Heya! So I’ve just finished my second week on board the MS Rotterdam!
Week Wrap-up
This week has been a lot of time spent on the ship! As I said on my last entry, I was not allowed to get off the boat in India – we were docked in India for 3 days, plus a sailing day before and 2 after, so I had 6 days straight on the boat! Now, there is definitely plenty to do – it essentially at floating 5 star hotel! However, things can get a little claustrophobic. The thing that I’ve really discovered this week is that I like having my own space! I am a huge extrovert – I love the company of other people, sharing things, discussing ideas, all that! But at the end of the day (or in the middle of the day, or whenever!) it’s great to be able to come back to your own space and relax. Now I really like my roommate, Julien, but just having to share your room with anyone is something that I haven’t had to do since I was 5 years old! It’s just an adjustment, and not one I think I’ll be incredibly comfortable with even after 4 months, so definitely going to enjoy that aspect of coming home (and having a bed I can actually fit in will be nice too!). I’m finding it very easy to slip into a very lazy routine – as a lot of people do very little on the ship (crew and passengers), so I had a couple of days, where I’ve gotten very little done, but trying desperately to get out of that! But overall still going well!
Travel
After my long stint at sea, we docked in Arabia – Muscat, Oman. Now, to be honest, I hadn’t even heard of Oman before receiving this itinerary…. But WOW?! What an incredible country!! I was fortunate enough to get chosen to be a “crew escort” for one of the guest tours around Muscat. This pretty much means that I get a free tour and all I have to do is wear my name badge?! Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me! This tour went to “Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque”, shopping at the souk (Market), to the “Bait Al Zubair Museum”, and to visit one of the Sultan’s guest palaces.
The mosque was incredible! And an amazingly modern country!! This Sultan is putting so much money into the country’s infrastructure! It was only finished in 2001, and is still immaculate! Our guide – Ahmed, was fantastic and telling us all about the Muslim traditions followed in Oman; how everyone prays 5 times a day, men at the mosque, women at home (generally) and they are allowed up to 5 wives! All really interesting! He was then telling us about the country, and how no one pays taxes, everything is funded by the Sultan! They have free education, free healthcare – remember those days, Australia? – And (this is amazing!) everyone gets given land at the age of 23?! And how can they possibly do all this and have a currency that is 3x as strong as the US dollar – Why, oil of course?! Good, old fashioned oil money! Which also explains why there is no public transport and everyone has a car (because petrol is 13c/L!?).
Everything else was pretty cool too, and so clean?! So clean, wow!! Spotless city!! The museum was really interesting, the market was filled with Pashmina and incense, and the palace was remarkable!
We are currently on our way to another port in Oman “Salalah” and then we have 4 sea days coming up – woo… Before we reach Jordan and get to visit Petra :D!
The mosque was incredible! And an amazingly modern country!! This Sultan is putting so much money into the country’s infrastructure! It was only finished in 2001, and is still immaculate! Our guide – Ahmed, was fantastic and telling us all about the Muslim traditions followed in Oman; how everyone prays 5 times a day, men at the mosque, women at home (generally) and they are allowed up to 5 wives! All really interesting! He was then telling us about the country, and how no one pays taxes, everything is funded by the Sultan! They have free education, free healthcare – remember those days, Australia? – And (this is amazing!) everyone gets given land at the age of 23?! And how can they possibly do all this and have a currency that is 3x as strong as the US dollar – Why, oil of course?! Good, old fashioned oil money! Which also explains why there is no public transport and everyone has a car (because petrol is 13c/L!?).
Everything else was pretty cool too, and so clean?! So clean, wow!! Spotless city!! The museum was really interesting, the market was filled with Pashmina and incense, and the palace was remarkable!
We are currently on our way to another port in Oman “Salalah” and then we have 4 sea days coming up – woo… Before we reach Jordan and get to visit Petra :D!
Music
This past week has been a little lighter on the guest entertainer shows. We had a variety night with Mark Donoghue, Anthony Stuart Lloyd and Cheryl Sinclair which was great, but have been doing a lot of sets up in the Crow’s Nest this week, which is fun (however, I think once we get to Rotterdam, we’re going to be doing a lot more of that, and far less Guest Entertainers because of the shorter cruises). We an impressionist “Jonathan Clarke” come and perform, who has done 6 months on the Vegas Strip at the Riviera, which is pretty cool. It was a very stressful rehearsal though, because he had some many aspects to his show and so much to get done in such a short rehearsal! But the show went really well, and was really fun – He was very good!
We actually got a night off this week, which is unheard of, so I went around and checked out everything else that was going on around the ship. I went and listened to the “Adagio” duo who are a classical violin/piano duo that play in the “Explorer’s lounge” next to the library. I checked out my good friends the “Neptunes” in the “Ocean Bar”, I caught the magic show that was going on in the main theatre, which was pretty impressive and I actually spent most of my time watching “Stryker” the piano man! This guy is great! He doesn’t read a note, but he has the most incredible ear, and is such a wonderful performer! I’ve had a couple of conversations with him, and he’s a really great guy, I’m looking forward to getting to know him better!
Last night, we had a really fun concert – Joanne, the HAL CATS singer, essentially put together her own Guest Entertainer show out of the HAL CATS tunes. It was really great! She did such a good job, and we all got features throughout the concert (I have a wireless bug mic, so I went out centre stage on a few occasions… YIEW!). It wasn’t the greatest rehearsal leading up to it – we had just had a set out next to the pool for “Sail Away” which was SOO0 Hot!! So, we were all a bit flustered when we got to the sound check, but it all worked out great!
I won’t say too much about this, because it’s a lot of “maybe’s” at the moment, but I’ve been talking to some people, and doing some things that could possibly turn into some arranging work for guest entertainer shows… A really exciting possibility!!! Will keep you posted with developments!
We actually got a night off this week, which is unheard of, so I went around and checked out everything else that was going on around the ship. I went and listened to the “Adagio” duo who are a classical violin/piano duo that play in the “Explorer’s lounge” next to the library. I checked out my good friends the “Neptunes” in the “Ocean Bar”, I caught the magic show that was going on in the main theatre, which was pretty impressive and I actually spent most of my time watching “Stryker” the piano man! This guy is great! He doesn’t read a note, but he has the most incredible ear, and is such a wonderful performer! I’ve had a couple of conversations with him, and he’s a really great guy, I’m looking forward to getting to know him better!
Last night, we had a really fun concert – Joanne, the HAL CATS singer, essentially put together her own Guest Entertainer show out of the HAL CATS tunes. It was really great! She did such a good job, and we all got features throughout the concert (I have a wireless bug mic, so I went out centre stage on a few occasions… YIEW!). It wasn’t the greatest rehearsal leading up to it – we had just had a set out next to the pool for “Sail Away” which was SOO0 Hot!! So, we were all a bit flustered when we got to the sound check, but it all worked out great!
I won’t say too much about this, because it’s a lot of “maybe’s” at the moment, but I’ve been talking to some people, and doing some things that could possibly turn into some arranging work for guest entertainer shows… A really exciting possibility!!! Will keep you posted with developments!
Ship Life
This week, a lot of people spent a lot of time on the ship, so there were a few parties organised (and not organised). Last Saturday we had a cross-dressing party. Always a good time! One of the girls who works in the Spa, Kirsten from South Africa, decked my out with dress and make up, so that was a really fun night!
On Wednesday, it was my birthday, so there were a few nights of celebration for that! At midnight on my birthday I went down to the OB (Officer Bar) and got tricked into buying the bar a round! There is a big bell in the bar and Sy, the OB bartender, told me I should ring it because it was my birthday… Yeah, screw you Sy! Still, it came to a grand total of $15, so it could have been worse! Then the next night (the night of my birthday) I went to have a play with the Neptunes after our show in the theatre with the impressionist, and we played a rock ‘n’ roll medley and “Celebrate good times” together, which was really nice! That night, there was a party organised for someone else’s birthday and someone’s going away party! So that was really fun and quite big… (I had to be up at 7am for the tour I was escorting around Oman, which was a struggle to say the least!) And then on Thursday night, the night we were actually docked overnight in Oman, there was a crew party organised, which was really cool! They deck out the “oasis” (which is this area at the top of the ship with fake palm trees and boulders and such) with lights and a bar and music and essentially all the Crew get together and “relax”. The most entertaining aspect of the night was a bunch of the Philippino guys all getting quite elaborately dressed as women and partying the night away! Apparently that’s all very taboo back where they are from, and if their parents saw them dressing like that, they would be in a lot of trouble, so they’re making the most of their time here!
So it’s been a pretty big week in terms of “that stuff”, which may have contributed to the laziness of my days… So I’m not worried. I’m staying motivated and I have lots of stuff to do and keep busy with for the next 4 months!
On Wednesday, it was my birthday, so there were a few nights of celebration for that! At midnight on my birthday I went down to the OB (Officer Bar) and got tricked into buying the bar a round! There is a big bell in the bar and Sy, the OB bartender, told me I should ring it because it was my birthday… Yeah, screw you Sy! Still, it came to a grand total of $15, so it could have been worse! Then the next night (the night of my birthday) I went to have a play with the Neptunes after our show in the theatre with the impressionist, and we played a rock ‘n’ roll medley and “Celebrate good times” together, which was really nice! That night, there was a party organised for someone else’s birthday and someone’s going away party! So that was really fun and quite big… (I had to be up at 7am for the tour I was escorting around Oman, which was a struggle to say the least!) And then on Thursday night, the night we were actually docked overnight in Oman, there was a crew party organised, which was really cool! They deck out the “oasis” (which is this area at the top of the ship with fake palm trees and boulders and such) with lights and a bar and music and essentially all the Crew get together and “relax”. The most entertaining aspect of the night was a bunch of the Philippino guys all getting quite elaborately dressed as women and partying the night away! Apparently that’s all very taboo back where they are from, and if their parents saw them dressing like that, they would be in a lot of trouble, so they’re making the most of their time here!
So it’s been a pretty big week in terms of “that stuff”, which may have contributed to the laziness of my days… So I’m not worried. I’m staying motivated and I have lots of stuff to do and keep busy with for the next 4 months!
What I've Learned This Week
- No one is going to force, encourage, suggest that you be motivated and get things done! As long as you turn up to the gigs and play the music, that is all that’s required! So a lot of self-motivation on the ship!!
- I feel much better about myself and just in general when I’ve had a productive day!
- Don’t ring the bell in the OB!
- Oman is amazing! Would definitely come back!
- I really appreciate having my own space!
- I feel much better about myself and just in general when I’ve had a productive day!
- Don’t ring the bell in the OB!
- Oman is amazing! Would definitely come back!
- I really appreciate having my own space!
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