I am working, living, and dancing on Royal Caribbeans most advanced ship technically Quantum of the Seas In Asia currently.  This is my fifth contract with Royal Caribbean and the most exciting for me as a performer. Instead of dancing in the theatre this ship has a venue called Two70 which is the best venue on the ship in my opinion. Throughout the day there are 270 degrees of floor to ceiling windows on the back of the ship, so you can watch as we sail, or in port admire the views from inside. Then at night during show time the windows turn into a vistaromma of beautiful projections. The backstage is all underground, there are no wings, there are nine lifts, and four roof entrances/exits. On other contracts I’ve done two or three shows, but because the venue doesn’t seat as many people we do one show many nights during the cruise so everyone has a chance to see us. 

The show is called StarWater and I’m obsessed with it. As a normal audience member I remember watching this shows last year and being so engaged with everything that was going on because there are so many interactions with the audience, it’s visually so appealing, and the story is just so good. Now that I’m doing the show I learned more about it so I’m going to share with you some more details. 

The show Starwater starts with a Vogue section. Where we are all robots, or Ken and Barbie dolls, just doing what Society wants us to do. Society being the actual Robots that are located in the stage left upper corner of the room. We walk around the room intimidating the guest. When “Flashes” Occur these flashes are super cool dance breaks that grow from three people, to the next one, all the boys, then the girls, and the whole group then dances. The Flashes represent us breaking out, and showing our individualism. The women are all mermaids and the  Men are all star gods. We are curios about each other. The muse of the show has brought us together and is guiding the featured couple to make a decision weather or not they can be together. 

The Muse pulls are the men from the sky in and awesome Aerial routine called puppets which is too cool and looks like torture. While the mermaids come from the water on the floor and are calling out to the men. 

There is a featured couple in the show and it’s their love story. The girl does a solo where she is lost and torn between what people want her to do (the robots) vs a force she is unsure of but with help from the Muses guidance make the leap of faith toward the unknown. 

She finds the featured man coming down to her from the sky and they are scared but excited and do an aerial duet called fusion and they get together. After that then it gets hot and they cant keep off of each other so we tango for 10 minutes and it gets pretty steamy on stage. 

We then go into a silly part of the show where we are just having a good time with each other now just high from being together. Which is very Gatsby like. To finish the show we all party and have a great time with each other and invite the guest to share the fun and show them the ways of the story to break free and be individuals, make scary decisions, and enjoy life!

Theres the breakdown! haha I’m in love with it. 

Although I’m only doing this one show, we actually have four different versions of it because there are four different featured couples that rotate. It’s great, that way we can enjoy the show in different ways and it gives all our our bodies time to rest from the aerial work which is hard on your body when you do it so often. Especially the boys. The also are lifting us left and right and we do shows almost every day so it’s super important for us all to take care of our bodies. 

I had a feeling going into this contract it was going to be a good one. To do this show I thought you had to be strong and so versatile. This contract is also something a lot of people want, so I knew the group of individuals I was going to be working with had to be great, and I was right. Everyone is so professional, hard working, talented, strong, and most of all kind, good people. I just feel very lucky to be where I am right now. 

Not only am I doing an amazing show with awesome people, this ship is by far the nicest I’ve been on. It’s massive and so beautiful. I forget I’m on a ship when I go out at night in guest area. Our home port is Shanghai, China, and we are traveling to many different ports in Japan. So far we’ve been to Osaka, Nagasaki, and Okinawa. 

That's all for now 

xoxo 

Monica 

Bye January

Sorry It’s been so long, I’m trying to think of where to even start. I guess I’ll talk about where I’ve been lately. For the past month and a half we’ve been traveling to a bunch of different islands. So port days for me mean maybe get some lunch and lay on the beach. We play lots of volleyball and try not to get burnt in the sun. We kayak and one of my most favorite adventures was hiking down to a cave where there was a fresh water hole. 

Here’s a list of the islands:

Champagne Bay, Vanuatu 

Vila, Vanuatu

Lifou, Vanuatu

Nomea, New Caledonia

Isle of Pines, New Caledonia 

Mystery Island, (I don’t know) 

Our island cruises are coming to an end though so we will start going around Australia again, New Zealand and more which is exciting because last time we went to these places we were still in install so we couldn’t get off the ship. 

We still have lots of sea days and I spend those laying on the pool deck in the day, watching the shows at night and going out to dinner. It’s kind of dangerous, all the restaurants we have on board because they’re all so good. The other day ago (which apparently is a phrase I say a lot because my friends laugh at me every time I say it now…) we went to the Brazilian Meat house on board and it was amazing. There was a soup and salad bar that had everything I could possibly want, so that was a perfect start. Then they started bringing the meat out, the first of six courses was bacon wrapped chicken, They also had an assortment of sauces that were all delicious. I then ate sausage, lamb, filet, pork, and another steak. I don’t think I have ever had a piece of meat better than the filet I had that night, I also don’t think I have ever been as full as I was that night. But that might be my new favorite place. 

Speaking of new favorite places, I am currently writing this in my new favorite hideout. On the front of the ship the guest gym is on deck 12 and it’s perimeter is lined with treadmills looking out to the water. Just outside the window there is a deck and two little staircases that take you down a deck were there are a few lounge chairs and very few people which is always rare on the ship. So I will be spending more time right here. 

We recently sent in our ship request to our casting director, I picked four ships I’m interested in doing after this contract. Some in Europe one out of Seattle, and another in the Caribbean so hopefully I’ll be hearing back about that soon. One of the boys in my cast now sent in audition videos for one of the Musicals Royal does “CATS” and he just found out that he got casted in the upcoming cast which is amazing but now he has to leave this contract early. Which is sad cause I love him, but now we’ll see what happens we might just reblock the shows and be down one boy or we might get a replacement boy sent to us. 

I think that’s all for now…

Until next time

XOXO

Monica 

Highlights lately

I know I’m a terrible blogger I’m supposed to do small post with an adventure each, so sorry I'm about to type vomit what’s been happening and try to make it smallish. To begin, I’ve been to quite a few places since my last post; let's go like this …

Darwin, Australia 

Went for lunch, tried going to a crocodile exhibit but their power was out for some reason. They have this cage though that you can go in and they put you in the water and feed the crocodiles right in front of you, which sounds terrifying but also awesome to me so I might do that next time I’m there. It was a cute little place though, not much there other than shops which means I did some shopping, only bought one shirt though! 

Cairns, Australia (Yorkey’s Knob) 

This port we had to tender to and i’m not really used to that. I wasn’t the most pleasant person that morning because I woke up early thinking I could just hop off the ship and enjoy my day, but no the crew has to line up and wait until there was a tender available for us which took quite some time. Then you had to take a 20 minute shuttle to get to town. It’s a beautiful place though! I was kind of bummed because my friend Jenny and I originally bought a shore excursion to go white water rafting in the jungle (Doesn’t that sound awesome?) well that cruise happened to be full of a bunch of old people that didn’t like adventures because there was enough sign ups so they had to cancel the tour. Instead I spent the day at the water front with the other lady dancers and enjoys a few drinks and a delicious lunch. Unfortunately we were running out of time so started heading back. Let me just say I have no idea who was in charge of the crew and tendering but that day was a disaster. The crew has a certain time we’re supposed to be back on the ship and I think that day was 5 o’clock so I got to the tenders at about 2:30 The rest of the crew gathered in line behind me and we sat there until every single guest got back to the ship before us which made about 150 crew member late. Lucky for us we didn’t have a show or anything too important that night. It was just a really lame situation sitting in the hot sun for about three hours waiting to be sent back to the ship. Cairns was extremely pretty and we got our tans on. That night we had a cast dinner at chef’s table which is a 6 course meal with all the wines. With all the grossness from the day it still turned out to be a nice day because of the people I was with. 

So much for making this a quick update… Sorry!

Brisbane, Australia 

It’s the third largest city in Australia, I didn’t really check it out too much because i had scheduled plans days before to go to the Koala Sanctuary! For some reason it’s the only place where you can hold them in Australia. The was a crew tour set up and about 40 of us went. I saw so many animals I had never seen before that day. The koala’s are so cute and lazy they just snuggle up on a branch and lay there in the most uncomfortable positions, yet they some how make it comfy. I got to hold one, well I think I actually held three different ones because the first too were tired and done with their picture shift so they didn’t like me, which was kind of upsetting. But the third guy didn’t seemed to mind me. I though they would be softer but they were still super cute and such a cool experience to have had. Oh my gosh, I can’t forget my favorite part; I walk into a gated field saw the huge Emoo that was really intimidating but just over the hill behind the bird I saw a field full of kangaroos and Wallabies, I couldn’t believe it. I was intimidated by some of them too there we’re some pretty jacked ones that looked like they could definitely knock me out, then there were some little guys too but they were very friendly actually. They would eat right out of my hand and you could sit with them and pet them. It was really cool, I’m happy I did that.

Sydney, Australia

I LOVE SYDNEY. It’s just such a beautiful city with everything I need. I think this time I just went to lunch and bought some make up. Mostly just walked around and checked it out. We didn’t have too much time because we had to stay on the ship in the morning and sanitize before the new guest signed on which always takes up quite some time.

Noumea, New Caledonia

This was a fun day, I got some lunch… everything is french here I have no idea what the currency but meal was 3,000 something. Which ended up being about 40 AUD. Anyways that was one of my first beach days and it was lovely very pretty and warm but not too hot. It was a nice nice. 

Isle of Pine, New Caledonia

My goodness, is this place like heaven. It was a perfect paradise. Just beautiful white sand and clear turquoise water, cliffs, and caves, palm and pine trees. Just perfect, in the middle of no where with nothing but beach and a little hut that had food and drinks. Buzzing in paradise with good company made for a great day. Plus I get to go back in five days and I can’t wait. 

Sydney, Australia

Back to Sydney got some brunch by the water front and internet. Shopped for me secret santa enjoyed a pub on the way back. Great Day.

and now I am currently in 

Hobart, Tasmania 

We had heard that the Tasmanian waters are crazy, but wow I really never expected it to be as bad as it was. Yesterday we were on our way here and we were supposed to have shows that night, we had a tech run in the morning but it just wasn’t safe. Quite humorous actually, feeling like you’re 2 pounds one second and 200 hundred the next. Not only that but about half of the cast started getting sick, needless to say the shows were canceled last night and now we are going to perform them tonight. 

We have lot’s of sea days because it takes awhile to travel to these places, recently those days have been spent learning how to be a magicians assistant. His name is Leo and his show is awesome full of comedy and great illusions which I am now a part of. So far we’ve performed once and all our friends came to support us. It’s really cool, all rock themed and leather and I do a couple of tricks were I disappear and he puts swords through the box then suddenly I’m back to normal… that kind of stuff. So that’s fun. 

The girl I’ve been rooming with finished her contract and I now have my own room! Which is basically unheard of and it’s awesome. I finally got the package my mom sent me of bedding so I on the bottom bunk now with the cutest and comfiest bed. 

Basically everything is great and I’ve been really happy lately. Although it doesn’t feel as christmasy as home, it’s still a great time.

I think that’s all for now.

Friends and Fam I’m always thinking of you, and hope you’re all great too. 

Until next time,

XOXO 

Monica ;)

And we're done with Install!

Hello again,
After twenty one days of being in install on the ship we have finally opened all three of our shows the install team has left and I have freedom now. It was such a long process this time compared to my last contract because well instead of two shows I have three. Also, the theatre has been having so many technical difficulties even before we got here that it was very difficult to be able to run through a show without something technically going wrong. To top that off the ocean down under is bonkers and we have no stabilizers on this ship which makes it hard to stand or walk therefore dancing and trying to be good at it is pretty ridiculous.

But… we made it through! All opening nights of our shows went great! Unfortunately we have been so busy I haven’t been able to enjoy getting off of the ship in all of the ports, but the places I have been so far were awesome. I think the first time I got of the ship was in Dunedin, New Zealand but I only had about 45 minutes before I had to get back on board so I called my mom and sister checked in real quick. From what I saw of New Zealand on the ship was beautiful, just cliffs, and hills, and greenery. Then we passed through a couple of sounds one days that was absolutely gorgeous, cliffs of green beauty, waterfalls… I just found myself so impressed with the world that day. The next port I got off in was Melbourne, Sydney which was awesome super cute and trendy, nice architecture. Great coffee spots, the weather that day was cooler which reminded me of home. Last week I got off in Perth, Australia and it was super cool, so trendy. I wish I had more time there but unfortunately the cruise before had a lot of sick guest so we spent that morning cleaning the whole ship before the new guest arrived and that ended up taking up quite a bit of time. Now moving onto yesterday’s port in Bali; It was so awesome it was my first day off and first day being out of install. I really wanted to ride elephants in Bali because I love them first of all and if I’m gonna ride an elephant I would prefer it to be in the jungle of Bali. So a couple friends and I adventured out of the port to and Elephant camp that was beautiful and peaceful, the elephants were a little different than I was used to they had more hair and were a little smaller but still super awesome. For some reason I thought the ride would be a little more graceful but I should have known better sitting on top of an elephant while she walked downhill wouldn’t be that smooth. It was so cool and the people taking us around we so nice and fun too. After our ride they gave us lunch and we had to head back to the ship. It was kind of far away so we didn’t have much time to do anything else but we did see a lot in the car ride. Some other people went to a monkey forrest and the monkeys just crawled all over them especially when they had bananas! We get to go back to Bali in March so I might do that next time.

So far the ship has been great, and I really like most people here. I’ve been trying to take more pictures most of them are all on my Facebook if ya want to check them out. But there’s my update for ya.

I’m so excited to continue this adventure I already have a few plans for the next stops, I’ll be sure to write about them.
Until next time,
xoxo
Momo on a boat ;)

Three Flights In Thirty Hours

Leads me to writing this blog. Just a little catch up, on Tuesday we did our office run and it was amazing we had a pretty full audience, that went well, and most of all it was a relief to be done with rehearsals. After we cleaned up the studio we decided to celebrate at a near by park that has food trucks everywhere on Tuesday’s which was awesome. There were so many different kinds of food, I wasn’t too adventurous that evening but most of us found things we enjoyed such as grilled cheese, pizza, ice cream, doughnuts. I figured I might as well eat like an American while I’m still here. 

Wednesday, we had off which was perfect I really needed that day to organize my things and re pack. Today has been a pleasant surprise so far! Normally going to the airport can be a bit stressful especially when you are going to be traveling for thirty hours and have over weight bags… I don’t know what happened this morning but somehow the world was giving me good vibes. I got away with only paying for one bag which ended up being $100.00 and really because it was over weight I should have payed $300.00 so that was amazing! I’ve also never traveled with a group of eleven other people and so far it’s been nice. Although we don’t get to sit next to each other on the flights we’re hoping maybe for the last flight that’s fifteen hours someone will be nice and switch seats. 

Looks like I wrote too soon! On my second flight I got lucky enough to sit next to Emily AND Jose in the last row on the plane. Also, because I have my new beautiful Macbook Pro (which I still need to name) I was able to stay awake watching Center Stage and Maleficent, two of my most favorite movies.

Now I’m sitting at the San Fransisco airport charging up while I have a four hour layover before the last and longest flight! Still doesn't seem like I’m on my way to Australia right now! I’m hoping since I’ve been up all day and only slept for three-ish hours last night I’ll be able to pass out on this next flight and wake up in Australia! Oooo yeah, super exciting I just bought a ticket to go see “Anything Goes” at the Sydney Opera House… what is my life right now?! :) Well now I’m even more excited to get there. We should arrive in the morning and check in to a hotel in Sydney, freshen up go watch and show, then sign on the ship the next morning! Install is about to be crazy but like one of my directors said if we ever find ourselves stressed, sad, lonely, or whatever just say fuck it I’m in Australia. 

I’ll end on that note.

Until next time,

XOXO 

Monica 

Rehearsals are coming to an end!

Hello again! 

Exciting news, I got my first Macbook Pro and I am so in love! Not only is this fun for me to write to ya’ll and tell you what’s new with me, but it’s even better writing it out on my Macbook Pro! 

Just to play a little catch up… I’ve been living in North Miami for the last six weeks at Florida International University in dorms with other Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise line performers. The productions studio where I work is about a five minute walk away and it is beautiful! It’s the largest production studio in America, about 130,000 square feet! 

There are twelve of us in the cast and these past six weeks we have learned three production shows. The first is called “City of Dreams” which has been a Royal Caribbean show for the past ten years or so but it’s a love story for the Girl one and Boy one singers. The rest of us paint the picture of the scene which takes you around the world from Atlantis, Bombay, Beijing, and Venice. It’s a roller coaster of colors and emotions, but a beautiful show. The second show we learned was “Piano Man” which i’m sure you’ve guest it is a celebration of music from Elton John, Harold Arlen, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, to Barry Manilow. I think this one is my favorite to do so far… The last show we learned is “Tango Buenos Aires” which is entirely a tango show. The stars of the show are a featured tango couple for Argentina which we have yet to meet, but we hear are amazing! This show was fun to learn because it’s so authentic, the music is beautiful, i’ve never done tango before so I now know so new moves, and we learned how passionate tango can be! 

This upcoming week is kind of a big deal. Monday we get to move to the “Finishing Studio” which is huge and has lights and seats for everyone to come watch us in. We’ll do one of our shows that day as our Unofficial run for the office to check us out and anyone else that can attend. Then Tuesday’s the big day, every cast has an office run to show off what you’ve been working on before you leave for the ship. Somehow our office run has turned into an “Event” as if is wasn't already a big performance, now it’s a BIG deal because people from Royal Caribbean corporate are coming to check Royal Caribbean Productions which just so happens to be us. Which is great, the more the merrier, right? Then we’re done, which is amazing. Wednesday we have off to pack and get ready to fly to Sydney, Australia on Thursday October 29th. 

Once we get to Australia which will take about 25 hours we have an over night in Sydney, then join Radiance of the Seas in the morning of November 1st. From there our first cruise is 15 nights long and we will be installing the shows on the ship getting costumes, wigs, and rehearsing until we can open all three shows! After that we just get to enjoy traveling to places I never thought i’d go to on a beautiful ship with awesome people and every couple of nights perform a few shows. 

It’s been pretty crazy the past six weeks, we are all very ready to get on the ship. There are always days where I've been exhausted mentally and physically, but being able to tell myself it’s worth it because I love to dance and I love my job is really incredible. I’m so proud of our cast for creating a community to perform together and working our asses off when we are so tired. I can’t wait to spend the next six months with them and I am so excited for the memories we’re going to make. 

Now that I have my Macbook I was thinking of making some video blogs. We’ll see how that works out. But thanks for reading, I promise to try to be a good blogger this time around! :) 

Until next time…

XOXO 

Monica 

Welcome!

To whomever actually reads my blog,

I got a second contract with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line! I will be on the Radiance of the Seas which travels to Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and more! For now I am headed to Miami for rehearsals for six weeks. Most of you probably know all of this because most of you are my family... (shout out to you guys) and if you're not family than you're pretty awesome too cause you must have thought I was interesting enough to check out so thanks to all of ya'll.

I realized I didn't do a very good job as a blogger my last contract so i'm gonna try to be better and post more often which will be great for me because it will force me to take more pictures (which i'm also not so good at) and for those of you that care or are interested in what I'm doing you can keep up! :) 

I'm super excited for this contract to start and to be able to share it with you!

Cheers,

Monica