Civvi Aug 2012

Firstly I must say sorry, yes sorry for not writing my blog for a few weeks, due to lots of things not even worth mentioning I’m here once again! Its been a crazy few weeks, what with trans shipping all over the place, since the wonderful cruise on Brilliance of the Seas with my Mam and Dad and two lovely cruises with my wife and son Sam I have done and been all over the place. I have had my fair share of coughs and colds so much so I even had to cancel a Saga Cruise for which I am truly sorry, I was looking forward to joining the Saga Quest of Adventure, oh well its now booked for next year now.

A big highlight for me this summer was a few weeks ago when I was joining the beautiful Grandeur of the Seas in Palma Mallorca, I flew into Palma and my good friend Mark Bailey who owns Trade Centre Wales and who I do Radio Adverts for, met me at the airport and then took me to where his private yacht was moored and invited me to stay onboard for the night, what a boat, I was expecting something much smaller, I mean this thing was huge, with 3 bedrooms all with en-suite bathrooms, a fully fitted kitchen, a huge living space including the bridge controls, an outside dining area aft enough for 8 people, a speed boat on the back, upstairs another dining area with bench seats and a bar-b-que, sunbathing space and another bridge, this was the real deal, what an amazing experience. He took me out to dinner that night to his favorite restaurant and that was spectacular, I had suckling pig, that was so lovely. We sat on the open deck for hours chatting away until time for bed, unfortunately I had a cold and a troublesome cough but it didn’t spoil it for me. The next morning I got up having slept well in the forward cabin and walked around this magnificent marina and took loads of pics, Mark then took me for a big boys breakfast over looking the marina and then said to me “I have a surprise for you, I am taking you to the ship in the Yacht” well I could have fallen through the floor. Mark had a Captain arrive at the Yacht and we sailed down the coast to Palma, it was a wonderful trip, I even drove for a while, the sea was an amazing colour and the coast line spectacular, soon Palma came into view and my ship was now visable, then I started to panic as I couldn’t see where we were going to dock for me to disembark, he only pulled up right next door to the Grandeur of the Seas and that’s where I got off and walked a few yards to the ship, I am still on cloud nine, thank you Mark that was just an amazing kind thing you did for me and I will never forget it!

The two cruises with my family were a blessing , Independence of the Seas which I have already told you all about in an earlier blog and most recently Serenade of the Seas only 2 days ago. We flew from Cardiff to Rome via Amsterdam and Sam was a really good boy all the way, he is becoming a very good traveller and he’s only 5yrs old bless him. Soon in Rome and finally in our Hotel the Hilton Garden Inn which did the best Pizza I have ever tasted and had the most comfy beds ever which they called “a sleep system” they were just so comfy. The next day we made our way to Civitavecchia with a dear old pal who I have know for nearly 20yrs Pete Matthews, he was the best company and made a huge fuss of our Sam and Sam loved him. Pete worked that night and absolutely stormed the crowd, he’s a fantastic act and it’s a pleasure to work with him, boy he’s come on since our days on the Canon and Ball Show in Blackpool. The Serenade is a beautiful ship and its what they call a Radiance Class Ship, it is identical to the Brilliance, Jewel and Radiance, it packs in a lot of ship for 90,000tonnes. Sam loved the water slide the best and Pete went down with him loads of times, I did once and Marie went loads of times, we all enjoyed the mini golf and played a lot, the weather was very hot sunshine, average 37c so we had Sam well covered. We loved the production show called Vibe Oligy it was music from over the decades Elvis, Beatles, Queen, The Who to todays music, very cleverly done with some outstanding vocals from all. My show was on Kusadasi night, the night before we travelled home, Kusadasi is a fab place but for poor little Sam it was just too hot 39c so we only walked around the market for 20mins, you can buy anything your little heart desires in Kusadai. Time for my show, the band 100% brilliant as was the sound and lights, the crowd were a mix of British, Americans, Spanish and others people from around the world, I loved my shows and went down great so that part done and dusted. I had a few drinks with Pete after the show with some friends and soon bed and an early call the next day. We had a very long day ahead of us a good 11hrs travelling and as I say our Sam just takes it all in his stride and gets on with it, we can take him anywhere. So Athens to Amsterdam then onto Cardiff, I got my precious cargo home, then for me it was unpack and re pack as fast as I could then bed for 4 hours and a car at 4am to take me back to Heathrow for a flight back to Rome so to join the Grand Princess in the port of Civitavecchia. I stayed in a nice little hotel and had all afternoon to walk around and enjoy a cold beer and another pizza. I had a rude wake up call this morning at 7.30am “Come down NOW sir, bus is waiting” I had no idea the bus was taking me so early, so no brushed teeth and no shower and a panic stricken run to reception, as I was running out the door I hear “sir you had a bottle of water from mini bar yes…@euro please” after searching for the 2 damn euros I found myself apologizing to the full bus of crew members for holding them up, “huh entertainers” I heard one say, I was so embarrassed. Once on the ship I unpacked had a nice café latte and a bacon, egg and cheese bagel I ventured off the ship for a walk only to find P&O Oceana is in with us, I do hope I get to meet up with Cruise Director Nigel Travis later on, I miss P&O! I with quite a few people off the Oceana, I first bumped into Roger Carr who is the musical director and I have known him since 1995 from Oriana days, then my old pal Colin “Fingers” Henry came along for a drink, Colin is a great act and we have known each other for years, we sat in the shade having a few beers and laughed away for a good hour, I had a call from Nigel Travis the cruise director of Oceana and so then jumped back on the shuttle bus and met him on the quayside for a quick catch up, I used to work with Nigel loads of times so would see each other every year many times through out the year and now I hardly see him, or work on P&O Cruises, it’s a shame as I miss the company, or is it the people that work there? We sailed away from Civitavecchia and the Oceana sailed right after us, got some great pics of her just off our stern. I had an early night last night, I should have gone out as the McDonald Brothers were on in the Princess Theatre, you may remember them from the X Factor a few years ago, a great act and very nice lads. I had a message under my door this morning from a real good mate of mine Mark O Malley, so he got on today and I’m so pleased as he really is a tonic, a real happy guy to be around, I’m looking forward to spending time with him. We did just that, Mark and I went ashore and enjoyed the lovely Naples sunshine, it wasn’t as hot as it was in Civitavecchia, it was over 40c yesterday, today was 36c, still hot mind! I have my show tonight and have a rehearsal at 5.30pm so see you later! Rehearsal went great as they have a great band and sound man, I had a nice rest before the show and I have just come in from the 8.30pm show and enjoyed it, a great crowd and they were quite young as its summer so a lively lot, the sound wasn’t as good as rehearsal unfortunately so I need to talk to the sound man before I go back on. Yes, much better and really enjoyed it up there and even throwing in some new ideas. Today we are in Corsica and what a beautiful Island it is, the sun is shining strong and there is a light breeze to help the day along. Tonight its Mark’s turn and he has two show tonight so I will be going along to the 8.30pm show. I met two very nice people at one of the pool bars John and Sharon from Neath, we had a good chat and a few drinks and they wanted me to know how much they enjoy the Trade Centre Wales Ads which I was delighted to hear. Marks show was spectacular and everyone loved him, he sings some great songs, he was once in “Miss Saigon” in London, a great mate and a great act! Today we are at sea, and the sea state is flat calm, it really is like a mill pond. My boy Sam learn’t to ride his bike, that was the great news sent to me today by text, I am so proud of him, we bought him one of those balance bikes and he only went on it about six times and now he’s on his big bike without the stabilizers, again I am not there, its hard but I’m not going to go on about it, well done Sam. I had my rehearsal at 10.30am which went really well and this afternoon I had a letter delivered to my cabin from someone…wait for it…accusing me of saying something offensive to some teenagers who walked out of my show the other night, well I am not happy about this and I look forward to meeting with this man and talking to him about it, I have worked on some of the best cruise lines in the world and know exactly how to behave…thank you very much, do I sound angry to you? My show is in 35mins so best I get going, bye for now! Both my shows went great, the early show felt easier than the late show but that’s how it goes! After the show I went for a nice pint with Mark and the Cruise Director Billy, so just kicked back and relaxed. Today is the last day and we are now almost through the Bay of Biscay, the Independence of the Seas is somewhere around here too but I can’t see her, Mark O Malley is back on tonight and to be honest I’m glad its not me as I don’t like to perform the night before you go home, you just can’t pack fully. I can’t wait to get home tomorrow and see my lovely little boy Sam and my wife Marie. It has been another wonderful time here on Grand Princess and I look forward to the next time which is in a couple of weeks time, I’m off to Celebrity Eclipse next on Sunday and I do hope Marie and Sam come with me. Thank you for following me on my blog, keep an eye on the website, as I have lots coming up, what with a few theatre gigs and the Panto of course! You can also follow me on twitter search @Mike DoyleComedy and I’m on facebook too!