Queen Elizabeth Sept 2012

Once again it was just over 24hrs at home, it was hard this time as I felt like a visitor in my own home, I couldn’t relax, I felt so stressed. The car came at 7.45am to take me to Heathrow for my flight to Rhodes via Athens, we got to the airport and it was plain sailing getting through security and I was soon having my breakfast in the little pub at Terminal 1, soon we were off and flying to Athens on Aegean Airlines, I have never flown with them before and let me tell you, they are fab, best service I have had for ages, as good as BA and Virgin. We landed on time in Athens and I had nearly 4hrs to wait for my next flight to Rhodes, so Priority Pass came in handy once again, the lounge I used was the same lounge I used a few weeks ago when I had Marie and Sam with me, a very nice room with good food and drink with comfy chairs. Soon I was on the Rhodes flight and once again Aegean were great, we got to Rhodes within the hour and I was soon in a taxi on my way to my hotel for the night, it was a basic hotel but clean and friendly so happy days! After a good nights sleep I woke feeling tired with blocked nose, I’ve had these sinus problems for weeks now, no idea what’s up? My car came to take me to the Queen Elizabeth, which looked splendid in the sunshine with blue skies surrounding her; she is a beautiful ship and every inch a Cunarder of today! My stateroom is lovely and lunch was fab, I then sat in the sun for 3 hours, I rang Marie a few times and she told me the weather at home had turned nasty, so I made the most of it and enjoyed the sun whilst drinking a big bottle of water, I felt so much better after drinking it, I must have been dehydrated because I didn’t need the loo after drinking it, so come on now Mr Doyle, drink plenty of water this trip! My show isn’t for two nights time so at least I can rest. Yesterday we were in one of the most beautiful places on earth, Santorini in Greece, what a place, I have been there about 4 times before but never got of the ship due to one thing or another, but I was so pleased I got off this time, what a place. Once the tender boat docked alongside I made my way to the cable car and made the terrifying journey up the mountain, it was so steep. The other mode of transport was to go up on a donkey, which I declined, I felt so sorry for them as it’s a long way up that mountain. Once up there I was just blown away with the awesome views that were on display, the Queen Elizabeth was down in the bay and she looked so small from up there! I sat in a beautiful café over looking the bay and had a couple of beers chatting to two lovely people from the Forest of Dean and just felt so lucky to be there in Santorini, take a look at these pics…what a place! Today we are in Katacolon, another beautiful place and another sunny day with a high od around 28c, the weather at home has been awful so lets make the most of it. More pics for you of this lovely place Katacolon. My show is tonight in the Royal Court Theatre at 8.30pm and 10.30pm and my rehearsal is at 4.45pm so I am looking forward to that, all I want now is the sound to be good! Yyyyeeeessssss!!!!! It’s a great soundman his name is John and he used to work at the BBC in London as head of sound and I have worked with him before and he’s a good man with a good pair of ears, so now I feel more up for it so to speak. The band are fab under the direction of Tim Faulkner who is leaving life at sea so I don’t know when we’ll see Tim again, I hope our paths cross again, he’s a great MD and a fab sax player. 1hr and 20mins to go for my first show, I want to do very well tonight and go for it, I have a great crowd ahead of me with a great mix of nationalities, but an English speaking audience, which is obviously important to me and to them I guess! Tomorrow we are in Corfu, I was only there a few weeks ago on another Cunard ship the RMS Queen Victoria, the ports of call this voyage are just fantastic, and the weather!

Oh Yes…2 great shows, I could not have done any better, thank you QE, what a great night, let me tell you if I do well I will tell you and equally if I die on my arse I will also tell you and that’s a promise! I met up with old friends Grahame and Julie and John and Judith and we had a few after the show and had a good laugh! Today we are in Dubrovnik Croatia, a beautiful place which I have been to many times, I got myself off the ship and went to the old city and found my usual Irish Bar “Pats Bar” where they pour a lovely pint of Guinness and real chips, I know it’s a bit basic, then so am I. Tonight, Phill Browne and I are part of the “Strictly” Dancing competition and it’s a formal night, so it’s a suited and booted kind of night for us! Tomorrow we are in Venice and we are over night there and I am working as well, so lets hope our guests choose to stay onboard and see my show rather than go and see Venice…no pressure then! Stay onboard they did and I had the best night ever…thanks all who came to see me in the theatre, and I hope I see you again in the future on land or at sea.

Eclipse August 2012

It was another 24hr turnaround and this time was made easier as Marie and Sam flew out to Tallinn with me from Gatwick and with bad traffic jams on the way to the airport we were lucky to be flying at all, but as we had Billy from Executive Cars www.executivecarswales.co.uk we did some serious detours to get to Gatwick, thanks Billy.

We had a great meal in the Weatherspoon pub at Gatwick South and I of course couldn’t resist a pint of London Pride. We were soon on the plane for our 2hr 45mins flight to Tallinn and Sam was so good and enjoyed the plane very much, well the fact we have an IPad helps, he don’t half know his way around it too! We landed on time and got ourselves to our lovely hotel the Radisson Blu, we didn’t have the best nights sleep due to not great pillows and Sam having a night terror and the breakfast wasn’t up to much either. We got ourselves to the ship and this time it’s the beautiful and out of this world “Celebrity Eclipse”. Later on that afternoon I had a phone call from Dee the Production Manager, telling me they had a problem, the another act that joined that day was due to be on that night but his luggage and props hadn’t arrived at the airport so couldn’t do his show, he’s a magician and it turned out to be a really good friend of mine, someone from home too, Taffy Spencer, so it was my pleasure to go on at last minute to help him out. The Eclipse Theatre is an amazing Theatre with an all singing and dancing array of sophisticated technical toys, an amazing 7 piece band and 1300 individually air conditioned seats, take a look at this picture, how cool is this theatre! Both shows went well and it was lovely to have Marie and Sam in the audience too! We next called at the beautiful city of Copenhagen and the weather was fabulous, so photo heaven! Taffy was on that night and he absolutely stormed them, it was a pleasure to watch him work. Today we are at sea and it a hit and miss kind of day with the weather, but I hear we are going back into some lovely sunshine when we get home, so lets hope for the best. Another day at sea and it’s a tad choppy but the Celebrity Eclipse is sailing beautifully. Last night we all went to see an amazing production show called “Ovations” which was music from both Broadway and the West End and what a fantastic show it was. I stayed up late last night with Taffy Spencer and we went to see an amazingly funny guy called Steve Womack, he did a great job and certainly stormed that crowd, he performed in the 200 seat Celebrity Central which is a brilliant comedy club that kind of looks like the Comedy Store in London. Tonight is the Farewell Variety Show and Taffy, Nicole (the violin entertainer who did a wonderful show the other night) and myself are on giving a 15min spot, I’m not a fan of the 15min slot but no doubt it will be a great show! We all had 2 great shows and we were all sad to leave the Celebrity Eclipse. Thank you to Hotel Director Sue and F&B Manager Mark and Stewart Turnble the Cruise Director for looking after us, my Sam just loves this ship! I have 4 days at home now with so much to do, I have to buy a garden shed, empty the garage as we are turning it into another room in the house, and make a hundred phone calls. I am also recording some new ads for Trade Centre Wales and meeting up with my son Tom for a chat on some future shows I have coming up. I have the Panto Press Launch next month so best get used to wearing some women’s clothes and high heels, yes I’m playing an Ugly Sister just incase you think I have gone completely insane! Oh today is an eventful day in Bridgend, we now have a golden letter box outside our local shop as we have an Olympic Gold winner living just around the corner from us and in his honour they have painted our post box gold, how lovely!

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!

Grand Princess July 2012

I flew out of Copenhagen after a successful week on RCI’s beautiful Jewel of the Seas and landed in Gdansk Poland, unfortunately there was no one there to pick me up from the airport, so I took a taxi to my hotel in the port of Gdynia. My hotel was “ok” and as I was so very tired I didn’t care really what it was like, I went for a walk around the town and took some photos, as you can see it has a lovely church.

I ended up in a lovely little bar and as I didn’t have any Polish money on me I had to charm the ever so nice lady behind the bar and she allowed me to pay in euros, they had some very nice beer spelt with a “Z” sorry I can’t remember now, but it was a great pint. Soon tucked up in my hotel bed and feeling a tad homesick I fell asleep. I woke around 7am and was soon in the taxi to the ship, we arrived on the quay side and watched the Grand Princess sail in, a truly magnificent sight, she looked splendid coming into the Harbour. The weather wasn’t kind at all and I stood at the gangway shivering in the rain and cold waiting to board. Once on and in my cabin and the heating turned up I soon recovered. The ever so talented Emily Reed is on in the theatre tonight, I last worked with Emily last year on Celebrity Eclipse, she has a huge voice for such a tiny frame, she tells me she is getting married next year, so congratulations to you and your Husband to be! I saw most of Emily’s show and then went to bed. My day wasn’t great as I got myself down a bit, I’m really missing home and my family at the moment, I’m hardly ever home and sometimes, well, as the Americans would say, it just sucks! Good Morning. It is a good morning too, I slept really well and as we are sailing very close to land with Demark and Copenhagen close by and we sail under the bridge there is a good signal so spoke to Marie for ages, I needed that, I miss her and Sam like mad, and at the moment really hugely miss them. Ha, on my iTunes Westlife has come on singing “Home” now that’s spooky isn’t it, every word in this song I can identify with. I love my home, but to have that home I have to be away from it? My rehearsal is at 5pm and my shows at 8.30pm and 10.30pm in the 900 seat Princess Theater and I am looking forward to working tonight. I had a lovely lunch sat all alone with a beautiful plate of pork and mash and a relaxing afternoon in my cabin working on my show for tonight. My rehearsal went very well, the band are really tight and the sound is fab, so I feel well up for it tonight. My 9pm show was 100% packed and I really enjoyed it, thanks to Mary in the front from the USA and to the rest of the crowd really, the 10.45pm felt a little different and I had to up the pace a bit but it turned out to be another great show. After the show I went to the Officers Wardroom with one of the Entertainments Officers Luke from New Zealand, he’s a great bloke and a great laugh too, we had a couple then had toasted ham and cheese sarnies on the way home, well when I say home, I mean our cabins! We were in Oslo yesterday, I have been there quite a few times and when the sun shines it really is an amazing place to walk around and take in the breath taking views and enjoy the waterfront, but it was quite a mixed bag weather wise, they are getting much the same as us at home with lots of rain, but it didn’t rain much and I was able to get around the town taking some pics, one particular seagull was the perfect subject, it just stood there letting me snap away taking pics of it, have a look! Last night I went to see a brilliant entertainer Gareth Oliver in the Theater, what a show he put on, it was hilarious and he stormed the crowd, he also had his girlfriend in the act with him and it was so clever what they did, if you ever get a chance to see Gareth work you must go, he is a fantastic act! Good Morning. We are at sea today in the North Sea making our way to Southampton. I’m on tonight with the brilliant Emily Reed who is an amazing singer, we have 7pm and 8.45pm shows and there is an hour back on the clock tonight, so that will come in very handy in terms of an extra hours in bed let me tell you! I have my show to work on for tonight now, then sort out some receipts for my VAT accounts, then work on my speech for tomorrow night in Rhoose for Aberthaw Cement, then pack ready for getting off tomorrow, I have to be up by 6.30am to be ready for the Immigration people at 7am, then I hope to be in a taxi and on the 8.10am train back to Bridgend and home to my family!

Jewel and Grand Princess

With only the 2 days off this time I had to try and enjoy every minute of it, I loved playing with my little boy Sam and I loved listening to his news of school and his funny jokes he’s had with his pals, I miss my family like mad and I sometimes wonder what on earth is it all about, to have the home and life I have, I have to be away from it, work that out someone please! I also managed to drive up to Nottingham to pick my son Tom up from his digs and bring him home, he has just finished an 18 week tour of the stage play Birds of a Feather with the original cast from the hit TV show, he did a grand job and we are all so very proud of him.

I then flew from Cardiff to Amsterdam where I then had to endure an 8hr wait in-between flights, my next flight to Tallinn in Estonia wasn’t until 8pm and I had landed in Amsterdam at 11am. I have a good friend at the airport who works as a bartender at the Het Pallais Bar his name is Jan, I first met him just over 5 years ago, the reason I can remember how long ago it was is because, when our son Samuel was born I missed the birth as I was on the P&O Arcadia, Sam came early and I missed it, I flew back two days after the birth and missed my flight to Cardiff so ended up at Amsterdam awaiting a late flight back home, so like most people would have been in my situation, I went to find the bar, I walked through the door with tears in my eyes and this wonderful man Jan looked at me and said “now here’s a man who needs a beer” in his thick Dutch accent, I said back to him “I have just missed the birth of my son” he said “ I think we should have two beers” we laughed and we have been good friends ever since. So here I am once again at Amsterdam and as always I made my way to the bar and there was Jan, I had a couple of beers and a lovely meal, I had 8hrs to kill in this airport, I am so glad I have a Priority Pass which means I have access to business lounges all over the world and in cases like this they come in very handy, with free food and drinks and free internet. The time passed and I was soon on the flight back to Tallinn, yes I was only there a few days ago on Celebrity Eclipse, it went quite quick, thanks to my IPad. I was soon at my hotel and the comfiest bed and pillows ever and a jaccusi (sorry can’t spell it and neither can my MacBook Pro) but very nice. I joined the beautiful Jewel of the Seas and was given the loveliest welcome as always and settled into my beautiful suite. I bumped into Susan Foster who is the Stage and Production Manager and a brilliant photographer; she has done most of my publicity, on the way to the ship I also bumped into an old pal and brilliant singer Gary Williams who I am taking over from, I do hope he has left me something in the fridge! I had dinner with the cruise director Clo and her lovely friends who are Airline Hosts one with Virgin and the other with BA, very nice people. My show is day after tomorrow so time to relax a bit…its 10.20pm here and its like daylight out there, we are now on our way to Gothenburg in Sweden, we dock right outside the Volvo Factory…how exciting!!!!! Goodnight! A day at sea and a mix bag of sunshine and showers and an old film on the telly, I felt quite lonely today, so what do you do when you feel lonely, you go to the bar of course, I had a lunchtime pint and met two terrific guys at the bar Mike and Shaun, Mike didn’t drink but still insisted he buys a round and Shaun so it happened turned out to be a Catholic Priest, so his name soon became “Father” what a great man, I enjoyed telling him of my days St. Mary’s RC School in Carmarthen and St. John Lloyd RC Secondary School in Llanelli, he is from Ireland and very proud of that, he is coming to my show tomorrow night and we are meeting afterwards for a pint, it was great to meet the two of them. The sea is calm and the sun is still out and with the cloud formation its making an interesting sky, oh quick where’s my camera! It’s a school night for me tonight as I am on tomorrow night for 7pm and a 9pm shows so its goodnight from me! I had the best shows ever, well it certainly felt that way, 2 shows and they went really quick, especially the 9pm and I ended up doing 1hr and 15mins, I really shouldn’t have over ran like that but it was just one of those nights, I couldn’t do anything wrong, couldn’t put a foot out of place, a great night. It was also a great night as Father Shaun and his party from County Galloway had an impromptu sing song in the Safari Club and what great singers they had in that group, I enjoyed so very much, it was lovely to hear some of the old Irish folk songs I used to hear as a child, wonderful night! I was up early this morning as Father Shaun invited me to go along to Mass, well I made it and very glad I did, it took me back to my days at St. Mary’s RC Church in Carmarthen, the responses came flooding back as did my tears at times, I just couldn’t help crying, nobody noticed so all was well, it was so good to meet Father Shaun and I wish him well and his parishioners as they fly back to Ireland tomorrow. I have been happy here in this beautiful suite and I have just been told that I have to pack my stuff and prepare to move to another suite, which will be the suite I normally get, just when I thought I was settled, oh well never mind, stop moaning Doyle and pack that case. Tomorrow we are in Harwich, I do love Harwich and I’m looking forward to going for a pint in the Hanover Inn and then some traditional fish and chips up the road from there, the weather was stunning the last time I was in Harwich, I do hope its going to be at least dry tomorrow! We sail away tomorrow evening for Copenhagen then I fly to Gdansk in Poland where I shall stay in a hotel and the next morning join the beautiful Grand Princess and sail back to Southampton. I had a great day as always in Old Harwich, firstly breakfast in the “Cuppa Coffee” in Dovercourt and free internet which is great, then jumped on the bus down to Old Harwich, the weather is awful today so haven’t taken too many photos, I have taken loads here before when the sun was out and the skies were lovely and blue, oh well it’s still good here. I popped into my local pub when I’m down here, the “Hanover Inn” and was given a great welcome by the Landlord Baz, he keeps a crackin pint of Thwaites Original Bitter and the locals are great with some sharp banter that keeps you laughing all day long, after that is was fish and chips that taste fantastic. Back on the ship and soon time for the emergency drill, as I have said before, after what happened with Costa O never complain about going now, I used to, but not any more, it’s so important! We are now sailing out of Harwich and on our way to Copenhagen, my show is tomorrow night and then off I go to Poland! I slept well last night and stayed in bed until 10am in-fact if Clo our cruise director hadn’t have rang me to say that her husband and son were up at breakfast waiting to see me I would have stayed in bed for another hour. It was lovely to see Clo’s other half Dave and there beautiful son Connor who has the most lovely long hair, our Sam likes it when Connor is here as he has someone to play with. My voice is very dry today, it’s the air-con, it plays havoc with your throat, my shows are tonight at 9pm and 10.45pm and we have a large Spanish and Mexican contingent so lets hope they can understand me, I do wish I could speak Spanish!

Eclipse July 2012

With just a few days off and “Team Doyle” safely back from the Independence of the Seas with flights from Lisbon and Dublin I even managed a round of golf at Coed Y Mwstwr Golf Club, I do love this course! We had an afternoon down Rest Bay Porthcawl after a lovely Sunday lunch at the Rose And Crown in Nottage also near Porthcawl, but the weather was so wet and windy, we also enjoyed looking around the newly refurbished Garden Centre in Pyle, we bought two hanging baskets in the hope we get some kind of summer quite soon! I was soon back at Cardiff Airport and my flight to Tallinn via Amsterdam, I had a very tight connection and due to the fact the Tallinn flight was delayed I made it and so did my luggage. I met with an old pal and great entertainer Mark Donahue at Amsterdam and we had a good old catch up on the plane to Tallinn. We arrived at Tallinn and my case came off first as it went on the plane last I suppose, I was relieved to see it I tell you. A short taxi ride to the ship and the Eclipse was looking magnificent docked in the Harbour, we were next to the Aida and we just looked so much more modern and luxurious, she really is a beautiful ship and I feel very honored to be working on here. Once in my stateroom and the previous acts luggage at the doorway, that luggage belonged to another good friend of mine and my brother Phill, Taffy Spencer, who I soon bumped into, he’s a great bloke and we enjoyed a bit of lunch together, he does make me laugh. The cruise director is a really nice man called Mike Gibbons who is also a good friend of my brother Phill, I’m looking forward to meeting him as Phill has told me all about him. The show tonight was a brilliant singer called Cheryl Sinclair, what a voice, what an act, I can’t wait to meet her and tell her how much I enjoyed her show. It was an hour back on the clock tonight so I took advantage of that and went to bed, I was so tired as I had been up since 3.30am, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Good Morning all, we are at sea in the Baltics, it’s a chilly day with scattered clouds, so different from yesterday in Tallinn with lovely hot sunshine. I had a light breakfast and then met up with the cruise director Mike Gibbons, we went for a coffee and just as my brother said, what a lovely man, he clearly thinks allot of Phill as they have worked together before on another cruise line, he gave me a huge plug over the ships PA System and after my show tonight he has his own show then after that we are going for a drink. I have 2 hours now until my band call, sound check and rehearsal so I will catch up with you later. Its great to be back on Celebrity Eclipse! Rehearsal went perfect, they are 100% professional on here and I am so up for tonight. The 7pm went brilliant, when I walked into the theatre at 6.50pm there were about 150 people sitting there and all at the back, but by the time I went on at 7.05pm it was almost full, where did all those people come from, I had the most wonderful time up there tonight, I have my next show in 35mins, I’m really looking forward to it too! I do love this ship and this theatre, its just a brilliant theatre to work, it has 1350 seats and loads of technology to help make your show sound and look amazing, thanks guys. Copenhagen came and went, but I did have a great day, Mike the cruise director invited me off the ship for lunch with his family, we had a great time, just look at the photos. Later on that evening we met up with another good mate Rikki Jay, he’s a really nice man, he gave me the “Feed The Fish’ routine which I did in panto a few years ago, he was joining the Caribbean Princess that day. We all had a few drinks and just sat there at the quayside enjoying the sunshine and crack so to speak, yes it was a lovely day. Today we are at sea and I had a lay in till 11am…ah that was lovely! Its another sunny day here on Celebrity Eclipse in the North Sea, I do hope the weather at home has improved, poor little Sammy, all he wants to do is kick his ball in the garden! What do you think of this photo of Sam with his football, it is fab isn’t it, even if I say so myself! Tonight I have been invited to take part in “Liars Club” it’s a take on the old TV Show “Call My Bluff” to be honest I’m not very good at it, but I will do my best, the word Tittup is a good one to get a few laughs! I’ll soon be home again, we are going to he circus on Saturday as it’s coming to our area, Sam is very excited! The next day I’m driving up to Nottingham to pick my son Tom up and bring him home as his tour of “Birds of a Feather” will have finished, he has done so well, travelling all over the UK on trains and sorting his own hotels out, he was the Technical Assistant Stage Manager (TASM) he has also been booked for panto and he’s going back to Wolver Hampton to the Grand Theatre where he was last year with our dear lovely friends Sam Kane and Linda Lusardi, but this year Tom won’t be with them, which is a real shame as he loves to work with them, Sam Kane has done so much for Tom and he has learn’t an awful lot and it has helped him on his way. I need to go back on my diet, I’m ashamed I let it go, I lost two stone on the Lighter Life Light diet, so I am going back on it asap! My phone just rang and it was the production manager Maddie, she tells me I have to be in front of the immigration officers at 6.30am on Saturday, oh well maybe I could get on an earlier train then! The Liars Club event went w storm, it was a great laugh, I over heard an American guy say “oh my dear Lord, that was a riot” we did have fun! Today is our last day and we are at sea heading for Southampton, I am back on tonight in a variety show with Mark Donahue, Cheryl Sinclair and the cast of the Theatre Company who are amazing by the way! I have really enjoyed being back on Celebrity Eclipse and I look forward to coming back throughout the year, I have also been booked back for next year already…must be ding something right then!

Brilliant on the Brilliance!

What a month it has been, my mothers 70th birthday, Sam’s 5th Birthday and Mam and Dad’s 52nd Wedding Anniversary, I took Mam and Dad with me on the Brilliance of the Seas to Norway and the Fjords, they loved it, we flew to Molde in Norway from Cardiff via Amsterdam and Oslo, it was a long day that day what with three flights, but well worth it when we finally got to Molde, the sun was shining the sky was blue and snow all over the nearby mountains, just look at the these photos!

Fab isn’t it, our hotel was very nice and very comfortable and right on the water, it did not go dark at all whilst we were there, 24hr daylight, Mam and Dad couldn’t get over it, we were having a drink in a bar at 11.45pm and the sun was out. Oh yes the drinks, Dad nearly fell through the floor at the price of the drinks, it was in our money £10 a pint of beer and the same for a glass of red wine, crazy isn’t it! We all loved our time in Molde, it’s a very nice quiet little town with the best drivers in the world, everyone and I mean everyone drove at the speed limit, 30mph really is 30mph in Norway, they must have some kind of huge fine if you break the speed limit! Please forgive me but I am writing this blog a few weeks after our time on the Brilliance, I usually write day by day and sometimes in real time. We also went to Alesund and beautiful Olden I think these photos say it all. The only thing that went wrong on this trip, well it worked out ok in the end but, my audience were 60% Spanish 30% German and the rest Brits and Americans, it was tough but somehow I did it, I even made myself laugh, I tried to talk in a Spanish accent but in English, so surreal! We got back home and my Mam and Dad just had the most wonderful time, Mam made friends with Sheila Trott my boss and they are going to keep in touch! The next cruise just 2 days after my parents was to Alicante with Marie and Sam my wife and our son, Sam had his 5th Birthday on the ship, this time the 160,000ton Independence of the Seas, we were only on the ship for 3 days in which I worked one of the nights but we had a great time, we played in the water park called H20 Zone, we went to an Ice Show, saw one of the spectacular production show called Once Upon A Time, Sam loved that show, it’s a great ship for families as there is heaps to do!

Here’s some phots of our time on Independence of the Seas.