"If I were not upon the sea"

[loveandcruises]

This used to be a skit they'd do aboard ships. At the end the male cruise director would come onstage with a tutu and fake boobs. I haven't seen "If I were not upon the sea" in years. Does anyone remember how it went?

[G'ma]

I've not seen that in a while either. Sooo funny.

 

There are several on YouTube...

[StanandJim]

Has been a skit on Cunard ships since their ships started employing cruise directors. It was pure genius in its' day.

 

Passengers were more of a family in the days when cruises were longer (often six or eight weeks). There was no internet, no cell phones, no faxes and no TV.

 

The last days of a cruise were often terribly sad and nostalgiic, so they had to break up the gloom somehow, and "If I were not Upon the Sea" is just the right sort of silliness

 

It is still going strong on QM2 today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAQ8J5ZthG8

 

 

 

Disney does a version on their ships too, perhaps looking for a history that they never had.

[Druke I]

Princess often includes that number in its London Pub Night program.

[Essiesmom]

Carnival Dream did it on the TA in Nov. this year. The cruise director's parents were onboard...EM

[westerly]

its a great show.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

We saw this on the Carnival Valor last September. I was singing the song as I was shoveling snow yesterday. My neighbor was looking at me like I was nuts...

[CruiseDirections]

I agree that this was a great show. NCL used to do it on their ships, several members of a club I used to belong to secretly videotaped it and reproduced it as a skit (substituting the club name) at one of our parties. It was even more hilarious with friends performing it.

 

Nancy

[BigGuy25]

I've seen it on the night that "crew" performs in the theater on many Princess cruises.

[gottagoacruzn]

Yes, I've seen that show many times, shame they don't do that anymore.

[bumble_b62]

We were on the Sun Princess 23/1/10 to New Zealand and the crew did it on their show, I thought it was hillarious!!

 

Happy Cruising:)

[Girl from Oz]

Saw this show twice in the last few months onboard the beautiful Diamond Princess.

 

Adam Goder, the Cruise Director, put it on as the final number on both crew shows on my last 2 cruises. Two different CD teams provided 2 different experiences - both were hysterical. Special mention must go to Tyson as the tennis player with dozens of pairs of shorts, Kimmy as Lorena Bobbit and of course Adam as the ballerina.

 

Keep this show going - it's great fun!!!

[bcw115]

This skit was donelat year on the Ruby Princess. Very Funny

[janpat44]

We saw this skit on our first cruise on Royal Caribbean's Sun Viking back in January of 1994 and saw it again on Ruby Princess this in January of 2010. It is a very funny skit, but the funniest time we saw it was on a square dance weekend we attended when a group of fellow square dancers (and very good friends of ours) did their own version of it. We laughed till we cried.

 

 

--------------------

Our past cruises

Royal Caribbean - Sun Viking - Jan 1994

NCL - Norwegian Majesty - May 2002

Carnival Liberty - Feb 2008

MSC Lirica - April 2009

NCL - Norwegian Sky - Nov 2009

Ruby Princess - Jan 2010

 

Future Cruises

NCL - Norwegian Sun - Nov 2010

NCL - Norwegain Dawn - Feb 2011

[Carole88]

We have seen it on all of our Disney cruises.

[leanrunnerboy]

I've worked on ships & have done 'Upon/Sea' many times ('Undertaker' - 'Ballerina').Ton of fun to do..! I believe I'm correct in saying it was brought over by the early British cruise directors. It's based on an old English music hall sketch called ' If I Were Not Upon the Stage'. The cruise director ( usually male) normally in drag as the 'Ballerina'..based on England's pantomime tradition where some of the female characters are played by men..

 

Plenty of examples on 'youtube'...:D

Edited June 22, 2010 by leanrunnerboy

[Matsonbrat]

:)Saw it the first time on the Cunard Princess on an E. Med. cruise 1992.

I was told it was from what British soldiers use to do many years ago to amuse themselves with a Soldiers Show. It was so funny, I almost fell off my chair. Oh! how I miss the under 1,000 passenger cruise ships. Same for regular passenger ships in the 50's too.

[jinda]

Yes I have seen this many times on Pacific Princess, Sapphire, Diamond & Sun Princess, hysterical every time.

 

Sharyn

[morr_de]

I have seen it in december on the Crown Princess - this is my video:

[Cupcrazy]

I saw this skit on all my Carnival & Princess trips. I did not see it while on Oasis in Oct, 2013. No matter how many times I see it, I still find it funny and enjoyable.

[JustinPlusLauren]

I saw it at the end of the crew talent show in the theatre aboard the Crown Princess in January 2012 and most recently on board the Emerald Princess in January 2014! I took some video of it and will post it soon!