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We can safely say that the first annual Soap Cruise 2007 certainly won't be the last. That was screamingly apparent during our travels through the tropics this past week! I only had two expectations when I was told I was to cover the Soap Cruise 2007. I knew it would be loads of work and a thrill for the fans coming along! What I didn't expect was to have a blast myself! The actors truly had a fantastic time, and all agreed they'd be happy to cruise with us again in 2008. The fans? All we heard was how this was the best vacation of their lives and how thrilled they were to be able to be so up close and personal with the stars in a way that they've never been at any other event. The Soap Cruise 2007 was worth every penny... or in our case, worth every shot, every video and every word.

I'm truly amazed at the fan's reaction to the actors during Thursday's Meet and Greet that was held as soon as we got on the ship. I had no idea of just how crazy in love the fans were with these daytime actors and yes, I do tend to wander through the message boards. Seeing them first hand was quite an eye-opener and a blast! With eyes wide, we took on the fans, running from person to person to capture the moment on video and on camera. A few surprises? As I've already mentioned in the boards, Brandon Beemer (Days Shawn Brady) and Nadia Bjorlin (Days Chloe Black) are dating and though neither preferred to comment more on their relationship, they were happy to allow a few photos of them cozying it up!

I'm no Bingo buff, and I admit I've never been to a 'real bingo' so I've nothing to compare this to, but I did find it a good time. Perhaps listening to the male actors sexy voices calling out letters and numbers made it what it was?! I purposefully didn't play because I felt the prize - signed scripts from your choice of show- should go to the fans, not to media! (I considered trying to win one just to put it up for a contest but it didn't feel right!) Fans adored Friday's afternoon Celebrity Bingo and how the actors on upped each other with witty comments made in those familiar sensual voices to tantalize the fans. In fact, this is where I met our Soaps.com Soap Cruise 2007 winner, Lori Kaplan and her husband Ysaac. Read about her experience here. When Lori found me, she presented me with a jacket embossed with my name, title and the name of the site! How sweet is that and even better that I was able to wear it since! Lori was a little nervous since she thought she was to interview Tyler Christopher the next day, but she didn't show on camera when I later videotaped the interview where Tyler lets Lori know that he and fiancée Brie were still in the midst of making plans for their upcoming nuptials next year! I think Lori got to see a side to most of the actors and realizes that they're just regular folk like us! Highlight of this event was the not only meeting Lori (the new Barbara Walters) but videotaping the interview between she and Tyler. You'll see this along with various other clips of the cruise, as soon as I'm finished producing them!

The VIP breakfast on Saturday, made for a great Q&A session where fans were able to get on video and on the microphone to discuss the shows, characters, the writer's strike and how the actors felt about message boards in particular. All 11 actors agreed that going into message boards only spelled heartache and pain. Austin Peck made fans roar with laughter when he admitted he never went back to the boards when he read a fan refer to him as 'Hairy Monkey Boy'! Poor Austin had to suffer through being called that for the rest of the trip but it was all in good fun! Jacob Young admitted he has browsed a few but despised them for the same reasons that Austin mentioned. The actors found that fans could be really harsh on them. Taping this whole exchange, Soaps.com's Julie Clark Robinson (read about her experience here) chimed in that at Soaps.com, our guidelines not only state that fans cannot bash the actors but that we strictly enforce these guidelines. The actors perked up when she mentioned this and gave a few heartfelt "thank-yous". I think those should go to the moderators and to the Editors for making Soaps.com boards stand out as actor-safe boards! Julie Pinson (Billie Reed, Days) was questioned about ad libbing and mentioned she does this from time to time. She discussed this scene that we all recently watched post-cruise.

"I am single, I am sexy and I am fabulous and just because I don’t' have a man doesn't make me a miserable human being. When the time is right, it'll happen." Here it is in my recap here Very well done! She said she felt that it fit with the strength of her character.

Highlight of the VIP breakfast? Some might say watching Windsor Harmon (B&B's Thorne Forrester) in a pretty compromising position on cam. Mooning Austin Peck made me roll on the floor in laughter! Red underwear come to mind! There's an exclusive clip to follow in our video section. (Hey he knew he was on video so it's 'all good' as the saying goes.)

Sunday kept us all busy with three events scheduled from an 8am timeslot right up until the 5:15pm cocktail party! For all the fans that were too sleepy from all that gambling and dancing the evening previous, you missed the best event of the entire cruise. For the fans who didn't come on the cruise with us - you missed out on something rare and hysterical! Fans were asked to create their own scripts and Act Out A Scene with their favorite star(s) and the show they put on was a better pick-me-up than any amount of coffee we could have downed at 8:00 in the morning! It was agreed that Christian LeBlanc needed to be in every scene as his brand of humor is outstanding! An apology for the photos in advance - if a few don't look clear, it's because I was on the floor trying to contain my laughter during the shoot. Austin Peck did a great scene with a fan that left everyone in stitches and some of us wanting to know what happens next! Jacob Young and a fan played a scene about the triplet of Adam and Stuart Chandler which was a complicated scene that Alicia Minshew helped out with. Christian played a scene with a fan and Don Diamont put his own spin on it, making us all clutch our stomachs, laughing. You'll see a few clips of this in our video section.

Highlight? Christian portraying 'Drucilla Winters', or maybe Don's amazing Victor Newman impression, or all of the above! This is truly one of those times where you had to be there.
The trivia challenge was mainly geared toward the AMC fans or should I say that by far there seemed to be either more AMC fans on the ship than any other soap? Could be, unless the rest were too shy to ask a question! Either way, it made for some good times. You can read all about that Here.

At the Cocktail Party, the crew of the "Imagination" handed out colorful drinks without names. They were famous for doing this and loads of fans sipped unnamed drinks with unknown substances in them, and had a blast while chatting up Julie Pinson's best friend, getting some of the actors including Ronn Moss on camera discussing how much they love Soaps.com, and interviewing a few fans in the process. Special thanks to Alicia Minshew who is a living doll, Cameron Mathison, there couldn't have been a better host, Brandon Beemer for the fun clip where he yells how much he loves Soaps.com and to Windsor Harmon, Julie Pinson and Austin Peck for making me laugh with their solo clips where they state their love of our site. Thanks Tyler for the interview and to the fans on myspace who told me that Don wasn't friendly toward them, I have to tell you that everyone has good days and bad and the "stars" are no different. My thoughts on Don is that he's a sweet guy, funny and driven to work for his family. Kudos to Julie Pinson for sticking it out even when feeling nauseous.

The First Annual Soap Cruise 2007 made for some good times, good friends and great stories. We'll be back in 6 weeks time to announce the Second Annual Soap Cruise 2008 and where we'll be cruising to!

Cheers!

Christine Fix
Editor-in-Chief
Soaps.com