5/23 - Mykonos, Greece!

5/23
Today we arrived in our first port – Mykonos. It is so beautiful, just looking out of a ship window. A lot of people went ashore, but I didn’t feel like I could since I had two training sessions and a lot of errands to run – including getting my complete uniform. They don’t have anything that fits me properly, mostly things are too big, but its close enough. The only things that really fit are the shoes, which I like a lot. Oh well, I didn’t really expect to be making a fashion statement while in uniform. ☺

Tonight we have three jazz sets to do in one of the jazz clubs onboard – Michael’s Club. I’ll probably only play in one of them, which is nice. One thing is for sure: I’m going to get lot more comfortable playing jazz-combo-style and improvising – I don’t really have a choice there!

Today was the first day that I had time to wander around the ship a bit and meet some guests. One lady approached me and said she and her husband recognized me from the plane flight over here! We were on the same flight, and her husband had pointed me out to her as a musician because of my trombone (he’s a music teacher). They were so surprised to see me on their cruise! I keep bumping into them and having nice conversations. I also met a couple from Maryland who were very sweet and funny – they told me they’d come heckle me tonight when I play in Michael’s. I am really looking forward to having a lot more interaction with guests and getting to know a lot of them. They are for the most part really nice and really happy (why shouldn’t they be – they’re on vacation!), and a joy to talk to. Anyway, I feel like today I emerged into the open after several days of sleeping, eating, training, and performing below deck. It was a wonderful day! And the ocean sunset between the islands was incredible. I am looking forward to many more.