Round 1 complete

I apologize upfront for my terrible grammar=)

Our first round trip of cruising is finished! Turn over is officially completed and today our Stiletto production team disembarked in Vancouver. Overall, I feel as though the entire process went smoothly. Our directors were more than pleased with our successful change over and felt like they were leaving us with great shows and a great team. I will miss my costumers, Vicki, Amy, and Stevie…they felt like our ship mothers. The girls were by far our best audience members with Gavin, our show director, and Sebastian, our production manager. Saying goodbye is never easy and in this business it happens frequently. I like to think of it more as a “see you later”.

In order to celebrate the end of change over our company manager arranged for our team to eat dinner in the main dining room. It was Master Chef night on board. This is where all the servers dance around in order to entertain the guest while serving your meal in 3 different acts. They did the napkin ballet, a fun salad presentation with juggling and dancing, and the final dance was with our dessert…Baked Alaska. It was a wonderful experience! The entire cast got all dressed up and everyone looked incredible. Maybe I will post some pictures!

I woke up early this morning in Vancouver to take a visit to Ashley Bell’s house in Maple Ridge. She lives about 45 minutes outside of Vancouver in the country. Her dad picked us up at 9:30 and drove us to the house. Upon arriving her mom was waiting on the porch to greet us! She prepared a delicious home-cooked meal of grilled chicken and veggie kabobs with rice and salad. It was wonderful…I felt right at home and it was a nice treat to visit with Ashley’s family. The best part was receiving amazing coffee while at her house. Her mom reads my blog and saw that I was having a terrible time with coffee on board. She went to a local roastery and asked for their best beans…she hit the jackpot and got Ethiopian, my favorite and she didn’t even know it! So thankful for that amazing pot of coffee…thank you Mrs. Bell for your truly welcoming hospitality! On the way back to the ship we made a pit stop to pick up some decorations for Canada Day on board the Zaandam for our Cruise Director and I ran in to GNC to stock up on protein powder. Having access to the passenger gym is a lifesaver when you are surrounded by rich food all week long. I have been going about 4-5 times a week to stay fit in the face of all the tasty desserts…I have the worse sweet tooth=).

Back on board we had our mandatory lifeboat drill with the passengers. I stand on Deck 6 and direct the passengers down to Deck 3. Most people find this process extremely irritating and choose to tell me about it. Others ask random questions that I yet to have the answers too (dining attire for the evening, where the closest bar is, what time is dinner, can they get more electrical outlets), and my favorites just smile and whistle on their merry way to their lifeboat…they are so caught up in the bliss of vacation that nothing can dampen their spirits! I usually run through our welcome aboard show when no one is in eyesight, it makes the time go by quickly. It is quite the sight to see me in my traffic director uniform. Passengers are no longer required to wear their life vest; however, the crew still wears their jacket. Over our life jackets are big blue vest that clearly state in LARGE LETTERS that we are traffic directors. Every guest loves to be the comedian and say, “let me guess, you’re a traffic director”. Since it is so clearly labeled on my vest it gets kind of old. I just chuckle and always reply, “how did you ever know?’.

After boat drill we had a technical run of our welcome aboard show. This is routine for every show. We always run the entire show, full out, prior to the actual shows. For this particular show our run is at 5pm, all the other ones happen at noon.

Dinner was fabulous tonight. I always enjoy sailing away from Vancouver because there is a cookout on the Lido Deck. All the food is freshly prepared right in front of you and usually the salmon is amazing! I tried the ribs tonight too for the first time and decided I wouldn’t try them again; nothing can beat my dad’s steak and ribs…I’m spoiled!!!! I hit the gym after dinner and then sat in the Sauna for 15 minutes. I don’t know what it is about sweating, but I love how I feel after gushing sweat in the sauna. In my opinion, removing the toxins and such will keep me healthy when it comes to colds and germs that passengers bring on the ship.

I just finished LUEY and a cast meeting with our Cruise Director about the house rules. They really are not too bad. The goal is to always make guests the first priority and never really draw attention to yourself in public areas. Most are common sense when it comes to hospitality, but there are some rules that are just not fun. We can never sit in groups of 4 or more in public areas. They feel it intimidates the cast from chatting with us. I totally get it, but since we are a family of cast members it is hard to spilt up on dressy nights. Also, we can never be on our computers in public areas; unfortunately, this includes the library and explorations café, which would be a perfect place to blog and drink coffee (even if it is terrible=). I know they want us mingling with the guests at all times. Our livelihood and job security depends on our ratings in the entertainment department and friendliness can cover a multitude of errors!

Well to end this blog I want rant about how thankful I am once again.  First, our cast really does get along so well on the ship. We know when to work and when to have a good time. Our personalities, for the most part, really compliment one another. I am so thankful for each one of them because they ooze with talent, yet have such humble mentalities. Next thankful thought…to be singing and traveling is almost unreal. I can’t believe I am doing what I love and getting paid. It almost seems unfair to all those hard working people who sit behind desks, miserable…watching the clock slowly pass by during the day.  I try to remember that I am so incredibly blessed to be where I am on a daily basis. Life is too short to be burdened by the small inconveniences. In conclusion, I am thankful for each one of you who follow my blog. It is great to receive messages from you and encouragement from you. Being so far away from family and friends makes you appreciate them so much more. I miss you all and really love hearing from, so thank you for reaching out and thinking about me throughout your busy days.

More to come later this week! Love you all!

-bradley

Some photos!

The beautiful Glacier Bay!

My leading lady Brittney and me in our Southern Nights finale costumes

Sabrina and the guys before Southern nights!

My M2, Cameron Edris, and me before our final Love Broadway dress rehearsal!

The cast of Love Broadway!

The fabulous Ashley Bell and myself in front of our ship in Haines, AK

The cast of Unforgettable

Light at the end of the Tunnel

 It is 9:30 am and I have been sitting in rehearsal since 8 blocking our final show in our repertory, Love Broadway. Since I was raised in the musical theatre world one would think this would be my favorite show. However, the songs included in this show are a little outdated for the current Broadway scene. Most of the songs include classics from Hello Dolly, Mame, They're Playing Our Song, Cabaret, West Side Story, Phantom and The King and I. Of course all the songs are wonderful but overall the show could use an update to touch on the more recent musicals. On the flip side this show kicks my butt vocally... it is definitely one of the more challenging out of the 4. I am thrilled however to be finishing rehearsals. After our blocking rehearsal today we will have a midnight tech run, followed by a noon dress rehearsal tomorrow. We open the show tomorrow night and then it will be time to RELAX!!!!! Our time on board thus far has been filled with rehearsals, fittings, and meetings. Now we will all have a chance to sit back and enjoy the sights of Alaska.

I have begun making a list of activities I would like to participate in once things get settled. These include:

*Dog-sledding in Juneau
*Zip-lining in Ketchikan
*Mendenhall Glacier tour by float plane

Those are the big three...I will also be hiking along side the ship in our ports as well. Some of the trails are suppose to be beautiful with waterfalls and tons of wildlife.

I figure I can spread the big three events out and do one each month. That way I can budget for one big activity a month. I may not be able to do them all depending on how much money I can put towards my school bills. My goal is to pay down a big portion of my student loans while on board, but at the same time I want to make the most of every opportunity because who knows when I will be cruising again. I just have to keep a good balance=) Also, I have to save money for Australia and Asia, because from what I hear, things are much more expensive over there!

Ship life has been good! Yesterday I made a visit to the Greenhouse Spa and got my haircut. The crew gets major discounts on port days. I thought 15 bucks was very reasonable. There are 2 stylists on board. I asked around before going and the consensus among the crew was to go to Mo. He is a middle aged man with a quirky attitude. He has 3 kids all grown and has 2 grandkids. He was very funny and did a great job on my hair! I enjoyed my experience with him and will definitely be going back to him instead of finding someone else in port. Our spa manager is really nice too. She is 21, from Southern England, and is in charge of the entire spa team! I had a good conversation with her the other night in the Officer's Bar. She is really down to earth and mature. I could listen to her all day due to her accent, it is almost mesmerizing at times. A great aspect on board is the cast can use the passenger gym. The guests have first priority on machines, but most nights there are barely any passengers there. They gym is well equipped and looks out over the bow of the ship. It is great to be able to look out at the mountains while working on the elliptical. The other day I was working out and saw 2 whales spouting out in the distance. It is still surreal to think that these are my surroundings and home for the next few months.

Although you may be thinking that the cruise lifestyle is glamorous, I can assure you for the crew it is not. Most of our areas are minimal and bare...resembling the hallways of a hospital. The rooms are small and usually most crew members share their room with another occupant. In passenger areas we are suppose to be "on", meaning that guests are our first priority in conversation. No cell phones or computers may be used in these areas at any time. All of us wear name tags so we are easily picked out among the crowd. I don't mind all the rules, but at times I would love to be able to write on my laptop in the library while sipping on coffee.

Speaking of coffee...ship coffee is mud, terrible, and has no flavor to those who enjoy the actual taste of coffee. I am sad to admit that I have been drinking Starbuck's Via on board. I really dont enjoy the taste of it either but it is way better than the so called "coffee" they serve at the Lido. Our one coffee shop on board is not much better. The barista's manning the bar over-steam the milk and pull watery shots. Most coffee drinkers could care less, but my coffee snobbing self is dying for a good cup of coffee. I have been thinking about getting a water heater for my room (totally against the rules due to fire hazards) and getting my hands on a french press so I can make my own in my cabin. Then I have to figure out how to get my hands on some good coffee beans, it wont be a problem in Hawaii, but up in Alaska I may have some difficulties. I would give anything to have a cup of Portland Brew from Nashville, or Old City Java in Knoxville....I type this as I sip on a cup of sludge (it is far from coffee in my opinion)

I am so out of it today. This rehearsal is dragging and my brain is really struggling to pull this show out from 2 weeks ago when we reviewed it last. I am going to have to put in a few hours of review on my own to polish up my lyrics and moves. I believe this blog is over for now. Hope you are all well. I miss my daily interactions with all of you.

much love

-b


The pictures are of Glacier Bay, Sabrina and the guys in our Southern Nights opener costumes, and then Brittney (my leading lady) and me in our Southern Nights finale costumes!

Seward, AK

Well here we are! I finished my first complete cruise! We are in port at Seward, AK. It is a small harbor town located in the bottom curve of Alaska about 120 miles south of Anchorage. This morning I got to sleep in...it was glorious. I then proceeded to catch up with the family via the phone. I called my dad and both grandads to wish them Happy Father's Day. it is amazing to think about the generational wisdom passed down from father to son. I talked to my own dad for about 40 minutes this morning. He was full of questions about cruise life. I am so thankful to have a dad who takes an actual interest in what I do. I meet guys in the entertainment world who have moms that are really invested, but it is a whole different story when you meet one with a dad involved. My dad has always been a a huge support for me. He has seen practically every show I have done and always does it with a spirit of joy. He is dedicated for sure. When I was young my dad was gone a lot on business and we never really began building a strong relationship till I was in high school. Sometimes I think that performance is what brought us closer together. Regardless, I am proud to call my dad....dad=) I know that he is proud of me and respects me for following my dream. He has always told me that he wants nothing more than for me to be happy. Knowing I have this support is what keeps me going on somedays.

After catching up with family, I noticed a flyer in the crew hall for a mission that has a non denominational church service for crew members in Seward. I grabbed my friend Liz and asked if she wanted to go and on our way we picked up our cast mate Cameron too. It was a cute little house close to the port. Upon entering it was kinda like coming home to grandma's. They had fresh backed chocolate chip cookies waiting with fresh coffee. The pastor who runs the mission use to work on a ship years ago. So he is very familiar with ship life and our schedules. It was nice to have message geared for the ship and how we face life every day on board. We all sat around the family room and sang some songs. I played chords on the piano, while alex played guitar, and the host, Kathy, played her Dajembe (I know I butchered that spelling). It almost felt like church camp, we sang songs in spanish, indonesian, and english...so cool. I had never played with other musicians because my chord playing ability is limited, but I felt like I did a pretty good job of making a joyful noise...even if it wasnt always the prettiest...haha. Everyone was so welcoming. They also rent out DVD's to crew members since we come back every 2 weeks. There WiFi is super fast and they also have desktop computers for crew members who don't have laptops. Today Paul talked about perseverance. It was a great reminder of not giving up in the face of trials. It was a very encouraging message and made me remember to pray about my purpose for this contract besides performing. After service they served us mango salsa and homemade lasagna...yummy! I tell you that I have got to stop eating so many cookies. I feel like they are everywhere! I had three at the mission.

I was going to go to the gym when I got back to the ship but it is closed till 5:30 for tours since today is embarkation day. We have a tech  run through of our welcome aboard show at 5 and then boat drill at 7:15. Performance of Let Us Entertain You at 9:30 followed by a midnight run of Southern Nights to make sure it is in our bodies still! Not much else to update at the moment. I hope all is well in everyone's world. Miss you guys! OH and if you want to send me mail while I am in Alaska...basically through september then the address is as follows:

Cruise line agencies-Juneau
1330 Eastaugh Way #4
Juneau Alaska 99801 USA

MS Zaandam
Attn: Cruise Director
Brad Southards

I look forward to hearing from you all! Remember you can always e-mail me to at Bradscoffee@gmail.com! Love you guys!

I also uploaded a picture of our ship and our show room and opening night of on the air with Ashley Bell!

Opening Night!

2011
Friday, June 17

Well It is Friday Night and it is formal night aboard the Zaandam! We are sailing to our last destination for this stretch. Tonight we are opening our show On The Air. It is replacing Hit the Deck, which left with the old cast! We brought on The Air on board with us so most of the crew have never seen this show. It is new to everyone, so I am assuming the officers will be coming tonight to see what the "new" show is all about.  Our final dress went really well this afternoon! At that time the boat was not rocking at all, but now since we are in larger open waters the ship for the last hour has been rocking quite a bit. I am hoping the captain decides to turn the stabilizers on during the show. It would be real embarrassing to fall over or off the stage during our premier.

I am currently eating some Kashi oatmeal and Fiber One Cereal for dinner. Sounds like a real winner right? I went upstairs to the Lido but quickly retreated to my cabin after being confused about the dining situation. I guess I will have some good carbs in my system for the show. I am so thankful I got to stock up on Peanut Butter and other essential items back in Juneau. It makes nights like tonight very live-able=) It also makes me feel like I am living a normal life instead of having every meal prepared for me.

Today we sailed through Glacier Bay. It was really beautiful. I didn't take any pictures this time around since we were having our final dress, but we will be back through 20 more times. I will snap some shots of the glaciers then. After our dress rehearsal I sat in the Explorations Cafe (our coffee shop on board) and coffee with my friend Ashley. We reminisced about old holiday traditions with our parents. It was good times while drifting by the snow covered peaks. She is wonderful and I am so glad we are doing this contract together. She is like this little ray of sunshine that walks around brightening people's day. When our coffee was finished we headed back to my room and watched our recording of Southern Nights!!!! I was so proud of my cast... we looked and sounded great for only having learned the show a week and a half ago. The copy belongs to our dance captain and she was nice enough to let us watch it.

Well I have to run and get ready to premier our show. I'm so excited about this one. The energy tonight is going to be amazing and I hope the audience responds the way I am hoping. GET IT!!!!!!!!!

Greetings from Juneau

Wow! What a day! I just had an amazing breathtaking moment in The Crow's Nest. It is like the night lounge on my ship. We were leaving Juneau and traveling through a passage surrounded by mountains. There was a full moon over the water reflecting a beautiful glow towards our ship. The mountains were just dusted with snow. I sat and sipped on a Raspberry Champagne Dream, a signature drink on the Holland America line, which only cost me 3 dollars with my discount. It was a priceless moment with two of my cast mates Brittney and Liz. Right before sitting down we mingled with a few passengers. We got some great feedback from our opening show, Southern Nights, The guests really seemed to enjoy our show. They were pleased at how wholesome our shows were compared to some other cruise shows they had seen. I guess we like to keep it classy here on our fleet.

Since I last wrote we opened our first show and have begun blocking our next production number "On the Air"! It is a 50's, 60's, and 70's variety show. Some of my moments include: Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, All Shook Up, Twist and Shout, You're just To Good To be True, Sometimes When We Touch, and Rubberband Man...one of my favorties=) The show flies by because it is full of energy. Overall the show vocally shows me off because of the amount of ballads I get to sing. I enjoy On The Air a lot, our dancers are drenched by the end because it is nonstop marathon dancing for them.

Things have begun to slow down a little which is wonderful. I have been able to get some more sleep and hopefully will be able to get back to the gym soon. I am hoping to sit down and post some pictures soon. Today in Juneau I got to go to Wal Mart with Liz. We took a shuttle from the port to the store and it only cost us 7 bucks a person. I wanted to pick up some bedding to make my room feel a little more like home. Mission Accomplished!!!! I also was able to pick up some almond milk, which is wonderful for my lactose intolerant self, and a few other snacky items when I am too lazy to put on passenger friendly clothes to eat in the Lido. Liz and I had to catch the bus back to the port and boy was it an experience. We met some of the craziest locals at the bus stop and drove around some pretty sad areas of Juneau. I never realized how simply the people around here lived. Most houses I saw were on level ranchers or mobile housing units, They looked run down and all i could think was, " how do these people live like this when it is winter?". Liz and I had a good laugh about this one man we met who seemed to be on some top secret mission (wink, wink). He was convinced he was going to uncover somthing big I believe, I think he was personally just a nut case. He asked if I was Liz's man and she answered with a resounding yes...haha. She was getting a little nervous about his behavior, but I could tell he was just a harmless coo coo!

We had the night off from rehearsals and our ship set sail at 10pm, we are headed for Skagway!!!! Back on board the cast got all dressed up and went out for drinks at the Officer bar and then some of us proceeded up to The Crow's Nest to mingle a bit. The Hal Cats (our band on board) were playing a set. We danced a little and just enjoyed the evening together with friends. It was perfect!

I think the hardest thing so far about being new to a ship is learning everyone's name that you meet. I work with over 600 crew members and trying to learn names is crazy. Just like anywhere else it is important to make connections with people through out your ship because it makes your contract so much easier. I am so thankful to be traveling and singing. Tonight while I was dancing with my friend Ashley, she is fabulous, I realized that the next 8 months were going to be a journey unlike any other, Im READY!!!!!!

love and miss you all!

I'd rather be sailing...

Well, I survived the first day aboard ship. The day began at 5:30 am at the Airport Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver, B.C.. Our shuttle was scheduled to leave at 6:30 am. Of course I had to make sure I had time to get coffee before heading out or the day would have been off to a terrible start. There were about 46 people embarking on the ship the same day as our cast. Holland America picked us up in a charter bus and we all rode to the port together. While on the bus I met one of our EMO (an Emergency Medical Officer) her name was Weng, She was so friendly and bubbly that some of my anxious nerves were soothed just by talking to her. This was her third year with Holland America.

Liz and I sat next to each other and talked about all our excitement while driving to the port. She is one of our dancers and is from Orlando, FL. This is her first cruise contract as well. Vancouver is beautiful and the drive to the port was incredible. Downtown Van. has many sky rise apartments on the waterfront. The city as a whole looks very modern and with the mountains framing the city it is quite gorgeous.

Once we reached the port we had to wait around and fill out some paperwork before boarding. Our first meeting on board started at 8:30 am. Like any job, on top of performing and rehearsing, we have to go through orientation for Holland America. It is quite a bit of information overload for those new to the industry. There are rules and safety regulations for everything! Since we are surrounded by water 98% of the time, the captain and crew officers want to make sure that we are keeping the environment clean and putting safety first since our lives kinda depend on working together as a team unit. To put it easy...we have TONS of meetings and drills. After our welcome aboard orientation, I had to report to the theatre for costume fittings for our welcome aboard show, "Let Us Entertain You". This process went really fast since most of us had only one costume for this show. Once fittings were completed, we had to block our show on the stage and then do a full run-through. We finished the run through without and big problems and then we were dismissed for lunch.

Dinning on the ship is nice. We eat the majority of our meals in the Lido, which is the casual dinning area for passengers. There is a lot of variety, but I am sure after a few months the variety won't really seem like "variety" anymore. At the moment it is perfect because it is all so new!

Now instead of boring you with all the small details of the day I will give you the highlights:
    I had my first boat drill! I am a traffic director on Deck 6 and I have to tell all passengers to report to Deck 3...EASY!
    We did our first tech run of LUEY with lights and sounds. It was a terrible dress for me, but as they say its best to have a bad dress so you have a great opening=)
    I met the Captain... his name is Jan, pronounced Yawn. He was very kind and hoped that my time on board would be an excellent one. Everyone I have met has been very friendly for the most part. Some of the crew tend to not like the cast members too much because we work so little on the ship and get treated like gold. What they don't always understand is that we have spent our entire lives training for this and they usually only factor in our time spent working on board.
    We had a great opening show at 9:30 pm!!! I was so proud of my cast. The only glitch was a music que cutting out and it came in about 6 counts later. It kinda threw us for a loop onstage but we all recovered. Ironically, it was the first time they had ever had that problem during the show. It figures that it had to be our casts first show! During the opening I sing Signed, Sealed, Delivered, at first I was not to thrilled about this, but after putting it on it's feet onstage I really enjoyed it. The crowd response was excellent! This cruise there are quite a bit of young people aboard, most Holland America cruises cater towards the 50+ market. However, with summer here more families will be around until August!
    I experienced my first go around at the late night buffet! I was really good though and only had salad....AND 2 cookies (of course). I felt like I needed the sugar to get through our late night rehearsal.
    We started blocking our 1st production show at midnight. We are mounting Souther Nights first. It is a review of old school blues, rock'n roll, and country. Think New Orleans style with a bit of musical theatre thrown in. Thankfully, Gavin let us out at 1:30am.

    After an incredibly long day and information overload I retired to my cabin. It is HUGE for a crew cabin. I am really excited about making it feel like home once I have some time to get off the ship and buy a comforter and a few other small items. I will post pics when I get some down time. Internet is not too expensive, I can purchase 460 minutes for 40 dollars. I am finding ways to make the best use of my time on-line, such as writing my blogs in word off-line and then just copying and pasting them once I am signed on. I am doing the same routine for my e-mails too. I think I finally crawled into bed around 2:15am. I was hoping to sleep like a baby, but I think my body is in a little environmental shock. Needless to say I kinda tossed and turned all night. I woke up at 8 am to make it to another safety meeting before heading to rehearsal. And I am currently watching the dancers block there numbers while I type.

Overall, it was a wonderful first day onboard. I am excited about settling in and meeting more of the crew. Plus, Southern Nights is one of my favorite shows! The next 2 days of rehearsals, blocking, and runs will be really fun. We open the show tomorrow night, one at 8 and the later seating at 10pm. I think I have been too busy to really be homesick yet and everything is still too new and exciting. I do miss having my cell phone on and around all the time. It is quite the adjustment, but I am sure it will help me be more creative with my time and communication! Alright, this has become a long entry. More to come later on!

-bradley

Here I Go!!!!!!!!

Im leaving on a jet plane..dont know when I'll be back again! Wow, words can not express how excited I am to be sitting on my plane right now. My cast and I left our apartments at 4:30 AM this morning to catch our 7:00 AM flight to Vancouver! It was an incredibly short night for all of us due to packing and cleaning after we got out of our final rehearsal around 6 the night before. I am running on only 2 hours of sleep and unlike my other cast mates who are dreaming away at the moment, I am sitting here twiddling my thumbs and pondering if this is really happening right now. Am I actually heading out to sea to live on a ship and sing while traveling all over the world? I mean in my mind it kinda seems unreal.

I am relieved to have made it through the rehearsal process. I had heard some scary stories about people being let go during rehearsals if they were not cutting it. Stiletto Entertainment runs a tight rehearsal process. We worked 6 days a week from 10-6 and learned 4 production shows and one welcome aboard shows (we call em bumpers) in a little under a month. I didn't want to get too excited about things before I actually boarded the ship because I was fearful of not making it all the way through rehearsals. Leave it to me to always expect the worse so I can feel amazing when things turn out better. Now the excitement is beginning to flow and I couldn't be happier.

I feel incredibly blessed to be working with my cast. They are all wonderfully talented and during rehearsals I remember thinking, "how did I end up here, with all of this talent?". My mom had to remind me that I was just as talented or I would not have been there...she is wonderful and always knows how to make me feel valuable. We all get along quite well for 10 complete strangers who all lived together in a 3 bedroom apartment (talk about the Real World), thrown into rehearsals, and then added stress from learning all our material. We knew we had to stick together and I have grown to love my cast because everyone is easy going and bring something unique to the mix. Later I will do a meet and greet so you all can see who I am working with and it will give me something to write about while I am quarantined at sea=)

I am ready now to grow as an artist and performer. My vocal coaches, Doug and Jubel, have already taken me to a new place vocally (this would be a good place to mention that we had the best teachers during rehearsals. Casey, Gavin, and Erika were just a pleasure to work with as well as my vocal coaches. Stiletto makes you feel like family!). Now back to my thought, I want to push myself further in the entertainment industry and understand my full potential as a vocalist. I also want to grow in culture. I am looking forward to meeting all of the people who are going to cross my path over the next 8 months. My crew, the passengers, all the unique people at my ports...I have such an amazing opportunity to invest in so many people and learn about living life to the fullest. Seeing things from different perspectives and taking in spectacular moments of value, laughter, faith, hope, and love in the human life.

I am so thankful that the Lord has placed me here for the next chapter of my life. I want to continue to dream and continue to set goals for myself. Last April, I told myself that I was going to do a cruise ship within the next year. One month past the year mark I started rehearsals for my ship. It is an incredible feeling to accomplish a goal. It ignites a passion within me to keep going. I couldn't do it any of it without the support of my friends and family. I am so grateful for all of you.

We arrive in Vancouver at 9:45 AM and have the whole day to rest and prepare for the crazy schedule of cast change over on the ship. I hear it is pretty intense with little sleep and lots of blocking and tech runs. I am ready to get in costumes and play on the set with lights and sound. I am most excited about having an audience to captivate and share the beautiful gift of music. The exchange of energy that occurs between the entertainers and the audience is invigorating to me. It makes me love what I do. To put smiles on the faces of many and brighten the spirits of the over worked human life. It is time to enjoy! Time to bring it....GET IT ZAANDAM cast! Time to begin an incredible journey!

till next time
-bradley