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DANCE101 BLOG
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| This blog is a personal account of the journey of Paul Zaidman and Cheryl Smith dating back to March 2005 when we first were recruited to sail onboard the QE2 as dancers, performers and teachers.
What started as a 4 month contract turned into almost two years as we progressed to the number 1 cruiseline, Crystal Cruises. This blog was updated regularly with photos and stories.
We are now back in Melbourne Australia and heading off to Israel for a wedding & holiday in Tel Aviv. (June 14 - July 1, 2010) |
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Onboard the Crystal Symphony - March 20, 2010
It takes alot of effort to get onboard (for the day) on the No.1 Luxury Cruiseliner in the World! But the DANCE101 team managed to spend all day onboard this magnificent ship and it was worth all the hard work!
Before we even took our first seat, Kelly Smith downed two full sized icecreams plus five very large chocolate chip cookies! I was concerned about her staying power, even though she was the youngest of the group, that much sugar so early in the day was bound to land somewhere, afterall, this is not a sprinters game!
Being onboard a Crystal Cruiseship is a stayers game, the food comes at you thick and fast, all day every day; its all so tantalising and its remarkable how you can be full as a goog and then some handsome waiter puts another delicious looking morcel in front of your nose and then your'e hungry again! |
First stop onboard this glorious ship was the Crystal Coffee Shop called The Bistro, with its 20th Anniversay china, loads of caffeine and we were ready for our big day. Several tours later (Cheryl the smart one with flat shoes) and we had worked up an appetite so it was off to the Burger Bar for some 1st Class Beef Burgers, served American Style with orange cheese and chewy gerkins.
With another intake of DANCE101 teachers, Cheryl was busier than a One Armed Pakistani Taxi Driver with Crabs! Up, down the lift, more ship tours and of course a stop at the icecream bar and the burger bar. The Cruise Director (Scott Peterson) heard we were on board and sent his wishes up to the top deck of the ship.
Of course all this eating makes you hungry so we headed off to High Tea in the upper decks (Palm Court); Silver Service all the way, 8 waiters to our group of 9 people, white gloves serving cucumber sandwiches and lovely tea in fine bone china cups! Ahhhh I am in heaven at High Tea!
Dinner was next up in the formal dining room with more silver cutlery than we knew what to do with. Dressed to the nines our group made a very handsome entrance and set about lightening the very heavy cargo of the Crystal Symphony. 8 Courses later, 5 bottles of wine and we suddenly found our table surrounded by lots of large men in white jackets (thank god they were waiters) all standing to attention. With the short sharp stroke of the arm from the head waiter, they all started, in wonderful Eastern Block unison.... "Yappy Bursday tiue yiue.... yappy bursday tiue yiue...." Lauren, the birsday girl, was flushed with excitement as she turned to see more handsome men than she could poke Scotts stick at (no pun intended) and we all clapped, cheered and felt very priviledged indeed.
Ok, so now we needed a rest.... and what better place to catch a nap than Showtime! (Sorry thats an in-joke at the guests who are caught napping in our shows). Our good friend Bernard Walz was playing in the Galaxy Show Lounge, we took up and seats and I sat back and watched Crystals entertainment program through the eyes of complete strangers. I felt an overwhelming sense of pride and excitement to think that we dance on that very same stage, on this wonderful ship, with this fantastic crew, these amazing performers. I was truly proud to show this amazing world to our teachers and sit back and watch their awe. Even though it was a late sailaway, Bernard Walz didnt disappoint, a consummate performer, he turned up the charisma and soaked up the Australian energy, even though it was Melbournian (Bernard is from Sydney).
Well, we had enough rest so it was off to the Crystal Starlight Lounge where the band was cranking out all the oldies and sometimes not so goodies. We couldnt help ourselves, we just had to do a social Paso Doble! Is there such a thing? Oh well, we did it and we loved it. We met the local dance team, spent some time with the Cruise Director and Bernard Walz and then met some guests from when we cruised almost 5 years ago! (Hey there Bob Caswell!)
It was an overwhelming day for our guests, for us, we knew what to expect, non-stop, constant action, talking, sharing, laughing, eating all day long. Although its wonderful to be on board, you have to pace yourself, the amount of energy you expend just eating is enough to take you out at the 3pm mark. So I wasnt surpised to see little miss Kelly offer to take the boot of our Hummer3 and snuggle up for a sleep before we even left the port. A wonderful sugar overdose would be accompanied by a sugar hangover the next day - ah, the woes of spending a day on board the No.1 Cruiseline in the world!
Cheryl Smith - Director & Co-Founder - DANCE101 (Living the life we love, loving the life we live)
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The latest updates are from the most recent cruises in January 2010 |
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