Drew Barrymore Reveals the One Element of Cruise 'Culture' She Learned to 'Love' (Exclusive)
- - Drew Barrymore Reveals the One Element of Cruise 'Culture' She Learned to 'Love' (Exclusive)
Colson ThayerJanuary 28, 2026 at 12:13 AM
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L: Drew Barrymore; R: MSC Cruises' World America cruise ship
Steven Ferdman/Getty; SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS/AFP via Getty
Drew Barrymore had some studying to do before she was named godmother of MSC Cruises' World America ship
The talk show host tells PEOPLE she learned to love one particular cruise tradition while filming on board
The cruise line's 2026 "Let's Holiday" campaign once again features Barrymore and her fellow MSC ambassador Orlando Bloom
Even though Drew Barrymore currently serves as the godmother for MSC Cruises’ World America ship, there was still a lot for her to learn about the cruise community.
“I didn’t understand the godmother culture,” the talk show host, 50, admits to PEOPLE about her initial apprehensiveness to accept the role. But after learning more about the job, she happily accepted.
“Once I started studying how it all works, I was like, ‘Oh, well, if it’s gonna have a godmother, I want it to be me,’ ” she says. “I went from too humbled to like, ‘I am the godmother!’ ”
But there was even more for the Charlie’s Angels star to learn when she actually got on the boat.
“Here’s something I didn’t know,” she begins. “The doors! Everybody decorates their doors!”
The tradition typically involves guests embellishing the exterior doors to their stateroom to make it easier to locate their cabin and add a festive vibe to the ship's corridors. Whether they’re using supplies from home or souvenirs collected on the voyage, Barrymore says the decor is unique to each passenger.
“There’s a whole series of magnets you can buy,” Barrymore says. “People [put] up their birthday, their anniversary, they’re very into storytelling.”
The Paxos Greek restaurant on the MSC World America
MSC Cruises
For Barrymore, her door is adorned with keepsakes collected on board the MSC World America.
“I would take the Greek restaurant napkin, or my newspaper I read that day, and candy — I got a bag of gummy Coke bottles from the candy store,” she says, adding, “There’s this whole culture of telling your story on your door, and I really loved that.”
Barrymore returned to the World America to shoot a new series of clips for the cruise line’s 2026 “Let’s Holiday” campaign. The new commercials once again feature Barrymore alongside fellow MSC ambassador Orlando Bloom.
L: Drew Barrymore; R: Orlando Bloom
Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty; Jesse Grant/2026GG/Penske Media via Getty
“I appreciate that he laughs a lot, like, with me and at me,” she says of her co-star. “I goofed off a lot in these spots and he is so fun to do that with.”
The campaign encourages guests to focus on the joy of going on holiday, rather than merely taking a vacation. To do this, Barrymore offered her own unique and repeated renditions of the campaign's primary song throughout filming.
“I spent a couple hours singing weird songs I made up to the tune of ‘Holiday,’” the actress says of the hit Madonna track. “Sushi at the bar,” she sings to the main melody, “Decorating my doors.”
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The a cappella arrangements brought smiles to both of the stars’ faces, Barrymore says.
“I feel like I was making Orlando laugh and it made me really happy because I could go for it, like nobody's watching,” she says. “The fact that I kind of get a giggle out is also wonderful, too.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
