Geiranger/Olden/Stavanger

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!