All aboard!

Sunday morning made it to Brooklyn where my cruise ship was parked. I will be working the piano lounge for the next 14 days. My arrival at the port and then again on the ship was full of confusion because my travel documents and contract were written out in my legal name, and the ship’s crew supervisor had processed my arrival with my professional name. Once the cruise staff in the port had found my welcome envelope with my room key/charge card, I was instructed to wait in a holding area with a couple thousand other guests while the ship was being disinfected due to an onboard stomach virus the last cruise. (The West Norton Virus, or some shit like that). Nice. After being permitted to board and after even more confusion I was shown to my cabin, whose door had been left open. So it was only after unpacking and then leaving my cabin that I realized my key did not work in the door. More drama.

I have status as a “Guest Entertainer” which means that I am treated as a guest and I have no actual crew or staff duties except to show up at the piano and do my show every night. I am, I’m told, the only member of the entire crew that is permitted room service. As a guest I am encouraged to use all guest facilities and I get a staff discount on all the bars, shops and spa on the ship, and yet I am also permitted to utilize the crew recreation area where I can get drinks for about $1.50, and internet for a quarter of the price charged to regular guests. My cabin is for all intents and purposes a passenger cabin with a large window and a bathroom, but it is located in the crew area. There is a steward assigned to the cabin that cleans it every day, changes the lines and takes care of my dry cleaning and laundry. I also just discovered that I am permitted to bring a guest with me to travel during the length of my contract. My predecessor, who is also a friend of mine, is convinced that the Guest Entertainer’s job is the number one job on the ship, even better than that of the captain or the cruise director. When I arrived in my cabin, he had just vacated it from the last cruise and had left me a couple beers in the fridge along with the vocal mic and the key to the piano in the drawer. It took a few hours for me to connect with the Cruise Director (my boss), so I had to figure out most things on my own. It was confusing, but after asking around, I was able to get my documents all sorted out, my room key corrected, my sound check done, the laundry situation figured out and finally track down the Cruise Director, who by this time had tried calling me several times in my cabin. He and his deputy both seemed very professional and easy-going. They were very clear about what they expected from me, which is something I always appreciate. I was told, sadly, that the ship is still on Red Alert, due to this gastro-intestinal virus and that due to cross contamination concerns I had to choose whether to eat and drink in the crew area or the guest area. As I had already had dinner with the guests, the decision was made for me. I’m disappointed because I was really looking forward to drinking with the crew. But now I must wait for the Red Alert to pass.

My predecessor and friend had negotiated Sunday nights off for me, so I was lucky to have my first night off, which is good, as I had been working the 4 nights prior to Sunday in New York. I spent the first night scouting out the ship, and the bars. It was extremely quiet after 11pm. I hope that was just because everyone was tired from traveling. I’m very excited to do my show tonight. The lounge is actually within a very central and open space, so everyone walking by (which should be most of the ship's passengers) will be able to hear me and have the option of sticking around. I did a sound check and the sound guy preprogrammed a memorized setting for me on the board. The piano is a Yamaha baby grand, and it is voiced very bright but I was able to soften it in the mix. I like the PA system. It works well with my voice.