First time for everything

Well, I've never done any kind of blog before, but, I figured this would be a good way to keep in touch with anyone who is interested in what I'm up to down here in the Caribbean. In short summary: I've taken at 6 month contract as a musician on the Majesty of the Seas, one of the smaller ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet. We do 4 and 3 day cruises to the Bahamas and back. I've been a professional musician for over 25 years, but, never worked on a cruise ship. In fact, this is my first time ever on a vessel this large. Also, incidentally, my first time out of the US (except for Canada) in my life. Wow...maybe there's more to this "Walkabout" that I originally thought.

Anyway, I've been on the ship for a work week and things are going very well. My days have been fairly busy (by ship musician standards) and I've been getting used to life onboard.

After I got on the plane on Sunday, March 4th, I felt a huge sense of relief. I knew that once I sat down in my seat on the plane, I had finished my responsibilities regarding civilian life for 6 months. My itinerary was now completely in the hands of Royal Caribbean. This was a big relief for me, apparently, because 2 minutes after I sat down in my exit row seat…I was asleep.

Overnight in Miami on Sunday was interesting. Shared a hotel room with another sign on from Honduras. He was preparing for his 3rd ship contract. He did not know what his job would be on the ship, but, he was hoping to get a promotion at some point because he speaks English pretty well. His contract is 10 months and he will be going all over the world as his ship is much bigger than mine. Also, had dinner with my Mom and stepdad Lyman. Really nice of them to come over and see me off.

Monday sign on was interesting. Lots of hurry up and wait. Waited for the bus at the hotel, arrived at the Port of Miami and waited while my luggage was scanned, waited in line to get my passport checked at the gangway, waited for my carry ons to be checked before entering, waited in the training room to sign paperwork, waited for my musical director to show me where my room is…you get the idea! Had a short rehearsal and then played the "welcome show" at 8 pm that evening. That lasted about 45 minutes with me having to play for about 10 total. Nice work if you can get it.

In terms of the rest of my week, my activities consisted of safety/ethics training during the day and playing gigs at night. The training is very standard "new job" stuff. Behavior expectations, harassment seminars, etc. There is also ship specific training. I learned what to do in case of different emergencies, which fire extinguishers to use with certain types of fires, and how to operate lifeboats. I even had to flip over a life raft in the pool by myself. As far as the music goes, we have 2 production shows that we perform with singers and dancers. We also do a "Captain's Party" and a jazz set in one of the bars on the ship. There are many other musicians onboard, which I was surprised by since this is one of the smaller ships in the fleet.

Some pictures from my first week. I'm sure I'll get better ones as I get more time and get off the ship!

Miami from my cabin

Nassau from my cabin

Key West from back deck

Coast Guard at Key West

Pier at Key West

Key West from the room