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CHA CHA CHANGES

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There have been many traditions in the cruise industry, or as some might say, "that is the way we always did it." But, lately, the new breed of cruise line bosses are doing things a little differently. 

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For as long as I have been performing on ships, the bridge officers were male. However, Celebrity Cruises has been changing that tradition by adding many female officers, including the social media star Captain Kate McCue and her Cat! Other than some officers from certain countries having animals on the bridge was unheard of on cruise ships.

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The main dining room on a cruise ship was always the place to go every night to see a new menu. Passengers, now called guests, would stop by the entrance during the day just to read the menu. Now on the Norwegian Prima, the dining room will have the same menu every night, and Virgin ships do not even have the main dining room.

Formal nights with the men in tuxedos and the ladies in their best gowns were the highlight of the cruise. No  w formal nights are clean underwear!

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After dinner, the guests would make their way to the showroom for the evening performance. Now, many ships have continuous entertainment in many venues to offer (I am assuming) the easily bored guests several options.

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The christening of a new cruise ship was always a special occasion. In the past, cruise lines would ask a woman to be the ship's Godmother and bring it good fortune. Over the years, that has changed, and there have been Godmothers and Godfathers.

 

Now, Princess has announced that the recently delivered Discovery Princess will have four Godparents. What's next? A soccer team? The New York Yankees?

 

I will admit that I am old-fashioned, and I still prefer many of the old ways, but times are changing, so I guess I better start changing with the times. 

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                      And make sure I have clean underwear for formal night!

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Tom Drake is a professional stand-up comedian who performed for over 25 years on cruise ships around the world. He is currently performing onboard Oceania Sirena in Europe.

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