Settling In...

So let's talk about what has been happening in my life...

I'm on the ship!

We just finished opening all of our shows last cruise so we are officially the new cast of the Magic!!!!

Crossover was a little hectic. We lost two of our cast members and several people got isolated for the flu or for GI! We had to rearrange some tracks for understudies and our swing had to open all of the shows! A lot of crazy and stressful things happened throughout these past 3 weeks, but we stumbled through it and came out on top. I am so thankful for how professional and flexible our cast is! Even through emergency rehearsals, double dress runs, understudy put-ins, and surprise contingencies, everyone did their part, worked together as a team, and kept each other going.

I forgot about how many things you have to adapt to on the ship. It was frustrating to hear some of the things people were complaining about until I reminded myself they are still adjusting to a whole new lifestyle. Ship life teaches you to appreciate the simplest things! Internet, cell phone service, carbonated soda, sunlight, American currency...the list goes on!

I don't have much time to talk about much right now, but I promise I will post some magical stories soon! I'll leave you with this:

A group of us have started praying together backstage before every show at the 5 min call. It is amazing, and some of our other cast members join in for the positive energy. So thankful for the openness!!!

This is from Thanksgiving, but it's a beautiful picture and I miss my family!!!

Election Day

This is how I feel about the election...

Romans 13:1-7 " Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Wherefore it is necassary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them; tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to who fear; honor to whom honor."

And this is a quote from Cloud Atlas that I like...

"...Life amounts to no more than a drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops" - Cloud Atlas

It'll Be a Fright!

Happy Belated Halloween!!!!

Even our rehearsal studio was Halloweeny!

This Halloween will probably go down in my memory as one of my favorites! I've already raved about how much I love this cast and the fact that they aren't huge party fanatics and like to keep it low key! So on Wednesday we all got together in one of the party rooms in the Rosemont and had a fun little Halloween get-together. Everyone bought sugary treats and dressed up in silly costumes.

This was my costume! (Captain EO rehearsal dancer/80's workout instructor)

The Whole Gang

We played running charades (my team won), and had a costume "Boo-off" contest! We've been putting-together one of our stage shows, Villians Tonight; hence, where we got the "Boo-off" idea.

"Boo-off"

Speaking of Villians Tonight, we finally put it all together and did our first two full runs! Those who were not in the show came to watch. It's always more exciting performing for an audience! It went really well, and it's nice to have a completed show!!!

Last night, my roomate Jef and I had people over for a Soup Party! Everyone brought a different vegetable that we put into the stew! It turned out to be extremely delicious! We all watched Moulin Rouge and enjoyed each others' company!

As far as rehearsals go, we are starting our final stage show, Disney Dreams! We learned all of the vocals today and on Monday we start the choreography for the Cinderella waltz! I'm so excited!!

We have about 2 weeks left up here in Toronto and then it's off to the ship!!!!!

Oh! And Nick gets here in less than a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I painted this jar for my friend who portrays Cinderella in Twice Charmed!

I painted this jar for my friend, Alfie! He loves Dr. Facilier and The Lion King, so I painted it half and half!

This is my jar painting workshop!

Fellowship!

There are about 10 of us who have been going to church together and meeting for little bible studies/devotionals. I have become especially close with a girl named Victoria. She is 26 and dedicated her like to Jesus about a year ago. Although we are 6 years apart in age, spiritually, we are on the same level. We started going to a bible study of other believers in their 20's up here in Toronto. I really like that this particular group calls themselves disciples rather than Christians because we are constantly growing and learning from Christ. Victoria and I have developed some really great friendships with some of the people in the group. It's really fun hanging out with them because they know the city so well!

Last weekend we volunteered with some of the people from the bible study at a homeless shelter called the Scott Mission where we served about 45 homeless men! The Scott Mission is a Christian-based organization that serves the homeless community here in Toronto. They open the doors for 45-50 men around 7:30pm and offer them a meal, a sleeping mat and blanket, showers and bathrooms for the night. They have breakfast for them in the morning as well, but they must be out of the building by 7:00am. After helping prepare and handout the meals, we were able to go around and chat with some of the men. I wasn't fully comfortable just walking up and talking to them on my own, but I listened in on a couple of the conversations.

These men are deprived of daily conversation and really just want to talk and be listened to. And that's exactly what we had to offer them: our ears. Some of the men were so interesting. A lot of them were from other countries who had traveled to Canada, lost all of their money, and couldn't get in touch with their family back home. Some of the men were extremely intelligent. One man in particular has a hoarding problem. He collects books and magazines and is paying over $1000 a month for the 4 storage units filled with his collection. He has money to pay for storage, but he doesn't have an apartment! He seems to be emotionally connected to purchasing and saving these items because it started right after his wife passed away. The woman who was having this conversation with him works in finance. She was discussing with him how much money he could save if he stopped buying the books(he purchases them daily) and he was adding the sums in his head faster than she could write them down. It's sad to think that this man could live a fairly comfortable and secure life financially in a decent apartment if he didn't bear the burden of his collection.

Our night at the Scott Mission truly opened my eyes to a new view of the homeless. I feel like I better understand where they are coming from when I pass them on the street. It may not be in God's plan for me to play a huge role in the homeless ministry, but He definitely wanted me to witness these interactions!

I've developed a new hobby: painting mason jars!!! It's a great way to recycle old pasta sauce or pickle jars! Mason jars make for great drinking glasses because the cups that are in our apartment are really tiny! So these are some of the finished jars I've painted! I told my cast mates that if they brought me an empty jar I would decorate it for them! I just have them give me a theme or a color and then I paint it for them. I find it really relaxing! I think they make great gifts for people! There are tons of uses for jars!

Picking up the Pace...

Things are getting very busy up here in Toronto!!!! We have learned all of the character shows, re-doing one MainStage show and starting WAVS and FAVS (the welcome aboard and farewell MainStage shows)!!! We're waiting on the final cast list for the last mainstage show, Disney Dreams, but we had our costume fittings, so we pretty much know if we're in it or not!

I am dancing in all but 1 of the 5 MainStage shows!!!!!!! I am thrilled to have so many dance opportunities this contract! My costume fitting took 2 hours because I had to try on so many costumes! We have learned two of the dance numbers in WAVS already and they are so much fun to dance, but also very fast, precise and a lot more difficult than I anticipated! I always love learning new styles of dance. These numbers are very girly and rockette-ish!!!

A few days ago I interviewed for Character Line Captain. The Line Captain is basically a dance captain and needs to know all of the choreography and blocking for every character show!! It was announced today that I am the Line Captain for my character team! I am so excited and gracious that I was chosen!!!

One of my favorite things about Toronto is that there are so many theaters around the city. I am trying to take advantage of all of the live theater shows while we here. Last weekend a small group of us went and saw War Horse. We bought rush tickets just a few hours before the show so the 5 of us paid only $29 for front row seats!!! Amazing! I've seen the movie and loved it, but the stage show was breath-taking. The horse puppets were so realistic and truly embodied the mannerisms and movements of a real horse. It was a long show, but never once did it feel that way. The way the story transitioned and progressed was just perfect and I was completely engaged in the show the entire time. Every aspect of the show was BRILLIANT.

Afterwards, we found the stage door and met the lead and got a picture with him!

Another show that is playing up here is Cirque du soleil's Amaluna. Now let me just tell you...this was my first time seeing a Cirque show!!! I was blown away at the things these people could do. We didn't have the best seats, but the staging allowed every seat in the house to see the show regardless of positioning!!! I couldn't stop verbalizing my incredulous thoughts about each act and performer. And do you want to know the coolest thing about the show....all of the performers live in our building!!!!!!!!  So there were people that we recognized from seeing in the gym and the elevator...no big deal...

I feel so blessed to be surrounded not only by a cast of talented and beautiful cast members, but a whole city of performers!!!! I am falling even deeper in love with Toronto this time around!!!

Is it October already?!

The past 4 or 5 rehearsal days have been extremely light for me! The mainstage cast is working on their first big production called Twice Charmed. The rest of us have had rehearsal for maybe two or three hours and then we have the rest of the day off! For example, today I don't have to go into work until 4pm!!! I am fully taking advantage of all of this time off while I have it!!!!

Yesterday, almost half of our cast woke up with flu-like symptoms. It was very eerie in the way it all happened at once to a large handful of people. I was lucky enough to be untouched even though my roommate suffered from the late night/early morning chills, fever, short breath, and achey muscles. Some of the Wonder cast was also affected by the illness. We still haven't figured out the source of this day long sickness...

Last night, I got together with one of my close girlfriends who is very strong in her faith. We went out to dinner and ended up just talking for about 3 hours! After dinner, we went back and I gave her the Jesus Burgers book to borrow and we watched worship videos and testimonies from Isla Vista. Finally, we prayed for the casts health and protection from the virus and for the long rehearsals for the following day. It was so nice to join in fellowship with someone and know that God has our backs and is watching out for us on this journey!

I am happy to know that I am right where I am supposed to be. God has been revealing His purposes to me and I am excited to see His movement throughout this contract!

Happy October!!!

Week #2

Been here for about a week and a half now! I'm having a great time with all of my cast members and l love being back at The Rosemont and the rehearsal facility. Toronto feels like home to me. I love the city.

The whole cast has been getting along so well. Almost every night someone invites everyone over to watch a TV show or a movie or something. Last night we had a movie night! The Rosemont has a mini movie theater that has a projector and seats about 30. We watching bridesmaids and shared lots of snacks and candy!

Both yesterday and today I've been lucky enough to be off of work after lunch. Today I only went in for an hour and a half and then I was done! So now I have the whole day off!!! I'm hanging out with my girls watching Tangled!!! Tonight there is an Art Festival all around the city that lasts until sunrise. A big group of us are gonna go out and explore!!!

TTFN :)

Our first day off!

We get every Sunday off in Toronto! After a whole week of grueling rehearsals, it is so nice to have an entire day to just relax, hang out with friends, and prepare for the next week! 

So Saturday night after rehearsal which ended at 6:00pm, whoever wanted to go out to dinner met in the apartment lobby at 7:15pm. We walked up the street and got a table for 22 at Jack Astors! I tried my best to sit around people I hadn't talked to before in an attempt to get to know more of the MainStage cast. We enjoyed each others' company and some delicious food.

After dinner, we all went back to the apartments (The Rosemont) to play catchphrase. Everyone came over to out apartment because we have a lot of space. We played catchphrase and Mafia. It was such a fun night with the cast and it helped a lot of people get to know each other better.

This is my roommate, Jefanie. She is from Arizona and we call her Jef. We share a beautiful one bedroom apartment at the Rosemont on the 18th floor! We have a beautiful view out of huge windows. It is the perfect place to choreograph :)

Our view!

View of our desk, bedroom, closet, and bathroom.

Living room and kitchen!

Here I go again!

I guess I wasn't done with my DCL career!!! I am back up in Toronto for the Magic 29!!!!

I am so excited to be here! This contract is going to be completely different for many reasons.

1. The Magic is a whole different ship. It was the first Disney cruise ship ever made. It has been sailing the seas all over the world for over a decade now. It is a tad smaller than the Dream and it holds half as many guests.

2. Brand new cast members! There was only one person that I had met previously on the Dream but he wasn't in my cast. This time there are 35 members in our cast altogether instead of 44!

3. All but one show is different!!! Even Mickey's Pirates in the Caribbean is different!

4. The itinerary is AMAZING!!! We'll be sailing around the Eastern and Western Caribbean, then taking a final Transatlantic cruise to Barcelona!!!!

5. My new best friend is Belle from Beauty and the Beast! Belle has her very own program in the kids' club! I sure do miss Ariel though!!!


It's only been 3 days, but I am already loving this cast and the shows. I am so eager to start learning the different deck parties and find out the final casting for all of the mainstage shows! I have a feeling that I will be doing a lot of dancing on this contract!!!

IT'S OVER!!!!

Can you believe it?!!! I still can't...
It doesn't actually feel like it has ended. I can't explain how amazing it is to not have not do anything or be anywhere. It is incredible. I also have free internet!!!!

It was so strange saying goo bye to everyone. They have been my family for the last 9 months and I can't imagine not being around them anymore...I wasn't even sad during the moment when we actually parted our separate ways, because I know I'm gonna see some of a lot of them in the future!

Well now I'm off to explore The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and some of the Disney Parks in Orlando. Then Nick and I are flying to New York!!!!

We deserve a break after 6 and a half months without a day off!!!!!!!!!!

Ariel's new friend!!!

Our last performance of Believe received the highest score in the History of DCL!!! 90%
AND SO DID OUR CHARACTERS!!!! 78%
In fact...throughout the contract, each of our main stage shows has benchmarked multiple times. That means our cast has the highest scoring shows ever!!!

Some statistics of my contract...

8 months and 19 days
37 weeks
262 days

49 cruises
14 three-days
21 four-days
14 five-days

Approximately...
100 Golden Mickeys
102 Villians
142 Believes
48 Sail Aways
49 Mickey's Pirates in the Caribbean
48 Club Pirates
90 See Ya Real Soons
111 Princess Gatherings (that's approx. 4,995 families)

63 Castaway Days
35 Sea Days
49 Nassau Days

I've seen approximately 171,500 guests.
I've worked approximately 1596 hours.
I've worked 196 days in a row without a day off.

Time for a vacation!!!!

2 cruises left!!!!!!!

Dream 4 is here!!!!!!!!! The new cast is coming to take over...FINALLY!!! It is so exciting to have new faces onboard. We are slowly easing them into their crazy new lives and we are so happy to be passing the torch. It's nice to make some new friends, but sad we will be leaving them so shortly. I'm actually a little sad to leave this place...I was greeting Cinderella last night and was watching a little girl show Cindy all of her toys and I teared up thinking about how much I'm going to miss those moments. It's a nice break for us because Dream 4 is taking over a lot and we are basically just shadowing them and helping them out where they need it. Oh, and remember my first day on the ship when I got GI and was isolated for 24 hours? Well...that kind of happened again this crossover...I guess it's tradition. Although, I didn't actually have GI thank goodness!

Starting to say our goodbyes...The Disney characters miss their amazing, red-headed, Irish YA friend, Angela!!!!!!   

We moved out of our little cabins and into guest staterooms so the new cast could move into their new cabins!!!

Packed up all my stuff!!!

The living room full of our junk!!!!

See ya neva 4813!!!

Hello big comfy bed and magical porthole!

Guest say the darnest things...
I don’t really think about how crazy this job really is until a guest asks, “so how long before you do another cruise?” I then get to explain to that guest that for the last 5 months I have been on the Disney Dream, we do back to back 3,4, and 5 night cruises. The guests from one cruise get off the ship around 9am and the next cruise of guests start boarding at 11am; then we set sail at 5pm! They react very surprised at how often we cruise and then say, “so you don’t get any vacation between?” or “so you don’t switch between the other ships?” I explain to them that I have worked everyday for the last 5 months without a day off. Once a guest said to me “I wonder what the Entertainment people do with their time off, huh?” My reply...”we do this...we greet the characters...” Sometimes guests’ questions just remind me of how much I need and deserve a vacation.

But their questions also remind me of all of the parts of the job that I am very thankful for as well. Seeing the Disney characters everyday, meeting people from all over the world, visiting a new country that some people will never travel too, experiencing the Bahamian culture on a daily basis, swimming in the beautiful tropical waters of Castaway Cay. And those are the things I’m allowed to tell them about my job...I don’t even get to tell them that I get to hug hundreds of children every cruise. I get to imprint special memories on a child’s heart and I get to collect so many magical moments with guests that I will always remember. 

John Stamos came on a cruise and took and picture with the cast of Believe...and then tweeted it!!!

4th of July...

This is how I spent it...

Woke up at 6:30am for immigration check in Port Canaveral. Basically all that means is that you wake up at the crack of dawn to show an officer that you are an American citizen or have all of the proper papers if you are not. 

After immigration, our cast had planned to have a nice 4th of July breakfast at IHOP. Unfortunately, security wasn't going to let anyone off the ship until 8:30 and we didn't want to wait in line for another 30 minutes so we just went to the mess instead.  After a disappointing breakfast, I went back to my room and slept until noon. I decided not to get off the ship since I really didn't have anything important I needed to do in Port. I called my mom, saw my boyfriend for a little while before he had to work and then continued my day with Sailing Away and The Golden Mickeys for the rest of the evening. The whole day, I was really homesick and missing the festivities I would shave been participating in at home: the Marina Hills community carnival, a hot beach day with friends, fireworks, fun outfits...I didn't even get to wear red, white and blue the whole day. It really made me miss California :(

The characters put on a 4th of July show called Flag Waving American! Aren't they're costumes adorable!!!!! Chip was my personal favorite ;)

The end is near!!!!!!!!!!

It’s a red carpet countdown...

Less than 5 weeks left in the contract. The end is so close I can taste it. Lately I’ve been so homesick I’ve had dreams combining situations from the ship with friends from back home. I don’t think I ever mentioned the fact that whenever anyone in our cast (including myself) has a dream, it usually has to do with greeting or performing on set...This is what working every single day will do to you. It’s hard to get a full night’s sleep because you’re always worried you set your alarm wrong or you’ll sleep through it and be late for work. There was a short period of time at the beginning of the contract when I would talk/animate in my sleep. But all of that anxiety will soon come to an end. Just 1 week until the new cast comes onboard for crossover and then two weeks until our contract officially ends. 

I am especially excited for what is to come after the contract because Nick and I will be spending a few days in Orlando going to all the Disney Parks and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Then come July 26th, we will fly up to New York to stay with a fellow cast member in Brooklyn and explore the city together. We plan on taking some dance classes and hopefully going to a few auditions if we can find any! Then we fly back to LA together July 31st and finally get to relax back at home.

So that’s everything I’m counting down to right now!!! We still have some exciting things coming up on the ship before the end though! 

We are back to 5 day cruises again (thank goodness) and my parents came to visit May 27th for our first one. It was so amazing seeing my mom and dad. I hadn’t seen my mom since the time she cruised in February and I hadn’t seen my dad since Christmas! I was lucky enough to greet them right as they got on the ship! I was so happy to see them I started to cry. It felt like a little piece of home coming to visit. It’s hard to explain, but whenever someone in the cast had family on, everybody gets exciting. We are a family, so we are always so excited for each other. So when my parents stepped on the ship, some of my Cruise Staff and Youth Counselor friends teared up a little along with me when I introduced them to my parents.

We had the most marvelous time together while they were here! My dad and my boyfriend, Nick, met for the first time and got on quite nicely! Nick was so nervous he kept asking me for my opinion on his outfits...so cute. I was even lucky enough to eat 4 out of 5 dinners with them! I only had about an hour each time I joined them, but our servers were wonderful and made sure all of my meals got out on time so I was able to enjoy them before going back to work! I still thank them whenever I see them around the crew areas! 

Last time when my mom cruised, it was raining when we were in Nassau so she didn’t even get off the ship. This time, I had enough time to go on a Port Adventure with them!!! We went on one called Discover Atlantis. A shuttle took us on a short tour around Nassau on the way to the Atlantis Resort and then we went on a guided tour through all of the aquariums inside the Resort. Atlantis is beautiful and after we saw all the different sea creatures, we explored the rest of the resort. It is huge. There is a suite that connects two of the towers together called the Michael Jackson suite. It is $25,000 a night to stay there! After we were done Discovering Atlantis, we went to the shopping area across the street and had some Johnny Rockets for lunch. It’s always a treat to eat some good old American junk food. Then we took a crazy bus ride back to the ship and I went back to work for the night!

I had a nice break on the second Castaway Day so Nick and I joined my parents on the island. We rode Pelican Plunge (a little water slide that is on the island) and we snorkeled around the man-made shipwreck. We had some lunch and then it started to rain. Nick had to get back to the ship for a rehearsal so I went with my parents to the adult beach and took a nap on a beach chair under the umbrella until we had to go.

It was a perfect cruise and they had a wonderful time! I was so happy they both got to see the ship and all of my shows and everything! only 6 weeks until I see them again!

Just a few days later, was my 20th birthday!!! Nick got me some bug spray (I keep getting mosquito bites while greeting), a disposable camera for New York, and a dress. He also set up a brunch date at Palo on my birthday!!! It was delicious and we stuffed ourselves with all sorts of treats.

A couple cruises ago, my roomate, Maleah debarked for some personal reasons. I was really sad to see her go, but I know that she needed some time at home away from ship life. She’s hoping to come back for crossover, but there is only a few weeks left so we just don’t know if that will work out. So for now, I have the cabin all to myself. It’s lonely and little creepy sometimes but also kinda nice to have my very own little space to escape. But now I never want to leave my room and it makes me homesick because it reminds me of my room at home. Wishing you all the best, Maleah! Miss you<3

So all together, we have had 4 cast members medically debarked and 5 replacements from past contracts come onboard. At the beginning of the contract, I truly thought our cast would stay together until the end...then a handful of people started getting injured...never a dull moment here on the Dream!

Until next time...

Dreams Comes True

Like I said before, the cruises are much harder to get through now that we are just past our half-way mark and nearing the end of our contract. Although it's nice to be in Port Canaveral every few days because of the 3 and 4 day itineraries, it's completely exhausting. Only four and a half more cruises until we go back to 5 days! One extra day really does make all the difference.

This last cruise I was reminded of why I am here. 

Ariel met the most amazing family. A small family of a little girl named Ariel, her younger brother, their Mother and their grandmother. They attended Ariel's first meet and greet, and one of the Princess Gatherings. Ariel was so excited to meet a friend with the same name as her. The little boy of about 5 years old was very enthusiastic about his sister's name as well. They were silly little starfish and Ariel loved talking to them. They took some pictures and their mother decided she wanted to be on one of the pictures and also invited the kids' grandma to join in as well. She was a very kind woman who gave Ariel one of the warmest hugs she's ever experienced. She was very gracious toward Ariel for the time she had spent with little Ariel and her son. The next afternoon at the Princess Gathering, Ariel recognizes her new friends and was so happy to see them again. She asked about all the fun things they had done since she had seen them last and they told her they had been playing lots of fun games. They took some more pictures, and then the mother said she wanted to take a picture alone with Ariel. She gave Ariel another warm hug and said to her, "I saw your movie in 1985 and fell in love!"She told Ariel some other very kinds things that completely warmed her heart and almost brought tears to her eyes! Ariel gave her the biggest hug and they took a beautiful picture together! Ariel was so happy to have met such a wonderful woman that she asked one of her friends to take down the woman's information so she could send her something special. The woman's name was Jenifer Renz and Ariel wanted to write her a letter to thank her for her kindness. Ariel found the pictures that had been taken the first time she had met the family and sent a couple photos to the Renz family along with the note for Jenifer! She hoped the letter and photographs would reach her well. On the last day of the cruise, Ariel came out one last time to say goodbye to her new friends that she had met. Jenifer showed up to say goodbye all by herself, without the kinds and without the grandmother. She wrote Ariel a letter from her and the kids for her to read later that evening. The children had brought some seashells from Castaway Cay for Ariel along with a giant conch shell: a "piece of home" as Jenifer called it. Both Ariel and Jenifer were in tears and beaming with joy. Ariel was so happy to hear that the family had received their gifts and was so thankful for the beautiful gifts from the children and from Jenifer. She couldn't wait to read the note!!! They couldn't stop hugging each other or thanking each other for all of the kind words. Jenifer said to Ariel, "Thank you for making my dreams come true," and Ariel said, "No. Thank you for making MY dreams come true." They took some final pictures and said their goodbyes completely touched by the moment and so sad that it had to end because Ariel had a lot more friends to say goodbye to. Ariel will never forget Jenifer and hopes that Jenifer will never forget her either!

Witnessing the magic between Ariel and the Renz family is what reminded me of how lucky I am to be on this ship. Yes, it is exhausting beyond belief and really really hard work sometimes, but moments like this are unforgettable and only happen once in a lifetime. I am so blessed to be here.

Today is my 6 month Anniversary with Nick!!! So we did what we always do and went to lunch in Nassau and got some free internet! He wrote the sweetest note to me and got me an Ariel watch that I am OBSESSED with, and a Winnie the Pooh watch to replace my old broken one :) He is the best and I love him more than anything!!!! 

10 weeks left!!!

Ohhhh We're halfway there.

13 weeks left!!!

I think I've finally reached that point of "this job is fun and exciting, but I can't wait to go home!"
It's a whole different world here on the ship and I feel very separated from my life back in California. It feels like my life is on pause while everyone else is in fast forward at home. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. I am still learning brand new things everyday and getting to experience the most incredible people, places, and things, but I am finally feeling a little homesick.

The Fantasy cruised by our ship while we we at Castaway Cay. It looks exactly like our ship on the outside! It go so close to us!

I recently developed a minor obsession with The Hunger Games series! I just bought a kindle so I could read more books without having to carry around hard copies...there is just not enough storage space on the ship! I zoomed through the first book just in time to see the movie on a Port day. I am now reading the third book! Reading is a great way to pass time on the ship when you have a decent break or even just 5 minutes here or there. My next few books on my reading list are Animal Farm, 1984, and The Giver.

We had lots of visitors these last few cruises. My roomate's twin visited for two 5 day cruises. My good friend's girlfriend who I was lucky enough to meet in Toronto also came on for a couple of cruises. Brooke (Justin's girlfriend), Justin, Nick and I took a trip to Atlantis on a Nassau day.

 It is a beautiful resort! Nick also had a good friend of his come! We rented scooters and rode around Nassau! We rode to McDonald's and Junkanoo Beach!

We had a real fun Easter Sunday!!! Mickey and Minnie wore their adorable Easter outfits and the White Rabbit even made an appearance! There was a huge chocolate egg sculpture in the Atrium and there was a little Ariel figurine inside!

We had a cast Easter Egg Hunt in the Walt Disney Theater! 500 chocolate eggs were hidden around the Theater for us to collect!

Pluto personally delivered this special egg to me!!!!

Happy Belated Easter!!!!