First Port

Ok, so I’ve been on the ship for 3 days now, and I’m still a little overwhelmed. I’m getting to know the band better and I’ve started meeting people, but I still haven’t really set foot into the passenger areas of the boat at all. They are much prettier than where we live. Everything in the crew areas is dull shades of white and greyish blue. The passenger areas are expectedly luxurious, it has a retro 70s meets classic Greek feel with dark mahogany trim. The contrast of the two areas is extreme, and will take a while to get used to.

Anyway, I woke up yesterday and got my medical check-up. Real simple: questionare, blood pressure and blood test. The nurse was a stocky English woman who was kind and a bit sassy, she made small talk as she pricked my finger and sighed as I made a quip about scurvy. She gave me the ok and I went to get my ID, which has quite possibly the worst picture ever taken of me on it. After that I went to the staff mess and ate lunch with a few of the musicians. Everyone on the boat raves about Breaking Bad and people perked up when I told them I have all four seasons on my laptop. A sax player came by my room and grabbed the last episode from me with his thumb drive after lunch.

Then I killed a bit of time. I didn’t have work until 5:30 so I explored the ship, went over some music, worked out and played some Binding of Issac (that damn game…) until work rolled around.  It was time for our first real production show. The show on the first day is only 8 minutes long, while the one yesterday was just under an hour. We didn’t rehearse this one either, so needless to say I was frazzled. Sound check was at 5:30, we played this show on-stage instead of in the pit, and I was on the top in the center. After checking all the mics I went back to the room and crammed a bit the music as much as I could.

Seven rolled around and it was show time. I was looking fly, 3-piece suit and a bowtie, but I was not feeling very confident with the music. Luckily, this show had a backing track as well, and I stumbled through it without any major hiccups but I was definitely not happy with the way I played. I shook it off and relaxed for a minute before the Nine o’ clock show. I felt a lot better going into the second one, definitely played better but I still wasn’t satisfied with the way I played. Oh well, I’ll be playing the same show for six months, I’m sure I’ll have it down soon.

Then we had a dance set in one of the bars, it was pretty fun. There was no click track so it felt like we were actually making music. It was mostly motown, funk and rock, and the crowd seemed into it. We were really grooving for a while and it will only get better as I learn the songs. The Cruise Director stepped in to check on us, and pulled P aside and told him that I sounded good. I’m glad I made a good first impression on my boss’s boss. After the set I got out of my formal wear and went over to the crew bar. I went by myself just to see what it was like, I didn’t know anyone there so I just had a quick drink and left. Then it was back to my room for bed.

Today we have the day off, but I have a difficult set coming up on Thursday so P and my roommate are gonna rehearse a bit with me at 2:30. Right now I’m in the Grand Caymans; it’s very pretty but also touristy and expensive. Instead of exploring I’m in an internet café uploading blog posts, skyping and catching up with my e-mail. I chatted with the Chinese guy from corporate training on the ferry ride into port. He said that the first two weeks on the boat are tough because you’re still building a friend group. It was nice to hear him say that. Things are good, but I don’t really have a group of people to do stuff with yet, that will come with time though. Well, I don’t want to waste all my port time in the café, so I’m gonna get some fresh air before rehearsal. See ya!