September 3, 2011

TURN AROUND DAY, FTL

Yesterday was incredibly busy, and today the same, but with the addition of finally seeing Ralph after two months. Yesterday first.

Final Karaoke was fun. The talent pool was not as strong as on other ships but once again many of my Superstar contestants showed up. I had a fly in the ointment though. One of the Cruise Staff is very unhappy, and is signing off this coming weekend. I wish this person the best, but I would be lying if I said I was unhappy to see them go. I have always spoken well of this person and been friendly, so I have no idea why they did what they did except as a malicious joke. This individual had karaoke the previous night, and had apparently gotten into an altercation with Earlon in front of guests. Never piss off your DJ. Anyway, this person told Earlon that he did not need to show up for Final Karaoke since they and I would be hosting a contest. When Earlon questioned this he was told it was all scheduled and not to worry about it. Of course I knew nothing about this. I show up to Final Karaoke, Earlon is not there, but I figure he is a bit late so I start getting things ready. When Earlon shows up he asks where the other Cruise Staffer was. I said I had no idea, that they weren’t scheduled to be here anyway. Earlon asked if there was a contest that evening. I was really confused now and said no, there wasn’t, it was just the normal karaoke session. He then proceeded to tell me how he had been told not to show up, but that he felt uncomfortable and thought he would double check. This is why I love Earlon. He is extremely professional. It’s why I trust him. We had a fun karaoke session anyway, and Nikita showed up. She wasn’t going to sing, but I’ve never taken “no” for an answer, so saw no reason to start doing so. She sang.

After Karaoke I went back to the cabin and started preparing for the next day and Ralph. It was about 3AM when I fell asleep, and my alarm was set for 6:45AM so I could get off ship as early as possible. 7:30 saw me on the gangway and off ship and at the taxi to take me to the hotel Ralph had arranged us to stay in. Ralph had come up the previous night, but he had not arrived until 3AM. With coffee in hand I went up to his room – (Editor’s note: The next few hours has been redacted from the account)

Getting back on the ship around 2:30PM it was straight back to work. Box office, Safety Drill, Oasis of Dreams doors and Karaoke. I was dragging by the time karaoke came around, and I will admit to thinking, “ugh, first night, no one will be there, it will suck”. It turned out to be one of the most amazing nights of karaoke I have ever seen. The energy was spectacular, the talent was amazing, and I can already tell that this week’s Oasis Superstar will be unbelievable. There is a large group of African Americans (yeah!), from SEATTLE, (Rainer Beach area for those of you knowledgeable about the Seattle geographical regions), and quite simply they made the show. Singing, dancing, singing duets in harmony….we had songs covering all the genres, and great voices singing them. Midnight came around all too early. I am glad to say that Key West Mike’s Church of Music is up and running again for another week! Praise!