Feb 11 - At Sea

SANDY SHORE : I’m finding myself falling in love with music again… I’m actually listening to full albums and really enjoying the experience tremendously. Others read… but I made sure that I stocked my computer as full as possible with new jazz, lounge and pop and I’m reconnecting with my some of my favorite artists as well.

I’m actually in an environment here that is filled mostly with ocean and the focus is on the experience not on what’s back home or what’s waiting for you in your inbox. A very different daily environment for me… the last decade has been filled with extreme work hours (not complaining – grateful – but tired) with all extra hours going to support my mom’s transitioning health issues.

My entire business is built on music and while I do listen every day, I don’t necessarily listen for personal reasons every day. I surround myself with music because it feels good and I believe that the music we mix together on our stations create a global good feeling… but I wish the world would slow down a little bit so that we all had more time to listen and collect and create.

If I had had a computer and iPod when I was 15, I wouldn’t have ever needed anything more. My iPod was a cassette recorder that I positioned next to my speakers on my desk and recorded favorite songs on the radio onto a very herky jerky mix tape.

We don’t know which end is up any more in this world… entire industries are seeking bail-outs and people are losing their jobs all the while, the simple things are looking better and better.

Since I’ve been at sea, I’ve read from two different sources that more and more Americans are either traveling with family and/or returning to their hobbies for comfort during these unsettling times. I’m hoping that for many, the hobby of music is on the agenda… it’s a nurturing, wonderfully centering resource that I highly recommend for healing and sorting things out. ~ss

DONNA KAY PHILLIPS : As much as I love traveling and learning about new cultures and meeting new people and trying new foods... my favorite time is AT SEA. Even on a typical 1-2 week vacation, we often feel we need to learn and see the area we have spent so much effort traveling to, that we never sit, stare, listen - REST.

These ports in Brazil are not very far apart. Who knows the strategic reason why the folks who made the itenerary placed an extra day at sea in between them, but it had made the days in port that much more exciting and doable and we really the space that these days at sea create.

It also gives us time to hang out with the A-Team crew onboard this new ship. The A-Team is brought on board each of Carnival's new ships to basically iron out the inevitable growing pains - it's a superb business model that other businesses should emulate. A team that performs well together is worth keeping together. Carnival has even thrown a few staff parties and dinners to reward their crew and you can see it in their pride when they work.

Ken, our singing Maitré D' takes care of his Gold Pearl Dining Room patrons with his Irish eyes always smiling and his dry wit always at the ready while he keeps the servers on cue. He is also the choreographer and entertainment directory of our Dining Room which morphs into either a Vegas Supper Club with Ken belting out an American classic or a Caribbean Disco featuring tightly choreographed dance moves by the head waiters brilliantly executed atop their 2' round, 3' tall serving stations.

Last night I finally felt well enough to dance with Vergel, our bus boy who brings me my double espresso each night with a smile. I am not kidding, when I say, that these are the FINEST dancing wait staff I have ever witnessed, they inspired me to get better as quick as possible so that I could go out dancing with them for the upcoming crew party.

Finally, we are always visited by our favorite table magician from India, Rakesh. He blows our minds each night with an impossible sleight of hand. Rakesh is so popular that he now trains others from India to place in all of the Carnival ship dining rooms - and voila - a new business has been created! -dkp