Merrytime Cruises

When I first boarded the Disney Magic, my days were packed with rehearsals for my five show rep, character greeting, Christmas, shows, tiger balm, and palm trees. When I got a break to explore/go outside, I felt like I was on vacation. And then after thirty seconds I went back to work. There was another cast of actors on board when I embarked. This cast greeted the characters and performed shows at night, as usual, while we, the incoming cast, would partake in safety training, HR classes, and rehearsals during the day. This was wild. I flew. I was assigned an additional understudy track. I learned to shoot fire. I watched my friend shave his head whilst listening to Britney. This is a two week period of time called Crossover.

My first day on board ft. Bobby and Stephen

Emma teaching me how to fly

During my time on board I was able to stay in touch with my family and friends thanks to the new free WiFi package that allowed me to send and receive iMessages and WhatsApp messages. The only time I was able to get on the internet was when we docked in Miami or Key West. If I so desired, I could purchase an internet package to check email, Pinterest, etc. on board, but I liked being away from it all. My urge to grab my phone for information decreased every day. 

Stephen and I stayed in a stateroom during Crossover and received chocolates in our door hook just like the guests. Normally the chocolates were Ghirardelli squares but on pirate night we got chocolate doubloons.

During my crossover period my cast went through what is called Wet Drill on Disney's private island in the Bahamas, Castaway Cay. This was a training period run by an Irish man named Texas. During Wet Drill my cast and I practiced cruise emergency procedures in the water. This was also my first time bathing in Caribbean waters. And I flipped a life raft by myself. After the drill I had a few hours to explore the island, which was decked out for Christmas.

The ship left the Miami port during the golden hour. If we had time, we would run out to Deck 5 Forward, which was reserved for crew members, and we waved goodbye to Florida. 

Mickey and his friends changed in and out of different festive attire throughout the Merrytime Cruises. I was able to catch some of them for a photo to send home to my family. This would be my first Christmas away from home, but I was glad to spend it with these people.

Passing the shoe, one Footman to the other.

My cast, Magic 43, opened a week before Christmas. Before my opening I was able to get off the ship in Miami for the first time since getting on three cruises ago (each cruise is four or five days long.) Miami proper is a short Uber ride away from the port, and I was able to see some of the holiday festivities at Lincoln Road and Bayside Marketplace. I was greeted by this butt when I arrived at Lincoln Road. I came to this bougie shopping district because Books and Books was nestled in this area, and this store carried Moleskine journals, which I needed.

Books and Books

Bayside Banyan

After two months of rehearsal in Toronto and two weeks of tech cross-over and HR classes on board, we were ready to open. Our creative team in Toronto always talked about what would be different between the rehearsal studio work and the performances on board in front of the guests. They would often say, "On the day," followed by details of how a certain moment, scene shift, audience reaction would differ "on the day" of the show.

Opening night! "The Day."

I usually spend Christmas Eve at Mass in Delaware County with my family, then we return to my parents house to light luminaries that line the street, then we arrive late to the feast of seven fishes hosted by Mom Mom, then Pop Pop asks me what I am going to do once whatever contract I am on is over, then we play a family game, then Santa shows up. This year I was in Cozumel, Mexico drinking a margarita and listening to "Feliz Navidad" being played by a trumpeter on a street corner. One of the favorite stops of cruise-goers and staff members is Pancho's Backyard. As I sipped my frozen lime margarita and cappuccino two marimba players gave their rendition of "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph," and other traditionals. I used Starbucks WiFi to FaceTime my parents and wish them a merry Christmas since I would be at sea the next day and not have internet or cellular data. I then wandered around by myself for a bit and found Capilla de la Santa Cruz Cuzamil. The church was empty, with doors wide open, and prepped for the holiday festivities. Later night night back on board my cast had our final Secret Santa gift exchange. My Secret Santa killed it. It is a tradition in my house to play Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas while we decorate the tree, and as soon as "All I Want for Christmas is You" comes on my mom and my brother have to stop what they are doing and dance to it. My Secret Santa contacted my parents and had them send him the footage from this year's tree decorating so I could watch it. He got me other presents too, but this was the best. Before attending Midnight Mass in the Walt Disney Theatre I went over to one of our night clubs to record a promo for one of the attractions we have on board: the silent disco. My friend April and I danced and sang together in colorful headphones as a camera spun around us. Then I was nice and sweaty for church. Mass does not happen too often on board, so the priest that joins us for holy days makes due with the resources available. The holy water came from an Evian bottle, the cross was stood stuck into an apple inside a pint glass, and instead of ringing altar bells someone jingled a spoon in a glass. The next morning before my shift I put on my Santa hat and opened gifts in my cabin. When my parents visited me in Toronto they brought along a bag of gifts from Santa which I packed in my suitcase, brought on board, and waited a month to open. The ship was incredibly festive on Christmas. The steering committee hung bags of treats from the ceiling of our main backstage corridor (the "I-95") for every crew member, the guests wore Christmas pajamas all day, my friend Rachel and I decorated gingerbread men, and we performed Disney Dreams, a show about believing in magic.

My house

Pancho's Backyard

Capilla de la Santa Cruz Cuzamil

Some of the guests participated is this game that involved hiding ducks around the ship and I participated in finding them.

I rang in 2020 on the Disney Magic. Disney held special celebrations for New Years Eve on and below deck for guests and crew. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Pluto dressed up in formal attire, and then Goofy dressed up as Father Time. And then I was propelled into the new year. As time passed and the Christmas decorations were put away, Disney continued to fill each day with special magic. One evening we passed our sister ship, the Dream, and had a fog horn battle with them. One time I was eating breakfast on Deck 9 and witnessed a server have a broom handle sword fight with a young guest. One time there was a loud clomping sound during a safety meeting on Deck 4, and my crew members and I turned our heads to see Goofy in a track suit slowly run toward us with four kids chasing after him. One time a few guests came up to me looking kind of puzzled, and instead of asking me for directions as most people do they asked if I was in shows at the Walnut in Philadelphia. They saw me perform two years ago! Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy loved to point me out for my portrayal as the Footman or Maximus. They would get down on one knee and pretend to raise up a shoe or gallop around like a horse. On the last evening of every cruise during our goodbye show Mr. Smee liked to compare his hair to my white Footman wig. Every day I look out my porthole at miles and miles of the bluest water I have ever seen.