RCI Independence of the Seas May 2012

I have never been so ill, no that can’t be true, ok I have had a cold, a chest in-fection, a sore throat, headaches and an upset tummy and some call that Man-flu…come on feel sorry for me, its been awful. I started to feel unwell on the 3rd April on Black Watch and I haven’t felt great since? Oh well onwards and upwards and I’m now on RCI’s beautiful Independence of the Seas, a ship I am so very fond of, I have said before loads of times how lovely she is with her huge 1700 seat theatre, Ice Rink, Climbing Wall, American Diner called Johnny Rockets, Flow Rider, Royal Promenade which is a street running down the centre of the ship, 4 pools including an amazing children’s pool area called H02 Zone, this is the real deal. It’s everyone’s cup of tea as some find it just too big and enjoy the smaller ships more, for me I love it, I love the hustle and bustle of the place with so much going on, you’ll never get bored on Independence! We are in Southampton today and it’s a turnaround day with 4000 people getting off and another 4000 people getting on. I’m on tomorrow night, yep, me and my cold…how lovely for everybody! It’s like a reunion cruise this is for old P&O acts, my old mate John Evans is here, he’s a great comic and also a man I haven’t seen in years Paul Emanuel a brilliant singer and I’m looking forward to seeing him later in the pub after John’s show in the theatre.

John did a great spot and went down well, we have clashed on a couple of jokes but nothing to worry about. I have known John since 1996 when we used to be regulars on P&O Oriana, crikey that’s 16yrs now we’ve both been cruising together on ships all over the world, it really is a great job you know as we play some of the most beautiful theatre’s in the world and tonight’s theatre is no exception, the beautiful 1700 seat Alhambra Theatre is an amazing stage to work and I have my rehearsal in 30mins and my show tonight at 9pm and 10.45pm so I do hope my voice will be ok as I’m getting over that awful lurgy and it’s still hanging around, John Evans has the same too! Ok see you later! I had a great rehearsal with a first class professional team of musicians, technicians and one of the best production managers in the business Tony Smart, thank you boys and girls! The band are a 9 piece under the direction of Jim Barnett and really rock, and with a huge PA system and lighting rig it makes this a great gig. I have 1hr 25mins to curtain up and now with hope in my heart as my voice was there at rehearsals I am up for doing a good show tonight!

I’m just through the door from my 9pm show, I had a great time, it was a 100% full house and they very kindly gave me a standing Ovation, my voice hung on in there but cracked on the last note of Nessun Dorma but I got away with it, the comedy went really well and I felt really comfortable up there, it is an amazing theatre work. I have started to notice I have put on a few pounds again and it looks like I’ll be back on the “Lighter Life” diet as soon as I get back home, I was doing so well on it, I lost 2 stone and now its all going back on again, come on Mike! My next show is in 30mins time, I hope it goes as well as the 9pm show! The late show went great too, there were loads in from Wales and God Bless them they cheered like mad when I walked on, that gave me a boost! After the show I went along to the pub for quick pint and I met a very nice man from L.A. called Albert and it turns out he’s a record producer, what an interesting guy, we had a few beers and then realized the clocks were going on so 1am became a rude awakening 2am, that was my exit stage left so to speak, thank you Albert I hope we stay in-touch! Today we are at sea infact we have just left the infamous Bay of Biscay and it was like a mill pond, the weather is lovely today 24c and blue skies. I met with John Evans and Paul Emanuel and his lovely wife Holley and we all sat and chatted for a good 3hrs about the good old days on P&O as we all used to be on together all those years ago on Canberra, Oriana, Victoria and all the rest too! We had a great time. Tonight John Evans is back on in the theatre this time doing his late show at 11.30pm so we are going along to see him. Tomorrow its Gibraltar and John and I are going home!

Cunard Queen Victoria 27th April - 6th May 2012

I’m now back working at sea this time with Cunard and the beautiful Queen Victoria. I’m back some what jaded from my holiday with my family and seem to have picked up a sore throat and cold again, we had the most lovely time in Tenerife and now I’m back to work and arrived in Pisa this afternoon for my transfer to the ship docked in Livorno. I am so very tired so no going anywhere tonight, I’m staying in and going to sleep once I have finished writing. I am on tomorrow night and don’t feel up to it at the moment so maybe a good nights sleep will help? The cruise director is a nice man and wants me to let him know how I feel in the morning, I so don’t want to let him down but on the other hand I don’t want to give a weak show either! Good night all lets see how things work out tomorrow! I slept my head off, what a sleep, I had a good 9hrs but woke to feel much the same unfortunately. I went down to see the cruise director Paul O’ Loughlin and he really needs me to go on tonight so I must get myself in the zone. Today we are in the ever so posh and trendy Monte Carlo and they are once again preparing for the Grand Prix so the crowd stands are all erected and the track is looks amazing. I went ashore for a good walk around with brilliant concert pianist Philip Lange and also took my new camera, we walked right around the bay and had a good old chat and a coffee, Philip is a good up beat guy and so he’s good to be around, he’s a half full type of guy! Back onboard and lunch was really nice, I’m now in the stateroom and have 1hr 30mins to rehearsal, so we’ll see! Oh Thank You God! I have a voice, not the best I have ever sang but there is a voice there so now I have some confidence for tonight, the soundman Steffan is a good guy and has looked after me well, please Steffan keep it the same tonight! All I have to do now is believe, relax into it and enjoy myself! See you later! I had a fab 8.30pm show and it was a full house. I want the 10.30pm show to go just as good, I want the 10.30pm show to go just as well…positive mental attitude (PMA). I have 20mins to curtain up and I’m here listening to my Shirley Bassey album “Performance” it’s fab, have you heard it? If not go get it, it’s a great album with songs written by todays songwriters like Gary Barlow for instance, I love it! Another great show, my voice held up good and now off to the Officers Ward Room for a nightcap with cruise director Paul O’ Loughlin! Good Morning from a lovely sunny Barcelona; we are in with quite a few ships today, a Costa ship, the Seven Seas Mariner, Navigator of the Seas and the Island Escape. I’m not going ashore today I’m just going to rest up, sit in the sun and may go to the cinema to see “The Iron Lady”. I did go to see The Iron Lady and I must say its one of the best films I have ever seen in my life, Meryl Streep was just awesome, there was a line in the film which I have read so many times in the book “The Secret” it was “what you think becomes who you are”. I cried all the way through and I know that must sound silly but it really moved me, if you haven’t been to see it please go it is fantastic! At sea today and it’s a lovely sunny day but a tad chilly. I saw singer Sinead Blanchfield last night in the Royal Court Theatre and she blew me away, what a voice and what a personality, she sang Opera, Jazz and a beautiful haunting Celtic song, and she was fabulous!

I also watched the Man City v Man United match last night in the Officers Wardroom and what a match, I’m not a big football fan but that was a great game, shame United didn’t win though! This afternoon I’m going to listen to Phillip Lange who is giving a classical concert in the beautiful Queens Room so I’m looking forward to that, Phillip is a world class pianist and has a great personality to, he makes light of his show but then plays like a dream, I have been so fortunate lately to be in the presence of two world class musicians Dominic John and now Phillip Lange. A great old mate of mine joined the ship yesterday Kenny Martyn who is an amazing clarinet player and tours his Tribute to Benny Goodman show back in the UK, Kenny and I last cruised together on the Silver Spirit over a year ago, he’s great company and I’m looking forward to having a good chat and a glass of wine with him later. Last night there was a jazz night in the pub the Golden Lion onboard the QV and the theatre band all got together with Kenny Martyn and what a set they did, the whole place was jumping. Today we are in Lisbon and the weather is cold, windy and raining, oh well I certainly can’t complain I have been in wall to wall sunshine for months, but I do feel for the guests who were looking forward to Lisbon. I have 3 sleeps left on here in-which I will be doing one more show in the Royal Court Theatre on Friday night then home on the Saturday and I can’t wait! The rain stopped and Kenny and I went over to the local bars that they have opposite the docks, some really nice restaurants and bars, we went into the Irish Bar that had free Wi-Fi so that was good and a lovely pint of Guinness! Kenny is on tonight with two shows 8.30pm and 10.30pm and he is going to play a tune for me, its called “Aria” a tune made famous by Aka Bilk in the 70’s.

Yes Kenny stormed it last night, I went to the early show and it was fantastic! After the show it was bed and a few episodes of Prison Break. Today we are at sea and starting our transit of the Bay of Biscay and the sea is nice and calm so far so good. Last night Kenny and I went for a pre dinner drink and we never made dinner! Today is the final day of this cruise and we are now in the English Channel heading for Southampton. I’m back on tonight in the beautiful Royal Court Theatre only this time with the Theatre Company so I have just 25mins. My rehearsal is in 2hrs time and I guess I should start my packing as I’m going home tomorrow. I’ll be on that 9.10am train to Bridgend. My phone just pinged and it was Andy Griffiths asking me to come to the studio to record a change to one of the TCW ads but I’m here on the sea…! I’m just back from rehearsal and sound-check and all is well, it really is a beautiful theatre, take a look at the photos! Tonight’s shows are 7pm and 8.30pm so best get crackin’ I suppose! I’m just back from the 7pm show; it went great but as I walked on and started to sing my mic was not on and didn’t really work until the end of the song, something must have happened? I have an hour now till my next show and I hope everything will be fine when I next go on.

Black Watch and stranded in Antigua! April 2012

I got back from the Balmoral safely and have never been so happy to come home, Sam woke up and jumped in bed with Marie and I, then Marie went and slept in Sam’s bed, then Sam went back to his bed, then Marie came back to our bed, then Sam wanted Marie in his bed, then the cat jumped up on our bed, then it was morning and time to get up, talk about musical beds! We only had 2 days to enjoy, so we went into Cardiff and had a very nice Italian meal then walked around window-shopping, it’s cheaper. Sunday came and that night I performed at St. David’s Hall in Cardiff and what a night, it was in aid of Breast Cancer Care, on the bill was Wynne Evans of “Go Compare” fame, the wonderful Sian Cothi, Wynne’s brother Mark Llewellyn Evans, Jamie Fox, The Rock Tenors which my mate Gareth Richards is one of and they were amazing, Sarah Lark was also amazing, I remember seeing her in panto at Swansea Grand and thought how fab she was then. I opened the second half and walked on stage to a big applause so that settled any unwanted nerves and off I went into a comedy routine and finished off with “What Colour is The Wind” it all went really well! I had to leave before the end as it was over running like mad and I had a flight to catch the next day, a flight to Lima Peru! My alarm went off at 3am and John from www.executivecarswales.com was at the door at 3.30am and we made our way to sunny Gatwick with a little detour on the way to put my son Tom’s birthday cards through the door, we did really well until we hit the notorious M25 where the traffic was really slow and then we hit the M23 where Gatwick was only 7 miles away and there we sat, for nearly 2hrs, the traffic was at a stand still, I was very lucky to make my flight, I got to the check-in desk with 10 mins grace, what stress, well I wasn’t the only one as many were in the same situation, well done John for getting me there, I always use Executive Cars, if ever you need a car to take you anywhere they are the best in the business. I’m now on the flight to Lima and once again I’ve managed to get myself a good seat, well I couldn’t do any better it’s a 747 and I am right up front in first class with enough leg room to seat another 8 people, so I am very grateful for the upgrade! See you later! What a great flight, I slept off and on for a few hours, the food was very good and the legroom was fantastic, I was right up front in the pointy end with 5 windows to my self! We landed in Lima around 5pm local time having flown over the rain forests of Brazil, I could even see the Amazon River which I sailed up the other day, amazing! We got on buses and our luggage went on to the ship before us, fair play to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines it was a very slick operation. Once onboard I was given my cabin key, which turned out to be a beautiful junior suite, so I will be very comfortable here! I had a quick look around the ship, I have worked here before about 7yrs ago and it was strange rediscovering the rooms, the lounge were I will do my show is tiny but very nice. I was welcomed onboard by Ashley the cruise director and his staff and I must say they all seem very nice and couldn’t do enough for you! Today we are still in Callao the port for Lima and it’s a cloudy old day with a high of 27c, I went to bed at 8.45pm last night and woke at 5am this morning, oh no, not another case of jet-lag! My dear old pal Andy James who I worked with a couple of months ago on QM2 has just left this ship and left me a big bag of goodies, 8 beers, 4 J20’s and a pair of comedy glasses, thank you Andy, I did laugh at the random comedy glasses and was very grateful for the drinks! Ok, lets see what today will bring, I say thank you for the day and with in Chico’s words “PMA” positive mental attitude, lets enjoy life! The suns out at last and I have chosen to not get off the ship and venture into Lima as I’m a little tired and so I’m going to rest up and chill onboard the Black Watch!

Can you believe it, I have got a cold and a very painful sore throat, I know some of you will be saying its manful but I really do have a corker of a cold. I got up early this morning and waited outside the little shop onboard and got some strepsils, lockets, lemsip and some nurofen tablets, my show is tomorrow night, do I go find the cruise director and ask him if I could move my show a few days so to give me a chance to get a little better, I don’t know? I had a bumpy night last night, I just couldn’t swallow as it hurt too much, I hate being ill, I just don’t do ill! Oh dear, moan moan! Sorry! Yes I’m still not feeling well, I have had a bad day with my throat on fire, I couldn’t eat much and all I have wanted to do is sleep. At 6pm I couldn’t stand it any longer and headed down to deck three to the Medical Centre and saw a very nice Doctor, turns out I have a nasty virus but she has given me some antibiotics just in-case. I am now in bed and have been here since 7pm, I’m just aching all over; it looks like I have some kind of flu after all. Ok, I know you must be fed up of me going on about it so I’ll say goodnight and see you in the morning! Good Morning! I had a good sleep last night and I do feel I’m on the mend, I had a nice surprise this morning, I had the doctors bill put through my door a nice £40 invoice, oh well cheap really as I have been given some drugs to get me well again, oh I had to pay for them too, listen I’m not complaining, I’m just typing! It’s a lovely sunny day and I do hope I get to get out there and take in some rays as yesterday was just a down day, but that was yesterday so come Doyle its time for some PMA! I sat in the sun for a couple hours and had a lovely chat with Geoff Taylor who is a fab singer and the girls from Elektra who are a violin act and they are world class! Tonight the very lovely and very funny lady Mandy Muden is onstage for an evening of magic and comedy, God bless here as she is going on in place of me so I can get my voice back on track! It’s such a lovely sunny day and sea is flat calm, its beautiful to see! Good Morning! Today we are in Manta in Ecuador, an interesting place with the smell of tuna everywhere, this is a huge tuna fishing port and they have one of the worlds biggest tuna canning factories here, I haven’t ventured out of the port yet so will take a few pics and see you later! (oh I’m feeling much better but I still have a dry throat, I am on tomorrow night). I went off the ship for a walk; I have been here before years ago on the Cunard Caronia, which is now the Saga Ruby. I went to the beach area and it was packed with locals enjoying their Easter break. It wasn’t the most prettiest place I have ever been to but a warm welcome given to all of us visiting! On a sad note my dear Aunty Beryl from Lampeter passed away and was buried this week, I of course couldn’t be there but my brother Phill did, my thoughts and prayers go out to all the family at this very sad time. Also a dear friend of mine who followed me all over the country to watch my shows, who was a very loyal and sincere lady, Pam Jones from Swansea passed away on the 15th March this year and I have only just been made aware. I am so sad to hear this, as with my dear Aunty Beryl my thoughts and prayers go out to Pam’s family too! Tonight I’m staying in and chilling out and getting ready for my show tomorrow night. Good Morning once again from the Black Watch, we are still sailing northwards to the Panama Canal and at 11.15am this morning we will be crossing the equator. Today is Easter Sunday and I’m off to church in a bit. Church was great and it was packed out too, the keys for the hymns were all in bad keys for singing so we all struggled, but I enjoyed it all the same. I went to my bandcall, rehearsal and sound check at 12.30pm and fair play the band are great and the sound is fab where I was standing but in the house its so quite, they get a lot of complaints if the sound is too loud, well what some say is loud, but this sound is almost not on at all, oh well, I’m on tonight at 8.45pm and 10.30pm and I’m looking forward to it. My voice went on stop for a few nights and the ever so nice cruise director Ashley put me back three nights and that has really helped, so thank you Ashley. I had a lovely lunch with a couple from Wiltshire and we have arranged to meet up in Cartagena for a beer or two. I then spent the afternoon watching the series “Prison Break” which I have seen before but once you start to watch it, you can’t stop, and so what an afternoon of telly I’ve had. I have just less than 2 hours to my show now and I’m getting that nervous feeling in the pit of my tummy, but that’s good nerves and it means I am gearing myself up for a good show, my voice was fine at rehearsal and with a good top end going on, so I feel a Nessun Dorma coming on tonight! I spoke to Marie on the text today and they all went out to the Duke of Wellington in Cowbridge for Easter Sunday lunch and then enjoyed the park with our Sam. I spoke to my son Tom on text too and he was at his Nan’s in Birmingham having lunch and getting ready to go to the Theatre Royal in Bath where his next leg of his tour with Birds of a Feather takes him, he’ll love Bath! Just back from the 8.45pm show, what can I say, put it like this, I worked for my money tonight, they were hard and but do you what, it does you good and stops you getting too comfortable with your act, I even sang Nessun Dorma, but in the end I got them up with Daydream Believer. I have another show in 30mins and that’s the 10.30pm show, I have been told not many attend so I’ll have to work even harder for them, oh well, it stops you getting big headed! Oh yes, a much better 2nd show I played it a bit harder and got stuck into them from the off, yes a great time had by all and they all stood up for me after Nessun Dorma so I was much happier. I have another show on here coming up in a few nights time so round 2 here we come! Today we are again at sea en-route to the Panama Canal which we hit tomorrow morning, I do hope it’ll be nice and sunny like it was in February this year when I was on Queen Elizabeth, it will be nice to take more photos. Tonight its Geoff Taylor’s turn to entertain the guests, Geoff is a lovely man who has sang for years with the BBC Radio 2 Orchestra so I’m looking forward to seeing him tonight! This afternoon I went along to the piano recital with world-class pianist Dominic John, let me tell you, it was the finest classical concert I have ever seen, this man is pure genius! Geoff Taylor was pure class last night, what a pro, I really enjoyed his show! Today we are transiting the Panama Canal; no matter how many times you go through the canal it never ceases to amaze you. It’s a hot day with lovely blue skies and cold drinks on hand all over the ship to cool you down. Today we are in Cartagena in Colombia I was only here a couple of months ago, I found the little garden near the port gates that I went to last time and really enjoyed peace and quite and a nice cold local beer that was only $2. Just like the last time I was here there were animals roaming around the garden and so many parrots, I took loads of photos. Good Morning. Today we are at sea en-route to Curacao and that will be my 3rd time going there this year, I do love it there and this time as Black Watch is a smaller vessel we should be docking right in the town next to the huge blue bridge that dominates Curacao. Last night the hilarious Mandy Muden and the brilliant singer Geoff Taylor were on and they both gave us a brilliant show. I was in bed by 10pm as it was a school night for me as I am on tonight. My rehearsal and bandcall is in 2hrs time; my act has been sorted out and I’m ready to go! A good rehearsal, a lovely lunch and a nice sunbathing afternoon on deck 10! I have my show in 2hrs time and I’ve just put some more photos on my mac, just outside my window there were some gulls diving into the sea for fish so out I went with my trusty canon G12 and took some great pics! I had 2 great shows last night, I worked better than the first show I did a few nights ago, I had the room up and jumping so I am a happy boy. Today we are in beautiful Curacao, I love this place, it’s so colourful with the buildings in every colour under the sun, have a look at some of these photos! Tonight I have been asked to join in a game show called “Call My Bluff” so that should be fun, but I haven’t been given the words yet, so looks like I will have to wing it! Yes, it was just that, winging it, oh well it was good fun! Today is the 14th April and on this day in 1912 the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11.40pm ships time and began sinking, the ship went under two hours and forty minutes later with the loss of 1,514 lives. The Fred Olsen MV Balmoral is now at the Titanic Wreck site for a memorial service. I’m reading the book “A Night To Remember” by Walter Lord and it has been a very interesting read, those poor people who perished on that cold night will never be forgotten! Tonight I am to host the Farewell Concert here onboard MV Black Watch, we have the very funny Mandy Muden, great singer Geoff Taylor and the show stopping violin duo Elektra and yours truly so it should be a great night! Rehearsals in 2hrs time so see you later! Good rehearsal and we are all looking forward to giving our farewell show tonight! I’m just off to listen to classical pianist Dominic John in a few minutes; I think he’s world class! I’m just back from Dominic’s concert, wow x 1000!!! Hello from St. Maarten in the Caribbean, the farewell show went off great last night and we all had a couple of drinks after the show! Today I was invited to a wedding onboard the Black Watch, well when I say wedding it was more of a renewal of wedding vows and it was so nice, two very nice people I’ve met here and they kindly invited me, so my suit was on at 2.30pm and the service was at 3pm, what a lovely couple Graham and Jeanie, thanks guys it was lovely afternoon. Tomorrow I fly home from Antigua to Gatwick arriving the next day and then home! I had the worse sleep ever last night; it was quite rough seas sailing from St. Maarten over to Antigua. I had a wonderful meal last night with Professor Bert and Dominic John, two fine chaps and I thoroughly enjoyed their company, we all fly back tonight and the ship will have a new lot of entertainers to entertain the guests back across the Atlantic, in fact my good friend Adrian Walsh takes over from me as he did on Balmoral so they will be in good hands. Welcome to Antigua! The day didn’t go as well as it should have, I didn’t sleep at all well last night as the sea was so rough, I was up and about at 5am taking photos. I had a text from my agent asking what time the ship sails, there was a big problem at Gatwick and Adrian Walsh had been sat on the tarmac for nearly 5hrs, the reason was a Virgin flight had to make an emergency landing as there was fire coming from the cockpit, it was all over the news. The knock on effect of this was huge and it would have effected allot of people as it has me. After much toing and froing on the phones we were told that we would have to go to the airport and present ourselves to the BA desk, then we were put up in a beach resort for two nights, now all this may sound quite nice but my family and I have a holiday booked on Thursday 19th April and today is Wednesday 18th and I will make this holiday by the skin of my teeth. I’m now at long last on the flight back to Gatwick and will arrive at 8.45pm then I have the 3hr drive back home, then pack my case, sleep for 4hrs then drive us all to Birmingham Airport for our flight to Tenerife. It’s my wife’s birthday and our wedding anniversary while we’re away and I have no cards or gifts. This is a nightmare, but when we get to Tenerife I have promised myself that I will switch off for the week. Who said travel was fun?