Travel blog from a musician on board the Silhouette! Check it out!

[dpryo319]

10/15/11: Haifa Day 2 & 10/16/11: Ashdod Day 1

Well, no training fortunately today, but we had a variety show in the evening w/ Katrina and Steve, and then there was a crew show that Steve put on b/c its Starring Crew Week, w/ special events for us crew, brunches, grill outs, game nights, etc…and tonight was Bingo w/ some pretty awesome prizes: Macbook pros, Ipads/Ipod Touches, Celebrity cookbooks, and more. I’m not too lucky when it comes to playing games, so of course didn’t win anything, came close in one of the games though…oh well, still fun to play along w/ the rest of the crew, back to some more training review tomorrow in Ashdod…night y’all.

 

You’ve may have noticed I haven’t been commenting too much on any tours lately this cruise…truth be told, in Israel at least, I’ve covered most of the tours already: Nazareth/Galilee, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Rosh Hanikra, Beit She’arim, Megiddo, etc…I’ve done ‘em all! Nice to be able to space them out, oh yea, and swimming in the Dead Sea, can’t forget that! So taking a break, getting some rehearsals in w/ the strings and such, and sleeping in, not waking up for tours early in the morning! Tonight, I actually did get to play a piece w/ the string trio, Allegria, in their concert. Brought back some old memories of my college accompanying, and was a lot of fun to return back to my classical roots from school. Then afterwards, enjoyed an Oceanview dinner outside, being a nice night, and late tonight, in Celebrity Central Theatre, there was a showing of the Nick n’ Friends Show, the talk show we recorded w/ Nick when he was here. I must say I’m quite impressed the way it turned out, very professional indeed! Kudos to all those who were a part of the process of making it! It even looks and sounds like a real talk show, obviously the point of it all. Also got a copy of Katrina’s CD that we recorded for her the last couple days she was here, so have a lil’ memorabilia to take home from this contract! The band sounds great on it by the way! Boat drill in the morning so heading to bed here…

[derf5585]

Rory is on the left

 

[MikeKl]

Enjoyed your bf's blog and am looking forward to meeting the author and musician on my Nov 18th cruise out of New Jersey!!

[dpryo319]

Enjoyed your bf's blog and am looking forward to meeting the author and musician on my Nov 18th cruise out of New Jersey!!

 

Wonderful!!! Have a great cruise! I get to go visit him for a couple days coming up here and see the beautiful ship, very excited!

[dpryo319]

10/19/11: The Final Mykonos Visit & Gary Arbuthnot

Today was a lot of fun back in Mykonos, Greece. Got off the ship around 10:30 or so, then started the morning off with a drink at the Leto Hotel with some of the Steiner Spa gang, Acapella guys, and our lighting technician. The hotel even had a pool, so Sam and I decided to be brave and take a dip. Was not only freezing, but quite salty I might add. Very refreshing nonetheless. After the morning drinks we decided to spend the afternoon by renting some ATV four-wheelers and driving all the way around the island and finding Paradise Beach. This time of the year, the beach was practically private it was so quiet! Great view, water was wonderful, even the local cats were even quite friendly. Came back to the ship quite exhausted from the driving around in the hot sun, but had to save some energy for the night ahead w/ Gary and his flute show. Shows went really well, moderately good crowds I would say. Then after the shows, the cast was helping Jan Damm, the clown, celebrate his birthday, so all is good. We were all just clownin’ around :P, having a good ole time, snickers stix gourmet candies and some fancy lights get the party going! Heading back to Naples one last time w/ a sea day in between!

 

 

 

10/17/11: Ashdod Day 2 & 10/18/11: Sea Day #3-Capt.’s Clubs & Big Band

Drill seemed to take slightly longer today than most drills previously, probably because they want us all prepared for the U.S. Coastguard after the crossing coming up. Lucky for us, there was a magician in the theatre last night, Martin John, so band had the night off again (2x in a row!). Got to practice again with the strings, working on some more numbers to put together as a collective ensemble, who knows maybe my next contract will be with them! Back to work tomorrow at sea, saying goodbye to Israel for a long time!

 

 

Was a busy day today with 2 Capt.’s Club celebrations because there are so many VIP cruisers onboard with us this cruise, many of whom are staying on and doing the Transatlantic with us next cruise. So we had 2 lil’ shows up in Sky with that at 12:30 and 2:30, both of which were delayed, so it made for a long morning and afternoon. Grabbed some lunch afterwards in Oceanview, then rested up for the night ahead with big band in the Grand Foyer. Both sets went really well, huge crowds gathered around the atrium on all levels looking down and even had some dancers. Gary Arbuthnot is back tomorrow night in Mykonos!

[dpryo319]

10/20/11: Sea Day #4 & 10/21/11: Naples & the Island of Capri

Nothing to extraordinary today at sea. Had Silhouette the show in the evening (an afternoon rehearsal/sound check), and 2 Baked Alaska parades in between both shows. So was a busy night, but a relaxing morning. Naples tomorrow!

 

 

Figured since it was our last time in Naples, I would take advantage of it. So, I got on a tour headed over to the beautiful island of Capri, about a 50 min. hydro boat ride away from the port of Napoli. Was up quite early for shore excursions dispatch. This was one tour my sister would have enjoyed but probably not my mother for her discomfort and dislike of boats. The jetboat ride over there was extremely rocky, the bow of the little ship was diving all over the place and water was splashing all around. Luckily for us, there were inside seats (almost looked like a water airplane with 3 large isles going down the length of the boat). Once reaching the island, we took a small, compact bus up to the city of Anacapri up on top of the hillside. From there, a small group of us that didn’t want to explore on our own quite yet, we toured a museum of the home of a famous architect, writer, author, and doctor-Axel Munthe. Outside of the house were some gardens overlooking the city of Capri below, views are unbelievable and definitely worth taking a look over. Unfortunately, there was a chair lift going up to the top of the mountain but it was broken when we had arrived. Oh well, something for next time (in the distant future)…Next we went onto our restaurant for lunch at La Ristorante Pigna, where we had a full Italian course lunch of some cannelloni, salad, potatoes, chicken w/ fresh mozzarella, and a nice cappuccino and cake for dessert. Of course, with complimentary wine, voila! Very satisfying meal and met some of the additional guests who were excited to meet one of the musicians onboard. At this point, after lunch, I had to leave my group early, in order to be back at the ship in time for rehearsal. So, I descended down the funicular and hopped back on a boat across to Naples. The ride back was not nearly as rough as was the ride coming out to the island. The island is simply breathtaking, and I do hope to return there once again in my future. There is still much to explore!

 

The evening consisted of the farewell shows w/ the Acapella boys, Gary Arbuthnot, Katy Setterfield, and some of the specialty acts. Nice getting out earlier than usual. Civi for our last time tomorrow before we start working our way out of the Med and onto the U.S!

[dpryo319]

10/22/11: Start of T/A Crossing Cruise

A great thank you to the many wonderful people I have continued to meet who are avid followers of this blog of mine and choose to then come and cruise with me! I shall try not to disappoint any of you. For those of you just joining in, welcome! From the beginning and starting out in the Holland shipyard, this blog’s adventure has taken me around the Mediterranean, several times in fact, and is now bound for the U.S. We have a couple port stops in Sardinia, Sicily, Palma de Mallorca Spain, and Lisbon, Portugal before making the crossing---and then 6 days across the Atlantic, an experience in itself I’m sure. Welcome aboard shows tonight at 8:30 and 10:45pm w/ Acapella, Strings, Manny Kellough, and US!

[dpryo319]

10/23/11: Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy) & 10/24/11: Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Another new port today on our way out of the Mediterranean: Cagliari, Sardinia. Got a chance to do some self exploration in the late morning and early afternoon b/c we had a sound check for the broadway show in the afternoon and all aboard time was earlier than most ports. While I was out walking around the city, I managed to make it all the way back to the upper corner of the city to a Roman Amphitheatre, then on my way back down to the main piazza, stopped in at the Botanical Gardens, and then made my way over the center of the city at Bastione San Remy, one of the city’s best viewpoints and panoramic views, not to mention an amazing monument in itself. Since it was a Sunday in port, not many of the shops were open for business; however, I overheard some music coming from a church as I was passing by and got to listen to an Italian choir rehearsal for a brief moment. The acoustics in this small church were unbelievable!

 

Back on the ship now, just getting back from the Broadway shows, which were both packed full and were given not one but 2 standing ovations! Heading across to Spain tomorrow!

 

 

Hola amigos from beautiful Mallorca, Spain! Today the band is getting off the ship together to go for a “band” lunch around noon! Then back on the ship after checking out some of the sights for Gary Arbuthnot’s show once again tonight who is on this cruise with us as well—a rhythm section feature show! Next stop...Lisbon, Portugal (w/ a sea day in between there)!

[dpryo319]

10/25/11: Sea Day & 10/26/11: Lisbon, Portugal

Was nice having the day off today…relaxed a bit, practiced w/ the strings, and went to see the comedian on board, the Irish ambassador of comedy, Adrian Walsh. A very funny guy who seemed to target the older generation but included some newer material for upcoming generations. Lisbon, Portugal tomorrow!

 

Well, we woke up with good news, after waiting an hour or so….boat drill was cancelled today, but on the downside, we encountered our first bad weather today since leaving Holland and the shipyard---wind, cold, and eventually the rain came, and did not let up. Brought back memories of good ole’ Delfzijl in Holland! So we had to say goodbye to Europe, the Mediterranean and everything East of the Atlantic in poor conditions unfortunately…didn’t have too long out in Lisboa (as the Portuguese call it), managed to get a quick snack lunch (used up most of my Euros luckily!), and by the time we left lunch, the rain had started…perhaps it was preparing us for NJ coming up in a week or so. Well, had to be back on the ship early anyways for a rehearsal with Acapella for the naming ceremony that will take place in the states, and then Lindsay Hamilton of London’s West End is back, so doing her show tonight!

 

And now it begins…The Crossing-6 days across the Atlantic. Our destination: Cape Liberty, NJ. Let’s be praying for some smooth sailing waters, otherwise it may be a rough journey.

from

http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com/

[dpryo319]

The Crossing: Days 1 and 2

Day 1: Well, we are well underway on the Trans-Atlantic now...ship was really moving today (Day 1), and rockin' back and forth. The water level has also risen up compared to the Med. So much that on the lower decks (bottom of the ship up to Decks 3 and 4), any port holes or windows had to be covered up and not opened up till we arrive in NJ. I think the very lowest decks might even be underwater w/ the new water level. It's amusing to watch the guests try and collect their bearings and stumble through the corridors, but I? can't be laughing too much, cuz I've done it once or twice myself. It has been rather difficult to sleep at night when you wake up and the waves crashing against the bottom of the boat sound like giant 50 gal. oil drums rolling back n forth. Plus being out in the rain in Lisbon, think I caught a virus and have been under the weather lately (not a good combination I can tell you w/ a rockin' ship). We've hit a couple stormy patches here and there, like during Lindsay's show last night, but you learn to deal with it I guess. But I guess, things could be worse, a lot of things, haha, so I'm just glad we're all in one piece. Have the day off today, so resting, and going to a comedian tonight on board, Troy Thurdgill. Really funny guy w/ a big "hip" delivery to his act. Crowd really seemed to enjoy him.

 

Day 2: Ship hasn't gotten much better, and neither has my cold, so a nice combination for me there. Plus, waking up each day to an hour earlier than what my body is used to is gradually taking its toll on me. It hasn't though changed any thoughts I might have of doing this again---it's part of ship life, and you learn to deal with it, otherwise it deals w/ you. Doug Cameron, virtuoso violinist, has his show tonight. From the rumors of the rest of the band who have played his show before, I picked up his charts last night in advance and spent most of my afternoon today looking through and listening, so as to smooth out the rehearsal time. Very involved show, but a lot of fun. Every style of music from classical, country, hip, musicals, Spanish, and much much more. And, what's different and fun is he includes the string trio in his show, so its a good representation of the entertainment musicians. Off to do show #2! 2 Capt.'s Club celebrations and Silhouette shows looks like its on tomorrow's agenda.

[cruise47]

What kind of music does he perform?

[derf5585]

What kind of music does he perform?

 

He is the keyboard player for the stage band.

[dpryo319]

What kind of music does he perform?

 

He does a little bit of everything! :) They do broadway, circus like shows, classical, big band....and variety shows as well! He is classically trained, but has been performing in shows and entertaining with pop tunes etc since he was young. Lots of variety! :)

[dpryo319]

(I may be jumping up and down as we speak....but I can't WAIT to see him and sail on the BEAUTIFUL Silhouette!!! ---my FIRST cruise!!)

 

The Crossing: Days 3 & 4

Day 3: Was a busy day today with 2 Capt.’s Club celebrations, then a sound check for Silhouette followed by 2 shows, which were both well received by our audiences. So no time to really feel seasick today, luckily, even though she was rockin’ quite a bit. After today, we will be halfway through our journey across the Atlantic! It was crazy looking at the navigation channel today and realizing we were literally smack dab in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean! How many of you can say that?! J

 

Day 4: Well today was probably one of the longest sea days imaginable. The illness I spoke of earlier did in fact come back, and once again I was down in our medical facility on board. But I am now being treated w/ several different antibiotics to hopefully kick me back into shape! The day dragged on as well b/c we didn’t have anything on the agenda until 9:45 tonight. And as nice as that sounds to a lot of you I’m sure, it’s not as glamorous as you think, and being sick on top of it doesn’t really help the situation. Anyways, I got up the energy to throw myself out of bed for our grand foyer set, which included Sara signing with us, the Acapella joining in, and even threw in Johnny on guitar. The crowd was lovin’ it, and they packed the stairs and railings on all 3 decks looking down into the atrium, a successful evening. Guess what? Yup, another day at sea tomorrow! I can just picture an excursion guide on this journey..."And to our left we have...well, water...to our right, more water, to the front and back...Yup!, you guessed it...water water Water!" But we’re on the back half of the journey you could say, and the waters have been significantly better than the ones we left in Europe.

 

http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

The Crossing: Days 5 & 6

Day 5: Well, due to the seas and the weather, today was reversed around with what is suppose to be tomorrow, the Farewell shows w/ our guest entertainers Doug Cameron & Lindsay Hamilton along w/ the boys from Aquadio. Originally we were suppose to have big band in the grand foyer which will be tomorrow night and Velocity was suppose to be in the theatre but it was too dangerous for the acts and dancers w/ the rocking of the ship, so we improvised. Farewell shows went over quite nicely I would say though. Both artists are a lot of fun to work with, plus it was Halloween! Ready to be off the ship though!

 

Day 6: Wow, can’t believe we made it to the last sea day before our NJ arrival. My illness is improving I’m happy to say and with big band tonight, I wanted to make sure I was at my peak in energy, since I really wanted to do my piano numbers. Luck was on my side I guess, and I was able to perform after all! Was a late night though w/ a run through rehearsal of the 2nd Naming Ceremony to take place in NJ tomorrow night. Busy day ahead of me tomorrow w/ immigration in the am, coast guard coming aboard, and the ceremony.

 

11/02/11: And on the 7th day, He rested!

Woke up to the sound of the engines stopping and thrusters turning on to guide us into port! It’s been 6 days at sea across the Atlantic and we’ve finally arrived in Bayonne, NJ! Glad to be an American, that’s for sure! Nothing felt better! Especially immigration, it was a breeze as we just jump to the head of the lines and breeze on thru! Looking out of Deck 14 in Sky, seeing the Statue of Liberty, couldn’t be a happier individual! Waiting now for coast guard to come aboard, then Naming Ceremony Part II tonight! The 2nd of these pre-inaugurals consist of 2 2-day press/VIP cruises day out at sea and day back all around the port area, then off to the Caribbean!

 

Update: NJ Inaugurals

Sorry for being out of the loop with you guys these past few days. They were the "pre-inaugurals" in NJ with press/VIP's and even an occasional celebrity (after all, that's the company name, right?!" This consisted of 2 2-day cruises with diff. guests aboard and taking them a day out at sea and the next day bringing them back to port in Bayonne. We had a 2nd naming ceremony that took place in the theatre w/ the the CEO's, President, and the Godmother of the ship, a recreation from the Hamburg Inaugurals. The cast performed 2 shows of Velocity and 2 shows of Silhouette in the 4 days time, and even had a surprise visit and performance from the one and only Kenny G (contemporary sax player for those of you who don't know him)! Even got to meet him! Also, had yet another surprise...a visit from my girlfriend back home. All in all, I would say it was a good time in New Jersey...now, we're off to the Caribbean, until the end of my contract: U.S. Virgin Islands, Haiti, and Puerto Rico, ay ay ay!

[dpryo319]

Sea Days 1 & 2

Well, the first couple sea days weren't too eventful. Broadway Nights shows were on the first day, ship was rockin' and it almost felt like we were back on the Trans-Atlantic. It is told that we might be heading into a small tropical storm, as advised by the captain and can expect some slight turbulence. Today, the comedian Troy Thurdgill is back on this cruise, so the "bandolas" are enjoying a day to ourselves. Tomorrow is our final sea day before we reach our first Caribbean port, St. Thomas, and Lindsay Hamilton is back on board with us so we will be having her show once again. It is small sacrifice to have 3 straight sea days down and back to the Caribbean, but then we have 5 ports in a row, covering the U.S. Virgin Islands and on next cruise, Haiti and Puerto Rico, so beach, beach, beach, and more beach! Capt.'s forecast was saying that current temps are approx. 85 degrees! Woo hoo!

 

from: http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011

 

Sea Day 3 & St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

 

Well, Day 3 at sea was spent performing with Lindsay Hamilton and she brought the house down! Was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Ready to get off the ship, though...it was starting to turn into a 2nd Trans-Atlantic, yikes!

 

Early this morning we pulled into the dock at St. Thomas, our first virgin island of the Caribbean. First thing I did was turn on the Navigation channel to see the outside temp...sunny and 86 degrees! Now that's more like it!! I heard that my family and friends back home in WI just got dumped on with 5 inches of snow, so I was thinking of them when the hot, Caribbean sun was baking me today, haha! (sorry guys, couldn't resist...)

 

The first time I got off the ship, I headed over to the post office to get a box to bring back on the ship so that I could start packing up all of my Mediterranean souvenirs and gifts and send them home ahead of me before I sign off coming up here in Dec. Then, I met up w/ my tour group as we were heading to the Coral World Ocean Park today! It's a live, interactive, outdoor aquarium where we got to witness a live-shark feeding, even pet a baby nurse shark, have a 500 lb. sea lion come within 2 ft. of you, and check out all of the other exhibits like stingrays, tortoises, sea stars and echinoderms, even some tropical birds.

 

Then, in the afternoon came the second part of the tour as we boarded a semi-submarine, called the Nautilus. When we got below deck, we realized we were underwater. This 30 min. tour or so took us out to the reef as we viewed the oceanic life pass right by our ship windows (the ship sat about 35 ppl. comfortably, and we had a small group of 17). Then, we had a diver from up top jump in the water, and feed some of the fish that all of sudden swarmed the boat and huge schools were literally right in front of us, including some remora sharks. The diver also picked up a live conch and sea urchin and passed it by the windows for all to see. Although it was difficult to see through some of the murkiness of the water, it was still a pretty neat experience being underwater and watching the sea floor come to life right before us.

 

Once back on the ship, I headed up to the top decks to get a wide scope of the island of St. Thomas as we pulled out of the dock, while enjoying some soothing Caribbean music, featuring our new steel drum player on board Vivian Williams. Tonight, I am going to check out the juggler on board, Rick Novell. The band (except for Chris) have the night off, as he doesn't use the entire orchestra w/ his show. So I'd say, a pretty relaxing day!

 

Then, onto St. Kitts tomorrow!

 

from: http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

St. Kitts-West Indies: Snorkeling, Monkeys & Shows, Oh My!!!

Today we were in St. Kitts, our next stop in the Virgin Islands (West Indies are used interchangeably also). I have to say (just to rub it in back home), an even nicer day than St. Thomas, warm sun, beautiful breeze, and the water was perfect. I know this, because I was fortunate to get to go snorkeling with some of the guests! For nearly 2 hours, we made 2 stops about 25 min. away from the mainland, near a shipwreck and got to see some beautiful coral, a whole plethora of tropical fish (trumpet fish, grouper, squirrel fish, snappers, just to name a few), and even a baby hawk-bill sea turtle that was brought up to the surface by one of our divers aboard the boat with us, coolest experience ever! I had the opportunity to go snorkeling once in Cancun, Mexico, however, it was a very windy and cloudy day, and just not the opportune moment for some good snorkeling...much different today-when the sun came through, everything just lit up on the ocean floor and if you just took a second to pause, you realized there were schools of fish surrounding you!

 

Back in the city concluding snorkeling, I had the chance to walk around St. Kitts, visit the shops, watch a local music tribal dance go on, hold a handful of monkeys that ended up crawling all over me (they were really cute, in lil' t-shirts and diapers too!), and then leisurely made it back to the ship in time for our afternoon rehearsal for the variety show tonight w/ Acapella, Lindsay Hamilton, Jan Damm the clown, and Rick Novell from last night's juggling show.

 

I would like to conclude today's entry with by celebrating a day of all of those men and women who have served our country or are currently serving through the military service. Tonight in the show, Lindsay and Paul performed a special tribute to those men and women by singing The Prayer, combined with a video clip of past and present military pictures. Even being on stage, I was quite moved by their performance and tribute. Whether it's known as Remembrance Day to you or Veteran's Day, it is something to be recognized and appreciated by all. To the men and women veterans and soldiers of yesterday and today, we salute you!

 

from: http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

11/12/11: St. Lucia & The Pitons

Continuing the Caribbean Island tour of the U.S. Virgin Islands, we found ourselves in St. Lucia today.

Fortunately for the crew, we were scheduled to have a safety drill on this day, but it was cancelled, which meant we could get off the ship whenever we were ready...and I was ready because, thanks to my good friends at Shore Excursion, I was going zip-lining through the rain forests of St. Lucia! The course was located in the town of Soufriere, near the great Pitons of St. Lucia and was called the Hotwire Zip Line!

 

Now for those of you that know me from home, when I'm not playing piano somewhere, I can be found as a tour guide for a WI Zipline course in WI Dells, the water park capital of the world (not really, but there are a lot of them in one area!) Having been a guide for the past 3 summers, I have learned to love the zip line attraction. It's adrenaline pumping, heart racing, and so much fun for all the first timers. I thought it would be neat to compare a Caribbean zip line with one that I've worked at back home. Very similar in many ways: you're harnessed into the cables and zip from platform to platform with 2 guides that go on the tour with you. The only difference down here in the islands is the view---its spectacular, going through the rain forests and looking out into the mountains and the tropical vegetation.

 

Concluding the zipping, we boarded our boat that took us back to the ship's dock, enjoyed some complimentary rum punch, and kicked back. Others that were on the same boat had gone snorkeling beneath the Pitons, which I have no doubt was amazing, but I figured I would try something new today, having snorkeled just yesterday.

 

Back on the ship, we had 2 big band sets down in the grand foyer at 7:45 and 9:30pm. Great crowds we seemed to gather in, so it was an enjoyable time for all!

 

St. John's, Antigua tomorrow folks!

 

Later mon!

 

from: http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

St. John's, Antigua

Today was quite a jam packed day...

 

Started out this morning with an early breakfast and then heading out on my excursion of scenic Antigua (including a shipyard stop, scenic overlook, and then ending at the beach). The shipyard we stopped at first after driving out of St. John's was Nelson's Dockyard, home to Admiral Nelson of Britain. Here, we enjoyed a short historic tour, got a chance to look around the dock, admire the view looking to the hills in the distance, and finished off w/ a glass of rum punch, always a good ending!

 

Next stop was brief but well worth the drive to Shirley Heights. Here, you could see the dockyard below you and look out into the vast distance of beautiful hills and beaches of the Atlantic and Caribbean. On Sun. afternoons, there is a live reggae band that comes out to the heights and plays for everyone to enjoy. Anyone who is anyone in Antigua apparently goes there on Sundays. Too bad we weren't able to stay around for it.

 

Our final stop of the morning was an hour and a half at Turner's Beach. Beautiful sea side look, cool, refreshing water, and some fun in the sun...well, that was until the afternoon shower came down on us and soaked everything up! It was still a lot of fun and very relaxing. I enjoyed taking it a little easier today having snorkeled and zipped the last two days, still, someone's gotta do it! :)

 

Tonight in the theatre was Tony Daro, a hilarious comedian, who has appeared on Letterman and other great late night talk shows. Since it was comedy, that meant band had the night off! Got to enjoy a show of Tony's, get a quick hair cut fitted in, then prepared for my evening...a theme party hosted by the entertainment department of Alice in Wonderland Costume party! I truly was blown away with the awesome representation we had from our department at the party, and not to mention the creativity of characters and costumes!!!

 

Once again, a long, but very enjoyable day! Last port tomorrow in St. Maarten, then its back to New Jersey!

 

FOLLOW HIM AT: http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

Sea Trekking in St. Maarten!

Imagine walking on the moon...now take that picture you have and place it underwater, and you have what is known as Sea Trek, an underwater helmet dive where they pump oxygen into your helmet (which normally on land weighs around 75 lbs), and after a 20ft. descension down a ladder you are on the bottom of the ocean floor and ready to walk! You can breathe just like normal (after equalizing the pressure in your ears) and water doesn't leak up in, unless you tilt your head forward. This was my excursion today, and as cheesy as it sounds, its a pretty cool experience! It wasn't exactly free-for-all, there was a trek laid out on the floor and it was a guided tour w/ rails so you don't float away! We got to hold some different sea life they found for us, watch tropical fish as they swim right in front of you, and even feed them so they swarm you and you don't know where to look next. As I was the last one in my group the guide even showed me I could "bounce" underwater a little bit, just like on the moon. Now, I'm giving it a lil' more description than it really is, but it is a lot of fun!

 

It was a beautiful day in St. Maarten and taking a short boat ride out to the Sea Trek location, we got to see more of the island, and of course, there was some rum punch waiting for us following our dive! Definitely worth checking if it sounds slightly interesting to you.

 

The crazy xylophone player, David Meyer and his wife Dawn are back on the 2nd half of the cruise so we have their show tonight, which will be a nice refresher for us all! Then its out of the Caribbean, and back to NJ (most likely 40-50 degrees colder by now, brrr....) over a span of 3 days at sea.

 

Talk to you soon!

 

FOLLOW HIM AT : http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

11/15/11: Sea Day #4-Jason Hewlett

Today started off on the right foot-pay day!

 

After that, it didn't stop until now though, so a busy day you could say for us musicians. We had 2 Capt's Club celebrations at 12:15 and 2:15pm followed by sound tech and rehearsal for the entertainer tonight-the vocal impressions of Jason Hewlett. Now, having no guitar in the orchestra on board, and after looking at his charts, I had my work cut out, sorting through all these different keyboard patches to enhance the show: guitar sounds, accordion, synth pads, hammond organs, rhodes elec. pianos, and more!

 

His show is really funny though w/ his impersonations, funny face manerisms, and his costume and wigs to create his characters from the Supremes to Doobie Bros. to Stevie Wonder to Elton John, and Johnny Cash to Guns & Roses to Led Zepplin to Rod Stewart, you name it he covered it, and with style!

 

Rhythm section was the busiest in the show, so we got to hold it all together, no pressure though...haha

 

Well...tomorrow Silhouette show is back on sea day #5 (#2 coming back from the Caribbean though)!

 

http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

11/16/11 & 11/17/11: Sea Days 5 & 6

On Day 5 at sea, we just had the Silhouette shows, so nothing too exciting going on out of the ordinary, but the crowds sure came packed into the theatre. Great turnout overall, which of course pumps the cast up to perform!

 

Now, today, the final day before seeing American land again, was busy by being spread out over the course of the day, starting w/ an early morning cabin inspection (again, which my room was not checked, but you have to be prepared, and it gave me an excuse to get up for the day). Then we had rehearsal w/ Jason Hewlett for his part of the farewell variety show tonight, followed by something completely different that was put together within about a day's time-Paul (Cruise director), along w/ Sara Story and myself performed in the grand foyer for about 15 min. doing some of Paul's favorite songs to sing and a duet w/ the two of them at the end to close everything out. I opened up w/ a few piano ballads as people were gathering and finding their seats and places, and realized we had guests covering all of Deck 3 and going up to 4 and 5, all gathered around, so it was quite an astonishing turnout. Maybe it was b/c most guests were checking out at guest relations and figured they'd stay to listen to some music. I think overall, it was a great success, and Paul and I for my last 2 cruises would like to repeat it again. And yes, I had the chance to meet more of you, my faithful readers of this blog, following the concert. Thank you for your kind words and your continual support.

 

Well, off to do the evening shows!

 

Tomorrow back in Bayonne, the cast is heading into the city for the day to see the Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall in NY, should be fun, and it'll be my first time actually being in the city!

 

http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[dpryo319]

Start of 2nd Caribbean Cruise & New York New York!

Well they say all good things must come to an end, and today started the first of many changeovers within the entertainment dept. We had to say goodbye to Manny Kellough & the Jazz Allstars today while a new jazz quartet came on board. At the end of this cruise now, many of the dancers in the cast will be signing off, and then, crazy to think, the cruise after that will be me! 5 months sure has flown by in a hurry! I really do cherish the relationships with all of my cruise "family" on board, as they have made such a positive impact on my first contract, w/o them things could have been quite different. Who knows if we'll meet up again or not, on future ships, or just happen to cross paths, that is the big mystery while working on a ship I guess.

 

But enough sorrow, today the cast got off the ship and headed into the Big Apple to see the Christmas Spectacular at the Radio City Music Hall, starring the Rockettes! It was a brilliant show, and really put me in the holiday spirit, although its still early, I know. I was even more excited to see in the program a college friend of mine starring in the production singers for the show! It's a small world after all, haha. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, including Rockefeller Plaza & Times Square. Unfortunately, our time was cut short by our all aboard call at 3:30 to be back on the ship, but I'm hoping to return on the 30th for one more visit.

 

Tonight, back to our routine w/ the Welcome Variety Show and then 2 sea days down to our first port of call: Labadee, Haiti!

 

from: http://roryboltoncruise.blogspot.com

[The Big Booper]

We are going on the Silhouette Dec 12th, which is just after you cycle off.

 

Is the CD Paul Baha (?)? He was our CD on the Solstice in June 2010.

 

Thanks