Stan & Amy's Ships & Dip blog: March 2009

Back on track for another fun day at sea.

Stan woke up @7:15 and spent some time walking the ship. Amy got up shortly after and wanted to try out the fitness center onboard. We met up for our usual breakfast at the buffet and then took another trip to the merch store (just HAVE to get one more cd...and t-shirt..) Walking around outside a bit we find another windy, cool day at sea, but at least the sun's out. We hear an announcement from the captain (and Ed) that due to the weather, we will be unable to visit Great Stirrup Cay (the private island slated for tomorrows port stop). The wind and a cold front were causing high swells in the sea and it would be too dangerous to tender near the island. (A tender is when a smaller boat shuttles you from the ship to the island when the dock is too shallow to allow the ship to get close). This was a little disappointing since we (especially Amy) were looking forward to just spending a relaxing day at the beach. Instead, the captain tells us, we will be porting in Key West, Fl. Well, he could've said we were spending another day at sea so it's nice to get a chance to see Key West.

The rest of the morning was spent "chilling" on the ship. The afternoon is our "triple dipper" event. Steve and Ed were each hosting separate songwriter panels in the Stardust Theater and as guests on all three cruises we were able to sit in on both of them. (Double dippers were only able to choose one of them). Steve's was up first starting at 1PM. Included on his panel were: Mike Evin, Luke Doucet, Melissa McClellend, John K Samson from the Weakerthans, John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats & Boothby Graffoe.

They each took turns playing a song, explaining their writing process and what the song meant to them. One of the highlights from this was Mike Evin. He was uncomfortably playing guitar (he normally plays the piano) and before his 2nd song he asks Luke Doucet, who is sitting next to him, to show him a chord on the guitar and then asks if he'll play with him. Before Luke accepts they shake hands and introduce themselves to each other as they never met. Quite funny. The rest of the panel was really good and we even got to hear a new Steve song. We were very impressed by all the talent on stage.

After Steve's panel, there was a about a half hour break to let the double dippers that chose Steve's panel time to leave and the dippers who chose Ed's panel time to find a seat. (everyone in the audience was wearing color coded bracelets to differentiate between the 2 panels)

Ed joked at the start of his panel that Steve's panel might have had the better musicians but his panel would be far more entertaining. Ed was joined onstage by Mike Evin, Butterfly Boucher, Chris Murphy from Sloan, Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea, Brian MacMillan, Craig Northey from the Odds & Boothby Graffoe.

Once again the highlight of this panel was Mike Evin. This time he was playing an accordion as "it was closer to a piano". In the middle of one of his songs Mike yells to the rest of the panel for someone to play a solo. Everyone just looks at each other and tries to pass their guitar to the person next to them. It was obvious that they were not familiar with the song. And Mike just kept on playing. This panel seemed to have a little more energy than Steve's and was really good as well. The panel ended up going over time a little and ended with everyone doing a cover of Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads.

We left the theater to head back to our room to re-charge our batteries - for the cameras and our bodies. On the way, we saw Tyler from BNL signing autographs and taking pictures with fans so we quickly hopped in line and got a pic of Amy with Ty. COOL!

We also made reservations for dinner at 5:30 at the Italian restaurant before arriving at our room. After our re-charge, we were energized for the evenings activities.

On our way to dinner, with about 20 minutes to kill before our reservation time, we walk around the pool deck to see what was going on. On the schedule it says "ships and dip covers" but we have no idea what it could be. We get there and find out it is BNL performing a set of cover songs! We picked a spot on the side of the stage and listen a bit till it's time for dinner. What we hear is fun but its really windy outside and we decide to head over for dinner. Mama's Italian Kitchen is the Italian restaurant on the ship and it is one of their cover charge eateries($10 per person). Our dinner there was good but not as great as the other pay restaurant from the other night, Tangos. Amy has chicken parmigiana and Stan has lobster ravioli. After dinner we head to our first show of the night, the Vanity Project in the Spinnaker lounge. The Vanity Project is Steve's side band and he has preformed on all of the previous cruises but this year this was his one and only show of the week so it was a full house when we got there. We didn't have the greatest seats but we were able to hear him well and enjoyed the show. We left a little early to get good seats for the shows in the main theater - The Weakerthans, Great Big Sea and Kevin McDonald & Dave Foley.

The Weakerthans came on around 8. This was our first time seeing them and didn't know what to expect. We had never heard of them before they were announced on the cruise so we downloaded their latest album before we left and Amy was enjoying it. They didn't disappoint, they were really good. At one point during the show while the lead singer was telling a story and the drummer was gone we notice Ed (from BNL) quietly hop behind the drum kit and motion to the audience to be quiet. The song starts with Ed on drums. The crowd is cheering and when the singer eventually turns around during his guitar solo he finally sees Ed. Just another cool moment on the cruise.

Next up around 10:00 is Great Big Sea. This is our third and final time seeing them this week. We really enjoy their show. It's so full of energy both from the band and the crowd. Not even the "rocky boat" swaying back and forth (yes, the sea was bad tonight) can keep us all from dancing it up tonight. They play a great set and Gaelic Storm even crashes their show for two songs. We heard Great Big Sea for the first time last year on the cruise and listened to their music for the past year, but after seeing them this week we are now true fans and admirers of theirs. What a great group of talented musicians and singers who you truly get a sense that they love doing what they do.

Last up for the night at midnight is the comedy of Kevin McDonald & Dave Foley from the Kids in the Hall. They preform a bunch of skits which Stan finds hilarious.

Afterwards its up to the buffet for a little snack and off to bed around 2am. (We go back to eastern time today so it's now 3am). In a few hours we will arrive at Key West and our final day of the cruise.

We'll leave you with a couple more pictures.