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.