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
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