Turkish Greetings!

Monday 14^th May

Well here we are, I've finally managed to sit down and try and write down some of the most interesting bits of the last few weeks! I ended my last entry by saying that I felt I had enough to write a novel, and boy if I were to document half of the goings on of the last few weeks then we'd be here all year! I think I should start by saying that despite all the whinging that is likely to follow I am actually having a great time, really enjoying the work, total change of scenery and lifestyle, but it really is hard work!

It seems a lifetime away since I last tried to write things down and it really isn't an exaggeration to say it doesn't feel like there has been a moment since then that I've had as spare time off. So, where to start? Last time I wrote it was just Adrian and I on board, but a few days later the Peel production and show team arrived and so things obviously started picking up then! Everyone I've had to work with so far have been really great and I think everyone in the team is going to get on really well. It has been total chaos so far for a number of reasons, but as I mentioned the ship was being used by Louis as a replacement to the Sea Diamond which made it really difficult to work as there were passengers around and all the staff for the other cruise. It meant there were constant clashed and confusion with meetings and rehearsals time. Obviously there is a huge amount of equipment, props, scenery and other stuff involved so storing and using all that whilst not having anywhere to keep resulted in lots of problems. On top of that the stage manager was having visa problems, and we didn't have a DJ so I was the only technician until three days after we went live!! The Regency Lounge where the shows happen every night is a really tough room, as are most of the places around the ship to be honest. There have been so many problems with the set-up and equipment it’s untrue and I really couldn't start to tell you what a mess everything has been. We are slowly getting there and now Jhun (the stage manager) as finally arrived we are able to get things in better order, but it's still going to be really busy until all that is done and we have had one run through all the shows so we know what's going on a bit better. So by this time next week I should get a bit more time off.

I'm not going to go on about all the ins and out of everything that has gone wrong as it isn't particularly exciting so I'll try and keep a mental note to talk about at a later date! However as I've spent almost every moment trying to sort out all those issues it does leave me a bit light on the ground of material!! So if there is anything you want to know - ask away! Important things are is that the food is good and I'm eating two big meals a day, the weather is fantastic although the only time I spend in it is setting the band up on deck! However on that note, the band didn’t do too well and they’ve left already! They’re being replaces with a four piece rather than five, so I’m first on the list for my own cabin if the way they share works out!

Wednesday 16^th May

There have been a few moments where it really has got to me and I’m totally exhausted at present and just hoping for a rest bite soon! I’ve written all this in stages, but as I write now I’m sitting on the ship in Venice! However the rehearsal this morning didn’t go well, so although I have a rare hour or two off, no-one else does and Venice sounds like a bit of challenge to navigate so I think I’ll have to wait ‘til the next time we are here, as I’ll have been paid by then too!

The evening shows are really enjoyable, and although the performances still have room to improve, the audiences are giving good feedback and I’m enjoying ‘teching’ them. It does make the stress and exhaustion somewhat bearable when you get to the end of the second show and all has gone well! We have a guest artist each week too, both been comedians so far and that’s been great too, having a 20 minute rehearsal then doing a full show with ques for songs and gags and all sorts, but Maurice Grumbleweed said the show was perfect last night so you can’t ask for more than that!!

Friday 18^th May

Well if today is a sign of what things will eventually be like then there finally seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel! Friday is disembark/embark day so we lose lots of passengers and get a new lot on depending on whether they’ve booked for one or two weeks. It means the schedule is different to any other day and as technicians don’t have any duties like welcoming people at the terminal it’s been quite a relaxed day. Add to that it’s been raining on and off all day so the band haven’t been able to play on deck which was my main daytime duty. So after teching the port showcase this morning I’ve had some free time. It’s around 6pm now and I’m waiting to hear if we are going to set the band up on deck or not!

I moved into my own cabin late last night, so it’s been good to have some time today to sort out, get off ship and get a few groceries in, as I now have a fridge to myself in my cabin to go along with the flat screen TV and DVD player – makes up for the shoe box size!

Unfortunately things are going to take a turn for the worse this week however, as the DJ (who was only ever here short term) is leaving and it’s going to be really tough to get by without his help as he has been doing lots of odd jobs and which Jhun and myself don’t have the time to do! We supposedly have a new person lined up but not sure when he arrives and how good he is. Fingers crossed that we are not too long without as even with him, I didn’t get an evening meal last night and survived on crisps and chocolate!! That was because the new band arrived, 4 middle aged guys from the Ukraine. I think they’ll be a lot better than the last lot once they’ve settled in. They’ve been doing ships for years by the sound of things and reckon we have it good!!!

Monday 21^st May

We are back in ‘real time’ now as I’m writing this from a cafe in Kusadsi, Turkey. I’m at the crew calling centre and logged onto the wireless network sat out in the sun with a cold drink! If this is the sign of things to come when things properly calm down then things are looking up!

Things have settled down a bit more over the weekend and I’ve enjoyed a few more hours off here and there, although not managed to get off the ship until now. We are back to the start of the 2 week show programme now, so we are doing everything for the 2^nd time so fingers crossed it should all run a bit smoother. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the places I’ve only seen from the boat too. Venice and Santarini look beautiful and i can’t wait to have some time to get off and have a look round. I’ve been paid now so I think I’m going to treat myself to a digital camera as my phone really isn’t cutting it!

Apologies if the formatting is a bit all over the place, the Blogspot site is in Turkish and I can't work out whats goin on!! I hope everyone is well, I’m running out of interesting things to say already, so drop me a message and hopefully I’ll be able to reply soon!

Pireaus - again!

Well it's not getting any calmer!! Stupidly busy, but I'm now not the only technician, the stage manager and DJ finally boarded on Monday so its should settle down in the next 2 weeks. Not much time for a proper update, but I will type up something witty for next time if I get a chance. Really hard work but enjoying it and all the guys are great so looking forward to it all calming down!

I promise to have something more informative next time! Hopefully it will be in the next week so have a check back soon! ;-)

Back on the ship...

I've just got back on the boat and managed to log onto the ports wireless network on my laptop. I wrote this a week a go, lots has happened since but at least its some info...

I'm writing this, my 1^st official trip entry from under the sea just outside Santorini. No, don't worry, the ship hasn't sunk already, although I'm told we are near the spot where the recent cruise ship sinking did occur! Oh Joy!! The reason I'm underwater is because my cabin is down in the depths of the ship, which makes for a rather noisy night when the sea is rough as it was last night.

Yesterday was pretty eventful to say the least, that being said I actually spent the majority of it standing or sitting around without the faintest idea what was going on around me - a pretty scary thing to do considering I'm in a foreign country and there didn't seem to be many English speakers around to lend a hand. After the way all planning and organisation had gone so far I wasn't too surprised that I wasn't given the red carpet treatment when I stepped onto Greek soil, so after a comfortable enough flight watching Miss Potter I was delighted that my bags were the very first two on the conveyor belt and as soon as I got to the gate there was a rather dodgy looking Greek Taxi driver holding a sign, not for John-Marc or any other variation of my name but for Jon-Mark, things were looking pretty good!

I'm afraid it went down hill from there though! The taxi driver told me that someone else was due to be picked up so did we just had to wait for a bit for the flight to come in. No problem I thought until 10 minutes later he said we'd just leave and someone else would get the other guy. So half way into our 20 minute drive in a nice big Mercedes taxi the driver starts getting rather irate with the guy on the other end of the phone. When he finally hangs up he tells me we are now taking a detour to his house, where he'll finish the fare with his private car and another guy will take the taxi to go pick up the other guy from the airport. In hindsight I should have suggested we head back to the airport ourselves as I was later to discover that the 'other guy' was the only other person who has anything to do with Thomson or Peel (the two companies I work for) in sight. I finally get dropped off at the boat, which looked pretty impressive, no picture as yet though I'm afraid. To cut a rather long story short, after boarding at the crew entrance, for the next two hours I was passed from one person to the next, few of whom could string together a sentence (probably in their own language let alone English) until some nice lady introduced me to Adrian (up to now known as the 'the guy'), found us a passenger cabin each, before disappearing of into thin air once again.

Fortunately Adrian has worked with Peel as the light designer for the last few seasons, so when he knocked on my door an hour later some things started falling into place. I could detail all the ins and outs but I fear if your not already asleep it might send you needing a pillow. Most important thing being that before my head hit the pillow that night I had a decent meal inside me and had visited the bar.

So it's actually on Day Two that I'm writing at the moment and it seems it may actually be a while until I get internet access, so although I feel like I've quite a bit to say it will turn into a novel before the time when I'll get to post it on-line. The reason for the internet issue and most problems that I've been faced with so far is because the ship is currently being used by a different cruise company, 'Louis'. This ship was not supposed to be operational but the booking from ship that sank a few weeks ago have been transferred here, hence the general chaos and confusion. For that reason there actually isn't a huge amount of work that can be done at present as all the theatre and show spaces are being used for the current entertainment. That being said I've spent all afternoon clearing out the sound booth in 'The Regency Show Lounge', no mean feat I can tell you! It was full of junk, old equipment covered in dust just scattered everywhere, and with it being rather compact to put it nicely it has certainly benefited from the clear out.

I'll get more organised and post something more coherent next time I get a chance!!

From an Internet Cafe in Piraeus Port

Hello!!

I have a bit of a blog written on my laptop but I wasn't expecting to get net access now, so have nothing with me and I'm rather short of time! Woke up this morning in Piraeus and loaded up a delivery which is heading back to the UK. Thats my 1st time on dry land since I boarded last Wednesday, and I've managed to sneak off and find an internet cafe. Got to leave plenty of time before the boat leaves as I don't have a clue where I am!!

All is going really well, Im enjoying it, just really busy - but I'll update you more when I get a chance. Is going to be another week at least 'til then I think, but who knows! I have some pics and things so when I get a chance I'll try and get them loaded up!

Speak soon. x

The story so far...

Well, here goes!

This is my first attempt at trying to keep any sort of diary or journal, so you may have to bear with me whilst I work out how many of the boring bits to leave out! You've Phil to blame if this turns into more of a tool for the insomniacs than a blog as he's hoping my ramblings are going to be interesting! And so when my 'Frost Fair Friends' (thanks for that phrase Liz!) gave me a journal I thought that it was time to take the hint and get something started!

Since I got the job a few weeks back now I've had a few days of training which including jumping from 3 metres wearing an orange boiler suit, into a swimming pool with all the lights off, with a storm sound effects CD blaring away and a guy spraying a hose at us! So if we sink in a storm at night I'll know exactly what I'm doing! After this they showed us the Holidays from Hell programme where the captain and senior crew jumped in a boat and made for safety rather than helping anyone else at the first sign of trouble. They really need to work on motivation techniques in these training sessions I think!

The Emerald

All of that aside I'm obviously quite excited about going away and as everyone has been telling me, it's great timing, a super opportunity and to 'go for it'! It's all pretty scary too, not only a new job but new environment, lifestyle and everything so keep the words of encouragement coming!! However with some of the advice so far telling me never to trust air conditioning, to stay out of the sun and not to fall for a navy boy, I am starting to wonder just what some of you guys think I'm letting myself in for!

Finally I'm open for suggestions of special features, or areas of interest to keep you updated on whilst I'm away. Let's try and avoid anything too rude if we can, Andys suggestion of some sort of tan-o-meter, is one well worth considering I think. Perhaps if there was some sort of bet involved in how red I'm gonna get it could help fund my sun tan lotion costs!

So 16th April is the date I'm off last I heard, so hopefully I'll still get to see some of you before I go!