All hands on deck...

Hello friends!

We docked in Southhampton to end our first cruise a few days back. The adventures that ensued were some that I felt led to record. 

Once our guests left the ship, we had a crew drill supervised by the U.K. Coast guard. A crew drill is when we simulate that there is an emergency and follow protocol as if we were boarding the life boats, gathering guests etc. Basically an emergency practice run. We do A LOT of them, so you're in good hands if you end up in my life boat. Or so I thought...until this beastly drill. 

Let us not forget that we are in Southhampton where it is probably 45 degrees. We knew the drill was to commence at 10:15 per usual - except theeeeey decided to start earlier w the coast guard. I was half in pajamas, half in real clothes when people started BANGING on our doors. "FIRE! EVACUATE! FIRE!" Where was I when the banging commenced? The restroom. The 'fire team' entered the room and started banging on the bathroom door: "EVACUATE! FIRE!" Ummmm okay...I'm evacuating, sir...but I'm pretty sure you don't want me walking out in my Victoria's Secret pajama bottoms. 

When most drills commence, there is a series of several announcements before we are called to our station. However, since the "fire" was in our hallway (ummmm thanks guys, what are you trying to say?) it was a free for all. I continued searching for pants in the dark, while men continually yelled for me to evacuate & get out. When I tell you that I have NO idea what I was wearing, it was the truth. Luckily, since it's a cold port, we are allowed to wear layers over uniforms, so I fit right in. I grabbed my life jacket, dodged 5 fire hoses and made my way to the life boats. Phew. Finally. I made it. A moment to breathe...

That moment turned into A LOT of moments as the coast guard went from level to level, checking everyone's positions. About an hour & a half in, he made his way onto our deck. Most drills typically take 30 minutes, so we were all pretty cold and confused at this point. Coast guard man saunters over to our life boat area & everyone basically freezes. There are about 30 of us from all different departments in this boat...all frozen in fear. "Who is in charge of this life boat?" *silence* "Anyone?" Then we all chime in with the correct answer. Alright, awesome. Next question: "What is your duty at this station?" *cricket...cricket...silence* OKAY, SERIOUSLY GUYS?!?! I take one for the team and explain our duties. He accepts my answer. WOOHOO! Except then, I become the "go to" person for every question. When nobody would answer, he looked to me. What question does he look to me for? "How long can a passenger stand here without using the restroom?" Ummmm...is that SERIOUSLY your question coast guard man? How long can someone hold it? You don't want to know how many flares are in our life boats or how many liters of water we have for each person in an emergency? WHAT?!?!!? All of the numbers I memorized for the amount of passengers on each life boat & you want to know about potty time? THE SHIP IS ON FIRE, SIR - I THINK THEY CAN HOLD IT FOR A MINUTE! I'm not letting everyone run around to get stuck in a toilet somewhere. They are sticking with me. Goodness... The drill ended. I have yet to find out the answer to the  alleged question. 

Coast Guard man...Captain America...whoever you are...I know where you live. I'll be back...

Sea Days

Hello Blogettes,

How goes it? All is well on the Atlantic. We are continuing our crossing of the ocean. Currently on day three of four sea days. Sea days tend to be busy ones. We've been rehearsing a lot for our upcoming shows. 

We have a disco show this evening for all of the guests! It should be a good time. I'm hoping that everyone is up on their feet and dancing. All alcohol is included on board for this guests, sooo there really is no excuse for someone not having a champagne glass in their hand & boogie-ing their life away. I'm excited! 

We've also been rehearsing an "At the Movies" cabaret to premiere tomorrow night. I'll share more about that one tomorrow.

The captain has decided to re-route our ship, due to an upcoming storm. We were due to port in Foynes, Ireland on the 13th & Cork on the 14th. We're skipping Foynes altogether & staying from the 13-14th in Cork. A bad storm is going to hit the other side of the island, so we're trying to avoid it. Overnights tend to be more fun, anyhow, since we can typically get off of the ship for dinner in the evening and explore more of the town. Most of the time we are back on board by 6 or 7 p.m. to sail through the night.

I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE IRELAND! AH!!!!! SO EXCITING! 

More to come later! :) 

Sent from my iPhone

St. John's

Hello all!

Sailing to Newfoundland today! I'll post this once I get on land and have free Internet. Not exactly sure what I'll have on the agenda for that port, but I know it will be gorgeous!

fABBAlicious was our first show last night!!!! It was awesome! The guests raved about it! They were dancing in the aisles with us & I had so many guests saying sweet things to me & welcoming our first performance! Everyone knew my name this morning & was coming up to me & so excited from the show last night. It was amazing & I'm so glad it went well. I performed this show on my previous ship, but I am singing completely different songs & tracks on the Whisper. It was a whirlwind of rehearsals, so I had to erase my singing/dancing muscle memory on some parts & retrain myself on the new/same show in 36 hours. PHEW! It was exhilarating & so much fun to be back on stage! I ADORE MY CAST! 

Canada has been very picturesque, thus far. I could imagine that a nice weekend getaway would be fun there.  Five hours off of a ship works well too! :) 

The titanic museum in Halifax was quite interesting. It's very haunting to see those things (especially when you live on a ship) and amazing, as well. They had a deck chair from the ship that was salvaged from the wreckage. One horrible image was that of a two year old little boy - the only perished child that was recovered out of the 300 + that they brought to shore. This child's was  unidentified for 100 years & recently they figured out he was a 19 month old named Sidney. They had his tiny shoes on display and an entire story about him. Most of the Titanic passengers are buried in 3 cemeteries throughout Halifax. It was the closest port from the wreckage - approximately 700 nautical miles. 

Unfortunately, time did not allow for us to visit the graves, but the museum was fascinating! I've always had an affinity for the Titanic story (I'll blame Leo DiCaprio) and living on board a moving vessel has only intrigued me more. Everyone finds that strange - "THE TITANIC?!? ARE YOU CRAZY?!? YOU LIVE ON A SHIP! THAT COULD BE YOU!" - buuuuut with all of the extensive trainings we have & excess life boats, we are all aware that an accident like that would be the most bizarre occurrence that we could imagine. I feel very safe here. The Whisper is amazing!!!!

The Silver Whisper is also giant (in comparison to the ship I lived on last year) and I am always getting lost! Ha! I've found my way to the theatre two times now & I was EXTREMELY proud! It's a completely different  world below the guest areas (luckily, we live on deck 4 & down the hall from the guests, so it hasn't been too tricky.)  Many twists, turns, hallways, cabins...Each stairway looks like the one before to me, so it's taking me a minute to grasp my surroundings. I'm getting there &  very much enjoy having the additional levels on the ship. We have our own crew deck on the tip top of the ship - Deck 11 - but I feel it is going to be too chilly to take full advantage of it. It was very foggy & rainy today.

Okay - this is VERY long sooo if you're still reading, I owe you a cocktail when I get back to America & a couple hugs! It's much easier for me to update here than try to e-mail everyone while in port with limited time. Please comment/let me know how you're doing/share stories with me! Thank you for reading!

P.s. If anyone knows how to subscribe to this site with your email (not by registering with gmail) let me know - a few people have asked that want to receive updates without typing in the blog address. THANK YOU! XOXOXOXO 

Hello! 

I'm in Canada!!!! Today we're going to the titanic museum and graveyard in Halifax. So crazy. One of the next few days we are actually going to be crossing over the area where the titanic sank. How crazy is that? We passed the port (on the way out of NYC) where the Titanic was supposed to port, but never made it. 

Sailing out of NYC was AMAZING! It was freeeeezing & so windy, but what an awesome way to leave. Sailing past the Empire State Building, the freedom tower (that they have almost completed) and the Statue of Liberty. It was so exciting!

Amidst all of that, I was reuniting with incredible people! My fabulous friend, Misha, that worked on the casino of my previous ship is on this ship, as well! We have dreamt of reuniting, as she is from Bulgaria, but I thought it would be years from now. It's so crazy that things worked out like this. I'm so excited to be here!!!!

Things have been so fun so far! We've been rehearsing & tonight we had the captain's welcome party. Our first show is tomorrow night - ABBA! Woohoo! Having a blast & sending you all love! 

E

Bon Voyage!

Hello America!

Testing 1...2...3...

I'm taking off to travel the world on the Silver Whisper cruise ship!
Taking off on the plane to NYC now to get on board! Wanted to make sure this worked before I left so I can keep you all posted on my travels! I'm so excited! Sending so much love to everyone! Thank you for all of your support!

HERE WE GOOOO!