March 7th-8th
Sea Day/Ft. Lauderdale
The 7th was the usual sea day. You’d think that we wouldn’t need a sea day to go from Key West to Ft Lauderdale, but apparently you do need one when you first sail south to Cuba at 8 knots and then come all the way back north. I think the ship does this to keep people on board where they will spend more money on drinks while the ship goes unusually slow saving money on gas. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I’m not the captain so who knows.
I was really looking forward to the 8th because I was planning on meeting up with my good friend from college who now lives in the Miami area. I woke up slightly earlier than usual to go up stairs and make some phone calls to confirm everything, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t get through to my friend. So I’m still not exactly sure what happened, but that was a slight disappointment. So instead I got off the ship and found a fruit smoothie café with free wifi, which became my home for the next couple hours as I organized my life so that I knew I wouldn’t have anything to worry about during my next 10 days at sea. So all in all, what I was able to get done was a better use of my time, but it still would have been nice to see an old friend.
Following the internet place, I made my way to a Win-Dixie grocery store to get some supplies for my crossing, made a few phone calls along the way, and ended up at a Coldstone paying way too much for ice-cream (granted, it’ll be the best ice-cream I have all contract). Then I just had enough time left for a walk over a bridge and back before I had to get back on my ship for a rehearsal.
The show that night was none other than the opera singer that no one really likes playing for. That being said, after you turn each song into some sort of inside joke between you and the other horn players, each tune becomes a lot more fun. So despite him singing “O Sole Mio” and “Time to say Goodbye”, tunes I’ve played for dozens of people, they finally paid off by providing all of us with a good laugh. It really all comes down to attitude, and when you have a bunch of horn players with immature senses of humor, there’s a lot of possibilities to have a great attitude about crap music.
And that’s about it. I made my final farewell phone calls between shows while I still had a signal, and watched the US slowly fade away for what would be the last time until I return home April 18th. It was great having a cell phone signal and being able to call people, or even just check my emails on my phone. But now I’m back to being confined to ship internet and the odd free WiFi café where I can make Skype phone calls. But with under 6 weeks left, I’m not to worried, I’ll be home again soon enough! Thanks!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Key West
March 5th-6th
Sea Day/Key West
The 5th was a normal sea day, nothing special. It was however my Mom’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Mom!
The 6th was Key West, a place I’ve visited many times with my parents but never on a ship. After a few phone calls in the morning (enjoying yet another port with cell phone service), I got off the ship with John to go explore the city. And really, that about all we did. I took him to the big tourist places, Sloppy Joes, Margaritaville, Hemmingway’s house, Southern Most Point, the 0 Mile Marker, and to a place for key lime pie. All that aside, I don’t know that there’s all that much to tell, nothing too crazy, just a lot of walking. I did buy a hat though, so that was my highlight. Thanks for reading!
Sea Day/Key West
The 5th was a normal sea day, nothing special. It was however my Mom’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Mom!
The 6th was Key West, a place I’ve visited many times with my parents but never on a ship. After a few phone calls in the morning (enjoying yet another port with cell phone service), I got off the ship with John to go explore the city. And really, that about all we did. I took him to the big tourist places, Sloppy Joes, Margaritaville, Hemmingway’s house, Southern Most Point, the 0 Mile Marker, and to a place for key lime pie. All that aside, I don’t know that there’s all that much to tell, nothing too crazy, just a lot of walking. I did buy a hat though, so that was my highlight. Thanks for reading!
New Orleans
March 3-4
New Orleans
The day started off with US immigration, just like any US port that a ship visits for the first time. It’s the same thing as when you fly into the states from another country, but this time customs officials come on the ship themselves and interview every employee and passenger. That being taken care of and immediately followed by a rehearsal, we had finished up everything just before the crew got the all clear to go a shore.
First thing I did, however, was make some phone calls! It’s always great getting the use of your cell phone back, and I took advantage of this brief period of time when I can feel connected to the world again. So after and during some phone calls, the band left the ship and headed towards the French Quarter, the area New Orleans is probably best known for.
I’m happy to report that New Orleans is easily in my top five ports of all time! It was just really cool walking through a city where music was such a huge part of it’s identity, and jazz music at that! Also, because of the French influence, there’s so much more culture in the city, in a way that I’ve never seen in another US port. You felt like you were somewhere totally removed from the states, but everyone still talked like you and used your money. If that’s not the perfect place, I don’t know what is!
Anyway, we simply walked up and down the French Quarter for a while stopping in the different shops and feeling out the area. We went in a number of souvenir shops just to look around, a voodoo shop where I inevitably received some sort of curse for taking a picture, and walked the length of Bourbon Street.
Being with some guys from the band, we wanted to find a music store because we all needed a few things. I asked around and found that there was a shop on the otherside of town that we’d be able to take a bus to, which we did successfully. The shop was small, aimed mostly towards school children and they didn’t stock some of the higher end gear I was hoping to find in a New Orleans Music Store, but I was able to get a pack of reeds that I needed. We then headed towards a bar the store owner recommended for burgers and had a really nice lunch with some local beer, Abita.
Following lunch, we ended up walking all the way back to the ship to go play our show for the night, which was for an opera singer no one really cared for much. The shows were played and we reassembled the group for a night out on the town (this is our one overnight port this cruise). The plan was to take a cab up to Frenchman street and go to a club (d.b.a) where I’d been told there would be good music (thanks Sully – an old college friend). We walked into a bar that didn’t at first seem to have that much going on, and no music playing. We paid a cover and got situated waiting for the band to begin playing again (it was about midnight at this point), and I was getting nervous that the band wasn’t going to be as good as I’d hoped…especially after telling all my friends that this was the place to go.
The band got started with a jazz tune, nothing special. The second tune was about the same, nothing that we were getting too excited about. But by the third song in they’d broke into a great funk tune and then maintained the energy for the rest of the night. The band turned out to be a fairly well known funk group and played a super high energy show from then up till 1:45 that night. Everything was absolutely great, the bar got packed, everyone was dancing, and I was feeling like I was at the right place in New Orleans at just the right time.
Everyone in my group left feeling really excited by what we just heard and we started to make our way back toward Bourbon street to see what was still going on. The group had actually increased in size because we’d run into some other ship friends at the club, and no one really knew how to get back to Bourbon Street, except for me with my now working iPhone and GPS abilities. I reveled for a moment in my ability to find my way to any where in the city because I was an American with an American phone, and then led the group to Bourbon street without a problem. Yeah, I felt cool.
We ended up walking past all the bars because they’d all changed from being small and charming to the late night standard, just another place blasting party music. We didn’t stop at a single one and finally ended at a late night pizza place where we grabbed some food and hung out till they kicked us out round 3:15AM. The group then made it’s way back to the ship and that was it for the overnight experience.
The next day we had a drill in the morning for the US coastguard, but then got off the ship once more before we were set to depart around 5. Day 2 wasn’t as exciting, it was just back to the French Quarter to hang out at some cafés, do some shopping, and just meander through the streets. We heard some live music at the cafes, which was nice and added to the authentic experience, but day two turned out to be more of a way to kill time off the ship. We hung out as long as we could and eventually got back on the ship around 4:30.
We had a production show that night which was fine, and I made a couple final phone calls before losing my signal for the sea day that was to follow.
Actually, we ended up leaving 3 hours late from the port because there was a crew member that hadn’t yet returned to the ship. I’m not sure what happened or if he was ever found, but apparently the USA won’t let a ship leave if everyone isn’t accounted for. Usually we would leave if someone went missing, so this was a strange twist to end the day with. I’ll let you know if I hear any more about how the problem was resolved. Thanks for reading!
New Orleans
The day started off with US immigration, just like any US port that a ship visits for the first time. It’s the same thing as when you fly into the states from another country, but this time customs officials come on the ship themselves and interview every employee and passenger. That being taken care of and immediately followed by a rehearsal, we had finished up everything just before the crew got the all clear to go a shore.
First thing I did, however, was make some phone calls! It’s always great getting the use of your cell phone back, and I took advantage of this brief period of time when I can feel connected to the world again. So after and during some phone calls, the band left the ship and headed towards the French Quarter, the area New Orleans is probably best known for.
I’m happy to report that New Orleans is easily in my top five ports of all time! It was just really cool walking through a city where music was such a huge part of it’s identity, and jazz music at that! Also, because of the French influence, there’s so much more culture in the city, in a way that I’ve never seen in another US port. You felt like you were somewhere totally removed from the states, but everyone still talked like you and used your money. If that’s not the perfect place, I don’t know what is!
Anyway, we simply walked up and down the French Quarter for a while stopping in the different shops and feeling out the area. We went in a number of souvenir shops just to look around, a voodoo shop where I inevitably received some sort of curse for taking a picture, and walked the length of Bourbon Street.
Being with some guys from the band, we wanted to find a music store because we all needed a few things. I asked around and found that there was a shop on the otherside of town that we’d be able to take a bus to, which we did successfully. The shop was small, aimed mostly towards school children and they didn’t stock some of the higher end gear I was hoping to find in a New Orleans Music Store, but I was able to get a pack of reeds that I needed. We then headed towards a bar the store owner recommended for burgers and had a really nice lunch with some local beer, Abita.
Following lunch, we ended up walking all the way back to the ship to go play our show for the night, which was for an opera singer no one really cared for much. The shows were played and we reassembled the group for a night out on the town (this is our one overnight port this cruise). The plan was to take a cab up to Frenchman street and go to a club (d.b.a) where I’d been told there would be good music (thanks Sully – an old college friend). We walked into a bar that didn’t at first seem to have that much going on, and no music playing. We paid a cover and got situated waiting for the band to begin playing again (it was about midnight at this point), and I was getting nervous that the band wasn’t going to be as good as I’d hoped…especially after telling all my friends that this was the place to go.
The band got started with a jazz tune, nothing special. The second tune was about the same, nothing that we were getting too excited about. But by the third song in they’d broke into a great funk tune and then maintained the energy for the rest of the night. The band turned out to be a fairly well known funk group and played a super high energy show from then up till 1:45 that night. Everything was absolutely great, the bar got packed, everyone was dancing, and I was feeling like I was at the right place in New Orleans at just the right time.
Everyone in my group left feeling really excited by what we just heard and we started to make our way back toward Bourbon street to see what was still going on. The group had actually increased in size because we’d run into some other ship friends at the club, and no one really knew how to get back to Bourbon Street, except for me with my now working iPhone and GPS abilities. I reveled for a moment in my ability to find my way to any where in the city because I was an American with an American phone, and then led the group to Bourbon street without a problem. Yeah, I felt cool.
We ended up walking past all the bars because they’d all changed from being small and charming to the late night standard, just another place blasting party music. We didn’t stop at a single one and finally ended at a late night pizza place where we grabbed some food and hung out till they kicked us out round 3:15AM. The group then made it’s way back to the ship and that was it for the overnight experience.
The next day we had a drill in the morning for the US coastguard, but then got off the ship once more before we were set to depart around 5. Day 2 wasn’t as exciting, it was just back to the French Quarter to hang out at some cafés, do some shopping, and just meander through the streets. We heard some live music at the cafes, which was nice and added to the authentic experience, but day two turned out to be more of a way to kill time off the ship. We hung out as long as we could and eventually got back on the ship around 4:30.
We had a production show that night which was fine, and I made a couple final phone calls before losing my signal for the sea day that was to follow.
Actually, we ended up leaving 3 hours late from the port because there was a crew member that hadn’t yet returned to the ship. I’m not sure what happened or if he was ever found, but apparently the USA won’t let a ship leave if everyone isn’t accounted for. Usually we would leave if someone went missing, so this was a strange twist to end the day with. I’ll let you know if I hear any more about how the problem was resolved. Thanks for reading!
Cozumel
March 1st-2nd
Cozumel
Here’s another port that I’ve been to quite a few times before today so I was in no rush to get off…that and I had “in port manning” and had to stay on the ship till 1. When I did get off, I went looking for internet. We were docked at the international port, meaning it was about a 30 minute walk to get into the city. The walk was interesting though because I ran into a couple huge iguanas, a couple of which took me by surprise simply because I’m not used to looking down at the side walk and seeing a gigantic lizard.
I ended up with Jukka and John (purely by coincidence) at some tourist bar just outside the city. They had a good internet connection, which was nice, but also tourist prices, so we ended up spending a little too much on some quesadillas that were good, but not quite as good as if we had gone to a local place without internet. But whatever, it was nice to be in Mexico having a beer and quesadillas. I hung out there for a while doing internet, then made a quick trip over to the grocery store for some supplies, and then caught a cab to go back to the ship. Sorry, no exciting story there.
The rest of the day was usual, show that night with the headstand piano guy (who didn’t do it the second show), and that’s about it.
The 2nd was a sea day on the way to New Orleans. The water was unusually rough and the weather unusually cold, which didn’t exactly help my hopes for New Orleans. But it was a normal sea day otherwise, nothing to write home about. Thanks!
Cozumel
Here’s another port that I’ve been to quite a few times before today so I was in no rush to get off…that and I had “in port manning” and had to stay on the ship till 1. When I did get off, I went looking for internet. We were docked at the international port, meaning it was about a 30 minute walk to get into the city. The walk was interesting though because I ran into a couple huge iguanas, a couple of which took me by surprise simply because I’m not used to looking down at the side walk and seeing a gigantic lizard.
I ended up with Jukka and John (purely by coincidence) at some tourist bar just outside the city. They had a good internet connection, which was nice, but also tourist prices, so we ended up spending a little too much on some quesadillas that were good, but not quite as good as if we had gone to a local place without internet. But whatever, it was nice to be in Mexico having a beer and quesadillas. I hung out there for a while doing internet, then made a quick trip over to the grocery store for some supplies, and then caught a cab to go back to the ship. Sorry, no exciting story there.
The rest of the day was usual, show that night with the headstand piano guy (who didn’t do it the second show), and that’s about it.
The 2nd was a sea day on the way to New Orleans. The water was unusually rough and the weather unusually cold, which didn’t exactly help my hopes for New Orleans. But it was a normal sea day otherwise, nothing to write home about. Thanks!
Grand Caymen (Sea Day)
Feb 28th
Grand Cayman (turned sea day)
We were scheduled to be in Grand Cayman today, a tender port that I’ve visited on the Navigator, but the captain decided to sail past it due to rough conditions that would have made tendering difficult, and considering the passengers on this ship, I’d agree with that choice. Unfortunately, it means I have to miss my port, but instead I get a sea day to try to accomplish a few things.
Not a lot got accomplished though. I used the gym for the first time on this ship two days ago, and after pushing myself too hard after too long a break from lifting, my arms are so sore today that I can neither fully straighten nor bend them, making usual activities slightly more difficult. I actually had a really difficult time putting my neck strap (for my sax) on my neck due to the stiffness. It kind of sucks, but it is what it is. So today I spent some time reading, ate my meals outside, worked on my computer, and played a play on/off for a comedian that night. I’ve also recently opened my French language recordings, so I’m trying to learn some French, the most productive activity of the day.
Tomorrow is Cozumel. No big plans, I’ve been there enough to know what there is to see, and chances are that I won’t even get off the ship, but we’ll see where we’re docked and how my arms are moving tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading!
Grand Cayman (turned sea day)
We were scheduled to be in Grand Cayman today, a tender port that I’ve visited on the Navigator, but the captain decided to sail past it due to rough conditions that would have made tendering difficult, and considering the passengers on this ship, I’d agree with that choice. Unfortunately, it means I have to miss my port, but instead I get a sea day to try to accomplish a few things.
Not a lot got accomplished though. I used the gym for the first time on this ship two days ago, and after pushing myself too hard after too long a break from lifting, my arms are so sore today that I can neither fully straighten nor bend them, making usual activities slightly more difficult. I actually had a really difficult time putting my neck strap (for my sax) on my neck due to the stiffness. It kind of sucks, but it is what it is. So today I spent some time reading, ate my meals outside, worked on my computer, and played a play on/off for a comedian that night. I’ve also recently opened my French language recordings, so I’m trying to learn some French, the most productive activity of the day.
Tomorrow is Cozumel. No big plans, I’ve been there enough to know what there is to see, and chances are that I won’t even get off the ship, but we’ll see where we’re docked and how my arms are moving tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading!
Sea day/Ocho Rios
Feb 26th-27th
Sea day/Ocho Rios
The 26th was spent at sea, nothing too exciting. The only interesting thing is that our guest artist that night what Cheryl Sinclair. I actually know Cheryl from my first ship, the Navigator, from when she was a singer in the production cast. She’s since quit production shows and moved on to doing her own guest artist act. It was good to play her show and see a friend from an old ship!
I visited Ocho Rios on the 27th, a Jamaican port that I’ve visited in the past. There was never a lot to do in the actual port, and the thing I remember most about my past visits was a local beach that no one knew about, so that’s where I went. Maybe you remember it from a post 2 years ago, but this beach is just a locally run area, they have a shack they sell drinks out of, and there are waterfalls you can climb up and have fun in. The weather was cloudy, which made it not the best beach day, but it’s always cool going back to a place you weren’t sure you’d see again.
The beach had slightly changed though. Apparently, some locals that “ran” it had been putting some time and effort into cleaning it and trying to make it slightly more profitable for themselves (via a tip jar). It was nice that it became slightly more legit simply cause it felt less nervous about people going through my backpack, but when I know that my tips will go to little more than helping the locals fuel an overwhelming marijuana habit, I get mixed feelings. Bu so what, “one love, mon”.
I spent some time there with John and Jukka before heading back to the ship to visit a café Jukka frequents for their Blue mountain coffee. This time around, the coffee wasn’t quite as good as he remembered, but John did order some jerk chicken, so I at least got to try and enjoy some of that. A little more time was wasted going into some shops and looking around, but we eventually headed back to the ship.
The show that night was Colin “fingers” Henry, a pianist comedian, who blew my mind. “Fingers” would do this trick where he’d play the piano while doing a headstand, and this guy’s 63 years old! I saw him do it at rehearsal and was amazed, and tried it myself when everyone had left. I failed miserably. I was able to get into the appropriate inverted position, but the mount of weight on my head was just so overwhelming that I couldn’t even focus enough to get my fingers positioned on the piano the right way. Maybe it’ll be a goal to work towards during this contract, but till then, I have massive respect for this guy. Check it out on YouTube, it should be posted. Otherwise, I did get a video of it that I’d be happy to show anyone when I get home.
And that’s about it, so thanks for reading, and remember: You can’t choose your face, but you can pick your nose. (thanks Fingers)
Sea day/Ocho Rios
The 26th was spent at sea, nothing too exciting. The only interesting thing is that our guest artist that night what Cheryl Sinclair. I actually know Cheryl from my first ship, the Navigator, from when she was a singer in the production cast. She’s since quit production shows and moved on to doing her own guest artist act. It was good to play her show and see a friend from an old ship!
I visited Ocho Rios on the 27th, a Jamaican port that I’ve visited in the past. There was never a lot to do in the actual port, and the thing I remember most about my past visits was a local beach that no one knew about, so that’s where I went. Maybe you remember it from a post 2 years ago, but this beach is just a locally run area, they have a shack they sell drinks out of, and there are waterfalls you can climb up and have fun in. The weather was cloudy, which made it not the best beach day, but it’s always cool going back to a place you weren’t sure you’d see again.
The beach had slightly changed though. Apparently, some locals that “ran” it had been putting some time and effort into cleaning it and trying to make it slightly more profitable for themselves (via a tip jar). It was nice that it became slightly more legit simply cause it felt less nervous about people going through my backpack, but when I know that my tips will go to little more than helping the locals fuel an overwhelming marijuana habit, I get mixed feelings. Bu so what, “one love, mon”.
I spent some time there with John and Jukka before heading back to the ship to visit a café Jukka frequents for their Blue mountain coffee. This time around, the coffee wasn’t quite as good as he remembered, but John did order some jerk chicken, so I at least got to try and enjoy some of that. A little more time was wasted going into some shops and looking around, but we eventually headed back to the ship.
The show that night was Colin “fingers” Henry, a pianist comedian, who blew my mind. “Fingers” would do this trick where he’d play the piano while doing a headstand, and this guy’s 63 years old! I saw him do it at rehearsal and was amazed, and tried it myself when everyone had left. I failed miserably. I was able to get into the appropriate inverted position, but the mount of weight on my head was just so overwhelming that I couldn’t even focus enough to get my fingers positioned on the piano the right way. Maybe it’ll be a goal to work towards during this contract, but till then, I have massive respect for this guy. Check it out on YouTube, it should be posted. Otherwise, I did get a video of it that I’d be happy to show anyone when I get home.
And that’s about it, so thanks for reading, and remember: You can’t choose your face, but you can pick your nose. (thanks Fingers)
Tortola
Feb 25th
Tortola
Another day, another brand new island. Before getting off the ship, I had heard good things about Tortola in regards to it’s scenery, but that there wasn’t much going on in the city. Half the band had decided to stay on the ship, and seeing as this was my one and only visit, I was struggling for a good idea to get the most out of the island. I ended up leaving the ship with a couple band mates to head towards a bar, never my preferred sightseeing activity, and it wasn’t till I got to the bar that I remembered I didn’t bring a bathing suit, cutting out a major option for things to do. I didn’t stay long before I got too impatient to see the city and headed off on my own, and my new goal for the island was a good one…get a scooter.
I walked around for a bit, stopped at a dive shop to enquire about the local trips, and eventually got pointed in the direction of a scooter rental place. The going rate was $20 per hour. I had about 2 hours to kill, but $40 was way more than I could justify for a scooter ride. I offered $20 for the rest of my day, the guy shook his head and said $25, and I told him he had a whole line of scooters in his lot no one was renting, and he took my $20. After working for my Dad selling snowmobiles all winter, it’s kind of nice to be on the other side of the negotiation.
Let me back up for a minute though and explain how bad of an idea this scooter rental actually is (just so that I can make Mom worry). First, scooter rentals are risky simply because it’s a rental unit you have no knowledge of, in a city where you have no experience, and with a time schedule that’s unforgiving (the ship won’t exactly wait). I got past that issue and went on to issue number two: I was all by myself. Well, after doing some riding last summer and falling back on some 24-year-old over confident tendencies, I got past the all alone thing. I figured I had something to prove anyway, had to show I don’t need my friends to enjoy a port. And the third obstacle I had in front of me was the slight problem that people drive on the left side of the road. This made me the most nervous, so my solution was to drive around the island, avoid traffic, and only make left turns so I wasn’t crossing traffic. I thought it was a brilliant solution. Oh, and then there was the problem that I didn’t have sunglasses, which is illegal in the states, but seeing as my renter didn’t mind, I figured I’d be OK.
I left some info with the office renting me the scooter (not a driver’s license though, he didn’t even ask to see it), the guy (Kip) showed me how to use a scooter, I told him I was a pro, and took off with an ill-fitting red helmet on my head, my backpack, and a map of the island that didn’t list road names, what could go wrong?
I pulled out, got confused by my first left turn, went in the direction to get out of the city, and was soon out of traffic and bonding with my “hog”, or so I call it in all my videos (not taken while driving). It was odd driving on the other side of the road, and not being familiar with the island, speed limit, road quality, or laws, any time a line of cars started to form behind me and pulled off and let them pass. I had a route planned by the office that took me around the east side of the island, up the mountains, around some beaches, and then back through the mountainous center towards the port. And I do mean mountains, these weren’t just hills. I can honestly say I’ve never driven on roads this steep, ever, and I’m doing it on a 125cc Yamaha Zuma. These roads were narrow, and about as vertical as I can imagine being feasible in any sort of vehicle. The roads would zig-zag up the hill, and if you took the inside corner too sharp, you’d literally flip the scooter backwards over your head, it was that steep. But no problem, I’m a pro, right?
Luckily, there weren’t any major problems. I did however almost hit a cow on the side of the road (he came out of no where!), came across 8 goats on a road that I failed to take a picture of, and almost had my scooter roll off a cliff when it came off it’s kickstand from being parked on a downhill slope. But that aside, I quickly adjusted to the hill climbs, the left hand driving, and the descents. Going down hill was worse than going up, because going down your forearms would actually get sore from holding the brakes for as long as needed to descend the entire mountain. This was when the majority of cars passed me, but there was no way I was going to try to keep up with a 4x4 truck. But that being said, I had plenty of opportunities to stop, take pictures, and enjoy the island I set out to see. I wish that I had had more time so that I could have gone swimming or gotten some food, but I saw what I wanted to see. And actually, saw it all in relatively good time, Kip expected about 90 minutes for me to run his route, I did it in 60. So, with another hour to kill, I decided to drive back through the city and towards the ship, see if I could maybe find some friends to impress with my excessively-masculine yellow Zuma. One problem though, it’s impossible to get to a ship to your right when you’re only comfortable making left hand turns. Before I knew it I was way on the other side of the city and harbor and had long since passed whatever exit took me to my ship. Didn’t matter though, my method of blindly following the car in front of me and using his tendencies as hints for how to drive in traffic successfully got me through the city. I ended up ascending another mountain just to kill the time, and then returned to the city on the other side of the road, where left hand turns WOULD get me back to the ship.
I took my time, blew the extra hour, and returned to the rental office without any damage to myself or the Scooter. All in all, everything was good, the near death experiences were kept to a minimum, and I was able to walk back to the ship knowing that I had a successful day in Tortola.
The rest of the day was uneventful, the show that night was a comic that didn’t really use the band, and that was about it. Thanks for reading and thanks for any prayers that made my Zuma experience a good one! Seeya
Tortola
Another day, another brand new island. Before getting off the ship, I had heard good things about Tortola in regards to it’s scenery, but that there wasn’t much going on in the city. Half the band had decided to stay on the ship, and seeing as this was my one and only visit, I was struggling for a good idea to get the most out of the island. I ended up leaving the ship with a couple band mates to head towards a bar, never my preferred sightseeing activity, and it wasn’t till I got to the bar that I remembered I didn’t bring a bathing suit, cutting out a major option for things to do. I didn’t stay long before I got too impatient to see the city and headed off on my own, and my new goal for the island was a good one…get a scooter.
I walked around for a bit, stopped at a dive shop to enquire about the local trips, and eventually got pointed in the direction of a scooter rental place. The going rate was $20 per hour. I had about 2 hours to kill, but $40 was way more than I could justify for a scooter ride. I offered $20 for the rest of my day, the guy shook his head and said $25, and I told him he had a whole line of scooters in his lot no one was renting, and he took my $20. After working for my Dad selling snowmobiles all winter, it’s kind of nice to be on the other side of the negotiation.
Let me back up for a minute though and explain how bad of an idea this scooter rental actually is (just so that I can make Mom worry). First, scooter rentals are risky simply because it’s a rental unit you have no knowledge of, in a city where you have no experience, and with a time schedule that’s unforgiving (the ship won’t exactly wait). I got past that issue and went on to issue number two: I was all by myself. Well, after doing some riding last summer and falling back on some 24-year-old over confident tendencies, I got past the all alone thing. I figured I had something to prove anyway, had to show I don’t need my friends to enjoy a port. And the third obstacle I had in front of me was the slight problem that people drive on the left side of the road. This made me the most nervous, so my solution was to drive around the island, avoid traffic, and only make left turns so I wasn’t crossing traffic. I thought it was a brilliant solution. Oh, and then there was the problem that I didn’t have sunglasses, which is illegal in the states, but seeing as my renter didn’t mind, I figured I’d be OK.
I left some info with the office renting me the scooter (not a driver’s license though, he didn’t even ask to see it), the guy (Kip) showed me how to use a scooter, I told him I was a pro, and took off with an ill-fitting red helmet on my head, my backpack, and a map of the island that didn’t list road names, what could go wrong?
I pulled out, got confused by my first left turn, went in the direction to get out of the city, and was soon out of traffic and bonding with my “hog”, or so I call it in all my videos (not taken while driving). It was odd driving on the other side of the road, and not being familiar with the island, speed limit, road quality, or laws, any time a line of cars started to form behind me and pulled off and let them pass. I had a route planned by the office that took me around the east side of the island, up the mountains, around some beaches, and then back through the mountainous center towards the port. And I do mean mountains, these weren’t just hills. I can honestly say I’ve never driven on roads this steep, ever, and I’m doing it on a 125cc Yamaha Zuma. These roads were narrow, and about as vertical as I can imagine being feasible in any sort of vehicle. The roads would zig-zag up the hill, and if you took the inside corner too sharp, you’d literally flip the scooter backwards over your head, it was that steep. But no problem, I’m a pro, right?
Luckily, there weren’t any major problems. I did however almost hit a cow on the side of the road (he came out of no where!), came across 8 goats on a road that I failed to take a picture of, and almost had my scooter roll off a cliff when it came off it’s kickstand from being parked on a downhill slope. But that aside, I quickly adjusted to the hill climbs, the left hand driving, and the descents. Going down hill was worse than going up, because going down your forearms would actually get sore from holding the brakes for as long as needed to descend the entire mountain. This was when the majority of cars passed me, but there was no way I was going to try to keep up with a 4x4 truck. But that being said, I had plenty of opportunities to stop, take pictures, and enjoy the island I set out to see. I wish that I had had more time so that I could have gone swimming or gotten some food, but I saw what I wanted to see. And actually, saw it all in relatively good time, Kip expected about 90 minutes for me to run his route, I did it in 60. So, with another hour to kill, I decided to drive back through the city and towards the ship, see if I could maybe find some friends to impress with my excessively-masculine yellow Zuma. One problem though, it’s impossible to get to a ship to your right when you’re only comfortable making left hand turns. Before I knew it I was way on the other side of the city and harbor and had long since passed whatever exit took me to my ship. Didn’t matter though, my method of blindly following the car in front of me and using his tendencies as hints for how to drive in traffic successfully got me through the city. I ended up ascending another mountain just to kill the time, and then returned to the city on the other side of the road, where left hand turns WOULD get me back to the ship.
I took my time, blew the extra hour, and returned to the rental office without any damage to myself or the Scooter. All in all, everything was good, the near death experiences were kept to a minimum, and I was able to walk back to the ship knowing that I had a successful day in Tortola.
The rest of the day was uneventful, the show that night was a comic that didn’t really use the band, and that was about it. Thanks for reading and thanks for any prayers that made my Zuma experience a good one! Seeya
St Maarten
Feb 24th
St Maarten
Today was my first and only visit to St Maarten, and I left the ship to find 3 other ships in port with me, one of which being the new Oasis of the Seas, the largest ship in the world. I got off the ship with John to head towards free wifi, which we were told could be found at the Green House. John and I sat down for “2 for 1” drinks and waited for the band to meet up with us. I had a margarita, simply because I was in the Caribbean and it seemed like a requirement. For whatever reason though, the band never showed and my internet signal was garbage, so we kind of blew 2 hours hanging out. But at the same time, it was a nice day, nice atmosphere, and I ran into a friend who was working on the Oasis who I haven’t seen for a year.
We eventually left to head towards promise of better internet on the other side of the beach to a bar called the Honky Tonk, which was supposedly packed with drunk dancer girls from a different ship, so how could we lose. John and I packed up and actually ran into the band on our way over, who were actually just leaving the Honky Tonk. We talked for a bit before they broke off to go to a gentleman’s club (yeah, it’s a cruise ship band), and John and I continued on.
The bar was empty by the time I got there though, which was actually perfect, because it meant I could get online with a really strong signal and get on Skype for a phone call. We hung out there for an hour or so before packing up and trying to get back to the ship before the approaching rain really hit.
That plan was foiled within minutes and John and I, hungry from not really eating anything all day, were forced into the quintessential local Caribbean restaurant….McDonalds, for a dinner attempt. It at least got us out of the heavy rains and we returned to the ship in a warm rain, not exactly the Caribbean dream, but way better than a Chicago snow!
Nothing special that night and that was about it for the day, thanks!
St Maarten
Today was my first and only visit to St Maarten, and I left the ship to find 3 other ships in port with me, one of which being the new Oasis of the Seas, the largest ship in the world. I got off the ship with John to head towards free wifi, which we were told could be found at the Green House. John and I sat down for “2 for 1” drinks and waited for the band to meet up with us. I had a margarita, simply because I was in the Caribbean and it seemed like a requirement. For whatever reason though, the band never showed and my internet signal was garbage, so we kind of blew 2 hours hanging out. But at the same time, it was a nice day, nice atmosphere, and I ran into a friend who was working on the Oasis who I haven’t seen for a year.
We eventually left to head towards promise of better internet on the other side of the beach to a bar called the Honky Tonk, which was supposedly packed with drunk dancer girls from a different ship, so how could we lose. John and I packed up and actually ran into the band on our way over, who were actually just leaving the Honky Tonk. We talked for a bit before they broke off to go to a gentleman’s club (yeah, it’s a cruise ship band), and John and I continued on.
The bar was empty by the time I got there though, which was actually perfect, because it meant I could get online with a really strong signal and get on Skype for a phone call. We hung out there for an hour or so before packing up and trying to get back to the ship before the approaching rain really hit.
That plan was foiled within minutes and John and I, hungry from not really eating anything all day, were forced into the quintessential local Caribbean restaurant….McDonalds, for a dinner attempt. It at least got us out of the heavy rains and we returned to the ship in a warm rain, not exactly the Caribbean dream, but way better than a Chicago snow!
Nothing special that night and that was about it for the day, thanks!
St Lucia
Feb 23rd
St. Lucia
Land, finally. After 5 days worth of crossing, we came to St Lucia and I was able to get off the ship. My only real concern for today was to find internet and catch up with everything that has been going on at home. Jukka, the bass player (from Finland), knew exactly where to go and John and I followed him to a mall café with free wifi, where I spent the next few hours draining my battery and attempting some phone calls.
When my battery eventually died, I packed up and decided to go on a walk around the city, get used to exploring new places again. I didn’t have anywhere specific that I wanted to go, so I just started walking. I wasn’t sure if it was just that I haven’t been somewhere new for a while, or if it just wasn’t the right place, but I was getting a slight vibe that made me think this wasn’t exactly the place to be exploring on my own. It just seemed to be impoverished to the extent where I felt that someone might want to mess with the white boy from the ship, so after ample uncomfortable-ness, I turned around and headed back to the ship.
I was talking to my drummer at the show that night, each of us talking about our days, and I let him know where I went and how I felt. That’s when he said, “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I was there a couple months back and went walking with my friends up a hill, where a guy stopped us and told us that we should turn around because we’ll be stabbed if we go any further. Yeah, it’s not the safest place.” Thanks for the heads up… So I’m glad I turned around and didn’t ignore the feeling I was getting. It could have been a very bad day instead of a very unexciting one. But it’s good to get that reminder that I’m not in Crystal Lake any more…
St. Lucia
Land, finally. After 5 days worth of crossing, we came to St Lucia and I was able to get off the ship. My only real concern for today was to find internet and catch up with everything that has been going on at home. Jukka, the bass player (from Finland), knew exactly where to go and John and I followed him to a mall café with free wifi, where I spent the next few hours draining my battery and attempting some phone calls.
When my battery eventually died, I packed up and decided to go on a walk around the city, get used to exploring new places again. I didn’t have anywhere specific that I wanted to go, so I just started walking. I wasn’t sure if it was just that I haven’t been somewhere new for a while, or if it just wasn’t the right place, but I was getting a slight vibe that made me think this wasn’t exactly the place to be exploring on my own. It just seemed to be impoverished to the extent where I felt that someone might want to mess with the white boy from the ship, so after ample uncomfortable-ness, I turned around and headed back to the ship.
I was talking to my drummer at the show that night, each of us talking about our days, and I let him know where I went and how I felt. That’s when he said, “Oh, didn’t I tell you? I was there a couple months back and went walking with my friends up a hill, where a guy stopped us and told us that we should turn around because we’ll be stabbed if we go any further. Yeah, it’s not the safest place.” Thanks for the heads up… So I’m glad I turned around and didn’t ignore the feeling I was getting. It could have been a very bad day instead of a very unexciting one. But it’s good to get that reminder that I’m not in Crystal Lake any more…
Sea Days
Feb 20th-22nd
Sea Days
I’m a week late in writing this blog, probably because there wasn’t much to write about. These were the last three sea days before getting to our first Caribbean port, St, Lucia. We had one of the nights off and went upstairs to a paid passenger restaurant, meaning for 7 “quid”, I could order a full 4 course steak dinner, which was the best 7 quid I’ve spent on a ship. But that aside, I can’t think of much to tell you. The code red health alert was lifted sometime during these sea days, which was nice because we could go upstairs to the buffet again. The rest of my time was spent primarily in organizing all of my music. And that’s about it…everyone just loves sea days!
Sea Days
I’m a week late in writing this blog, probably because there wasn’t much to write about. These were the last three sea days before getting to our first Caribbean port, St, Lucia. We had one of the nights off and went upstairs to a paid passenger restaurant, meaning for 7 “quid”, I could order a full 4 course steak dinner, which was the best 7 quid I’ve spent on a ship. But that aside, I can’t think of much to tell you. The code red health alert was lifted sometime during these sea days, which was nice because we could go upstairs to the buffet again. The rest of my time was spent primarily in organizing all of my music. And that’s about it…everyone just loves sea days!
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