Venice!!!

I finally got to see Venice!!! I was up early and out on deck to watch us sail into the harbor. It is incredible, we actually sail right past St. Mark's square. I got off the ship on my own, and decided, after a quick look at a posted map to get my general bearings, I would wander around without buying one and just allow myself to get lost in Venice, which I've heard is really the thing to do. So I took my time wandering in the direction of San Marco, exploring the narrow streets and canals and going whichever way I pleased, on my own time. It was a great way to experience the city for the first time. It is really stunning. I did a bit of shopping and came away with my very own Venetian masks, two of my favorites after looking in a dozen shops. I wanted to find one that I knew was made in Venice by a particular artist, and not imported from China for cheap tourist souvenirs. I love the ones I found, made by artist Gastaldi Amelio in Venice. After a few hours I finally reached the famous square, and took in the moment for a while. I saw a few people covered in pigeons, but didn't feel the urge to buy bread and place myself in a similar possibly dirty situation.

At that point I finally bought a map in preparation for the next part of the day - meeting up with my friends for lunch. Gianni, our resident handsome Italian drummer, had invited us to meet in San Margarita square for lunch at 1pm. Having no idea where to start I did buy a map, quickly realizing I had much further to go than I assumed, and raced across bridges and through narrow passageways for half an hour in order to get there close to on-time. I found Gianni and 4 others from our band at the far end of the square at a restaurant Gianni had picked out and recommended. It was a wonderful lunch, in a beautiful place!! I felt so happy and satisfied with my day. Wandering on my own and discovering Venice without worry about anything other than which corner I wanted to peek around next, and then a leisurely and tasty Italian lunch with friends. Mmmm….pizza in Italy…. Gianni insisted on paying for everyone - which was so generous and sweet of him. He really acted the host as we enjoyed being in his country.

Tonight's show is Hayden Smith - who I played for two or three times on the Rhapsody - so it was nice to see him again. Just before the show he asked us if we'd mind him recording our horn parts during the show as we performed, so he can use them when he has to perform without a band. Oh, and he'll pay us a hundred dollars each to agree. Hmmm….no brainer! Get paid twice to play the same show I get paid to play anyway? Yes please.

Ports and In Port Manning

On the Queen Elizabeth, there is a rule that a certain amount of crew must be on board at any one time, in case of an emergency. This translates to "In Port Manning" or IPM for us - there is a set rotation so that one in every seven ports you must stay on board and be assigned a specific IPM emergency duty, possibly different to your usual one, in order to make sure every important position is covered in case something were to happen while we're docked requiring action on our parts. Yesterday I was assigned IPM, but my boss Tim was staying on board and offered to cover it for me. It is quite easy to switch your IPM or even pay someone to do it if you really want to get off in a particular port in which you happen to have IPM. Some companies don't require IPM at all, some only require it from key personnel, and some require it as often as every 3 ports. So one in 7 really isn't bad, especially with it being so easy to switch to get out of it. Some random info for you there.

So anyway, my boss was nice enough to cover my IPM, so I went ashore on my own in Messina. I've been there before so I felt comfortable on my own. I did some shopping and then sat in an outside café with some espresso and read a book on my kindle (a lifesaver!! really loving it!) for a while. On my way back I passed by a café where lo and behold, two friends from past contracts were sitting. At first I didn't believe my eyes, but this really is the only job in the world where you can expect something like running into your buddy Tony the Swedish guitarist from the Rhapsody, and Jordan the English shoppie from the Voyager, while walking around in Sicily. It was great to see them both, such a nice surprise to catch up with them! They are both working on the Navigator of the Seas, a Royal ship that was docked with us that day. Love this life….

Today we were in Cephalonia, a Greek Island. It is a really beautiful sunny place, and man, was it hot. Despite the heat, I walked and explored a lot with Christy and Adrian, even climbing up a big hill so we could see a view of the other side of the island. We did a bit of essential (and some arguably non-essential) shopping, sat for a while at a café to cool off (I had fresh squeezed orange juice….yum) then headed back to the ship.

Oh, the other night for one of the guest acts I got to play Michael Buble's version of Cry Me a River - which has been one of my favorites for a while now! So exciting to be able to actually play the arrangement and rock out!!

Oh also - I am now famous (or infamous) on board because for some reason my crew pass didn't scan properly when I returned to the ship yesterday. They thought I wasn't on board, announced my name over the P.A. (which I didn't hear since I was already in rehearsal), thought they were going to have to leave me behind, and finally called my supervisor (Tim) who turned around to look at me with a funny look on his face, then replied in an amused tone that I was sitting right behind him. :-)

First few days on the QE

Last night we played a show called "Sing!", featuring as you might guess, the 4 singers on board. No dancers are involved in the show, it is strictly a vocal showcase. The neat thing about it is that Cunard has taken advantage of all the musicians on board and combined them into one group for this one show only. So the Royal Court Theatre Orchestra, plus the horns and keys from the Queen's Room band, plus the string quartet and harpist combine to form a 19-piece orchestra. It is really a brilliant idea - its a shame more ships don't take advantage of their musicians this way. The show itself is rather simple, but it is so nice to play in a big band, and especially to have an actual trombone section! Or, at least 2 of us, if that counts as a section. The other trombonist from the Queen's Room band is Jeremy, a guy from San Francisco, who plays well. The Queen's Room band is basically the same make-up as our group, but play dance music every night in the Queen's Room, which is a big ballroom with a beautiful high ceiling. There are several formal balls every voyage, and on this cruiseline the people really come to dance. There are even four gentleman dance hosts every voyage who get a free cruise in exchange for asking ladies to dance all night. Not a bad job, if you know your ballroom styles.

I checked out the guest gym finally, and boy is it high-tech and well equipped. All of the treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes have 17" touch screens, an iPod jack, USB plugin, headphone jack, tray for personal belongings, cup holder, and the treadmills even have little adjustable vents that cool your face with air as you run, should you so desire. Wow. Besides those, the gym really has anything you can imagine to help a workout, like those balancing balls, bosu balls, mats, punching bag and gloves, weights, rowing machines, and who knows what else. It is very nice to be on a brand new ship, I must say.

My first port of call was Cadiz, Spain. I went out with Adrian (trumpet) and Christy to walk around town. We sat at a café in the main square for a coffee, right next to the big central cathedral. I tried a vegetable paella, which was fantastic. After that we walked to the other side of town and out to a fortress and back, visited a local market, and logged over 8 kilometers according to Christy's GPS. It was a great day to be off the ship and in the sun of Southern Spain!

Safe and Sound (or Sano y Salvo, as they say in Spanish)

Hello Everyone! I have safely arrived on the Queen Elizabeth!! My flight took me direct to London Heathrow airport, where I caught a bus to my hotel. No sooner had I set my things down than I headed out to meet up with my friend Sophie, a singer from my last contract. I took the Underground, or Tube, on the Picadilly Line out to Picadilly Circus, where I met Sophie. It was so wonderful to see her again! We talked and talked as she took me on a walking tour around London. I saw Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, and a few other things. We had a proper afternoon tea (how very English) at the Globe theatre, right on the Thames river. Afternoon tea is a British tradition that involves sitting down in a nice venue and always includes sandwiches, scones and sweets. Ours cost about 20 pounds apiece, but then we were at Shakespeare's own theatre….After that Sophie took me up to a rooftop garden cafe overlooking the Thames, where we had a drink and watched the sun go down. We were met by her boyfriend Matt, it was great to meet him face to face after hearing so much about him over the past year. The three of us then crossed the Thames again over to a little underground wine bar called Gordon's, with a really neat candlelight atmosphere. Finally around 10:45pm they put me on a train back to Heathrow, where I was too late to catch a bus and so had to hire my own taxi for the short distance back to my hotel. I was careful not to wake my roommate as I collapsed into bed, quite sleep deprived and jet lagged.

We were picked up early at 6:20am to be bused to the ship - me and nearly 100 other sign ons. I couldn't believe it - that is white a big crew turnover. We were on the ship by 10am, and I moved into my cabin by noon. My roommate is the bass player in my band, a girl called Christy. She seems really nice so far, though she was nearer the front of the line of sign-on's, and so got here first to claim the coveted bottom bunk. :-) 7 of the 8 in our band signed on with me, though a few are returning.

So far I've played the welcome aboard show (shortened to WABS around here), which is mostly Earth Wind and Fire stuff in a medley with the cast performing, last night was a singer called Jeff Hooper with a great voice, albeit low-key show, and tonight's production show of La Danza, featuring the dancers. I have so much to tell you all about this amazing ship, but it'll have to wait until next time because my bed is calling me. :-)

4 days to go!

I finally got my flight details on Monday, thank goodness. My flight leaves late Sunday afternoon from LAX, and its a red-eye straight shot to London Heathrow. I guess I really do have a job! I arrive a day early, so I'll be in London overnight, which is nice. Its always great to get a good night's sleep before joining a ship to recover a bit from the travel. I'm in the process of packing, amid anxiety dreams of forgetting to pack something or loosing my luggage somewhere. :-) I have to be all packed by Thursday night, since I'm going away over the weekend with family and won't have time to get it done then. Friday we get to see Paul McCartney in Las Vegas! My parents and Tyler and his wife Allison are going, and it will be great to spend some time with them. We come back Saturday just in time for my grandparent's 60th anniversary dinner, what an amazing achievement for them, and what a great example for us to follow. We'll get home late Saturday night, then drive down to LAX the next day. Its all going to happen very quickly. I'll be on a plane before I know it. I'm excited about all the new things awaiting me. I'll update this as quickly as I can to let you know how it is on the Queen Elizabeth. I'm praying that I'll be able to relax into it quickly, and that I will soon find some good friends. Here goes nothing!