New skills

It's cold out. A sure sign we're almost to New York.

Today I went to a demonstration on towel folding. In the passenger cabins, the steward do a turn-down service every night which includes folding your towels into the shape of an animal - turtles, bunnies, lobsters, monkeys, etc. They do the demo on the last full day of every cruise, and I figure if I go every week I'll be an expert and can be hired out for parties when I get back to Chicago. Please consider me for all your towel folding needs.

Tomorrow is a big day, because Rich is coming to visit for the whole 11-day cruise! I think it'll be fun for all of us to have someone new around, but hands off everybody.

The seas have been pretty rough for the past 24 hours or so, but it's amazing how I've gotten used to it. My cabin is in the front of the ship, as is the theatre, and that area tends to get the most movement.

Ok, well, now that I'm trying to write stuff, I realize that towel folding is about all I have to report from today. I'll try to apply what I learned today and take some photos so I can justify my cost when you ask me to come over and fold your towels to look like an elephant.

Heading north again

It's hard to believe our second cruise is wrapping up - but oddly, strange that it's been two full cruises and at the same time strange that it's only been two. Time is weird here.

Yesterday Brian and I got up at the crack of dawn to go on a snorkeling excursion on Tortola. I'm always a little freaked out when I first start snorkeling, but it didn't take long to get comfortable. We saw some great stuff - colorful fish, coral, and even a turtle. It was the first time I snorkeled off a boat rather than a beach.

We had an improv show last night, which was a lot of fun and better than the one we did last cruise. We have to hold microphones for that show, since it's in a lounge rather than the theatre (where we have headset mics), so it's a little awkward. We're getting better at it though.

We experienced our first crew party last night. They had a late-night barbecue and had free drinks at the pool bar. It was fun, but very windy. There are about 1000 crew members here, so it's always overwhelming at crew events and even in the crew bar at night. We tend to feel very separate from everyone else, but we're gradually meeting some great people and breaking out of our bubble.

Yesterday we had a workshop and did another Liar's Club, and we'll do the same today. Basically, our work on the ship acts like cruise bookends. Passengers need the most activity when we're at sea (as opposed to a port), so our events tend to be well-attended. And with that, I'm off to go teach!

Cast of Characters

I get a lot of email here at Erdman Cruise Information Systems, and yesterday I received one of note from the lovely and talented Abby McEnany, from the improv supergroup, Sirens. She asked who was on this cruise with me? And now I'm here to tell you.

The Cast:

Joe Canale - toured with Second City for a year or so, but this is the first time I've really worked with him for any amount of time.

Kevin McGeehan - toured with Second City for 3 years, almost 2 of them with me. So he and I have worked together a lot and know each other very well.

Sue Salvi - toured with Second City for around 3 years, but she and I had never really worked together before, aside from a writing group we were both a part of.

Paul Grondy - Sue's husband, and newcomer to the Second City family...though certainly no newcomer to improv and performing. He's been a regular at ImprovOlympic for at least 10 years.

Brian Morris - our musical director. He toured for a while, and in fact was the musical director on my first big tour when we went to Little Rock for 2 weeks. He now works a lot with the corporate side of Second City, but still in a musical capacity.

And as a bonus, here are some people I may make mention of from the ship's crew and staff:

Colin - The Cruise Director. This is an amazingly difficult job, as he has to be at so many activities and "on" all the time. He's truly a sight to see. He's also Scottish, and very funny. He's essentially our boss on the ship.

Lance - The Assistant Cruise Director. He and Colin are often together, but Lance also runs his own things - game shows, contests, whatnot.

Jeremy - Lead Tech. He helps us out with our shows from backstage and coordinates the other tech guys (lighting and sound).

There may be more people worth mentioning down the road, but now you know you can refer to your Character glossary whenever you need to. Today I'm headed out with Sue and Kevin to a beach in Barabados, while the other guys go play golf. Bye for now!

Kindness of Strangers

We had our shows last night; they went very well, and we've received some very nice compliments today. This week's best so far: "You were in the show last night! You look different in person." My response, missed because the recipient was headed into the elevator: "I am different in person."

So we've lost our anonymity once again, which has its pros and cons. Today Kevin and I were having lunch out on the pool deck, and a guy who saw the show came up and complimented us and chatted a bit. Then he asked if he could buy us a drink. Never ones to rudely pass at such an offer, Kevin agreed to a beer and I asked for a Diet Coke. A few minutes later the guy came back to our table with 2 plastic helmets (you can buy a plastic helmet of beer at the pool, the promotion being that you buy 5 and get the 6th free.), one of Miller Lite and one of Diet Coke. It was extrememly nice, and we encourage this behavior.

We docked in St. Thomas today. Eager to explore the wilds of the US Virgin Islands, the entire cast disembarked and went to K-Mart. I know, I know.

FAQ's Part 2

1. Where do you eat? There are 10 restaurants on board, most of which I have eaten at. There's the buffet, which is casual and up by the pool deck, and that's where we all eat most of our breakfasts and lunches. Then there are a handful of nicer restaurants that have different menus each night, and then there are the "specialty restuarants" that have a cover charge (still a great deal - like a $20 cover gets you a full steak dinner with appetizer, soup, salad, and dessert). And a lot of times there are lunch barbecues out by the pool.

2. How will you avoid getting enormously fat? My initial exercise regime was called "getting lost on the ship." Now that I know my way around better and do 80% less wandering, I'm hitting the gym more. There's a really nice fitness center, and plenty of stairs to climb between decks when I'm in the mood for less formal exercise. But honestly, aside from some big dinners we've been having as a group, I think I'm eating better here than back home. I can eat fruits, vegetables, and salads here with much less preparation effort (although sometimes those tongs are really heavy - sheesh). I should take a "before" picture now so we can all see how I did when it's over. But I probably won't do that.

3. Do you get bored? Not yet. I've gotten used to the idea of going to my room and reading or knitting and that being ok. The only times I get bored, in a way, is when I know I have to be somewhere in 30 minutes, and I'm not in my room and don't want to go all the way back there to wait, so I have to wander around for a little while. But then I guess that's an additional answer to question 2 then. Wandering time.

Reset

I have to think that 11 days is about as long as anyone would want to be on a cruise (as a passenger, that is). I got the vibe yesterday that people were winding down. At the farewell show last night, the singer performing "I Will Survive" told the audience to clap and move in their seats, but I think they were clapped and moved out.

Today we had to go through some immigration stuff, but we're told we'll only have to do it again when we sign off. It really wasn't that bad, just unexpected, like the first day we got here. So I only got off in New York for about 25 minutes, but that was long enough to go to an ATM, which was my first priority. I'm told there's a K-Mart in St. Thomas, so everything else can wait. Ah, the comforts of home.

So the new passengers are boarding now, and we're back to our lives of anonymity. Now we're just like everyone else, but with slightly less aimless wandering and food marveling.

The biggest thing I've learned during this first cruise is that I have to get more comfortable asking questions. I've always been a big fan of memos and notes pinned to my shirt, which is definitely not the way things work here. But I've befriended some people who have been very helpful in getting me situtated, and I'm getting better at asking for help.

FAQ's

So now we're headed back up to New York and there's no more tropical island visits for a few days. This gives me the perfect opportunity to answer some questions I received from my readership.

1. What are the passengers like? Generally, the stereotype about cruises being full of those in their golden years is true. I'm told that will change a bit in a month when we switch to 7-day cruises, especially with spring break time looming - more families and younger couples are able to take a week off of work/school than 10 or 11 days. I'd say the average age of passengers on this cruise is 50-ish - there are some kids and younger people, but they're in the minority. The majority of the passengers are from the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area, but there are some people from other places around the country and other countries as well. I know of no actual Norwegians on board.

2. Where do you (Molly) live? I'm in the crew cabin area, but I have my own room and it's pretty nice. I'm on deck 4, and I even have a porthole so I can see out. Two other cast members are on my hall, and the others are in passenger cabins. There wasn't enough available crew space to put all of us in crew cabins. You'd think that the passenger cabins would be better, but there are actually some perks to the crew cabins. Our TV's get a couple more channels, on which actors occassionally swear and so violent acts. And we're closer to things like the crew internet and even the theatre. Downside: smaller bathrooms. I took some photos of my cabin which will be up soon.

3. What was your favorite island of the first cruise? Hard to say - either Dominica, where we went river tubing, or Tortola, where I went yesterday. We only had until noon there, so I got up at 7 to see the sites. It's really beautiful, and similar to Dominica in its realtive unspoiled-ness.

I take it back...

...There is no KFC on Dominica.

We were in Dominica today, which is a relatively untarnished island, mainly rainforest. There was a crew river tubing excursion offered, which our whole group did. It was really great - a bus took us to a spot on a river and we each had our own tubes and paddles for pushing off rocks or the shore if necessary. It was absolutely beautiful - just green everywhere, and there was even a huge rainbow behind us during the final leg. It was also a great trip because we got to know some of our fellow crew better, especially the other performers. It was nice to be in an environment with new people that wasn't just standing around and awkwardly talking - now we could awkwardly run into each other in our tubes.

This evening four of us participated in a game show called Liars' Club in the theatre, which was basically a version of the game Balderdash - where a word is given and one person gives the real definition and the others make them up. Then the audience votes on what they think the real definition is. I did the first show, and I was surprisingly nervous. The panel was 2 Second City people, Colin the Cruise Director, and a woman who supervises sports and athletics. Colin and the other woman had done this a bunch of times, but I think we caught on ok. I do feel pressure to be funny, since that's why we're here, but I gotta tell you, everybody here loves Colin so much and he's such a ham (in a good way), it's hard to top him. Everyone gets to know him because he's always at some event, MC'ing, or playing along. It's a job that takes a ton of energy.

Tomorrow is our last port day before we head back to NY. We'll be in Torotola, a British Virgin Island, but only for half a day. My plan is to get up early and check it out. Then tomorrow afternoon we hold our first workshop. We don't really know what to expect, but I have a feeling we'll get a good turnout, even if some people just want to watch.

As you can tell, there's always a lot going on here, at least so far. There have been a couple of times I've had to force myself to just go back to my cabin and hang out...and I usually just end up falling asleep. I'm sure the pressure to keep busy will subside eventually.

Finger Lickin' Good

Just in case you're planning a trip to the Caribbean, please rest assured that you will never be far from a KFC. All 3 islands we've been to at this point have had them.

Yesterday we were in Barbados. I walked around for a little while, but it was raining so I wasn't too adventurous. We did see a strip of stores that all had very weird signs, including a nail salon called "Scratch" that had a picture of a dragon-lady kind of hand scratching something and leaving in her mighty nails' path red streaks of...blood? One please!

Today we're in Granada, home of the 1983 US invasion and sunbathing competition. A few of us went up to an old fort; we saw lots of damage from the summer's hurricanes - it seems like one came right where the port is. There were lots of buildings that were just frames with no roof, and still downed street lamp and telephone poles.

I'm trying to put more photos up, but this connection is very slow. There's an additional problematic development that when people use their internet cards on their laptops, it refuses to log you out, meaning all your minutes get eaten up. I just found out this is a problem with the company that supplies not only our internet access, but access to lots of other ship. Hopefully it'll be resolved soon, but in the meantime it's crew computers for me.

Tomorrow all of our group has signed up for a crew excursion on Dominica - we're going river tubing. A lot of the crew is going, so it should be a good opportunity to meet people.

Bye for now!

Photos are trickling in...

If you click on the "Molly's flickr photos" on the right, you'll see some pictures from Antigua, with more to follow. The ship's internet is slow, so it'll take some time but they'll be there.

Thursday in Antigua

Today we got to Antigua early in the morning, but we waited and had a nice breakfast and then headed out. It was raining at first, but I didn't care. It was nice to be on solid land again. We walked around St. John, the town we docked in, and then 4 of us got in a cab and headed to a beach. Our driver recommended one that wouldn'd be too crowded, and it was perfect. The rain stopped pretty much the whole time we were there, and it was nice to be someplace so quiet. I got in the water and was swimming around, but then I saw a little fish jump out of the water and I freaked out and left. Unless I'm snorkeling and purposefully looking for fish, I don't want to know that they're there.

Then we came back on board and met up for dinner. It's been nice that we've been doing stuff as a group. I'm sure that will change once we get more comfortable, but it's nice to have people we know around. We are making friends with the folks who do the musicals on board - they're very nice to us, despite the fact we've taken one of their show slots.

I just finished a quick improv show in the main lounge on board. Colin, the cruise director, had a half hour opening, so we asked to do a show. It went pretty well, but it was a little weird because we had to hold microphones and play to what is essentially a bar crowd. It being what it was though, it was a lot of fun. After us - what I just left to come write this - is a show called "Ship-n-males," which is some of the male crew members strutting their stuff. It was a little creepy.

Tomorrow we go to Barbados. Some of the guys in our group are playing golf, and the rest of us are going to explore a little. Getting on and off the ship doesn't seem to be too much of an ordeal, which is nice.

Good night!

Our first day off the leash

We did our first shows last night, and they were extremely successful, if I do say so myself. Both shows were packed, and the crowds were really responsive. All day today we've gotten terrific compliments from people. My favorite (although not really a compliment, more of a remark), was "You were in the show last night! I recognize you because of your face."

After the show there was a nice reception for us in one of the bars, and then I went to bed. I'm still not sleeping well, unfortunately, but I don't really feel tired during the day, so I guess it's all ok.

Update on the fire from a couple of nights ago...it was a crew member on the deck below me who left a candle burning in his room (there aren't supposed to be any open flames on the ship). Today when we got to St. Thomas he was escorted off the ship - fired (no pun intended, but pun enjoyed) immediately. Hey folks, that's life at sea. Arrrrr! (Meant to sound like a pirate, not frustration.)

Today we arrived in St. Thomas, sort of. There were so many ships coming in today that we didn't get a spot at the pier, so instead we had to tender - which means we drop anchor a little ways from the shore and little (relatively) boats come pick up groups of passengers and take them to shore. This process takes some time, since there are only a couple of tendering boats, and we had already arrived late, so it was kind of hectic. We all decided not to try to go to St. Thomas, and instead enjoyed the ship for our first free day. Then our producer treated us to a nice dinner at the steakhouse on board.

So now we start learning how to live our lives here, now that the rehearsals and initial anxiety have ended. Tomorrow we're going to Antigua and should have some time to explore.

One last thing...our tv's have about a dozen channels, and a few of them are specific ship channels - some give reports from the bridge (weather, distance traveled, etc.), some feature information from the cruise director, but the one I seem to be obsessed with is a promo video that Brooke Burke from E! does, where she's acting like a passenger on the ship and is showing us all of the wonderful things we can all do on board. Unwittingly, I've memorized about 1/4 of her spiel, so hopefully within a couple of weeks I'll have the whole thing down. Here's an excerpt, so you feel like you're here:

"Last night was a late night in the casino, and I worked up quite an appetite. This morning I'm going to try the buffet. I am definitely going to have to visit the fitness center later, but right now, I'm going to enjoy this!." ("This" refers to an enormous belgian waffle on the plate in front of her, which I have yet to see at the buffet.)

Bravo, bravo!

Just a quick post before I head off to our last rehearsal...Yesterday was an easier day - just a 3-hour rehearsal in the afternoon, so we had a little more time to explore. The cast had dinner together and then we watched last night's big show, which was a South Beach-themed musical revue. Then we turned in early because we were supposed to have rehearsal this morning. What we didn't know is that there was something else scheduled for the theatre all morning, so we had some unplanned time off.

So far I'm having a terrible time sleeping, which I think has to do more with show anxiety than anything motion-related. So last night I finally fell asleep sometime after 2am, only to be awakened at 3:45am by an alarm and announcement declaring a "Code Bravo" on the deck below me. I got up and looked at my safety handouts from the first day to find that Code Bravo means...a fire! Fun! No! There was no further instruction, so I knew I was just supposed to wait in my room, but needless to say I was freaked out. I heard crew running around outside my door, and I was trying to decide whether I should be ready to leave if I had to. For some reason I decided against getting dressed and strapping my valuables to me, and instead watched TV. About 45 minutes later, we were told that the fine was out and everything was fine. I came out of my room this morning and it smelled like smoke and there was water everywhere. Hopefully this kind of excitement isn't a regular occurance.

Tomorrow will be our first day off, and also our first port day - we'll get to St. Thomas around 11am and spend most of the day there. Soon I'll have more to report than rehearsals and fires!

Day 1-ish

Greetings from somewhere in the Atlantic! We arrived safely yesterday, and spent a few hours getting through ship personnel and getting our rooms. Then we had time for some quick exploring before we started our rehearsal. We rehearsed about 6 hours yesterday - the theatre is gorgeous but, just like anywhere we would go when I toured with Second City, it presents some challenges.

My room is in the crew area and is pretty nice. I even have a porthole so I can see out. I also apparently have one tv station that shows nothing but That 70's Show. I guess it could be worse.

I have to be brief because I have a rehearsal coming up, but today will be lighter since another show has to use the theatre most of the day. Our shows are tomorrow night, so after that we'll have lots of free time.

Departure Eve

Tomorrow's the big day, and I've spent the last 72 hours making sure I have everything I need for at least the next two months. Chances are I have too much, but as long as everything fits in two checked bags, I'm satisfied.

Tomorrow we fly to New York bright and early and then head to the pier where our ship is. The ship leaves at 4:00pm. Our day will consist of some orientation and probably a little rehearsal. We've rehearsed over the past month here in Chicago, but a lot will change once we get in the enormous theatre on board. It seats about 1000 people and is far larger than the types of places Second City usually sets up shop.

I'm nervous and anxious and all those things, but at the same time I'm very tired of being nervous and anxious. I'm ready to just go.

Background

Ok, I haven't left yet, but I'm stuck in an airport with a lot of free time. I think most people reading this already know the story, but here it is in a nutshell. Second City recently signed a deal with Norwegian Cruise Lines to put a cast on board one of their ships. We're the inaugural group, heading out for roughly 4 months. If it works out well for all parties involved, more Second City performers will go out after our tour of duty ends, and possibly additional ships will feature Second City shows as well.

On each cruise, which varies from 7 to 11 days in length, we'll do two shows in one night. That's right, just one night. We'll also teach a couple of workshops, but needless to say we'll have plenty of time to ourselves. Maybe too much. But that's the challenge of this whole experience I think, and hopefully it will give us all time to work on projects we couldn't find time for before: writing one-person shows, learning German, getting scuba certified, making jams, etc. We'll also get to see some cool places when the ship docks in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean.

And that's about all I know right now. I could speculate on other aspects of the trip, but I have a feeling things will change from what I'm expecting as I go into this.

Welcome!

Hello there! Thanks for stopping by. I'm shipping out on January 9th, at which point I'll start writing about adventures aboard the Good Ship Comedy, otherwise known as the Norwegian Dawn. See you then.