HI all Forum Friends,
I have just returned from Acapulco on a 6 port round trip cruise from San Diego over the last 2 weeks and I noted a big music difference. We cruised last year on Princes to Alaska and everyone was using workstation keyboards, including the showband.
This year we cruised on Celebrity and everything was accoustics miked into the ship sound systems. The grand pianos were Yamaha with the disc attachments but were not being used except as accoustic pianos.
We had a lone man named Ross that played for casual dining topside and had a martin guitar hollow F using a yamaha mixer, disk player playing backing tracks, and JBL sound system. He played all POP and knew the vocals to hundreds of songs. He played every night as a single and stays with the ship until March when he returns to a club gig in Las Vegas.
The show band was only 8 pieces but sounded like 20. They were some kind of good and extremely versatle backing every entertainer in the theatre. Out of this show band came a 4 piece jazz group that was as good as I have ever heard. Piano, bass, traps, soprano and diferent nights the soprano alternated with trumpet or Bones. Just awesome.
The party band was a Roland workstation, two percussionists, steel kettle drum and vibes. they played all latin stuff as this was a Mexican Riviera Cruise. There were numerous singles working on pianos and doing vocals in the various bars BUT one club had a Roland General Arranger and a lady vocalist and both were just the best ever.
I played piano one day in one of the clubs and it really seemed funny to be playing an accoustic piano again. It took me half an hour to get into it.
The trip was great but too formal for my taste. Every other night was a dress night and if not dressed properly you were requested to stay in your hole. I didn't like that and I didn't like suiting up every other night either. IN California we dress up now days with clean Levis. OH well, different strokes. The Princess cruise was not like that so I am back to Princess.
We made a lot of new friends and I welcome some of them to this and the TEchnics Forums.
We returned home just in time to come down with a severe case of flu. I started it the day we arrived home and now wife Jann is in full bloom with it as I am gradually improving. Yes we both had flu shots before we left but 1800 passengers and 900 crewmembers on ship plus thousands in the aiports flying round trip to San Diego. Somebody breathed on us when we weren't looking
Glad to be back, Missed you all.
I was going to log on to the forum from the ship but at 50 cents a minute I decided against it.
I am thinking Panama Canal from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale for next fall. I may put together a cruise just for us musicians and take some keyboards for study, Jam, and sitins and amateur nights. I would hope to get 50 people or couples organized for this cruise. That would get me a free ride and you a big discount. Is there any interest here, just let me know. I will do all the work required but you pay your own freight. I think we could really have a ball and with those numbers be really catered to on the ship. Let me know.
Best to all
Bebop