Is it lunchtime yet?
So, life has been busy here since the last time I posted. I left the country, came back, and have been working 1o hour days.
The cruise was a lot of fun. On Sunday the 1st, we barely made our plane to Miami, and I do believe we were the last people onto the plane. When trying to use the self check in, we should remember that automated systems do not like the space in the last name, and we should always just head straight for the counter. Or use our passport to check in.
Once in Miami, after a cab ride that felt like rush-hour on the Beltway - rather than a Sunday drive, we arrived at the port, and the check-in process for Norwegian was much smoother than at the airport. I’d say we were through and on the ship in less than 45 minutes. Once on the ship, we were greeted with a glass of sparkling wine (orange juice for TSM) and left to wander until our cabin was ready.
While I liked the speed with which Norwegian gets you on the ship, I did not like having to wander around aimlessly while waiting for them to make up the cabins.
So, it was killing time until the mandatory lifeboat drill, and then off to the first show of the cruise – BNL‘s sail away set on the pool deck. After that, it was a stop at the Superbowl Viewing Party, where we stayed until about the 3rd quarter. By then it was time for Gaelic Storm on the pool deck again.
Have I said how much I love this band? I probably shouldn’t say how much I love this band, as it usually leads to bad things. Anyway, they always, always, always put on a fantastic show. For their final song, one by one the band members left the stage (via crowdsurfing) and went into the deck pool – fully clothed. Somehow, Klumpen ended up in with them. (She’s “fallen in with a bad crowd”. Her quote, not mine.)
Monday’s shows were: a very brief stop by the BNL Snacktime show, a walk-through of Mike Evin‘s show in the Atrium, and another Gaelic Storm show on the Pool Deck.
Tuesday was our shore day in Cozumel. We didn’t opt for any shore excursions this year, which was probably a good thing, as the weather was quite chilly. (I was more comfortable in pants than in shorts, and at night on the open decks, it was downright cold.) Anyway, we just wandered around the kitsch shops just off the docks, and bought cheap t-shirts. Oh, we stopped at Starbucks for coffee for TOH and Klumpen, and then we all had ice cream at Baskin Robbins. (I know, we go to Cozumel to do things we could do at home, but honestly we weren’t there for the shore days as much as we were for the music.) Oh again, and we met a cute little monkey named Pasqual, who had sweaty paws. The vendors in Cozumel were extremely aggressive, which was a drag. And we need to post a picture of the “Drougs” sign.
Tuesday night’s music was the Great Big Sea sail away set and then a Gaelic Storm show in “Bar City”, the area of the ship where most of the bars were located. Not an ideal location for a show, but still fun.
Side note – speaking of locations of the shows – none of the locations where I saw shows, with the exception of the main theater, were any good for seeing anything. The stages were maybe a foot off the floor, and the areas were not designed for large standing crowds. I think Carnival’s pool deck is more suited to concerts, and their main theater was fine.
On Wednesday, we attended both Songwriter’s Panels (one hosted by Steven Page and one by Ed Robertson). This year the format was different. Rather than the crowd being able to ask questions, each panel member said a little about how/why they wrote a song, and then performed the song. On the one hand, it gave us a taste of each artist, but on the other, I missed the more interactive style of previous years’ panels. (Although now, I can sort of see why they didn’t want to open the floor to questions.) The next show on Wednesday was the “Covers Set”, which was BNL doing covers of other artists’ songs – stuff they normally do for their sound-check, etc. Sean Cullen’s wife, Kim Temple, did a version of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”, and Sean Hearn (Kevin’s brother) did a version of BNL’s “What a Good Boy”. I thought Sean H. did a great job with it. The kids and I then went to see The Weakerthans and a Great Big Sea main show.
Thursday was another shore day. We were supposed to go to Great Stirrup Cay, but due to the weather, we were diverted to Key West. Where it was 48 degrees. We decided it was too cold to do much of anything, so stayed on board and had a nap. Our music that evening was the Gaelic Storm sail away set, where Patrick’s voice was absolutely shot to hell, and the BNL main show.
So, the BNL show. In the years where we’ve had to decide which show to attend, I’ve always picked the last night’s main show, since that’s where they tended to make the announcement that there would be a cruise the next year. This year, there was no announcement. And none of the “standard” songs. No “One Week”, no “If I Had $1,000,000″. Odd, but then I figured that even they might get tired of those songs, and when you’re performing for fans who know all the songs from all the albums, and the variations on nearly live performance, why do the easy applause ones?
Fast forward to the 24th, when the announcement that Steven Page was leaving BNL, and it all made sense. There was speculation on the message boards, and apparently some on the ship, that his recent drug troubles and his new girlfriend were reflections of his wanting to go in a different direction than the rest of the band.
All this to say, I can say that I saw the last live performance (until a reunion tour) of Steven Page as a member of BNL. Which makes me sad that I didn’t feel like dragging the video camera with me. But, we got some good photos, I think. (I still haven’t weeded out all the crap ones from last year’s album!)
And then, finally, after the main BNL show, I watched part of the Acid Wish All Star Jam, where anyone from the performers who feels like it will jump into the show, and it perpetually revolves around to a chorus of “Hey Jude”. That show was moved inside (away from the pool deck because of the cold weather) into Bar City, and it was way too packed for me to put up with it for very long.
Other highlights/lowlights:
Highlights
- TSM managed to get pictures of himself with all the band members of BNL.
- Andy Creeggan passed us in the hallway, and then turned around and came back to show TSM that he was wearing the same Guster shirt as TSM.
- More new music to like! Especially The Weakerthans (One Great City, Relative Surplus Value, The Reasons, Tournament of Hearts, Plea from a Cat Named Virtute), Mike Evin (Stripper In My Car, Danish Bullies).
Lowlights
- Kevin McDonald’s (of Kids In The Hall) stand up act. As the gentleman in the elevator said, it was like sitting in on someone’s painful therapy session. TOH and I actually got up and left.
- Not seeing the various band members out and about as much this year as in past years. I never even saw Sarah McLachlan.
- The lack of late night dining choices. The late night buffet was actually just left overs from the lunch/dinner buffet. Ick.
Overall, we had a great time, again. I think we got a better value for money spent on Carnival. I wasn’t overly impressed with Norwegian’s food, or “Freestyle Dining” – I didn’t go on the cruise to pay extra money for the “nicer” restaurants.
Since we’ve been back, work has been insane. The office moves are rapidly approaching, and we’re in the midst of trying to hire to fill all the various vacancies. Add to that the yearly budget cycle, and I’m here from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm most days.
So, that’s my latest rambling update. I hope to post more frequently, but I’m a realist and know that never works out.