Adventures Away!

YESTERDAY I WENT ZIPLINING THROUGH THE JUNGLE. Coolest thing I've ever done. We got to go on a crew excursion in Peurta Vallerta. We took a drive up to the mountains and visited Canopy Adventure Park. A team of five hilarious guides took us through what I guess you could call a course of ziplines. We also got to do two rapels (sliding straight down) climbed a terrifyingly high rope ladder and went on what they called a tarzan rope where they spun you so you were spinning around the whole way across the line.
I got a whole cd of pictures but I can't load them onto my computer. I'll borrow someone else's that has a disc drive and upload them asap.
Today we're having another relaxing day at one of the resorts in Cabo called Niki Beach. Eating fruit, sipping a pina coloda and swimming in the ocean. Life is pretty darn good.
　

WEEK FIVE

The worst blogger ever strikes again! It's now our third week of being fully operational but our fifth week of being on board! How time flies. It's insane. Each saturday we say goodbye to a whole group of guests and the next day we start all over again. It definitely makes time go by quickly. I think I would have a really tough time doing three or four day itineraries. Seven days is pretty perfect. We always get most of the day in Peurto Vallerta off and then we alternate who gets first and second Cabo days off. First Cabo is longer so it`s more of a beach day. Today is Cabo two and we came to this restaurant called Senor Sweets where the internet is free and breakfast is delicious! Last week I had first Cabo off and we went to one of the resorts called Niki Beach. It has a gorgeous pool with a swim up bar and all of these gigantic canopy beds and it`s right near the ocean. There`s a twenty dollar minimum for food and drink but that`s easily done when you`re as tired of crappy ship food as we are! This week in PV we got treated to a Port Adventure. We took an hour long boat ride (pina coladas included) to this place called Las Caletas which is basically a private beach right in the middle of a full on jungle. There was a mexican buffet and then all kinds of water activities. Kayaking, snorkeling and also hiking. Sadly we only had an hour to do all of that because we had to get back to work but I couldn`t complain.

The job is both fulfilling and exhausting but I love it. It`s pretty darn cool that I get to hang out with Mickey and the Gang every single day. The ship is all decorated for Christmas but it definitely does not feel like November. It`s so weird to hear of people having snow and wintery weather when I`m sitting next to a palm tree and staring out at a beach.

Well, I have to go catch a tender boat back to my ship now. More to come!

Love you all and miss you!

Opening Week is Upon Us!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of our opening cruise! I can't believe how quickly these past two weeks have flown by! It's going to be another hectic week but this time it'll be even more so. We'll be taking on all of the greetings and all of the shows on top of the rehearsals we're already doing.

But, I'm excited. I can't wait to be able to move all of our make up and stuff into our dressing rooms and to be able to make the space our own instead of feeling like we were intruding on the cast before us. I can't wait to do all of the greetings and to really get to experience more magical moments with the guests.

I feel so incredibly blessed to be where I am tonight. It's bittersweet because we have to say goodbye to a lot of our creative team as they head back to Toronto to run rehearsals for the other ships. Our manager/trainer and our stage manager as well as two of our three dance supervisors and our puppet experts leave tomorrow. So sad. :( But as Mickey Mouse always says, it's not goodbye, just "see ya real soon!" I hope that's the case.

Wow. It's finally here. Almost three months into my contract and we're finally ready to do our job! It's time to let the magic begin!

Getting My Sea Legs

So! It's the middle of my second week on board the Disney Wonder. Today is the first day we've been off the ship. I know it's only been ten days since we were on land but somehow it felt like forever. We were all shouting and cheering as we walked off the ship. Right now our entire "friends" cast is sitting at a Chilli's in Puerto Vallarta using our laptops. It's pretty hilarious to see everyone sitting at tables but nobody is talking to each other. It's not the greatest dining for me because everything has meat on it. The options are chicken, beef or both. Hahaha. So i got a salad. Oh well. I'm actually not minding the crew mess. There's still not as much vegetarian protein as I might like but the vegtables are awesome! So many options. I like that.

It's funny, my room doesn't even seem that small anymore. After we all eat and use the world wide web we're heading to walmart to get some stuff for our rooms. Bedding, towels and decor. Everyone who has done a contract before says that decorating your room makes all the difference. But apparently even a new shower curtain will stick to you while you shower....did I mention that yet? Our shower is teeny tiny and overflows if you take more then 5 minutes. The shower curtain also sticks to you and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. I'm learning to embrace it....

I keep finding myself forgetting that I'm on a ship. It's actually pretty easy to do when you spend as much time below decks as we are right now with rehearsals and everything. A lot of people have seen dolphins already but I haven't yet...can't wait for that. I will probably freak out. Once we finish our rehearsals and our opening week we'll be able to get off the ship more often and we can get crew discounts on the Port Adventures. I can't wait to go horse back riding and zip lining and to swim with dolphins! So excited for that.

This week we're still working with the current cast onboard but next week we take over everything. I'm soooo excited. I can't wait to get in the swing of things. There's definitely been some tough days but there's also been a lot of great days. I think I'm really going to enjoy myself. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by a cast of amazing people and our leadership team is so supportive and lovely.

I feel soo blessed right now but I miss home and all of you very much. It's really hard not to be able to be in constant contact like I'm so accustomed to. We have access to internet and phone cards on the ship and they actually work pretty well. The only issue is that they aren't very cost effective and I'm trying to save money so I just have to get used to being out to sea. Literally.hahaha. It'll get better once we're done our crossovers because we'll be getting off at least twice a week. Can't wait for that.

Sending love from the hot sunny port of PV.

xoxoxoxoxo

Ahoy Mateys

I am sailing the high seas! I'm currently cozied up in my teeny tiny bunk in my teeny tiny room listening to the ocean roar outside. We've actually had to switch up our itinerary this week due to hurricane threats. We won't be stopping in Puerto Vallerta but will instead get to visit Ensenada. Fine by me! But the waters are definitely pretty rough compared to my last cruising experience from several years ago.
Our day started at 5 am. We had to get up and make ourselves presentable. Then we loaded all of our stuff into vans and were driven to the port where we had to haul all of our luggage onto the ship. Luckily for me one of the other crew members took pity on me and helped me with my bag. If I do this again I will definitely pack lighter next time!
We had HR classes, safety classes and lots of touring the ship. The crew mess is actually quite nice. The food available for me wasn't the greatest today but I've been reassured that's just because it's a Sunday and they're out of lots of things. There was nothing for me to eat for protein. No beans or tofu or anything. However, the girls who were living in my cabin before me were nice enough to leave a jar of vegan protein power! THANK GOODNESS!
Tonight we got to watch the sailing away show and the first show in the Walt Disney Theatre. It was great to see! Many of us were feeling a bit overwhelmed and anxious after seeing the tiny spaces we'll be living in but seeing the show reminded us of why we're all here. I get to jump right into things tomorrow. Very excited!
That's all for now! I'm safe, I'm actually surprisingly cozy in my bunk and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week. I'm a bit sea sick but hopefully the pills I took will set in soon.
Over and out.
Sailor Katie.

Remember Who You Are

Okay...so it has now been over five months since I last "blogged." I'm sure you have all probably stopped reading but I'm writing now because I need to. I need to say these things to someone so that hopefully SOMEONE will hold me accountable. I'm far away from my safe life in Vancouver where I lived with a vegan and a vegetarian who both eat quite healthy (90% of the time) and living in a place where hardly anyone is vegetarian and I'm constantly surrounded by my favourite junk foods.

A recipe for disaster. Well perhaps to be less dramatic, a recipe for falling of the wagon. I have eaten cheese, ice cream and more cheese, sour cream and onion potato chips, chips with whey powde, chocolate, r and oh yeah, did I mention the cheese? And I feel like shit. I do. My stomach is all messed up again, my energy is whack, my skin is breaking out and my immune system is sucking. SO WHY THE HELL DO I KEEP EATING THIS JUNK? I don't want to. I know I feel better if I don't. I know I'm going against what I believe is right. I don't want to eat or use or wear animal products anymore. I feel so damn guilty. I feel ashamed and embarassed and like a failure. But mostly I feel bloated and sick.

This has to stop. I think I'm being mean to myself by not letting myself eat all that shitty food when in reality, allowing myself to eat it makes me feel...well, like shit. So what do I do now? Do I go cold turkey? That's really the only option isn't it. Because a little sugar leads to more sugar which leads to an unstoppable binge. So tomorrow I will be nice to myself. I will be a good little vegan and treat my stomach and my body to nice healthy food.

I hope.

The end of the pity party!

So I've been sick this week. Really sick. With a sinus infection and an ear infection. I have missed 4 days of work, soon to be five. On top of losing all the money from not working, I had to shell out 100 bucks for antibiotics. I also happen to be PMSing this week.


So I've been having a little pity party for myself the last couple days. You know, laying around feeling sorry for myself, listening to sad music and crying. And then today I was suddenly like...what the hell is wrong with me!? Did it really only take me a week to forget my new "At least I'm not cutting off my own arm with a dull knife" philosophy? Sure I'm behind where I want to be financially. Yes I've had a couple of lonely days. But I am still so lucky. I opened up my curtains for the first time since the summer. I let the sun shine into my room and into my heart and I felt so damn grateful to be alive. 


I'm grateful for the sun, for my room, for music, for the ears that allow me to hear music, for my friends, for my boyfriend, for my family, for my body, for my soul, for this beautiful city, for this beautiful planet, for being born in Canada and having the right to an education, to a career and to credit, for having access to clean water. I am so lucky to be going after my dreams and fighting for the right to do what I love. It's hard sometimes but it's worth it. 


It's so very easy to forget how privileged I actually am. I'm trying to work on that. To be grateful every time I turn on a tap or take a breath or use my legs. 


What are you grateful for?