Grand Princess June 9th 2012

I had 3 lovely days off at home with Marie and Sam and boy what awful weather, I have never in my life seen such bad weather, 80mph winds and driving rain, oh well it was still good to be home, my bad chest has got a lot better and I am now back on the Grand Princess and back in the same cabin I vacated only 4 days ago. My show is tomorrow night in the Princess Theatre and then another show in the Vista Lounge the next night, then I’m done as I’m flying home the next day from Seville Spain after docking in Cadiz. My dear old pal Mark O’ Malley is onboard and what a terrific act he is, Mark has a great voice and when we get together we laugh until it hurts! We had our emergency drill and Mark and I laughed so much at times, he’s a great bloke and has that “always laughing” face, it’s great to see him again! We sailed away at 4.15pm and the Celebrity Eclipse sailed before us and then we passed the Azura and then the much loved Oriana, my heart skipped a beat as we sailed passed her, our ship the Grand Princess gave her a salute by means of many loud blasts on the ships horn and Oriana sounded hers back to us, I felt like saluting her myself, I owe so much of the success I now enjoy to that wonderful ship, I joined her in October 1996 so have been associated with her all this time, gosh 16yrs, so that’s means Oriana is now 17yrs old, it seems only like yesterday she came out as the brand new kid on the block and making the old QE2 look old and tired, but there again, what an amazing ship QE2 was, I have been so blessed to have travelled on all these magnificent ships. Ok, it’s a school night for me tonight as I have two shows tomorrow night and two shows the following night, enjoy the photos of all these wonderful ships as we sailed away from Southampton. A couple with Mark O Malley and a good meal and I was away to my bed. Good Morning. We are at sea today crossing the Bay of Biscay and the sea isn’t too bad, a bit bumpy but nowhere near as bad as we were all expecting. My rehearsal went great and tonight I am in the Vista Lounge and felling a tad nervous as I would in all honesty prefer to work the theatre, oh well it’s not like it’s the first time I have ever worked a lounge and it does look fabulous. Just back from the 8.30pm show in the Vista Lounge, it went great but felt different, I worked different, I worked “the room” more if you know what I mean, I over ran so I must have done a good job, but felt like I was really having to work hard for the laughs, well that is good for you too! I have 30mins to my next show, so now I have done a show in there I now know what to expect and just get on with it and not expect it to happen, I have to make it happen, a lesson learn’t! Oh yes…I learnt from the first show and really upped the pace. I worked at lightning speed and got great results, everybody happy. After the show I went to the Officers Wardroom with Mark and Chris the Deputy Cruise Director and had a couple of beers then off to bed and slept like a log until 11am next day. We are still at sea and now sailing closer to Cadiz in Southern Spain and I am on again tonight, this time in the beautiful Princess Theatre, so music to get ready and comedy materiel to look at and then I have to pack my case, I pack and unpack so many times I can do it in around 15mins. Rehearsal is in 3hrs 30mins and I can hear my old pal Tony Wright saying “yeah but what a lovely 3hrs 30mins” haha! A very good rehearsal and a lovely 8.30pm show from which I have just come in through the door, the next show in 35mins, I hope the next crowd will be just as good. Oh the late show crowd were fantastic, thank Sylvia for the dance on stage you were amazing. After the show I headed down to the Officers Wardroom for a pint and then back to my cabin to finish off the packing. I woke at 8.30am and after a good breakfast it was time to go, my taxi was there waiting for me to take me to Seville Airport and my flight to Madrid where I am right now, my flight for London Heathrow is in an hour and I have been sitting here for that time too, I’ll soon be home and a nice 3 day break and then it’s off to Norway on the RCI Brilliance of the Seas and I’m taking my parents with me, so see you then! Thank you as always for visiting the website and following me on the blog, I know I write in a day to day way but it really helps me and to think you are reading it gives me a great pleasure! Thank You!

Grand Princess June 2012

Last night I flew from Copenhagen to London Heathrow and stayed at the beautiful Sheraton Hotel, I had a lovely meal before bed and then I couldn’t sleep a wink all night, the alarm went off at 5.15am and before you knew it I was on the plane to Gibraltar, I did manage to sleep for an hour on the plane so at least that was something. We landed a tad late due to a helicopter problem at the airport, and then I was whisked off to join the Grand Princess, which was docked right next to another ship I have worked on the Crystal Serenity. I got a very nice welcome onboard and was escorted to my stateroom, the stateroom has to be the smallest room I have ever stayed in, but hey I’m new here so head down and go out there and do my very best. It is a very nice ship and of course I new my way around as it is the same layout as P&O Ventura and Azura only much older, when this ship first came out it caused a stir all over the world as it was then the biggest ship in the world with an unusual design. My rehearsal is in 20mins at the Princess Theatre so best I get going. Just back from rehearsal and what a lovely bunch of people working in that theatre, the musical director Gordon has to be one of the nicest guys in the world, not only has he taken the rehearsal brilliantly he even took me down to the laundry to get my suit pressed, he didn’t have to do that, he is very much thought of on this ship and indeed with Princess, so he has connections on here, so many thanks Gordon. The sound is big on stage so that’s good for me, my voice is getting there so I am looking forward to my show tonight at 8.30pm and 10.15pm in the 1000 seat Princess Theatre. Yyyyyeeeeesssss! Sorry about that, but it did go very well, a full packed house and it just flew, the comedy was fluid and I enjoyed myself, but my voice is still drying out onstage about ¾ the way through? Oh well thank God I have my comedy to fall back on, shame though as no What Colour Is The Wind or Nessun Dorma. I’m back on in 35mins for a 10.15pm show. Thank you late show people I loved it and I’m so pleased, as this was my first time on here. Today we are at sea sailing north towards the Bay of Biscay and onto Southampton where we will be turning around and off again for Copenhagen, I feel I know Copenhagen like the back of my hand now as I’ve been back and for there loads of times this year. I spent some time with Gary alias Manuel Martinez, he’s a great act and a top bloke, we chatted for hours today, you may have seen him on the telly, he was on Pen and Tellers Magic show with Jonathan Ross hosting, he’s a funny man too! I’m back on tomorrow night and sharing the stage with the very talented Siobhan Phillips, another great act with a fab voice and a funny girl to boot! Please let my voice be there tomorrow night God! Another day at sea and the weather had turned grey and it’s raining, I rang my mate Gary and we had a nice cup of Earl Grey Tea, forgot how nice that tea is. I’m on tonight so I have to sort my music and act out so see you later. I found out how to send voice notes on my phone so sent one to Marie and she sent one back and Sam spoke on it to, it was so lovely to hear their voices, only thing is, it makes you even more homesick, oh well home soon. I’m just through the door from the 8.30pm show and it was just so comfortable, I loved it, my voice is just hanging on in though, Siobhan Phillips stormed the opening spot, she’s a great act. I’m looking forward now to the 10.15pm show and can only hope they will be as good an audience, well actually there are no bad audiences so get on there Doyle and do your 100% best! Tomorrow morning I have to be up ay 6.30am for the UK Border Immigration to see me with my passport so no late to bed tonight, but at least we have an hour back on the clock! Good Morning. I was up and about by 6.15am and in front of the Immigration Officer at 7am, I decided to walk into town, the sun was shinning and the walk would do me good. Once in town I took a few photos of Southampton City Centre and all of a sudden I started to bump into old friends from P&O Cruises as Aurora and Azura was in and the RCI Independence of the Seas was in and I even bumped into the production manager Tony Smart, what a day it was lovely to see everybody Paul from the band Kool Blu, Ray the Printer, Martin the chippy, Nat Cruise Director, Hale Bars, and some of the members of the orchestra, I love that about a turnaround day in Southampton, you can’t help but keep bumping into your mates from the ships, there were 4 big ships in and that equates to 12,000 passengers not to mention all the crew. I’m off tonight so see you tomorrow. Hello from Zeebrugge, it’s cold, wet and grey here, much the same as it is in London and of course it’s the Queens Jubilee celebrations today, what a shame about the weather not much I can say about where we are today, its just too cold to get off the ship, so a day in my little cabin. I spoke to Marie for a while and we’ve text back and for. I’m back on tonight with my rehearsal at 6.15pm and on tonight back in the beautiful Princess Theatre at 8.30pm and 10.15pm. I so enjoyed the Queens Jubilee celebrations from the River Thames, I thought it was amazing and I felt so very proud to be British, it was such a shame the weather was so awful, it’s the same here in Zeebrugge, wet and cold and horrible. Its time now for me to go and rehearse in the theatre for my show tonight, see you later! Great sound onstage and Gordon the MD is so good, we have a new trumpet player and a new drummer so our rehearsal took longer than usual but turned out great in the end. I have 1hr and 15mins before Showtime! I’m back from the 8.30pm show and once again a packed house, the crowd are a little more quiet than the crowd we had last cruise but then again this is only their 2nd night, so just finding their feet a bit I suppose, but I loved it and the good news is my voice was stronger, its still not 100% but its getting there! I have 50mins now till the next show. I had another great show; in fact the late show went even better. So thank you all for making my first visit to Grand Princess a very nice one, thank you Billy London, Peter Tranget, Gordon and all the wonderful staff onboard this amazing ship. It was rough seas last night all through the night and indeed all through the day today, it has only just calmed down, we reached a force 10 gale today, not very nice at all. I’m sat up in bed now watching the Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace, what a line up and at least the weather has cheered up. I travel home tomorrow from Copenhagen and do you what I can’t wait, Marie has been so down this time I have been away so I need to get home and look after her for a while, well, 3 days at least! Its not easy this show business life you know, but its what I am in, its what I always wanted to do ever since I was a little boy with dreams and fantasies about being on the stage.

Jewel Of The Seas June 2012

I had a wonderful day off and I spent it at home, I played golf first thing at my golf club “Coed Y Mwster” which in English means Whispering Trees, I played with my best pal Ken Whyte and we did have a lovely round, the sun was shining and it was around 24c so it was just perfect, later in the club house I had a good catch up with Sammy the steward of the club and Gareth the Captain and what a fantastic welcome, I am so proud to be a member of this fabulous golf club and one of the finest courses in Wales too! After golf I took my wife Marie to lunch at the Rose and Crown pub in knottage just outside Porthcawl and what a lovely pub it is, it’s a Brains owned pub and a true gastro experience with a fab pint too. We then went and got plants for our hanging baskets and spent an hour planting in the back garden, all this sounds a bit boring to some but for me it was heaven. It was soon time to go and pick Sam up from school and this afternoon we took his scooter so he could ride it back home via the play park of course, he loves a little 30mins in there, we are so lucky where we live as we have a few parks surrounding us. Sam was full of beans when he saw me and when we got back to the house I had a little surprise for him, my mate Ken very kindly gave him some golf clubs that his grandson had grown out of, you should have seen Sam’s face, he loves them, but he did insist in wanting to hit real golf balls in the garden and wasn’t too happy when I said we have to use plastic practice balls, “I’m not playing with baby golf balls” he said. It was soon time for Sammy to go to bed and I loved reading him his story about aliens, yes I know but he loves it! Marie made the most beautiful chilli con carne I have ever tasted in my life, we both loved it, I of course had to have two lots of it! Today its time to pack my case and start my journey to Copenhagen. The car came for me at 12noon and Andrew was my driver, we got to Heathrow Terminal 5 at 2pm. I got myself to the self check-in machine and it didn’t recognize my details so I asked the nice chap from BA and he looked on his computer and he tells me that I am not booked on the 4pm to Copenhagen, panic sets in a bit and I ring my office and it turns out that my flight had been cancelled for some reason and they were trying to get me on another flight, my mobile phone was very low on battery and this was beginning to be a nightmare, the phone rang and all was sorted, I had to get on a train to Terminal 4 as I was to get on a flight to Amsterdam then onto Copenhagen, I met a great guy at T5 and he helped me to get to T4, its funny who you can meet at airports, this mans name was David and he had flown in from the middle east for a meeting and was about to fly back again all in the same day, his meeting was in a pub and he said it was great as they all had a pint and some fish and chips, he’s a lawyer for an oil company, so David if you are reading this for what ever reason I would like to say a big thank you for your help in getting me safely to T4, funny, a Canadian lawyer who lives in the middle east shows me how to get from T5 to T4 on the train! I was soon in Copenhagen after having a pleasant time in Amsterdam airport which I love by the way, and was then on my way to my hotel, my feet were killing me as I chose to wear a brand new pair of Lacoste shoes which gave me a terrible blister, I have had 4 pairs of the same shoe but these were killing me. I slept like a baby for around 9hrs and woke up feeling bunged up again, this cold and chest infection is just going on and on and driving me up the wall. Breakfast in the hotel was lovely and I was soon in the ever so expensive, over the top, over priced taxi (50euros) to the ship. I do love the Jewel of the Seas and I was given a very nice welcome onboard from Dale who is one of the production team, they organized for my suit and shirts to be pressed as I am on tonight. I found a lovely letter in my suit from singer Zoe Tyler, she had not yet left the ship so we had lunch together in the Windjammer Café along with cruise director Clo who is the most wonderful person. All unpacked now and waiting for my rehearsal at 5pm, my shows tonight are 8.45pm and 10.45pm. See you later. Just back from rehearsals and it was lovely to see some of the same brilliant musicians in the band, Sasha the musical director is there and is brilliant, the same soundman Chris is there so rehearsal went very smoothly except a hick up with a brand new arrangement of ‘Its Not Unusual’ other than that, great! It really is an amazing theatre to work and I feel ever so comfortable up there, my voice is still shaky but at least I have one, so yes I am up for it tonight! Both shows went well and the crowd were lovely, it was a good mix 50% British, 40% Americans and the rest were Canadians, Australians, Irish, Middle Eastern and Spanish so what a mix what a melting pot and I loved it, my voice unfortunately got quite dry and in turn sore “AGAIN” I have had enough now and I’m getting a bit depressed with it all, I couldn’t sing What Colour Is The Wind so couldn’t share my charity (RNIB) with everyone and also couldn’t sing Nessun Dorma either, well some would say I have never been able to sing it but it has served me well over the years! This afternoon I’m going to watch TV, maybe take in a couple of movies, I have Warhorse and Sherlock Holmes on DVD so that sounds like a plan. Tomorrow we dock in Harwich England, I do like this little sea town and it has a beautiful park and seafront so I will probably take some photos, I have taken photos there before but hey lets do it again. There are also some excellent fish and chips there too! I have just watched War Horse and balled my eyes out all the way through, what a film what a horse, it makes you think doesn’t it what a huge contribution horses made in the 1st world war, those poor animals and what they were put through, a truly amazing film. It’s clocks back an hour tonight so now its only 10pm and I’m in bed so I think I’ll read for a while and pray my voice comes back, my next show is day after tomorrow. Good Night and thanks for reading my blog! A very good morning to you…yes we are now in Harwich. I was up at 6.30am breakfast at 8am into Dovercourt by 9am and the photo shoot began, you know how I love to take photos and if you don’t, well, I love to take photos. I went down the seafront took loads, have a look! Went into Old Harwich which is an old maritime town with oldie worldie houses and lots of old pubs. I also went to church and was given a lovely welcome by the priest and most of the congregation, even had a cuppa after. After a few more pics of the town I couldn’t resist popping into one of the local pubs for a pint of real ale and what a welcome I had at the Hanover Pub, I even pulled a few pints behind the bar, check out the photo! Soon time for another £10 taxi back to the ship and managed to get on quite quickly as I know some of the girls working on the check-in desks, so straight through. I’m now sitting on my balcony enjoying the view and watching the ships come in and then watching them go out again…sounds like I’m sitting on the dock of the bay, but no I’m onboard! We sailed on time at 5.30pm and I took a few more photos, the sun was shining and everything just looked perfect. We are on our way now back to Copenhagen where I will disembark and fly back to Heathrow and stay in a hotel overnight as the next morning I fly to Gibraltar to join the Grand Princess and sail back to Copenhagen via Southampton, I have never worked on Princess Cruises before so it will be back to being the new boy again, I don’t like being the new boy but sometimes you have to grit your teeth and get on with it. I spoke to my son Tom today and he told me he had been sick and they sent him home from Birds of a Feather last night, it was something he ate, he’s fine today and is now in Salford ready for a week at the theatre there. I also spoke with my brother Phill today, he was playing golf at the ever so nice Whitchurch Golf Club, he said the weather was fantastic, so we both had the same weather but he, the lucky so and so was playing golf, I love playing golf with my brother Phill we have a good laugh and we enjoy a pint together afterwards. I of course spoke with my wife Marie and she was having a frustrating day trying to get birthday presents, I think Argos is not in her good books! There’s a lovely sunset right outside my balcony so yes you’ve guessed it, I took a photo of it, maybe I’m in the wrong job! See you tomorrow, good night! Good Morning! Today we are at sea and though its sunny it’s quite windy out there, I slept like a baby last night for about 11hrs and I think it ahs done me good, I have prayed my voice would come back as I really need it now, I have my show tonight in the Coral Theatre and I so want to give my best. Lunch was lovely as it usually is as the food on RCI is always tip top notch, I had a salad then some really tasty Hungarian Goulash, after lunch I went and packed my case once again, as I pack so much I have come quite good at it as indeed all us travelling entertainers are. It was soon time for my rehearsal and we had a brand new drummer joining us who is amazing and also a new soundman, I was praying he would be good and boy oh boy oh boy what a soundman, the last time I had a soundman that good outside my guys at home from Neath Music was Steffan from Celebrity Cruises, wow this guy was amazing, his name is Regan and he’s from India and he does some big music tours there and loads of other big stuff, I explained to him what I wanted and boom, there it was, my perfect sound, thank you Ragan, thank God for you! I have 1hr and 30mins to my show which is a 9pm then I have the late show at 10.45pm, after that sound check I have the confidence now and I’m well up for it, please God let there be a voice! Amen. I had my voice back, although it did start to get a bit sore but its now on the mend, Amen! What a great crowd and packed to the rafters 1100 of them, I do hope the late show will be a good attendance, it won’t be full but if its half to three quarters that would be great, I wish I was taking the door money tonight! The late show was a good ¾ full and a great crowd, thank you Clo and all on the Jewel for looking after me. Today we are back in Copenhagen and my most dear friend Gary Lovini joined this morning, we had a good catch up and we laughed our heads of, I did my impression of the cow with a sore throat and Gary was hysterical, it was sad to say goodbye. I’m now at the airport waiting to fly to Heathrow where I will stay tonight in a hotel and fly to Gibraltar in the morning.

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?

Sad News ~ Pam Jones

It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart when I say that a family friend and life long fan of mine, Pam Jones passed away on March 15th 2012.

Pam had followed my career from the early days when I toured with Danny La Rue and Cannon and Ball in Blackpool, she saw all of my pantomimes all over the country and was at all of my television recordings, Pam was a true fan. I think in total she saw me perform in over 600 performances! She has always been a part of all of our lives and I know that she was so happy to be included as a guest at mine and Maries wedding in 2005, she had a great time.

Pam was from Swansea and would always book a seat in the front row at all performances, there will be an empty seat in this years pantomime at the Grand but I know she will be smiling down at me…….. God Bless Pam.