Flips on a Ship

It sounds like a sales pitch for the cubicle-confined: Cruise the Caribbean, snorkel in clear blue waters and hike through tropical forests—all with virtually no expenses! That’s everyday life for Danielle Martinez ’11, a Royal Caribbean performer who in June will set sail for another 10 months.

“For an acrobat, this is one of the best shows you can do,” says Martinez, who will be one of 2,300 crew members aboard Allure of the Seas. “Not having to worry about real-life responsibilities like rent or food or anything… It’s like being on vacation and being on the beach every day.”

She and five other acrobats perform five days a week—sometimes twice a night—in two shows: The first features high divers and acrobats flipping into a 17-foot pool, and the second, dry production includes singers, dancers and trampolines galore. After a first intense month of rehearsal, the performers settle into a routine of practicing an hour before the shows, leaving them with plenty of free time to explore the ports.

In three and a half years, she’s seen nearly every corner of the Caribbean—her favorite island is St. Martin—and spent six months in Europe, cruising through the Mediterranean after her ship crossed the Atlantic for repairs.

A gymnast since she was age 3, Martinez majored in kinesiology and was a four-year member of Gymkana at UMD, preferring performance to competition, and embraced the opportunity to try new trampoline skills. Coming off of the high of appearing on “America’s Got Talent” the summer after graduation, she found she was bored coaching at her home gym in New Jersey. So when a Google search for “gymnastics jobs” led to her a recruitment page for cruise ship performers, she sent off her demo video and was down in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., within months, training and getting scuba-certified for the aquatic show.

“I’m very proud of her,” says Gymkana Director and Head Coach Josh Montfort. “She has such a positive energy about her and this glowing smile. She relates well to the audience, and on top of that she’s extremely talented.”

The outgoing, bubbly Martinez often chats with guests on the ship, enjoys rock climbing or lounges by the pool—all perks of being a crew member, as long as she wears her name tag. Though they have their own, hidden section of 225-ton vessel with cafeteria, bars and recreational areas, she can’t help but want to mingle.

“It would be really lonely by yourself,” says Martinez, who prefers to bunk with a roommate rather than get a single room. “There’s not good access to the Internet, so the ship becomes your whole world.”

That’s one of the few downsides to living and working on a cruise ship. Buying an Internet package on board is expensive, so she seeks cheaper options when the ship docks. Rocky seas are also a drawback, like during the Atlantic crossing when “everything was falling in the cabins” and in the Mediterranean when some shows had to be canceled because the sloshing pool wasn’t guaranteed to be deep enough for the divers.

When she’s ready to trade in her sea legs, she might follow the path of friends who perform for Cirque du Soleil or in China. But “there’s so much on the cruise ship, so many people to meet, and freedom of stuff you can learn. I’m definitely open to anything, but it’s not the right time just yet.”