June 18th-20th
Geiranger, Olden, and Stavanger
Cunard, along with many other companies, does something that RCCL doesn’t do, and that is “in port manning.” IPM, as it is known, is a requirement of the ship to have a certain number of crew aboard at all times in case of emergency, and unfortunately, musicians aren’t exempt. The 18th was my IPM day, and thankfully the only one this cruise. So instead of going out on any cool adventures, I was more or less grounded to the ship. It is possible to switch IPM duties with someone, even mid day if you find a friend who comes back on the ship early, so it’s not like there’s nothing you can do about it, but it doesn’t make life any easier. The port, from what I could tell, was a small village tucked back in the fjords, and absolutely gorgeous. My highlights of the day were in watching us sail into and out of port as we navigated through the fjords, a watery labyrinth dictated by the lush mountains we squeezed between. It was an unbelievable sight though, and probably the most picture perfect place I’ve visited thus far. Every picture I took should have been on a post card, it’s that beautiful. And the best part was that the bow of the ship is a crew only area, only accessible through a crew passageway, and certainly one of the best locations on the ship for taking in the natural wonders. I’m looking forward to returning in a few weeks and having the chance to get off the ship.
The 19th was spent in Olden, another small village placed deep inside the Norwegian fjords, this time, however, I could get off and see it – too bad there wasn’t much too see. There were threats of rain most of the day, and the small city, though charming, wasn’t exactly exciting. I guess you have to appreciate it for what it is though, another quaint village in another amazing landscape. I walked around the city for a bit until I followed a road a decent distance up a hill for a better perspective of the city and ship. Like always, I couldn’t take a bad picture, and the scenery was just a astounding as always. I almost want to say it gets old and that you can lose appreciation for it, but all I have to do is think of the less than inspiring plains of Crystal Lake to reignite my initial thrill.
That night I had a great show to play. The guest performer was Mac Frampton, a solo pianist with some really good arrangements. This was by far the most difficult guest show I’ve ever had to play, but difficult in a good way because it was well written, not difficult because the guest didn’t know what the band had to play. The rehearsal went faster than any I’ve had, we simply played through the tunes at break-neck speed and Mac left the rest up to us to make sure the show went well. We played tunes like the William tell overture, a decent phantom of the opera medley, a James bond medley, and even Rhapsody in Blue. These aren’t original choices for a guest, but the way he arranged them made it so much more fun and challenging than anyone else ever has. Also, for the first time ever, I’ve actually been nervous before playing a guest show. Mac had me playing the clarinet intro to Rhapsody in Blue, and not only is it completely exposed and well known, making all screw ups blatantly obvious, but I had to do it on the one instrument I don’t get along with. Well, I practiced that lick all day and luckily pulled it off both shows, but certainly not without some pre-show jitters. But both shows went well, Mac sounded great, and the band was excited when we left, a rarity when it comes to guest performers. Oh, and we also performed the concert with the ship’s string quartet who sounded great and took the show to the next level. All in all, it worked out to be a great night. Then, after the show, there was a entertainment division party upstairs in the teen’s room, a play area filled with gaming stations, air hockey, and flashing lights. It was a really hip room to have a party in and I spent most of the night playing either guitar hero or getting my first taste of Nintendo Wii, of which consumed my night when I discovered the boxing game. I didn’t get back to my room till around 4:30.
The next morning I slept till my alarm woke me at 12:30, a planned failsafe so I didn’t blow the whole day in Stavanger. I got off the ship for a couple hours for some casual walking. The city was much bigger than any of the recent ports, and after some time I located a couple music stores, of which I have no choice but to go in. Everything’s expensive in Norway, so I didn’t buy anything, but I talked to the salesperson for a while, who also played sax, and eventually left to make my way back to the ship. It started drizzling right as I started approaching the ship, so my exploring ended there at about 3:15. The rest of the day I had off, so I did some reading and practicing. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sea Day/Trondheim
June 16th/17th
Sea day/Trondheim
The 16th was spent sailing back down the coast of Norway and out of the Arctic Ocean. There was a production show that night, so that was fun. Of all the production shows I’ve done, this has been by far the hardest of any of them. Not only the sax parts somewhat involved, but the doubles are terribly intense. The third tune is nothing short of a flute etude, complete with fast triplet rhythmic sections, trill passages, extremely high runs, solo lines, and yes, even a cadenza that I play totally alone. The joke has always been that you play about 60 notes in 2 seconds, or at least that’s how it was described to me, and it’s not too far off. Then the next tune is more clarinet intensive than anything I’ve ever played in public. Anything I’ve ever played in public on clarinet has been at about an 8th grade level, not even high school probably. This show is nothing short of professional Dixie Land intensity. For those of you who have talked to me about doubles (flute and clarinet) can remember me saying how much I love the flute and how much I despise my stupid clarinet. Well, let’s just say I had to make friends with it for this show. Between the chromatic lines, extreme ranges, wild arpeggios, harmonized soli lines, and two very exposed improvised solos, I had to not only make friends with the dreaded black tube, but actually figure out ways to play it. Well, I did it, or at least enough to get by. There were some lines that are just far and above my technical abilities, along with every other aspiring sax player I’ve ever known, so I’ll just continue to practice those in the hopes that one day I can actually play them respectably. But that was the day pretty much, stressing over this show that could easily lead to losing all respect musically with the band I’ve recently been establishing. And then after the show, I played ping pong.
Trondheim is now one more location to add to my list. After a rehearsal in the morning, I got off the ship with two friends, John and Jason (both new hires that joined with me a week ago). We didn’t do much more than simply walk the city. We came across some lovely bridges and canals, a gorgeous cathedral, and a few shopping areas. After a while we stopped at what seemed to be a café/bakery. For what I’m sure was close to $10, I bought an espresso and a baguette to share with my friends. We sat and ate and simply enjoyed spending some time off the ship. The bread wasn’t anything spectacular, and the espresso was unbelievably strong, but I figure I’m paying for the experience of chilling at a Norwegian café with my friends, and that’s what is important. We got back to the ship, I did some reading, and then it was time for the shows. The show tonight was actually a combining of the two orchestras (9 piece bands) and a string quartet, along with the four singers, a nice change from the usual production show and 9 piece sound-scape. And that was about it for the night. Now I’ll do some reading before going to bed and get ready for yet another day on the exciting Queen Victoria (maybe not that exciting...but it’s a good sales pitch anyways). Thanks!!
Sea day/Trondheim
The 16th was spent sailing back down the coast of Norway and out of the Arctic Ocean. There was a production show that night, so that was fun. Of all the production shows I’ve done, this has been by far the hardest of any of them. Not only the sax parts somewhat involved, but the doubles are terribly intense. The third tune is nothing short of a flute etude, complete with fast triplet rhythmic sections, trill passages, extremely high runs, solo lines, and yes, even a cadenza that I play totally alone. The joke has always been that you play about 60 notes in 2 seconds, or at least that’s how it was described to me, and it’s not too far off. Then the next tune is more clarinet intensive than anything I’ve ever played in public. Anything I’ve ever played in public on clarinet has been at about an 8th grade level, not even high school probably. This show is nothing short of professional Dixie Land intensity. For those of you who have talked to me about doubles (flute and clarinet) can remember me saying how much I love the flute and how much I despise my stupid clarinet. Well, let’s just say I had to make friends with it for this show. Between the chromatic lines, extreme ranges, wild arpeggios, harmonized soli lines, and two very exposed improvised solos, I had to not only make friends with the dreaded black tube, but actually figure out ways to play it. Well, I did it, or at least enough to get by. There were some lines that are just far and above my technical abilities, along with every other aspiring sax player I’ve ever known, so I’ll just continue to practice those in the hopes that one day I can actually play them respectably. But that was the day pretty much, stressing over this show that could easily lead to losing all respect musically with the band I’ve recently been establishing. And then after the show, I played ping pong.
Trondheim is now one more location to add to my list. After a rehearsal in the morning, I got off the ship with two friends, John and Jason (both new hires that joined with me a week ago). We didn’t do much more than simply walk the city. We came across some lovely bridges and canals, a gorgeous cathedral, and a few shopping areas. After a while we stopped at what seemed to be a café/bakery. For what I’m sure was close to $10, I bought an espresso and a baguette to share with my friends. We sat and ate and simply enjoyed spending some time off the ship. The bread wasn’t anything spectacular, and the espresso was unbelievably strong, but I figure I’m paying for the experience of chilling at a Norwegian café with my friends, and that’s what is important. We got back to the ship, I did some reading, and then it was time for the shows. The show tonight was actually a combining of the two orchestras (9 piece bands) and a string quartet, along with the four singers, a nice change from the usual production show and 9 piece sound-scape. And that was about it for the night. Now I’ll do some reading before going to bed and get ready for yet another day on the exciting Queen Victoria (maybe not that exciting...but it’s a good sales pitch anyways). Thanks!!
Honningsvag
June 15th
Honningsvag Norway (North Cape)
Today I got as close to the north pole as I’m ever likely to get (not including flying over it). The ship stopped in the port of Honningvag which is way at the north end of Norway, look it up on a map if you get a chance. I had a good deal of time in port, and unlike Tromso, didn’t sleep through it. I got off the ship just after lunch at 11 and began walking through this small seaside village. The cities are really charming in Norway, and the landscape is certainly beautiful, but I still can’t believe people actually live up there all year round. The temperature was around 40 and I can’t imagine it getting much warmer than that, ever. Anyways, I started walking through the city looking for something to do. The city is wedged between the water and a decent mountain, and in keeping with tradition, I just had to climb it. After walking around the base for a while I found a nice route up and started my ascent. This mountain was higher and steeper than others I’ve climbed, but I felt fairly comfortable on the terrain, consisting primarily of a strange moss (similar to the swamp I walked through yesterday) and fallen rocks. Maybe it’s that I’m losing my endurance or that this climb was especially steep, but I had to stop multiple times to catch my breath, so that’s at least some indication of the physical demands of this climb. But anyways, I made it to the top of the first peak which overlooked the city and the ship, only to find someone else up there. The guy up there works on the ship as a pianist in a lounge, and considering he was someone I hadn’t yet met, it was slightly odd meeting him on top of the mountain, but kind of cool. I’m just glad I’m not the only one crazy enough to climb a barren mountain for no reason other than for the view.
After our brief introduction, he headed back down the hill and I continued on to the next peak. This next point of interest wasn’t much higher than the first, but I had nowhere to go and no reason to climb back down, so I made my way over to it. When I got there I noticed a green mailbox, labeled velcommen, attached to a large wooden post indicating the summit. So, like any curious hiker, I opened up the box to see who was welcoming me to the top of the hill. Inside was a plastic container, like a water bottle, which housed a numbered list and a pen, apparently someone had made a guest book at the top of this mountain. Well, I had to sign it, but the paper was really wet and the pen included in the bottle wasn’t working properly, so I took out my Roosevelt alumni pen and signed my name to the list. After some deliberation about the intrinsic value of my pen, I decided to leave it with the list of names for future climbers to use, and then took a seat to enjoy the view and contemplate the possibility of my Roosevelt pen being further north than all other Roosevelt pens (no, I’m not kidding). But here’s where it gets good.
Soon after I took my seat, I noticed another climber who had reached the first peak, gave him a wave to say hi, and waited as he approached my lookout. As he got closer, I greeted and welcomed him to what I was convinced was my point. First thing he does is go for the box, but not to sign his name. Turns out he’s actually the “keeper of the list” (my own term) and had climbed the mountain to replace the wet list with a dryer book and some new pens. I was proud to point out to this mysterious keeper that I had donated my pen to the cause, to which he seemed thrilled. He even gave me the old pen as a souvenir, which was nice of him, I didn’t have the heart to tell him I thought it was broken. So we started chatting and I got some interesting information from my new friend. First of all, after finding out the list was his own creation, the next thing learned about was his age – 76. Yeah, remember how I said I struggled climbing to where I was, and that there were lose rocks and moss everywhere, well this 76 year old retiree totally kicked my butt in climbing, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The best part is that he said he does this all the time, and this was a shorter walk for him cause his wife, who usually comes with, had some back pain in the morning and decided not to go with. So with a lost sense of pride in my fitness level, we continued talking and learning about each other. Norwegians have very good English, in general, so communication wasn’t a problem. I let him know I played music on the ship, and found out he had lived in this city all his life and how much he loves it. He cites the fresh air as the reason for his enjoyment of the location, of which I can certainly understand. He said he used to work there as an insurance agent and now just enjoys his time walking the mountains and enjoying the fresh air. We discussed his son in Houston, his trips to the US, and he even called up his wife to tell her about the American he met signing his list. Before he left, he asked if I’d be returning to the city and invited me to his house for tea when I do, so I wrote down his name and address with the intent of taking him up on that offer. He then showed me what he thought was the best route down from my position, we said goodbye, and he continued on what I thought was and otherwise impossible walking route for a 76 year old man. Before he passed behind the third and furthest peak, he gave a wave and disappeared behind the rocks.
By the way, he said the temperature in the winter doesn’t drop below -3C, or around 20F, my guess is due to the water. Inland, he said, the temp drops below -25C – a conversion I can’t quite guess for you.
I sat for another 20 minutes or so just laughing at the unbelievable coincidence of the meeting and replaying it in my mind. It’s experiences like that that I work on ships for, that is, unplanned and entirely spontaneous relationships with people I’d have never been able to meet otherwise. Then, when my euphoria was pushed aside by the near freezing temperature, I began my decent towards the city. I took some pictures on the way down, and eventually made it back to the roads with out a problem. I find climbing and descending so much fun, it’s an opportunity to get outside and just jump around enjoying the world for what it is, I really find it wonderful. From there, I was too excited to go back to the ship, so I meandered about until I found some friends to walk with for little more than the sake of having someone to talk to and tell my new story too. I retraced some of my steps as I walked with my friends, not really accomplishing anything, just spending time not in our cabins.
We all returned to the ship, and after a rehearsal and show that night, that was about it for the day. Just one more day on the ship, one more interesting port I’d otherwise never see, and one more really cool experience for which there is no substitute. Thanks so much for reading and have a great day!
Honningsvag Norway (North Cape)
Today I got as close to the north pole as I’m ever likely to get (not including flying over it). The ship stopped in the port of Honningvag which is way at the north end of Norway, look it up on a map if you get a chance. I had a good deal of time in port, and unlike Tromso, didn’t sleep through it. I got off the ship just after lunch at 11 and began walking through this small seaside village. The cities are really charming in Norway, and the landscape is certainly beautiful, but I still can’t believe people actually live up there all year round. The temperature was around 40 and I can’t imagine it getting much warmer than that, ever. Anyways, I started walking through the city looking for something to do. The city is wedged between the water and a decent mountain, and in keeping with tradition, I just had to climb it. After walking around the base for a while I found a nice route up and started my ascent. This mountain was higher and steeper than others I’ve climbed, but I felt fairly comfortable on the terrain, consisting primarily of a strange moss (similar to the swamp I walked through yesterday) and fallen rocks. Maybe it’s that I’m losing my endurance or that this climb was especially steep, but I had to stop multiple times to catch my breath, so that’s at least some indication of the physical demands of this climb. But anyways, I made it to the top of the first peak which overlooked the city and the ship, only to find someone else up there. The guy up there works on the ship as a pianist in a lounge, and considering he was someone I hadn’t yet met, it was slightly odd meeting him on top of the mountain, but kind of cool. I’m just glad I’m not the only one crazy enough to climb a barren mountain for no reason other than for the view.
After our brief introduction, he headed back down the hill and I continued on to the next peak. This next point of interest wasn’t much higher than the first, but I had nowhere to go and no reason to climb back down, so I made my way over to it. When I got there I noticed a green mailbox, labeled velcommen, attached to a large wooden post indicating the summit. So, like any curious hiker, I opened up the box to see who was welcoming me to the top of the hill. Inside was a plastic container, like a water bottle, which housed a numbered list and a pen, apparently someone had made a guest book at the top of this mountain. Well, I had to sign it, but the paper was really wet and the pen included in the bottle wasn’t working properly, so I took out my Roosevelt alumni pen and signed my name to the list. After some deliberation about the intrinsic value of my pen, I decided to leave it with the list of names for future climbers to use, and then took a seat to enjoy the view and contemplate the possibility of my Roosevelt pen being further north than all other Roosevelt pens (no, I’m not kidding). But here’s where it gets good.
Soon after I took my seat, I noticed another climber who had reached the first peak, gave him a wave to say hi, and waited as he approached my lookout. As he got closer, I greeted and welcomed him to what I was convinced was my point. First thing he does is go for the box, but not to sign his name. Turns out he’s actually the “keeper of the list” (my own term) and had climbed the mountain to replace the wet list with a dryer book and some new pens. I was proud to point out to this mysterious keeper that I had donated my pen to the cause, to which he seemed thrilled. He even gave me the old pen as a souvenir, which was nice of him, I didn’t have the heart to tell him I thought it was broken. So we started chatting and I got some interesting information from my new friend. First of all, after finding out the list was his own creation, the next thing learned about was his age – 76. Yeah, remember how I said I struggled climbing to where I was, and that there were lose rocks and moss everywhere, well this 76 year old retiree totally kicked my butt in climbing, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The best part is that he said he does this all the time, and this was a shorter walk for him cause his wife, who usually comes with, had some back pain in the morning and decided not to go with. So with a lost sense of pride in my fitness level, we continued talking and learning about each other. Norwegians have very good English, in general, so communication wasn’t a problem. I let him know I played music on the ship, and found out he had lived in this city all his life and how much he loves it. He cites the fresh air as the reason for his enjoyment of the location, of which I can certainly understand. He said he used to work there as an insurance agent and now just enjoys his time walking the mountains and enjoying the fresh air. We discussed his son in Houston, his trips to the US, and he even called up his wife to tell her about the American he met signing his list. Before he left, he asked if I’d be returning to the city and invited me to his house for tea when I do, so I wrote down his name and address with the intent of taking him up on that offer. He then showed me what he thought was the best route down from my position, we said goodbye, and he continued on what I thought was and otherwise impossible walking route for a 76 year old man. Before he passed behind the third and furthest peak, he gave a wave and disappeared behind the rocks.
By the way, he said the temperature in the winter doesn’t drop below -3C, or around 20F, my guess is due to the water. Inland, he said, the temp drops below -25C – a conversion I can’t quite guess for you.
I sat for another 20 minutes or so just laughing at the unbelievable coincidence of the meeting and replaying it in my mind. It’s experiences like that that I work on ships for, that is, unplanned and entirely spontaneous relationships with people I’d have never been able to meet otherwise. Then, when my euphoria was pushed aside by the near freezing temperature, I began my decent towards the city. I took some pictures on the way down, and eventually made it back to the roads with out a problem. I find climbing and descending so much fun, it’s an opportunity to get outside and just jump around enjoying the world for what it is, I really find it wonderful. From there, I was too excited to go back to the ship, so I meandered about until I found some friends to walk with for little more than the sake of having someone to talk to and tell my new story too. I retraced some of my steps as I walked with my friends, not really accomplishing anything, just spending time not in our cabins.
We all returned to the ship, and after a rehearsal and show that night, that was about it for the day. Just one more day on the ship, one more interesting port I’d otherwise never see, and one more really cool experience for which there is no substitute. Thanks so much for reading and have a great day!
Sea Day/Tromso
June 13th and 14th
At Sea/Tromso
The 13th was a sea day, so nothing too exciting there. We had a show that night with a singer from Texas, nothing that spectacular. That night I went up to the crew bar to check out what “the thing to do” here is like. It’s an OK bar, a little bit of a walk to get there, but it was busy due to some battle of the DJ’s that was going on. I hung out there pretty late meeting with people and talking to the guest entertainer who was nice enough to buy drinks for the band. On this ship, as opposed to the RCCL ships, the bar works on a card you credit money to in advance. With Royal, your Seapass card acted as a credit card that would have to be paid on each pay day, which makes way more sense from a business standpoint. I’m not planning on putting any money on my card here, which therefore prohibits me from buying anything, which probably isn’t a bad thing. Anyways, that was the night.
The 14th was spent in Tromso and I had plans to make the most of it. Not only were we in port for a large part of the day, but the band had the night off, so I didn’t have to worry about playing that night, so I was all set for a great day. Anyways, I set my alarm for 9:30, woke up when it went off, fell back asleep, and didn’t wake up again till 2:30! Let’s just say I was a little upset. The ship was due to leave at 6:00, and I had an ambiguous note on my schedule which implied a rehearsal at 4:00, leaving me about an hour to do what I wanted to get done. So I ran off the ship and quickly started getting acquainted with the new port. To see as much as possible, I ran almost everywhere, despite being dressed in heavy jeans and two sweatshirts. The first thing I saw was a botanical garden, and though claimed to be the further north than any other garden, it turned out that there was little more to it. We’ll just say the sparse plants, dull flowers, and overall uninteresting collection reflects exactly what you might expect an artic garden to look like. From there I started running up the hill I was on and that the ship was docked at in order to try to find some nice views. Most of my friends likened the port to Alaska, and although I haven’t been there, I can certainly see why. The snow-capped mountains and quaint villages were really beautiful, not to mention it was really cold, and I’m fairly sure that’s Alaska in a nutshell. But regardless, it was gorgeous. My running didn’t take me anywhere especially interesting, nor did it yield quite the views I know this landscape produces, and my time off the ship was quickly running out. I did end up getting my feet really wet taking a short cut between trails through what looked like dry land but turned out to be some strange Norwegian marsh, so that was fun. I ran through a residential area of the city and then found my way back to the ship just before the 4:00 whatever that was listed on my schedule. Turns out that the rehearsal listed was nothing more than the directors attempt to make us appear to be working that day, meaning I didn’t have a rehearsal and had no real reason to kill myself outside running through the Norwegian landscape. Well, at least there wasn’t much there for me to miss in the first place, so maybe I picked a good port to totally blow my wake time on. Well, tomorrow is another port, and hopefully one that I don’t mess up. Tell ya about it later!
At Sea/Tromso
The 13th was a sea day, so nothing too exciting there. We had a show that night with a singer from Texas, nothing that spectacular. That night I went up to the crew bar to check out what “the thing to do” here is like. It’s an OK bar, a little bit of a walk to get there, but it was busy due to some battle of the DJ’s that was going on. I hung out there pretty late meeting with people and talking to the guest entertainer who was nice enough to buy drinks for the band. On this ship, as opposed to the RCCL ships, the bar works on a card you credit money to in advance. With Royal, your Seapass card acted as a credit card that would have to be paid on each pay day, which makes way more sense from a business standpoint. I’m not planning on putting any money on my card here, which therefore prohibits me from buying anything, which probably isn’t a bad thing. Anyways, that was the night.
The 14th was spent in Tromso and I had plans to make the most of it. Not only were we in port for a large part of the day, but the band had the night off, so I didn’t have to worry about playing that night, so I was all set for a great day. Anyways, I set my alarm for 9:30, woke up when it went off, fell back asleep, and didn’t wake up again till 2:30! Let’s just say I was a little upset. The ship was due to leave at 6:00, and I had an ambiguous note on my schedule which implied a rehearsal at 4:00, leaving me about an hour to do what I wanted to get done. So I ran off the ship and quickly started getting acquainted with the new port. To see as much as possible, I ran almost everywhere, despite being dressed in heavy jeans and two sweatshirts. The first thing I saw was a botanical garden, and though claimed to be the further north than any other garden, it turned out that there was little more to it. We’ll just say the sparse plants, dull flowers, and overall uninteresting collection reflects exactly what you might expect an artic garden to look like. From there I started running up the hill I was on and that the ship was docked at in order to try to find some nice views. Most of my friends likened the port to Alaska, and although I haven’t been there, I can certainly see why. The snow-capped mountains and quaint villages were really beautiful, not to mention it was really cold, and I’m fairly sure that’s Alaska in a nutshell. But regardless, it was gorgeous. My running didn’t take me anywhere especially interesting, nor did it yield quite the views I know this landscape produces, and my time off the ship was quickly running out. I did end up getting my feet really wet taking a short cut between trails through what looked like dry land but turned out to be some strange Norwegian marsh, so that was fun. I ran through a residential area of the city and then found my way back to the ship just before the 4:00 whatever that was listed on my schedule. Turns out that the rehearsal listed was nothing more than the directors attempt to make us appear to be working that day, meaning I didn’t have a rehearsal and had no real reason to kill myself outside running through the Norwegian landscape. Well, at least there wasn’t much there for me to miss in the first place, so maybe I picked a good port to totally blow my wake time on. Well, tomorrow is another port, and hopefully one that I don’t mess up. Tell ya about it later!
Sea Day/Bergen
June 11th and 12th
Sea day/Bergen
Back to the usual sea day again, consisting of little more than a lot of free time and a couple shows at night. Today was no different - there was an afternoon rehearsal and two shows that night with a violinist, nothing special. So, let me take this time to tell you about the ship.
The ship I’m on right now is Cunard’s Queen Victoria, the newest in their fleet. The ship was launched just last December, so it’s kind of cool being around the “new ship smell”, figuratively. It’s a gorgeous ship and certainly lives up to Cunard’s reputation for luxury. The theater is especially impressive, though slightly smaller than my first ship’s theater, it just looks royal (you can find pics with a google search if you’re really curious). The band seems cool though, so that’s nice. It’s a much younger age group, and even though I got along really well with my older friends, it’s a welcome change. I still think I’m the youngest, but not by much. The music director is the oldest member of the band, named Fred, he’s from Australia, has gray hair cut to shoulder length, and says “mate” every third word. I think he’s new to the music director position, but he has good energy, a friendly disposition and seems to get along with everyone. The Cunard ships have two bands instead of one like on my last ship, I’m in the show band that does the job I’ve always done, back up the shows. Then, there’s the Queen’s Room Band, which plays 3-5 dance sets every night in the Queen’s Room. Apparently, I have the better job, the dance sets are notorious for getting tedious and burning out musicians, not to mention my band sounds better.
My roommate for this contract is actually the director of the second band, named Gordon. He the only other Australian musician on the ship, and though he doesn’t say mate nearly as frequently, he’s part of some super elite Australian military force, somewhat of a body builder, and his hobby’s include self defense and bush-whacking. Though I’m still made slightly nervous by his presence, he’s probably one of the nicest guys on the ship. He’s extremely respectful and considerate with the room policy, and when he asks me to keep things clean you can bet I’ll listen. But best of all, he spends most nights on the ship with his girlfriend who’s some higher up officer, meaning I have the cabin to myself…sweet! Also, I got a corner cabin this time, meaning about another 5 sq feet, making it the envy of the hallway.
The rest of the band is good though, and I’m sure some of those stories will emerge eventually through these posts, but at least now you have the important details.
The 12th was our first port and my first time of the ship, definitely needed. We were in Bergen Norway today, a lovely sea side town, surely once a fishing village and sea port, but all together very charming. It’s nice to be back in adventure mode taking pictures, kind of reminds me why I’m here in the first place. Highlights of my time in port consist of my time in a fish market where I tried an interesting caviar squeezed from something with a striking resemblance to a toothpaste tube (though that doesn’t explain the slightly smoked flavor), a piece of what I can only assume was moose sausage by the pictures at the booth, and then something someone else offered me with a long knife that she described as “whale”. The adventure was cut short by a training thing I had a couple hours after we docked, just an unfortunate side effect of being a new hire, which was then followed by a rehearsal for the show that night. The production shows on this ship are by far the most difficult I’ve seen. I’m actually quite shocked at the difficulty of the flute and clarinet parts I have to play, I never expected to see parts like this. I’m glad though because it means I have a challenge and music that will actually keep me on my toes, unlike the usual set lists I’ve been playing on ships. The show went well tonight, especially considering the one day I had to try to get these flute lines together, and the show is actually very well written with good tracks playing in the background.
Tomorrow is a sea day as we continue up the Norwegian coast. Thanks for reading!
Sea day/Bergen
Back to the usual sea day again, consisting of little more than a lot of free time and a couple shows at night. Today was no different - there was an afternoon rehearsal and two shows that night with a violinist, nothing special. So, let me take this time to tell you about the ship.
The ship I’m on right now is Cunard’s Queen Victoria, the newest in their fleet. The ship was launched just last December, so it’s kind of cool being around the “new ship smell”, figuratively. It’s a gorgeous ship and certainly lives up to Cunard’s reputation for luxury. The theater is especially impressive, though slightly smaller than my first ship’s theater, it just looks royal (you can find pics with a google search if you’re really curious). The band seems cool though, so that’s nice. It’s a much younger age group, and even though I got along really well with my older friends, it’s a welcome change. I still think I’m the youngest, but not by much. The music director is the oldest member of the band, named Fred, he’s from Australia, has gray hair cut to shoulder length, and says “mate” every third word. I think he’s new to the music director position, but he has good energy, a friendly disposition and seems to get along with everyone. The Cunard ships have two bands instead of one like on my last ship, I’m in the show band that does the job I’ve always done, back up the shows. Then, there’s the Queen’s Room Band, which plays 3-5 dance sets every night in the Queen’s Room. Apparently, I have the better job, the dance sets are notorious for getting tedious and burning out musicians, not to mention my band sounds better.
My roommate for this contract is actually the director of the second band, named Gordon. He the only other Australian musician on the ship, and though he doesn’t say mate nearly as frequently, he’s part of some super elite Australian military force, somewhat of a body builder, and his hobby’s include self defense and bush-whacking. Though I’m still made slightly nervous by his presence, he’s probably one of the nicest guys on the ship. He’s extremely respectful and considerate with the room policy, and when he asks me to keep things clean you can bet I’ll listen. But best of all, he spends most nights on the ship with his girlfriend who’s some higher up officer, meaning I have the cabin to myself…sweet! Also, I got a corner cabin this time, meaning about another 5 sq feet, making it the envy of the hallway.
The rest of the band is good though, and I’m sure some of those stories will emerge eventually through these posts, but at least now you have the important details.
The 12th was our first port and my first time of the ship, definitely needed. We were in Bergen Norway today, a lovely sea side town, surely once a fishing village and sea port, but all together very charming. It’s nice to be back in adventure mode taking pictures, kind of reminds me why I’m here in the first place. Highlights of my time in port consist of my time in a fish market where I tried an interesting caviar squeezed from something with a striking resemblance to a toothpaste tube (though that doesn’t explain the slightly smoked flavor), a piece of what I can only assume was moose sausage by the pictures at the booth, and then something someone else offered me with a long knife that she described as “whale”. The adventure was cut short by a training thing I had a couple hours after we docked, just an unfortunate side effect of being a new hire, which was then followed by a rehearsal for the show that night. The production shows on this ship are by far the most difficult I’ve seen. I’m actually quite shocked at the difficulty of the flute and clarinet parts I have to play, I never expected to see parts like this. I’m glad though because it means I have a challenge and music that will actually keep me on my toes, unlike the usual set lists I’ve been playing on ships. The show went well tonight, especially considering the one day I had to try to get these flute lines together, and the show is actually very well written with good tracks playing in the background.
Tomorrow is a sea day as we continue up the Norwegian coast. Thanks for reading!
Another new cruise!!
June 8th-10th
Chicago to Southampton
And here we go again, another day, another contract, and another set of places I’ve yet to see. We’ll begin with me flying out of O’Hare on the 8th on Virgin Atlantic. The flight was decent, not the best, but luckily I didn’t run into any problems carrying 3 instruments and a backpack onto the plane with me. I sat next to a really nice woman from Finland who probably told me a good portion of her life story, of which a good portion was lost to my inability to get past the accent. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but between the plane noise, her low speaking volume and prominent accent, there was plenty of smiling and nodding going on.
The plane landed the next morning in Heathrow, from which I had to find my way to the Holiday Inn where I was supposed to spend the night. After following the directions supplied by the ship, I made my way to the hotel via the “Hoppa Bus” and checked into my room. My original room was still dirty, and considering I got there so early I wasn’t surprised, but after an hour of waiting I was given an alternate room, which meant I likely escaped getting stuck with a roommate, so that worked out nicely. The remainder of the day consisted of alternating sleeping with eating as I tried to reset my internal clock, and this continued till I left early the next morning (I would have loved to go to London, but the hotel was in the middle of nowhere, so I opted for my series of naps). I did however make it to the gym that night, so at least I did something active on the 9th, Yay!
I left the next morning at 6:20 to get on the bus to the ship along with all the other sign-ons. The hotel was about 2 hours from Southampton, so I had some time to continue relaxing before I got on the ship. When we all arrived, the less than pleasant sign on process could begin, which lasted until just before noon, where I had a little time off until my first training session. After my second training thing ended around 3:00, I ran up to the spa to do some modeling! Yeah, that’s right, I’m a model now. A couple spa girls that I met at lunch said they needed models to demonstrate their procedures on while guest explored the spa area, so I was quick to volunteer for the free spa treatment. When I got up to the spa I found out I’d volunteered for micro current therapy, a treatment in which the spa girl rubs a metal electrode on your stomach (in my case) while you hold a different electrode, thus stimulating your cells with a “micro-current”. You can’t feel it, nor are you supposed to, and it supposedly gets your cells in balance to fight bloating, water retention, and all the other bad skin stuff people obsess about. So for an hour, that’s what I did while people walked by asking questions about the treatment and the good looking model getting a not-so-needed stomach reduction treatment. Whatever, it was fun and a good way to get on good terms with the spa girls.
I had a welcome aboard show that night, which was interesting. There are certainly some differences between this ship and the Royal ships I’ve been on, many of which I’ll try to cover in tomorrow’s post, but the show was fine. The band sounds good and the welcome aboard music is actually kind of difficult, a nice surprise. Then after the usual two shows, I was done for the day. Looks like I’ll be back to a somewhat normal musician schedule of working 3 hours a day (a rehearsal and 2 shows), so though I’ll miss my 4 hour a week job on the Rhapsody, I guess I still have no room to complain.
Anyways, that was about it for the night as I quickly found my bed after the shows…it was a long day. I’ll write more tomorrow describing the ship, but right now I have to go play my first show of the night. As always, thanks for reading!
Chicago to Southampton
And here we go again, another day, another contract, and another set of places I’ve yet to see. We’ll begin with me flying out of O’Hare on the 8th on Virgin Atlantic. The flight was decent, not the best, but luckily I didn’t run into any problems carrying 3 instruments and a backpack onto the plane with me. I sat next to a really nice woman from Finland who probably told me a good portion of her life story, of which a good portion was lost to my inability to get past the accent. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but between the plane noise, her low speaking volume and prominent accent, there was plenty of smiling and nodding going on.
The plane landed the next morning in Heathrow, from which I had to find my way to the Holiday Inn where I was supposed to spend the night. After following the directions supplied by the ship, I made my way to the hotel via the “Hoppa Bus” and checked into my room. My original room was still dirty, and considering I got there so early I wasn’t surprised, but after an hour of waiting I was given an alternate room, which meant I likely escaped getting stuck with a roommate, so that worked out nicely. The remainder of the day consisted of alternating sleeping with eating as I tried to reset my internal clock, and this continued till I left early the next morning (I would have loved to go to London, but the hotel was in the middle of nowhere, so I opted for my series of naps). I did however make it to the gym that night, so at least I did something active on the 9th, Yay!
I left the next morning at 6:20 to get on the bus to the ship along with all the other sign-ons. The hotel was about 2 hours from Southampton, so I had some time to continue relaxing before I got on the ship. When we all arrived, the less than pleasant sign on process could begin, which lasted until just before noon, where I had a little time off until my first training session. After my second training thing ended around 3:00, I ran up to the spa to do some modeling! Yeah, that’s right, I’m a model now. A couple spa girls that I met at lunch said they needed models to demonstrate their procedures on while guest explored the spa area, so I was quick to volunteer for the free spa treatment. When I got up to the spa I found out I’d volunteered for micro current therapy, a treatment in which the spa girl rubs a metal electrode on your stomach (in my case) while you hold a different electrode, thus stimulating your cells with a “micro-current”. You can’t feel it, nor are you supposed to, and it supposedly gets your cells in balance to fight bloating, water retention, and all the other bad skin stuff people obsess about. So for an hour, that’s what I did while people walked by asking questions about the treatment and the good looking model getting a not-so-needed stomach reduction treatment. Whatever, it was fun and a good way to get on good terms with the spa girls.
I had a welcome aboard show that night, which was interesting. There are certainly some differences between this ship and the Royal ships I’ve been on, many of which I’ll try to cover in tomorrow’s post, but the show was fine. The band sounds good and the welcome aboard music is actually kind of difficult, a nice surprise. Then after the usual two shows, I was done for the day. Looks like I’ll be back to a somewhat normal musician schedule of working 3 hours a day (a rehearsal and 2 shows), so though I’ll miss my 4 hour a week job on the Rhapsody, I guess I still have no room to complain.
Anyways, that was about it for the night as I quickly found my bed after the shows…it was a long day. I’ll write more tomorrow describing the ship, but right now I have to go play my first show of the night. As always, thanks for reading!
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