How I Sleep: I’m a Cruise-Ship Performer at Sea for 7 Months
Ashlyn Combs has been performing her whole life. “I was singing as soon as I could speak, and I went to school for musical theater,” she says. Shortly after college, she booked her first professional job with Norwegian Cruises doing the musical Kinky Boots — despite the fact that she’d never once stepped foot on a cruise ship before, not even as a guest. Her most recent contract was with Disney Cruises, where she spent seven straight months on the Disney Magic, living and sleeping in a tiny cabin equipped with a smaller-than-twin-size bed. Here’s how she made it work.
On life below deck
The biggest misconception I had going into my first contract was thinking I’d just be a performer, but you’re really first and foremost a crewmember.I was an assembly station leader, meaning I led the guest safety drills — checking in the guests, giving a speech, and lining them up in front of the lifeboat they would get in if there were an emergency. The schedule was always changing. Sometimes you’d be scheduled for the first greeting set of the day at 8 a.m. Or maybe you’re not scheduled until 2 p.m but then your shift would be back-to-back with your shows that night.
On Disney, I was part of a cast doing three different Broadway-style musicals: Twice Charmed, Tangled, and Disney Dreams. We had two shows in one night; 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. were our show times, and they each ran a little over an hour. But we’re not really off work until probably closer to 11 p.m., by the time we’re actually out of costume.
On making up missed sleep with naps
With all the additional training and responsibilities, we’re busy. I like to stay busy, but the biggest thing I’ve learned is that I need eight hours of sleep to function. My body and I have come into agreement that this is what I need. So if I know I have an early start the next morning, I’ll go to bed right after the show. If people are hanging out or going to the crew bar, I’ll do that if I know I can sleep in.
On days when I’m definitely getting less than seven hours, if there is any downtime, I try to rest my eyes for however much time I have. I wish I didn’t need as much sleep as I do, because a nap feels like it’s taking up the time that I could be doing something else. But if my body is telling me, “Okay, we need to relax,” or if I’m overstimulated by whatever’s going on, a nap can be a good reset. I’m pretty good at being able to fall asleep, but I would never do more than an hour. Just a quick pick-me-up.
On faking sunlight in a windowless room
Luckily, I don’t really get seasick. I was midship, which is the best for rocking — you don’t feel it as much. But even in my cabin, you’d hear the hangers of my clothes rattling, or sometimes it literally throws you off balance. People at the front of the ship could hear the ship’s thrusters going off at 5 a.m. for an hour. It vibrates through your whole body. I don’t know how they slept peacefully there.
Being a performer in the musicals, I have certain privileges that not all crewmembers have, including my own cabin. How big of a cabin you get also depends on your role. On Norwegian, my cabin was literally a closet. The wingspan of my arms could touch both walls of the room. There was no window. That was rough.
The most helpful thing I found was this little panel that gives off UV light. I called it my faux sunlight, and I would use it to wake up in the morning. It looked like an iPad. You could change the settings for the light to be warmer or cooler and the degree of brightness. They recommend sunrise lamps a lot on ships, like ones you can set your alarm clock on.
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If I wanted to go outside to see the sunlight in the morning, Norwegian’s policy was that I would have to be in uniform and have my name tag on. That sucked the life out of me. So for Disney, I was like, “I must have a porthole for my sanity.” The setup was you get either a cabin with a porthole and a smaller bed or a bigger bed in a room without a porthole. I knew I needed the porthole.
Even when I start going to bed, the mood and the lighting has to be right. I always have essential oil by my bed, either a room spray or a roll-on. I have fairy lights going. I have a tiny lamp that’s battery powered because outlets are limited.It makes the room cozy and nice.
On upgrading her “bare minimum” bed
Cruise performers love making Target runs because the ship gives you the bare minimum. And we could get things delivered.
The bed I had was even smaller than a twin bed, it was a single bed. They give you sheets and towels, but they’re not great, so I ordered my own. I got a comforter and a memory-foam mattress pad, and it made all the difference. I also bought a mattress protector that you put on before you put your sheets on. Everyone who visited my room would sit on my bed and be like, “Wow, that’s amazing.” Other people started getting them too.
I love a silk pillowcase — I will always bring one everywhere I go. And I have a sleep mask, but I don’t usually wear it. Generally, I don’t need it to be completely quiet or completely dark. I can adapt. But you can’t live without an air purifier or a humidifier because these ships are old and dusty. Being in such a small cabin, you don’t have to have something super-big. I had a combo, but it also depends on your ship’s itinerary. Since we were in the humid Bahamas most of the time, I didn’t use the humidifier part as often. But I always had the air purifier running to keep it fresh.
On staying performance-ready in tough conditions
A performer has more challenges on a ship, especially an older ship. I’m very allergic to dust, but that was kind of inevitable, so I had to really take care of myself. I like to start my morning by moving my body or going to the gym. I’m not so much a morning-coffee person. I don’t want to have to rely on things and feel like I’m not going to be okay if I don’t have it. But I love matcha, and I had a kettle to make matcha in my room.
I don’t take any supplements, but I do like a nice tea, especially as a singer, for my throat. It feels really nice, and it’s always a good way to calm down before going to sleep.
I brought extra allergy medicine and nasal sprays. I had a nebulizer. I had a neck massager. I also had my own cups for a cupping massage. There’s always a community massage gun that us performers will use to massage our muscles. This was the longest I’ve done the same shows consecutively and then put a moving ship on top of that — I learned a lot about my stamina, understanding where I’m at that day, and just listening to my body and my voice.
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Sometimes performers will try to bring things onto the ship that aren’t approved. Fire safety is a huge part of our training. They want to make sure everything you have abides by safety regulations, and it can be confusing what voltage is allowed. Basically, for anything that might be up for debate, you have to go to the ship’s electrical team and get any electronics and cords approved. I brought a hair dryer and that wasn’t approved, but my other hair tools were. I also had a vocal steamer and a heating pad. The heating pad is so essential for performers and especially women if you’re cramping. With the limited outlets, I used some extension cords. But then I was also good about unplugging anything I wasn’t using.
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