ratbin

Be forewarned, however, about the trains in Rome! The scheduled departure and arrival times are wildly at odds with actual clock times.

My husband was headed back to the ship with what he thought was adequate time. Train 30 - 40 minutes late. Much running, sweating and bad language.

He DID make it back to the ship but it wasn't pretty.

Do it! Do it! Do it!

Wear water shoes as you will be wading through the caves.

I was actually a bit disappointed that the walk was not more difficult as I had been doing serious damage to the cheese cart on board the ship. We had one man on our tour who was walking with crutches and he managed to do the whole thing. He was getting some help from his wife and daughter. And there was some grunting and muttering, but he made it.

Dear Butterfly,

If you are still looking at this thread despite all the snark, I can give you some practical information.

My husband worked as a Guest Entertainer on Crystal Cruises for about 8 months. (This was quite a few years ago.) According to the crew, Crystal treats their staff much better than many other lines. However, the crew still works really, REALLY hard. The entertainers (singers and dancers, musicians, etc.) not only performed during the shows, they also did Port Manning - meaning that they stayed on board while the ship was docked and gave fitness classes, led trivia teams and led other activities on board.

Also they got to lead tours off the ship when not stuck onboard. They rehearsed. They had sound checks. They seldom got a proper day off.

Since my husband was a Guest Entertainer (he was hired to perform in a specific show) he was immune from all the extra duties, but he still was expected to be "on" any time he left his room. He enjoyed his time working at sea (It's the only reason I was willing to get on a ship!) but there is no doubt that it's hard work. Since he was on the ship for more than 30 consecutive days, I could come and stay on the ship either with him (for free) or in my own room (for a small sum) if the ship wasn't fully booked. This deal was extended to all the entertainers and some of the crew.

If your friend is serious about entertaining shipboard as a more or less full time gig, there are agents who specialize in this facet of show business. Most of the entertainers on Crystal were union members (Equity, AGMA, AGVA and their European equivalents) even though the job itself wasn't union. So the quality of the performers was quite high.

And for those folks who wring their hands and tell you how awful and how hard a life in the theater is blah, blah, blah....I say nonsense! It's not much different than any other kind of work. Most of us aren't rich and famous but we make a solid middle class income.

I met my husband while we were doing a show together. He was in town for 2 weeks to open the show and then go back to the Broadway company. I was working as a local dresser. We had dinner twice. We are about to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. There were some intermediate steps between, but there you are - sometimes these things DO happen.

Thanks so much for your review. I am looking at a cruise on the Summit this year. This has given me a better idea of what to expect.