Caribbean Princess
At Sea/Atlantic Ocean
January 29, 2023
80F, sunny
The violinists play “You Give Me Fever” in the background as I write, a very compelling version. My table at the Good Spirits Bar in the Piazza overlooks the ocean, its seas seething with 5 foot swells. The ship does not care as it sails along.
Even though I don’t like to be negative in this blog, I do have to comment about how cold the ship is. We thought we left Pennsylvania, the snow, and freezing temperatures behind. Just minutes ago I “escaped” the pool area to our stateroom to turn the thermometer up so I could warm up. The thermometer was stuck at VERY COLD. The whole ship seems to be stuck at VERY COLD. I am not the only one who thinks this way. TK used to be always warm, but since his year long “issue,” he is cold too. I notice others wearing coats inside the ship. I called the front desk and we shall see how this plays out. The violinists are playing “Summertime” now to warm me up.
On the other hand, I just found an electrical outlet at the table I am sitting at—wow, that is very rare! We only have one outlet in our stateroom that works with American wires. And some readers might wonder why I don’t go outdoors—it is very windy but beautifully sunny. It is not quite so cold here on Deck 5.
This morning we attended the “Secrets of Entertainment at Sea” presentation to learn more about how such spectacular stage shows are produced. Of course, the whole process begins with the ship building. The Princess Theater in the Caribbean Princess cost $22 million to equip.
The stage backgrounds are often done with LED video walls. Each ship has 4 to 8 shows that can be available during the cruise, depending on the length of the cruise. All production sets must be no bigger than 6 ft. by 8 ft. to fit in the cargo door and cranes are used to hoist them in. The sets are then built for the individual stage onboard—on a moving ship, on the ocean.
Casting calls are worldwide (NYC, LA, London, etc.) and highly competitive, and performers covet cruise jobs. There are 18 Princess vessels with 18 different casts. After performers are selected, they go to a rehearsal studio in Santa Clarita outside Los Angeles to learn 4-5 different productions over 4-6 weeks. After this training the performers join a ship.
Costumes are made by Silvia’s
Costumes in LA (http://www.silviascostumes.com/), about 100 for each production—a
process that takes 2 months. This is the same place that makes (or made)
costumes for Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson.
The shows themselves cost ½ million to 4 million each to produce and are done by Great Lakes Productions in Canada. I could not find them on the Internet.
Today, the audience met Alicia, the cast manager for 10 years; Chi, the vocal captain for 12 years, both from Australia; and Jacob, the production manager for 7 years, from Florida.
Other things I learned from Alicia,
Chi, and Jacob:
- Safety is first
- LED lights are not hot, in the past the lights were like heat lamps
- Audio panel is huge and can be programmed so that voices are deep, cartoonish, etc.
- Performers have less than 1 minute to change costumes—17 seconds to change shoes and costume
- The lead singer has 12 dozen costumes
- A seamstress fits all of the cast before a new production begins, then the performers are on their own for repairs. The costumes are sewn to be sturdy. When new performers take over, the costumes are taken in or out.
- The stage area goes from Deck 5 to Deck 9 to accommodate the pit, lifts, the dressing room (no modesty-male and female both use it), laundry, the automated costume rack for 1500 costumes, set storage,
- 10 dancers
- 4 featured singers
- There is no lip syncing
- 13 technicians for audio, lighting, mechanics
- 9 tracks on the stage to automatically move sets
- It takes 2-3 years to develop a show (script, songs, make the set, choreograph, teach, rehearse)
- A show’s longevity is 3-6 years, depending on popularity
- Each of the speakers has a BFA (technical theater, production, classical music)
- There is a green light backstage to indicate the stage is safe, a red light to indicate the pit is open, don’t step into it
I love the violinists--------------------I wish you could hear them, "Sounds of Silence." The music soothes me.
Today is Football Sunday and I am
sure delicious food is cooking at Brian’s. The ship is prepared for the playoffs
tonight—Buffalo did not make it, so my pick is Philadelphia.
After dinner---
Dinner was tasty, sirloin for me, scallops for TK. Cherries Jubilee was good too.
Right after dinner I went to the Explorer Lounge to see tonight’s comedian, Carl Strong. He was hilarious and I hope he comes to Erie. (https://carlstrong.com/).
TK watched the Bengals vs. Chiefs “under the stars.” I am happy to say that the Eagles won today so when we are on the next cruise I have someone to cheer for in the Super Bowl!
When we returned
to the room after dinner, the comedian, and football, the AC was fixed, end of drama!! Except for the VERY COLD
temperature in the rest of the ship. Tomorrow we will definitely warm up in St.
Thomas, not just from the heat but from running around, jewelry store to jewelry
store.
TK’s Takes:
He went to the front desk about the thermometer in our room. The
technician is busy. It is better that TK went instead of me… TK is baffled by the art auctions on board ships--
Sorry about the cold, do they have extra blankets in the rooms? I always use extra blankets when we are at the resorts, keep the room about 70.
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