First couple of days

Hello everyone - just letting you know that I've arrived in one piece to the ship, and have made it through my first couple of days here.

The Voyager is HUGE and beautiful. I have hardly even seen any of it yet, but I've been impressed by what I have seen. The band is 9 piece - two trumpets, 2 saxes, piano, bass, drums, guitar, and me of course. Its already been fun to play with such a big band. I won't go into detail about the players yet, because I haven't really gotten to know them yet. I did get to go out for pizza today in Naples with a few of the guys, though, my first real social interaction since I've arrived. I've been a bit busy with training and settling in, but I know I'll know everyone well enough very soon. I am the only girl in the band again. Apparently I just missed a girl drummer, but her replacement signed on when I did. So I'm roomed with a girl named Sandra, from Colombia, who is the Spanish Hostess on board. She'll be here until we stop sailing from Barcelona, which means I get the bottom bunk in December - Yes!!

Other fun things about this ship and the band in particular - we get personal Aviom systems (expenisive equipment which means we each have control of a personal mix in our own headphones, no need for moniters), and I have a little mic that clips on the bell of my trombone, so I don't have to worry about playing into a mic or arranging a mic stand so it isn't in my way. Working in a real theater is nice as well, the theater was make-shift on the Majesty. Its also a nice change from Continental tour to be able to show up to the gig and have everything already be set up for you, music stands, mics, avioms, stand lights, etc...even a spit rag is there waiting for me (aren't the techs thoughtful?). :-)

So far I've played a welcome aboard show, a big band set, a broadway show, and tonight a vocal impressionist. Since we have week long cruises, things will soon settle into a routine, so I'll explain more about all that later. I've also been told that we almost always have a night off every week. Hooray!

Well, thats all for now. Myfingers are tired from pushing the keyboard letters so hard on this ship's computer. :-)