What Is It Really Like To Be An Actress On A Disney Cruise Ship

I'm always interested in hearing from Disney cast members about life behind the scene. This is one such report. A performer on the Disney Fantasy recounts her life during her time with the Disney company. There's a lot of interesting information there, and some of the stuff that she has to do that cast members at the theme parks don't have to deal with.

BI: Did actors get maritime training on the ship?

RL: I had to pass a maritime law class and we had to do coast guard drills a couple times. No matter what position you’re in on the cruise ship, you need to fulfill basic safety training.

Technically, as main stage performers we were considered officers because we headed an assembly station. When guests first get on board, it’s mandatory to have a drill to show them what to do in an emergency. In their cabins, it tells them what station to go to. In an emergency, they would sound the alarm and all those people would go to their stations for instructions from the crew.

We had to go through a lot of training like how to control a crowd, how to put people in life vests and in lifeboats and how to report a fire or something else out of the ordinary. We also learned how to flip the lifeboat over in the water in case it capsized. We had a crew drill every other week on the cruise and had refresher safety courses every other month. We had a little bit of training in Toronto, but most of it happened in the two-week crossover period on the ship when the old cast was finishing up the shows before we took them over. In the crossover, we would rehearse our shows during the day and then we had safety classes at night.

It really is a fascinating interview.

Zz.