posting more often, as promised.

Here I am in Tully's coffee shop in Seattle. I had an amazing "french toast" bagel breakfast sandwich for lunch....so good! Try one sometime.

The big gossip is that this week Gloria Estefan will be on board cruising with us. When I get back to the ship today I should find out if the rumors are true and she in fact got on board today. Unfortunately for us as a showband, we won't have much chance to make an impression on her if we wanted to, as we are off most of the week. Neither of the guest acts this week need us, so we are even more lazy than usual. Here's the rundown of my work schedule for the week:

Tonight: One welcome aboard show, about 10 or 15 minutes of work, possibly 25 seconds of work if we're lucky and only have to play on the cruise director.

Sat: off

Sun: off

Mon: off

Tues: 1 hour big band set

Wed: 1 hour big band set

Thurs: farewell shows.

For a grand total of.....about 3 hours of work this week. Wow. Sign me up for some tours!!!

Touring touring touring!

Last night my roommate Monica and the rest of the new cast of Royal Caribbean Singer and Dancers opened their first show, Piano Man. Congratulations to them, and especially to Monica, for their first show and a job well done. Monica has a cool bluesy voice with lots of character, and it was fun to hear her do her thing after a week of hanging out with her in the cabin. I think she and I are going to get along really well. Next week they will add a second show, then finally add the last one the week after that. Its coming along!

In Skagway this week I went on a rafting tour in an eagle preserve outside of Haines, a town about a half hour ferry ride from our dock in Skagway. We saw quite a few eagles, and the weather was really fantastic. Best day we've had yet in Skagway, I think. Our tour guide was a very intellectual and funny man named Tom Lang, who apparently writes books as well.....he has a website: http://www.boudelang.com/about.html. We all enjoyed his banter throughout the day. I shared a raft with a big, fun Irish family, and have been able to bump into them a couple times on the ship since.

Today I went back to Butchart Gardens, on a tour that had a "gourmet" picnic lunch. It was so wonderful....I brought my book this time and spent a while on a bench in the Rose Garden, reading and just breathing in the air. I'm now in downtown Victoria, and was finally able to catch up on posting my photos! Here are the links for those of you who aren't on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115937&id=56903845&l=dc2bfc89d6

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2116801&id=56903845&l=ca9bc2f2bf

New room, new roommate, new jobs, new shoes.

I feel like my new life here is beginning! I am all settled into my new, bigger cabin, enjoying the space, and the bottom bunk. I did some shopping last Thursday in Victoria to decorate my cabin - I got a whole set of matching throw pillows at a thrift store that have allowed my bunk to also be a couch - I line the pillows all up along the wall, and it looks great. It is wonderful to just be able to sit on my bunk and relax, something you really can't do on the top bunk. I have so much more storage space as well, which I am putting to good use as I seem to have been designated the heiress of everything the old cast left behind, like clothes, pillows, blankets, kettles, alcohol, a humidifier, and even a completely useless rock garden, which I admit I've already thrown away. But basically, I am completely set up for the rest of my contract, with everything I could ever want and more. My new roommate is Monica Hall, from the east coast of the US, and she is brand new to ships, wandering around in a daze and completely overwhelmed. She will be ok eventually, I'm trying to encourage her and calm her nerves as best I can. I get along with her well so far. I can't wait to hear her sing in their debut performance, which won't be til the end of the week.

I started two new side jobs yesterday, Port and Shopping and the Art Auction. It is really nice to be busy on the sea days, and nice to have a chance to interact with guests, something my job doesn't normally afford me the opportunity to do. Spending money also does not go amiss. Today I did some shoe shopping with two of my girl friends on the ship, and now all three of us are in rather high spirits, all the while disgusted with ourselves that buying new shoes should afford us so much happiness.

Also last Thursday, I went on a tour to the famous Butchart Gardens in Victoria. I must agree with the critics - the gardens are absolutely breathtaking. It is like a paradise of flowers and green living things. My camera is all worn out, and I can't wait to go back another time to enjoy the beauty some more. My tour included High Tea in the Butchart house, which was also fantastic. I'm still recovering from the delicious riot of sugar and carbohydrates. Altogether, its been a wonderful week since the last time I was here in Juneau. Bring on the next!

One month down!

Its hard to believe, but I've been here a month already! If the rest of the contract goes by this fast I'll be home before I know it! I'm starting to find ways to keep myself busy during my free time here, which is helping pass the time. I began volunteering with the Shore Excursion team, just an hour or two a week, and in return I get to go on tours for free. A pretty sweet arrangement, if you ask me! I started off by going whale watching a few days ago in Victoria. We saw a whole pod of orcas (albiet a bit far off) and a gray whale. I'm really excited about all the tours I'm going to be able to check out over the next couple months here in Alaska.

Last week we played for Kenny James, a show I really enjoy doing, and may have written about before. Kenny is a good entertainer and just a wonderful human being, and so easy to work with. His charts are pretty decent as well, with cool arrangements of Sir Duke and All Night Long, with some fun brass licks. My favorite part of the show, though is one where I don't even play. Kenny brought his son on board and had him playing bass in our band for the show. The two of them do an uptempo arrangement of Misty for voice and bass, and the bassline really grooves....you'd have to hear it to understand, but suffice it to say it is just really cool. I sat on stage grooving in my seat with a big smile on my face all four times I sat through it over the past week.

This week is the final week for the cast...which means I'll have a new roommate next week. I'm also going to pick up a couple of side jobs that the cast will be leaving open, working for the Art Auctioneer and the Port and Shopping Guide. Hooray for extra cash! I will miss Katie, though - she has been a fantastic roommate. What I will not miss is our incredibly tiny cabin: I'm taking the opportunity the cast changeover affords me to wriggle my way into the much bigger cabin right next door. And the bottom bunk will finally be mine! This calls for a celebration! I can't wait to move in and arrange and decorate. :-)

Well, I'm in Juneau today, and for a little dose of "normal life", I'm off to see Inception at the local movie theater. I'll check in again soon!!

Adventures with the Smith Family

So here we are about halfway through the week already, and we have had so many adventures! In Juneau I took my friends the Smith family to the salmon bake I had discovered the week before, at Thane's Ore House. After that we went on a "sled dog summer camp" excursion. We got to ride in a cart pulled by a team of 14 sled dogs, and it was a really neat experience! We weren't in the snow, but on the ground, and they use the cart as a means to train the dogs since the musher can have more control over steering and braking. The dogs are smaller than I would have imagined, and very strong. While waiting on the line to be allowed to run they get so excited and antsy and start barking like crazy, and are only calm after the run is over. It reminded me of how my dogs behave when they know we are about to take them on a walk....so funny. It was a very cool thing to see....and was a neat rush to be whooshing along pulled by dogs, and see them work together to pull the cart. After the ride we got to hold some husky puppies....so cute!!

In Skagway I was able to be excused from drill to go on the helicopter ride with the Smiths - we got to fly over the mountains and right up to a hanging glacier on the side of the mountain. The views were amazing!!! Taking off in the helicopter was the neatest feeling - probably my favorite part. (Mom, have I ever been in a helicopter before???) So cool....running up to it while the blades were already running made me feel like James Bond.....or the president or something...:-) Anyway I got some great pictures of Skagway and the ship from the sky. After the helicopter ride we had lunch in town, then met up for our second tour of the day - ziplining! It was a different experience than the one I had in Roatan - the zips weren't as long, but the course included more ropes course challenge types of things as well. The outdoor adventure park also has rock climbing and rapelling, which I may try to do at some point later in my contract. I like the staff a lot, they were really friendly and professional and seemed to really love their job and have fun with each other.

So that's what we've been up to so far! I've been catching up on sleep during these sea days, and then the adventure will continue in Victoira. Or we may be so worn out we'll just have some good old fish and chips and call it a day. :-)

Week 3 begins...

My friend Daniel left yesterday, and it was hard to say goodbye. These past two weeks with him around have been a great sort of vacation, packed full of as many activities as possible in all the ports, and just hanging out on board. He's off to do some pit orchestra gigs in the UK, and I wish him the best. Saying goodbye is easier when you know it is a small world, and you can see someone again if you want to. Keeping me busy this week are the wonderful Smith family (no relation, ironically), and it is great to see them again! I got to join them in the dining room last night, and will again several other nights this week, and will be going on excursions with them in the ports. They are such a wonderful family, and I am so glad they are here!! They have some pretty amazing things planned for the ports, and I'll write more on that later.

Tonight we will back up the Temptations tribute band one more time before they leave the ship. The routine in Alaska is that each entertainer is on for a week, but the week overlaps two cruises, so that they perform once at the end of one cruise, then at the very beginning of the next before leaving. They are replaced by the next entertainer, who will do the same thing. That way each group of guests always enjoys two different acts during their vacation. Later on this week we have Jonathan Clark, whose show I played for about 2 months straight on the Voyager. Clark does singing impersonations and comedy. When I left, I remember thinking, "Thank goodness I never have to play that show again..." Well.... here we go again. At least it will be easy. I will try to refrain from quoting the entire act to Phil, the lead trumpet player unfortunate enough to be sitting next to me that night.