3 months down...6 months to go!!

Hello everyone,

Well our time is coming to an end here in the Mediterranean. Today as I sit in the beautiful Kotor, Montenegro…a city hidden within the mountains of this beautiful country, a bittersweet moment sweeps over me as we are leaving great places that many memories were created behind us, with the chance of never seeing these places again but at the same time, moving on to new destinations in the world and creating new memories. We are looking forward to spending time in the Caribbean and being closer to home for the holidays unlike last year when we were in South Africa and the feeling of being homesick was much stronger.

It is surprising how fast our time has gone so far. We have almost spent 3 months on board the ship (the 27th is the exact date) and we have had some great experiences during those times. I feel this is a good time to plug Zack and I’s video blog that we have been posting every week and if you aren’t caught up with our travels, thats the place to check it out. www.youtube.com/user/zeejay210 (and while you’re there…make sure you hit that subscribe button by signing up for a Youtube account or even share a video with friends and family). 

During those times, I had the WONDERFUL opportunity to have my mom and grandma visit and sail with us for a 9 day voyage. To say I was excited to see them was an understatement as I miss being with my family. Getting them at the airport was a chore though, as I had told my mom to wait at the baggage claim and I would meet her. Well, if you haven’t travel internationally, some of the airports won’t allow you reach the baggage claim area, as a safety precaution and the Istanbul airport was no different. I spent 2 hours walking back and forth, saying to myself, “Come on Mom, just leave the area…walk through the exit.” Now my mom being the organized, on time person that she is, she wasn’t going to leave the area that I told her I’d pick her up because, as she said, “Jason said that he would be here, I can’t leave.” Eventually, against her feelings, she knew she had to leave and take the adventure in a new country to her hotel. To her relief, I was waiting there outside the security door for her when she was leaving and our nightmare came to an end. What a crazy start to their first international adventure visiting Greece, Turkey and Romania along the way. It was also great to have them on board to see our shows, which is the main reason I am on board. Working on a cruise ship has been a big event in my life for the past 5 years and I haven't able to share it with my family for different reasons, even though I knew many of them wanted to be there for me. So, to have this opportunity to share this with my family, was a moment I will be very grateful for in the years to come. 

Well, I need to get going as I am preparing my cabaret for tonights performance. This time around, I am performing with the 3 piece band on board which really gives an extra “umph” to the performance. 

Until Next Time,

Jason

BRAND new Adventure...

Hello All,

Welcome to our whole BRAND new adventure. 

Zack and I are again traveling the world as performers on a cruise ship. For the first part of our 9 month contract (yes, you read that correctly…9 months) we are based in the Mediterranean until about the end of November. 

We joined the ship back on June 27th in Athens, Greece. Talk about a long flight from the East Coast of the states….whoosh. For the past month, we have been sailing around the Adriatic Sea visiting ports such as Venice, Hvar, Kotor, and Dubrovnik just to name a few. We both really enjoy this part of Europe as it’s over following with historical importance. As I write this, we are sailing in the Aegean Sea on our way to Istanbul, which is a first for both of us. We are so excited to explore Istanbul as I’ve heard it has so many exciting and interesting places to visit within the bustling city. 

To go along with our travels, we have decided to create a weekly video blog as well…to take you along for the ride and actually get to see what we are experiencing, not just imagine :-) 

First Week - Click Here

Second Week - Click Here

Third Week - Click Here

Please share our Youtube Channel with your friends: ZeeJay210. Once you do, make sure you tell them to subscribe, like and maybe even comment. We hope that you enjoy our videos and even this blog. Its crazy to start this journey again but we are both incredibly grateful for this opportunity. 

Until Next Time,

Jason (& Zack) 

Where have I have been??? New Announcement!!!!

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that I haven't updated since....last year!! Yikes!!! Let me say that my last contract was a great time (which ended in March).  I got to see a lot of great places including South Africa, which was a BIG dream location of mine!! The reason why I wasn't able to write about my travels (as much as I would have like to) was due to the crazy schedule and the never ending problems that arose during the contract. People leaving the cast and new people coming in. One thing after another was happening and I just lost track of where I was in my blog. Once I tried to get back on track but I was so far behind, I wasn't able to write it the way I wanted to...so I just stopped. Sad, I know...

Well, that's what happened. That's where I have been.

So whats new in my life? Well, I am about to go do another ship contract! I know, I know...again!! This will be my 3rd contract with a great itinerary and sailing with some great people. I'm pretty excited.

This time around, Zach and I have decided to do a video blog (vlog for short) and take you along for the journey...getting to actually see everything instead of having to imagine. We would love for you to subscribe to our Youtube channel ZeeJay210 and keep up with our travels. Occasionally, I'll post some stuff here and link some of our videos here as well. We hope to include you in our excursions and everyday life off the ship, exploring the Mediterranean, Caribbean and the Pacific (French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and Hawaii).  The contract starts June 27th and ends on March 27, 2015.

Again, we would love to have you join us on our journey, so make sure you go subscribe to our youtube channel and check us out on Twitter: ZeeJay210

My journey around the world is about to begin again. Can you believe that I started performing on cruise ships back in 2010. Almost 5 years of my life traveling and living in different parts of the world. Crazy!!!

Until Next Time,

Jason

Venice overnight, lots of rain and "I'm from Ohio!! Enjoy McDonalds".

We have arrived back in the city that we boarded the ship on July 17th…its been a crazy few weeks but we've made it back.

Now back to exploring Venice…

Our second day in Venice was a full day of embarkation duties for everyone and not being able to go out and explore. Luckily we are there for 3 days and we get to see a lot of this town. While we were sitting in the terminal, Zach and I decided to stay off the ship for the night and get a hotel room because sometimes its smart to stay away from the ship occasionally..to clear your head. After working embarkation, we found a great hotel near St. Marks Square and we gathered our things together for our night off. Jemma, Bri and Sara went with us to St. Marks Square to see the hotel, which was absolutely beautiful. We then all decided to have a nice meal together and celebrate our night off the ship. We went to this wonderful restaurant and had way too much food. It was awesome!! After dinner, the girls walked us back to the hotel and they made their way back to the ship because they wanted to go rest. Zach and I sat in our hotel room and just sighed relief for being off the ship for the night…it had been a stressful few days and it was nice to be away for a little bit. We then decided to go downstairs to the hotels "bar" and have a drink. Of course getting to the bar was quite the event because they had a lining throughout the stairs so that guests shoes wouldn't dirty the floor, which I totally understand. Unfortunately for me, my feet didn't like or understand that concept and when I had almost made it down the stairs to the lobby…I went a tumbling. GREAT!  I had fallen on my butt down about 9 or 10 steps and landed at the bottom of the steps in the lobby. Zach couldn't stop laughing at me and I'll admit, it was pretty funny. Luckily, I have the "Slattery bubble butt" as my mom says, so I was actually fine and didn't hurt myself haha. When we finally made it to the "bar" we realized it was like an ice cream / malt shop and had crazy seats with strange paintings on the wall. Zach and I continued to laugh because it felt like we were drinking in a clowns dinning room. WEIRD. After our ONE drink because it was too strange, we went up to the room, looked out the window to see the canals throughout Venice and experience our first rain that we've had in 2 months and went to bed…what a great night off. 

Our third and final day in Venice, Zach and I got up to try and have the continental breakfast that they offered at the hotel…to no avail. It was very difficult to get a seat and we would have had to wait in line for 30 mins…we weren't having that. We then got our stuff together and walked down closer to St. Marks Square and had a great lunch. Zach's calzone that he ordered was the size of his head, which was pretty hilarious to watch him eat. Zach and I then spent the next few hours just walking around Venice, getting lost in the side streets and just enjoying this beautiful city together. We shopped for a little while trying to find Zach a jacket that he needed but couldn't find anything he liked. We then started looking for Venetian masks because I think they are beautiful and I wanted to get a few of them. Finally found the store that I wanted to buy from but wanted to see their collection first as the next time we're in Venice, I'll buy them and ship them home. After our last venetian mask shop, Zach and I decided to head back to the ship and get ready for his cabaret that night. Before we got to the terminal though, we stopped by the grocery store and bought the essentials and then headed back to the ship. That night, we met a wonderful couple from Dallas, Texas named Sue and Jim. They were very nice and interesting to talk to and we looked forward to seeing them throughout the voyage. 

Pula, Croatia was the first port of call for this voyage and it was, unfortunately a rainy day. Zach was on IPM today but I went on tour in the morning throughout Pula. When we got to the port (by tender) we walked to the 6 largest roman coliseum which was very random in this town. Had a lovely time hearing the history about this place and all the cool buildings that are still standing today that date back hundred of years. While walking through the town, however, it started to pour down rain and guess what…didn't have an umbrella. Just my luck. One of the guest, semi joking but semi being serious asked me to run back to the ship and get everyone umbrellas. UMMMM, thats not happening because by the time I get back to the ship, get them and come back, the tour would be over. I was getting wet just like everyone else. Needless to say, it wasn't a fun afternoon spent in Pula. After the tour ended and of course, the raining decided to stop as well…ehh…I walked back to the tender to get back on board, take a warm shower and enjoy a relaxing day on board. 

The next day, we were in Zadar, Croatia and Zach and I got off the ship and wanted to have lunch at the same restaurant we did the first week on board. We had to walk fairly quickly because we could see in the distance HUGE black clouds coming right for the city. GREAT another storm coming my way. I mean, I know I said we haven't had rain in 2 months, but this is for the birds. Anyway, we finally got to the restaurant, just in enough time before the DOWN POUR of rain. It was really nice being outside and enjoying our meal, with this refreshing rain storm happening around us. Then all of a sudden, BOOOOM!! Holy crap, its lightening. Scared the crap out of everyone sitting in the outdoor patio of this restaurant. Now what scared me though, was the fact that I was sitting underneath a TV in this outdoor patio…a little nerve racking to say the least. After a little while, the raining calmed down and the sun came out for it to actually be a beautiful day. When it was time to pay, we had forgotten that they don't' accept credit cards, so I had to go get cash out to pay for my portion of the meal. Getting to the ATM was the issue though because marble streets, the rain and flip flops, don't mix very well. I was slipping and sliding and I'm actually very lucky I didn't fall down, AGAIN, like in Venice. Carefully, I got back to the restaurant, paid and then we walked around the city to just waste some time before heading back to the ship area. When we made it back to the ship, we could hear a lot of music being played and when we got even closer, we could hear a mens choir singing. There was a group from a Portuguese music school vacationing in the area and decided to promote / have an impromptu concert right there on the port, in their swimsuits. They were very good and it was fun to see them sing a song and then all jump in the water, having fun and then begin their next song singing in the water without even missing a beat…it was great. After we listened to them for a while, it was time to head back to the ship because we were leaving for our next port, Dubrovnik, Croatia. 

Zach and I spent the day in Dubrovnik, Croatia on separate tours because there were some interesting ones offered this time around. Zach spent the morning on the walking tour seeing a lot of the medieval oil paintings and famous buildings throughout the city….right up his ally. I, however, spent my excursion with some great couples on a snorkeling tour. It was an awesome experience to go around to these caves and snorkel right inside. It's a little scary cause you have to swim into the caves underwater but then once you're inside, you are floating in a darkish cave with the only light coming from where you entered. On second thought, yeah it was more than a little scary haha. After we swam around in the caves, it was time to journey over to an island and enjoy the beaches and sun for about an hour before we had a nice meal on top of a cliff. All in all, it was a great day and I had a great time with the 6 passengers that went along on the journey. We had another great BBQ night with these passengers getting up and having a great time with us. I always enjoy doing BBQ (even though its a bit tiring) because of the casual and chill atmosphere that the night gives off. 

Kotor, Montenegro was our next port and unfortunately, I had to be on IPM so I couldn't go out and climb the fortress. Zach and Jemma had the chance to do it and even though it was a VERY hot day, he told me that it was a great climb and they really enjoyed themselves. I had the great time to catch up with Mickki Brown, who was the Stars lounge singer on the Spirit with me 2 years ago. I always call her Mama, so it was wonderful to catch up with her and chat…with my mama. I've really missed her. We were docked with the Spirit that day, so she came over to the ship and we had a great lunch together on the pool deck. After spending a few hours talking, off she went back to the spirit. I hope to go visit her in Vegas someday!! When Zach returned he told me all about his day and how hard the climb was. He finally bought a coffee mug…whoosh, that boy was searching for one for such a long time. Later that night, we had the beautiful sail away from Kotor. Zach and I always enjoy the sail away…as its the southern most fiord in the northern hemisphere, so already that sounds like an amazing natural beauty and it never disappoints. 

A day at sea was up next, which is nice to have once in a while because its a great day to relax and enjoy the sun. Its been really chilly on the ship lately, so its nice that we have an area to go and get some sun and warmth. Its also great to prepare yourself for the next day, if you have an early tour schedule like Zach and I did. 

Messina, Sicily was our next port of call and Zach and I had scheduled to be on the same tour…but come to find out…different buses…darn. We were both going to Taormina, a Italian city thats up on a mountain near Mt. Edna. Its where I spent my 24 birthday a few years ago and I was looking forward to going back…its a beautiful place and I know that Zach was going to enjoy. Walking throughout the town was nice and finally seeing things that I hadn't before and learning the history of those places. Its nice to be able to go on these tours and see sights that you never thought that you'd get to see in life…only read about it in books and thats the extent of it. Thats awesome for someone like me, that really enjoys history. Both tours eventually met up in the Greek-Roman Theatre and it always has a beautiful view. I was happy that Zach finally got to see this place that I had talked about with him many times before. After our visit to the theatre, we had some free time so Zach and I made it to this little cafe for some gelato and some people watching. Thats something that is so funny about his job, the random people you'll meet or see throughout your day…means you'll never have a dull moment haha. After our time to wonder around, we headed back to the bus for the hour drive back to the ship. I was really lucky to have a great group of people with me on tour. Its nice when people are interested in what you do and what your background is. Its always really sweet of them to ask and share stories about themselves as well. I've met some incredible people on the cruise ships so far and I look forward to meeting others as well.  

My favorite port, Sorrento, Italy was our last destination for this voyage and luckily we arrived later for us to be able to sleep in…which is alway nice. Zach and I eventually got off the ship and went into town. We had a great meal at a different restaurant in the main square and was able to connect to wifi…you know thats essential working on the ship. After our great meal, we walked around the city for a little while, just trying to waste time and possibly buy some clothes if interested. We stopped in a nice store and Zach bought two more bow ties….that kid and his ties haha. Afterwards, we tried to go into a few other stores but they have a time called siesta where for a few hours throughout the day, they close shop and go to the beach or relax. I think America should do this…it would make people less stress out everyday. The only unfortunate part about the siesta is that there is nothing else to do so Zach and I just walked down a little further and luckily, found a grocery store and was able to get a few items that we needed. When we were checking out, this lady in front of us kept staring at me and it was very odd, with Zach commented to me how awkward it was. Eventually she asked me if I was from the States and I said yes and she said…"WEIRD, I'm from California". Come to find out, she was a nice lady and she told us that she was staying in Sorrento for a few weeks on business and then is heading back to California afterwards. She then said, "Sorry that I was staring at you while you were in line. You spoke English so well that I didn't know if you were an American or Italian…so I was trying to figure it out". I said no big deal but I think its so funny that no one can tell if I'm Italian or not. Its like the story I always tell about this couple that came up to me in Livorno, Italy and said very slowly, "Do you know where the McDonald's is?" I then said, "Yes, its down this street and when you get to the main square, it will be on your left". They replied, "Oh thank you so much and by the way, your english is very good"...I then said, "Thanks, I'm from Ohio!! Enjoy McDonalds!!". Love that story..haha. 

We ended our cruise in Civitavecchia, Italy with the normal cruise embarkation duties and preparing for our next 7 day cruise in the Med. I am very much looking forward to the dry dock vacation thats coming in a few weeks and then our time in South Africa in the second part of this contract. Crazy that I'm traveling to places I never thought I'd visit!! Love my job!!

Well, until next time, 

Jason 

Pompeii, Segways and attack of the Ants!!!

What a great but crazy few weeks that I have had on the Silver Wind.

Here's where we left off…

When we ended our cruise in Civitavecchia, Italy we had our newest singer join our ship, Sara. She was a past artist on the Wind before we arrived and she was coming to help us for a few weeks until Laura could come back. Sara and I spent the next few days going over choreography and music to make sure she felt comfortable in our shows. The choreography had changed a little bit, so we had to spend a little time making those changes. I really give her credit to come into a totally different cast, with a different energy, choreography and vocal parts and the next day have to perform one of the shows. She's been a trooper and we all thank her for being here to bring us back to 6 singers. It definitely helps, thats for sure.

Our first port of call was my favorite city, Sorrento, Italy but unfortunately for me…I'm on IPM. Sometimes I really hate IPM but oh well, what can you do..haha. Zach, however, was scheduled on the Pompeii tour that lasts a good 6 hours. I had told him all about my tour that I did the last time I did a ship contract and he needed to do this tour. He told me he had a great day in Pompeii, seeing all the sights that I did. The history behind this place is amazing and if you don't know what Pompeii is, I would research it…its absolutely amazing. Mt. Vesuvius totally covered this Italian city in 79 AD with ash, totally preserving this city and some of the people that we there at the time. It's a very interesting place and if you ever get a chance to come to Italy and see it, its worth going.

Our next port was a new one for me, Trapani, Italy. Zach, Bri, Sara and myself left the ship a little before lunch to explore this port before getting something to eat. This city was another one of those places that really reminds you that you're in Italy. I know thats a silly statement to make, but I'm sure if you close your eyes, you have an imagine of what Italy looks like to you. This is one of those places. We eventually decided to sit down for lunch, after we walked around and realized nothing was open to explore (it was a sunday). The food was wonderful, as was the WIFI…you know that's really important too..haha. After we had a great meal, Jemma met up with us for a little while and we just sat around and talked, enjoying each others company. After a little while, Zach wanted to go explore this port wall that we had seen in the distance so we said our goodbyes and headed to the wall. It was a really cool view of the other side of the island. We stood there for a little while just discussing what a crazy experience we are sharing. Eventually we decided to head over to this fortress that we saw in the distance. When we arrived there, up on a little hill there was a shrine to this turtle that was made our of sticks. Zach and I stood there puzzled. Why was this random shrine to turtles in this fort? There was no sign around that explained…just a turtle made of sticks. Hmmm..okay…anyway, after we left the turtle fort, we headed back to the ship for Zach's tech rehearsal for his cabaret..his FIRST cabaret performance. I was as nervous as he was haha. But before I talk about his performance, I have to mention again (just like my first contract a few years ago) how everyone in Europe has luggage with them. I have noticed it a little bit before now but a lot today in Trapani. Everywhere you went in the city, at least one person had a rolling suitcase. I thought that it was a funny conscience haha. Zach's performance of his cabaret, "Come Fly with Me" went amazingly. The audience really enjoyed his performance and I was sitting on the side of the audience SO proud of him, doing the thing he loves to do…perform. I'm so incredibly proud of him and I know that this is where he is met to be, performing for people. 

Valletta, Malta was our next port of call and what a day it was. Zach had been scheduled the night before on a Segway tour and I was just dying to go with him and experience the tour. Luckily we have an AWESOME shore concierge team and they let me go with him. We took a 30 min ride through Malta to our drop off point. A lot of interesting history with Malta that I didn't know before. Once we reached our location, we were greeted by our segway guide…a really interesting man who was born in Malta, lived in Australia for many years and now was back in Malta. He gave us all the information about the Segways, how to stop, turn, go faster. After we signed our lives away (just a contract that said, we can't sue….oh thats nice) we all had to test our Segway skills. We had an older gentleman that was with us that kept commenting the entire way there that he had done this many times in the past and trying to explain everything to us. Now wouldn't you know, he was the one that was the WORST at the segway and I think went 4 mph the entire time. Go figure. I was a little nervous at first getting on the segway cause it seems a little difficult to maneuver but actually they are quite easy to get accustomed to and a lot of fun. Now we didn't have the normal segways, we had the huge off road segways that went 12 MPH. Yes, thats right…12 MPH. Now you might not think thats very fast, but when you're standing on this platform and all that you can hold on to is a little handle bar in front of you…thats really quick haha. Zach and I had the BEST time on the segways…trying to go as fast as we could the entire time. There were times that got a little interesting, especially since we were riding these on the road, with cars going by. HAHAH. Also, there were times that the ground was not balanced and its really hard to work the machine when balance is a big part of it…oh lord, I almost fell off twice. We had this incredible 3 hour segway tour around the beautiful coast of Malta, seeing these famous places that Zach knew all about, of course. We also tried the local fruit, a prickly pear (from a cactus). They were very interesting, tasting like a mix of a pumpkin and a pear…a weird combo, no? Also, it had SO many seeds, it was impossible to really eat it, you were spitting the seeds everywhere. I'm sure you can just imagine about 8 Americans standing on this beautiful coast trying to talk about the sights and spitting every 2 seconds because of the damn prickly pear. What a mess. After the great excursion and drive back to the port, Zach and I headed to a local restaurant to have a pre-dinner meal. We didn't get to eat any lunch before the excursion and we were pretty hungry. We sat down at a table and before we started to order Zach asked me if I had a lot of ants around me. I didn't see any, until I saw the entire floor underneath me moving…thats right, I couldn't even seen the concrete there were that many ants. We moved tables and needless to say, I felt that the ants were all over me….ehhh. We went back to the ship and an hour later, all of us (except Sara) got to get off and have a dinner together. We went to, Hard Rock Cafe (shocker) and had a nice meal. Zach and I had to rush back to the ship after dinner because I was introducing our cruise directors performance and then discussing the next days events after his show. I am turning into a little cruise director too haha. After his show, Zach and I went up to the top deck and watch the sail away from this amazing port. It really is one of my favorite things to do at night because its so peaceful and beautiful. Love this part of my job.

The next day we were at sea, having the normal duties of a sea day brings and then having our High C's (opera) show that evening. Everyone really enjoys that show and boy, its a hard one to perform cause its not easy singing opera music. Whoosh.

After our day at sea, we eventually made it to Corfu, Greece another new port of call for me. Bri, Sara and I decided to go out and just have a nice meal today, instead of staying on the ship. Unfortunately, Zach was on IPM and couldn't go with us. When we left the ship and made it to the terminal, there was an elderly couple that were following us and asks if we'd hold the bus. I walked ahead to make sure that I got to the bus but it had left by the time I arrived. I felt so bad for the older man, who was about 98 because it was hot and he was rushing to get to the bus. I actually thought he was going to pass out or something, so I made sure he went and sat down in the shade and had a bottle of water. As the bus made its way to the terminal, I was in other world in my head because tonight I was debuting my cabaret in the Panorama lounge. NERVES!!! I just want the show to go well. Once we headed into the city, Sara showed us around, as she had been here before. We walked around trying to find this restaurant and on our way, saw MANY different place that offered fish massages…where you put your hands and feet in the tank of fish and they suck on your feet. HMMMM??? Not quite sure I'd enjoy that but I don't know until I try…maybe next time?? We eventually just decided to go back to the main part of the street and eat at this restaurant we had spotted when we first arrived. We had a great time trying to order cause it wasn't in English and I just played it safe and got a Cesar salad…or what I thought would have been a Cesar salad. Apparently their version is a honey mustard dressing with bread chunks and cheese slices. I thought…Cesar dressing…meant Cesar salad…never mind. I ate it and it actually wasn't horrible but just not what I pictured. After lunch, we had to rush back to the shuttle bus because it was close to our back on board time. On the way back to the ship, we were docked next to another ship. A HUGE SHIP. It totally made ours look like its tender boat…it was ridiculous but hilarious at the same time. After I made it back on board, it was my turn to have my sound check and prepare myself for my cabaret, "Smooth Sailing"…clever, right?? My cabaret is a bunch of my favorite ballads, (such as Feeling Good, I'll Be Seeing You, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, etc) thats easy to listen to while drinking your favorite cocktail. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the show and I couldn't believe how many people packed into the space…standing room only. Makes you feel good that people want to come out and listen to you perform. Love my job.

We were anchored off of Hvar, Croatia the next day as Bri, Sara, Zach and myself headed off the ship for lunch. We had a great meal that I actually couldn't finish because there was SO much of it. We sat around for a little while and enjoyed talking with each other. Sometimes all we need is to get off the ship and enjoy our surroundings to make us feel better…at least Zach and I feel that way. After we paid for lunch, we just walked around the main part of the city to see whats around. A little cart that was selling musical things caught our eye and we headed over to that to see what was there. Some very cool clocks (old Abba and Beatle 45s) were for sale and I almost bought one but they were too expensive and I didn't know how I get them home. OH well, but they were cool. Eventually we spotted a grocery store and wanted to see if it had anything to get…nope. Darn. Guess we'll head over to the gelato stand and drown our sorrows in Italian ice cream…mmmmm, much better, haha. After that, we headed back to the ship and had a very relaxing evening…what a nice day. 

Next we were in Koper, Slovenia for the day. Zach woke up early and went on a 10 mile bike tour the the countryside vineyards which apparently was beautiful. I stayed in bed and slept…I was tired haha. When Zach returned from his tour, we both went off into the old part of town to find a nice place to eat. Walking through this incredibly clean town, we saw a lot of shops, not a lot of people, some beautiful buildings and cafes, but NO restaurants. I swear we walked that old town back and forth and never found anything to eat. EVerything was cafes where you'd get something to drink. Finally, I turned to Zach and said, "Do you think people eat here? Thats why there is no garbage on the ground or people walking around…its a ghost town". Eventually, we left the older town and made our way to the water and finally, FOOD!! We sat down and I had some GREAT gnocchi. We had a great time just sitting around, enjoying our time but eventually we had to head back to the ship for sound check for our BBQ that night. Before we made it back, we saw all the crew members sitting in this one confined area…I know what that means…WIFI!!! Zach and I sat there for a little while, checking up on our emails and such…eventually we got on board and had a great night at the BBQ. The guests are really starting to like our BBQ and its a fun night for everyone involved. 

Well, we finally made it back to where we started this contract…Venice, Italy for our 3 days/ 2 night stay. Of course, I had to be on IPM the first day…naturally. It upset me a little because this was one of the cities that I wanted to show Zach and I wanted to see his face when he saw all these historical things in the city. Alas, you can't have it all, can you? Apparently, they found a great little place right off the port and had some great pizzas. They kept walking after lunch but took the incredibly LONG way to St. Marks Square (if only they knew to cut down one of the side streets they would have been there a lot quicker). He said he was just amazed standing in St. Marks Square because it was one of the places he wanted to see. I totally know what he meant by just standing amazed at everything because on my last contract, I did that a lot. Some of the crazy experiences I had, I never in a MILLION years thought that I would ever experience and then you're there..experiencing it…it's a lot to take in at the time. 

Well, there we have it…another cruise down…many more to go..haha

Until Next Time, 

Jason

Rough Seas + Performing = YIKES

Another week on the Silver Wind and another week of adventures.

Here's what happened…

We had a great 2 days in Barcelona, Spain with an overnight. We don't get many overnights in ports and those are the best times because we can go out as a cast (except Zach who was on IPM) and have a nice dinner. Jemma, Bri and Michael had decided to go out a little earlier in the day and I said I'd meet them later. Eventually they emailed me and told me to meet them at Starbucks on the Ramblas. Now those of you that don't know what the Ramblas is, its a famous avenue of shops and street performers in Barcelona. I was afraid of meeting them at the Starbucks at first because I didn't know if I was at the right one (the Ramblas is a big street) but eventually we all met up and decided to go to Hard Rock Cafe and have a nice dinner. When we made it to HRC, we were told that it would be an 1.5 hour wait to be seated….UMMM, NO! Kinda discouraged we decided to see if the bar area was available to sit at, since they do food service there as well. The upstairs bar…no luck. The downstairs bar…4 open chairs, couldn't have worked better. Had a nice meal and the bartender was really nice to us. There was a bachelorette party there and we bought a few drinks for the new bride…lots of fun. Afterwards, we walked down the Ramblas and I took everyone to my favorite place to get some gelato, which they all loved. We then slowly made our way back to the ship, passing a bunch of great paintings and art pieces along the way…really pretty. When we got back to the terminal we found out that there was GREAT wifi right next to the ship and I spent a little time over there catching up with people online. All in all, a great night. 

Still in Barcelona, Spain the next day, when Bri, Zach and myself wondered over to this outdoor area across from the ship. We didn't know what it was but saw a lot of people over there so we thought…why not. Come to find out it was a 2 story mall with all these great places to eat and shop at. Needless to say, we spent the entire day there. We found our way up to the top floor to get some food first for lunch. Had a great time just chatting and having a great meal. Then Zach and I went to a few shops to see if anything sparked our interest. We went into this one store where I bought a pair of pants and a shirt that I would NEVER in a million years buy. I have been wanting to get a new outfit for the BBQ because I feel that I look too stuffy, not a casual outfit, so I had Zach help me pick something out. I got these baby blue pants with a nice white button down that looked really great together…I can't wait to debut the outfit at the BBQ. After looking in a few more shops, it was time to head back to the ship. Luckily we met back up with Bri at the starbucks and we all walked back over to the ship as we were heading to St. Tropez the next day. This night, however, we experienced our first night with roughish seas. We left the port an hour early (actually leaving some passengers behind because they didn't show up…whoops) and later that night it became rocky. Of course we were performing Abba that night, in those shoes that I feel like Bambi in. GREAT..I already can't walk in these shoes on stable ground, now you're adding rough seas…this should be interesting. Luckily, everyone handled it very well and we finally got through our first show with rough seas…whoosh. 

Zach and I spent the day in St. Tropez together the next day. We arrived from the tender to a different part of the pier that we normally go, so we had to learn our way around from this new location. Zach and I eventually went to the main part of the pier and sat down to have a nice meal. Unfortunately we picked an expensive place to have lunch but I guess it's okay…it was good food. After our pricey meal, we decided to head over to this little beach that we saw as we were sailing into the bay area. After a little while of searching, we stumbled upon the beach. I wouldn't really call it a beach but it had sand and there was a place to swim in the ocean. Now me being the genius I am, I forgot to bring a towel…EHH. Luckily it was really warm this day so I didn't have to worry about drying off (I think I was dry in 5 mins.). We met Giacomo (our 2nd officer) and Stephanie (Financial Officer) at the beach and we had a great time just joking around with each other and enjoying the day in the sun. After some time, Zach and I decided to head back to the port, get on the tender and head back to the ship for a relaxing evening. 

Our next port was Monte Carlo, Monaco and unfortunately I was on IPM…darn. Zach, Bri and Jemma did, however, make it back to the pool that in the middle of the port and had a great day. Jemma even managed to go down the big water slide and got a great photo of that. She's a crazy girl but I love her. After a little while, Zach took them up to see the palace thats way up on the hill and eventually they found the place that has the GREAT gelato up there. Sucks that we have IPM but to look at it in a positive way, you get to relax throughout the day and catch up on your rest, which is important with this job. You never want to get too run down because you have to have the energy to perform every night, either socially or in a show. 

Portofino, Italy was our next port, which is one of my favorite. Jemma, Zach and I decided to go off together and enjoy the day. I wanted to take them up to the Castello Brown and experience the flowers that are in bloom there. Making our way up the hill to this place was so much fun. It was a warm day and we had to take a few breaks because of the heat. I took them first to the yellow church and above ground cemetery that is on the hill. Its so cool to come back to these places that I went 3 years ago and relive the moments that I created the last time, but also to create new memories with my new friends. What a crazy experience I get to have. Eventually we did make our way to Castello Brown but sadly, it was too warm out and the flowers were dead. It was just a lot of paths surrounded by dead bushes….not the prettiest sights. After we left Castello Brown, we were told by another crew member that if you kept walking past the castle, you'd get to this overlook that had a little cafe and swimming hole. GOOD LORD, I think I walked 18 miles to this little hole in the wall cafe that was stupidly expensive for being in the middle of no where. Zach, Jemma and myself were laughing the entire way there and entire way back to Portofino because it was so hot that we felt like we were just puddles when we got back to the city. What a crazy experience hahaha. Once back into Portofino, we decided to sit down and have a drink/get some WIFI. Little did we know that our drinks would total 50 euros. Yes, I did say 50 euros for 3 drinks, with 8 of it being my coke haha…what a crazy expensive place this is but still one of my favorites. 

Our next port was Livorno, Italy where Zach was on IPM. Bri and I decided to go off together and get a nice meal. Bri is such a funny one because she doesn't truly come alive or become herself until she has something to eat for lunch. She always says, "Our first mission is to find a good place for food and then normal Bri will appear". Love it. Well first, we were trying to find a nice restaurant to go to because I was hungry myself and needed something to eat. Eventually we made our way to this outdoor market that a lot people were at. I thought that there were some restaurants on the other side of it so we made our way through only to find out that there was a dead end and no where to go eat. Not happy campers. Eventually we made our way back to the main square where we found this great little restaurant that had some great wifi. I had the best gnocchi I've had in Europe yet in this place and so did Bri. We were both thankful for the great wifi because I was trying to download some songs for my cabaret that I was about to do. Hoooray but also nervous. After a great meal, we went into Zara and H&M to see if they had anything interesting to buy…which they didn't. Oh well, don't need to spend more money on clothes anyway…haha. We then decided to go to the grocery store and get some of the ship life essentials: peanut butter, crackers, chips and chocolate. AH, the joys of being back on the ship haha. We then headed back to the ship and enjoyed a great night on board. 

Bonifacio, France was our next port of call. Zach went off earlier in the morning and had a tour of the city. He said it was so interesting learning about the history of this place and then lit up later when explaining it to me. After he came back to the ship, we then tendered into the city where we then made our way up the HUGE hill to this old walled city. It was full of history and was actually very interesting. Zach and I later found a little cafe where we had a very nice meal. Our waiter was very interested in where we were from and got very excited when he found out that Zach was from the Boston area. Every time he came back to the table, he would call me Ohio and Zach Boston…we thought that it was funny. After our great meal, we walked around the city and went to the beautiful overlook. Zach and I tried to take pictures of the amazing views but couldn't take a picture of what it really looked like. This is why I'm so happy that I get to share this with him because my last time, I had to explain what everything looked like…what my experience was. Now I get to share these incredible sights with someone…which is something that we'll share forever. Its really nice. After our time in the walled city, we walked down to the new port and walked the pier back to the tender. While walking, we looked at all the yachts that are lined throughout the port and we discussed that someday we would love to rent a yacht for a week and just experience that way of sailing. One question though….does anyone have a few million dollars for us to do this? Just let me know…haha.

We ended our cruise in Civitavecchia, Italy for another day of embarkation. This is the day though that we met our newest girl singer, Sara, who was apart of the cast before us. Its nice that she is here as a temporary replacement as we wait for Laura to come back. We have performed for the past 2 cruises with only 5 singers and even though that we have received great ratings, it will be easier to go back to the original way we learned these shows, with 6 singers. 

It's been a great week of great adventures. I can't wait to see what else these upcoming cruises have in store. 

Until Next Time,

Jason

Meeting a great family and a crazy excursion...

I can't believe the week we have had….a crazy long week!! We haven't had a normal cruise since we've been here…haha!!

Here's where we left off…

After sailing away in Barcelona without Laura, I have to definitely say that I was freaking out. Shocker. We are only 2 cruises in and we are now without one of our girls and we have to make the shows work…NOW. There is nothing like live theatre, but I'm very thankful for my training because it taught me everything I need to know to prepare myself for an issue like this. Also, having such talented peers and their abilities to just conform to a new show instantly, makes me proud to be apart of this cast. That night a few members of the cast went to the crew bar and tried to forget our troubles and needed a night of not worrying about our week ahead. I normally don't drink much cause I've never liked to drink but tonight I just wanted to relax and I've just started to enjoy red wine. So it was a good night. 

Next we were again in Sete, France but this time we were docked in the port instead of anchored off the city like 2 days prior. I didn't know anything about this city because I was on IPM the last time we were here. This morning we had an Abba rehearsal to try and make everything work with only 5 people. Luckily the rehearsal went very smoothly and I feel the show will go well tonight…fingers crossed. After the rehearsal everyone had decided to get off the ship and go to lunch. I guess everyone misunderstood what I said, they thought I said I was having lunch with Zach on the ship, so they left to go have lunch off the ship without me. Well crap. I left the ship not too long after them, not having ANY idea where they would have gone nor knowing where any food places were in this town. Now, I'm not saying that I was hungover by any means, but I needed to have some food to make myself feel better haha. Needless to say, walking up and down the streets of this town, looking for my cast mates, not feeling my best, I can imagine I looked crazy. At one point, I even needed to sit down on the steps of a building because I needed food and I thought that I was going to be sick. Ehh, this day couldn't get better. After walking around the town like a crazy person, I eventually just stopped at the first place I saw had wifi because I wanted to relax and possibly chat with my mom. Luckily by this time, I had a nice chicken sandwich and a coke…finally didn't feel sick. Had a great time chatting with my mom on FaceTime and eventually made my way back to the ship, now feeling much better. Later that night, we had our performance of Abba and everyone loved it. No one even guessed that we were originally a cast of 6…thats a great sign. 

Ajaccio, Corsica, France was our next port of call and finally I got to do an excursion. Not just any excursion but something that I've wanted to do for YEARS….zip lining!!!! HOLY CRAP, I was so excited to do this. The description just hooked me right away and I went very nicely to the shore concierge ladies and ask to let me go on this tour. We started by meeting on the dock and getting on our bus for the 30 min drive up to the top of this mountain to the zip lining location. Our tour guide was this wonderful lady that was born in Corsica but now lives in Germany teaching French and we talked about her life and her interests in learning languages. I was very curious which language was harder for her to learn, English or German. She explained that growing up, you have to learn your native language and English, thats what it taught, so obviously English was easier of the two. I always feel stupid when I meet these incredible people around the world that can speak multiple languages but I only speak one. She said that English is a language everyone has to learn, if you want to be successful in life. How lucky are we Americans to have English as our native language but what an interesting woman she is. ANYWAY….back to the tour. We eventually made our way on VERY narrow roads to the top of the mountain. I had to change my clothes on the bus cause I didn't want to wear my Silver Sea uniform while I was zip lining tree to tree. I think the guests knew I was from the ship, they didn't need to know that while in the air as well. Haha. Once we all were suited up and sat by the information spot to learn about zip lining, I noticed that every sign was either written in Corsican or French…no english….uh oh. Our instructor then came and sat on the ledge next to this tree and started speaking French. Holy crap…if he is talking about safety instructions, I'm screwed haha. Luckily, we had our amazing guide with us that started to repeat everything he said to us in English. THANK YOU!!! During this instructional talk, we started to realize this wasn't going to be a normal zip lining tour, where a guide goes with you. No, no…you had to hook yourself up to the wires…ALONE and all they were judging you on was from this 4 wire test that you had to complete while he sat on his butt and watched you. Red connects to red and then blue is the wheel thing that has red and red in front and behind and BLAH!! Confused? I sure was. I let all the passengers go ahead of me, like a good tour escort / I wanted to see how to do this damn thing so I was watching how everyone else did it before I went myself. HAHA. Right before me was a family, The DeNicola's originally from the Michigan area (Go Buckeyes haha) and I had began talking to them, joking about what we were doing in our test run. Once we all passed the test, they invited me to hang out with them for the day. They were SO much fun!! We went to our first course…yes I said course because this was more like a marine training camp instead of just easily zip lining from tree to tree. It was an obstacle course with you laying on your back crawling through tunnels, walking on a tiny wire while holding another wire above your head and then the kick was riding a bicycle across a wire. Yes, I said a bicycle. It was duck taped at the handle bars, attached by 4 wires to another wire above you and you just have to hook your two "red" clips on the bike and pray to god that you don't die. I felt like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz haha. After about 30 mins, we finished our first course. Then we headed over to this course that was a LONG zip line, which was a lot of fun but you kinda burned your hands…ouch. Our last course that we went to, however, was a more difficult course. The DeNicola family and myself had another great time on this one. I haven't laughed so hard or had a bigger adrenaline rush in a LONG time. One part of the course, we had to walk on a small wire while another wire is above your head but this time being VERY high in the air…it was scary. When we got to the tree, there was a little sign that CJ, the youngest of the family, told me about. It had 2 death skulls on it making sure that you clipped both your red clips on the rope. OH LORD. We were SO high in the air so that was already freaking me out but CJ did this rope swing before me but got stuck in the middle instead of making it all the way to the "spider web" net. So while he is hanging on this tiny rope for dear life, I was attached to the tree trying to get him unstuck haha. I was so nervous because I was so high up but I also was the next one to do this…which both Ted and Kaley (CJ's siblings) reminded me from another tree…haha. I hooked myself up and jumped off, gliding across with this stupid rope, then picking up speed, spinning around to my back and slamming into the spider web net that catches you. If you didn't grab with one hand and wrap your leg around it, you would swing back into the middle of the wire. I have NEVER had so much fun in my life. After this LONG but awesome excursion we all headed back to the bus for our drive back to the ship. Needless to say, I was EXHAUSTED after this excursion, with my hands and body hurting but I have never had so much fun. By far the best excursion I've ever done. I can't wait to come back here in a few weeks to do more of the course. I promised the DeNicola's that I would do one of the black courses, which is the hardest course and let them know. If I write another blog around that time, you know I survived haha. 

The next day we anchored off the coast of Algehro, Sardinia, Italy where Zach and I got off the ship to have lunch somewhere in town. I was feeling a little sluggish this day, a combination of zip lining and being tired from not sleeping well lately…my neck has been killing me. Zach and I eventually found this little cafe on the main street and had a nice lunch. He had this DISGUSTING looking seafood risotto that I wouldn't have ate to save my life but he said it was good. YIKES. I had a nice spaghetti and some bread. At the end of the meal, I tried to pay on my credit card and was denied. I freaked out because this was my new card and what if something happened to my account. The waiter tried a few more times, no luck. I gave my other card, no luck. Zach gave his card, no luck. We both looked at each other and thought, what are we going to do?? I don't clean dishes well, so I can't do that haha. Eventually the owner came out to us and said that the credit card machine was having issues connecting to internet and eventually my card worked. WHOOSH. After lunch, Zach and I walked into the old walled in city and enjoyed this amazing place. However everything was closed so we couldn't do much. Eventually we got some gelato because what else do you do in Italian city that's closed haha. The sweet lady talked to us the entire time in Italian, even though we spoke english to her, she kept speaking Italian…it was cute. After a great ice cream, we headed back to the ship. What a great day. 

Porto Mahon, Spain was our next port of call and BOY, was it hot and humid today. Mercy. I stayed on the ship until Zach got back from his 5 hour biking excursion with the DeNicola family. They had a great time but wasn't ready for the crazy adventure that they went on. Apparently the bike guide showed them on a map how far that they were going, which they all laughed at first cause they thought he was joking…nope, he sure wasn't. Later they joked with me saying during the entire tour, he didn't break a sweat while everyone else was dying and he was about to have a football (soccer for us Americans) practice later that night…haha. There was one little problem on this tour, however…there was a man on the tour that had never ridden a bike before…only an exercise bike in the gym. Ooo, I knew this story was going to end bad. Apparently at one of the off road turns onto a wooden bridge, the older gentleman flipped over his bike, flat on his face and broke his nose. WHAT?!?!? In my entire time on the Spirit, I never had anyone cut themselves or fall, but Zach's second tour he escorts and someone breaks their nose and has to go to the hospital. Poor Zach. After he returned to the ship and he told me this story, we headed out to get something to eat. We walked all the way up to the city, which was like 1,000 steps (not really, but on this hot day, it felt like it). We wanted to eat at a local restaurant and enjoy the cuisine but we were tired and over it so we ate at Burger King. HAHA. It was good to have a nice burger and fries. Later that night, we sat with the DeNicola family during the BBQ. It was SO hot that Zach and I were sweating during the dinner. Just lifting our forks to our mouths was making us sweat. Sheesh. We had a wonderful night talking with them and eating the great food. 

The next day, we were docked in Palma De Mallorca and I was on IPM. I was feeling a little worse this day, getting really hot, then really cold throughout the entire day. Ehh…whats wrong with me. Zach and Jemma did get to go into the city, have a nice meal and see the big cathedral with the largest rose window in the world but unfortunately didn't get to go inside. Apparently it was too expensive and they didn't have time to do it anyway. Later that night, still feeling really warm, I headed to the doctor just to get checked. Apparently, I had an 103 degree temperature and strep throat but wasn't contagious thankfully. To bring down my temperature, however, they had to give me a shot. I warned the nurse that I wasn't a fan of needles to which she laughed at me. Isn't that sweet? She then told me to lay down and she was going to give me the shot in the butt. Um, what? I have NEVER had a shot in my butt in my life. Okay Jason, you can do this…You can…wait, you're done? I didn't feel a thing, thanks to having a big ole butt as the nurse put it…HAHAHA. The doctor then ordered me to take medicine for a week, get plenty of rest and drink as much water as I could. So THIS is what had been wrong with me for about a week…I was really sick. Unfortunately for me, we had High C's (our opera show) this night, which is my hardest show. I have never felt so horrible while performing and even at one moment almost passing out after my big number but didn't thank the lord. After the show and greeting the guest, I came back into the theatre and just sobbed. I just felt horrible and I couldn't believe that I just sang opera with strep and a temperature. I then went directly to my room and fell asleep, It was a LONG day.

We then headed to Valencia, Spain on August 8th (my brothers birthday) which I stayed on the ship all day and slept so I don't really have much to report for this day. Zach did, however, go into the city with some of the girls and they said it was a lot of fun. Lots of beautiful buildings, churches and had some great stores to shop in as well. We come back here in a few weeks, so hopefully I can get off then and enjoy. 

We ended our cruise back in Barcelona where we had to stay goodbye to the awesome DeNicola family. We both are really going to miss them because they were an awesome family and really down to earth. Throughout the week, they were so nice to both Zach and I, making us feel like apart of their family, which was great. Being so far away from home, its wonderful when you find a group of people like that. When I get back to the states, we're all going to go to Cedar Point (we talked about it all week and they LOVE Cedar Point…I can't wait to go!!!!). If you don't know what Cedar Point is, you'll have to research it but I'll tell you that its only the best place on earth. HAHA. 

It was a great week, awesome cruise itinerary with some wonderful people. Love this part of my job to meet nice and interesting people from around the world and start friendships.

Yikes, this blog is long…guess I'll stop typing haha.

Until Next Time,

Jason