Latest Soap Cruise 2009, the Second Voyage! Coverage

With Mexico in our sights, fans and stars woke bright and early to fuel up for a day of sightseeing on Sunday, January 25 2009. Attendance at the VIP breakfast was limited to the first 100 fans who bought tickets to Soap Cruise and some folks lined up an hour early!

Okay, truth be told, that was an accident. Sure they wanted first dibs on seating, but the real reason for the early line up was confusion caused by our overnight shift from Eastern Standard Time and into Mexico's Central Standard Time!

We all stumbled into The Grand Restaurant looking to guzzle some coffee right quick, but before getting to that, fans had to choose their seats. With one actor per table, photographs indicating who would be sitting where and most fans knew just who they wanted to eat with, making beelines for their fave star's photo.

While we ordered our eggs and pancakes, the actors gathered to shoot a promo for the upcoming Soap Opera Mania tour. A bit bleary-eyed themselves, the crew still had a blast being silly and warning fans, "This time, we're coming to you!"

"We might even come shower in your house," Cameron teased.

Once the shoot was completed, they split up and joined fans to break muffins and croissants, while chatting about anything and everything. It was a nice, quiet moment for fans to have real conversations with the actors: As Julie's noted in her blog, this crew of actors was incredibly entertaining and gregarious, so the VIP breakfast was a nice contrast to the pandemonium of the Q&A sessions, Bingo and Meet & Greets.

Much of the chatter was about what the actors were planning to get into in Cozumel that afternoon. Winsor Harmon (Thorne, The Bold and the Beautiful ) was ready for "tequila in Mexico," while Jacob Young (JR, All My Children ) was feeling ready for something a little mellower.

"I was going to go run around and maybe swim with turtles, but now I feel like I should kick it on the beach somewhere and pick up some sleep," Young sighed. .

Christian LeBlanc (Michael, The Young and the Restless ) also had to reconsider his plans. There'd been talk of his joining Julie and I on our dolphin adventure, but with a cold brewing and his voice a day away from disappearing completely, there was no water activity for him. Instead he hopped on a moped to check out the local ruins.

Lesli Kay (Felicia, Bold and the Beautiful)and Keith Coulouris (ex-David, As the World Turns) actually made it out for some dolphin fun, as planned, and Kamar de los Reyes was looking for a horseback adventure, but many of the actors just ended up sitting poolside. A handful, including Nadia Bjorlin (Chloe, , Days of our Lives ), and her real life leading man Brandon Beemer (Owen, Bold and the Beautiful), hit a swank hotel for that, while Jay Kenneth Johnson (Phillip, Days of Our Lives) enjoyed some peace and quiet and (a massage!) on the abandoned cruise ship.

Before any of the Mexico fun, however, there were soap swag gift bags to give away! As things wound down, the fan with the birthday closest to his or her respective actors got to take home a Soap Cruise shirt and an autographed picture.

It's always nice to win, but we're sure it was the conversation they'll remember.



- Deanna Barnert