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.