And so ends another 2 week cruise....

Day 9

Extra quebec day! No wait today wasn't exactly the extra day. Tomorrow is. But instead of leaving at 6pm or something we had another overnight. Sadly tonight became the night we were port manning which meant staying on the boat after 8pm. 

I decided to spend the day exploring more of quebec. The moment I got on the gangway there was a surge of people coming back on. That very moment I suspected something fishy was going on. So I got out and started walking around and what do you know, it began to rain. Thankfully not the heavy rain but that typical misty rain that seems to riddle this part of the world. And just when I decided to go back to the ship it stopped raining. Geez.

The one fantastic thing about today was the fact that it was a once in a blue moon day off for the orchestra. It really began to feel like the day off after we had dinner and had absolutely no work to do. We just hung out and watched some videos, some of the orchestra members that is.

What a way to spend the day. 

Day 10

Sail away was early today. Extra night in quebec but we sailed off at 10:30am. Which meant we didn't get an extra day after all. Just an extra night. 

Had to play for a classical pianist today. Granted the dude is talented and all and he can really really play, not like second rate pianist who was here the other time, but this guy has actual skills. 

But the man has no sense of band direction, conducting, or, worse still, time. He has absolutely no rhythm. Here's the problem with a pianist like that. He can sound utterly amazing as a soloist playing his classical pieces where he can push and pull time to his whim which most people call 'expression' but when you're playing with a drummer, it does not work at all. It's tough being a drummer and having to follow someone with that kind of weirdo understanding of time because he is not following me.

He has a good show and talent but man this guy should remain a soloist. Thankfully he's doing a concert tomorrow that doesn't concern the band. Phew.

Day 11

Thanks to the lovely weather we are spending a day at sea, barely moving. Our port destination tomorrow is La Baie which is actually still in Quebec. So we're taking more than an entire day to get to somewhere that isn't very far away. Sure the slow moving ship means no rocking on board, but it does feel like we're wasting a ton of time. 

On the upside we get to play some jazz tonight because the entertainer tonight is a juggler. 

This cruise though there aren't as many dancing couples. Which is actually less fun. It's nice to see people standing up and getting down with our music. I'm sure they enjoy it just as much sitting down drinking wine, but dancers always make the room come more alive.

Oh well.

Day 12

Reached the town of La Baie. Or whatever.

Must say, compared to charlottetown or sydney, both of which I didn't quite like, this was even worse. The place is absolutely tiny and there is absolutely nothing going on here. It's not a tourist spot at all. The biggest attraction there is A church and the McDonalds. I'm serious. It was that horrible. It was blistering cold too. I tried hiking up the river but there was no access to it so I gave up and went back on board the ship. Horrible. It actually feels like a 'substitute' port because it's as exciting as cheddar cheese.

Tonight we played a show with a Vegas singer and trumpet player. It's actually one of the better shows we've played. Gotta say, I enjoyed him more as trumpet player than a singer. The trumpet songs that we played were pretty bad ass but the singer stuff was very typical vegas cover singer. Good show though. 

Day 13

Man had a really full day today. I am tired out. 5 different performances today. Crazy stuff. Not that I'm complaining. But certainly deserves an earlier night. 

Thoughts from the week?

I just noticed that my writings are in weird tenses. Grammar police would've locked me up for life by now. Here's the reason why. I write these at different times of the day so sometimes they are about things that have already happened and sometimes they are about things that are going to happen. Deal with it.