Fifth Cruise

Time is starting to fly for me aboard the Carnival Imagination. I can't really say that I've settled into a routine, but the life here is becoming more familiar. Yesterday was the formal night of my fifth cruise. Formal night always comes on the second night of a cruise, and it's our longest work-day with four shows to play. I'm getting used to the order of our shows and also the music.

We have a new piano player as of last week, and we're losing our trombone player next week. In my short time here, I've already watched a lot other people come and go. Everyone's contracts start and end at different times. It's tricky musically to settle in to a band when the line up is constantly changing, but that's the gig. It can be a good thing, because you're not stuck with someone too long if you don't like playing with them and also you get to play with a lot of different musicians in a short time. I imagine that people come back around if you stick with it long enough.

Today we are in Grand Cayman. The tourist industry at each of our ports is massive. Each town we visit has adjusted to having thousands of new tourists dumped on them every week, and the consumerism is staggering. It's difficult to get past all the shops full of cheap crap, and locals soliciting lame tours. Eventually I hope I'll find my way behind the scenes and find some better places to go at our ports of call.

It's hard to believe that I'm already three weeks in to this experience. I am already starting to lose track of time, but I'm going to try keep up this blog as best as I can so I don't lose track. I'll talk to you soon.

Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday. As of today, I have officially survived my twenties. I feel good. Some people complain about birthdays as they get older, but they shouldn't. Each birthday is an accomplishment, and I feel very grateful. Many great people have not made it to thirty, and I am lucky to have lasted this long.

You never know when they're going to tell you that you can't play anymore. So just play, and play as hard as you can.

Fourth Cruise

I've passed the two week mark on the Carnival Imagination, and the ship's itinerary is now repeating. Oddly enough, the same comedian as my first night on ship came and performed a show last night. The first time I saw him, I thought it was my disorientation that took the humor from the show for me. It turns out the guy's just not very funny.

He performed the same exact routine note for note. I can listen to or play the same song a thousand times and still enjoy it, but the same joke? Very few jokes, even good ones, are funny when told over and over again. I think jokes are more dependent on surprise than songs, and that's part of the reason jokes are better the first time. Most jokes are only funny once ever, but successful comedians seem to spend more time performing than writing. They need new audiences all the time. They have that in the crowd, but not in the band.

I've seen a bunch of comedians perform in the time I've been here. Our band plays short pieces called "play ons" before and after their sets, and we sit and watch them perform from the side of the stage. They often perform two shows, which never vary in their material. A few comedians have been good, especially a guy named Tommy Drake who performed a Steve Martin style combination of magic, comedy and juggling. Most of the comedians aren't very good. In their defense, we watch the show from a profile angle, and miss a lot of facial expressions since we're just getting a side view. The band is in the funny position of being in limbo between audience and performer. We're on the side of the stage in a spot to watch either party and also the interaction between the two. Some audience members sit cross-armed and poker-faced like they're watching television. Some others, especially younger kids, crack up at jokes that aren't funny at all and that they don't even understand. Audiences generally come to the shows to enjoy themselves and don't seem very critical.

I'm excited for this week's cruise, because one day instead of having a comedian, a Motown singer is coming to perform. Instead of playing her on and off, we get to be her back band for her whole performance. Her name is Yolanda Barber and apparently her claim to fame is that she used to tour with Lionel Richie. We have a rehearsal tomorrow afternoon for her show and then two performances with her that night I believe.

Tonight, we're playing two swing jazz sets for the Captain's cocktail party, and then two production shows. I haven't had a day off yet, but I really don't work very much even on busier days like this one. I'm still enjoying this gig, and hopefully I'll keep up my enthusiasm for it. A piano player is coming to join the band at the end of the week, so that should be good. Also Saturday's my birthday. I'll try to write again before then.

Fun Fact

Frank Sinatra weighed thirteen-and-a-half pounds when he was born. His mother was under five feet and weighed about ninety pounds, and Frank was literally ripped from the birth canal with forceps. His mother couldn't have any more babies after his birth, and he was an only child. He had scars on his head and face his whole life from the forceps.

Messing Up

A few nights ago, I was packing up my guitar to take to my room to practice for a half-hour between two production shows. Our trumpet player stopped me and said it was fine to leave my guitar on the bandstand between shows. I said that I knew, but I wanted to go over some stuff. I told him frustratedly that I kept messing up the same parts in the show, (only I didn't use the word "messing.") He said to me, "Hey man, we're getting paid to mess up," (only he didn't use the word "mess.")

I had a realization after that about my job here as a cruise ship musician. If I lose this gig, it won't be because of my playing. I did well enough in my audition to get in the band, and my playing is good enough. I'm sure I'm not the best guitar player to work for cruise ships, but I'm also not the worst. The rest of the guys in the group are in similar positions. Beyond that, we are all working for a giant faceless corporation with kind of lame taste in music. Since our boss is a giant corporate blob, we don't have to please anybody in particular and it takes a little pressure off.

I have realized that I can pretty much get what I want out of this gig. If I want to practice long hours and get everything right note for note, I can. If I want to just wing it, I can. It's pretty much my choice. I guess it's always like that to some degree though. Anyway, happy Passover and don't forget to celebrate your liberation.

Third Cruise

This third cruise I'm on now is apparently the best one for the entertainment staff. First, we have a night off, which is the only one we get every two weeks. Also, the stops in Key West and Cozumel are supposed to be the best. In Cozumel, where we go tomorrow, we don't have to be back to the ship until 9pm. In other stops, we have to be back to the ship much earlier, which can be restricting.

After this cruise, our route will repeat again and all the stops will start to become familiar. Our itinerary repeats every two weeks, and almost all our shows repeat every cruise. If I counted correctly, I will have 25 total cruises with this ship, so hopefully I'll get to each port about 7 more times.

This gig is very good for a developing musician. The music is fairly challenging, and we get many opportunities to perform. We also have a lot of down time to practice. As far as working on your craft and musicianship, this is a good place. Artistically and creatively, the stages here are limiting. Our shows are very cute and fun, and don't challenge people at all. We are playing for middle-America on vacation. Nobody comes to our shows to think or discover any great meaning in our art. This job is not a good one for an artist with something to say. But it's a very good to place for someone to develop their music independently and hone their technical skills on stage.

I'm starting to feel much more settled into the routine of ship life. I'm getting more familiar with the lifestyle and people here. All in all, things are good so far. I'm going to buy a digital camera and figure out how to post pictures some time soon. Hopefully I'll have some more good stories to tell soon as well. Until then...

Second Cruise

I've been on this ship for over a week now, and I'm settling in. Today, I got off the ship and walked around Jamaica with the bass player and trombone player in my band. Today was the third time I've been off the ship since I started. I went to Half Moon Cay on my first cruise, which is a beautiful little island in the Bahamas, and I also walked around Miami for an afternoon between my first and second cruises. It's liberating to get off the ship. It can be disorienting spending so much time on the ship. I have spent whole days below decks between my room, the crew mess (dining room), and the stage. For the first couple days, those where the only places I knew how to get to, but now I know how to get around most of the ship.

Last night we had a crew party, and I got to meet some new people. The international scene among the crew is amazing. Americans are by far the minority. It seems like even the Canadians outnumber the Americans. Outside of the entertainment staff, there are nearly no native English speakers working for the ship. Most of the restaurant staff is Philippino, the captain and his officers are all Italian, and many of the photographers are from eastern Europe. There are also a lot of South Americans and South Africans here. With all the cultural differences, everybody is still pretty nice. The necessity of living together and the desire to keep from getting fired makes it so the staff is all very polite with one another. I haven't seen any tempers flair up in this tight living situation.

Tonight we're playing an hour jazz set starting at 5:15, and then we have two runs of a production show called "Shout" at 8:45 and at 10:30. After that I'm going to sit in with a solo guitar player who plays in the Promenade. I jammed with him last cruise, and I'm excited to play some tunes with him again. I still have some time this afternoon to go to the gym and do some practicing. Not a bad day at all.

It's my goal to blog at least once a week. I'll talk to you again soon.

Fun Facts

Here are some fun facts about the ship I'm on...
length: 855 feet
beam: 118 feet
weight: 70, 367 tons
number of guests: 2,052
number of crew: 920

Here's a link to a website with a lot more about the Carnival Imagination, including an itinerary of cruises:
http://www.carnival.com/Ship_Detail.aspx?shipCode=IM

I clicked through this website and two inexpensive cruises you might be interested in. You can come cruise with me starting either May 15 or May 29 for $349 for four days. Apparently I can't get any discounts for people I know unless I sign a second contract at the end of this one, but that's still a pretty good deal considering it includes room, food and entertainment.

First Cruise

It's Tuesday, April 8, and today is my second day aboard the Carnival Imagination. It will probably be a few days before I post this blog, since I still haven't figured out the internet system here.

Yesterday was one of the longest days I can remember. Not long as in bad; long as in it lasted about a month. I woke up at the Sheridan hotel in Miami where Carnival put me up for the night. I ate breakfast at about 6:30am and checked out in time to catch a shuttle to the ship which I was told to catch at 7:15am. The shuttle didn't arrive until about 9:00, but I had fun talking to the other Carnival employee's catching the same bus.

We arrived at the port about 20 minutes later, but it was about 1pm before I got through the check in process. They checked our passports, and also our bags and bodies with metal detectors. I waited in a long line to finish more paperwork, and finally I was shown to my room.

I met my roommate who is a funny Columbian guy. His name is Mauricio and he is the soundman for the ship. He's nice and very clean, and I'm relieved about my living situation. My room is of course tiny, but we do have our own bathroom and it's comfortable enough.

At 2:00, we had a short safety training and were shown our "muster station" which is where you're supposed to stand in case of emergency. I had a brief tour of other muster stations. Excluding this brief tour, I have only been to my room, the stage and the crew dining room so far. The ship is massive, and I hope I'll get to see more of it tomorrow.

At 5:00 we had a rehearsal, and I first played with the band. It's currently a six piece band with trumpet, sax, trombone, bass, drums and my guitar. A piano player is supposed to join us in a couple weeks. The guys are all killer musicians. It's a challenge keeping up, but I'll get there. Our first performance was an hour long "dance set" at 7:00. We played big band jazz swing charts and tried to get couples to dance, though few did.

At 10:30, we played the "Welcome Aboard Show" where some of the staff is introduced to the guests. This show was my first experience playing live with a pre-recorded track. For these productions shows, the whole band wears headphones to hear the metronome click and the extra instruments which are pre-recorded and added to supplement the live band. Each musician has his own controls for his headphone mix in order to control the levels of each instrument he hears. I had a hard time with it last night, but tonight it was a little easier. It's mostly a matter of getting used to it, and the other guys don't seem to mind it. It feels like an overdubbing recording situation, but oddly you're playing live.

After that show, there was a comedian that performed. The band stayed to perform "play-ons" before and after his show. A "play-on" is a short piece of a song, like what you hear on the Tonight Show right after a commercial, or to get Conan O'Brian from his monologue to his desk. During the comedian's act, it felt completely delirious and it's a wonder I didn't pass out. I heard him talking and the people in the crowd laughing, but I had no idea what was going on. I had no energy to get any of his jokes. My dehydration, sleep deprevation, and general overstimulation, combined with the disorienting feeling of a rocking boat took all the humor out of this poor comedian for me. Seasickness has not effected my stomach, but my head is constantly spinning. You know when you're lying down for a while, and then you stand up really quickly and briefly lose your equilibrium. I've felt like that for two days. I don't feel nausious, just off balance. Anyway, I thankfully stayed conscious enough to play 30 seconds of "Get Ready" at the end of the comedian's set, and then packed up to head for my room and dreamless sleep.

Today, I woke up to a phone call of my musical director telling me I had slept past the beginning of my new-hire training which was supposed to start at 9:00. I got there about 9:15, and it went until about 1:00. We had a rehearsal at 4:00, and then two dance sets to accompany the "Captain Cocktail Party." It was easier to get people to dance this time, probably because drinks were free at the party. Afterwards, we played two showings of a production show called "Livin' in America." The dancing and stage production for this show is outstanding. The music... saying the music is cheesy, is like saying the ocean is pretty big.  The production show music is super-lame, but's still fun.

After the shows, I went back to my room, finished up this blog and went to bed.

News

I'm going to fly to Miami this Sunday to start up a 5 month contract with Carnival Cruises. I'm going to play guitar in the show band for a ship called the Imagination. I'm very excited and nervous about this new gig, and I hope it goes well.

I'll try to keep up this blog much better than I have in recent months. I'll have internet access on the ship and at port, so it should be easy to fire off some lines about how everything is going. I imagine that I'll be more motivated to write once I start up over there in unfamiliar seas.

Today, I'm going to drive to Denver to get some things for my new job. One of the things I have to buy is a tuxedo. I have to perform in the show band in a friggin tux. Playing electric guitar in a tuxedo is ridiculous. The whole reason I wanted to become a musician was so I didn't have where a suit to work... but I'll have to let go of that I suppose.