I do not like going shirtless in front of people. But one night on a Disney Wonder cruise, I found myself doing just that — in front of a few hundred people. It was 70s night in the adults-only entertainment venue known as Route 66, and Sasha, a young Croatian, came up to me on the dance floor, put a medal around my neck and said, “I’m going to need you in a moment.” Sasha returned to escort me and four other men to a hallway outside the nightclub. The Village People (of “YMCA” fame) had been unable to make a scheduled appearance on the ship, Sasha explained. Could we help? Before we could answer, he ordered a round of shooters and handed us “Village People” character props.
I donned the construction worker helmet. After several minutes in the hallway, Sasha had choreographed us to the point that we were confident we could pull it off. Just before going on stage, however, he said he needed another favor: our shirts. That’s how, moments later I found myself performing with four other shirtless men to an audience doubling over with laughter.
Disney Cruise Line entertains not only kids but also parents, and that’s the beauty of a Disney cruise. The company attempts to weave entertainment into every aspect of its cruise vacations.
Consider the numbers: Each of Disney’s two ships feature 10 hours of live performances daily, carried out by an entertainment staff of 250, including 40 main stage actors. Each ship carries 1,600 costumes, 300 pairs of shoes, and 400 wigs, which require twice-weekly visits from cosmetologists to maintain. More than 300 pieces of pyrotechnic product are fired each week.
Entertainment begins with embarkation, where Disney characters meet and greet passengers. During our four days on the Disney Wonder, the challenge was to schedule our days so that we could enjoy the variety of entertainment, along with a full day of activities at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island.
Nearly an entire deck is devoted to children’s programming. The Oceaneer Club is for ages 3 to 7, while the Oceaneer Lab is for ages 8 to 12 (activities are further divided into appropriate age groups; 8 and 9 year olds, for example, are grouped together). Disney also features a nursery for ages 3 months to 3 years, and teen-only areas.
Our kids learned animation — they still have their Mickey Mouse sketches — made Flubber, excavated “real bones,” my son says, on an archaeological dig at Castaway Cay, watched Disney movies, joined scavenger hunts, and even performed with the other kids a wonderfully choreographed musical that ended with the children singing the Mickey Mouse theme song.
Our kids wanted little to do with us. They were much too busy with the activities and vowed to miss nothing. As for me, I vowed never again to perform YMCA shirtless in front of an audience — unless, of course, Sasha asks. — Ralph Grizzle
