RL: I technically can t reveal my characters. Disney is very particular about character integrity. L

At this time last year, Raye L. was getting ready to board Disney's Fantasy Cruise ship, where she would live for seven months, working as an actress and playing a range of roles that would require her to sing, dance, fly, and fall in love.
Now a newly minted equity actress embarking on the national tour of Seussical: The Musical , Raye (disclosure: a friend virtual tour celebrity homes of mine from college at Penn State University) dished to Business Insider about what it was like to live and work on a Disney cruise from training at a circus school in Toronto to living in a tiny, windowless cabin behind the ship's theater. Her answers have been edited for clarity.
I went in for The Dream (the name of a Disney Cruise ship) and sang twice that day. I got a callback for the next day. They gave me my sides, which are these little snippets of music. The director for the ship I ended up on was there helping The Dream cast and he said, I can t help thinking how you d be perfect for these roles on The Fantasy (another Disney Cruise ship). They gave me a couple of new scenes to read from two different shows for The Fantasy. Then they wanted to teach me a brand new dance. This woman at the audition made it up on the spot and taught it to me. They asked to film me dancing for some casting people who weren t in the room. I was there for about three hours and I ended up getting cast.
RL: I technically can t reveal my characters. Disney is very particular about character integrity. Like when we weren t doing a show, we were greeting people with Mickey and taking pictures virtual tour celebrity homes with them. We couldn t say things like Mickey s been out here too long, so he s got to go now. We had to learn a whole new vocabulary, and say things like Mickey has a date with Minnie now, but he ll be back again tomorrow.
RL: I found out I got the roles in October 2012. The process of hiring for Disney takes a really long time. There are major background checks and I had to get a full medical exam to make sure I was fit to work at sea.
The contract was for nine months. I was in Toronto to learn the shows for two months, virtual tour celebrity homes from November to February. Toronto is the headquarters for Disney Cruise Line. Then I was on the ship for seven months, from the beginning of February to the beginning virtual tour celebrity homes of September. We did the east and west Caribbean on alternating weeks. So one week, it would be St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay, and then the next week it would be Grand Cayman, Cozumel virtual tour celebrity homes in Mexico, Jamaica, and Castaway Cay. You always ended on Castaway Cay because it was Disney s thing.
After Toronto, we spent three days in Orlando for Traditions, which is Disney-specific training. We went to this thing called Disney University. Everyone hired by Disney virtual tour celebrity homes in any way has to take this class, even if you work for the Disney Store. It basically virtual tour celebrity homes teaches you the history of the company and Walt Disney himself. We talked about company standards and how to represent the company as an employee. Disney is one of the most beloved franchises in the entire world, so I thought it was such a cool experience to become a part of that. At the end of the course, Mickey comes in and presents you with your nametag and you re officially a Disney employee.
Some actors had to learn stunts and because it was a safety issue, they were compensated extra for those parts. Disney works with a circus school in Toronto. I had to learn two different flying stunts. In every single show there s at least one flying scene. There s a separate block of time for the actors who have to take a bus and then a train it was about an hour away to get to the circus school and do flying training in a harness.
If I was called for the entire day, I d get there at 9:30 in the morning. I d start with a dance warm-up virtual tour celebrity homes and then a vocal warm-up. For most other jobs, you just have to show up warm, but Disney likes to take care of everyone. At 10 a.m. sharp, you start your schedule and you d get your individual schedule the night before. Every hour and 20 minutes, we d get a 10-minute break, according to equity rules, or we d get a five-minute break every hour.
Disney can t offer equity cards or points because we re working in international waters. But while we rehearsed, they followed equity rules for everyone because some of the 43 actors there were equity (members virtual tour celebrity homes of the labor union that represents actors in the U.S.).
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, virtual tour celebrity homes they would sound the alarm and all those people would go to their stations virtual tour celebrity homes 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.
The welcome and farewell shows were revue style. So it d be like, Here s all the cool things you re about to do on the cruise, and then Hope you had a good time. Here s all the cool things you did on the cruise, and it was all in song form. Midweek, we did the big Disney shows and then we had these two shows that were made up specifically for the cruise called virtual tour celebrity homes Wishes virtual tour celebrity homes and Believe. They were shows with a definite plot line with famous Disney songs incorporated in a really clever way.
Wishes was my favorite show. It was an hour-long show and we did it sometimes three times a day. The coolest thing for me was when I got to sing, When you Wish Upon A Star. That s the iconic Disney song. I m so proud I got to sing that song.
RL: Performing on a moving virtual tour celebrity homes ship is a whole other ball game. Our theater was very high tech, huge, and beautiful. But we needed special safety training for the pyrotechnic and the flying scenes. We had to learn how to dance and move on a stage when it s rocking.
If you re doing a jump, the ship could list while you re in the air and the floor is never where you expect it to be. It took concentration to make the turns and the pirouettes. You learn how to hold your center so you can land and stay stable.
We got really lucky as main stage performers. We got our own rooms, where most crew members got these bunk beds and they had to bunk in twos. We had the same size tiny cabins, but with a twin bed in them. There was no window, which was hard to get used to, but we weren t actually in our rooms that much. We got our own bathrooms in our cabins. It was small, but cozy, and I fit everything I needed. And there was a TV that played every Disney movie ever on demand.
When you re at sea, you don t have cell service or Internet. Not being able to call friends and family was very difficult. Every Saturday when we d be back in port, I d check my email and make some calls. Saturday was also usually Target day because virtual tour celebrity homes you could get WiFi there plus shop for supplies.
RL: I got to explore all the places we docked once rehearsals on the ship slowed down. I crossed a bunch of things off my bucket list like hiking and swimming in a waterfall. I went ziplining and jetskiing and spent a lot of time on the beach. On Castaway Cay, the crew had their own private beach. But we weren t allowed to tan, at least not noticeably. Belle can t have a bikini line!