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!