time with the twin (ship)

Monday 17th November 2008

10:02 a.m. I am on the Pride of Hull for a 2½ week stretch. I’ve just done my first round-trip, and both nights went fairly well. Saturday was busy as usual, and there were several couples and groups who were in for most of the evening, and some of them made requests. Last night was a similar story.

Owen Vaughn is now the resident entertainment manager on this ship, replacing Karen, both of whom I worked with recently on the Rotterdam at one stage or another. Also, the resident band are now Full Extra, who were on the Rotterdam with me last summer, having just come on in place of Top Secret, who were a performing as a duo on the York and the Bruges back in the day, but are now a four-piece ‘band’.

Tuesday 18th November 2008

4:22 p.m. Last night was painfully quiet, almost as much as when I was on this ship before, in February of last year – at some points during the evening you could have heard a pin drop in between songs! I didn’t sing at all as I was feeling unwell.

Friday 21st November 2008

10:07 a.m. Tuesday night was pretty much the same as the night before. Wednesday night it was slightly busier but not much, even so I did sing a few songs which went down well but the majority of the evening I was playing instrumentals. Last night was busier still, and more like the kind of evening I am accustomed to, with the bar relatively busy throughout the evening, and as such was a bit more fulfiling and enjoyable. There was quite a mixture of people in, young and old, British and European, and there were a few groups and couples who stayed until the end. I played various numbers, including Greensleeves which had been requested and I can’t remember performing before, and it went down well. I finished up by playing a partly experimental fusion of Misty and Gymnopédie. I had some nice comments from people afterwards.

Last night was the first night this week when the sea was notably rough, with a wind force of around force 8-9. Thankfully though it didn’t seem to affect me at all. It is nice and sunny in Hull this morning, although typically cold for this time of year. Apparently there is snow forecast for this area tomorrow, I wonder whether there will still be a small covering by the time we dock on Sunday.

Tonight is the only Friday night sailing from Hull of this contract, and I’m hoping that my voice will be up to it, as I have still to shake off this lingering cold. I have been plying myself with copious amounts of fruit juice and vitamin substitutes, as well as the usual medicines, so hopefully this will accelerate the process!