Holiday Cheer

Sydney Opera House, Harbor Bridge and the Zaandam

Merry Christmas!!! We are only 6 days away from celebrating one of the biggest holidays of the year. The Zaandam is trying it’s hardest to get into the spirit of things, but I will be honest in saying that the Christmas decorations on board this year are a little disappointing. In past years, the cruise ship company has hired a company to come in to decorate their ships. Due to budget cuts this year they decided to try to do it in house….hahaha bless their hearts they need a little help. I am thankful though to have decorations around the ship. There is a little train that runs around the atrium organ surrounded by gingerbread houses, just imagine it, no picture necessary…it may ruin the moment=) We had our first rehearsal for our big Christmas Eve concert. The Indonesian, Filipino, and International choirs participate in the event followed by a mixer in the Pinnacle Grill at midnight. I think it is going to be a lot of fun to share the stage with all my co-workers and celebrate the season together….hey, they are my family at the moment. Our choir is singing, O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, It’s the Most Wonderful time of the Year, and Jingle Bells. Michael also asked me to sing a solo piece with just the piano for transition purposes. And I believe I am going to sing “I’ll be Home for Christmas”…it fits nicely for where I am this year, 1,000s of miles away from home and my loved ones. The cast is participating with holiday festivities as well. We are currently playing secret santa with each other and during the Christmas eve afternoon we are performing a cabaret. All of us got to pick songs to sing and the dancers are working on a few numbers too. I am singing “O Holy Night” and “Happy Holiday”. I have always wanted to sing O Holy Night and I am thankful that I get the chance to do so this year.

The cast also had a 12 shots of Christmas party. We all created a Christmas shot and starting in the Captain’s quarters, the event manager’s cabin, and our cruise director’s cabin we went to everyone’s room and visited, snacked, and took a holiday shot. Ya know what they say about mixing though? I ended up not holding my liquor too well and got sick, but it was probably for the best since I had a show the following day. It was the easiest way to get it out of my system. It really was a special night to have with friends and celebrate. How many people get to hang out with their captain, event manager, and cruise director and enjoy themselves. Good times. Tonight is Meg’s birthday and we are celebrating with another holiday theme party. I am sure I will post pictures soon! The weirdest part about the holiday season this year is not being bombarded by the commercialization of the season.

Auckland Coffee Shop

Currently we are sailing in the South Pacific to some tiny islands, and although there is Christmas music in some of the shops that have them, it is nothing like home. I like the change of pace. Most of the islands we visit on this run have about 100 residents living on them. They are beautiful white sand beaches with azure waters splashing up on the shore. Today we were in Lifou and I saw one of the most beautiful reefs I have snorkeled in to date. Colorful fish were everywhere and the reef kept going and going. I also took a hike up to the highest point on the island where the locals were refurbishing a church. The view was incredibly beautiful featuring our ship, the coast, and both sides of the island…totally cool.

I haven’t written in about 2 weeks due to being out of my room so much. Most of the places on our itinerary we only visit once from here on out so I am trying to enjoy the places as much as I can. Our trip to New Zealand finished great. I hope to go back to New Zealand and do some back-packing.

Me inside the Zorb

The locals say that February is the best time to come and backpack, because the weather is perfect. Some of my highlights from the latter part of my trip was my visit to the Glow-worm caves, enjoying some delicious coffee in Auckland, ZORBing with the cast in Rotorua. ZORBing was the best day of the trip by far because of the adventure of the day. We all chipped in and rented a car to drive the hour trek to Rotorua from Tauranga. It was Missy’s first time driving on the other side of the road, so that was an adventure all on it’s own. Once we arrived at the site to ZORB, it just got better. We all purchased 3 rides down the hill. They put you in a huge plastic ball and basically roll you down the hill. There is a dry one and a wet one.The dry one you are strapped in so you are literally flipping head over heels about 17 full rotations on your way down. The water ones you can do with multiple people, and the course choices vary from straight down to zig-zag, to the drop. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard in my life when Joey, our acupuncturist on board, and I went down together. I filmed a video from a waterproof camera and our faces light up with pure joy the entire ride down. We finished the day by having lunch at this little pub called the Pig-N-Whistle and the food was a home run! I had a delicious Lamb burger with amazing curly fries! I took a photo and if I can I will post it.

Sea life at the aquarium

I also got spend another awesome day in Sydney and I crammed as much as I could into the day. Meagan, our life stylist on board is form Australia, and she wanted to make sure I had the true Aussie experience. She bought Ray and I passes to the Sydney Aquarium and the Wild Life Park in Darling Harbor. Before going to explore the 2 attractions we all went to have breakfast at this famous places “Pancakes on the Rocks”. This place had any type of pancake you could possibly think of and to make the experience that much better most of them are served with ice-cream….YUM! I ended up getting the Macadamia Nut pancakes…excellent choice! Then Ray, Joey, and I headed to the aquarium. It was a great day overall. Ray let me use his wonderful digital SLR camera to get some pictures of Darling Harbor. Hanging out with Ray is always easy…one of those friends where the silence isn’t uncomfortable and I am very thankful that he is on this contract. We ate lunch at this killer little place right on the edge of the harbor called Pontoon. We both had burgers and chips (what the Aussie’s call fries). After lunch we headed to the Wild life park and encountered some of Australia’s most dangerous and loveable animals up close. I think my favorite was the lazy wombat although the kolas were very cute. The day was complete with a stop at swank little café that specialized in chocolate EVERYTHING!!!! I had a flat white and Ray got an intensely rich mocha….it was the perfect ending. I truly heart Sydney and I hope I get to return in the future. I keep telling Meagan that I am coming to visit as soon as I can afford the plane ticket=)

Darling Harbor 

Our cruisers are a younger crowd this cruise and we have over 120 teens on board for the South pacific run. I like the mixed aged cruises…they are just a little bit more livelier. I have met some really great guests this trip and it will be sad to see them go. Luckily, a few of them are staying on for the Christmas cruise.

Well that is all the updates for now! I hope everyone is really getting into the season and sharing a lovely time with friends and family! I miss having my cell phone to communicate with all of you, but to those of you who have called my room to say hello…thank you…it makes me feel a little closer to home! MERRY CHRISTMAS in only 5 days!!! As I finish this post I am feeling more in the spirit of things when I started because my heart is thankful for my career, my friends, my incredible family who support me in all my crazy endeavors, and for all the amazing gifts God has placed in my life. I am blessed and I mean it! Love to you all!

And since I chatted about Ray, why don’t you get to know him a little better!

Meet Raymon!!!!!!!!!

 

Name: Raymon Tripp

Age: 25 (old and tired)

Hometown: Phoenix, AZ

Number of ship contracts: 5        

Favorite food found on board the MS Zaandam: I love the Asian food section onboard.

Favorite production show on board: My favorite show is Love Broadway, us boys get to dance a lot in this show.

What are a few things you miss while cruising at sea? I miss watching my young nieces and nephews grow up. I feel connected to my older kin via phone and email but the young ones that cant hold a conversation are very well missed.

What did you find most challenging about the rehearsal process with Stiletto? The rehearsal process is very hard on my body, particularly my old tired hips that sometimes quit working on me in the most inopportune times! For me, every second I get to get off of my feet I cherish it!!!

What was the most enjoyable aspect of rehearsals? The most enjoyable aspect is the fact that I didn’t have to do the entire rehearsal process, since I was a replacement I only had to do the last week of rehearsals!

What is your favorite feature of ship life? I love traveling and learning. Working on a ship gives me so much free time for me to learn about new technologies, study different languages, and different opportunities for photography.

What was the largest adjustment for you in adapting to ship life? The largest adjustment for me on ships is to learn to slow down. Having worked in one of the busiest places for entertainment, LA, I was always on the go from auditions to shows to side jobs and the occasional nightclubs. Working on ships definitely allows me to slow down and appreciate the subtleties of life.

Tell us a little bit about your performance background: I started performing professionally at the age of 17. I started dancing with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury Hip Hop squad during highschool then moved to California to join a musical theatre company called the Young American’s. After a year and a half of performing with them I taught dance in Bad Karlshafen Germany. I then came back to the states to do regional theatre with Musical Theatre West with the show The Pajama Game.  I performed with Riverside Ballet’s Swan Lake as the prince. I then set on to dancing with cruiseships beginning with the Volendam, Maasdam, Amsterdam, then now the Zaandam. In between contracts I had the pleasure of having some small roles in film, music videos, commercials and television, as well as performing in various theme parks in CA including Six Flags, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Disney Land.

Out of your past show credits, what has been your favorite to be a part of? I would say the company Young Americans was such a fulfilling experience, I was a singer dancer in the company and it was so nice to have shows that where written and choreographed around the individual performers.

What’s next after this contract ends? After this contract I would like to move to Las Vegas and continue performing and hopefully start a business or company. I was in negotiations with Norwegian Cruise lines and Universal Studios Japan prior to coming on my current contract so I might also look into getting into those companies as well.

What are you looking forward to the most over the next 6 ½ months? I am really looking forward to going to the greater of  Asia, There are some places I have still not been so it’s very exciting to get the opportunity.

If you could only have packed 3 items when taking this contract, even though it is impossible, what would you consider to be the most important?

My Laptop, those in the cast know I need my electronics.

My Jewelry, I love to wear my bling bling.

My Digital camera, I love taking pictures of the beautiful places