P & O Adonia August 2011

I had only 48hrs at home but we made the best of it, it was so lovely to see Sam and he loved telling me all about his adventures he’s been having, Marie had her best friend to stay and Sam really showed off and was quite naughty, I put it down to me not being around enough, what can I do. We went to the park in Cowbridge which Sam loves and it helps with using up all that pent up energy he has, we went to Bar 44 on Cowbridge High Street, it’s a great bar and does tapas so good it feels like you are in Spain, another bar that does that as good is Bar 46 (I know) on Broadlands where we live.

I am now on P&O’s new ship Adonia, it was named by Dame Shirley Bassey, it really is a very fine ship, I have only just got on so will tell you more as we go. I’m on a cruise that goes to the Norwegian Fjords and beyond, in fact we are going to the Arctic Circle, so I hope it is not going to be too cold.

It is always a special time when I work with P&O Cruises as I know so many members of the officers and crew, I even know the Captain. My show is tomorrow night, it is formal night and P&O do formal very well, so I am very much looking forward to it. Sail away was nice, the brass band on the quay side played us off and we soon were passing the Isle of Wight, as we passed Cowes I decided to ring an old friend of mine who lives there and he also works for P&O Cruises his name David Hall he is an Executive Purser with the company and we had a good chat as we sailed past, he has some very good binoculars and could see me on the top deck talking to him, he’s a great guy and I look forward to sailing with him in the future.

I think it’s going to be quite rough tonight, I have been given a beautiful junior suite but as I type this the whole suite it creaking and bumping around, but I am quite used to that as we must always remember, we are on a ship and ships make noises, well I am at the back and above the propellers, I sometimes joke in my act that I have the “Propeller Suite” this time I certainly do, but it is really nice and spacious so I am not at all complaining.

We have a day at sea tomorrow and then Stavanger the next day, so see in the morning!

Good morning! I slept really well, I have a nice big double bed and I slept like a log, there is some vibration and rattles throughout the cabin but it won’t be a problem, it’s because I’m right at the back of the ship. I had my usual fruit breakfast and then after that I had my photo taken for security purposes. I went to watch Christine Noble do her introductions last night and I wasn’t impressed with the sound in that room, Christine was fab as was her team of Entertainment Officers but the sound is not good, I have my rehearsal at 4.15pm this afternoon so I will take some more time to get it as good as possible ready for tonight, I know have been spoilt on other ships and I do hope it goes well for me tonight, I haven’t worked much on P&O this year and I am really looking forward to it, I love P&O as I have worked with them for many years, I started my career at sea with them way back in 1982 on the SS Oriana.

I just met the musical director Peter and what a nice man, he came to look at my music for tonight and we went through the show, so I look forward to my rehearsal.

My rehearsal went ok, but it took a while to get the sound right, it just isn’t great I’m afraid? My shows tonight are 9.15pm and 10.45pm and it is formal night, so everyone dressed up and looking good, this is a pretty ship and has some lovely features and beautiful fixtures and fittings, the Andersons Bar and Crow’s Nest are stunning.

If I go well tonight and I intend to do so, I will be much happier, I don’t like having to worry what the sound is going to be like, I remember my sound engineer Adrian Bamford once saying “a singer should not even be thinking about the sound, it should just happen” and he is absolutely right!

Well I’m just back from the 9.15pm show and it went well, they are quite an elderly crowd and took some getting going but I got them, the sound was ok but I am now starting to feel a little unwell myself, it could be the motion of the ship and on top of that my voice is starting to go, I have one more show to do tonight at 10.45pm then it’s straight to bed I think!

The 10.45pm went even better as they were more up for it I guess, the sound has improved and I really do feel better about it now thank you to Bale the sound engineer, I had a quick beer and went to bed, an end of a long day!

Today is beautiful Stavanger in Norway, I can’t believe that only a few weeks ago Oslo had that awful time with that mad man running around killing those young people, I hate putting on the news nowadays!

I had my run this morning and had my iPod in my ears and went over my new songs that I am learning ready for my tour which starts 24th September at the Swansea Grand Theatre, my goodness it’ll be here before we know it!

I have taken some photos from the Adonia of the surrounding area with two huge ships next to us, we look so small next to the MSC Orchestra and the Costa ship, I have also taken some photos of the interior of Adonia, and she is like a stately home inside, very posh!

Tonight an act called Mel Mellors is on so I shall go along and support Mel tonight!

I didn’t get to Mel’s gig last night, I was invited to dinner at Marco Pierre White’s place onboard called the Ocean Grill, oh my word it was sensational, it has to be the best steak I have ever had.

Today we are in Skjolden Fjord in Norway and its awful weather, it is pouring down with rain and there is a very low cloud, have a look at the photos of it, but even though it is raining it still has an awesome sight about it. I haven’t got off the ship today so I am about to go for lunch and enjoy more of the beautiful food Adonia has to offer!

A cold day, a grey day one of those days all you want is a bowl of tomato soup and fresh bread and a big slab of cheese and some day time TV, well I had a some mashed swede, leeks and two slices of roast pork but would have loved to have had some tomato soup! I have taken some great photos of Skjolden and even if it was inclement weather it was still beautiful scenery, as I write this I am looking out the window at the passing mountains of this awesome fjord.

Cruise director Christine Noble is about to come by, she wants to see some of my photos.

Christine loved the photos and she wanted to show me some photos she has of the old Artemis which is now owned by another shipping company, she photos of her in her colours, she tells we may be in with her this cruise, that will feel strange. I stayed in tonight and watched the film 2012 I have seen it before but it was a change to watch something on my laptop and not on the cabin telly.

I had a nice lie in this morning, the weather is still grey and cold so didn’t do much other than have a nice lunch and back to my cabin for more telly, I must get to the gym.

Do you know everyone I talk to about computers have an Apple in some form, a MacBook Pro or an iPad or a Mac Air, it drives me mad as I would love to have one, my Dell is a bit old now and ever so heavy to carry around, it kills my shoulder lugging it around the airports, oh well one day!

Today we were in the sleepy little port town of Bodo and as it was Sunday there was nothing open, but I did however manage to have a good walk and took some great photos. We are now sailing further north for North Cape which basically the top of the world, its where you run out of land before you get to Spitsbergen and the North Pole, the sun is just about to go down over the sea, take a look at this beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow we arrive at the Cape and then onto Honningsvag. I have my second show on Tuesday then I fly home Wednesday from Tromso via Olso, I don’t have much time at home once again, I only have 1 day off then I go to Wrexham to do a TV show for S4C/Avanti TV with none other than Rhydian of X Factor fame, then the next day it’s down to Southampton to join the incredible Celebrity Eclipse for another cruise to the Med, the only down turn to going away on the Eclipse is that my little boy Sam starts school for the first time in his life on the 1st September and I get back on the 2nd September so I don’t feel to good about that.

The sun has now gone down completely and the time here is now 9.45pm it is starting now to get darker and before too long it will be 24hr darkness up here, can you imagine how that would be like, let alone 24hrs sunlight, it is enough to drive you insane and it has been known to do just that to some people!

Good Night!

Good Morning!

Well I have just had bad night’s sleep, I just could not get off to sleep, have a look at this fantastic photo taken at 3am as you can see the sun is about to rise again, it’s beautiful. We sailed past the North Cape around midday as you see from my photos it’s stunning, we are so lucky with the weather, it’s been quite grey over the past few days. I have to pinch myself sometimes you know, I mean what a job I have, I’m doing what I love and that’s entertaining onstage and I get to see the world thrown in!

We have just arrived in Honningsvag and my battery in my camera has just died on me, I can’t wait for it to charge as this place is amazing, the sky is blue with wispy clouds and the surrounding scenery is out of this world. We are now 71⁰ North it is where the world comes to an end, no more land, North Pole is north of here. Oh hurry up charger and charge my flippin battery will you!

We sail around 9.30pm tonight I’m excited to imagine what the skies will look like tonight, you get amazing skies up here. What did you think of the photo where the sky looks like it is on fire?

Well the night skies were not so great the cloud came in and it was just dull and grey, we certainly had the best of the day, the weather up here is like that they say you can have the four seasons in a day. A fab meal at the Sorrento Restaurant finished the day off beautifully.

Today we are in Alta and it is a grey rainy day, my show is tonight and I have already worked the act out so lunch soon and then it’s the dreaded packing of the case. I fly home tomorrow from Tromso via Oslo and then to T3 Heathrow where Executive Cars www.executivecarswales.com will be there to take me home.

The Alta fjord Airport is right next to the ship and I got a great picture of a plane taking off for Oslo, I wish I were on it as I am ready to go home now, never mind I have my show tonight in the Curzon Lounge and home tomorrow.

Just back from my sound check/rehearsal and it is much better, the band are on stage not to the side of me as they were last time, also the sound has improved considerably which is good. We are now sailing away from Alta and onto Tromso and homeward bound for me.

3 Eclipses in one month!

It’s that time again, time to go back to the ship and once again it’s the beautiful Celebrity Eclipse, I’m joining her in Civitavecchia near Rome. I left my house at 4am this morning for a 6am flight from Cardiff to Amsterdam and now I’m on the next flight to Rome.

I had a lovely week at home, we did loads of jobs that we have been putting off for months, we cleared the garage thanks to a wonderful chap called Finn from waste4U.com, he came out to take a look and we cleared the garage there and then, next day John from Projet.com came out and cleared all the guttering around the house and steam cleaned the patio and paintwork, so the house and garden looks fab now.

Today in Civitavecchia we will be in with quite a few ships, it’s a very busy port, in with us will be P&O’s Ventura and my friends Hughie & Dee are on, there’s also my friend from Swansea Lyn Mackay so I am hoping to see them later this afternoon, there’s a nice pizza bar in the town so I just might be able to see them and catch up and have a nice couple of beers.

My tour posters have arrived at home and they look great, so Ian my PA is working flat out to get them out to the theatres, I can’t believe we start the tour soon, 24th September to be precise and so far I have sold nearly 200 tickets, the pressure is on to sell out as I have done just that every time I have played there, so if you fancy coming to see my brand new show please book some tickets, I’d love to see you there.

I’m still in the air so to speak, and I have songs running through my mind for the tour like Go The Distance, I Write The Songs, The Way You Look Tonight, How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, To Where You Are, Never Let Her Slip Away to mention but a few. You may be pleased to learn I intend to sing more on this tour, also I have a very special guest with me, it’s the beautiful and hugely talented Rhian Griffith who will be giving us the first half of the show although it will be quite a short first half at around 20mins and I will be on for about 1hr and 20mins. My band are the same boys you may have seen before, they are a great bunch of guys we have Michael Morwood my musical director and on piano, Paul Shepherd on drums, John Goode on Bass and Julian Tucker on 2nd Keyboards and woodwind and together they make a big sound, I have had the same band now for more than 10yrs and the same sound/PA hire from the brilliant Adrian Bamford and Ian Bamford of Neath Music, so we are in good hands.

The weather in Rome is supposed to be very hot around 27c so time to top up the tan again, Marie and Sam were supposed to be travelling with me again this time but it didn’t work out so I will miss them very much, Sam loved the Eclipse with its dancing waters and pool and the kids club.

In October this year I am back on another fab ship Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas and I’m taking my eldest son Tom with me on that one, he will love it, especially as he will get his very own stateroom.

See you later on the Eclipse!

Onboard and with a great big welcome back from the Guest Relations team and The Cruise Director Dru and Production Manager Heather, once settled into my stateroom and put my mobile phone on charge, I hate my phone low on battery, I met up with my friends Hughie & Dee as Ventura was in also the Aurora so another surprise two other friends turn up to say hi, Bez & Nat, it was great to see everyone, oh yes from Kool Blue Paul too, 3 ships and friends on them all, fantastic!

We sailed from Civitavecchia for Sardinia and for me bed early as I had been up since 3am, but before going to bed I caught a fantastic funny act a man called Gareth Oliver, a vent act and so much more, you may remember him from Britain’s Got Talent he was on when Susan Boyle was on, yeah, a great act, and now I have to follow him!

Today was Sardinia and 30c welcomed us, boy it was a hot day, I had my back and forth chats with Marie, Sam was not a happy bunny today, they went to Somerset to Marie’s Mum and he had a DVD of Inspector Gadget and when he went to watch it, Inspector Gadget was not in the box, instead it was a wildlife film, he was not impressed and played hell so to speak, a trip to the supermarket and Bee Movie had to do, poor Sam.

On board is another great act Gary Arbuthnot who is one of the best flautists I have ever heard, he just rang me and we going to dinner tonight at 7pm at the Ocean View Cafe, it is very nice there! Gary and I went to dinner; we didn’t go to the Ocean View Cafe we went to another beautiful restaurant and had a beautiful meal and more importantly a really good chat on fitness and diet, I start tomorrow morning with Gary as he has offered to train with me and get the diet and fitness programme started, so I’m off to bed as I am up early!

I met with Gary and we started with a 10min walk around the top deck of the ship, I wore a heart monitor and once my heart rate was up to 120 beats we started gently jogging until my heart rate was up to 130 then walked again then back to jogging and we did this for an hour, I can’t believe I did it, I fell much better for it too. I had fruit for breakfast and water with lemon, I am going to not drink beer and stay off sugar and carbs too, oh my goodness I’ve started.

My show is tonight and have the usual 7pm and 9pm slots, I hope it all goes well, I have the ever so funny Gareth Oliver to follow from the other night, he stormed them for both his shows, he is good, very good!

I have spent the last couple of hours working on the tour, now I have too much going on, so what do I take out, I have some great new songs and I can’t wait to sing them. I am going for some lunch in 20mins with Gary so he can go through with me what to eat and what not to eat, wow I have started my “getting fit for the tour” programme and it’s thanks to Gary Arbuthnot.

I’m just back from my rehearsal and sound check and it went like a dream, Steffen on sound is the best sound man I have worked with on ships, he has a brilliant sound on stage which makes me happy and if I’m happy the crowd’s happy, there is nothing worse than having to think about or worry about the sound, that makes you uneasy and then you take your eye of the ball and all of a sudden you are not going down well with the crowd, so thank you Steffen (and if you will excuse my attempt at an American isum...you rock!

My first show is in 1hr and 30mins, so let’s hope it goes well, I know I always worry, it’s the way it is!

My show last night was a great success 2 great shows, the 9pm was packed out. After the show Gary Arbuthnot and Steve Rawlings came back to see me, it is always very nice when your fellow pro’s take the time to come back and congratulate you, I was quite touched by their kindness. I did an impression of Dru the cruise director and the crowd loved it and so did he thank goodness.

Today we are in Cadiz in Spain and it a cool 32c, I was up at 8.45am and turned on the TV to be totally horrified by the awful crimes being committed in London and now Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol, I just cannot believe this is happening in our country.

On a lighter note, I had my run around the decks and a healthy breakfast and now have the day to enjoy, so looks like it’s going to be a sun bathing day learning my songs.

Well, it’s just too hot today so I didn’t sit in the sun; it has been a day sitting in my stateroom watching TV and the awful scenes of violence on London’s streets, unbelievable!

Last night Cruise Director Dru, ventriloquist Gareth Oliver and I took part in what we used to call Call My Bluff only this was an American version called Liar’s Club, it was fun to do but to honest I didn’t think it went that well, I was rubbish I couldn’t think of anything interesting to say about the words I was given, words like Pisonia, Numbles and alike, it was ok!

Today we are in beautiful sunny Lisbon; we dock right in front of the famous suspension bridge with a statue of Christ across the water, it really is an awesome sight. I still got up and had my hours workout which I enjoyed as I did half around the deck and the other half in the gym, fab gym it had an iPod connection on the running machine so I carried on learning my words, I’m learning a great song called He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother which I am going to sing for my brother Phill also The Way You Look Tonight for Marie, the words are going in slowly but surely.

After a lovely fruit breakfast I went ashore with my camera and took some great photos of the dock area in Lisbon, have a look!

Back on stage tonight 8.45pm and 10.45pm and its clocks on an hour tonight, I hope that doesn’t put the audience off coming to the late show. I share the stage tonight with an amazing act Steve Rawlings who I have heard so much about over the years from another great act Pete Matthews, Steve juggles stuff like golf clubs and tables, he’s a great act!

Tomorrow we are in Vigo Spain and tomorrow evening I have been invited to dinner with my mate Mark Tomley he is the Food & Beverage Manager so I am looking forward to that, it’s a quirky restaurant you order from iPads, how crazy is that?

Its 7pm now the time I would normally be going on but its late shows tonight, so 1hr and 45mins to go, I am looking forward to it as I left out some good stuff from my first show so I can put it in tonight. There’s a slight swell out on the sea at the moment I do hope that doesn’t get worse, at home Marie tells me it’s quite windy so we could be heading into some high winds which makes the sea rough of course, oh never mind I have been in real bad weather at sea in the past, one time on P&O Oriana just off Japan we hit a force 12 hurricane force and we even damaged the bow of the ship, we limped into Yokohama late but had a extra two nights if I remember rightly, QE2 was in at the same time, there wasn’t a scratch on her of course, I remember a fellow act and good friend Tricia Dusky ringing me in the middle of the night really scared and I went down to her cabin and let me tell you it was really bad we were rising out of the sea about 40feet at a time and crashing down hard, everything was falling off shelves, doors slamming in and out, we had most things like pianos chained down as everything was sliding around, yeah that was a rough night, do you in my 16yrs at sea I have only witnessed really bad weather and high seas about 5 times, so not bad really. I have Barry Manilow playing on my iPod, I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love him, a great singer and an even better song writer, I met him once at the Hilton Hotel in London, a really nice person.

Both shows went great once again and it was great to share the stage with Steve Rawlings a top act.

Today we are in Vigo, its hot and sticky and I don’t know where the morning went but I didn’t get to have my morning run, the phone rang and it was Mark Tomley inviting me to a seafood lunch in Vigo, so we met on the gangway ay 11.45am and went to a fab little place for a beautiful seafood feast, also with us was some of the ships officers and the bars managers wife and little one Tia if I remember rightly, a really nice afternoon was had by all.

That night I went to see Adam Scott he’s an amazing guitar player, he plays Spanish flamenco style and he is world class trust me, here’s a photo of him in action.

Today is a day at sea, we are now in the Bay of Biscay and P&O’s Ventura is just behind us off our port bow, it’s lovely to see her at sea she is a magnificent ship. I had my run around deck 14 and had my iPod flat out in my ears as I was learning my lyrics of the new songs for the tour. This afternoon at 3pm I am being interviewed by the cruise director Dru Pavlov in the Eclipse Theatre so I hope we get a big crowd, I hope to show some of my TV footage and photos of my family and so on. I have 80% packed my stuff and I’m now in “going home” mode, I can’t wait. Sam has cut his knee now and is causing such a drama and he tells Marie that he can’t walk now! The seas are quite grey today, you can tell we are getting near to home; Marie hates this kind of day, the last day, packing with grey skies and seas.

My interview was a great success we had a packed house, it went great and the cruise director Dru seems to be very happy, looks like we are going to do this every time I’m here now, I had my laptop onstage with me and I messed up the video presentation, it just didn’t work, it was out of sync, never mind it didn’t take anything away from the show.

Tonight I’m going to a funky little restaurant called Qsine where you order from an iPad, can’t wait. I’m nearly finished packing and home tomorrow; I am so looking forward to seeing my family.

Busy at home

Having some time at home is so special and this time we did some clearing out, it does you good, the garden, garage and found some old stuff from my early days in the business, old contracts, photos, brochures and things like that, so many memories! Today I am meeting with an old pal Louis Hoover who is coming down to Wales for a meeting in Cowbridge, so I am looking forward to that. Tonight my son Tom and I are going for a nice cold beer down the bay (Cardiff Bay) so I'm looking forward to hearing all Tom's news. I join Celebrity Eclipse once again on Saturday I am joining her in Civvitavechia near Rome. It really is an amazing ship and I am working well there. See you soon.