The Caribbean Sea and Cozumel, Mexico
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph
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!
No comments:
Post a Comment