It was an adventure getting set up for new years’ eve on Explorer, which started on Dec. 30th when nearly the entire cruise division (approximately 100 people) gathered in Studio B to start blowing up balloons. A number of passengers asked me how many balloons we put in the balloon drops. I didn’t have an answer then and I don’t have an answer now. It was a LOT. 100 people equipped with 32 diving tanks full of air, an air compressor, and a connection to the ships air can churn out an astounding number of balloons in a short period of time. To put it simply, I left Studio B for 8 minutes to take care of something else. Upon my arrival, the entire floor of Studio B was covered with balloons (the floor was brought on, covering the ice). Those balloons were then put in large balloon drops (nets, basically) and we spent the rest of the day hanging them.New Years on any voyager-class ship is a busy time, and this cruise on Explorer was no exception. The photo to the left shows the crowd at about 11:25pm. By midnight, the whole promenade was overflowing with guests. The large balloon drop at the top of the photo is actually a pool net which we filled with balloons. I was one of two people tasked to drop the balloons at midnight. I’m really glad there was an alternate crew-only route to get from where I took this photo to where I had to stand to pull the rope or I might not have gotten there at all.
Then of course we had a crew party in the back deck with drinks supplied by the ship. I stopped by just after 12:30 but then had to go help remove the balloon drops from the ceiling of the Royal Promenade. It took a while and when everything was packed up, a few of us stage staff decided to head back to the crew party, uniform and all. It had been such a long day that none of us really felt like getting dressed for the occasion. It was a fun evening though after the work was finished.
 |  Taking down the balloon drop at 2am |
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