance, it used to be that one of the movie channels might have an action movie and the other would have comedy or drama. So, different genres going on. Keep that in mind.

First: Hell’s Kitchen. We watched the finale of season 1 of Hell’s Kitchen today. The person I thought would win was the winner. This is a great show and apparently on season 5 in the real world. It is mostly good because of chef Gordon Ramsey who puts up with nothing in his kitchen and always bitches out everyone during service. It is unedited on the DVD version, but we’re curious how it was aired on any TV station…there would have been a lot of beeps.

Now…the movie debacles. Yesterday started the new regime of “same-genre-day” or so it seems. Yesterday our two movie choices were Beverly Hills Chihuahua (which is an awful piece of crap movie…if you like this movie you also probably like wearing dog crap as jewelry and makeup) and Madagascar 2: Back 2 Africa (an animated movie with a slew of celebrity voices). Both very similar in that they both have talking animals and are gear towards kids. I actually liked Madagascar 2…it had some funny bits all throughout the movie.

Today? Well our two movie choices today are a Baliwood film about two guys in Miami who pretend they are gay to get a good apartment in a “women only” building (modern Bosom Buddies), and Mama Mia. The Baliwood movie is slightly less musical, but equally in the realm of “chick movie.”

Hopefully we’ll get some diversity back.

It is pretty rocky today. Jen and Larrance sometimes said they were required to close their porthole. If you’re reading: how did you know when it was rough enough to close it?

3/18/09: Day 144: Nassau

One gross!

Really, I have no idea what new has been going on. I bought a nice little PC in Florida on Monday. It seems like we’re always looking for internet. My laptop is old (going on 5 years!) and heavy, low on space, and a little slow. Carrying it around usually means that I am in port strictly for internet. I say that because I am very unlikely to walk around town with the weight on my back.

Well, my new computer is about the sizes of a Harry Potter hardback, and I’m talking about book 1 or 2…not the thicker ones. Plus, it has 3G. I got it for $99 at Radioshack when I signed up for the AT&T 3G network. It will work great in New York, and FL, and where ever I am when we’re home. It will just be useless…as far as 3G is concerned…in Europe. BUT, it has wireless too. So…Win Win.

The only problem is that the 3G has a 5gig/month download limit and I already caught Deanna on it in Florida. RED HANDED!

Everything else is fine. I text dared some CSz folks the other day. I don’t know if I explained text daring before. We started this one day on a drive back from a remote. Unfortunately, it usually means that at least one person is clueless. Not that it is at that person’s expense…it just seems to them that everyone is behaving oddly/”like improvisers.”

I usually try to combine my dares so that the single dares are harder, For instance, one time Martin had a bag of M&Ms. I dared Tamara to steal the bag unnoticed. When she succeeded I dared Martin to constantly offer Josh M&Ms. Also I had dared Josh to only refer to Martin as “brutha.” Once I see those in effect I dare Tamara to sneak the M&Ms back unnoticed. So Martin is trying to find his M&Ms to offer them to Josh. Josh is saying stuff like “It is okay. I’m not hungry, brutha.” And Tamara is trying to distract Martin so she can put the M&Ms back.

In Florida I did the following (since I wasn’t sure who was around who), just to give you an idea of how my mind works:

Sam: Dare: Work “Order up! Ding ding!” in to 5 of your next 7 sentences
Tara: Dare: Yell “1, 2, 3, FART CONTEST!” and look like you’re trying really hard to win
Rich: Dare: Ask a stranger where the nearest 5 & Dime is. If they don’t know say “what’s the date…THE YEAR!?”
Martin: Dare: Turn around 180 degrees, point and exclaim “Pretty sneaky, Sis!” regardless of whether there is a person there or not.

Those are all pretty close to what I texted. Sam was the only one who dared back “Use something as a toothpick and comment to a stranger about how well it works.”

It’s more fun if you’re actually there to watch the dares.

3/12/09: Day 138: Freeport

Today we went to a crew safety drill that we probably didn’t need to go to. They have them every cruise, but we get excused from a majority. We go once a month. This time there was a confusing sign in the hall that said all supernumeraries were supposed to meet in the Spinnaker lounge at 9:50…but we didn’t get our usual sheet of paper delivered to our cabin with our names on the list. Regardless, we were there.

Like two weeks ago, they wanted us to be passengers…but this time they wanted us to act more like passengers. Instead of going to the sections he gave us we were told that we were supposed to ask crew where “G” was and see if they could assist us. Then the safety director said “Is there anyone here who is unable to walk?” in a loaded way. I said “Do you need someone who can’t walk?” To which he replied, “I think YOU can not walk.”

So, I had to wait. The alarm sounded and no one left the lounge. The safety leader for that section came in and told us all that we needed to go to our sections. I said I needed a wheel chair, and so did another guy. After awhile two teams of four collected us in wheel chairs and took us to safety. It was kind of fun. A nice little way to mix things up.

Later in the day we met for an improv rehearsal. It is way different preparing for improv now. Everyone is on way different pages since we don’t all have the common thread of ImprovAcadia. This week Ric is making the lineups and has picked some games that I love and some I’ve never heard of. Both are nice.

Seems like time is flying now. Before I know it April 18th will be here and we’ll be on our way back to Europe!

3/11/09: Day 137: Nassau

College crowd for sure on this cruise. Our first show on Port Canaveral day was lightly attended, but the second was packed. This crowd is all about partying, but they’re not annoying partiers so much.

Tonight we did our improv show and had a good turn out, which is nice because we’re in port until 11:30 and there is a Senior Frogs outside that had a lot of our passengers in it. Deanna, Maria, and I decided to get food in Magenta afterwards. As we were waiting for our table two ladies said we did a good job and asked for a photo. One of the ladies said “I guess we’re your junkies now.” She later cleared up that she meant “groupies” but it was nice being a drug for a few minutes.

Right about that same time I noticed some college girls at a table looking at us…and then a guy they were with asked if they could eat with us and said he was a theater major. So, we all ate together. A nice little dinner with the passengers.

Now I’m stuffed.

3/8/09: Day 134: Cruise Guide

First of all…I cant believe it is day 134. I remember reading other cruisers blogs to try to get an idea of what things were like. Some of those blogs were well into the hundreds of days as well.

I don’t know if anyone else reads this thing, but on the off-hand chance that there is someone out there who just got hired for these ships and they found my blog, here is a list of important things to bring.

-A Power Strip with surge protection. You have a limited number of outlets, and on some ships the power runs a little hot…more on that under Clock.

-An Atomic LED Clock. None of the rooms have a clock. I recommend an atomic alarm clock, BUT make sure it can adjust to the time zone you’re cruising in. For instance, during day light savings we can get ours to go one hour further than EST…which is great for the Caribbean run. Other than that we’re limited to the four US time zones. Our clock is useless in Europe. HOWEVER, if you don’t have an atomic clock or a battery powered clock the chances are high (at least on our ship) that your clock will run fast because of the “hot power” on the ship. Ric mentioned his clock being of within a day or two I think.

-Magnets. Over the course of your stay you might have important running orders, postcards from friends, pictures of family, etc. All of the walls in your room are magnetic. We’ve found that Office Depot/Staples sells little powerful magnets that look like push pins. These are great for holding something to the wall AND hanging light things like necklaces on. Just to give you an idea of what is hanging in our room via magnets: cast poster, cruise itinerary calendar, sleep mask, running order, Obama poster, all of Deanna’s necklaces, Valentine’s Day card, cast photo…I even have an open bag of potato chips that I’ve folded closed and held to the wall with a strong magnet.

-Storage helpers. I found a cheap, magnetic high school locker accessory on sale at Staples that has been perfect. It sticks to the metal walls. It has a dry erase front with a pen clipped to the outside. The front opens up to reveal a small, mirrored storage (where we keep our name tags. And there are three hooks on the bottom for hanging things…like scissors. We also bought a “shoe organizer”…the kind that hangs on a door. We have all kinds of random stuff in the pockets…none of which are shoes.

-Hamper. Something to put your clothes in. We have a spring loaded collapsible hamper, but a bag will do as well.

Those are the major ones. Another tip is that if you over pack there is the option of buying a cheap suitcase and filling it with the stuff you don’t need. FedEx can ship a suitcase (without being boxed up) for about $25 or so.

3/8/09: Day 134: Sea Day

Our first “normal” week on this contract…no daily rehearsals. Normally I do laundry every first sea day, but I didn’t get the chance last week. I managed to do a couple of random loads, but if I miss that first sea day I run into the rest of the crew trying to do theirs. So, today I have a LOT of laundry in the washer. This also gives me 48 minutes to write and hopefully work on my Spanish.

This morning I woke up just a little before 11:00am like usual and told Deanna I was going up to get breakfast. Usually if I get to the main buffet right before 11:00 I can still get an omelet and some oatmeal…and if I miss that I can definitely go to the outdoor café as they serve breakfast later. When I got to the buffet right at 11:00 the ropes were up…what? They weren’t letting people in? But one of the officers moved the ropes and let people in. I figured someone had made a mistake. But…no breakfast stuff was there. To the great outdoors!

I got there and they still had breakfast but looked like they were close to shutting down too. I naturally assumed that they had started some policy of ending breakfast sooner. While in line for omelets there were two fratish dudes in front of me talking to each other. Both trying to seem cool to each other without going overboard. The first guy mid-conversation said to his omelet chef “Can you put some cheese on that bad boy?” A very subtle interjection of cool.

After all of this I got back to the room and told the story of the early closing breakfast. All she said was “do you know why they closed early?” That snapped an important piece of my memory into place. We were supposed to set our clocks ahead last night. Whoops!

Breakfast is normal, everyone. Nothing to worry about.

3/7/09: Day 133: New York

Today we had a full crew emigration. For passengers you go through emigration when you get back from a cruise, but for crew we’re always on the ship so it happens the week after you get on, the day you get off, or close to when you are about to cross to another country as your port. We’re about a month away from going back to Barcelona, so it was everybody. This is good and bad. It meant that all the new sign-ons and the people leaving that day had to be there at 8:30. Originally all entertainers were supposed to be there at 10:30, but they switched it to all US Citizens there at 8:45. There is less hassle with US citizens in a US port.

The major downfall of this is that no one can leave the ship until everyone has gone through…and there are always people who forget or don’t even know it is happening. So, instead of getting off around 10-10:30 we couldn’t get off the ship until about 12:30. We did get to hear announcement of “will [one crew member’s name] please report to emigration immediately”…so everyone waiting to get off knew exactly who was the cause of it.

So, it was a short day in New York, but it was 70 degrees! Amazing, considering it was 21 with 10 inches of snow on last Sunday or Monday.

3/6/09: Day 132: Sea Day

Here’s how long it’s been since I’ve written anything…it took me about 4 tries to type “Sea Day” in the title (and two tries to type it right there).

Our shows went over well. We didn’t get a chance to rehearse it fully with costumes and lights until the day of the shows, so considering that we did awesome. This show seems more free flowing without the dream songs. The dream songs were impressive, but also very technical in many aspects that aren’t in our current show. I can’t wait to do our show again.

We also did our first improv set. This time around is different than usual because we don’t have the luxury of all having worked together in Maine in a short form environment. Three of us have worked together before and the other two have focused more on longform in their careers so there are the minor kinks of remembering a game they’ve played before. I am in charge of the improv running orders this week and have been going over them in rehearsals. We’ve had rehearsals of one sort or another every day…right in the middle of gym time. So, I have probably lost 12 pounds knowing my metabolism.

Deanna and I have been living in a crew cabin on deck 4. I’m adjusting, but this place has many flaws. I’m sure our last room had many flaws that we were just used to as well. Our current room doesn’t have heat, just AC. I don’t think any of them have heat. We can go from room temperature to colder-than-room-temperature, but not warmer. This is only problematic on New York day when the door to the outside world (on our deck) is open all day for loading and unloading luggage. This was never mentioned to us by Jen and Larrance…probably because they are made of ice and get heat strokes when the temp reaches 68 (burn!).

Another thing that was never mentioned…because they probably always had the AC on…is that if you shut the AC off it doesn’t make it all the way off. The cold stops, but there is a very high pitched just loud enough to be annoying whistle. I can hear it very well. Deanna can only hear it in certain places in the room. It doesn’t bother me during the day, but I can’t sleep with it. So I turn the AC off during the day and turn the AC up to “noise stops” level for bed. I’m sure this will be less of a problem once we’re in warmer weather.

All we have been able to do this week is get off in Nassau. The producer and director wanted to see Atlantis and we all headed over there. This was the night after our day of rehearsals and shows. I felt kind of bad because I was beat…as was everybody…and it kind of seemed like they were looking for us to show them around the city. If you’ve read my other Nassau blogs you know I have been to Atlantis and the cyber café. Deanna and I kind of sent them on their way to explore.

Today we will have a work shop and our final improv show. Next week will be back to more normal stuff.

3/2/09: Day 128: Port Canaveral

All is well. We have our new cast and have been rehearsing heavily on the last two days. Normally the whole cast gets 3 days together in Chicago, so when a portion of the cast is already on the ship it means more work ON the ship.

It is a great group dynamic so far. It has been fun to watch scenes that I was in in the last show and see different takes and acting choices.

Tomorrow is our show night. We’ll be rehearsing a lot tomorrow. After that, improv rehearsals. We’ve always sort of had the luxury of “all working together before” when it was Deanna, Jen, Larrance and I. With 2/3 of the cast on the same page…usually more…it is easier to prepare for the improv set. Now that a lot of us have never worked together we’ll have to work a little more. Exciting!

2/28/09: Day 126: New York

Well…it’s all over. For Jen, Larrance, Brett, and Ryan at least. Yesterday was our last improv show. Ray the cruise director has always told us for the adult show that he didn’t care what we said as long as we didn’t say “mother f**ker or cock sucker” but last night he intro’d us with a farewell to the four who were leaving and said “Remember what I always tell you not to say? They are fair game tonight. The Second City!”

We didn’t quite go there, but it was probably our dirtiest show.

This time is different than our last contract. I remember some very sad goodbyes at the end of our last contract. Granted, we aren’t the ones leaving, but I think isn’t as sad to see the cast go because chances are we’ll see Ryan and Brett in Chicago, and fate demands that we see Jen and Larrance once a year.

This morning Deanna and I moved down into a crew cabin…the one Jen and Larrance were living in. It is organized so there is more open space. This means a smaller shower and bed, but oddly enough more closet space. It will take me awhile to adjust. There is much unpacking and cleaning to be done.

We already got a call from Ric, one of our new cast mates. Right as we left the ship they were getting very close to getting on.

So, today starts our brand new FOUR MORE MONTHS!

2/25/09: Day 123: Nassau

Time is ticking by. We had our last main stage shows a couple nights ago. Typically the last shows are where people try and mess with each other a little bit. There wasn’t a whole lot of it, and it is always a fine line between “hilarious bit” and “I just ruined the show.” I decided to try something subtle. Jen and I do a scene called Bagpipe where we’re both dressed in kilts and she ends up being in my arms as a bagpipe playing Amazing Grace. She jumps into my arms, sticks her thumb in my mouth, I start marching and blowing and she starts making “hi-ya” sounds to the tune. For the last show I decided to simply lick her thumb after the high note. She broke. It was fun and simple.

Today we met with one of the business partners who happens to live on the island and went to lunch and then his house for dessert. He has a very nice house and a sweet fishing boat. I took some pics.

2/22/09: Day 120: Sea Day

Well, we’re here. Our last week of this contract. It feels a little strange because Deanna and I have separate agendas now. Everyone else in the cast will be experiencing the “this is our last time in this port” feeling, getting signed off on turning in name tags and such, and packing up for home. Just today I played Mario Kart on Brett’s Wii and he let me know it was the last game because he is shipping the monitor back home tomorrow.

Deanna and I aren’t totally at a loss…we get to pack all of our stuff up and take it down to the crew cabin!

Today our ship just stopped. Not power failure, but Coast Guard ordained. Apparently a fishing ship tipped or sunk. There were 4 men on board and they found 3. So we were on temporary search and rescue help. Once another ship came into the area we were allowed to continue along our way.

Scripts!

2/19/09: Day 117: Freeport

We got our scripts! The past two days have felt like 5 or 6. Today I felt like I HAD to blog because I hadn't in sooooo long. Then I checked and saw it was only two days...two.

We had great shows on our mainstage and a great improv show last night. We ended our improv set with a Day In The Life Musical. We asked for a volunteer to tell us about their day and a woman named Clair volunteered. The quick summary of her day was that her son had diarrhea. She then told us the rest of her day and we acted it out as a musical.

My shining moment? I played "Diarrhea." There was a slow song that started and my lyrics were mostly along the lines of "When you're sliding in to first and you feel a juicy burst...that's me." Resume worthy.

We also went to the aquarium at Atlantis and saw some great wildlife. Jellyfish, sawtooth sharks, hammerheads, etc.

Anyway, we have our new show to work on so I may be offline for a few days.

2/17/09: Day 115: GSC

They switched movies again…now they all suck. Pink Panther, I think a Pirates of the Caribbean one, and some movie about Hayden Paniterre (Cheerleader from Heroes) racing a zebra in a horse race. I don’t know if the pirate movie is a PotC movie because Deanna is locked into the zebra one. It is AWFUL…and what takes it about the norm? What makes it extra terrible? Talking animals. I liked Babe…but that had a decent story to it, right? I feel like every other movie thinks “Babe had talking animals and did great! More talking animals!” instead of “More great stories!”

I gotta get out of here.

2/16/09: Day 114: Port Canaveral

Florida. We went to the mall as usual, only this time I didn’t need to go to the chiropractor and spend $80 on the journey!

We’ve had a minor adjustment on the ship. You may remember from the early posts that this is a newer ship and has a movie system similar to hotels. You got to a menu and movies are almost all around $11.95. Well, they are updating the system so we have three movies that play movies all day. Yesterday Harry Potter III (I think…Prisoner of Azkaban) was on. It played all day until around 8:00pm and then switched to some other movie. BUT, one of the other channels switched to Harry Potter IV. Nice to actually have movies.

“But Rance, that sounds optimistic of you. Anything else?”

Advice for the teenaged girls from New York/New Jersey:
A) If there is silence on a shuttle it isn’t necessarily a request for you to fill it with sound.
B) All the stuff you think is funny, probably isn’t…especially if it is something you’re doing.
C) Since you brought it up, yes, we do all think you’re on crack.

Advice for the mothers of said girls:
A) As you stand nex to me, your clothes smell like cigarettes.
B) As you sigh heavily, because of the length of the 3 mile shuttle trip, your breath smells worse.

Its going to be a tough cruise. Here is a conversation between the above people that sealed the deal.

MOM: What ship is that over there?
DAUGHTER: It isn’t ours.
MOM: I know! But I can’t tell what brand it is, can you?
DAUGHTER: What, do I have Spiderman eyes?!

You know…’cause spiderman can see so good.

Of all the things that went through my head of what to say or do on this shuttle ride the only thing I thought I could get away with…and I don’t have the skill to do this…was to puke on them and pretend it was an accident. Because who can just puke on people at will…no one…well, Spiderman can.

2/15/09: Day 113: Sea Day

Happy Valentine’s Day…yesterday!

I don’t think a whole lot o’ stuff happened on the 12th or 13th. We’re in the middle of waiting for scripts, planning our move to another cabin in the crew area, and trying to piece together our future. While thinking about all that stuff little else happens.

We did find out who our director will be and that we should have scripts in a couple of days. I’m excited for scripts because there will be plenty of time for memorizing on our travels.

Yesterday in New York Deanna and I went to the top of the Empire State Building for Valentine’s Day…to find Tom Hanks. He wasn’t there. It was a great view and there were bold pigeons. Getting up there could have been a lot worse. There were enough stanchions around to last awhile if full. The weather was also 40 degrees which is very good compared to our last 3 or 4 visits.

So now we’re back on our Bahamas itinerary. Port Canaveral, FL: which means we go to the Merrit Square Mall…I’ll probably go to the space center eventually. Great Stirrup Cay: The private island…probably the passengers’ favorite port. Nassau, Bahamas: internet and DVD shopping. Freeport: waking up at noon and realizing we’re gone already.

There are a lot of passengers this time around. As I said, about 980 kids. We also heard there are about 600 people between the ages of 18-24. So, a very young cruise in comparison.

2/11/09: Day 109: Tortola

Farwell Caribbean. Today was our last port of our last Caribbean cruise. We don’t have much time in Tortola…unless we want to wake up at 7:00am. Today the plan was to meet some of our friends from the Dawn at a restaurant called Pussers at 11am…one hour before we needed to be back on our ship. Jeff and Tim from the Second City cast were supposed to be there as well as Jon-Paul and Roman from the JARs (who were on the Jewel with us).

Deanna and I got there around 10:30 so we would actually have time to eat something. Jeff and Brett showed up around 11:15 because Brett went on a tour of the Dawn for some reason…he was on that ship on his last contract, and there was a mix up with getting him on board. Tim showed up around 11:25 without Jon-Paul or Roman. This happened the other time our two ships were in port together so I wasn’t surprised. Luckily as we headed back in Roman and Sascha (the ballroom dancers from the Jewel) were both hanging out by the ships incase we got back. We only had 5 minutes until we needed to get back on, but it was good to see them.

Our improv show went great. We had a much better turn out than last cruise. Some how I made it into three scenes as a dolphin…as the same dolphin in each one. I think the second time was based on the suggestion that my character was actually a dolphin, so I just kept being the character I was the first time I became a dolphin. Hard to explain.

2/10/09: Day 108: St. Maarten

What to report…good shows yesterday. We all went to various beaches in Barbados…or at least we all got sun. Ryan was “passenger red” by the time we got to our shows. Brett cooked his legs. I’m burnt in random places that sunscreen missed. Sun is hot, y’all!

For being our last time on this itinerary we’re taking it slow. Antigua was all internet. Beach in Barbados, and today in St. Maarten we went to an internet café after a walk. The signal is slow so it is minimal downloading. We had planned on going to the beach, but then we got burnt. Luckily it is cloudy and sort of rainy today so it wouldn’t have been the best beach day anyway.

That’s about it. Miss you! Bye-yiiii!

2/7/09: Day 105: St. Thomas

Today was our last day in St. Thomas. This whole cruise is our last of its kind for us. On valentine’s day we switch back to Bahamas and then later back to Europe. Deanna and I went to the Butterfly farm right by the dock. We’ve been to the one in Chicago a few times and to one in Cozumel. This one had okay butterflies, but a really great tour.

Some important info about butterflies. If you want butterflies to come to your yard research what kind of plant they eat as a caterpillar…their host plant. The female searches out this host plant to lay eggs on and can detect the host plant as far as 7 miles away. If they can’t find the host plant they don’t lay the eggs. Butterflies live for two weeks and are basically drunk, looking for sex or both…at least the ones at the farm. They feed off of old fruit which is basically fermented and therefore, alcohol. Butterfly poop is called frass. A group of butterflies is an “imagine” (stupid).

An interesting thing about the farm, with its butterflies all trying to have sex all day, is that they aren’t allowed to breed the butterflies. If any non-native butterflies got out into the island it could alter the eco system. They have 500 chrysalises shipped in each week. And of the types of butterflies they have, they don’t grow their host plants…so they never breed. That wasn’t the case in Cozumel.

From the farm Deanna and I took a skytram up to a view point. The view point has a live bird show ( that was cancelled because the trainer was sick) and a kitchen (that closed at 3:00pm). But a great view.

Deanna and I have been watching Big Love the TV series. We learn about so many things via TV series. Suburban drug trafficking via Weeds, and now polygamy via Big Love.

2/5/09: Day 103: Sea Day

Yesterday was New York day. We didn’t do much. I went to GNC and then the library for internet. Deanna went to Starbucks, Duane Reade, and the library for internet.

One barely interesting thing of note…Brett downloaded the first episode of the new Flight of the Conchords season. It didn’t work on my laptop…only audio played. He has a mac and it worked for him so we played it on Deanna’s mac…no audio, just the picture. So we synced up my laptop audio with Deanna’s video and got it close enough to be watchable.

Today has been pretty rocky. Not the worst that we’ve had, but bad enough to where we’re wondering whether or not they are going to cancel the dance show and have us go on.

Today is also Larrance’s secret birthday. His birthday will never happen on a ship because they only work for Second City in the winter. So far this contract we’ve had Mike’s birthday, my birthday and Deanna’s birthday…with Jen’s happening on the last cruise. So with secretly planned on today being his birthday.

2/3/09: Day 101: Sea Day

The storm showed up in the middle of the night. Some huge rocking going on that tapered out a little by the time we woke up. There was one more big wave during breakfast and the rest of the day has been rocky, but not as huge as I was expecting. They did tie down all the tables and chairs in the great outdoors.

2/2/09: Day 100: Sea Day

Day 100!...nothing really happened today.

I watched Jumper and Hellboy II on DVD. I ate. Yeah…that’s about it.

The storm we were supposed to hit hasn’t really shown itself. Maybe tomorrow.

2/1/09: Day 99: Tortola

Today was Tortola and our all-aboard time was 12:00pm. Also, my exact wake-up time was 12:00pm. So, I didn’t see much.

I DID spend the day learning languages and working out though. So there is that.

The REAL action started at night. Super Bowl could be seen pretty much anywhere on the ship except our rooms. Ruslan, the bass player, is on his last cruise and Deanna organized a dinner for him…tonight…during the super bowl. It seems like a crappy time, but it was also the best time to eat at restaurants because a majority of people were watching the game. We ate at the Mexican restaurant which is right in the crystal atrium. The game was on in there and it was loud. I was sitting at a table with people I couldn’t hear anyway so I went closer to the game to watch until our food arrived. I missed the interception at the end of the first half. But I caught everything else.

I watched the game from the Great Outdoors after dinner and Deanna joined me after watching the ventriloquist show. I hope the ventriloquist comes back because I haven’t seen him before and I wasn’t about to miss the game. I was rooting for the Steelers…mostly because they are Rene’s team…but also because Palumalu is a bad ass.

It was a great game. The only downfall was that we were getting it through ESPN and only got to see crappy ESPN commercials during the breaks.

Our improv show was immediately after the game, so 11:30 for us. The crowd was small and the cardinal fans were crushed. I intro’d the show and came up with a line that got a good reaction and helped washed the dreary slate a little for the fans of the losers. They didn’t really react to one of the first patented audience “energy testers” so I said they must all be Cardinal fans. Too which some people said “no” and applauded that their team won. My line…”Well, we’re all from Chicago. If the Bears aren’t in it it is pretty much just a Springstein concert to us.” Zing. It was a nice change of pace to have Ryan improvising with us.

In other news, the next two days should be interesting. All of that winter storm stuff that has been happening…Miami even getting cold…I think it is heading straight out to sea. Decks 8 and below have had to close their portholes and there is the possibility of 30-50 foot waves. Granted, this was heard through the grapevine, but it is getting rockier and rockier. Keep posted!

1/31/09: Day 98: St. Maarten/St. Martin

Today…was…great!

The whole cast met at 11:30 to head to a beach. Jen had read up on beaches and we decided on Mullet Bay…mostly because of the name. Her whole description of it sounded good until she said “it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches.” That is always a red flag for me. Beautiful beaches, especially publicized beautiful beaches, tend to be packed with people, boring, or both. Cases in point: Marigot Bay (I forget which island) and Magens Bay St. Thomas. So, I was leery about this beach from the get-go.

We hoped in a cab and they put 6 other people inside with us. Strong New York accents, and the matriarch of the group kept asking dumb questions (“How much is a can of soda?” 75 cents in stores. “No, on the beach”) or saying little things to fill the air with sound. It was everything I could do to stop Deanna from impersonating the lady right then and there.

Once we got there and separated from our taxi partners it was great. I gave it a 3-S on my 4-S beach ranking system. It was only lacking in Snorkeling of the 4 S’s. The four S’s are Sand, Snorkeling, Surf, and Boobs. And like I said, it didn’t have snorkeling. That’s right…this beach was on the French side of the island and women think tops are stupid there. Fine by me, friends. One of the funniest things we saw was a topless women trying to get out of the water who just kept get hit by enough wave to fall over.

We played in the waves mostly. I think a lot of us got a dose of sun…Brett’s face is all red again. And then caught a cab back…with the same people.

The sand got everywhere. This I knew and got into the shower in our room before taking my suit off. I have a swim suit with no mesh inside so I bought a speedo that I wear underneath. That speedo had AT LEAST 4 tablespoons of sand in it. It was insane.

Later on Brett, Ryan, Deanna and I went bowling. Four games. Brett had a blister show up on his finger in game three and pop in game four. Watching him sanitize his hands afterwards was funny in an AFV way. Stingy (like “It stung” not “he saved money”)!

1/30/09: Day 97: Barbados

Although it was warm in Barbados it was reminiscent of the Oregon coast…overcast and rainy. This was fine by me. My neck was hurting yesterday and I just wanted to take it easy.

Last night we were in the photo area talking to Sam…one of the photographers…when the cruise director popped out from a door and said we had mail. So, yesterday on January 29th we received xmas cards from my Aunt and Uncle, and from Jeremy and Carrie. Extended Christmas!

Deanna had planned on getting her haircut at 9:00am. If we get our haircut on a port day we get a discount. I thought she heard the alarm and went back to bed. Apparently she got up went to the salon and found out her stylist fell off a horse in Antigua and hurt her head so she could cut Deanna’s hair. On her way back into bed…sometime in the morning…Deanna fell off the side of the bed. I just remember waking up to it and giggling. She was giggling as well, so I knew she wasn’t hurt. Apparently our new room stewards moved the bed about 3 inches to the left so that she had more space than she was used to. Regardless…it was hilarious.

The rest of the day was spent doing a final rehearsal and then two shows. All went well.

Oh! I’ve broken the 200 barrier. I weighed myself after…what…two weeks of whey protein and what not? 203.4. I’ll keep doing it for awhile. I’d like to get to at least 210 without a lot of that being fat. And I have at least 4 more months or so to get there.

1/29/09: Day 96: Antigua

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

The past couple days have grouped together again with rehearsals. On the end of the 27th there was a birthday party for all the January birthdays and their friends. I stepped away to use the restroom at one point. When I came back the entire cast was sporting shirts they won in a contest. I jumped in on the next contest which was musical chairs where the guys had to sit in the chairs and the women had to sit on the guys’ laps. I won! I walked away with a shirt and a towel, but I gave the towel to Ryan since we received the same towel for xmas.

The next morning the phone rang at 9:30 to let Deanna know she needed to come down for drug testing…random style. We’re not supposed to have to do the testing but she did it anyway while Jen tried to find out who to tell that we’re not supposed to do it.

Yesterday we went to a place in St. Thomas called Secret Harbor. Much better than the packed Magen’s Bay from two cruises ago. It was the first time I have been snorkeling on the entire trip!

That night we caught Jane’s second show after our rehearsal and we were late…busted! Jane doesn’t let people just slide in…especially if you “slide in” to the front row like we did. She asked why we were late. Deanna said we were having dinner. I added “dinner before dessert”…desert? I’m having a brain fart on which spelling is the food and which is the terrain. Jane’s show was fantastic. Ryan saw it for the first time and came down and said he was in love with Jane.

Now I’m in Antigua at the good ole Coast bar…and I’m uploading photos!..or not. As I publish this I'm having trouble getting the photos to finish loading. Boo.

1/27/09: Day 94: Sea Day

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Kind of a busy blur this week. Since I last wrote we did a few fun things though. On Sunday in New York we got to see our good friend Joey who was there with The Improvised Shakespeare Company doing some shows. Really great to see him. Old timey readers may remember we stayed with Joey and his wife Heather before going on our first ship. That very room that we stayed in is now a nursery for their soon to be born child! It was great to get to see someone from Chicago…AND have that someone be a friend we know and love.

That same day was the day that Mike left and Ryan came on board. So, we have been doing a lot of rehearsing to get Ryan up to speed. He has been performing for awhile and was even on the ship that wrote some of our “ship themed blackouts” so our songs are the only major things to work on.

1/24/09: Day 91: New York

The end of an era…well…the dipshits are gone. Even though those kids were in far greater numbers last year they still managed to get under the skin of a lot of passengers. Last night in our final improv show the cruise director made a pre-show “no one under 18” announcement which was met by cheers from the adults. After the show we went to the Blue Lagoon to eat. Fairly empty…until…a majority of the kids arrived. Luckily they didn’t cause too much commotion. One of them did the old “pull the chair away as someone goes to sit” trick on a teen girl and she fell on her butt. The three cookie-cutter brothers laughed like the little retards they are and a passenger came over. First she asked if the girl was ok, then told the boys they were rude. The boys went to stand by a rail by another table and the lady at that table yelled at them and got them to all run like a herd of giggling turds down the hallway. That was the last I ever saw of them. Hooray!

The girl they pulled the prank on was there with her “ship boyfriend”…kind of like camp I guess. Two teens fall in love only to realize WHOOPS! WE DON’T LIVE ANYWHERE NEAR EACH OTHER! YIPE! AND WE’RE TEENS! GONG!

Anywho. Today is the start of a 24 hour party. A 1-day cruise. I’ve found that going from New York to Caribbean…back and forth…causes havoc on my lungs. Just as I get used to the humid air I come back to the crisp, dry, cold air of New York.

I did manage to go get some BCAAs with no caffeine…so…you’re welcome?

Our show is at 11:00pm tonight. Tomorrow Mike leaves and Ryan comes in!

1/23/09: Day 90: Sea Day

I don’t know if you read the comments, but my mom said there are 36mg of caffeine in a can of Pepsi…what? I’ve taken myself off the BCAAs with 200mg of caffeine. Yikes!

Then I found this: http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm

1/21/09: Day 88: Tortola Pt.2

As the day went on I thought of some things I forgot to mention. First off, how many milligrams of caffeine are in a can of Coke or Pepsi? The BCAA (branched chain amino acids) doses I’ve been taking also include 200mg of caffeine. On a workout day that’s 3 doses and I’m bouncing off the walls. Usually on the ship I have one cup of coffee in the morning (“time that I first wake up and go to get food”). So, I’m not as tolerant to caffeine as I was back in my two super big gulps a day days.

Speaking of caffeine resistance…Jane had her late show tonight in Spinaker. I already managed to take a 20 minute nap around 8:00pm. I decided to order a rootbeer assuming it would be the Bravo rootbeer they usually have. Nope, Barq’s (with bite…aka caffeine). So even though I got up early I’m still doing stuff at 2:35am.

Rance, what are you doing?

Well, I watched a couple episodes of Boston Legal, which is Deanna’s new favorite show and I’m about a season behind her now. I also don’t know my presidents very well, so I downloaded pics of all the US Presidents and will attempt to memorize them as something to do on sea days. Also, I’m listening to an album Brett gave me by a group called Girl Talk. It isn’t really a group so much as someone who had mixed a lot of rap songs together with popular songs. Super upbeat and good for working out.

In other news, we’ve had just a couple run ins with the teens in the past few days. Deanna gets the worst of it because she’ll actually stop to talk instead of using the patented “keep walking by as you speak pleasantries” method so you don’t get trapped in a weird conversation. Some of the things she has heard from them…”tell me a joke!” and from Ashleigh “I love you guys! Will you remember me when I leave or will someone else take my place?” Yikes! They all know me by name…to my misfortune. We saw them on the stairs (because all…ALL teens on the cruises end up hanging out on stairs) and they got all excited when they saw me. “Your name is Rance right?! Do you know what Rance means? Do you rance? Do you rance? Have you ever ranced?!” Rather than play I simply said “What do you think ‘rance’ means?” “It’s another word for ‘smoking weed.’ …My dad told me!” So, because they think ‘rance’ means ‘smoking weed’ they all say hi. During Jane’s show tonight they all walked by and said “Hey Rance!” and did their attempt at a cool handshake with me.

On the way back to our rooms we rode the elevator with an elderly woman. She smiled gently at us and then shivered. I said, “Chilly night, ma’am?” and offered her my coat. She said, “you are so generous!” I walked her to her cabin whilest we shared stories of favorite vacation spots and hilarious things that pets do. Once we got to her cabin she asked if I wanted to come in and tell more stories. Rather than just telling her that I wasn’t allowed to go in passenger cabins I told her I would be reading stories to children the next morning and needed to prepare puppets. She smiled a genuine and understanding smile, handed me my jacket, and patted my hand. Also, this entire paragraph was made up for Jeanie’s sake.

1/21/09: Day 88: Tortola

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Today we were in Tortola at the same time as the NCL Dawn. I think in all of our work on the ships this is the first time we have been in port with another Second City ship. We got to see Jeff, Jeanie, Tim, and Joe from the other ship. It was great to see other people from Chicago. We all met around 9:00am and went to a breakfast place.

I have some great (aka terrible) photos caught at candid/mid-conversation moments that will be up eventually…maybe next time we’re in Antigua.

1/20/09: Day 87: St. Maarten

Ahh…St. Maarten. Last time we were here it was the best beach we had been too. So, we were really looking forward to coming back here. Our plan was to go to dawn bay for snorkeling or fun on the waves. But then a dude from Chicago had to go and become the President.

We woke up and watch inauguration coverage all day. I managed to do laundry and go to the gym. CNN was using something I learned about a few years ago…Photosynth. It seems like they’ve been working on this technology forever. When I first heard of it they said it would use Flickr photos…which is why I started using Flickr. Photosynth takes a series of photos and finds common reference points to combine them together to make a semi-3D environment. CNN had everyone take photos of Obama getting sworn in. Cool stuff.

Other than that we got together to play Settlers…two games. Deanna won both.

1/18/09: Day 85: Antigua

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

I seem to have skipped a few days. What has been going on? Well…since we have a moment of free time here and there I have been trying to go to the gym. There was that setback early on with my shoulder (which I’ve mentioned) that has gone away big time. I try to stretch and concentrate on having good form more than I did. If you’ve been reading awhile or if you know me you know that putting on weight is entirely difficult for me. I think I started at about 190-192 when I got on (the scale was in kg so I can’t remember seeing a number in pounds…88.1kg). Right now I’m floating between 198 and 199.9. Once I saw the scale go to 200.4, but 199.9 has been the highest since then.

Food is everywhere on this ship. I was doing double breakfasts for awhile, but I usually wake up around 11am now. So NOW I’m doing those muscle powder things using a plan I read about in a magazine article. Whey protein, casein protein, BCAAs and creatine. I’ve only done it for about three days so far…since New York. No huge results. The problem with it is the shakes are designed to be taken based on a 9-5 schedule. One before breakfast is ok, but I’m eating smaller breakfasts because the shake is filling. One pre-workout, but I have to workout further past lunch or else I’m too full with the shake…plus there is an after workout shake. So, the hardest part is always feeling a little full in that gross way.

Anywho…BORING.

I finished reading the Complete Idiot’s Guide to 2012. A very interesting read. I recommend it if you want more info on Mayan and other cultures’ take on 2012 from multiple sources.

Also, Mike is leaving us on 1/25 and will be replaced by Ryan Archibald, so that will be a fun little change up.

Other than that, today is Deanna’s birthday! We went to a nice beach in Antigua, had some great food, and came back to the ship. We then went to Jane L. Powell’s (the Chocolate Goddess of Love) show. Deanna has really gotten to know them better on this cruise…I kind of have. Her hanging out with them usually works like this: Deanna says “I’m going to go up and get some hot water for tea.” About an hour later I decide that’s too long for water and find her giggling the night away with Jane.

We were around the third row at Jane’s show and in between songs she started a conversation with Deanna and said happy birthday. It was great. Somewhere else in the show Jane sang happy birthday…I got most of it on video. We then had dinner as a full cast and headed back to our room to catch the last 9 minutes of the Steelers/Ravens game. Go Steelers!

1/15/09: Day 82: Sea Day

Some of you have probably wondered “Hey. Where do you guys port when you’re in New York?” The answer is “right where that US Airways plane landed in the water.”

1/14/09: Day 81: New York

Lost a big chunk of crew today. Not in a bad way, just in an “a lot of crew reached the end of their contracts” way. Since they had to go through immigration and get off the ship it meant delays for all of the crew looking to go into the city.

I think we got off around 11:30. It was 19 degrees out, which is nothing compared to the 4 degrees it was in Chicago, but still cold to us Caribbeaners.

Turns out that the expected 700 kids were more along the lines of 200…but I have seen some of the kids from last year. Only three that I recognize so far. One was the 14 year-old who kept hitting on the dancers in the bar and when we had him kicked out he tried to say he was 18…he looked 12.

More on those kids if I see more. I think we’re safe though. I’ll keep an eye on other blogs to see if someone else got ‘em.

1/12/09: Day 79: Sea Day

Well, we nearly made it through our first 10-day cruise. There were FAR less kids on this cruise…still a good amount of “not old” people though. Instead of doing a family friendly improv show and an adult improv show we’re doing two adult ones. Last night was the first and they wanted dirty. In the first game I asked for a style of music and we got “Gay.” An improv first for me.

As I think I said before Brett’s girlfriend signs off in New York. Although I heard they asked her to stay on one more cruise because we’re supposed to have 700 kids next cruise. This worried me. It worried me because last year around this time (1/18/08-1/26/08…read those blog entries. 1/25 and 1/26 especially) we had the Chaos Kids on board. A quick summary is they destroyed a video game in the arcade, broke into a life boat, climbed over walls to break into the private pool for the penthouse and threw all the chairs in to the pool…and those were the main highlights. Very little adult supervision. Everyone on the ship hated them and cheered when they caught heat from security…EVERYONE. They were supposed to get majorly busted for all the stuff they broke but they got cut slack because they come back year after year. I can only imagine that the adults who take no responsibility for them are throwing down major cash in the casino.

It also worries me because I know they’ve gone on multiple cruises. One kid last year was saying he thought he saw one of us on the Spirit and then listed out four cruises he had been on. Some of them are actually okay when they’re by themselves, but then they get around their friends and act like dipshits.

I’m even more worried because this ship is just over a year old. They couldn’t have been on it last year because they were on the Jewel with us at a time when the Gem was only 3 months old. So that means this is the newest ship and most likely their target.

So, wish us luck. We’ll know in two days. And I’ll know right away.

1/11/09: Day 78: Tortola

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Supposedly. We were only in Tortola from 8:00am-12pm…and it was Sunday and raining. Sunday means not a lot is open…supposedly. I say supposedly because I got up in time to catch the tail end of breakfast. Deanna got up early to got out and about with Rochelle…girlfriend to Ruslan the bassist. I know this because I set my alarm for Deanna to wake up. Then Deanna tried to quietly get ready. Then Deanna left. Then Rochelle called for Deanna and Deanna wasn’t there. Then Deanna came back and was being very quiet for my benefit again. Then Deanna left…and turned the lights on as she did so. She didn’t realize she did, so it made it even more funny later on after I was awake.

Other than that, not much different. OH! There is one thing from a couple of days ago. There was an old man who saw me and said he loved the show and then, like a lot of people tend to do, gave me a “good line for the show.” He said, “When someone comes up to you and says ‘Do you play basketball?’…because you’re tall, you turn to them and say ‘Do you play miniature golf?’” He then talked a little more about liking our show and ended the conversation with “anyway…do you play basketball?” So I hit him with the mini golf line and he said “Ha ha. You can put that in your show!”

A day or two later he was at a table next to me outside but I didn’t see him. I was watching one of the football games when I heard from the table “Do you play basketball?” I hit him with the mini golf line with no hesitation. He got a big smile and said “that was a rehearsal!”

1/10/09: Day 77: St. Maarten

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Fresh and new! We haven’t been here before. St. Maarten is Dutch owned on the South half and French owned (and called St. Martin) on the North half. We took a cheap water taxi over to a beach and part of the town. As opposed to the crappy crowded beach we were at in Antigua, this one had a nice amount of space and was very laid back.

We hung out, ate a restaurant, and enjoyed the day like vacationers. No, not booze and braids.

1/9/09: Day 76: Barbados

Barbados. Another one of our prior destinations. The plan was to meet Jen and Larrance to go to Folkston to snorkel. The first snorkeling of this contract!!!...yeah, I didn’t go.

I had trouble falling asleep the night before and we had to be back at 3:00 I think. Plus we had our shows tonight so I didn’t want to be tired from no sleep and potentially from sleeping all day.

So, it was pretty much just chilling out. Brett went to the beach near the Boatyard and put sunscreen on…everywhere but his face. He now looks constantly embarrassed.

1/8/09: Day 75: Antigua

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Ah, memories. Today we came to Antigua and did what we did last year…went to the Coast and used the internet!

This cruise has been sort of eye opening as far as seeing age effect people. One lady near us was in a wheelchair with someone I can only assume is her son. He was telling her he was going to leave her there while he went to get a card. That he would right back. That he would turn her around so she could see the direction he went. She replied “Yes, sir.”

I found that odd and wondered if she even knew who he was. Turns out we crossed paths again as she was walking into her room with her son via a walker. As she entered the doorway she said “I’ve never been in this room before.” To which he matter-of-factly replied “Yes you have. All of your clothes are in here.”

Kind of sad.

Jane had another great show tonight. She has been extra saucy lately.

1/7/09: Day 74: St. Thomas USVI

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Hmm…I missed a few days. I can’t think off anything major that has happened off hand. Jen’s mom and step dad are on with us so we’ve crossed paths with them. Brett has been sick and it is his girlfriend’s last cruise as an employee…so we haven’t seen much of him, but we hear him coughing through the wall. And we see Mike around from time to time.

Jane L. Powell and J.J. are back on the ship. We had a nice chat with them last night that went for about 2 hours. They are great.

Now. Technically it is just after midnight on 1/08/09 as I write this. Something out of the ordinary happened…but I’m saving it for last. Just keep reading.

Today was our first non-sea day of the cruise. Jen said they were going to Magan’s Bay at 1:30. A beach here in St. Thomas. Deanna and I got on a taxi to meet them. Deanna read somewhere that it was one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. As long as it has snorkeling or waves, I’m in…and I knew this one didn’t have snorkeling.

Our taxi pulled up and there was a long beach, full of people, with the calmest water I’ve seen in a long time. Lake Michigan has bigger waves. We got to the beach, started walking to one end to see if we saw Jen, Larrance, and company. As we turned to head the other way we got a full view of the sheer numbers and set up camp where we were. I got bored pretty quick, much to Deanna’s chagrin, but just tried to relax. Huge clouds kept randomly blocking and unblocking the sun…complete with random rain. After a couple hours we headed to a taxi and went back to the ship.

Later that night we saw Jane’s show. She was riffing and throwing in stuff she doesn’t normally say. I was glad we caught it. From there we got a little food, came back to the room to watch the rest of Bourne Supremacy on TNT and call it a night. Goodnight everyone!

…but then. I couldn’t sleep. I was playing Risk on my iTouch in the dark when I noticed the constant dull hiss of our AC went silent. A couple of seconds later Deanna said “there’s no power in our room. The alarm clock is off.” I quickly got up to get dressed. Deanna said “Why are you getting dressed?” To which I replied, “To see if the emergency lights are on in the…” BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

If you’ve been on a cruise ship you know this is a bad thing to hear. This is the “something is up and everyone on the ship should get your life vests and go to that place you gathered on day one, remember?”

We finished getting dressed and grabbed our safety cards (‘cause we’re crew). I also grabbed my wallet, iTouch, and a couple granola bars. The seven short and one long beep kept repeating. As we got out of our door Brett popped his head out and saw us with our safety cards and said something along the lines of “is this happening?” Looking down the hall it was not a calm row of passengers making there way to their safety stations with their life vests on. It was a long hall of heads popping out of doors, perplexed. I think I saw one door open with vested people on the move.

Deanna and I went down the stairs. Another group of three people making the decent…below sounded like mild/minor chaos. When we got to about deck 8 people were a little more panicky. The alarm was still sounding, but at least it wasn’t a solid tone (that means abandon ship). I think I was calm until I saw a few crew members with the look of “is this happening?” before shaking out of it and heading to their stations. On deck 7 our stairs are right by the Bliss bar…that is where the chaos sounds were coming from. Drunk people not knowing what to do. I heard some saying “we need to go back to our rooms for life jackets!” (which you’re not supposed to do if you’re not in your room).

We made it to the photo area when the captain came on. Everything was okay…okay enough to be told you don’t need to go to your station with a life jacket. We started heading back. And now, we put the pieces together.

The captain said in one announcement that something caused one of the engines to stop, thus putting the load of two engines on the one remaining engine. It couldn’t take the load so it shut off…causing the blackout. Once emergency power kicked in the alarm was automated. It will always go off when the power blacks out…even if the ship is in dry dock and in zero danger of sinking.

We get up to our room and Brett and Mike hadn’t left yet. Brett was watching the front-of-boat channel and said he saw a flash just before the power went out. Lightning. The captain confirmed it a few minutes later as he said we should go back to sleep or to whatever we were doing, or to the bar.

Mike said “thanks for checking on us.” Deanna replied, “we checked on Brett.” Brett rebutted, “you didn’t check on me, I opened my door and you said something to me.”

Deanna then said I was like Costanza trying to get out of a birthday party with an oven fire. (knocking old women and children out of my way)

1/4/09: Day 71: New York

Back to back days in New York! On the way to breakfast I saw a couple ladies getting ready to leave the ship who said “You’re the guy from Second City!” and went on to say our show was the highlight of their cruise and other nice things. I guess we run into passengers on one-days after all.

The first day of this cruise felt a little more relaxed. Maybe because it isn’t families traveling on holidays, or maybe because there are ten days instead of seven. But the buffet wasn’t crowded to maximum capacity. Less arguments in the halls. Although we did have a nice overhear as we were eating lunch in La Cucina.

Mom to 10 year-old Daughter: Oh! That is enough dessert! You don’t have to take a dessert every time you walk by them!
Daughter, smiling, with a brownie and some cookies on a plate: I’ll just eat the brownie then.
M: I’m not going to clean it up when you puke.

Families!

1/3/09: Day 70: New York

Today was a new type of thing for some of us…a one day cruise. Yes, one day. Essentially a mega booze cruise. If you’re on for one night you pack light, dress nice, drink a lot, and gamble. Also, no worries about going to bed early.

We had a show at 11:00pm. Since our normal work schedule is 2 sketch shows and 2 improv shows per cruise we normally feel like we’re getting a sweet deal on the longer cruises. It doesn’t matter how many days are in the cruise, contractually we only do that amount of shows. So, theoretically, we get off easy only doing one show on a one-day cruise. If they really wanted to they could have us performing all day long doing our 4 shows. Luckily they don’t.

I was curious how the house would be. Would they come to see it? Would they stay out and party or gamble instead? Answer, they came to see it. Packed house. And they were loving it. There was one guy with a distinct and high-pitched laugh who started kicking into gear during our improv game Take That Back…which carried over into Deanna’s Honesty Song and really hit “uncontrollable” during Mike’s It Was Your Fault song. Mike and Larrance worked so well together on the song to take small breaks in between to riff on the guy.

Since New York is normally the day we go to town, come back, I do laundry, eat, and be drowsy, it felt weird to do all of that and then tack a show on, but we did it. Part of the weirdness was that we never really saw any of the passengers, and we never really would because they would all be gone the next day.

We only have one more of these one-day cruises in about 20 days. They help reset us after 20 days so that we leave on a Sunday and not a Saturday.

1/2/09: Day 69: Sea Day

Today Deanna and I were the two people leading the Second City improv workshop. Normally at these things we get between 10-40 people. Last week we had over 100, this week we had 111. Crazy.

There was a little blonde girl with full-on braids named Lexi who we had talked to earlier in the cruise after our improv show. She was there in the front row. We were doing an activity where everyone needed a partner. People were slowly trickling in through out the workshop. One guy wandered in during the first pairs activity and I saw a woman who had no partner and asked him to go partner with him. Lexi said “No! He’s married!” I told her it was okay. “HE’S MY UNCLE!” I again assured her that he could still remain married, but it was a funny little panic moment.

12/31/08: Day 67: Nassau

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Happy birthday Jeremy! Happy new year everyone!

Today is Nassau. I started off in Starbucks with Deanna and got to use the semi-fast internet and then went to the internet café for fast.

Tonight is NYE so we have our show a little earlier to make room for parties every where.

Last night on the way back to our room we crossed paths with a guy who loved our show and said so. This was around 9:00…maybe 10:30 after we watched a show. Relatively early in the evening. I clear this up because he then asked “Where are you guys partying tonight?” Deanna said “In our room.” And we went our separate ways. We don’t party. The thought of “where are you partying tonight?” still makes me laugh.

Tonight we did our improv show. There were more kids than typical cruises and I had fun with them in Playwright. Everyone has their own way of getting suggestions for this game. It is 5 lines of dialogue and 5 stage directions. For the dialogue I almost always get 3 lines that are movie quotes or song lyrics…tonight they were coming up with good ones so I only used movie quotes for those 3. Then I got a piece of advice from one other person. I was ready to get my 5th line. There was an 8-10 year-old kid with his hand in the air. So eager to give his suggestion. I had heard him one game earlier very disappointed that Jen didn’t take his suggestion of “moldy cheese.” So, when he was jumping up and down with his hand stretched high, all the while “OOOH! OOOH OOOH!”-ing, I said, “alright, moldy cheese. I’m coming to you, but you have to answer the question I usually ask for this line…what is the worst thing you’ve said to someone in a break-up situation?” I had ‘em! The audience loved it. The blank look on his face was followed by his parent saying something that he then repeated, “It’s not you it’s me?” Well done.

Then, of course, The count down to midnight. Sometime in between 11:00pm and midnight we came across the dude who asked where we were partying. Deanna had a champagne and they toasted. He turned to me and I had no drink and mime-toasted. He gave me a look that said, “Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said you were going to your room instead of partying. Hmm. I didn’t believe it, but now I do.”

This is my last post for the year. To all of my friends and family I miss you much and will see you in the coming year…right? To all of my enemies, you have escaped another year of my wrath…congrats.

12/30/08: Day 66: Great Stirrup Cay

Happy birthday sis!

Today is lazy. The good news is that my shoulder is hurting less since the last chiro appointment. The bad news is I was laying weird in bed while I watched movies and that didn’t help my neck.

Tomorrow is internet day!

12/29/08: Day 65: Port Canaveral

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Today was an extended adventure in going to the chiropractor. I had devised my possible routes of making the 7 mile journey. Either I would take the $7 shuttle that went from Cocoa Beach to Walmart to the mall to the ship and take a trolley, or I would take the free Hertz shuttle and take the trolley.

I knew I would end up at the mall eventually and would need a shuttle ticket to get back to the ship so I bought the ticket…THEN I asked the driver “are you going to Cocoa Beach?” “Not yet.” What? I knew they didn’t go last week because the weather wasn’t good. But it was sunny today…and around 12:30 when I asked. So, I walked over to the Hertz shuttle that was going to and fro the last times we were around. I figured I would hop on with everyone else and blend in…then sneak away to the trolley stop unnoticed. The driver of that shuttle was telling everyone that the cheapest car they had left was $105. So, no one was taking that shuttle. I ended up getting on a taxi with some other people I didn’t know. I only needed to get to A1A (BEACH FRONT AVENUE!). $11 is what that little hop skip and jump cost.

As I was walking down the road from there (because I had missed a trolley and didn’t want to stand still in the heat) I saw a massage place and decided to get one to loosen up my back. Last time I went to the chiropractor he couldn’t get my main area of pain to pop. I got out of the massage and…just missed a trolley again. 25 minutes of walking later, I got on the trolley and made it to the chiropractor. Good pops too.

Later that night we had our sketch shows and I got my first “Badabing.” I’m using that as a noun. In one part of our show I ask someone their name as part of a song, and then their job, what they hate about it, and what they love about it. This guy said he was a tugboat captain. I asked if he was for real. He said sure. It was clear to both of us he wasn’t. Luckily his kids were with him…but they didn’t know what he did. One of them said “something with ATMs.” So I took that and directed attention back to him “So, you do stuff with ATMs? What is your job?” “Tug boat captain.” I just skipped him altogether after that and went two guys over.

Folks, if you’re an audience member in an improv/comedy show that goes to you for suggestions, just be honest. Fo’ real, y’all.

12/28/08: Day 64: Sea Day

I think we got the last of our holiday mail today. We’ve been waiting on a package from Rene that didn’t show up. Jen contacted the right people and they found a box with mail in it. A while back I put up our address so people who read the blog could send us xmas cards. I know our families read but it is random who else reads. Apparently Jay and Melissa are the other readers of my blog. Thanks for the card Jay and Melissa (and your cat).

12/27/08: Day 63: New York

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

We got off right around 10:00 today and went to visit Christopher from our days on the Jewel. We ate at his restaurant and it was slow so he left and walked around town with us.

This week is our last run of the Bahama cruise and then it will be 4 10-day Caribbean cruises. Woo-hoo!

12/26/08: Day 62: Sea Day

Tonight is the last night of the cruise. During the day we had a meeting with one of our fans. Her step-mother had set up a meeting with our cast, so we chatted with her before our workshop. She was in both of our Stardust shows and our first improv show in the front row.

Later on during our adult show there were plenty of teens present. We’re pretty much covered because it is listed as “adult” and mentioned by the cruise staff pre-show. During the show intro I usually say “By applause, how many of you have not seen any of our shows yet? (4-5 people clap) And how many of you are under 18?” That is when I give the last warning. Our adult show is more innuendo than filth and swears, so it isn’t that big of a deal if some teens are around.

The show was a blast. Deanna killed me at one point. We played Playwright (aka Blindline aka Script) and one of the stage directions was “Self-destruct.” Deanna got it and mentally self-destructed going crazy and running all over the place screaming in faces and falling on people. It was awesome. Pure.

12/25/08: Day 61: Part Two

We had our family friendly improv show tonight. It is my week to do the lineups and as I mentioned we didn’t have our show on Christmas eve like we thought we would. Since we had it today I didn’t really need to change anything. I write part two basically to tell you about one game that cracked me up. Out of 6 games, it was the second and I wish it was the last…but it was an audience volunteer game that had potential to be “just okay.”

The game is commonly known as Bedtime Story, but I called it Christmas Story.

Side note. I’m with Ben Johnson on this one…I say Merry Christmas to people and not Happy Holidays. I don’t get offended when people say Happy Chanukah to me. I don’t celebrate it, but I understand it is what that person celebrates so I say Happy Chanukah back. Anyway…get over hating places that have only Christmas trees or only Chanukah menorahs. Done. Back to the show.

Christmas Story. I started off saying there are a lot of Christmas stories already like Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman. I needed a volunteer who was talkative and 10 or under. There was a lot of people pointing to kids who didn’t look like they wanted to do it, but then I saw two parents pointing at their boy who had his had stretched up in the sky. I think he said his name was Aaron…maybe Eric. “Err” something. He hopped up on the bench and I told him not to move while I got a suggestion. He froze into a “I’m not moving” pose and killed the audience. Off to a good start. I asked for a suggestion of a title and got “Monkeys in Space.” This, for whatever reason, is a suggestion I have heard a lot in my years of improvising. Even before the movie Space Monkeys. Weird.

So, I told Aaron the story “Monkeys in Space: Christmas Version.” The game is kind of like ad libs. I act like I’m reading him a story and ask him questions that he answers. Meanwhile the other actors are acting out the story and sometimes talking while I wait to jump in. I’ll try to tell the story:

Hey Aaron, did you get some good presents this year?
Yes.
Have you heard about the Monkeys in Space who deliver presents to the good little boys and girls?
No.
Well I have the story book right here. Monkeys in Space: the Christmas version. Long long ago there were monkeys in space who delivered presents to boys and girls. How long ago did they start doing this?
Ten years.
That’s right! They had been doing it since all the way back ten years ago. What was the captain of the space monkeys’ name?
Chicken.
Captain Chicken the monkey was there ready to deliver presents. What did he look like?
A peanut. (Brett walks more like a peanut)
As he was getting ready his two space monkey friends came in. What were there names?
Ten and One.
(some dialogue by Brett, Jen, and Deanna)
They wanted to deliver presents but something was missing that stopped them?
Their motorcycle.
There was no way the space monkeys Chicken, Ten, and One could deliver the toys without their motorcycle.
(dialogue)
It was an evil plot of their enemy! What was their enemy’s name?
Monkey.
The evil Monkey! And what was Monkey? A monkey? Or a person? (I was hoping he’d say Chicken)
A fish.
Evil Monkey the fish wanted to stop them from delivering presents!
(dialogue and confrontation of the three monkeys and Mike as Monkey the fish)
Monkey the fish had a secret weapon he was going to use on Chicken the monkey and ten and one. What was it?
…a fart.
A Fart!
(Dialogue of the battle)
When King Monkey the fish farted what happened to the water?
It exploded.
And what did Chicken, Ten, and One do?
They went into the water.
Chicken, Ten, and One the monkeys went in the water after Monkey the fish. They had him now that they had survived his fart. They could save Christmas! What happened next (thinking they would all live happily)
They all died.
(dialogue as Brett, Jen, and Deanna drowned and As Mike got shot because he wasn’t dying)
They had delivered presents for ten years and it all came to an end. The End.

Christmas!

12/25/08: Day 61: Freeport

Merry Christmas!

Last night the entire cast got together for dinner. At first we headed to the Grand Pacific (the big dining room at the back) but there was a crowd waiting there. I laughed…at the fact that we were trying to get a table for 6 in a crowd. But when I laughed a guy looked at me like I was laughing at him. Why would he think I was laughing at him? Because he had a row of small braids with green beads going all along the part in his hair? Probably that.

We then headed to Magenta, the other main dining room, to see if we could get a table. Jackpot. We had a nice dinner and then headed out to gather our secret santa gifts before heading to Jen and Larrance’s. On our way out of Magenta there were three teen-aged girls who were blown away that they saw us. One even went so far as to say “I can’t even talk. I’m star-struck!”

We had a great gift exchange, looked at a lot of Jen and Larrance’s photos from Europe, and then headed back to the room. Deanna and I decided to open presents since it was past midnight. A very good Christmas. Deanna got me a couple of gag DVDs and made me…MADE me watch one. Beverly Hills Chihuahua. This movie is a turd. I combines so many things I can’t stand: voice-over for animals; people who can’t hear what their animals are saying, but over explaining things just to their animals for the sake of plot; dogs dressed in clothes; bad dialogue; and worse of all…a soundtrack that basically seems like they just picked up a copy of jock jams and used that. DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. If you saw it and loved it we probably shouldn’t be friends.

I missed breakfast. We got up around 11:15 and just hung out. Deanna is getting over a cold that I haven’t caught (neti pot!). And at noon our ship set sail from Freeport…at NOON. The rumor going around is that a marine life protection law went into effect and the ship has to go slower. So, we leave early and arrive later. But that is just the rumor.

Right now were watching CNN and they have all anchors we’ve never seen before. Christmas!

12/24/08: Day 60: Nassau

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Christmas Eve! We had a safety drill this morning…after going to bed around three. Yikes. From there we had breakfast and then helped the youth counselors wrap presents for the 700 kids on board. I didn’t do much wrapping…I was facilitating. The presents were still in their shipping boxes and inside of those they were wrapped in plastic bags. First I took all the bags off everything while people were wrapping. Then I started cutting paper for Jen, Brett, and Deanna to use. Since all the gifts were the same size it made more sense to assembly line it to me. So, I was the paper cutter.

Right now I’m either in the internet café with a fast signal or outside the ship because the internet place was closed on Christmas Eve. It seems like I don’t know because I’m ACTUALLY on the ship pre-typing this before I go out into the world.

Oh, and we don’t have a show tonight. We thought we were, and I arranged a line up that had Christmas themed games in it, but we got trumped by some festival of lights or something.

12/23/08: Day 59: Last Minute Transition

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Today was supposed to be GSC (Grand/Great Stirrup Cay) but we ended up heading straight for Nassau. So we’ll be arriving around 6:00pm and staying overnight. Unfortunate for me. It is Christmas week and that means a younger crowd because of families. Younger crowd means crowded gym. Crowded gym means boo. If people are on the beach I have a better shot at the gym, but not today.

Time for a few shout outs to people who may or may not read my blog.

1- to Evie for the xmas cookies. Delicious.
2- Jeanie, whose blog I have just discovered. If you like Cirque de Soleil wait until you get on the Jewel.
3- Megan, whose blog I have just discovered. Massimo, the Italian who tans standing, is great. Say hi to him from Deanna and I. He loves America’s Funniest Home Videos if I remember correctly.

I can’t remember if there were any other things.

Around 11:00pm we got off the ship because we could. This is the first time we have ever had an overnight (except for Brett) so we all went to the Atlantis casino. Even stranger was that we all went…all six of us…even Mike! We hadn’t done that since Europe. I ended up losing about $68 bucks, but I played roulette for the first time with Brett. Brett won pretty big but said he had now broke even for that casino.

While Brett was gambling we went to see their aquarium again. We saw it during the day on the first cruise of our Jewel contract. They had it lit at night…right up until I pushed the button on my camera. LITERALLY as I hit the button the lights shut off. I took one picture after that…the blurs are fish.

12/22/08: Day 58: Port Canaveral

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

I’ve had that shoulder pain for a while that it kind of connected to my spine…from back in November. In Cape Canaveral I had a chiropractor appointment. I found a place on line that looked close to the ship and had a coupon for free xrays ($180), which meant the adjustment would be $35. Not bad! I just figured I would take a quick cab there and back. I got off the ship around 1:00 and asked a taxi how much it would be. She said about $45. What?! It was 7 miles away. $45?! I asked another taxi and she was nice and we drove. When we got there the meter said $39.75. Yikes!

I went in, got xrays, got adjusted. He couldn’t get the main area to pop but he got my neck pretty good and I feel a little better. Shoulder still hurts though. Boo.

Instead of taking a cab back I started walking the 2.5 miles to where I knew the shuttle picked up. As I was walking I noticed a guy waiting for a trolley and looked into it. $1.25. That’s it! And it would have gone very close to the port. I only needed to get to the Cocoa Beach 7-11 right next to the Adult Emporium. That is where the shuttle stops…so I thought. It was a little chillier that normal…about 55 degrees. It’s no Chicago situation, but cold for going to the beach. Apparently when that happens the shuttle goes elsewhere. I waited for about 45 minutes before just taking a cab to the mall. Twelve dollars.

Once I got there I saw Brett and Deanna waiting to take the shuttle to Wal-mart. I went in for coffee and internet. But already I was thinking about needing to get back in time for our shows.

I went to Wal-mart with Deanna (who came in briefly because the shuttle was packed) and the comedian Peter Sasso in a cab. Deanna was telling me a story about something that had happened while I was at the chiropractor. Mid story our driver both turned on the radio AND started a loud conversation on her cell phone. Classic.

From there I had to pay $7 to get the shuttle back to the port. Next week I’ll take the free shuttle from the port to Hertz and catch the trolley from there. $1.25 each way. $2.50

12/21/08: Day 57: Sea Day

Sea day was a sea day. It was probably the closest to sea sick I have been. It wasn’t necessarily rockier than it has been before. It was just hitting me more. I didn’t get sick or anything, I just needed to not walk around.

12/20/08: Day 56: New York

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

It is cold in New York. Coldish, I guess, in comparison to Chicago. BUT, we got to see snow! Something we didn’t get last year out of Miami.

On our way off the ship we this morning Deanna and I saw Jane L. Powell and J. J. as they were waiting to leave. It was good to get to see them on their final day. They’ll be back on an NCL ship for sure, possibly the Gem again. That means we have new entertainment this week. I’m not sure who.

My shoulder is still being a big stupid. Luckily I have a chiropractor appointment in Cape Canaveral on Monday. TWO DAYS AWAY!

I plan on getting some video clips of an area in the Garden Café that I call “Der Junction.” It is one of the more narrow areas right by the end of the buffet. Also in that area are the entrance and exit for the crew taking dirty dishes to the back. For whatever reason, this area makes passengers go “der.” They can leave the Great Outdoors area and walk straight and true towards the indoor buffet…knowing full well where their destination is and sticking to their path. But once they get to this narrow bottle neck…”der.” They stop. They start conversations. They play a trick on their sibling. Something that gums up the flow of traffic. Always. Keep an eye out for moments of der.

Just pre-boat drill today was the busiest I have ever seen the buffet…ever. It was as if everyone was just right there. Then, after I hit the gym (which was busy) I got to the buffet for dinner around 6:45…it was the DEADest I have ever seen. We have a tight turn around on New York days. In Barcelona we had all the time we needed…people slowly got on and there was never any real back up in the buffet on day one. There also wasn’t a good turn out for the pay-to-eat restaurants while in “the Med”…Deanna thinks NCL needs the chaos of a tight turn around to give people that first impression that the buffet is packed and annoying to get them to go to the restaurants. We’ll see how it goes.

Also, it is snowing on the ship. Snows!

12/17/08: Day 53: Nassau

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

The quest for bandwidth. That was today’s journey. Since we pulled some strings to NOT have a show on Port Canaveral day we had it today. So the day started off with a tech rehearsal. From there Deanna and I went to our trusty Starbucks to get coffee and our complimentary 1-hour of internet. Only, the server was down…that didn’t stop the clerk from printing me out an internet password. While we were there the guy who runs the crew video store showed up. We told him the server was down so he said he was going to McDonalds. What? We finished our coffees and scoped out McDonalds.

The sign on the door said “free wifi with purchase of an extra value meal.” The lines were long but Deanna and I held our ground and ordered. While ordering I asked for internet access and the lady just said “ok” without printing up a password or anything. We easily could have just bought a drink. And once we got upstairs we realized…well, I realized the connection was crappy. Deanna didn’t seem to be having any problems.

While I was slowly surfing I noticed Brett’s status on facebook said something about him finding high-speed. He had gone to a cyber café with super fast internet for $6/hour…which is less than what we had already paid in coffee and McD’s food on our quest. I went and got sweet wifi. I didn’t get any videos up on facebook because I didn’t.

Nassau day is the one odd day where the ship doesn’t leave until midnight and people don’t have to be back until 11:30pm. This meant we only had one show at 9:00 instead of two. Our show was packed and they loved it. Very nice.

From there we went to listen to James play guitar in the star bar. Deanna and Mike have sung with him a couple times. Then we went to a crew party. Basically free drinks and loud music. If you don’t hear the song with “gasoline-ah” in it, it isn’t a crew party. Needless to say, it was a crew party. I don’t like the loud, especially when people try to talk to me…I can’t hear them. And it is louder down on the dance floor. Deanna, knowing me well and probably reading my face, said “you have to dance with me on the next song and then you’re free to go.” To which I replied “this song just started! Let’s go dance now!”

I don’t care for dancing. There are some people who dance well, but most move around oddly. I enjoy watching it for humor. There was one guy in particular who looked like a marionette being controlled and made to dance…and not all cool like Nsync.

I saw the drummer and we’re all set tomorrow for me getting Weeds season 3 from him…bonus.

I left Deanna at the party and her last words were “order me a PBJ from room service…I love you.” She’ll be a sweaty mess when next I see her.

12/16/08: Grand/Great Stirrup Cay

I’m here to talk about one thing…the Showtime TV show Weeds. I love this show. I don’t even really know what it is about it. It is very intriguing. Deanna and I watched the first season quickly as I mentioned before. Well I went to the crew video store because I heard new DVDs were in. Weeds season 3! Ugh…season 3? I need season 2!

Luckily season 2 was in the older stuff. 2 DVDs, 12 30 minute episodes. Done by 2:00am. And season 3 is on the ship! The bonus…the drummer checked out season 3. I know this because Brett or Mike talked to him and he had mentioned he checked it out. Brett later let him know we had season 1 and that he shouldn’t watch it out of order.

I will be contacting him about getting 1 to him and 3 from him.

12/15/08: Day 51: Port Canaveral

We did it! Deanna, Brett, Jen, Kim and I made it out to Disney World. Our friend Katie works at Disney Hollywood Studios and we got to spend the day out there. It took a lot of clever planning to make sure we got a rental car, got out there, met Katie, got in, and made it back on time. Brett took car of renting the car…up until they didn’t accept his credit card. They took mine, which meant I got to drive. Woohoo!

Katie worked up at ImprovAcadia around the same time as Deanna and I on our second year. She was able to get us park hopper passes, which meant we could have gone to any of the many Disney parks in Orlando. Unfortunately, because of timing of getting off the ship and all, we got out there around 12:30 and had to leave at 5:00pm. So, we spent the day in Disney Hollywood Studios.

Today Katie was a silver screen era movie starlet with about 6 other characters who were doing festive songs in the street. The characters were all fun and they involved the audience nicely. They sang songs and ended with their version of 12 days of Christmas. The best line was at the very end when the conductor ended it all by saying “Have a happy non-denominational holiday everybody!” So many songs about Christmas and then forced to include everyone vaguely…nice.

We pretty much only made it onto 4 rides. First we went to the Tower of Terror. A hotel elevator that lifts you up then dead falls…multiple times. And it just gives you a slight glimpse of the outside right before falling into darkness.

Next we got fast pass tickets for some Aerosmith themed rock and roll rollercoaster. Fast pass means you get a ticket to come back to the ride at a certain time, but get to go in a much shorter line. So we figured while we waited for our time window on the roller coaster we would go over to the Toy Story ride/game. It took 50 minutes to get in but it was enjoyable. 3D glasses and you are basically shooting things in different shooting galleries. I got 126,400 points with 65% accuracy. Brett got slightly more points with way less accuracy.

Then we went on a Movie Tour ride type thing. Boring.

On to the rock and roller coaster. It was like Space Mountain in that it was mostly in the dark…but it seemed better. A lot of fun.

Before we knew it we had to hope back in the car and leave. Luckily traffic was a breeze and we made it back. Fun time!

12/14/08: Day 50: Sea Day

Wear green. On your first day of your cruise wear green…trust me. The day you show up, not the first full day at sea.

12/13/08: Day 49: New York

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Originally uploaded by Rance Rizzutto Photography

Today we were delayed in getting off the ship. No known reason. We normally can get off around 10:00 and we couldn’t get off until 12:30. This meant just the basics before being back on at 3:00.

There are a ton of kids on the ship this week. Comparison. Last week, 60-ish? This week 800.

It looks like our plans are coming together for 5 of us to go to Disney World next week!