back from busy... for a minute!

so… last cruise was very different from the one before – i still had late nights and a good party crowd and nice folks and all, but i did miss my bears – so friendly and fun!  florida was a flurry – we had a full coast guard inspection and couldn’t get off til 11:00… when we finished, i went straight out to take the crew shuttle into town to run errands and make phone calls only to discover i had left my phone on board – frantic, knowing bob was trying to call me from halfway round the planet, i turned right around and went back to the ship only completing one errand for a friend who was stuck on board, and not getting to do any of my own errands, but i knew i would be crazy if i didn’t get to talk to bob, since we only speak every 10 or 11 days… yikes!  we have tried the skype thing, but the latency is terrible and the voices turn robot-y and indecipherable, so we sometimes have the picture on but just type msgs to each other.. being apart this way has been brutal this time… each day lasts about a year and a half, and i am feverish about getting home in a few weeks and preparing for his arrival… i probably will cling to him like a marsupial for days… at least i get to speak to nino almost daily, and that is about my only real relief…

i have a few pals out here, people i have met on other ships and we keep crossing paths, but i am fairly solitary out here a good deal of the time… not that i am not charming company for myself, i do enjoy some solitude now and then, but i am burning to get home and get back on the schedule bob and i had planned… we had one small monkey wrench in our new year, but it has a silver lining – bob will have to go out a few weeks ahead of me on our 1^st contract of the year, but at least instead of both of us not gigging in january (which is typically a very dry month for most musicians) at least bob will have a full slate and then i’ll join him beginning of february… and i’ll be honest - i think i am also a little freaked out that when i do finally get home, my folks won’t be there anymore… i know how much they have been excited to get back to their roots in colorado, but i don’t think they know how much i have been dreading them not being around… and as much as i am a sea level kind of gal, i can see that i will have plan to spend a little more time at higher latitudes on my breaks…

this 3^rd cruise has been strange in that we had the 1^st nite, typically quiet as people are tired from traveling, 1^st day in an all day port, so people were tired, 2^nd day was great, 3^rd day was a late night port in aruba til 11, so people were tired, and we’ll see how tonite after a day in curacao goes…

i have been determined to find something to enjoy in the caribbean since i am not a huge fan so far, and i had a pretty nice tour today in curacao; we went to an botanical herb garden where we were led around by the son of the owner, a 73 year-old woman who knows all the ‘old ways’ with herbs and plants… at the end, i was the last one (since i am the escort, i let all the guests go first) and i hung back in the shop while people were taking pictures outside, and i got to talk to her and take a picture with her… i told her about my nana and her work with music and plants, and she was excited to talk about it – she sings the old songs to all of her plants to help them grow… very cool!  we then went to an art gallery where the artist works with homeless women to paint the statues she makes and they were really wonderful… a nice day and good to get away and drive throught the country a little – so many cacti in curacao!  who knew!  will work on doing new picture format bob told me about so i can post some visuals for you...

a-b-c islands (aruba, bonaire, curacao)

aruba

so, aruba was, well, aruba… let’s just say thank god i’m not young and blonde… i don’t know… i have already made it clear i am not a real island-y type of gal, but i loved bora bora, i loved pago pago: there is something in the south pacific that is so lush and gorgeous and larger than life, like a gaugin painting, but places i have been so far in the caribbean seem pale, dusty, trashy, worn out, sleazy… i guess some folks like that, but if i never get a caribbean vacation i will really be ok with that – if someone said, you don’t have to work, you can just spend two weeks in the dutch antilles or you can spend two weeks at home, i would spend two weeks at home… so for those of you hating on me for the job i have, don’t… i would trade 6 weeks in the caribbean for my washington gloom any day if it weren’t for the fact, and i am grateful to have it, that i need the work!  thank god for the work!  it saves me out here – it is my job and my social life and my enjoyment every day… it gives me a point of focus and stuff to work on and a chance to continually challenge myself and improve… 

i am still getting to know my camera – my aruba pics turned out crappy cause i think i had it set wrong for the light… they all look washed out, tho it may indeed be a more accurate metaphysical representation of the environment… i have to get a tour next time that will take me somewhere to do something cool…

on a happy note, i had dinner at a great little indian restaurant run by people actually from india with my trainer, angie… i let her order our food so she wouldn’t yell at me for what i ate – hee hee… she is a vegan, but that girl can eat!  man!  but she exercises all day, so i guess she has to… anyway, the food was great and we had fun.  it’s nice to get to know another gal my age out here who understands life on a ship… anyway, we had a great dinner and a good time.

back on board after dinner, i got ready and went to work, and my featured set tonight was “come rain or come shine.”  i had some great folks in, tho, since it was a late port (we sailed at 11 pm), it was a quieter night in general around the ship.  without a nap today, that was ok with me!  more from bonaire tomorrow…

bonaire

so, bonaire was, well, bonaire… it’s kind of aruba-like tho the water seemed a bit more blue… no tour today, so i wandered around the port area, looked at the typical knick knacks, sunglasses, t-shirts… i know i will dig these little places more when i can get out of the port area and see some actual history or scenery and stuff… i did have a nice lunch of roast chicken and salad near the beach… it was so hot i was almost lightheaded.  getting back to the ship and climate control for an afternoon nap felt great…

my set tonight was the band-stumper american pie game, and i was stumped by guest vicki, with the genre of renaissance music… i could have b.s. nonnny-nonnied my way thru something, but it didn’t occur to me in that moment… nice crowd, tho.  i have a few pics which are better than the aruba ones, i think…

curacao

i finally got a tour!  it was just a little trolley tour (at 8am! yikes!) of curacao, and was at least a way to see something further away than walking distance from the ship!  we took a taxi to a place in town where we picked up our trolley – the ship was still nearby, but the only way to get to where we started from was to drive the long way round or walk the footbridge, which they had not planned on for this trip.  we did get to stay in town and walk back if we opted to not get a cab back after, which is what i did.  i have a day off from the gym, and am supposed to be restful, but i don’t think a short walk will hurt me… anyway, we saw some old churches, all the brightly painted houses, many in ruins, and the floating market where fishermen sell fresh fish right off their boats… then there is a produce market, and many little shops and cafes.  i saw a piano bar that was advertising a sunday jam where you could win a 6-month contract, and i thought i would rather shoot myself in the face than live here for 6 months… it would be fun to go to the jam and kick some local butt and then turn it down!  hee hee!  i spent a lovely morning and then returned to the ship for lunch, gig prep and rest… tonight’s theme was “island time” so we got our belafonte on and then did requests… i cannot write about everything on this blog, but someday i will have some good stuff for the book… there certainly are some characters out here!  ciao for now…

catching up the last coupla days...

well, the first day of this run was half moon cay, on which i had in port manning… it was a quiet night, and without my bears and canadians i hardly knew what to do with myself!  off at 12:30?!?!  unbelievable!  the next day was still a bit quiet, although i met some really nice folks and we had a small but happy core group stay til about 1… finally, last night we hit a stride and i found my party people – i won’t lie and say it was anything like the last cruise – nothing will ever be like the last cruise!  but at least we had some fun and were rockin in there til 2… at the end of the day, i am a bottom line kind of gal – i want the guests to have fun, i’d like it to be in my bar, and i’d like my beverage staff to make some money!  i know that i will be fine whether it’s busier or a little sleepier, and i always do my best regardless… i am happiest, tho when the bar crew and the guests are happiest… i think we will achieve that on this cruise as well… each different cruise is like getting dealt a hand of cards, and every hand can be a good one if you know how to play it… (but you never forget a hand like the 4 aces i had last run!) 

anyway, we did frank sinatra and then request time, and we had a real lively singalong bunch!  i think they will be back each night!  i think i also got a holiday gig out of it from a nice portland couple who wants me to come break in their new baby grand with a party at their place… sweet!  i told them i could throw in a fabulous bass player, too, so it’s all set!  i am missing my fabulous bass player and my favorite artist and my favorite dog pretty fiercely, but i am already a third of the way thru this very short contract, so i am hopeful it will fly by.

tomorrow is aruba, and i didn’t get selected for an expedition, so i will hit the gym and am taking my trainer, angie, out for indian food for dinner before the gig.  that’s my tip for her trying to kill me this last week… hee hee!  actually, i have been learning a lot with her this second week and i am doing well and making progress.  she’s also got me on an herbal cleanse/detox and said we will see a difference in just the 4 wks i have left when she runs my metabolic tests again… i’ll keep you posted – suffice it to say, i am in a bit of pain and sweating a lot, so i must be doing something right!  a few pics from aruba with my new camera tomorrow!!!! yay!

ft. lauderdale 2

wow... i am still sort of recovering!!! i can't begin to even describe what a singular cruise this has been for me... it is so hard to explain, but let's just say a whole lot of wonderful people have really eased the pain of being apart from bob and bean right now by giving so much energy in the piano bar this cruise - it was truly unlike any other!! and i now have a whole bunch of new friends, and tho you may think it unlikely to get real friends out of a brief vacation situation, then you weren't in my piano bar this past week!  wow!  what a lot of great folks from all walks of life, and how much they really brightened me up!  thank you to all my piano bar regulars!!!

i got a camera today and signed up for some tour escort positions - we'll see if i get any of them, but i am hopeful... a big hug and kiss to all the folks who made this last cruise so cool... i will attach the lyrics of my version of piano man from this cruise and you can read about them...

"piano broad" (to the tune of billy joel's "piano man")

Well it’s __ o’clock on whatever day it is – the regular crowd shuffles in

& I plug in my mic & get a beverage, another piano bar evening begins

they said hey girl can you play us a melody & if you’re not sure how it goes

you can add that one to your to-do list & download the lyrics I s’pose

now david at the bar is a friend of mine, he gets my ice water for free

he keeps us all socially lubricated while you party in the piano bar with me

And rhodora has been your charming server, and roland helps out sometimes, too

w/o them there’d be no refreshments, so w/o them what would we all do?!

*la la la

 sing us a song, you’re the piano broad here on the old zuiderdam

well we’re all in the mood for a melody, so sing us a song, won’t you ma’am

We had lots of fun folks from all over, from england to the U S of A

And places like holland and Canada & Australia where they say g’day!

we played piano bar games like American pie; name that tune the other night was pretty tough

the competition was fierce tho the prizes were not but it’s still cool to get some free stuff

and I won’t forget my late night hangers on, I appreciate your nightly support

thanks for all of your awesome additions to my book this cruise really seemed way too short

you all make this gig really so much fun, i hope that’s apparent to see

watching our little piano bar community evolve is especially rewarding for me

*la la la... etc.

there are folks who love to sit round the piano, like pat and bob who come here each night

and anna and sandy from Idaho, and peter who usually sits to my right

yes, peter, who’s also known as steven, by day is a high tech kind of guy

but at night he becomes a great lounge singer… he can hit all the notes that are high

and george and Marylou and miss sandy like to sit around the piano it’s true

and george he can hit all those low notes, so i’m glad that he sings along too!

and sander and frauke come late nights, and my stewardesses from twa

and to all my hard partying Canadian people, i’d like to say, how’s it goin, eh?

*la la la... etc.

and let’s not forget our new yorkers like joan and jack and maureen and sal

and mary and dave and john and Carmen, they’ve all been such great piano bar pals

and all of our florida people, like Helen, connie and caroline,

and betsy and bruce down in boca, all you florida folks sure are real fine

there’s been lots of cool people from the great white north, like stereo Karen they’re so cute

and Susie and all of her sisters, or i guess we should now call her “boots”

we had an awesome guest open mic night with ellen who sang us some blues

and bernie with his guitar and his kilt on singing scots and irish songs about booze

and ann from grenada sang us island tunes and scott threw a fun coffee song down

and peter graced us all with many a swell tune and dan and i with a tv song clowned around

and you know that i would be quite remiss if i didn’t take very special care

to mention a quite singular multiple group, oh, god, how i love me some bears!

from the very first night that you came here, and took over each night after eleven

i knew that this cruise would be special, then, and it has been kind of like piano bar heaven

i know that my beverage manager loves you all, but certainly not as much as me

we had so much fun one night we even got shut down, i will always remember it fondly

you sang along with vigor and we laughed a lot, and tho i didn’t know all your requests

you brought a lot of color to my piano bar, and i think you guys are simply the best

i grew up in the wilds of alaska, and i thought i had seen plenty of bears before

but who knew there were so damn many in the Caribbean, you never seen wildlife like this before!

*la la la... etc.

and everyone in the piano bar has been so darn swell…like Natalie and gur,

 Lloyd and Melanie, jane and judy, john and Kathy, 

beth and david, Susie and bill, judy and prentiss, 

mel and Irene, pat and jack, ray and gladys, mack and danny and dana, lori and ed, 

jim and judy, Irwin and bill, mary and mike, Barbara, bob and Kathy, coreen, 

Christine and tom, mel and judy, mark and amy, Samantha and liz, Scotty, 

wanda and dick, jack and pat, sally and marvin, dan and joe, dave and ted,

 tom, dan, laz, randy, rene, vinnie, mark, charles, rob, pat and marilyn, Sylvia and patricia and 

mike and john, Dorothy, donna, lorraine, michelle, Cyndi, ken and Elaine, joe and Florence, 

fred and lee, larry and Kathy, ben and Sandra, and 

oh! i know i still didn’t get all of you, but if i keep going, we’ll be here all night!

yes, I wish I could write a verse for every person and include it in this tribute song

But this is already as long as billy joel’s version & his version’s way too damn long

Tomorrow our cruise will be over, and I’ll miss you all more than I can say

And if it could happen, I’d stash you all in my cabin, and we’d all go sailing away!

I was blown away by this crowd’s singalong talent, your backup vox really were a hit

Without all your crowd participation my songs would have just sounded like… 

sha la la la... etc....

curacao

yes, this is the island where the weird blue liqueur of the same name was invented… many of the islands we travel to on this cruise are under the dutch crown, so there is a caribbean flavor of the indigenous peoples and then there is the dutch influence in the architecture and language also… a cultural mash up of sorts… very quaint looking place! can’t wait to do some tours next cruise! only a coupla more days til ft. lauderdale and the sign up sheets will be out… i am also getting a camera and a new ipod charger cord… thank god one of the showgirls, chelsey, is letting me share hers as my ipad (louise) is my brains, basically! i now know to get a charger cord and a spare!!! living and learning… my setlist tonight was called “island time” now that we have hit some actual  islands! there was some bob marley, some ub40, some harry belafonte, some jimmy buffet… pretty relaxed set! we only went til 1:40 cause folks were a little tuckered out… me, too!  more soon!

sea day 10.19

fairly uneventful day at sea, except i guess we were having too much fun in the piano bar, as we got shut down at 1:40 for boisterousness (not me, the guests!)… i shut down my gear and went across the hall to the disco with my adventure bears and had an adult beverage and retired for the evening.. this has certainly not been my typical experience with people keeping me up partying so late in the piano bar, but i am so happy everyone is having fun – i am sure the bar manager will enjoy the numbers this cruise… next time the people with the room below will probably look at the floor plans available online a little closer before booking their room right below the piano bar! tonight’s theme was “great ladies in song,” and we did them all i think! from every decade! too much fun…

panama canal

today i went back to the gym… hooray for me!  yes, i put it off a few days, but it’s like having a free health club out here, so i don’t really have an excuse not to go… angie is the trainer here and i sailed awhile back with her – crew gets half off of spa/gym services, so i am going to do a few sessions with her as a gift to myself in lieu of a lot of tacky souvenirs…

we began going into the first lock of the panama canal at about 7:30 am, and then we hung around in gatun lake for awhile as some guests took excursions… we then turned around and went back out… next cruise is when i will be adventuring and when i will have a new camera from ft. lauderdale, so i won’t wax too poetic about the places just yet – next week! 

the cruiseship marketing team came and hung out in the piano bar last night – that was nice!  also had visits from my canadian good time sisters, the twa 70’s stewardesses, and of course, the bears!!! i love them… not to mention the many, many, many other lovely folks on this trip – i don’t have any hecklers or cranky people anywhere!  this bar, unlike the last ship i was on, also has the bar stools right around the piano bar, so people can sit right there… 

tonight was the official round of “american pie” stump the band game, and it went for an hour… we wrapped up about 1am, and i hung out with a couple of the bears after for a chat… everything’s going well here!  can’t wait to get a camera tho and do some tours next round!

puerto limon, costa rica

i came to this port on our world tour earlier this year, and had not had a chance to sign up for crew escort posish, so i decided that an internet date with my husband (he’s in china right now) and a shoulder massage would be worthwhile endeavors today.  since my camera is kaput (i’ve decided to get a new one in florida) and i didn’t get any tour spots (i’m signing up for next time, tho!) i am just doing the black n white blog this week.

since everyone had a full day of adventures and it’s an early rise for panama canal tomorrow, we had a little bit of an “early” night in the piano bar, til 1am.  it was a smaller crowd, more like hanging out in my living room… fairly packed early then dwindled just after 10:30… last night’s theme was “piano bar fun n games,” where we did a couple of battle of the sexes and then a diabolical round of island name that tune… a couple from england won with 7 out of 10, which was pretty good since i made them quite difficult!

the shoulder massage was nice, but didn’t compare at all to bob!  he gives the best squishies in the world!  it was great to chat and over the internet and get to hear his voice and see his face!  there was a bit of a weird delay, so after a bit we ended up just typing, but it was great to see and hear him… i am sure when my florida port days come and i can use my own phone, we will talk a lot!  this being apart thing sucks, and not being able to communicate easily sucks, but i guess we will just not ever take for granted any time in the future when we are back together!  got to talk to nino at home yesterday, and i am so pleased he is doing so well (in spite of a cold)… love you, bean!  miss you zillions!

mom n pop are finally readying for their move, johnny is quite busy getting back in the swing of work and work, and i am at least grateful to know that everyone is doing well!

panama canal tomorrow, so i will write more then!

sea day again…

today i researched some of the requests i had received that i didn’t know and listened to some tunes trying to learn some new stuff… i had lunch with some of the guests, a nice couple from Virginia, and ‘tho they are early to bed people, they promised to come in, and they did – glad i could convert some folks!

last night’s theme was “let’s be frank,” which is a tribute to all of the great songs frank sinatra did… i am not a real frank nut myself, he’s ok, i mean, but i do love the standards he sang – he has a nearly identical playlist as tony bennett, so i am happy doing all that… and there are a lot of major frank fans out there – he’s still one of the most requested artists in the piano bar across generation lines (i still prefer tony bennett any day!)…

my bar was packed until the second show (mainstage show) and the herd thinned a little, and just when my room was winding down, my good time canadian gals and my gays showed up!  yay!!  we stayed again til 2 am… the cast and crew of the ship also came in (singers and dancers), whom i had not yet met, and who had befriended my gay pals… so we were having quite the musical time… i hope my bar staff is making lots of money!

i am definitely having fun on the job, and that is a real bonus, especially when trying to deal with not having bob with me and also from having to leave nino again, which is always difficult.  it will be a little easier when nino is off to college, because then you kind of expect your kids to be away from you having their own lives, but when i know he’s at home, i still get fairly torn up about it on a pretty continual basis – i have to keep telling myself that this is how nino will get to go to college at all, and then i tell myself how i am going to finally finish college, too!  then maybe my nana will stop turning over in her grave like a rotisserie chicken – she was so pissed when i dropped out, but i couldn’t afford to stay in!  i am planning on going back to berklee to finish when nino graduates from his program and then i can teach anywhere in the world when bob and i grow weary of the road and get older… it’s good to have things to look forward to!

ciao for now!

sea day

had to get up early for one more training i had to sign off on for health, environmental and safety issues….at 8 am!  yikes!  if i work til 1, i will be up at least ‘til 3 just winding down, so i had to get up to get some coffee first… turns out the guy in the café was one of my favorite piano bar waiters ever from another ship!  i keep running into more folks i have already met elsewhere…

i had called my boss in seattle on embarkation day and left a msg asking him to email the purser to make it a smooth process to get my reimbursement for luggage, lunch and dinner on the road, etc.  since it is the wknd, i didn’t think he’d be in on saturday to do it, which is when the purser can see me, and i didn’t want to wait ‘til monday to get the money i had planned to use for phone and internet cards, and that went super smoothly also.  thanks, boss!  on some ships, things just work well, and on some they don’t, and i feel so grateful that things here run quite smoothly!  i am having a very non-hassled transition here, and i am feeling lucky.  i’ve only been on one ship of all that i have been on where things were just crazy, and i am now gun shy when going n a new ship… i think that must have just been an aberration… lucky me!

last night i had so much fun… it feels so good to feel that way about working!  and while the ship gig for me is always fairly fun, last night was a standout night for me… i had a group of lively canadian gals from the first night come back (those canucks know how to party!), and then at 11:30 or so, about 25 gay guys showed up and we were rocking out and singing ‘til about 2am!  (they were good tippers, too!)  both groups made friends, and we had a blast… i think the highlight was “these boots were made for walking” and the guys cheered on the canadians doing some interpretive dance… you had to be there, i guess… what was especially nice was that there were also several other couples in the bar, and i held my breath wondering if there would be a clash of ideology and a fox-news- watching-contingency exodus, but everybody was just having fun and getting along… it’s like the piano bar gets it’s own little community in there, and it’s a democracy – everybody gets a turn and can choose songs, and people are a little more tolerant to wait their turn than perhaps in some other areas of life… my own personal peace movement!  save the world through piano bar unity!  it’s a pleasant break for everyone from the news and from their problems, anyway, so as time goes on, i realize that my job actually does serve a little bit of a higher purpose and i believe can be considered, in the buddhist way of thinking, “right work.”  so cool…

my 9 o’clock themed set was “piano bar legends,” the music of sir elton john, billy joel and ray charles… my bar staff was wonderful and they had to add another server in there last night… i think we will have a pretty packed room!  more soon… it was a sea day, cloudy and gray (my favorite!) and lovely…

on the road again!

so, i am back at work again!  the good news is, my son’s dad is doing great, my son is doing great, so great to spend extra time with him! sadly i couldn’t return to the ship i was on with bob, however… but at least my boss found a gig for me so i could get some work in, so for that and my family’s health and well-being, i am grateful!  instead of asia and australia, i have reframed my picture, and will be doing caribbean and panama canal cuising for 6 weeks out of ft. lauderdale… a few highlights from the way to florida… i was fortunate enough to get a direct flight to miami on a red-eye, however, there was an obnoxious child screaming and having tantrums the entire way – no, i am not being a big meanie, it wasn’t the plugged- up-ear-thing, it was a spoiled-kid-playing-her-dad-like-a-fiddle-thing and being loud and objectionable (what a scream!) to absolutely everything while her moron dad tried to placate and reason with her –  i was like, “who’s in charge here?”  man, when she is a teenager, she will be running the show…. that 2-4 yr old stage is like the first adolescence, and if you can’t get a kid to have an indoor and an outdoor voice and some respect for others (at least the parent, right?!) at that age, you are gonna be pretty much screwed for the entire journey… it took everything i had to bite my tongue and not say anything on my way out… prob’ly a good thing - that family’s clearly already got it hard enough…

i did finally smile when i was in the shuttle on the way to the hotel, tho, and here’s why: my driver’s idea of how to whistle along to a song on the radio was to pick one pitch and then repeat it rhythmically along with the song whether the pitch actually matched or not… my fave was “don’t go breakin my heart” by elton john and kiki dee… i recommend you try this technique in your car next time you hear a song you know, and i think you will find it amusing… i gave him a nice tip…

when i got to the hotel, which was thoroughly adequate, the weather was like stepping into a steam room after my beautiful, gloomy seattle, so i chose to linger in my air conditioned hotel room.  when i realized i had forgotten my hairdryer, i ventured out to make the trek to the kmart down the way – i got to the corner (no hat, no sunscreen) and i was like, “no freakin’ way!  i will just wear a headband, or go with the wet look!” and i returned to my room to watch movies and chill… i crossed my fingers my ship cabin might have a hairdryer wall unit…

i had a ride to take me to the ship at 7 am, so i was up for the free deluxe continental breakfast and in the lobby by 7… there were several crew members there going to two of our ships… miami to ft. lauderdale is about a 40 minute ride, so i snoozed on the way, peering our intermittently to look at the scenery, the palm trees, marshy areas, the miami skyline in the distance… very pretty.  embarking is always the same scene – you scan your luggage at security, fill out a form stating whether you have had any funky illnesses or flu like symptoms prior to boarding, turn in your passport, seaman’s book (yes, i am a dutch sailor, officially!) and employment letter, then you awkwardly lug all your stuff up the crew gangway which will inevitably always have stairs (glad i packed light – meaning one enormous bag and two small instead of two enormous and two small), making rolling luggage useless… whew!  then you all go to the crew mess for an orientation and safety meeting… you get your safety assignment (i am a traffic director – this means in an emergency i tell people where find the lifeboat deck from my post at a passenger stairwell), listen to company policies and sign off, and if you are new (i am not) tour the vessel...  you get your room key, and you can then settle in.

i was so excited to find that i had some pretty swanky digs by crew standards… they have re-done the berthing assignments fleet-wide, and i am now in a guest entertainer cabin on upper decks as opposed to living below decks in crew quarters.  i am psyched to have windows, and even a full bath… super swell!  my cabin stewards (yes, two!) are awesome and whipped my place into ship shape so i could unpack and settle in… i really wish i had cabin stewards at home!

saw a few familiar faces of crew i have worked with on other ships, and am glad to know some folks out here… it becomes like a large artificially extended family of sorts, all sharing some common stuff… my first night was great!  i found that the crappy electric piano in a shell that was here two years ago, has been replaced by a fairly decent real grand with adequate sound reinforcement and monitoring and everything… sweet!  for those of you who followed my world voyage, you may remember i was getting the crap scared out of me by people coming up from behind grabbing me or clapping me on the shoulder while i was playing, eliciting more than one small coronary… well, on the larger ships, the piano is surrounded with (hooray!) an actual WALL behind me (i swear, i almost kissed it!), and a bar surrounding the piano with bar stools all around – the player’s area can be accessed by a lift-up ‘gate’ in the countertop by the wall, so there is a psychic moat of sorts all around my area, so no more jumping out of my skin on the gig!  yay!!!!!!

last night’s theme was “getting to know you,” which is just me asking people their names, where they are from, what kind of music they like, and going around the room to take requests… i throw in the occasional sing along or clap along type of number, and the crowd, for a first night, was quite lucid and ready to party!  i didn’t end til after 1, so we did a great night in the bar… i have an awesome bar staff, and we are going to rock it out this cruise and have some fun!  i have to get a memory card and some batteries for my camera or get a new camera as this one has been really acting up (won’t turn on half the time, especially if there is a good shot!)… we are at sea and it’s grey, so there’s a visual for you!   more soon!   cheers!

a short pause...

i am sorry to say i will have to take temporary leave of my blog, and, indeed, of this voyage with bob to go home and tend to an unforeseen family emergency and that bob will remain here to continue working.  i have faith that everyone will ultimately be ok, though your well wishes and prayers are appreciated for my son’s dad in his recovery.  i will know more about when and where my journey will again proceed soon, so stay tuned, and i will keep you all posted.  for the next few weeks however, i will be focusing my attention on being home with nino and being a supportive presence for him and for johnny.  i am choosing to take the unexpected bonus of a few weeks at home with nino as a surprise gift since he will soon be off to college and time at home with him is a precious and dwindling thing… thank you for understanding and for your kind thoughts for johnny and our entire family at this time.  i will be back! 

hello from icy strait point!

greetings from icy strait point.  this is an area about 40 mile out of juneau where the ancient peoples of glacier bay went when the ice advanced and forced them from their homes and includes the little nearby village of hoonah as well.  today bob and i both had IPM (in-port manning) which we have decided to call IPS (in-port snuggling).  way to transmute an obligation into a reward!  so, tho we didn’t get to leave the ship, bob did get a few snaps off the deck, and we took some as we sailed away in the early evening… even with a few good pics now and again, to me, they always pale in comparison to the actual place and being there.  i think that’s why i never took too many pics in my life as i always preferred the version in my mind to the actual photos…  still, on the world voyage this year, i did begin to enjoy taking pics with the idea in mind of letting others see what we were seeing, and i get that… i guess i am just missing the inborn chipset that my mom and sister have, whipping out the camera at every occasion – bob is a good photographer and is more interested in it, tho i have recently become more grabby with the camera, wanting to get my own framing of something, so i think my photog muscles are developing a little. 

my theme tonight was ‘come rain or come shine,’ and i was surprised with two busy port days in a row and swoopy seas last night that i kept a bar full of people til after 11… we ended up doing another round of american pie by demand, and that lasted at leat 40 minutes… lots of nice people on this cruise so far!

pics coming tomorrow when i am in anchorage with free and speedy internet!  ciao!

hello from juneau!

here we are in the the capitol city of juneau… another beautiful gray day, and we walked around and enjoyed it.  i have been trying to pick up the little cruiser freebies here and there, the freshwater pearl earrings, the free gemstone pendant (super teeny…), the free polished rocks, i always forget these are out there.  you do usually have to let them show you the $6,000 rings and stuff for the trouble, but it’s fun to look! 

my theme was ‘showtime!’ which includes songs from the big screen, the broadway stage and television themes, even a few commercials… we then have requests til the night is over… i have been lucky enough the last couple of nights to have a few friends drop by and sit in – the guitar player, our friend, dan, from seattle, who is great, a french Canadian sax player named kevan, who is also great, and last night two of the singers from the showroom singers and dancers dropped a few tunes… lots of fun!  the guests really enjoy those impromptu moments, and i am grateful our entertainment leadership allows this – i have been with others who don’t, and i feel they rob the guests of some singular moments that will not happen again… good stuff!

i will be putting my alaskan port song lyrics together on one blog entry at the end of the alaska season with pictures… it has taken me a couple of alaskan summers to get together all the best stuff for each place we go, and i think i have enough now to do an alaskan- themed cruise ship cd to bring with me next time i do the alaska season.  the cd i have now is down to the last few copies, so i will be making a couple of new cd’s when i get home over the holidays to take out with me for the 2012 season.  new stuff is good!  original new stuff is better!  i think bob and i will also throw a duo cd down as well to have when we play together on the home front…

pics of juneau i will have to upload in anchorage - bandwidth out here is tiny, slow, and expensive...  ciao for now!

hello from tracy arm!

tracy arm from promenade deck

yesterday we traveled up the beautiful alaskan fjord of tracy arm.  frequently, we won’t always get really far because of ice or fog, but we made it all the way back in today which was lovely.  bob and i took a few pictures outside and then another few from our window so you could see what a sweet view we have from our room in the sky.

pretty!

from our room

one half of the window... nice!

i have met a few characters on board… one lady (not a piano bar patron) i met in the lido commented wryly how cheerful i was while standing in line at lunch.  she is from, well, a warmer state, and when i asked how she was enjoying her cruise, she kind of harrumphed and said, “all these trees… hmph! you can shove ‘em all!  and it’s cold!”  i reminded her it was alaska, and coming on fall… she harrumphed again and mumbled away.  i was left wondering why she hadn’t stayed in her warm, dry, presumably treeless environment.  i hope when i get older, i will not look for things to be wrong in the day… if i do turn out like that, nino, you can stick me on an iceberg somewhere…

like this one, bean...

my theme last night was moon and stars, not that you could see any… i did robert service’s “ballad of the ice worm cocktail” behind which i throw in some music.  i love the grey weather, and have decided that grey (in all it’s variety, especially the dark stuff) might actually be my favorite color.  i tried to tell my piano bar patrons that the clouds make the ice more blue, so they shouldn’t fret if it’s overcast on glacier days… i’m not sure they were convinced, and even my pictures don’t quite capture the depth of blue in the ice we saw today… lovely!  

ooooooh!

aaaaaaaaaaaah!

more soon... cheers!

greeting from ketchikan!

cruise ships lined up like sentries in ketchikan

so i got my bob back on friday in seattle!  that morning i was able to have a happy 50^th anniversary celebration with my folks while bob got re-situated – we had a really nice visit and got to catch up on each other’s situations before they get ready to move while we are away… (when i was younger my pop always said that someday when i left they would move and leave no forwarding address… hee hee)

it was a whirl getting bob in the door and catching up on some lost time this year… we are now comfortably settled in in our new digs (swanky!) and we will be settling into our comfortable, tho busy, at sea routine.  everything is far easier and happier when he is here!

our first day was at sea going through the inside passage.  quite lovely… my first night’s theme in the piano bar was ‘getting to know you,’ which is where i just chat with people, getting their names, asking where they are from, what kind of music they like, and is pretty much an all request night.  people are often tired from traveling, so they will either not want to sing or clap along, or they draw a blank when it is their turn to request a song.  this is when we fall back on the artist request, so they don’t have to come up with a particular song… i don’t make them work too hard on their first night!  the second night was the genre-stump-the band game ‘american pie’, and was a formal night.  on these shorter cruises, i am usually working 9-close, so my themed set is from 9-10, happy hour is from 10-11, and after that we might go til anywhere from 11:30 til 1, depending on how much activity, how many port days in a row, etc. the guest have had.   

yesterday was ketchikan day, and my theme was ‘let’s be frank!’ featuring the music of frank sinatra.  it was fairly well attended, and i had a good, steady crowd for the rest of the evening, tapering at 12:15… nice folks, and i think with my wits back around me, i am doing better this cruise in terms of getting people’s names down, etc.  i have a few guests who i have met on other cruises, and one gal who even said she booked this particular run because i am on it.  that felt good!  i’m never too aware of what day of the week it is, only whether it is a sea day or which port we are in.  i am firmly fixed in knowing that anchorage and seattle are both on fridays, tho…

nino has started his senior year (hard to believe!) and has some great senior pics (which he hates) coming soon… our summer boarder, uncle larry, moved out, and with me and bob taking off, the mascorella boys and the dog are bachelors in a quieter home… we will be back in time for christmas holidays taking december and january off, and we may take a little family trip out to the winter-stormy coast.  that would be fun!

in ketchikan, bob and i went out to walk and get some good coffee… we took the married man’s trail through the woods ( back when, the fellows could visit the fancy houses on creek street this way without being seen…)… lovely day!  hope everyone is well, and here are a few pics to get current… cheers!

sasquatch in downtown ketchikan

dogs of creek street

historic and colorful creek street

view from funicula going up deer mountain

many real totem poles in parks of ketchikan

high bush cranberries

ginormous slug atop forest fungus on married man's trail

view of dolly's house through the forest on married man's trail

ok... i did it again with the skipping a couple days thing... sorry!

since my last entry, we’ve hit my hometown of anchorage, the lovely hamlet by the sea of homer, surprisingly sunny kodiak and the mighty hubbard glacier.  today we are in sitka, maybe my favorite little place we go, and i had some great coffee, walked around, checked in at a few fave spots, got some homemade chowder and am now back on the ship.  a lovely, cool cloudy day and the air smells like the ocean.  every so often, like today, the air smells and feels just a certain way that takes me immediately back to my childhood years in valdez, and i wish we could stay in some of these ports for a few more days… oh well! 

i am now all about a nap, then it will be dinner time, shower time, then show time.  only 3 days til bob gets here, and then the days will get a sort of lovely routine to them… i mean, sure, i do okay on my own, but i think most people who know me know i am much better with my loved ones than without.  bob will be a stabilizing influence for sure!  it was so great to talk to him and nino today and hear about his upcoming schedule this year – IB art, graphic design, newspaper and yearbook… sweet senior schedule!  busy, but fun, and a nice preview to what art school might be like… so glad he’s got a cool schedule, a cool girlfriend, some good friends and his papa to keep him busy, yet balanced while i am on the road.  i always feel pretty ripped up about heading out, so i get some comfort from knowing this. 

i feel that even tho alaska sounds so adventurous, and can be, it is still so familiar to me that i have this sense that my real adventure will really begin when we leave for asia… i will try and remember that some of you might not be so familiar with Alaska, so i will pledge to blog the next two week cruise better… like i said, when bob is here, my routine is just more solid, and, in a sweet way, bob always helps me with goals i have (like blogging) by being a buffer, or bodyguard of sorts to deflect casual chatter, folks who want to sit down and join and any other distractions… he’s sweet that way!  anyway, only 3 more days til i feel like my head will be on a little straighter…  it will be nice not having to miss bob.  i’ll still be missing my babies (nino and gimli), that doesn’t really go away, and having bob here will definitely be a comfort and keep me on a more even keel!

big hellos to everyone!

gee, it's busy!!!

normally i am so right on with the daily entry – i’ll tell you, tho, i have had surprisingly little free time since i have been on – between updating all my expired trainings, getting to the gym to learn how to work stuff and then actually getting to the gym and doing it, writing port songs and show prep every day, i am wiped out by the end of the day… anyway, i am in anchorage today and will be spending the day with friends and family, and i really want to get to it, but i swear i will be able to catch up a little now that my obligatory certifications are done and i am getting a bit of a routine down… crazy busy!  at least it will make the time go quickly til bob gets here next week and the trip will prob'ly be a blur, then i will be back home with nino and gimli for the holidays… what a life!  more soon, i promise, port songs, and pictures, too!  xo

yes, i'm here!

well, it’s been a coupla days – it will take me a minute to get back to the daily thing… day before yesterday we were in Ketchikan, and it was beautiful and rainy and gray… call me crazy, but i love my rainforests rainy!  i love anything rainy, actually, but it was lovely.  the air is so fresh, and it definitely wakes you up.  as usual, once i get out to sea, my allergies basically disappear… funny!  nice to not be all medicated!  my theme for the night was ‘american pie,’ a genre stump the band game that usually lasts 45 minutes to an hour and goes through a wide variety of tunes.  i like to play this at the top of a cruise so that people realize they can ask for all kinds of stuff and it will be more fun for everyone, including me.  nice crowd so far, and it was nice to see the cruise director and hotel manager and event manager come hang out for most of a set. 

one of my fave guest entertainers is here, jeff trachta.  i’ve met him on several cruises, so we’ve gotten to know one another a little bit over time, and he always comes in and is supportive.  the guitar player who opens up my lounge from 5-9 (i play 9-close) is a nice kid from texas.  he has a pretty good rapport with folks and sets the room up well for me, so he’s alright with me.  we have been overlapping and doing a couple of tunes together which the crowd seems to enjoy also.  glad the powers that be are amenable to that. 

yesterday we cruised tracy arm, a fjord very close to Juneau, and we got fairly close to the sawyer glacier.  i will do a coupla pics once i get some more batteries.  before they died, i did snap a coupla pics out my window so y’all could check out my snazzy new view.  i really am enjoying the new cabin.  i think, even though i am rather mole-like, that the daylight at some level for at least a little bit is probably good for me.

today we are in lovely rainy Juneau, and i am trying to hide my glee at my fave weather because most people really hate it, especially when they are on vacation… oh well.  i went to the trainer today to get my metabolic tests and go over my food plan – put together a realistic vision, i think, and i’ll keep you posted.  i walked a lot today, picked up a few items at the fred meyer’s and made sure my car payment was made… made plans to meet up with my buddy brett and my sister donna in anchorage this friday, so i am very much looking forward to that!  tonight’s theme is ‘showtime’ which will contain music from broadway, movies and television… i will get back into the blogging habit and the camera being with me habit and should be rolling here this week.  thanks for coming with me!

cruising the inside passage

checked in and unpacked… called home and told the fellas i miss and love them!  i had my first night last night, and it was a great group of guests.  sometimes, the first night is just people wandering by, looking in , and then moving on to see everything before they decide where to hang… i have a guitar player playing in my lounge til 9pm, so i went a little early and we had a little impromptu session at the end of his set.  the crowd seemed to really enjoy it, and we had fun.  no particular theme to my show, just called “getting to know you,” and i just try and chat with folks, see where they are from, and get a read on their musical tastes.  it ends up being pretty much an all request night… we had quite a variety, too!  everything from buddy holly to etta james… good stuff!  we rolled til about 12:30, and i slept really well.  i am in a swanky new room on the top deck, and have a great big window and am a few feet away from the sports deck, which i would prefer to think of as my own very large verandah. 

up early today for safety trainings, updates, department meeting, crew ID picture, busy!  after lunch, i took a walk on my verandah, down the back stairs to the promenade, around that a coupla times, nice scenery here along the inside passage, and decided i would enjoy a bit of organization time in my room followed by a nap (short night, long day yesterday…). 

i dropped a few pounds over the summer, and i am trying to not undo my progress out here, so i brought my good walking shoes, and made an appointment with a trainer in the gym to put a gym program together for this contract as well.  he’s giving me the metabolic/diagnostic test for free, so that’s cool… and it is actually possible to eat very healthy here, you just have to avoid certain things, but they certainly have everything one needs.  … i was down 13# over my break, and i’ll see if i can at least do that again or better while i am here.  i usually get more activity at sea than i do at home because i walk a lot more… i’ll keep you posted on my progress.  ciao for now!

i guess it's really happening...

always so weird prepping to leave and not realizing i'm really going til i say goodbye to nino.  that's definitely always the worst part.  i was glad he went to his pal austin's tonight so i can say goodnight and see ya soon tonight instead of at 6 in the morning...

had a nice dinner (green curry with alaskan halibut from my folks, jasmine rice, edamame) with the whole fam and my friend, ahsha - she and i have missed connections all summer long, so this really was the last chance to hang before the holidays...

bob is amazing, as usual, helping me every step of the way from transfering lyrics from my laptop to my ipad, to being there to hug me when i am still sniffling from hugging nino farewell... he is a rock for me, and i know how lucky i am.

tomorrow when i get around to blogging i will be on board my ship, and getting settled in.  now that my berthing assignment has been moved to the uppermost deck, i wonder if i will get internet in my room - i never did when i was below decks... i hope so!

great gig last night!

our last wednesday night gig at the wine bar 'til the holidays... it was lovely, with special guest vocalists, carole miguel and stephanie johnson... good times!  the only melancholy note was saying goodbye to my folks, who are moving while we are out at sea... it might be awhile before we get to see them, and it certainly won't be every week like it is now.  *sigh*   at least my mom will still have business out here and she and dad can come visit, and when they get settled, we will be able to see them and bob's brother down in colorado when we get a break.  my son will truly be bach-ing it with his dad this time out, but i am grateful he is as independent as he is, and now that he's got a girlfriend, he won't be without lots of hugs (hee hee...)... lucky to be escaping before the sunny, hot weather finally arrives!  not my thing... i'll take gloomy, chilly september in alaska, then we won't get heat 'til we get to australia... and there's always the climate control of the ship to return to after a day in the elements...  i've so enjoyed my summer at home, and this is the hard part where i am keenly aware how much i will really miss my son, my folks, my dog, my friends... i will focus on being a workaholic to cope, and be making the most of this time at work and having some adventures with bob - in this crazy economy i am grateful for the work and the fact that with bob's and my needs mostly covered on the gig, we can save most of what we make... that's another reason i aim to do this for awhile to come.  if we are, indeed, facing another possible recession dip, we will get through it playing, and try and just enjoy our lives in spite of it.  what else can you do?  i learned a long time ago that if you make your happiness conditional on external circumstances, you won't have a very happy life.  it's better to go for happiness first, and then just deal with things the best you can from the stance of feeling good...  more soon!

grand world voyage 2011 port songs are available to listen to or download!

Port Songs 1-21 link: http://soundcloud.com/bneale000/sets/Port-Songs-1-21/ 

Port Songs 22-42 link: http://soundcloud.com/irbank/sets/port-songs-22-42

thanks to bob for getting all these up onto this download service!  you can click on link to listen to or download the songs from the grand world 2011 voyage... cheers!

busy day!

i think bob and i finally made it through the whole house sorting things to be put in phase one of our garage sale series... 1st one will be next weekend (after i leave - lucky me!) and be all the little to medium-sized stuff, the bric-a-brac, the 13 out of 15 candleholders, baskets, the extra ice bucket, the olive oil pitcher and bread dipping set, the multiple floral vases, the houseplants (i can't bear to come back from another voyage to more dead plants...), there is soooo much stuff that gets accumulated.  anyway, we got a lot done...

nino and i went to see midnight in paris, which was wonderful, and we had thanksgiving leftovers for dinner... mmm!!!  many errands to run tomorrow, to get last minute necessities, etc, then we have a gig at the north city wine bistro at 7pm... hope to see some of you there!  ciao for now!

getting ready to head back out...

yes, it's that time again... the last week before i go back is always major in terms of packing, preparation and panic - whether i will be ready, whether the boys at home are ready for me to go, and it is a bit of a whirlwind! it is monday today, and i leave early friday morning, so this is it!  and what a great summer break i have had!  it's been so good to share some time with nino, watching him having a busy summer, getting a girlfriend, yearbook camp, newspaper camp, art camp, time with friends... i have a movie date with him tomorrow (glad he could squeeze me in!)!  i have had fun playing a little bit of dueling piano this summer and at the wine bar... bob and i still have this wed nite at the wine bar, so i will look forward to the chance to play with him before i head out!  i needed a break after the wonderful world voyage we did, and after a great summer, i feel i will be fresh and ready to go for this fall!

today we are having our un-thanksgiving dinner since bob and i will not be here in november - i am doing a full-on turkey dinner with all the trimmings, too!  i will be blogging at sea again, and want to invite you all to join me on this journey - i will be finishing the alaska season, then embarking on a long voyage to asia and australia.... so exciting!  i am also so happy that my husband, bob, will be on this voyage, too, joining two weeks after i board... just wanted to get the blog up and running and put the word out!  stay tuned!

going home!!!

it was brutal to go through all the slowness of disembarking the last morning – it starts with 7 am customs and immigration processing, turning in life jacket at 8, getting paid and settling outstanding bar tabs, etc., collecting advances for travel per diem, then waiting for all guests to clear ship before we can leave…  sigh… and there will always be, oh, about 130 people or so who don’t think they have to leave and keep milling about after their disembarkation group has been called to leave… we finally got out about an hour and a half late… then we wait in the terminal (glad i was close to the front of the line).  the people who think they are exempt and extremely important cut in front (the french hairdresser with bad flight plan she made herself and might miss her flight, the doctors, they are god, right?, and the captain – ok, i’ll let the captain cut in line, but these other bums should wait their turn…).  we all have to have our bags x-rayed and clear final customs, and luckily, they let bob accompany me to help me with my bags to the cab… guests were even still talking to us while we were trying to say goodbye, which was awkward… i got in the cab and waved goodbye to my sweetie.  heavy sigh…

i asked the cab driver if he had some music, and was grateful for the bob marley… i have good luck with cabbies and bob marley… i could have taken the crew shuttle to ft. lauderdale airport, but that’s more waiting with lots of people, having my stuff buried under everyone’s and having to dig it out of trailer, sea of familiar crew people… i really just needed to go!  at the airport, i knew i’d still see guests and crew, and i did, and it was pleasant and all, but i couldn’t wait to head west towards unfamiliarity except for family…

an uneventful flight, and at the end, my beautiful boy!  i cried to hug him and see him… caught up a little with him and johnny on the ride home and then my puppy!  so great to be home!  my cozy bed, not as cozy without bob, but i’ll take it!  and diet dr. pepper in the fridge!  does nobody outside of america appreciate this nectar of the gods!?!?  no, they don’t… ah, chemical elixir… it’s my drug of choice up right there with excedrin, cheeseburgers and bravo tv’s top chef…

some of you asked if i am done blogging now, and no, i am not!  i will be launching the “piano broad at home” blogsite any day, and blog about travel adventures with nino and life at home, as well as music and writing that i am up to while on land!  i’ll be here on this site ‘til i let you know when to make the jump… i’ll come back to this site again when i embark august 19^th for alaska, continuing onto the grand asia australia voyage in the fall… stay tuned!