Let's Go Saaaaaillling...

19 days!

meganlouise86 — Mon, 3 Nov 2008 14:05:00 GMT

WOOOOOOOOOOOWWWZERSs it's been awhile!!

we've gone too long here. so what's happened? well, for the month of october, we switched gears and headed to new england and canada. we visited halifax, nova scotia; st. john's, new brunswick; bar harbor, maine; and boston, massachusetts. it was lovely, but the HIGHLIGHT was the first week when my dear friends emily kent, john flanagan, brandon stansell, and nathan mahy came on for a whole cruise with me!!! we had a positively INCREDIBLE time. they even sang 'what a wonderful world' a capella in the guest talent show and brought the house down! yeah!

after that, canada got really cold and the ocean got RIDICULOUSLY rocky. to the point where we had to postpone our shows because you couldn't even stand still on that stage, and half the band was sea-sick. there was more than one occasion where just lying still on my bed in my room was a challenge! we had 18-20ft swells in the water, and the waves crashed on us so violently that they shut down the royal fireworks lounge (completely panoramic windows) b/c they've had those windows break and flood the lounge. don't worry, my room is DIRECTLY BELOW that lounge!! whoopee! luckily, no such event occurred. needless to say, we were glad to be out of those waters this week!!

the other MAIN EVENT of october was our self-produced HALLOWEEN SHOW!!!!! yeah!!!!!! our bandmaster, andy, arranged all the instrumental accompaniment for our 7-piece band. april (our dance captain) and mark (the scot) choreographed and directed everything. i arranged a few of the vocals for the songs that needed ensemble or background vocals. taryn found some costumes in our big old locker we could use. it was a blast! our set was in four sections: broadway (phantom of the opera-phantom, think of me-phantom, masquerade-phantom, defying gravity-wicked); standards (witchcraft, that old black magic, bewitched bothered and bewildered, old devil moon, i put a spell on you-hocus pocus); film/tv/comic (the addams family theme, ghostbusters, theme from psycho, oogie boogie's song-nightmare before christmas, theme from the munsters, a break into a zombie version of riverdance, and the monster mash) and a pop section (keep your monster on a leash-tower of power, black magic woman-santana, zombie-the cranberries, thriller-michael jackson). we all danced, and we all sang! our makeup was incredible. how i WISH i could upload pictures on this ship! argh! hahahah.

but NOW we are on the 14-day repositioning cruise to the CARIBBEAN!! we left philadelphia for the last time yesterday, and we will return to charleston, sc on the 15th. the new cast will join us then and rehearse during our last week performing, and then take over on the 22nd when we leave!

tuesday we'll be in nassau, bahamas, and friday and saturday we'll be in aruba! next week we hit st thomas, dominican republic, and great stirrup cay. hooray!!

so all that to say, i'll be done in 19 days. be prepared for lots of pictures when i get some internet!! love you all!!

i'm an auntie! :o)

meganlouise86 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:16:00 GMT

well hello there!

you'd think i'd have been crazy busy. it's been nearly a month since i've written! WOWZERS!

welp, we're back in st george again, and it's a rainy week. blech. i'd hate to be a passenger this week.

i'm officially an aunt of week-old cole alexander kallin! he's a cutie!

i finished my first paid arrangement a couple weeks ago. the director is very happy. i've just been hired by another director in indiana for a couple more tunes. hooray!

and the most news: a guest entertainer duo was on here the end of july for two weeks. they've been touring the college circuit through a booking agency, which is how they wound up on ships. anyway, they've become a valuable relationship and network, which could be an employment option post-ship. it's tough to play shows by yourself, even if you can accompany yourself. well, prayer answered. tim (drummer, uk) and shawn (guitarist, canada) and i have decided to plan on going for it. might need to find a bass player, but that's cool. SO, i think you can find me in nashville come next year, hopefully playing out with new friends! YEAH!

so, if anybody needs a roommate... haha! that's next. :o) at any rate, yeah! that is the hypothetical plan for now.

oo, and we're planning on a halloween show in october. doing things like 'i put a spell on you' and 'thriller'...maybe even 'zombie' by the cranberries. yeah! how fun! any suggestions, we need to have 12-ish songs. :o)

next week we get to do another show in hamilton. i think blake and i might do our 'misery' duet from his recital. yay fun! i doubt we'll be docking there though. which is unfortunate, because it means we have a time limit on the show. gotta catch the ferry!

oo, and i BOUGHT MY KEYBOARD on saturday! it's kind of amazing. it tucks in nicely at the foot of my bed. it sounds INCREDIBLE and records like a dream. my goodness. good purchase.

nothing too manic-exciting, but all is well aboard the majesty!

and if you're bored, make sure you youtube our current guest entertainer, chantz powell. he's a singing-tap-dancing-trumpet player that does big band tunes. and he's 21. RIDICULOUS. :o)

big bertha's a-brewin'.

meganlouise86 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:48:00 GMT

so, i have never experienced a hurricane. hurricane bertha is a category 2 hurricane that has been sitting on bermuda for a couple days. apparently it's moving at a rapid speed of 2 knots...which, if i understand conversion correctly, is basically sitting still. so, we're a day late to bermuda (HAPPY passengers!!! ....yeah), and the seas are ROCKY!! we've still done our shows (apparently it has gotten so bad sometimes that the show is reduced to singers sitting on stools and no dancers), but my toe-gripping ability has greatly improved. :o) in other news, i received my first arranging assignment from the show choir in iowa (council bluffs' lewis central high school). it's a song from an alvin and the chipmunks cartoon. WOW. however, i think it will at least be easy chart. i am also making the director a demo track (i'm recruiting blake to sing the boy parts), and it's due by the 26th. tim (drummer) has offered to help me notate drum parts, since that is still a bit of a question mark for me. hooray! my birthday is friday! it's a sea day, so i think we might be having a game night. saturday, i think we're going to go out to lunch together in the harbor. blake's family is here this week, as well as mark's boyfriend, so the audiences have been good. fans on the front row really make it more fun to perform. :o) baltimore in general is a more appreciative audience than charleston. hooray for audience members who don't fall asleep! yeah! our hamilton city street fair show is this week. i'm singing proud mary, respect, knock on wood, and a song by the crusaders called street life...i don't know it yet, but andy (bandmaster) gave me a leadsheet. YAY sheet music! :o) welp, that's all for now!! :o) oh, and look below for all of my addresses at every port until the end of the contract. the post also has the ship's telephone and fax numbers (as well as my cell and email, if you need them and don't already have them). i hope to borrow blake's laptop to upload pictures, if not onto here, at least to a link of an album uploaded to facebook. so check back soon!! :o)

ALLLLLLL addresses!!

meganlouise86 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:06:00 GMT

hi! so i officially have all shipping addresses until the end of the contract. my itinerary is a previous blog post on here, so this will complete the puzzle!

CHARLESTON:

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

Carolina Shipping Co., LP

1064 Gardner Rd., Suite 312

Charleston, SC 29407

BALTIMORE:

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

1213-J Liberty Road #377

Eldersburg, MD 21784

PHILADELPHIA:

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

T. Parker Host of Delaware, Inc.

The Robert P. Senseny Bldg.

1 Hause Road

Wilmington, Delaware 19801

BAHAMAS (NASSAU)

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

United Shipping Co. Ltd.

P.O. Box N4005

Nassau, Bahamas

PORT CANAVERAL, FLORIDA

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

Fillette Green Shipping Services

8137 Canaveral Blvd.

Cape Canaveral, FL 32920-2834

BERMUDA

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

Meyer Agencies, Ltd. Somers

Wharf-14 Waterstreet

P.O. Box GE #4

St. George, Bermuda

remember that i hit an american port every saturday, which is much cheaper postage than these international locations. but, i thought you should have them all the same!! :o) also, here are some phone numbers (for emergency ONLY):

NORWEGIAN MAJESTY TELEPHONE: 011-874-1307754

011-874-1307752

NORWEGIAN MAJESTY FAX: 011-874-1207753

otherwise, if you don't have it, my cell phone is 605-999-4558, and i have service on saturdays during the day. email's the best! glecklerm@gmail.com

all righty! that's all!! :o)

i'm a grown-up!

meganlouise86 — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:22:00 GMT

why? because i have a real job! mr. kimmel took a print ad that i made and a demo of my arrangement of 'speed of sound' to show choir camps of america last week. since then, i have already had two schools contact me with interest in hiring me to do arrangements for their choirs! some of you may be familiar--one is lewis central high school in iowa, and the other--surprise, surprise!-- (haha) tatum mahlen! she's in minnesota now and wants an arrangement for her girls' choir she directs. here's what she wrote: "Hey Miss Megan! So, just spent a week at SCA with Jim Kimmel and know he spoke SO highly of you and gave out your info to everyone and also gave me a copy of one of your pieces. One, duh you are amazing and two, your piece was fantastic! So, anyway, we need to talk later about you arranging something for my women's group for their spring concert next May. So, how is the cruising going and what are your plans once you are done with that? Anyway, I was so proud to say I knew you when :) and seconded all that Jim said to the teachers. You ROCK!!!" yay! so that means i am a real, bona fide arranger! this is CRAAZZZZZY! thought i'd let you all know. :o) in other news, bermuda is still amazing-looking. i hope to do some exploring this week. in two weeks we have a show in the city at their street fair! i will be doing a little tina turner and aretha franklin! it should be a big time. it'll be two days before my birthday!! yay!!!!!!!! hope you all are lovely! ps: note that there's a change in my address. you have to include my department name (entertainment) next to my name. otherwise it takes them forever to figure out whose it is. so far it hasn't been a problem, but they'd prefer the distinction. yay!

new address!

meganlouise86 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:27:00 GMT

we're changing to baltimore for the rest of the summer (until august 30th; see itinerary). here is my mailing address!

Megan Gleckler (Entertainment)

c/o Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship

1213-J Liberty Road #377

Eldersburg, Maryland 21784

lovely! hope you are all doing well! :o)

happy (early) father's day, daddy!

meganlouise86 — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:33:00 GMT

soooo....i cannot seem to upload pictures onto here. SO. i'm slowly but surely adding pictures to facebook, and will email the link of the album to mom and dad and jessie. sorry!!

in OTHER news: i have an itinerary! (posted at the bottom) but not a new address yet. first thing on the baltimore agenda. if it's pressing, let me know, and there's a p.o. box you can send it to in bermuda, but since it's international, it'll probably cost more.

last saturday, my friends brandon and john came to visit me!! it was a GRAND time and a much-needed release from the boat. SO good to see them. they brought me stardust (fantastic movie, everyone should see it) and took me out for lunch. then john sampled every italian ice stand in the park. hahahahahha! love it. beautiful day! ps: i had never heard of charleston college before, but it was BEAUTIFUL. anybody need an outdoor wedding, book their campus.

rochelle got here this week, and we've been rehearsing with her day and night. she's doing great; especially considering the circumstances!! unfortunately, taryn (one of our female dancers) pulled a muscle in her back on sunday morning, which meant reblocked shows for the week. i tell you what, one female dancer gone in an eight-person cast is a BIG DEAL. think of a broadway show with the chorus line missing. it's like that. so rochelle has learned the blocking for two shows this week: one of an eight-person cast and one of a seven. goodness!

i sang with the house band for jazz night. a BLAST. we sang my romance, fly me to the moon, moondance, they can't take that away from me, and my funny valentine. don't worry, no one was reading a chart. how FUN! very talented folks.

next week, on our trip to baltimore, we have two days without guests. andy (the bandmaster, plays every woodwind and more) is putting together a motown show that we're going to do on the top deck for the crew. we'll probably perform it in hamilton (metropolis in bermuda) at their festival! how fun!

i'm very much missing you all and hope to talk to you soon!! love love love!

and happy father's day, daddy!!

saturday 6.14: last day in charleston

thursday 6.19-6.21: passenger-free cruise to baltimore

saturday 6.21-8.29: weekly cruises between baltimore and bermuda

saturday 8.30-9.27: weekly cruises between philadelphia and bermuda

NEW ENGLAND RUN (10.4-10.25)

saturday: philly

monday: halifax, nova scotia

tuesday: bar harbor, maine

wednesday: st. john, new brunswick

thursday: boston, massachusetts

CARIBBEAN RUN

saturday 11.1: philadelphia

11.4: nassau, bahamas

11.5-6: (at sea)

11.7-8: oranjestad, aruba

11.9: at sea

11.10: st thomas, us virgin islands

11.11: samana, dominican republic

11.12: at sea

11.13: GSC bahamas (i don't know what gsc is, it was just on the itinerary)

11.14: at sea

11.15: charleston, south carolina

11.17: nassau, bahamas

11.18: gsc bahamas

11.19: freeport, bahamas

11.20: port canaveral, bahamas (MIDNIGHT SHOWING OF HARRY POTTER 6!!!!! if we can find a movie theatre....)

11.21: at sea

11.22: charleston, south carolina, and fly to nashville!

address!!!

meganlouise86 — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:26:00 GMT

hiiiiiiiiiii!

so, just in case anybody's interested...my address is:

Megan Gleckler

Norwegian Majesty

c/o Carolina Shipping Co.

1064 Gardner Road

Charleston, SC 29407

this will be true up until june 19th, when we change home base to baltimore. we'll still be headed to bermuda, but i'm pretty sure it's cheaper to send to somewhere in the states. :o) i'll let you know baltimore's as soon as i have it!! we'll be in baltimore probably until mid-august, when we change to philly. i'll keep you posted. :O)

oh: i went to a bermudian beach today. i'm scalded, but i don't care. i almost stepped on a bluefish. BEAUTIFUL. pictures coming soon! (when i'm not paying 10c a minute for internet!!) :o)

love love love! :o)

in the bermuda triangle...

meganlouise86 — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:03:00 GMT

first: sorry to ashley if a lot of this post looks familiar. the email i sent you was a good summary, so i reused it here!! hahah!!

well, i'm in the bermuda triangle!!! i'll probably be here until mid-june, and then i believe we're starting our new england/canada run...but i'm not entirely sure. i need to get shipping addresses from our production manager....communication is a bit slow here. :o)

the cast is ever-changing, it seems. we got april as a replacement to marisa in the end of april in nashville. she's our dance captain now, and a great person to be around. we like her lots. :o) daniel replaced jason after we got on the ship. this will be his fourth contract, the third on the majesty. he's done large chunks of both these shows before. (they are both newly revamped shows, so that was a big blessing). his experience is great to have in the cast, as we're all (with the exception of april) cruise ship rookies. rochelle will be coming to replace lucy on the 31st...very sad. we've all gotten very close to lucy---she's grown so much!! but it will be all right.

i love you all lots and lots and appreciate your prayers!! haha--i want to take a picture of some of the costumes i have to wear--they are RIDICULOUS!! i sing 'hey mickey' in the equivalent of a judy jetson hoop skirt. haha! but company's trained me well. i will wear whatever they want, as long as i am covered. :o) tee hee!! some of the costume changes are manic-fast---makes me think of show choir days. the most annoying part is changing character heels while wearing fishnets...so hard to not get caught. we're thinking of renovating the buckle to elastic.

anyway, i had a first--my first taste of champagne! wow--absolutely disgusting. no desire to do that again. haha! it was our company mananger/fellow dancer's 23rd birthday.

aaaaaaaaand: i have my own room...and it has a BAY WINDOW!!!! amazing. i have a tv and dvd player, and a fridge, and a guy who comes and empties my trash and cleans my towels and sheets!! his name is katut and is from indonesia. he's very nice, but doesn't understand english all that well. haha!! :o)

the schedule's been crazy---starting rehearsal at 10 or 11 and ending at 2, bc that's when we can get in the theatre. wow. good thing i just came from college and am mostly used to that whole concept!!

also, somehow our band was missing a few parts. so i cranked out a bass guitar part and a trumpet part for three of the sections of our broadway show. keeps me sharp!! i'm glad it was those parts...instruments i am the most familiar with!!

opening night was last saturday with our five-minute teaser show... "your night of stars/a cruise of wonder, here you are / your night of stars / just wish upon a star tonight...." yeah. HAHAHAHA. :o)

monday was our broadway shows (2), and they both went GREAT. 2nd show got a standing ovation and a great response. we do our pop/rock radio show tomorrow night for the first time--i tell you what, dancing on stage that is MOVING is very weird. our shows are all on sea days, so when the boat moves, so does the stage. it hasn't bothered me sick-wise, yet, however. it's like being inside an rv while going down the road. or going through a bit of off-roading, at times. a wave hit deck 5 (of 10) today. felt like we hit a whale. (gotta be careful who you joke that too, though...the guests will believe you!! hahahahah!)

the production team (choreographers, costumers, production managers, audio engineers) leave on saturday. we'll have more time to ourselves...hopefully meaning more time to contact you all and write postcards!! SOOOOOOO, send me your postal address if you want!!

i'll post pictures as soon as i take a few good ones. :o)

love love love!!

~megan :o)

sad news :o(

meganlouise86 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:12:00 GMT

so today we lost merissa. because of an insurance policy held by norwegian, merissa had to be let go from the cast. what a horrible situation. she is such a talented dancer and performer, and a wonderful person. please put her in your prayers as she is now searching for a new job and somewhere to live. garymusick is taking care of her for a while, but she needs to plan where to go next. we are very, very, very sad to lose her.

day one!

meganlouise86 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:17:00 GMT

i'm singing on a cruise ship! so today we started rehearsals for the cruuuuuuuuuuise. we are actually a tiny cast!! jason and i are singers, blake and lucy are singer/dancers, and taryn, hayden, mark, and marisa are dancers. tiny as we are, we represent four countries! lucy is english, mark is scottish, and hayden (married to taryn) is australian. so fun to listen to everyone talk. haha! we started 'on the radio' today. it's a collection of top 40 hits from the past forty years. everything from the supremes to celine. how fun!! :o) we had orientation of policies, and then they took us out to lunch at el chico. yum. mark had never had fried ice cream today, so we made him get dessert. then he told us of fried mars bars, which are apparently popular in the uk. i don't think i've ever had a mars bar. lucy was very shocked to hear that. haha! anyway, then we got the schedules for tomorrow. apparently they're doing a day-to-day scheduling, so me and blake are just going to have to really try and juggle our schedules. the cast seems really understanding, though, so that's awesome. we're going to go to class and beat it downtown to rehearsals whenever we can. bah!! i'm excited. i'll try to keep up on this!!