Home Stretch..
Well, let's see. It's been pretty eventful here on the ms Zaandam while we're in the home stretch before going home. We've been having a blast on the beaches, getting tanned, and seeing the sights. It's been fun, but lots of things are happening that live up to what I like to call the Zaandam curse.
The Zaandam curse all began in rehearsal when one of our girls decided at the last minute not to come to her contract and we were sent a lovely replacement dancer. Little did we know that 4 weeks later that dancer would never make it to the ship. She sprained her ankle in rehearsal and so the curse began with a bang. She was sent home with a swollen ankle and a new contract to come back in December. Six months of rest. Another girl came in her place and she had a whirlwind of learning to do. Well, a week later, another dancer was complaining of stomach trouble pretty bad and we thought it was his appendix. After a few days of recovery he seemed fine (so we thought). A few days after his recovery yet ANOTHER dancer hurts her ankle and we had her on ice literally a day before we flew to the ship. We get to the ship and the ship's doctor deems her ineligible to perform her first 2 weeks. Luckily we had a girl from the previous cast on board who knew our first show and she stepped right in. After that first week we got slammed with 3 injuries. Our lead singer strips his toe nail off in a door, another boy dancer slips in the shower and cuts his nose open (doctor says he can't perform), and to top off that week the boy we thought recovered from a stomach ache actually had appendicitis and was flown off ship to get it operated on. I was sick with a chest cold and 2 replacements were flown to the ship to open our next show. Oy!! We had it smooth for a while. Our three injured dancers were in and doing well. Our lead singer was slowly healing and my cold went away. Not much happening. We had a lovely Cruise Director and staff and all was pleasant. We got a new Cruise Director in July and the curse began brewing again. Mismanagement started happening. A new Hotel Manager came on and was screwing with a good system. Next thing you know we lose our replacement dancer due to knee injuries. We had about a month of re-staging and finally ANOTHER replacement girl comes out as we reposition to the Caribbean. She went up fine and then we lost our second lead female singer. She was plucked from our cast to go off to a bigger and better ship. As soon as that happened the curse went full force. Hurricanes started messing up our itineraries, cruise staff dropping like flies, and still more problems. Yes, 2 cruise staff quit their jobs because of disagreements with our Cruise Director and left the ship short handed in Curacao. Their reasons totally sounded justified. It sent our cruise staff for a loop. Within her first week on board, the new second lead female singer (my partner) injured her ankle and was re-staged out of certain numbers up until now. What else could go wrong? Well, our lead female singer is now quarantined to her room with a stomach problem and has been for the past 2 days. Another cruise staffer failed his random alcohol test and was fired from the ship. He had to leave today without a flight paid to go home. Oy!! We may have a show cancelled tomorrow because our singer is down. It just keeps growing and we have one more cruise left. I hope this curse leaves with us and never returns to any one of us on another ship.
Despite all these events, it's been a wonderful cast of people. We all STILL have great times together. Yes, there are a few annoyances that happen amongst us from time to time, but that's perfectly normal. I do have mixed feelings about going home. One because I enjoy the camaraderie we have amongst our group. Second I enjoy the comforts of having a job I like and being pampered while seeing the world. Yet I'm anxious to see my friends and family and go back home for a while. Even though it'll be the heart of winter, it'll be nice to have the freedoms I don't have being on board.
Our next cruise is going to be a banger. It's our last one. We have parties going on. There's packing to do. More sights to see. I think parasailing in the Bahamas, swimming with the dolphins in Curacao, and white water rafting in Costa Rica. All that along with performing each show for the last time. Although some of us will see these shows again on another contract. More to come, but I say adieu for today.
The Zaandam curse all began in rehearsal when one of our girls decided at the last minute not to come to her contract and we were sent a lovely replacement dancer. Little did we know that 4 weeks later that dancer would never make it to the ship. She sprained her ankle in rehearsal and so the curse began with a bang. She was sent home with a swollen ankle and a new contract to come back in December. Six months of rest. Another girl came in her place and she had a whirlwind of learning to do. Well, a week later, another dancer was complaining of stomach trouble pretty bad and we thought it was his appendix. After a few days of recovery he seemed fine (so we thought). A few days after his recovery yet ANOTHER dancer hurts her ankle and we had her on ice literally a day before we flew to the ship. We get to the ship and the ship's doctor deems her ineligible to perform her first 2 weeks. Luckily we had a girl from the previous cast on board who knew our first show and she stepped right in. After that first week we got slammed with 3 injuries. Our lead singer strips his toe nail off in a door, another boy dancer slips in the shower and cuts his nose open (doctor says he can't perform), and to top off that week the boy we thought recovered from a stomach ache actually had appendicitis and was flown off ship to get it operated on. I was sick with a chest cold and 2 replacements were flown to the ship to open our next show. Oy!! We had it smooth for a while. Our three injured dancers were in and doing well. Our lead singer was slowly healing and my cold went away. Not much happening. We had a lovely Cruise Director and staff and all was pleasant. We got a new Cruise Director in July and the curse began brewing again. Mismanagement started happening. A new Hotel Manager came on and was screwing with a good system. Next thing you know we lose our replacement dancer due to knee injuries. We had about a month of re-staging and finally ANOTHER replacement girl comes out as we reposition to the Caribbean. She went up fine and then we lost our second lead female singer. She was plucked from our cast to go off to a bigger and better ship. As soon as that happened the curse went full force. Hurricanes started messing up our itineraries, cruise staff dropping like flies, and still more problems. Yes, 2 cruise staff quit their jobs because of disagreements with our Cruise Director and left the ship short handed in Curacao. Their reasons totally sounded justified. It sent our cruise staff for a loop. Within her first week on board, the new second lead female singer (my partner) injured her ankle and was re-staged out of certain numbers up until now. What else could go wrong? Well, our lead female singer is now quarantined to her room with a stomach problem and has been for the past 2 days. Another cruise staffer failed his random alcohol test and was fired from the ship. He had to leave today without a flight paid to go home. Oy!! We may have a show cancelled tomorrow because our singer is down. It just keeps growing and we have one more cruise left. I hope this curse leaves with us and never returns to any one of us on another ship.
Despite all these events, it's been a wonderful cast of people. We all STILL have great times together. Yes, there are a few annoyances that happen amongst us from time to time, but that's perfectly normal. I do have mixed feelings about going home. One because I enjoy the camaraderie we have amongst our group. Second I enjoy the comforts of having a job I like and being pampered while seeing the world. Yet I'm anxious to see my friends and family and go back home for a while. Even though it'll be the heart of winter, it'll be nice to have the freedoms I don't have being on board.
Our next cruise is going to be a banger. It's our last one. We have parties going on. There's packing to do. More sights to see. I think parasailing in the Bahamas, swimming with the dolphins in Curacao, and white water rafting in Costa Rica. All that along with performing each show for the last time. Although some of us will see these shows again on another contract. More to come, but I say adieu for today.
posted by Chris | 4:14 PM
1 Comments:
hey this sounds like a crazy curse! Iam happy that you weren't hit hard at all.
you sould like you are having such a great time despite it all
Post a Comment
<< Home