There was this Cliff in Skagway....

That's all.
dpl

Emily of the Seas

Well, I've had a little over four days now to pull myself together since Em hopped off the ship in Seattle. It's been a rough week trying to reestablish myself into the monotonous routine that is "Ship Life". Things are much sweeter on the passenger side and even sweeter when you get to share them with someone you love. Here's the recap:

First of all, it was amazing to see Emily again. It was only the second time I'd seen her since leaving LA back on April 1st. We stayed in a really nice cabin that, get this, had a window. SWEET! (Related thought: You'll know something is "off" in your life when you feel lucky to have a window in your room, and when it is dissorienting to wake up to natural light).

Anyway, we had an amazing week highlighted by hikes to the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, and a huge portion of the Reid Falls in Skagway. We took an early morning train ride 26 miles and up 2,800 feet up through the white pass, saw bald eagles, whales, and a bunch of stupid Alaskans. We took ballroom dance and hip hop classes on the ship and saw a bunch of cool shows including the Platters and a couple of B-rate variety acts. We even tried to play shuffleboard when the relative wind speed had to be over 50 knots. HA! And, oh yeah, we ate like royalty!

The food in the dining room is legit and actually having table service is a nice change of pace from the cafeteria lines I've grown accustomed to. We had some bomb alaskan chocolates and some of the best french fries I've ever had.

But honestly, it was just amazing to have a bit of home on the ship. Having Emily here really made me miss LA. And thinking about being off the ship just made me crave a significant trip back east to visit all the family and all my boys back in Philly. So look out for me first quarter 2010...I'm coming to a neighborhood near you (lame).

But all good things must come to an end. And unfortunately, voyage #599 of the Rhapsody of the Seas had to make way for #600. So, after an embarrassingly tearful goodbye to my girl, it was back to the grind. So here I am, doing my thing, singing, dancing, wearing ludicrous costumes and updating my millions of fans on the happenings of my incredibly interesting life. HA.

If you want to check out pictures of my amazing week with Emily they're here on Facebook.

Later
dpl

Peace, Picasa

Apparently, Google thinks I'm a total sucker and expects me to pay for storage on their pathetic photo hosting website, Picasa. What google failed to realize is that I am not a sucker...

In response to Google's inflammatory insult, I will now be posting my photos exclusively on Facebook, which has a better uploading interface anyway.

So what does this mean for you the masses? Probably nothing since most of you already have Facebook accounts (And let's be honest, I think there are only about 12 of you who read this thing anyway). However, it does mean that you will have to remember and type in your password to see the pictures (Dad, if you need help remembering your password, I'd be happy to provide assistance at a low monthly rate).

So if you don't have a Facebook account, wake up. Y2K was a bust. Facebook.com

Here are the links to albums that I have on facebook:

Upper Dewey Hike

Mendenhall Glacier

Upper Reid Falls


screw picasa
dpl

Come on a Cruise, Fools.

What are you doing that’s so awesome? Nothing? Didn’t think so. Well, you should be doing something awesome. Come on a cruise…fool.

Here’s where my ship, the Rhapsody of the Seas, is going and when it’s going. Let me know when you want to come and I’ll see if I can hook up some sort of discount or something. There are lots of ways to work the system…so just let me know.

7 Day Alaskan Cruises
Porting in Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria, BC
7/24 – 7/31, 7/31 – 8/7, 8/7 – 814, 8/14 – 8/21, 8-21 – 8/28, 8/28 – 9/4, 9/4 – 9/11, 9/11 – 9/18

12 Day Hawaiian Cruise
Porting in Vancouver, Maui, Hilo, Honolulu, Kauai, and Kailua Kona
9/18 – 9/30

17 Day Pacific Crossing Cruise
Porting in Honolulu, Tahiti, Morea, Raiatea, and Bora Bora (Warning: 11 SEA DAYS)
9/30 – 10/17

16 Day Australian Cruise
Porting in Sydney, Brisbane, Papua New Guinea, Darwin, Broome, Exmouth and Perth
10/17 – 11/3

18 Day Australia and New Zealand Cruise
Porting in Perth, Bunbury, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, Burnie, Hobart, Denedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Sydney
11/3 - 11/21

10 Day Australian Cruise
Porting in Sydney, Cooktown, Willis Islands, and Brisbane
11/21 – 12/1
12/1 – 12/11
12/11 – 12/21

17 Day New Zealand Cruise (Christmas and New Years Cruise)
Porting in Sydney, Melbourne, Dunedin, Christchurch Picton, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga, and Auckland
12/21 – 1/7/10

14 Day New Zealand Cruise
Porting in Sydney, Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin
1/7 – 1/21


You can book it online at RoyalCaribbean.com

sweetness.
dpl

Big up Alaska

Alaska as a state and part of the U.S. is pretty weak. If it were just some unclaimed wilderness inhabited by cool Eskimos in Igloos it would rule. I mean, it does offer some of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen and some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, all of which I’ve discovered in just the past 2 weeks since I’ve started exploring some of the incredible hiking trails that are around in Juneau and Skagway.

In Juneau, which looks like it was transplanted from the set of an old western movie (reference picture), I went on a really cool hike that goes right up to the Mendenhall Glacier. I really can’t describe how cool it is when you get up right next to one of these glaciers. Even when the sun is hidden, the ice seems to glow an iridescent blue hue. It’s almost as if the light were coming from inside the glacier. It’s seriously ridiculous. Check out some of the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/paysonlewis/JuneauGlacierHike#

Honestly, people need to stop driving SUVs because these things are melting like it’s going out of style. But don’t buy a Prius…just don’t.

In Skagway, there’s this awesome system of hiking trails, which can best be described by these sweet pictures. These are from a hike to the Upper Reid Falls:
http://picasaweb.google.com/paysonlewis/UpperReidFallsHike#
These are from the Upper Dewey Lake and Devil’s Punchbowl:
http://picasaweb.google.com/paysonlewis/UpperDeweyLakeDevilSPunchbowl#

I freaking love hiking out here. It has been an amazing experience. When I was up at the Devil’s Punchbowl, it was so quiet and serene. I hiked up there by myself, and I think that it was the farthest removed I’ve ever been from another living person. It was incredibly humbling; one of those “I’m so small in the grand scheme of things” moments. Pretty lame huh?

Seriously, Alaska is a beautiful place. But also seriously, Alaska is a dumpy state.
dpl

Alright, so life on the ship…

…is not that sweet. I’m definitely having fun, but I’m going to keep it real and tell you that it’s not just like being on a cruise. First of all, we can start with my room. Imagine your freshman dorm room. Now, cut it in half. Take out all the windows. Throw in some left over casino floor carpet and a few life jackets and you’ve got my cabin. And, yeah, I definitely share this tiny spot with the tallest guy in the cast. Awesome. Whatever, I make due.

Next up, the food; Pretty decent. Since something like 80% of the crew is Filipino, there is rice at every meal. And seriously, they eat mountains of the stuff. It’s definitely breakfast time and you can look around and just see piles of plain old white rice on these guys’ plates; it’s crazy. But there is always something for me to eat that won’t kill me, which is basically all I really care about. No Gluten, No Problem.

The social life on the ship is pretty stagnant. We have 1 bar. It’s called the Skäl Bar, and no one has any idea what the name means. This place is a cave. It’s dark, overcrowded with chairs since it doubles as a training room during the day, and CHEAP. A crazy night won’t cost you much more than 10 bucks. It’s a fun time, but it gets old.

The fun times, for me, usually happen just hanging out in the mess hall or when we venture up into guest areas. However, going up and mingling with the guests can be exhausting because we have to follow all sorts of crazy rules and the guests always want to come up and talk to the cast. It’s kind of like being a celebrity but with none of the perks…just the annoying fans. But I’m a pretty self-sufficient person and I’m very easily entertained. I’ve spent a lot of time reading and going to the gym, both of which are a lot easier to do here than at home.

I just went back and read all that…

Just to be clear, I am having a lot of fun right now. It’s just really fun to be a bit cynical in all these descriptions.

Enough. More later.
dpl

I'm on IMDB!

In news unrelated to this cruise thing, I now have an IMDB page. So far it consists of my name and 1 little movie I was in, but the point is I'm on there.

I know it's not that big of a deal, but as a kid who has been cruising IMDB for years and years and years...I feel pretty cool right now.

Hopefully, I'll figure out how to get a picture up there and maybe a bio since I know the masses are really dying to know how the star of "DEAD LOVE" grew from rags to...rags.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3459191/

Enjoy!
dpl

My First Legitimate Update

Ok, so I've been gone from LA now for a little over 3 months now. In that time I think I've managed to tell most people I've talked to that "nothing's new." But that's not entirely true. I think I've been waiting until I had a forum for updating everyone at once since I am lazy and did not want to tell the same old stories over and over again. I also really hoped not to bore anyone with stories of long rehearsals and cheesy show material. That honor was all Emily's! But now, finally, things are starting to pick up and I feel I've done some things worth sharing for those of you who are interested.

First of all heres the 10 cent tour of my first 2 months with Royal Carribbean:

1. Flew to Dumpy Hollywood, FL April 1st.
2. Rehearsed 6 days a week for 2 months.
3. Learned the 3 cheesy Revue shows I'll be performing for the next 8 months.
4. Had an amazing visit with Emily who flew down to see me!
5. Finally left Dumpsville, USA.

Then I got on the ship:

1. Had 3 more rigorous weeks acclimating our shows to the new space with costumes and props and lights and all that jazz.
2. Spent what hours I wasn't rehearsing either catching up on sleep or catching up on sleep during training sessions.
3. Finally performed all 3 shows on the ship, got rave reviews, kicked our directors back to the studios, and got started with the part of this adventure I was actually looking forward to.

Should these posts be short? I think so.

Next one.