Caroline Ravn's Cruise Ship Magic Diary: 2-Show Day
A day of reflections for a headline cruise ship magician.
"I know this sound." Disoriented, I start looking around, wondering what in the world woke me. There was no crying, so it can't be the kids. Not entirely sure where I am, I fumble to get to the phone.
"Hello?" The woman on the phone seems stressed. I'm not sure I get to the end of my one-word opening line before she speaks. She tells me she's not sure why there was a discount added to my account, but she wishes me a good day and hopes I'm happy with my manicure. Then she insists that I get to the spa as soon as possible to settle the account so she can close the bill for yesterday. "Of course," I say without really knowing what I'm agreeing to.
The manicure, however, I do remember.
I look at my phone. 7:32 AM. Why would anyone in their right mind need to call me this early? On top of that, on the morning after my shows. I'm annoyed, and I know I won't be able to fall back asleep now. It took me hours to calm down last night, as always, after my cruise shows. There was the 1 AM shower and the pizza buffet right after the last show.
It's a sea day, and I know it's gonna be busy for room service today. I call for my order. "The usual," I say, trying to sound charming and failing horrendously. That's coffee with cream and milk on the side, eggs sunny side up and crispy bacon. I remind myself that maybe it's time to see the inside of the gym again. Running my hands over my belly, squishing my extra skin since having twins only two years ago, I can already see where this inner dialogue is going, so I try to distract myself with the non-existent free onboard Wi-Fi.
The cruise app works, at least.
The app tells me the schedule for today. First, I look at who's performing on the big stage tonight – a comedian! That's usually great fun. I've seen some great acts onboard. Both stage production shows, and other headliners like myself. When I can, I go to all the shows mainly because I'm very self-critical and beat myself up when other acts are better than me. I always try to be inspired to be the best version of myself and have the best possible show. It's hard competition out there.
