December 1-2, 2004: Rockin' Roll Report -- Cruise Diary, Day 5 and 6

Grand Cayman and Jamaica
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph

While on the Rock & Roll Holiday Escape Cruise in 2004, I made sure to keep a diary on my laptop to record the events of the 7 day cruise so that I would be able to do a complete write up for my anticipated "Rockin' Roll Report" upon returning to dry land and available Internet access. Here is what I journaled and later used as basis for my two reports on the cruise.

Cruise day 5.

Today was the stop at Grand Cayman. After the late night before, Janice and I had planned our excursions for late morning. Janice took a trip to Hell, while I went snorkeling with the sting rays. The snorkeling adventure was amazing. Jumped in to about 3-4 feet of water and walked around with sting rays swimming right up to me and rubbing against my leg. VERY cool. The water was a little bit choppy and it was difficult to get balance, and with so many people in one spot it was next to impossible to actually swim around, so it was mostly hopping from spot to spot and bobbing in the waves. I DID get to hold a small sting ray and got my picture taken – I hope it turns out (even if I'm sure I looked ridiculous!) After the rays it was off to the coral reef for more snorkeling, this time to see tropical fish. The options were to stand in line to get off the boat or to just hop off the side. I chose to hop off the side since it was taking so long for the line to move. Between the waves, the life vest, the snorkel, the mask, and the fins moving around was a bit of a challenge. I suspect I would have done better with out the inflatable vest, but we were required to wear it. Deflating it would have just meant it was in my way. I got some underwater pictures of fish and coral, but after I swallowed a mouthful of water I took my mask off so I could breathe – only to get water in my eyes! That was it, time to get out of the water – which was like bathwater it was so warm!

Back to the ship and after a shower I headed up to the casino to get rid of some nickels. I ran in to Darla and Emerson, and Darla told me she had just entered the Rock & Roll slot tournament. She didn't do very well, but we hung around for a while and got to see ROCK STARS come play slots. Nearly all the guys from REO played as did Ricky Phillips from Styx. Naturally, this meant the casino was packed with people. I tried to get my picture taken with Kevin Cronin, but he kept disappearing. By the time the tournament ended, Dave Amato had won the $500 prize!

A quiet dinner with the gang at the Paris dining room and then back to our rooms for an early night. We're all pooped after all the activity the past couple of days. Tomorrow… Jamaica and Journey!!!!
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I debated with myself over whether or not to post this part of the cruise diary as it's a bit of a "Behind the Music" kind of scene, but in the end it just is what it is. It was definitely a memorable evening.

Cruise Day 6. 

Start at the end…. Just back from spending a good 4-5 hours in the bar with Neal and Ross. (And a bunch of other folks.) They were both totally plowed, though Neal much more so than Ross. I can't even begin to describe the whole scene – it was totally insane. After dinner we all decided to hang around the casino for a bit and see what was going on. Most of Journey walked through at one point, and so we had interesting spotting opportunities. After a round of slots, we headed over to the casino bar, where Jonathan was holding court. We chatted with Val and Butch for a while, then Darla and Emerson went off to see what else was going on. About midnight Darla and Emerson returned and told us to follow them. Turned out that Neal, Ross, Steve, Ricky Phillips, Dave Amato, and Kevin Cronin were all in the wine bar, so Janice and I headed over there. Cat, Jenn, Val, Butch, Carol, and Dwayne joined us a short time later. I spent most of the time talking to other fans, but Ross would stick his head in from time to time. Ross was talking about starting a movie career as either "the missing Douglas," "Dennis Leary's stand in," "Ernest," or "Billy Connelly" – complete with a Welsh or Scottish accent. Complete with impersonations of course. I was dying laughing. Carol knocked over her drink, which brought Ross back over to our section and more jokes and laughter. But it kept getting stranger…

At one point, Jenn and Cat tried to get Neal out of the bar and off to bed, but failed. Neal came over to our side of the bar briefly and was having his picture taken with some skimpily clad drunk woman and kept knocking in to me. That got an apology and then a hug as he recognized me. When the bar closed at 2, Janice and I were going to head off to bed as Neal and Ross had apparently disappeared. We discovered on our way to the elevators that they were just on the other side behind some pillars. THAT'S when things got interesting. Neal spent most of his time chatting with some of the folks from the UK, and according to reports from Val and Butch all references to Steve Perry were less than complimentary. Neal was also pissed that Perry's not coming to Hollywood, which while said in a state of total inebriation, was satisfying.

The crowd around Ross and Neal was mostly drunk, so it was pretty amusing. At one point a big haired, big boobed blonde that we've nicknamed "Stevie Nicks" came up to Ross and asked to have her picture taken with him. She THEN said "I don't know which band you're in!" Oy… Ross gave her a bit of a hard time about that in his typically goofy way. Some time later, "Stevie" was talking to Neal and he smacked her on her ass so hard everyone heard. Well, she was quite offended and stalked off in a huff. If you're gonna play adoring groupie, you've got to expect consequences.

I think I had my picture taken with Ross about 7 different times on somebody's camera. (Naturally, not mine having decided that after toting it around for 5 days that it wasn't going to be worth the hassle…. Color ME stupid!) Somewhere along the line, Val was talking to Neal about Hollywood and pointed out I was there and I got another hug and a sloppy wet kiss on the cheek – I suspect he was aiming elsewhere, but I turned my head just so…

By about 3 a.m. Neal and Ross started heading off towards the casino, so some of us followed them – I was particularly concerned that they wouldn't be able to find their rooms. Ross was in better shape than Neal, but not much. One of the few other sober fans sitting around the bar walked them off and disappeared. I can only hope she got them up to their rooms.

I did get one serious moment out of Ross… I finally had a chance to ask him what the 3 fingers in the air was all about – he reached under his shirt collar and pulled out a crucifix and said "plus one." It was a very cool and profound moment. Ross also made a comment about "ET", which of course led to "ET Phone Home" and… ta DA! SETI! Figures I go on vacation and get asked a question about SETI@home by a member of the band!

More on the Q&A and the rest of Jamaica later – it's 3:35 a.m. and I am EXHAUSTED… I'm glad I didn't follow Darla and Emerson down to my cabin at 12:30, but god I'm worn out.

November 30, 2004: Rockin' Roll Report -- Cruise Diary, Day 4

Caribbean Sea
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph

While on the Rock & Roll Holiday Escape Cruise in 2004, I made sure to keep a diary on my laptop to record the events of the 7 day cruise so that I would be able to do a complete write up for my anticipated "Rockin' Roll Report" upon returning to dry land and available Internet access. Here is what I journaled and later used as basis for my two reports on the cruise.

Cruise Day 4. 

Another fun day at sea which meant a morning sleeping late and then sitting in the sun reading a book. It's really amazing what happens when you are forced to relax and do nothing! As we were cruising along I couldn't help but think – no wonder Uncle Eddie enjoyed the Navy so much… there is something very impressive about sitting out in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight – it really gives you a sense of how big this planet is! While I don't know that I'd rush right out and book another 7 day cruise again – the on board entertainment for the most part just isn't my thing – this is a wonderful way to travel. No rushing around, taking days to get from one place to another – in this fast paced jet fueled world, it's easy to forget that it's important to slow things down and take a breath.

Most of the day was spent killing time until the REO Q&A session at 6:00. None of us were hugely eager to get in line particularly early, so we just went to meet up about 5:40. Imagine our surprise when we could hear sound check going on from inside the Rome Lounge! We were told that there was a problem with the sound that needed to be worked out and we'd be let in a few minutes late. Well a few minutes turned in to 10 when we were finally told we'd be let in and would have to sit through the last bit of sound check – awww what a bummer! Once we were all seated Kevin said "Welcome to the matinee." Sound check is always a neat thing to observe, and it was amusing watching the fans snapping pictures and just generally enjoying themselves. We even got to hear a preview of a new song that was really quite good! When they finished, Kevin then walked to the mic and asked "So, got any questions? No? All right, thanks for coming!" To which Dave responded, "Where else are they going to go? We've got a captive audience!" Thus setting the tone for another generally amusing time hanging out with the band.

Once the Q&A got under way, it was a little bit different than it was for Styx, with the questions being asked right off the bat. The band was in a good mood and pretty goofy – much like Styx was. I can only hope the Journey boys will be as loose. Probably the most interesting question that was asked was by a woman named Robin who asked if any of their parents had pushed them to become musicians. Kevin Cronin gave a long rambling answer about how parents should encourage their kids strengths and if the kid shows an inclination towards music to encourage that. It really was a good answer, though not exactly an answer to the question. Well, Robin then basically told off the band – she was very rude and said "Well, thank you for that parenting advice, but you didn't answer my question." She then essentially demanded an autograph on an old album of hers. The band was very well behaved, but you could tell they were pissed off. The crowd was in shock. When Neil Dougherty (keyboards) got his chance to sign the album, (which I'm amazed they did) he said to the crowd "I can't tell you what the first word I wrote was but the second word is 'off'." The whole crowd applauded and laughed. Robin, being the obnoxious fan that she was, stood up and yelled back at hm something about it being for her kid and there had better not be any profanity on it. Well, excuuuu-use me! I swear to god I've never seen anyone behave so badly.

Most of the other questions were of the "How do you prepare for a show now as opposed to 30 years ago?" variety. ["Instead of getting drunk, we take time to know the songs." – Neil] Others included influences [Beatles – Kevin] and venues [cruise ship, most unique.] When are you going to play Europe [The bus got as far as New York and stopped – Neil] And the amusing, "Dave I heard you played golf in Cozumel and lost your balls." – which generated a run of off-color comments and much laughter.

Then it was time for the trivia contest, and since I know even less REO trivia than I did Styx trivia, I really didn't pay all that much attention. They didn't raffle off the pit seats, which I thought was very strange. We learned later (courtesy of Dr. Val) that some of the people in the platinum seats complained that everyone had the opportunity for upgraded seats and that because they paid so much money that they should get that privilege and blah blah blah. Well, I'm sorry you spoiled brats, if you'd bothered to READ the description of the cruise, it said "opportunities to upgrade seats" for EVERYONE. And, in my opinion, the people who scraped together the $1299 to get in the door should have MORE of an opportunity for the upgrades since they're NOT getting some of the perks like the meet and greets. (Grumble grumble grumble.)

After the Q&A we were off to a relaxing dinner since the show wouldn't start until 11:00. It's been enjoyable having a nice dinner each evening and our waiter Victor is a real hoot. We've been calling him Danny DeVito because there are definite similarities in appearances! The waiters entertainment for the evening was a conga line to "Hot Hot Hot."

We still had some time to kill, so Darla, Emerson, and I conducted some JPP business with Cat while Janice went to get in line for the show. We followed a short while later, but couldn't find her so just got in line with the rest of the crowd. While it was less insane seating and more organized, we wound up with slightly disappointing seats because they wouldn't let the "premiere" seat people access the many vacant "platinum" seats until after the show started. Totally ridiculous. We wound up with decent seats – about 5th row off to the side again.

The show started off pretty well, with lots of high energy, but after the fourth song ("I Can't Fight This Feeling") Kevin's monitor blew and he had to fill for a while until it got swapped out. While it was mildly entertaining to see Kevin have his shirt torn off by the roadies to replace the monitor, it meant that Kevin got to talk… and talk… and talk. This time instead of talking about the Playboy mansion, we got to hear him talk about the migration pattern of dolphins! The punch line of this tale was that Kevin's vocal warmups were scaring the dolphins.

They came out of the monitor mayhem and introduced their new tune called "Hard to Believe." It was really quite good and will be on the new REO album that is in the works. Unfortunately Kevin followed this with a tale about XM Radio and performing all of Hi Infidelity, which ate up another chunk of time. The band then launched into the whole album (I think.) Later in the evening Kevin wished a fond farewell to his guitar tech, who was leaving the band after 4 years to spend more time with his family. Quite a nice moment leading in to the acoustic set and Neil's comment "I never liked that guy anyway" – who knew Neil was such a goof? (Okay, maybe die-hard REO fans know, but I sure didn't.)

Unfortunately, between the lateness of the show time (11:00 p.m.), the monitor problem, Kevin's talking, and the playing of album tracks that were really for the core group of fans, the show seemed to drag. The crowd was definitely thinning out throughout the show, and by the time REO got to the finale, the energy of the fans was pretty low. The crowd, overall, was actually fairly sedate. To further lessen my enjoyment of the show – for a good part of it, there were a couple of women in front of me who seemed to think talking at the top of their lungs would enhance the show! One woman in particular was extremely loud. I was glad when she'd leave, only to find her back in front of me 20 or 30 minutes later.

When REO got to the finale, the houselights would come up more and more often. By the time they got to "Back on the Road Again" the houselights were up for nearly the entire song. Not that it was a bad thing, but it was just weird – I'm used to semi-darkness at a concert!

REO set list
(as best as I can work out, not quite as familiar with their catalog)

Riding the Storm Out
Music Man
Keep Pushin'
Can't Fight This Feeling
Hard to Believe (NEW)
Don't Let Him Go
Keep on Loving You
In Your Letter
Tough Guys
Someone Tonight
Take It on the Run
I Wish You Were There
In My Dreams – acoustic
That Ain't Love – [Kevin solo, acoustic]
Bring You Home (?) – [Kevin solo, acoustic]
Time for Me to Fly
Back on the Road Again
Roll With the Changes

Encore:
?? Unknown
157 Riverside Avenue

After the show, I was dying of thirst, so we went to find the nearest open bar. While I was waiting for my drink, the obnoxious woman who'd been sitting in front of me came up to the bar to order some drinks. Apparently, she was ordering drinks for the band (though she couldn't remember what they'd ordered!) and told a few of the folks in the bar that REO had planned to play two more songs, but due to complaints from people below deck about the noise, were forced to end the show early. Well, that's definitely going to be a problem if you're going to schedule a rock concert at 11 p.m.!!!

We then headed up to the Lido Deck for a quick bite to eat, and while we were eating, Bruce Hall happened by looking for food. We then ran in to Bryan Hitt as we were heading back to our rooms.

November 28-29, 2004: Rockin' Roll Report -- Cruise Diary, Day 2 and 3

The Caribbean Sea and Cozumel, Mexico
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph

While on the Rock & Roll Holiday Escape Cruise in 2004, I made sure to keep a diary on my laptop to record the events of the 7 day cruise so that I would be able to do a complete write up for my anticipated "Rockin' Roll Report" upon returning to dry land and available Internet access. Here is what I journaled and later used as basis for my two reports on the cruise.

Cruise Day 2 and 3.

Sunday was a quiet day at sea… spent mostly relaxing, eating, and just truly vacationing. Kept up with our cast and crew on board – must have spotted members of Journey's crew every half hour or so and Ricky Phillips and Dave Amato every 2 hours. Spent some time with Cat and Jenn – discussing some of our Journey Past & Present issues. Got our dinner table reassigned so that our whole group – Darla and Emerson, Janice and me, Cat and Jenn, and Debbie and the kids were all at the same table.

We also had our first formal night and the Captain's Dinner – it was great seeing everyone all dressed up.

We arrived in port Monday morning about 7:30 (I think… we were still in our cabin having breakfast) and Janice and I headed out for the Highlights and Shopping tour of the island. Got to see a few small sites, not hugely impressive, but it was a pleasant tour. We got dropped off in the downtown shopping district where we were accosted by vendors left and right. I had the brilliant idea to check out one of the side streets – MISTAKE!!!! We couldn't walk past a shop with out someone literally blocking our way and turning us in to the store. I did manage to bargain down a hair clip from 18 to 10 dollars, but "Cheapo Philipo" was quite a hard sell! I also got two pairs of very small diamond studs for $100 – another relative hard sell, but in a less seedy shop.

Back to the ship by mid-day for lunch and a nap – which meant no wandering around and running in to oh, say, Tommy Shaw, who (we learned later) several people ran in to and got their picture taken with. Figures! We got ready for the Q&A and headed up to the Rome Room about 5 to hang out for the doors to open. Turned out we really didn't need to be there that early since there were maybe 200 people in the room. We did get good seats front and center, and the boys from Styx were having a grand old time laughing and joking around. As the Q&A started there were several opportunities to win things – photo with the band, an autographed guitar, and upgraded seats. Darla and Emerson lucked out and got the upgraded seats and were sitting in the pit for the whole show. What a perfect prize for the honeymooners!

There were a couple of interesting questions – How did you meet your current wives (Todd – his wife is a singer and met at a gig, JY – was at a party with another woman.) What bands influenced you (JY – the Who.) One person asked if they were planning on singing their Christmas song and I saw Tommy's eyes kind of unfocus as he was trying to remember the words then the whole band launched into it acapella! Very fun. We also got a five-part harmony rendition of "Happy Birthday" for a woman who was celebrating her 40th birthday on the cruise.

After the Q&A, we dashed over to line up for the show. Since there were 4 of us (Cat, Jenn, Janice, and me) we took turns in line while the rest of us ran back to the room or grabbed something to eat. We stood in line for a good 90 minutes before we were finally allowed to go to our seats. Luckily for us Butch and Val had VIP seats and there were seats near them, so we wound up a couple of rows from the front of the stage, over on Tommy's side. Woo hoo!! I had my camera with me, but since we'd been TOLD no "professional" cameras, I didn't bring any extra film. Since there was absolutely NO security checking bags or walking around, I was able to use my camera to take a few shots. Unfortunately I only had about 8 shots left on the roll! They should turn out pretty well since I was so close. Darla and Emerson should have gotten GREAT pix and we'll be swapping.

The show started a few minutes after 9, and the second the intro music started, people were on their feet and cheering – and stayed that way all night long. Tommy welcomed us to "the most unusual show Styx has ever done" – and I gotta say, it's the most unusual show I've ever been to. Styx kept up their stellar track record with just an amazing show with such great energy. They closed the main set with what Lawrence called "the most appropriate song" – "Come Sail Away." Naturally the crowd went nuts since nearly everyone has been singing that song on ship since we left Miami – most often off key and very drunk!

Set list:

Blue Collar Man
Grand Illusion
Lorelei
One With Everything
Lady
Too Much Time on My Hands
Snowblind
solo – Laurance, rag time
More Love for the Money
medley
These Are the Times
Crystal Ball
Foolin' Yourself
Miss America
Come Sail Away

Encore:
What I Say
Manic Depression
I Am the Walrus
Renegade

After the show and a quick bite to eat, we went downstairs and ran in to Kevin Cronin who was looking for the Hollywood Bar, so naturally we offered to walk him to it! Too damn bad I was all out of film!

A quick drink at the casino, check the email at the Internet Café, then it was off to bed and another night at sea. Tomorrow will be a "fun day at sea" to relax and do nothing. I could get used to this!

November 27, 2004: Rockin' Roll Report -- Cruise Diary, Day 1

Miami, FL and The Caribbean Sea
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph

While on the Rock & Roll Holiday Escape Cruise in 2004, I made sure to keep a diary on my laptop to record the events of the 7 day cruise so that I would be able to do a complete write up for my anticipated "Rockin' Roll Report" upon returning to dry land and available Internet access. Here is what I journaled and later used as basis for my two reports on the cruise.

Cruise Day One.

Flew in to Miami yesterday and met Janice at the airport. We caught a cab to our hotel then dashed across the street for dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Weather in Miami wasn't too bad… mid 70s both in temperature and humidity – humid enough for this California girl to notice.

After a late nite of gossiping and getting to know each other, Janice and I headed down for the breakfast buffet. The elevators on cruise day were an interesting challenge. Frequently full of guests and luggage. By the time we were ready to check out, it took us about 15 minutes to get downstairs. All the elevators were full, and when I finally got on one, I went down 2 floors before going all the way back up to the 8th and then back down – stopping at every floor. Once we finally got to the lobby and met Debbie, Krystal, and Krystal's boyfriend Andrew we got ourselves checked out and into cabs to the port.

The port was an absolute zoo with cabs and shuttles and buses going every which way for the half dozen or so ships making ready to set sail. Janice and I lost Debbie and her crew in the cab shuffle, but arrived at the dock right behind Journey's road crew. While waiting to board, we did see one of our "celebrity" passengers – Ricky Phillips from Styx boarded the ship shortly before us. A pleasant surprise since we'd heard Styx would not be on board at all. Turns out only SOME of Styx would not be on board. Later in the day we saw Chuck Panazzo (Styx), Dave Amato (REO), and Bruce Hall (REO.) None of the Journey boys were on board, and they aren't expected until Thursday in Jamaica.

The ship is a total maze and god knows if we'll ever find our way around, but we managed to find our room successfully and drop our bags off. We explored the ship looking for people we knew and kept running into Rocko Ready – Journey's stage manager. We found the check in desk for the Rock & Roll Holiday Escape (R&RHE) and to get our registration materials – passes to the concerts and a T-shirt – but they had just gotten in themselves and weren't ready for us, so we headed up to the Lido deck for a quick snack (encountering more Journey crew members in the process.)

We hadn't seen any of our friends since boarding the ship, so kept exploring. When I pulled out my cell phone to call Mom, however, I discovered I'd missed a call from Darla – she and Emerson were on board an up at the Lido deck with Cat, Jenn, and Debbie and the kids. We headed back up and visited for a few minutes before the whole crew of us trooped back down to the Promenade deck and the registration for the R&RHE. The line was amazingly long, so we got to hear the story of how Cat got a call from Steve Augeri on Monday asking her if she wanted to go on a cruise. Lucky girl!

There was lots more exploring to do, but first we had to pass the muster – our drill should we need to abandon ship! Standing around with bright orange life vests – oh so attractive! We killed some time after muster by picking out our shore excursions. I really only wanted to go snorkeling, so I signed up for snorkeling at the reef with the stingrays in Grand Cayman. Cozumel and Jamaica will be improvised. Janice signed up for an island tour, and the rest of the gang signed up for various other activities.

The R&RHE cocktail party was at 7 and there we ran in to Styx fan Sharon and her Journey pals Julie and Judy. Sharon reported that Tommy Shaw was on board ship – WOO HOO! A full day tomorrow to see if I can find him. The cocktail party was quite nice and we met up with a bunch of other Journey fans and got our official "group photo" – my camera and about 35 others! LOL! A couple of nice people volunteered to take pictures and it took a good ten minutes to get them all done! Hopefully they'll turn out. We did find the couple from the Netherlands, but none of the UK folks unfortunately.

Then it was off to dinner, which was delicious, but the ship was a little wobbly around then. Fortunately I felt fine – don't think the motion of the ocean is going to be much of a problem. After dinner, it was off to kill some more time checking out the shops which had finally opened before meeting up again with Darla and Emerson for the "welcome aboard" night which was an enjoyable comedy show. A little cheesy, but fun.

Then it was back to the room to finally finish unpacking and getting ready for the next 7 days at sea. Tomorrow is a "fun day at sea" – so basically I plan to hang out at the pool and get some sun! (I hope! It was a little cloudy when we pulled out of port with showers in the distance.)