Performer Ashlyn Combs recounts work and cabin life aboard cruise ships

Ashlyn Combs said her first professional job after college was performing in Kinky Boots with Norwegian Cruises. Before taking the position, she had never been aboard a cruise ship, including as a guest.

Her most recent contract involved seven consecutive months aboard Disney Magic with Disney Cruises. Combs said she performed in three Broadway-style musicals: Twice Charmed, Tangled and Disney Dreams. She also worked as an assembly station leader, overseeing guest safety drills by checking in passengers, giving instructions and arranging them in front of the lifeboat designated for an emergency.

Combs said musical performers received privileges unavailable to some other crew members, including individual cabins, with cabin size determined by role. She described her Norwegian cabin as windowless and so narrow that her outstretched arms could reach both walls.

Aboard Disney Magic, Combs chose a cabin with a porthole and a bed smaller than twin size instead of a windowless room with a larger bed. She said the ship supplied sheets and towels, but she ordered her own comforter, memory-foam mattress pad and mattress protector.