Friday March 12, 2010
this is the least fun day of any cruise... Q & Zo got to FLL barely in time to catch the LAST shuttle to the port, then it is wait, WAIT and MORE wait to get boarding passes, clear customs then finally board the ship... after finding rooms, attending the safety drill and having dinner, you're exhausted... day 1 DONE
**********
Saturday March 13, 2010
we had to get up at 9 in order to have some breakfast before loading gear to the Lido deck for our noon show time... our sound guy (Sasa) had his hands full getting mics on drums, pans, percussion and bass, 4 vocal mics and my guitar... he had us tweaked by 12:20 and we were off and running! the playing time seemed so short... people were dancing, drinking singing along and generally having a BLAST.. he hit all our originals, our favourite covers plus a few tunes we "learned" on the spot... it was FUN... but draining.. the sun finally broke thru about 1:30 and we had a beautiful afternoon... but it was hot & humid.. i think we all crashed at some level before getting ready for "elegant" night at dinner... we were quite the sight in our jackets and ties.. and the girls were STUNNING!!! afterwards we watched Jim Hoehn's show, saw some of the ship acts and the late night comedian before calling it a LONG day... tomorrow is our seconds sea day and a day off for Ramajay... i am sure we will find ways to entertain!!!
**********
Sunday March 14, 2010
today was an entire day off! everybody slept late and had lunch for breakfast... it was a postcard weather day so there was time to catch some rays and hang with the phlock during the afternoon... my friend meggie and I had a little one on one guitar time before yet another fabulous dinner... we switched our seats just to keep our servers on their toes and they sang a cute song to Zo & Steph to celebrate their engagement the night before!!! tonight was Nadirah's first show and there was great anticipation from everyone... we have been hanging with her and the band (several extremely cool and talented guys) for a couple days and now it was their turn to bring it... and they did! by the end of the night the whole room was reacting to every nuance... after they played the set list, she brought her brother to the front of the stage where they sat and did 2 songs completely acoustically... the band gradually came back in culminating in a wonderful "three little birds" sing a long... a great success! now it time to sleep.. st. maarten is out first port in the morning!!
**********
Monday March 15, 2010 St. Maarten
our first port day!!! we met at 9, had a little bredakfast' OK a BIG breakfast, and headed off the ship... our cab drivers (Dennis) took us the scenic route to Orient Beach, a beautiful secluded beach, where we kicked off the shoes, had a couple rum drinks and enjoyed the moment... after a couple hours we resumed our driving tour thru the French side of the island, a beautiful and scenic place... we ended up at Maho beach at the sunset bar where we had lunch and watched the planes land on RIGHT NEXT to our restaurant...FUN! Dennis got us back to the ship on time.. we changed and got to the Lido deck in time for the open bar "sunset at Mallory Square" reception... I'm not sure an open bar is a good idea before dinner, but everyone sure had fun!! dinner was superb as always, but it seemed to put everyone over the edge... not sure how many people went out later that night, i know i was OUT by midnight
**********
Tuesday March 16, 2010 St. Lucia
breakfast and at the gangway by 9:30 began the day... todays cab man (Anthony) was great fun and very knowledgeable about the island... we went to many scenic spots, the Rhum distillery, a volcanic area, a waterfall and an amazing bar/restaurant that hangs off a cliff and looks out over the cove below! tonight was our concert in the Mad Hatter's lounge... one really cool thing is that many of the ship's musicians have come by asking if they can come in and check us out! the show itself went amazingly well... even though Zo was feeling kinda bad, he played his ass off and he and robertson were AWESOME!!!! klee was spot on and Q's comment was that it could not have gone better! WOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! have i mentioned lately that i LOVE my job??? tomorrow is the beach concert on St. Kitts, so i better get some sleep... I'll type more soon....
**********
Wednesday March 17, (St. Patrick's Day) St. Kitts
between playing till after 1:30 am and having to be at the gear at 8:45 am today, there wasn't much sleep time... but everyone was there on time! we got our equipment to the Reggae beach bar at Cockleshell Bay and there was a great PA, stage & tent waiting for us... we did "three little birds" for sound check then were off and running... we had decided to all be onstage al the time making for a really cool jam session/concert... nadirah and her entire band, outside art, ramajay intercoastal (except for alonzo) and jim hoehn... the set list ranged from marley to aretha, peter gabriel to jimmy buffett... there was a cool moment for us when nadirah asked us to play "magic cruise" and she sang the chorus with Q and me!!! LOTS of fun despite raging HEAT! the rum punch helped as did the awesome lunch they made for us.... back to the Miracle by 4, a nap and a shower, dinner at 8:30 then the St. Patty's day party and live auction... now i am going thru some of the flip video footage... i'll have some cool stuff to post when i get home (the connectivity onboard is severely lacking and VERY expensive... which is why these updates only come out every other day or so) there are a couple days at sea ahead of us but except for the songwriter's showcase, our musical responsibilities are over... nadirah did hint that we might be called on to sit in tomorrow night... i'll keep you posted!
**********
Thursday March 18, 2010 sea day
sleeping in was nice! jim hoehn was playing the Lido deck so we headed down there to get some brunch and sit in a few songs... another beautiful day in paradise... there was an appreciation gathering in the afternoon with an open bar so we had a few drinks, some appetizers and fun conversations with the volunteers and nadirah and her band... we have become good friends with all of them.... great people as well as great musicians... meggie and i had another impromptu jam sessions in one of the common areas before we headed up to change for dinner... it was casual elegant night so we all spiffed up a bit... we even took a band photo in all our snazzery!!! nadirah's show started after the 50/50 raffle winner was announced... they were much more relaxed and "into it" tonight... the show flowed even better than their first one.. for the second set, Quincy was onstage and took some really cool solos... Alonozo took over the kit when DK went to the front of the stage for the "acoustic" part of the set... then Nadirah called me up to sing "dock of the bay" and join in, with Kristie, for the "three little birds" finale.. Robertson played bongos for that part as DK had gone back to the kit... an AMAZING evening all around... then we headed up to the Lido deck for the sunrise jam session, intending to only play an hour or so... once Leon and I got cooking with the other pickers up there, it was simply impossible to leave... jim hoehen was in the rotation, meggie did a few songs as did Kristie, Jeff and few other folks.... i played "here comes the sun" as light broke the horizon and we realized it was 7am!!! WOW!! we took a "survivor" photo (there were probably 30 or 40 still hangin in with us) and we all stumbled to our rooms and CRASHED... what a day!!!
**********
Friday March 19, 2010 sea day (last day)
where did it go? Last day already? we obviously slept late and totally missed the Klee & Mike show on the Lido deck (i am such a slacker) but got to sound check for the songwriters showcase on time... then lunch and beginning the packing process (and a power nap!) the showcase was in a fabulous theatre called the Phantom, an 1100 seat room with great acoustics... the show went very smoothly and Quincy debuted a brand new song.. afterwards we had to pack all our cargo gear to be offloaded first thing in the morning, then off to our last dinner onboard..., there was a pajama party to attend after we had packed our belongings for disembarking early tomorrow and now i am wrapping up the cruise blog before turning in... it was a lovely cruise... you might say a "magic cruise"!!
**********
watch for photos and videos at:
www.tallpaul.com
www.ramajayintercoastal.com
and on our youtube channels:
3 comments:
Sounds like you're all having a great time Paul! Sure wish I were out there with you! Haver fun, be safe!
Paul - It's Tom & Marly!! See you in Ft Lauderdale when you get back - !!
Thanks again for joining the crew. You and the Ramajay Intercoastal gang were simply fantastic!
Post a Comment