October 14th, 2003
Hello again everybody
This email is mostly going to be about the ship itself, but first what my last couple of days have been like
Mondays are always our longest day for the band. We play 2 captain's cocktails (dances), and two broadway shows. Fortunately, we have all of Tuesday off, and the boat is in port at Nassau all day. I can't get off the boat until Thursday, though, because I have "In Port Manning," which means that a certain number of staff have to stay on the ship for the whole cruise. It rotates, so I won't have it again for 3 or 4 weeks. Also, the last couple of days I have had lots of meeting, safety tests, and the like. All the meeting and such take more out of me than playing 4 shows last night, but they should be done soon.
Ok, now about the ship itself. I am on the M/S Fantasy, which was made in 1990 (I think it's one of the older, less desireable (i.e. crappy) ships). There are 12 decks. I live on deck 2, and most of the crew stuff is on deck 3. There is a casino, a disco, 3 or 4 lounges, a large theatre (where I play), a fancy dining room, many places serving alchohol, a spa, swimming pools, running track, gift shops, formal wear rental, and lots of other stuff I can't think of. Here's some stats: 855 ft long, 920 staff, 2056 passengers, top speed 21 knots, and about 70,000 tons. If you're interested in the ship's web site--
http://www.carnival.com/Ships/ships.asp?select=FA
Most (actually almost all) of the crew is not American. Mostly just the musicians are from the US or Canada. Most of the officers seem to be from Italy, and just about every other nationality is represented onboard (I think they said 90 in the whole company). Out of all the jobs mine probably has the lightest load; I only have to perform about 15 hours a week, have all of Tuesday off, and rarely have rehearsals.
Anyway, I think that's enough for now. In my next email I'll probably talk about the bands and musicians and stuff. Later
Brian Einstein Lassiter