day 63 - at sea

well, everyone had a blast in hong kong; it had the same type of port effect as sydney on everybody - it was grand, there was a lot to do, fun adventures, great sights and sounds, awesome dining and markets… hong kong had it all for everyone, and was the perfect place for a two day stop.  now we have a couple of sea days, and people can catch up on their rest and share their stories.  i always ask people to “share something with the class” about what excursions they did, or bargains they found, and it’s like show and tell time… it also helps people get to know each other a little…

in sydney recently and again in hong kong we disembark some guests who are only doing a portion of the world voyage and welcome a few new guests as well… spotting the new guests walking by in the hall is like whale watching, “look!  there’s two new people!”  even with 1300 guests, after seeing them all go by each day to dinner or the show, even if they aren’t regulars in my bar, i can usually pick out the 60-80 new faces… said goodbye to a couple of characters in hong kong… there was good old walter, 89 years old and the first guy to my bar every night; always had a few smart remarks and was pretty damn funny… and get this, he lives right by the bothell senior center, stone’s throw from me, so we already have made a breakfast date for may at the kozy korner café on main st.  then there’s steve, who always had good suggestions for additions to my themed set lists.. i could tell he thought about it!  he usually came in every night for a beer or two, and was always very pleasant… people don’t think you will remember them, and you won’t necessarily remember everybody you meet, but there’s always several in a long trip like this that you add to your list of pals that you would keep on your mailing list or meet when you are in their town for coffee and catch up and share memories of the cruise… in just two years here, i already have had this type of experience several times now, and it’s a really nice part of this gig!

having bob here is a blast!  loving how our schedules are perfectly dovetailed and how we can have so much time off the gig together… i am dying to play with him, however, and we will try and schedule some sea day music in the near future… cross your fingers the cruise director approves this idea – he is famous for not wanting players to cross lounge lines and play together.. other cd’s allow it, and the guests love it… we’ll have to bide our time and hope it flies. 

tonight’s theme was ‘eight days a week,’ and featured songs with references to days of the week (‘rainy days and mondays,’) or the word ‘day’ (‘my lucky day’, ‘today’), and i stretched the notion and also included some songs from ‘lady day,’ miss billie holiday. when bob visits on his breaks, we play ‘pass the bob’ so people can get acquainted – he stays about a song or two with one table and then goes to the next… kind of like speed dating, hee hee… glad they are all so happy to welcome him!  hope you are all well!  on the home front, the dog is acting out and being a brat to nino now that bob and i are both gone and he is alone in the day, so, mom, if you ever want to make a few calls from my house to check on ‘the furry grandchild,’ his little pink heart-shaped nose is a bit out of joint and he's taking it out on nino (who he treats as a brother in the pack and not as an elder... constantly challenging his position unless an adult is there to regulate and remind him that he is, indeed, the dog…) ciao, di