The Star Princess
A very modern and enormous ship and a very short contract – just under two weeks! I've settled in well and have a good cabin mate who is also a guitar vocalist. Here is the Star in Alaska where I joined the vessel on Wednesday.
The Star Princess sailing past some mountains
They have set me up in the O'Malley's Irish Pub onboard and I am enjoying performing for the guests. Thankfully they don’t mind that I am an Englishman in the Emerald Isle establishment and have accepted my lack of Irishness. However, my agent for these contracts (Premier International) are Irish and so I feel part of the family.
O'Malley's Irish Pub Logo
My guitars setup ready for performances in O'Malley's Irish Pub one the Star Princess
So far, so good. It's always fascinating to watch the guests come and go. You know the ones who will return, like my voice and my guitar playing… and those who don't! That's what I've learned over the years of performing on cruise ships or anywhere for that matter - someone will like my music offering and others will not, either because the style of Music I'm playing is to their taste or they just don't like the sound they can hear. Music is subjective and I don't take it too personally. There are some artists that I can't listen to as well! No names mentioned ha ha. There are even some songs which I hate to play, but I know people love to hear so I just give it my all because my job is to entertain and not judge. Of course, there are a couple of songs which I try not to play if I can possibly help it. One of them, is one of the most popular songs of a certain generation. I wonder if you can guess what it is? Other songs which are very popular, I happen to love playing and never get bored of. One such song – Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison. For me the song never be old and always fun to sing.
The Dome performance space on the Star Princess
This is my first time on a ‘sphere class’ cruise ship. It's apparently the first cruise ship which Princess themselves designed. It's got some really interesting venues to perform in. The one pictured above is the ship its name. A sphere-shaped dome at the front of the ship. It can also be turned into swimming swimming pool! very cool, but a nightmare for the production staff! Water and electricity don't mix very well! Anyway, I look forward to performing here next week.