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.