I want to begin with saying that I am extremely sorry that my updates were non-existent while I was aboard the Jewel. I had no clue that it would be so difficult to get on the internet, and when I was able the connections were usually way to slow to update my webpage. So now I am uploading all the blog entries that I wrote but was unable to post. I hope you enjoy!
Since my last voyage I have really met some awesome people a new trombone player signed on named Brandon, he actually went to school with our tenor sax player. He became my roommate and I think in my history of roommates he was the best. Then the new Alto player Matt joined who is from Wisconsin, my birth place. He was very cool also and now that we finally had a good group of twetnty-ish year old players, things were fun, and it of-course was time for me to leave. I was glad to be there long enough to get to know them and help them learn the ropes around the ship.
My playing has improved greatly in the last 2 cruises I really started to see a big improvement in the shows that I had played earlier on the ship. My range was getting better, though I still had problems (which I think were mostly mental) with one of the production shows. Overall, I think I improved my sight reading and range greatly and I am excited to continue the improvements on the next ship. I am still trying to accurately assess if my classical tone and playing was damaged from the gig.
The next ship is official, I will be signing onto the Brilliance of the Seas on March 30th which will start in Barcelona, Spain and tour Italy, Egypt, Greece, France and Turkey. I am extremely excited to see these incredibly historical places.
During my last cruise I was able to swim with the Dolphins in Grand Cayman. It was truly amazing, I have posted photos on facebook of it, and I have posted the video below for your viewing pleasure. I think they liked me because I was the only one who got kissed by 2 dolphins.
I am currently spending some time at home before I take a 10 hour flight to London, England and 2 hour flight to Barcelona, Spain. I think I will be suffering from EXTREME jet lag then. I have never flown more than 5 hours at a time.
I hope to post more often on the next ship, so be sure to check often!