A little excitement...

(St. Petersburg Photo Album is up!)

 http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063829&l=d5e02&id=56903845

We've had a pretty interesting couple of days here on the Century.   The ship had some sort of electrical problem when we were docked in Corsica, and as a result we remained there overnight and all of the following day until almost 10pm.  For the crew it was nice - we got a night's sleep without any noise or rocking, plus we were all quietly hoping we'd be layed up there for a couple weeks with no guests and therefore no work. :-)  But, they fixed the problem eventually and the cruise continued, with one port (Casablanca) missed, and a late arrival today in Gibraltar.  Tomorrow we will still go to Tangier as planned, and return to Barcelona on time (as long as nothing else goes wrong).  Because of all this our schedules have been all switched around and the shows put on different days.  Last night the show didn't use the horns - it was the pianist Naki Ataman, who I worked with on the Galaxy for a month or so.  His show requires one of the horn players to run powerpoint, which I was happy to volunteer to do since I've done it before, and everyone else was quite happy to let me do it. :-)  Tonight Naki took me out to Casual Dining and we caught up a bit, which was nice.  It was an example of one of the things I really like about cruise ships - getting to know all these interesting people from around the world and sharing conversations about music and life with great performers like Naki.  I feel really lucky to be here at times like those.  

As for Gibraltar - I was feeling a bit under the weather last night and today so all I did is walk around for about an hour, but the place itself really fascinates me and I can't wait to climb the rock and see the infamous monkeys next time.  Today I didn't even make it into town - Marie and Liam and I just walked to the first restaurant we found, which happened to be some really authentic Indian food (we found all the Indian guys from the ship eating there, so you know its good). Tonight's show is Jack Walker, a singer whose show we played last cruise as well.  The only way to describe his show is that it is as diversified as possible.  You name it, he probably sings it.  The audience really seems to like him.  It looks like tomorrow will be an easy day for us, possibly only "Starring You" which is sort of a talent show for guests (and which can be quite painful sometimes).  Basically we play one waltz  (Moon River) while a few couples dance, and then we fill in all the spaces in the show with the same 10 bars of a big band tune.  

Several days ago we were in Civitavecchia, Italy, which was really a neat feeling for me.  It is the first port this contract that I know well, and it was also the place where I boarded my very first ship for the very first time, one year and four months ago.  It was a strange feeling to be back there, and remember getting off the plane in Rome, taking the taxi to the port, and then seeing the Galaxy for the very first time.  I remember how huge it looked to me then.  Plus oddly enough the Galaxy was in port with us, along with the Summit.  All three of my ships in the same place - strange.  My friend Lisa is on the Summit, and she and I arranged to meet up.  We had lunch at a nice Chinese food place and reminisced about good times on the Galaxy.  I guess being there again just gave me a new perspective on my time on ships, and how far I've come in a year, and how normal this all seems now.  Well, there's plenty more that's happened since the last time I posted, but I think thats more than enough info for now.  

Villefranche, France

Yesterday we had our first stop on our first Mediterranean itinerary - Marseilles, France.  I was pretty excited about this port because of the movie The Count of Monte Cristo, which was set in Marseilles and the surrounding areas.  The Chateau D'if is a real place that eventually I will get to visit.  Oddly enough it seems like no-one that I know here has ever heard of the movie!  Inconceivable...its a family favorite in our house.  Anyway this time about seven of us (all musicians from around the ship) got off in the afternoon to enjoy a leisurely lunch and just walk around.   We ate at a nice restaurant right on the quaint old harbor, and then walked around the main shopping streets.  Marie made us repeat after her and order in French.  I learned how to say fork, knife, and steak.  Its a start.  

When Marie and I showed up in the theatre later that night for our pre-show big band set, we found out that Kevin had somehow broken his trumpet and couldn't play.  So instead of big band, Ian just played a jazz set all by himself, and Marie and I joined him to play for the Captain's Toast.  It was rather strange - plus we are still mystified as to why Kevin couldn't just play his flugelhorn instead for one night.  Oh well, he's his own boss sometimes.  So with our unexpected free time Marie and I spent the evening together and watched the broadway show.   

Today we are in Villefranche - the port of call for Nice, Provence, and MonteCarlo (Monaco).  From what I can see, the French Riviera lives up to its reputation - beautiful houses on the seaside, fancy yachts everywhere....I didn't actually get off the ship today, just enjoyed the view from the deck.  But I'm really looking forward to taking some tours here the next few times.  

Tonight we have a guest entertainer named Davie Howes.... "A muilti-instrumentalist with a twist" according to his tagline.  He sings, plays piano, trumpet, pocket trumpet, post-horn, and everything else you can imagine.  He sticks his trumpet mouthpiece into all kinds of odd equipment and still manages to knock out a tune.  Some examples: an old tea kettle, a mic stand (hollow middle), a shower unit, a garden hosepipe, etc.  I've seen him around the ship quite a lot and we've had some nice conversations.  He says his show is really just his job, it isn't musical or his passion - his wife of 20 years has never even seen it.  He says he would love to play jazz trumpet all day but he gets paid 6 times more to play a hosepipe. :-)  I like him a lot - he's a very good-spirited, down-to-earth English guy.  (And he looks remarkably like Cameron Belsey - weird!!)  Anyway we have his show again tonight, and its definitely entertaining for me.