Blue Suede Cruise

We just finished our charter cruise today, and it was quite a ride. The ship was full of partying rock-and-rollers, who loved dressing up and adored Elvis. They quite literally drank the ship dry, and a crew party had to be cancelled as a result, as well as bartenders working overtime and being drafted from crew areas to keep the guests happy. The bartenders are exhausted, but happy as they made hand over fist in tips this week.

We did end up having a very easy week, with a grand total of 2 rehearsals, one 10 minute recording session, one big band set, and 2 farewell shows on the last night. Because of bad weather we missed one of our 2 ports, which meant we had five sea days this week. It was a great week to have room service, and I enjoyed it a lot. :-) (I used a crew rewards card to get it for a week) I have been getting to know our new band members a bit more this week. Tim, our pianist, is from Connecticut, 24. Nick, our drummer, is from New Zealand, and is in his late 20's I think. They are both fierce MarioKart and MarioParty competitors, as is my Australian friend Tracy. We had a couple of late nights this week giving my Nintendo 64 a workout.

This week its back to business as usual, and I think we are all ready to be a bit busier again, playing shows and doing big band sets. It was nice to have a really easy week, but now I'm ready to have something to plan my days around. Back to work! This week we will be going back to the two South Pacific Islands we did last week, and then the cruise after that will be our first run to New Zealand. We can't wait!!

Quick update!

Sorry its been a while!! This will be short but sweet as I'm headed back to the ship in 2 minutes....

We have a new cruise director, pianist, and drummer now, which means quite a few changes and some fun getting to know new people. The cruise director is from Norway, a beautiful tall blonde lady named Sol. We're still figuring out her style, but she is a very nice lady.

This week we have a 7-day rock and roll charter cruise, which means ......(drumroll please......) we have almost the whole week off!!! Hooray!!! If only I could just go home for a week....or hang out in Sydney...but it looks like we'll be doing one big band set at some point this week, and maybe the farewell show. I've never done a full charter, it should be fun! I plan to be out and about checking out the events they'll be holding.

Thats all for now, other than that I've just been snorkelling a lot in some amazing places in Vanuatu, and working on my tan!!

New places and trying new things

Well, my second stop in Fiji was much better than the first! It was a beautiful sunny day in Lautoka, Fiji. I've started working for the shor excursions desk again, and I traded my hours for a tour that takes you by boat out to Savala Island, a tiny private island very close to shore. The snorkelling was really incredible there. The water was clear up to 20 meters of visibility, and the coral and fish were really fascinating. I saw some new things, like tons of bright blue sea stars, a
crown of thorns" sea star, and some really vibrantly colored fish. I also got a sunburn.....thats what snorkelling for 2 or 3 hours in a part of the world where there is no Ozone will do to you. Sunscreen was not much help....next time I'll keep my t-shirt on. On the island the crew of our little boat played some music for us in their language, and we had a really nice buffet linch with some of the best fresh fruit I've had in a while. It was a really great day.

In Vila, Vanuatu I tried something totally new - Zorbing. Ever heard of it?? Basically they put you in a big inflated ball inside a ball, and roll you down a hill. It sounds great, I know. :-) It was actually a lot of fun. The type of zorbing they do in Vanuatu isn't the type where you are strapped in and so are flipping head over heels inside the ball. Instead you go in a swimsuit with water in the ball, so you stay on the bottom of it as it spins around you. Hard to explain....the feeling is like the rush of a fast waterslide. We had an total blast doing it.

Tonight the show is "The Rat Pack's Back", obviously featuring three guys who sing the music of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. The music is really fun to play, and I'm looking forward to the show. It looks like all three of them will be having funny interactions with each other and poking fun at each other peanut-gallery style throughout the show, much as the rat pack themselves would have done. Then we've got one more sea day before we get back to Sydney again. I really look forward to Sydney every week, it is one of my favorite places to be.

This turnaround day (in Sydney) we'll get a new pianist, which is always exciting. I've heard he's about my age and is from the states as well, which will be really nice. He's new to the company, so hopefully he is a good player. Exciting!