The story so far...

Ok! So I'm here!  My flights all went surprisingly well - everything happened as scheduled, which is wonderful.  The flight to Bangkok from Tokyo went by pretty fast because I had a cool seating buddy and we talked almost the whole way.   I was picked up at the airport and driven to the Yamato Hotel about a half hour away, where I tried to get  couple hours sleep.  The next morning it was an hour and a half drive to the port, where I boarded the Quest.  I met my bandmaster right away - his name is Dan, and he's the pianist.  He's a really nice and easygoing guy, quite a change from my last contract.  He showed me all around, and then told me the amazing news - I had the night off!  I can't believe they're paying me for this....:-) Anyway it was so great not to have to play right away.  Instead I settled in, practiced, had a quick workout, and then watched the Inauguration live on TV, which was really cool.  I kindof felt like I was there.  

Tonight we have a show - and it happens to be Helen Jayne, whose show I've played several times before, so no real stress, although it is a lot of playing to start out with, and made me tired.   I hope I make it through the second show before my chops give out.  :-)

My cabin is pretty nice, really close to the Cabaret, which is our main performance venue.  My roommate is our bass player, Carina, and she is really chill and easy to get along with.  I like her a lot.  I've already met a lot of people, and feel really accepted.  The people here generally seem a tighter group than on the bigger ships I'm used to.  I like the atmosphere a lot so far.   The food is better generally all over the ship.  I had fresh sliced mangoes with my breakfast!!  Even in the mess hall things are better than Celebrity.  One perk is that the staff and officers share the same mess, which means it has to be good enough for the captain. :-) On Celebrity the Officers had their own, very nice mess hall.  So the combo mess is a good thing for staff like me.  The ship doesn't really feel as small as I expected - it feels perfect.  

Tomorrow we'll be in Cambodia, and apparently the thing to do there is go to the beach.  Everyone seems to be going, and I think I'll tag along.  Should be fun to hang out with everyone, and there is supposed to be really good food there.  Looking forward to it!!

Here's the latest!

Alright, all you avid followers of my blog, who have been missing hearing about all my adventures....Ha ha.  I've spent the month at home in Lake Arrowhead with family, working a few days a week in the Village at my little gift store.  We spent a week over New Year's in Lake Havasu as a family, which was a lot of fun.  I've been doing pretty well at keeping up with my practicing and keeping my resolutions....at least half of them, anyway.  :-)  I am still on track to work for Norwegian Cruise Line in March, and have started working on all the paperwork required by NCL for new hires.  But in the meantime there is some other news - 

My original agent called me a couple days ago to ask if I would mind filling in on short notice for an emergency opening they have on the Azamara Quest.  Azamara is affiliated with Celebrity, but is a smaller, more upscale luxury line.  Smaller ships, less passengers, etc.  I visited their other ship, the Journey, when we happened to be docked together in Livorno.  I liked the atmosphere, although it feels claustrophobic after being on Celebrity's big ships.  I am excited about having the chance to experience life on a smaller, nicer ship without having to commit to a 6 month contract.  And the ports were also a big draw (see current pic for specifics).  So they are flying me out to Bangkok to join the ship on the 20th, then my contract finishes in Hong Kong on the 31st.  Its crazy to think that they'd fly me all the way out to Asia for an 11 day contract!  I'm also excited to visit some friends of mine in Hong Kong, and maybe spend an extra night there.  So off I go again!  Just for a couple weeks, though, then I'll be back in Arrowhead, home sweet home.