Sunday 29 July 2012

Grand Princess July 2012

I flew out of Copenhagen after a successful week on RCI’s beautiful Jewel of the Seas and landed in Gdansk Poland, unfortunately there was no one there to pick me up from the airport, so I took a taxi to my hotel in the port of Gdynia. My hotel was “ok” and as I was so very tired I didn’t care really what it was like, I went for a walk around the town and took some photos, as you can see it has a lovely church.
I ended up in a lovely little bar and as I didn’t have any Polish money on me I had to charm the ever so nice lady behind the bar and she allowed me to pay in euros, they had some very nice beer spelt with a “Z” sorry I can’t remember now, but it was a great pint. Soon tucked up in my hotel bed and feeling a tad homesick I fell asleep. I woke around 7am and was soon in the taxi to the ship, we arrived on the quay side and watched the Grand Princess sail in, a truly magnificent sight, she looked splendid coming into the Harbour. The weather wasn’t kind at all and I stood at the gangway shivering in the rain and cold waiting to board. Once on and in my cabin and the heating turned up I soon recovered. The ever so talented Emily Reed is on in the theatre tonight, I last worked with Emily last year on Celebrity Eclipse, she has a huge voice for such a tiny frame, she tells me she is getting married next year, so congratulations to you and your Husband to be! I saw most of Emily’s show and then went to bed. My day wasn’t great as I got myself down a bit, I’m really missing home and my family at the moment, I’m hardly ever home and sometimes, well, as the Americans would say, it just sucks! Good Morning. It is a good morning too, I slept really well and as we are sailing very close to land with Demark and Copenhagen close by and we sail under the bridge there is a good signal so spoke to Marie for ages, I needed that, I miss her and Sam like mad, and at the moment really hugely miss them. Ha, on my iTunes Westlife has come on singing “Home” now that’s spooky isn’t it, every word in this song I can identify with. I love my home, but to have that home I have to be away from it? My rehearsal is at 5pm and my shows at 8.30pm and 10.30pm in the 900 seat Princess Theater and I am looking forward to working tonight. I had a lovely lunch sat all alone with a beautiful plate of pork and mash and a relaxing afternoon in my cabin working on my show for tonight. My rehearsal went very well, the band are really tight and the sound is fab, so I feel well up for it tonight. My 9pm show was 100% packed and I really enjoyed it, thanks to Mary in the front from the USA and to the rest of the crowd really, the 10.45pm felt a little different and I had to up the pace a bit but it turned out to be another great show. After the show I went to the Officers Wardroom with one of the Entertainments Officers Luke from New Zealand, he’s a great bloke and a great laugh too, we had a couple then had toasted ham and cheese sarnies on the way home, well when I say home, I mean our cabins! We were in Oslo yesterday, I have been there quite a few times and when the sun shines it really is an amazing place to walk around and take in the breath taking views and enjoy the waterfront, but it was quite a mixed bag weather wise, they are getting much the same as us at home with lots of rain, but it didn’t rain much and I was able to get around the town taking some pics, one particular seagull was the perfect subject, it just stood there letting me snap away taking pics of it, have a look! Last night I went to see a brilliant entertainer Gareth Oliver in the Theater, what a show he put on, it was hilarious and he stormed the crowd, he also had his girlfriend in the act with him and it was so clever what they did, if you ever get a chance to see Gareth work you must go, he is a fantastic act! Good Morning. We are at sea today in the North Sea making our way to Southampton. I’m on tonight with the brilliant Emily Reed who is an amazing singer, we have 7pm and 8.45pm shows and there is an hour back on the clock tonight, so that will come in very handy in terms of an extra hours in bed let me tell you! I have my show to work on for tonight now, then sort out some receipts for my VAT accounts, then work on my speech for tomorrow night in Rhoose for Aberthaw Cement, then pack ready for getting off tomorrow, I have to be up by 6.30am to be ready for the Immigration people at 7am, then I hope to be in a taxi and on the 8.10am train back to Bridgend and home to my family!

Sunday 22 July 2012

Jewel and Grand Princess

With only the 2 days off this time I had to try and enjoy every minute of it, I loved playing with my little boy Sam and I loved listening to his news of school and his funny jokes he’s had with his pals, I miss my family like mad and I sometimes wonder what on earth is it all about, to have the home and life I have, I have to be away from it, work that out someone please! I also managed to drive up to Nottingham to pick my son Tom up from his digs and bring him home, he has just finished an 18 week tour of the stage play Birds of a Feather with the original cast from the hit TV show, he did a grand job and we are all so very proud of him.
I then flew from Cardiff to Amsterdam where I then had to endure an 8hr wait in-between flights, my next flight to Tallinn in Estonia wasn’t until 8pm and I had landed in Amsterdam at 11am. I have a good friend at the airport who works as a bartender at the Het Pallais Bar his name is Jan, I first met him just over 5 years ago, the reason I can remember how long ago it was is because, when our son Samuel was born I missed the birth as I was on the P&O Arcadia, Sam came early and I missed it, I flew back two days after the birth and missed my flight to Cardiff so ended up at Amsterdam awaiting a late flight back home, so like most people would have been in my situation, I went to find the bar, I walked through the door with tears in my eyes and this wonderful man Jan looked at me and said “now here’s a man who needs a beer” in his thick Dutch accent, I said back to him “I have just missed the birth of my son” he said “ I think we should have two beers” we laughed and we have been good friends ever since. So here I am once again at Amsterdam and as always I made my way to the bar and there was Jan, I had a couple of beers and a lovely meal, I had 8hrs to kill in this airport, I am so glad I have a Priority Pass which means I have access to business lounges all over the world and in cases like this they come in very handy, with free food and drinks and free internet. The time passed and I was soon on the flight back to Tallinn, yes I was only there a few days ago on Celebrity Eclipse, it went quite quick, thanks to my IPad. I was soon at my hotel and the comfiest bed and pillows ever and a jaccusi (sorry can’t spell it and neither can my MacBook Pro) but very nice. I joined the beautiful Jewel of the Seas and was given the loveliest welcome as always and settled into my beautiful suite. I bumped into Susan Foster who is the Stage and Production Manager and a brilliant photographer; she has done most of my publicity, on the way to the ship I also bumped into an old pal and brilliant singer Gary Williams who I am taking over from, I do hope he has left me something in the fridge! I had dinner with the cruise director Clo and her lovely friends who are Airline Hosts one with Virgin and the other with BA, very nice people. My show is day after tomorrow so time to relax a bit…its 10.20pm here and its like daylight out there, we are now on our way to Gothenburg in Sweden, we dock right outside the Volvo Factory…how exciting!!!!! Goodnight! A day at sea and a mix bag of sunshine and showers and an old film on the telly, I felt quite lonely today, so what do you do when you feel lonely, you go to the bar of course, I had a lunchtime pint and met two terrific guys at the bar Mike and Shaun, Mike didn’t drink but still insisted he buys a round and Shaun so it happened turned out to be a Catholic Priest, so his name soon became “Father” what a great man, I enjoyed telling him of my days St. Mary’s RC School in Carmarthen and St. John Lloyd RC Secondary School in Llanelli, he is from Ireland and very proud of that, he is coming to my show tomorrow night and we are meeting afterwards for a pint, it was great to meet the two of them. The sea is calm and the sun is still out and with the cloud formation its making an interesting sky, oh quick where’s my camera! It’s a school night for me tonight as I am on tomorrow night for 7pm and a 9pm shows so its goodnight from me! I had the best shows ever, well it certainly felt that way, 2 shows and they went really quick, especially the 9pm and I ended up doing 1hr and 15mins, I really shouldn’t have over ran like that but it was just one of those nights, I couldn’t do anything wrong, couldn’t put a foot out of place, a great night. It was also a great night as Father Shaun and his party from County Galloway had an impromptu sing song in the Safari Club and what great singers they had in that group, I enjoyed so very much, it was lovely to hear some of the old Irish folk songs I used to hear as a child, wonderful night! I was up early this morning as Father Shaun invited me to go along to Mass, well I made it and very glad I did, it took me back to my days at St. Mary’s RC Church in Carmarthen, the responses came flooding back as did my tears at times, I just couldn’t help crying, nobody noticed so all was well, it was so good to meet Father Shaun and I wish him well and his parishioners as they fly back to Ireland tomorrow. I have been happy here in this beautiful suite and I have just been told that I have to pack my stuff and prepare to move to another suite, which will be the suite I normally get, just when I thought I was settled, oh well never mind, stop moaning Doyle and pack that case. Tomorrow we are in Harwich, I do love Harwich and I’m looking forward to going for a pint in the Hanover Inn and then some traditional fish and chips up the road from there, the weather was stunning the last time I was in Harwich, I do hope its going to be at least dry tomorrow! We sail away tomorrow evening for Copenhagen then I fly to Gdansk in Poland where I shall stay in a hotel and the next morning join the beautiful Grand Princess and sail back to Southampton. I had a great day as always in Old Harwich, firstly breakfast in the “Cuppa Coffee” in Dovercourt and free internet which is great, then jumped on the bus down to Old Harwich, the weather is awful today so haven’t taken too many photos, I have taken loads here before when the sun was out and the skies were lovely and blue, oh well it’s still good here. I popped into my local pub when I’m down here, the “Hanover Inn” and was given a great welcome by the Landlord Baz, he keeps a crackin pint of Thwaites Original Bitter and the locals are great with some sharp banter that keeps you laughing all day long, after that is was fish and chips that taste fantastic. Back on the ship and soon time for the emergency drill, as I have said before, after what happened with Costa O never complain about going now, I used to, but not any more, it’s so important! We are now sailing out of Harwich and on our way to Copenhagen, my show is tomorrow night and then off I go to Poland! I slept well last night and stayed in bed until 10am in-fact if Clo our cruise director hadn’t have rang me to say that her husband and son were up at breakfast waiting to see me I would have stayed in bed for another hour. It was lovely to see Clo’s other half Dave and there beautiful son Connor who has the most lovely long hair, our Sam likes it when Connor is here as he has someone to play with. My voice is very dry today, it’s the air-con, it plays havoc with your throat, my shows are tonight at 9pm and 10.45pm and we have a large Spanish and Mexican contingent so lets hope they can understand me, I do wish I could speak Spanish!

Friday 20 July 2012

Eclipse July 2012

With just a few days off and “Team Doyle” safely back from the Independence of the Seas with flights from Lisbon and Dublin I even managed a round of golf at Coed Y Mwstwr Golf Club, I do love this course! We had an afternoon down Rest Bay Porthcawl after a lovely Sunday lunch at the Rose And Crown in Nottage also near Porthcawl, but the weather was so wet and windy, we also enjoyed looking around the newly refurbished Garden Centre in Pyle, we bought two hanging baskets in the hope we get some kind of summer quite soon! I was soon back at Cardiff Airport and my flight to Tallinn via Amsterdam, I had a very tight connection and due to the fact the Tallinn flight was delayed I made it and so did my luggage. I met with an old pal and great entertainer Mark Donahue at Amsterdam and we had a good old catch up on the plane to Tallinn. We arrived at Tallinn and my case came off first as it went on the plane last I suppose, I was relieved to see it I tell you. A short taxi ride to the ship and the Eclipse was looking magnificent docked in the Harbour, we were next to the Aida and we just looked so much more modern and luxurious, she really is a beautiful ship and I feel very honored to be working on here. Once in my stateroom and the previous acts luggage at the doorway, that luggage belonged to another good friend of mine and my brother Phill, Taffy Spencer, who I soon bumped into, he’s a great bloke and we enjoyed a bit of lunch together, he does make me laugh. The cruise director is a really nice man called Mike Gibbons who is also a good friend of my brother Phill, I’m looking forward to meeting him as Phill has told me all about him. The show tonight was a brilliant singer called Cheryl Sinclair, what a voice, what an act, I can’t wait to meet her and tell her how much I enjoyed her show. It was an hour back on the clock tonight so I took advantage of that and went to bed, I was so tired as I had been up since 3.30am, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Good Morning all, we are at sea in the Baltics, it’s a chilly day with scattered clouds, so different from yesterday in Tallinn with lovely hot sunshine. I had a light breakfast and then met up with the cruise director Mike Gibbons, we went for a coffee and just as my brother said, what a lovely man, he clearly thinks allot of Phill as they have worked together before on another cruise line, he gave me a huge plug over the ships PA System and after my show tonight he has his own show then after that we are going for a drink. I have 2 hours now until my band call, sound check and rehearsal so I will catch up with you later. Its great to be back on Celebrity Eclipse! Rehearsal went perfect, they are 100% professional on here and I am so up for tonight. The 7pm went brilliant, when I walked into the theatre at 6.50pm there were about 150 people sitting there and all at the back, but by the time I went on at 7.05pm it was almost full, where did all those people come from, I had the most wonderful time up there tonight, I have my next show in 35mins, I’m really looking forward to it too! I do love this ship and this theatre, its just a brilliant theatre to work, it has 1350 seats and loads of technology to help make your show sound and look amazing, thanks guys. Copenhagen came and went, but I did have a great day, Mike the cruise director invited me off the ship for lunch with his family, we had a great time, just look at the photos. Later on that evening we met up with another good mate Rikki Jay, he’s a really nice man, he gave me the “Feed The Fish’ routine which I did in panto a few years ago, he was joining the Caribbean Princess that day. We all had a few drinks and just sat there at the quayside enjoying the sunshine and crack so to speak, yes it was a lovely day. Today we are at sea and I had a lay in till 11am…ah that was lovely! Its another sunny day here on Celebrity Eclipse in the North Sea, I do hope the weather at home has improved, poor little Sammy, all he wants to do is kick his ball in the garden! What do you think of this photo of Sam with his football, it is fab isn’t it, even if I say so myself! Tonight I have been invited to take part in “Liars Club” it’s a take on the old TV Show “Call My Bluff” to be honest I’m not very good at it, but I will do my best, the word Tittup is a good one to get a few laughs! I’ll soon be home again, we are going to he circus on Saturday as it’s coming to our area, Sam is very excited! The next day I’m driving up to Nottingham to pick my son Tom up and bring him home as his tour of “Birds of a Feather” will have finished, he has done so well, travelling all over the UK on trains and sorting his own hotels out, he was the Technical Assistant Stage Manager (TASM) he has also been booked for panto and he’s going back to Wolver Hampton to the Grand Theatre where he was last year with our dear lovely friends Sam Kane and Linda Lusardi, but this year Tom won’t be with them, which is a real shame as he loves to work with them, Sam Kane has done so much for Tom and he has learn’t an awful lot and it has helped him on his way. I need to go back on my diet, I’m ashamed I let it go, I lost two stone on the Lighter Life Light diet, so I am going back on it asap! My phone just rang and it was the production manager Maddie, she tells me I have to be in front of the immigration officers at 6.30am on Saturday, oh well maybe I could get on an earlier train then! The Liars Club event went w storm, it was a great laugh, I over heard an American guy say “oh my dear Lord, that was a riot” we did have fun! Today is our last day and we are at sea heading for Southampton, I am back on tonight in a variety show with Mark Donahue, Cheryl Sinclair and the cast of the Theatre Company who are amazing by the way! I have really enjoyed being back on Celebrity Eclipse and I look forward to coming back throughout the year, I have also been booked back for next year already…must be ding something right then!

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Brilliant on the Brilliance!

What a month it has been, my mothers 70th birthday, Sam’s 5th Birthday and Mam and Dad’s 52nd Wedding Anniversary, I took Mam and Dad with me on the Brilliance of the Seas to Norway and the Fjords, they loved it, we flew to Molde in Norway from Cardiff via Amsterdam and Oslo, it was a long day that day what with three flights, but well worth it when we finally got to Molde, the sun was shining the sky was blue and snow all over the nearby mountains, just look at the these photos!
Fab isn’t it, our hotel was very nice and very comfortable and right on the water, it did not go dark at all whilst we were there, 24hr daylight, Mam and Dad couldn’t get over it, we were having a drink in a bar at 11.45pm and the sun was out. Oh yes the drinks, Dad nearly fell through the floor at the price of the drinks, it was in our money £10 a pint of beer and the same for a glass of red wine, crazy isn’t it! We all loved our time in Molde, it’s a very nice quiet little town with the best drivers in the world, everyone and I mean everyone drove at the speed limit, 30mph really is 30mph in Norway, they must have some kind of huge fine if you break the speed limit! Please forgive me but I am writing this blog a few weeks after our time on the Brilliance, I usually write day by day and sometimes in real time. We also went to Alesund and beautiful Olden I think these photos say it all. The only thing that went wrong on this trip, well it worked out ok in the end but, my audience were 60% Spanish 30% German and the rest Brits and Americans, it was tough but somehow I did it, I even made myself laugh, I tried to talk in a Spanish accent but in English, so surreal! We got back home and my Mam and Dad just had the most wonderful time, Mam made friends with Sheila Trott my boss and they are going to keep in touch! The next cruise just 2 days after my parents was to Alicante with Marie and Sam my wife and our son, Sam had his 5th Birthday on the ship, this time the 160,000ton Independence of the Seas, we were only on the ship for 3 days in which I worked one of the nights but we had a great time, we played in the water park called H20 Zone, we went to an Ice Show, saw one of the spectacular production show called Once Upon A Time, Sam loved that show, it’s a great ship for families as there is heaps to do!
Here’s some phots of our time on Independence of the Seas.