Cruise Life!

It’s been a crazy and hectic first day onboard the Celebrity Infinity. From the hotel in Seattle, about 50 crew members were bused to the cruise terminal. I was one of two girls, and the only American crew member. It took a while to process everyone’s paper work and finally board. We were brought to one of the movie theaters on board where they served us coffee and snacks, and we had our first orientation with the HR team. I then met the bandmaster and got a whirlwind tour of the ship. It was a while before my luggage arrived, and I got settled in my room and met my lovely roommate Zoe (from England)! She is a dancer in the shows – some of which I play with her as part of the orchestra. I also had to attend a safety training session with one of the Officers.
When all the passengers were boarded we set sail at 4pm – not that I could tell because I was in rehearsal! The cruise director is brand new as well, and we all assembled in the theater – his staff, the orchestra, the dancers, and the a cappella group – for a rehearsal/sound check. I am playing a Yamaha grand on stage in a 1,000 seat theater (for most of the shows). There are 6 other band members – bass, drum set, trombone, tenor sax, trumpet, and alto sax (3 of which are female!). The music was waiting on the piano and I jumped right in. Our first set is called the “Infinity Teaser” and it is played to a click track (my first time!). It includes tons of Broadway music, a whole 5 minutes devoted to “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” and a medley called “Boogie Wonderland.” The a cappella group (On Tap from Lehigh University) does a set, and then we play a Jersey Boys medley with them. We end with a set including Circle of Life, Defying Gravity, and Footloose…I love my job. Rehearsal was pretty stressful and I only got to run through everything once so I’m a little apprehensive about tonight’s show. But the rest of the band is really great and supportive so I’m sure it’ll work out.
The ship is HUGE and I’m going to try and figure out the situation. The weather outside is lovely as is the scenery. ..
Tonight we played our first show in the theater, with seatings at 7pm and 9pm. The cruise director is hilarious and lots of fun and the crowds loved the show. It was exhilarating and (mostly) horrifying to be essentially sight-reading in front of hundreds of people but luckily I had headphones on and couldn’t hear if I was making a mistake  Playing to a click track is a lot harder than it looks and will take a lot more getting used to. It was a very fun night of performing, and all the other band members have been incredibly supportive and helpful. After the second set some of us went to one of the lounges to listen to a FABULOUS Argentinian jazz quartet with an ah-mazing singer.

The ship is moving along at quite a clip to get to Ketchikan (500 miles north of Seattle) by 7am tomorrow! I’m explored the gym and some of the other areas on the ship; it is a gorgeous boat and the trip so far has been beautiful (though very cold and windy!).