Beginning the Gig: Arrival in Rome
On Sunday afternoon, I made it to Rome. I was to meet with my ship in Civitavecchia the next morning.
I was put up by the company in the Airport Hilton, which, what they told me, was only a five minute walk away. Well, yeah, if you don’t have two bags that are fifty pounds each, a euphonium and laptop strapped to your back while dragging your 60 pound bass case behind you! I was soaked, and my feet were bruised by the time I got there. When they say pack as light as possible, you should really take that to heart, because you will most likely have to move all your stuff in one trip. There was no way I was going to be able to leave anything off the ship and come back to it.
By the way, the extra baggage charged was reimbursed by the company. Lufthansa still has a 70 pound limit rather than the standard U.S. weight of 50. I really recommend flying with them overseas, this was my third time, and it was just great. Well, as good as it can be for a nine hour flight.
I don’t recommend flying Delta. My flight with them was really pleasant, but they have a huge track record of destroying instruments, and besides that, their extra bagging charge should be considered a sin. I flew with them from Melbourne, Florida to Atlanta. They used Lufthansa’s rules of two checked bags at 70 pounds, since I am going overseas with that company. However, they charged me their rate for the bass case:
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS!
I couldn’t believe that! I’m not sure if they charged me the rate for a second bag or a third bag. If they charged me Delta’s rate for bag three, that was just wrong, since the first two are now free due to my transatlantic flight. If that’s the charge for bag two, that’s robbery. The reimbursement form has already been approved and signed by my MD, and the purser has it in her possession now. I will see that money in a few days.
I went into Rome to try to see the sights. I took for granted the fact that many large cities in central and eastern Europe do speak English, but not in Rome. I was lost in an hour, trying to use my limited knowledge of Italian to communicate. Problem is, I blend in too well as an Italian, since I am Italian-American myself. If a 6’6” guy looked like he knew where he was going suddenly got confused and approached any of us and asked if we spoke their foreign language, I think we would be suspicious, too. Sadly, I didn’t get to see the Vatican or the Coliseum that day, but I did find a hole in the wall pizzeria that was pretty cheap for Rome. The pizza was great, and nothing like the pizza in the States. I used my broken Italian to ask the cook for directions back to the Metro, and just headed back to the Hotel.
The hotel housed about 50 or so new and returning employees for the night, so I met a few. I learned a few things talking to them: I was the only new American to join the ship. And, all the prices were the same as Dave said for his job, but the prices just very recently went up, like beer went from 50 to 75 cents, internet went from 10 to 12 cents a minute, etc.
When I got to the ship on Monday, we got started with training classes right away. I took my luggage to my room and put it all away. Surprisingly, everything fit but the SKB case for my basses. I also realized that in my transfer from one bag to another, I left one pair of black shoes, my bowties and cumberbund at home. The tux stuff I can find, but I have rather large feet, so finding large sizes in small European ports is going to be very difficult. Maybe I can have my parents send the stuff to me, provided I ever log onto the internet.
That night, we had our first show. The music is pretty cheesy, but I think my ship is a little less of that. We had one click track tune for that show, the “Welcome Aboard” number, which the A/V guys screwed up on the countoff, and the click was speeding up and slowing down, which led to a nice little train wreck. That chart is tough for me; it’s in the style of Earth, Wind, and Fire, and the bassline is a little technical. I am going to need to work on it for next embarkation day. We played Chameleon for background music, and they let me toy with the bassline. The freedom to actually improvise a little helps with my accepting this gig.
Later on, I went to check out this Argentinean latin-jazz quartet. The bass player was sick, so they asked me to sit in. Man, these guys were absolutely KILLIN! I haven’t had such an amazing performance experience in literally years. I went back to my cabin that night, smiling all the way from one end of the ship to the other. Come to find out the bass player from that group knows all of the Latino greats personally, and has them crash at his house in Cuba (he was just hired to replace their old Argentinean bassist). And I didn’t know that electric bass has a tumbao style all its own in Salsa. There’s a special way to play it that’s not like the typical bajistas that play an Ampeg Baby Bass. He’s going to be showing me how, and I am more than excited about that. (Edit: A week after typing this, the bassist went home with some stomach problems. The four of them were in tears, and I have been asked to fill in until they get it straightened out. So, I get to play poorly written basslines for the guest performers in the early evenings, then go to the bar and play straight ahead hardbop and Latin jazz for the rest of the night. Absolutely no complaints there.)
On Tuesday, I had more training at 9 in the morning. I figured I’d wake up at 8 and eat some breakfast. The thing I didn’t think about until my roommate told me the night before, is I have to set my watch forward an hour because of the time change. I just lost an hour’s sleep. At least the ship has a wake up call service. The other problem: Breakfast for ship employees is over at 8:30, which is about the time I got out of the shower. No breakfast.
I had training until about noon, then I went to the crew deck at 7 forward, and shed my electric bass a little bit, had some lunch and got to know my roommate a little better. Then, we played for the captain’s welcome aboard toast at 7:15 and again at 9:15, each for about 20 minutes. Piece of cake.
I then took off my tux, changed into a nice shirt and slacks, and headed out to the Rendezvous club to jam with the quartet again. When they finished their set, I went to talk to Arturo, the bassist, and set up my bass. The Cruise Director called me over with a very displeased look on his face, and told me it’s formal night, and I have to be in my tux. I apologized and told him I didn’t know, and was told politely to read over my documents again. He told me to just go back to my cabin and put my tux back on.
On my way back, I got stopped by the production manager. I had put my SKB case in the costume room, right by the music equipment. She told me that’s a safety hazard, and I would have to move it.
Then I realized something: I’m getting called out for a rule I broke at least a few times a day! I was talking to my roommate about this, and he said I’m still ahead of the game, because most staff and crew members get a written warning on the ship within the first week. I can see there’s a standard to uphold, but at least a few days to get used to the inner workings would be a little fair. I then remembered how I was told this particular line is loaded with rules.
Later that night, I went to the staff mess to give my roommate and his girl some alone time, where I was lectured by my musical director. He told me I signed an agreement that I had read the handbook and all the enclosed documents emailed to me, and I had better get to know them again real quick. He then told me he’s going to deliver the dress code to my room again. I felt like I was in a scene from Office Space. I just got the document. Now, I did read over everything handed to me before I signed anything, and I can honestly say I never received this document. I guess people who adhere to strict rules CAN make mistakes.
Today is Wednesday. I had four hours of sleep last night because I stayed up with the roommate talking and got up this time at 7 so I could eat breakfast and then shed in the Savoy Night Club, where the first training session of the day was at 9. I’m loathe to go to sleep or take the tender to Mykonos right now, because I’m supposed to maybe have a rhythm section rehearsal. You see, we got this guest violin performer this week, and she handed us charts. They are poorly written, and from a music engravist’s point-of-view, the engraving was absolutely horrible, and the music is hard. Stupid hard. It includes rhythms that I should have been looking at last week, and needs to line up with the guys. The rhythm section wants to rehearse, but the MD doesn’t want us to until tomorrow. I think he’s afraid of stepping over feet if we take a space that isn’t scheduled for us. Just coming back from dinner, we agreed to get together at 9 tonight and listen to the CD while looking over our parts. In other words, this is the reason the sight reading is held to such a high standard for the show band.
The rest of the week looks to be the same. I have training almost every day for this first cruise, then I get to have the easy life of a cruise ship musician. I brought along about 10 books to read, I have three instruments to practice, and I have two large works to get ready for publishing for two of my clients. I don’t think I’m really going to get bored.
Tomorrow, we get into Rhodes, so I think I can upload this document and the travel suggestions then. I’m trying to keep from paying for too much; my roommate’s girlfriend just said she got a bill from the crew bar for last month, and it was $200. I guess if you keep charging to your account like that, it will catch up to you pretty fast. Tonight, I think I’m going to visit the crew bar for the first time. There are a few of the production dancers that keep trying to get me down there, and I don’t want to disappoint my fans.
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