Team America

Cruise #16- Cast change continues. The new cast has now taken over all of our easier shows. This includes Intro show and Legends. Next Cruise they will take over Generations. This is our show that spans several decades of music with era appropriate costumes and sets. Everyday the rehearsals get more intense. This means they need more form the techs. They are starting to use more sets, backdrops and props. I am working more hours everyday due to this. In addition to cast change I still have to do my duties at night. This means I don't sleep much. Ben's parents and sister were on this cruise. It was a nice change of pace to hang out in guest areas. I saw the inside of a guest cabin for the first time. It was quite nice and spacious compared to the cabins we are in. At night Ben's sister and her friend would come down to the crew bar and hang out with all of us. I now know what Ben would look like in a dress. She looks exactly like him.

The fly-ons for this cruise were Anthony Acosta, Karen Grainger, Jerome Dabney and Mike Panzeca. Anthony is a comedian who is fun to hang out with. I have seen his show so many times a hardly pay attention anymore. It's a good show but mostly geared toward a younger crowd. Karen Grainger is just awesome in every way. Jerome Dabney is a Motown singer. He was on a good bit early in my contract but hasn't been on in a while. He has a pretty good show if you like that kind of music. Mike Panzeca is a comedian. Similarly to Anthony Acosta, he has been on many times and I barely pay attention to his show anymore.

In St. Maarten this week Jenn and I did a shore excursion. We got a really awesome discount on the Americas Cup Regatta. This tour allows you to race actual Americas Cup sail boats. This is NOT a sit back relax kind of thing. Everyone on board has a job to do and aids in sailing the boat. I was a primary grinder. Which means I was bent over a grinder cranking as hard as I could. We were on the boat named Stars and Stripes. Obviously, an American ship. We raced against Canada. There was a Captain who would yell out orders and you were supposed do what he said. He would yell out, "primary grinders 1" or primary grinders 2". The numbers let you know which way crank. We learned about the sails and racing on a sail boat. When we were sailing with the wind it was easy. When we were against the wind we had "tack". This means to zig zag back and forth to get the next bouey. It was hard work but really fun. We ended up losing to the Canada. After we got back to the pier, the Captain said that they didn't have enough people for the next session. He wanted to know if anyone wanted to stay on for another race. When he said it was free, it didn't take long for Jenn and I to say yes. We stayed on the same boat and some new people got on. We did the same race again. The result was quite different this time. We crushed the puny Canada boat. By this time Jenn and I had been on the boat for nearly four hours. Jenn had to go to the bathroom. She was hurting so bad that the Captain said she could get off before we tied off the boat. The boat that took us to the pier was a ferry. So, about fifty people knew she had to go to the bathroom. When we got close to the pier Jenn leaped out of her seat and ran and jumped toward the pier. Her foot hit the edge and she feel directly on to the dock. After realizing she was O.K. I fell out of my chair laughing. It was probably one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. Anyway, after we had some celebratory free punch we met Ben and his family at the Greenhouse for lunch. When that was over it was time head back to the ship.

In St. Lucia this week Jenn, Robbie, Greg, Mark(bassist), Emily(dancer) and I went to a really nice restaurant. It was similar to our supper club here on board. I had pumpkin soup and the pork chops. The best part of it wasn't the food. It was the view. Our table was literally ten feet from the water. It was over looking the bay there close to our ship. It was a really nice outdoor dining experience. After that we walked around the shops on the pier and headed back to the ship.

Talk to you soon,

Chris

Picture #1-"The Stars and Stripes" as we approached from the pier.

Picture #2-"Canada" tacking in front of us during the first race.

Picture #3-Some apartments in the bay where we were racing.

Picture #4-The restaurant we ate at in St. Lucia. If you look to the left there is an awning just before yo get to the boats. That is where our table was.