Once upon a time, in two far away Kingdoms, were born two princes, Perry and Henry. A clever Sorceress (who’s name is SO revered that we dare not speak it here), created a magical spell that would have the two Prince’s lives cross paths many times in various kingdoms, passing by close enough to meet, but never quite finding each other. That is, until the one beautiful night, when the clever Sorceress decided to give up her game and allow the two to meet.

Ok, in actuality, neither are actual Prince’s, (although they both would say that when they met, they had finally met their Prince Charming!); the two faraway kingdoms, were New Orleans and Rochester, New York; and there was no clever Sorceress (at least that we know of). But we did cross paths many times before we actually met, and the “various kingdoms” part of the story is, in a way, true, as we discovered that we were often at the same place, at the same time at Disneyworld on numerous occasions, years before we actually met. So that part of the story is rather magical, if you ask us! But I’m ahead of myself.

Let’s go back, way back, to 2011 (Ok, so not that far back!). Perry had decided to make a career change, and left his position as a character performer at Walt Disney World, for the high seas, taking a job with Royal Caribbean as a part of their Dreamwork’s Program on board the worlds largest cruise ship: the Allure of the Seas. During that time, he was promoted to coordinator of the program and had a wonderful team of performers that he managed (some of which you’ll meet at our wedding!).

Let’s go back again, this time a touch further, to 2010. Henry decided to make the move from Los Angeles to New York City, which would allow him to resume many old friendships that he had left behind years earlier when going out to the west coast. Two of those friends were Karen Albano and Laurie Duke, who had been two of his closest friends since high school. Soon after resuming those treasured friendships, the three talked about taking a vacation together, and before long decided that they’d take a cruise. Henry being Henry (most of you will know what that means!), he decided that it had to be on the biggest ship in the world. Now, Royal Caribbean has two gigantic ships: The Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas. They are virtually the same ship, except that Allure is slightly newer and slightly larger (by about 10 centimeters!). So which ship to pick? Henry considered that the production show on the Oasis was “Hairspray” and that the production show on the Allure was “Chicago”, and toyed with the idea of choosing the Oasis, as Karen’s daughter had recently played the lead in her high school’s production of “Hairspray”. But again, Henry being Henry, he had to have the biggest and the newest (even if it was only by 10 centimeters!), and the choice was made to travel on the Allure. The three purchased tickets for a Western Caribbean cruise in mid-October, but soon changed their minds and decided not to risk hurricane season in the Caribbean, and instead decided that Valentine’s Week would be perfect. That decision meant the difference between Henry and Perry meeting, and yet another near miss (as you’ll soon see).

Back on board the Allure of the Seas, Perry was working around the clock to really establish the Dreamwork’s Program on the Allure, and his dedication to the program and his team did not allow for much socializing, especially with passengers (which, of course, is taboo on a Royal Caribbean ship!). From his arrival on the ship in July 2011 up until December of that year, Perry was all work and no play. So had Henry, Karen and Laurie traveled on their originally booked cruise, in all likelihood, Henry and Perry never would have met!

But then came December of 2011, and another Disney transplant, Richie Zamorski, arrived on board, to replace one of Perry’s departing team members. Now, Richie posed a number of challenges for Perry, as Perry is all about structure and rules and Richie is, well, Richie is Richie (which should also be understood by many reading this!). So being Richie’s manager was, at times… interesting. Yes, that’s a good word. Interesting. Something similar to getting a new puppy. You adore the puppy and have a ball with it, but it does often piddle on the floor when you’d rather it not. Not to say that Richie has a leaking problem… but… you get the picture. And I digress! Anyway, Perry and Richie developed a great friendship as the months went on. And Richie was forever trying to get Perry to relax and have some fun on the ship, and not just work every waking hour. For those that know Perry, you’ll understand how difficult it is to get Perry to relax when there is work to be done. An admirable quality for sure, but one that could have prompted yet another near miss with Henry… had it not been for our piddling puppy friend…er, I mean Richie. (Sorry Richie! You know we love you!).

So, we now fast forward to February of 2012, and Henry, Karen and Laurie are having the time of their lives on board the Allure of the Seas. Henry had found out about a secret event on board, called the “Prohibition Party”, which was literally a recreation of an old 1920’s Speakeasy, complete with gangsters and moll’s and liquor served in teacups! It’s not an advertised party, though, and Henry only found out about it from his endless reading on Royal Caribbean cruise blogs. He told Karen and Laurie about the party, and the decision was unanimous! They would not only GO to the Prohibition Party, but they’d also get all decked out for it in 1920’s garb! It was at that party that they met a very feisty (and slightly tipsy) gangster, named BackAlley Billy. Well, BackAlley Billy decided that he would entertain Henry, Karen and Laurie with his gangster antics all night long… until finally about 2 a.m., when he dropped the Brooklyn accent and properly introduced himself. That was when the three found out that their gangster was actually an employee of the ship, there at the party to entertain the guests. That employee was… {drumroll}, you guessed it: Richie Zamorski.

As we mentioned, Royal Caribbean frowns on fraternization between employees and guests, unless it’s at an official ship event where the performers are sent to entertain the guests. Other than that, the employees are instructed to keep their distance – politely, of course, but distance nonetheless. So, in the spirit of following company rules, Richie promptly exchanged phone numbers with Henry, Karen and Laurie… linked up with each of them on Facebook… and then gave the three his schedule for the remaining days they were on board, so that they could all hang out whenever he wasn’t working. And lastly, before saying goodnight, he asked them to have lunch with him at a restaurant on board that employees are not allowed to go to, unless asked by - and accompanied by - a guest. All things that his boss, Perry, most assuredly would have not approved of! But luckily for Perry’s future (and Henry’s), Perry was not there that night to reprimand Richie and stop the fraternization!

So throughout the remaining days of the cruise, the three met up with Richie on numerous occasions. Henry, who after many years of shunning cameras (to the chagrin of his photographer father!), had, by now, developed a passion for picture taking and, with his beloved Nikon camera, had also developed a passion for shooting high def video. So throughout those last days on board, while enjoying Richie’s various shipboard performances, Henry shot a great deal of pictures of their new friend, as well as video. (That part is significant, as you’ll find out a bit later in this story.)

Finally, the last night arrived, and the three friends were sad that their time on the Allure was about to come to an end, and all were sad to be saying goodbye to the very fun and very precocious Richie. It should also be mentioned here that Richie is a legendary flirt. And, at the time, Henry was legendarily single (and not above a bit of flirting himself). So Richie and Henry made plans to “hang out” at the Schooner Bar on board the Allure after their respective shows were finished for the night (Henry as an audience member at the Comedy Club and Richie doing one of his regular entertainment staff performances). It should be mentioned here that this was not necessarily a date – but some good natured flirting had gone on, and after all, it is awfully romantic on the high seas…

Karen and Laurie wanted to come along to have a goodbye drink with Richie, but Henry knew that they had traditionally been calling it a night by about midnight every night of the cruise thus far, so in all likelihood, they would do the same that night, and Henry would have some time to get to know Richie a bit better and maybe even a moonlit stroll on the decks? What Henry did not know, though, is HOW strict the “no fraternization” rule was on board the Allure. As a matter of fact, just a week earlier, one of Richie’s co-workers had been fired on the spot for too much fraternizing with a passenger. So, when Henry and his friends arrived at the Schooner Bar, expecting to find Richie waiting for them, they instead found Richie and someone named Perry.

In the words of Snidely Whiplash: “Curses! Foiled again!”

Richie explained that Perry was his boss, and that he had been telling him all about us, and had convinced him to join us all for a drink. What we found out later, was that the phrase “convinced him” was as big an understatement as calling the Allure “a little boat”! He practically had to DRAG Perry out. After all, by going out with passengers who were not personal friends prior to the cruise, Perry would be bending (if not outright breaking) the rules about fraternization! And as we’ve said before Perry is all about rules and regulations. But somehow, Richie had finally worn Perry down, and finally got him to go out to have some fun!

But Perry wasn’t altogether thrilled to be there, as he was a manger, after all. So he spent the first part of his time with the group being exceedingly nervous about getting in trouble, should one of his bosses realize that the guests he was hanging out with had not been personal friends of either he or Richie prior to the cruise.

As for Henry, he was less than thrilled that this Perry person had come along on what he hoped might have been an evening with at least a touch of shipboard romance. Admittedly, for the first little bit of this part of the evening, Henry was (shall we say) “less than fond” of Perry. Or as Perry tells it “He hated me when he first met me!” Well, that’s not completely accurate, because let’s face it: who could hate Perry? He’s literally the sweetest guy on the planet!

And it wasn’t long before Henry realized just how sweet Perry was. For those of you that don’t know, Perry has the most infectious laugh, that, when he’s truly happy, can go up into a pitch that is said to be only heard by dogs. As Perry relaxed that night and began to let go (and how could you not when spending time with the always hysterical Karen and Laurie!), Henry kept thinking to himself “I just want to hug that Perry hug”, because he thought he was so adorable with his high pitched laugh and the sweetest smile he’d ever seen. Not to say that Henry was feeling anything romantic towards Perry at that point, but he did think he was incredibly adorable. As the night wore on, and they group progressed through many parts of the ship, looking for an open space where they could just sit and talk, Henry completely lost interest in any shipboard romantic walks with Richie, and instead just enjoyed the group of friends and the last night on board. Karen and Laurie eventually went to bed, leaving Henry, Perry and Richie. And that’s when the discussions turned to careers in the performing arts. Perry mentioned that he eventually wanted to move to New York to pursue a career in acting, and Henry offered to keep in touch with him and help him find his footing when he eventually came to the big city. Similar offers were made to Richie, and by the end of the evening, Henry felt he had made good friends of both, and looked forward to keeping in touch. And they both felt the same way about Henry. Especially Perry.

Two days later, Henry was traveling back to New York by train. He had always wanted to go overnight by train in a private room, and had told Perry and Richie that he’d have 24 hours on the train to kill, and to feel free to entertain him with Facebook posts and messages. Richie, in his inimitable fashion, sent a few entertaining messages (which I’m sure those of you who know Richie can well imagine the nature of those messages!), and Perry sent a number of messages himself. But unlike Richie’s messages, which were always light and fun and meant to entertain, Perry’s messages took on a more personal tone as he began to share some things about himself and his life. During that train ride, Henry found himself looking forward to reading what Perry would write next, and responding to each message with an equally long and personal message, sharing more and more about his life and experiences.

Now, Perry had learned a trick while working on Royal Caribbean when it came to internet access. Like the passengers, the Royal Caribbean employees had to pay a per minute internet fee. Granted, it’s greatly discounted, but nevertheless, internet is never free on a ship – even to employees. So Perry figured out that if he logged online and offline in under 30 seconds, that the ship’s system wouldn’t put through a charge for internet time. And he also figured out that e-mails sent through Facebook instantly downloaded once Facebook was launched – unlike a mail program that can often take a while to download everything waiting on the server. So, Perry got very good at corresponding with shoreside friends and family through Facebook without ever having to incur an internet fee. He explained this to Henry, and as that 24 hour train ride progressed, Perry found himself logging on and off of Facebook as often as he could get back to his room. On Henry’s part, he had Facebook up on his iPhone through the whole 24 hour ride, so that every time Perry would send another message, he’d get it right away.

And thus, a friendship was begun.

In that first 24 hours and in the couple of weeks that followed, there was nothing of a romantic nature that was spoken about. It was simply two people who had a great deal in common, getting to know each other. But then a moment occurred when things shifted. Suddenly, general discussions that were about past loves and hopes for future loves, began to shift to wondering what it would be like to date each other. The two found that they had SO much in common and had SUCH similar hopes for their own love lives, that the discussion eventually turned to the possibility of one day having a date. The mere suggestions of a potential date quickly turned to a mutual desire to definitely have a date, and before they knew it, they both had admittedly developed a very serious crush on each other. And as Facebook actually numbers the messages between users, they realized that in the first three weeks of knowing each other, they had sent over Eight HUNDRED messages to each other! And not just short messages! No, these were long 12-14 paragraph bare your soul type messages.

Soon, the endless Facebook messages began to be joined by long Skype conversations (whenever Perry was in a port where he could get free Wi-fi), as well as 4-5 hour Face-Time calls every Sunday, when the Allure was back in it’s home port of Ft. Lauderdale. It wasn’t long before the two were admitting that this had become a relationship, of sorts. They tried to keep their feelings in check, though… as, after all, they still had never had a date! Nor had they yet had that all important first kiss - or even held hands! So, it was anybody’s guess as to whether that actual chemistry would be there in person, or if this was just a wonderful fantasy relationship. They both had a hunch it would be just as magical in person, but in those first couple of months, they did the best they could to keep at least some perspective on the whole thing. So, when they first began to admit to friends that something was going on between them, they were careful about how they worded it. Very quickly, Richie and the rest of Perry’s team on the Allure realized that Perry was pretty smitten with the former passenger that Richie had introduced him to. And it wasn’t long before their Sunday afternoon Face-Time calls would also include Perry’s phone being passed around backstage at the Allure’s Dreamwork’s Welcome Show. During those Welcome Show Face-Time conversations, Henry would often chat with members of Perry’s team (when Perry had specific duties that called for a hand-over of the phone), and he would always get encouraging reports about how happy Perry had become, and how much he talked about Henry (when he wasn’t cracking the whip as the Uber Manager that he was!). There were even some team members who repeatedly thanked Henry, because Perry had become much more chilled out and relaxed overall, and they were able to really enjoy Perry, the person, in addition to respecting him as the ‘by-the-book’ manager they were used to.

Finally, the day came that Henry told Karen and Laurie about his feelings for Perry. The three had talked frequently since their trip, about how much fun they had, and how much they enjoyed meeting Richie and Perry. Of course, they spent more time that week with Richie, so he was the subject of discussion more frequently than Perry, but since all three were keeping in contact with both of them via Facebook, Henry knew that both Perry and Richie were on the minds of Karen and Laurie. So, he texted the girls, simply saying “Guess who we met recently that I might soon be dating?”. Laurie knew of Henry’s initial interest in Richie, so she responded as Henry expected: “Richie?”, which was a fair guess as he hadn’t clued her in yet about how much he and Perry had been speaking. But Karen responded right away with: “Perry?” And as surprised as Henry was that she figured it out without being told about the growing connection between the two, he also knew that in the almost 30 years that he’d been close to Karen, she always seemed to know what was up with Henry before being told – and in some cases, she had figured things out in Henry’s life before he even knew himself!

So, Henry immediately called Karen. “How did you guess it was Perry!?!?” “Duh”, she responded, “who else would it be?” “I thought for sure you’d think it was Richie”, replied Henry. “No! You and Perry are perfect for each other! I saw it that first night!” “Why didn’t you say something back then?” Henry asked. “You two needed to figure it out on your own.” Karen, always the “wise owl” in Henry’s life.