I think I need to elaborate a little on just how awesome this cruise is.

Yesterday, I was feeling awfully rushed in Ensenada. So I came down to pay an exhorbitant price to elaborate, but then saw this sign that said “today’s winner of thirty free minutes is… SHANNON ESSA.” Cool, eh? I guess I entered some contest but I don’t even remember. Thirty minutes is going to go fast though, so here is the unedited version of the past couple days.

The ship itself is pretty cool. There are bars everywhere. Outside, there are jacuzzis filled with more tattoos and nose rings than is normal for your average Carnival cruise, I’d say. Everyone is REALLY happy. It’s like Vegas on the high seas but there ain’t no one from Kansas here (I don’t think.)

We ran into Ed Decker on deck and he invited us to have dinner with him and some other San Diegans. So eighteen of us ate together in the Destiny dining room. Lots of these guys know my brother, Tom, and one of the main guys running this thing told me he met me in OB one day, having breakfast with my brother. So, I need to somehow hook it up where my brother performs next year. Also, Lil D, you gotta come too. OB is definitely represented and this is totally cool and unexpected.

After dinner, me and Colleen went to a wine tasting that I had prebooked. Sadly they were doing a sustainabilty lecture at the same time, which is cool but I wanted the wine, not the lecture. However we did meet one Dr. James Fishhead McFreaky and his wife Sunshine and had some cool conversation with them. This and four sips of Syrah for the low, low price of $30. From there we went into the Normandie Lounge to see G. Love and Special Sauce then the Flaming Lips. It was pretty much total mayhem in there. Right when Flaming Lips started, some of the tree people moved in on us. Tree people, you know, they look like they just climbed out of a tree, they dance like they are in a Native American ritual, and they threaten to take out your eye with a flying dreadlock. But I had myself to fear also, as I was jumping up and down on a moving vessel. This can be dangerous, I assure you. There were balloons and confetti, a marriage proposition on stage, and lots of Wayne Coyne freak action. But it was motherfucking hot and insane down there, and Mutaytor was playing again on the Lido deck, so after a bit we cruised up there. That sea air felt awesome.

I love the staff on this ship, and so far I have made friends with the Champagne cart guy, who looks like a 1940’s east Asian matinee idol, and our Steward, Yusuf, and one of the waiters, Kadak. Then last night I met one of the officers, an Italian named Rosario. I’ve been quizzing all these guys down on how this whole thing runs. Everyone works seven days for eight months straight. Twelve hour days. That is INSANE. Rosario told me there are 68 different nationalities on this ship. And they are all so nice. I seriously cannot imagine being nice to people with those kind of hours. But being on this ship and seeing how everyone radiates good energy gives me a lot of hope.

My time is up. I will continue tomorrow when I get home…. one more fabulous day and night to go.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 16th, 2005 at 11:44 am and is filed under Adventures in Rock and Roll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.