Tour on the Sovereign of the Seas
Most recently I finished my six month tour with Royal Caribbean on the Sovereign of the Seas. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed meeting so many wonderful people from around the world. I got to play with some excellent musicians who really challenged me to grow and shaped my development as a musician and person.
The cruise set sail from Port Canaveral, traveled to a private island called Coco Cay, to Nassau, Bahamas and then back home. So they were short and sweet with back to back 4 day/3 day cruises. Here was my basic performance schedule:
Monday: Welcome Aboard Show, Big Band Dance Set
Tuesday: Captain's Reception, Production Show #1
Wednesday: Guest Entertainer Show
Thursday: Production Show #2, Jazz Set
Friday: Welcome Aboard Show
Saturday: Captain's Reception, Guest Entertainer Show
Sunday: Production Show #1, Jazz Set
Every few weeks we would have a night off if the guest entertainer did not use the band. We would take advantage of these nights by going into Nassua and getting some great food. We found some of the best conch salad at a local place called the Fish Fry. We also frequented the V.I.P. Chinese Restaurant, where V.I.P. must have meant Very Immense Portions, because we could never finish our meals and started splitting them. On one occasion there was about twelve of us who all went out for dinner. We ordered six or seven dishes between us and they brought out a BIG bowl of rice. We barely scraped the top before we were all stuffed. But it was great to share a meal with friends like family.