Lodging & Leisure
Country music cruise in the Carribbean
By ELLISE PIERCE
I am four floors below the disco, 10 floors beneath the jogging track, and eight floors under the 24-hour all-you-can-eat pizza and ice cream stations.
Through a small window, I can see the Caribbean, which we're cutting through at 20 knots per hour. I'm staying in Room 1307 on the Carnival Victory cruise ship, one of 22 in the Carnival fleet, which sails for six days and five nights from Miami to three ports in the Caribbean — in this case, Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; and Ocho Ríos, Jamaica. There's not much to recommend staying put in the cabin, which is fine by me, because the main reason I'm here, along with 2,552 others, is certainly not my cramped mauve quarters. And it's not the brief stops ashore. And it's certainly not the food.
We are all here for one reason: the music.
This is a country-music cruise. This is country defined in the loosest possible way. The lineup, at least 15 shows per day, is a dream team of singer-songwriters, all of whom could variously be described as alt/folk/Country. Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, John Hiatt, Shawn Colvin, and Brandi Carlile are all onboard, along with newcomer Holly Williams (granddaughter of Hank Williams and daughter of Hank Williams Jr.), and 29 other musical acts, too. They're all here to sing in the ship's bars and lounges and to put on shows on outdoor stages. It's music, music, music, from lunchtime to well past midnight every day. For that, I can live with the mauve.
Though we feel a world away now, not all that long ago we were at the Port of Miami. After a nice night in the city, I boarded the ship with my bags, got settled, and leaned against the rails along with my shipmates, most of whom were wearing colorful Hawaiian shirts, cargo shorts, and Teva sandals. The ship's horn sounded. The Caribbean was calling.
It was 4 p.m. and cocktail hour — a detail not lost on these party people. Waiters and waitresses in black pants and vests and crisp white shirts passed out oversize coral-colored frozen drinks spiked with Amaretto, rum, brandy, and vodka — these "Funship Specials," complete with umbrellas and chunks of pineapple balanced on the rim, kept coming, along with beers, paid for with the free beer coupons given out at the sign-in desk back onshore. People toasted to each other, to the cruise, to the music.
The ports of call might be our destinations, but I quickly learn that this journey is about listening to as much music as your ears can hold. Six days' worth.
The first day is "Rock Day at Sea," an all-music-all-day affair, which kicks off right after morning bingo and lunch. I've got tickets to Lyle Lovett's 1 p.m. show in the 450-seat Adriatic Lounge on Level 5, at the back of the ship, past the shops selling discount jewelry and band T-shirts and CDs. Not a bad way to start the day, actually.
Even though these small-stage shows are short — just 45 minutes — they're great because of the venue size: intimate. Lyle takes the stage as scheduled, and the audience bobs and claps and stomps feet as he sings "Church," "Here I Am," and other songs that nearly everyone knows by heart. Shawn Colvin's next, at 2:30, and for her two last songs she's joined by Lyle and then John Hiatt, who follows her at 4. It all feels very insidery.
Between songs, Shawn asks where the monkey is in the audience, and then tells us the story of being on tour recently with Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, and Emmylou Harris — the "Three Girls and Their Buddy" tour — and how Buddy would give everyone silly little presents, one of them being a flying monkey. Someone gives the monkey back to Shawn and she demonstrates how the monkey flies, and we all laugh along with her, feeling like we're now part of her world, too. Later, she talks about going to the ship's spa and signing up for cellulite-blasting treatments. Shawn Colvin worries about her cellulite?! This is what we're here for, moments like these.
The next morning we're in Cozumel, which, at first glance, is a long boardwalk of tourist shops selling T-shirts, Mexican dresses, and hats made of woven coconut leaves. But I walk a few blocks into town, past the signs written in English, in hopes of finding an authentic taquería. I haven't gone very far when I spot a little place without a sign, where locals are eating scrambled eggs and black beans on a tiny breezy patio, sitting at tables with red-and-white-checked vinyl tablecloths. Just what I was looking for. I order tortillas, frijoles, and salsa. It's all fresh and light, and I sit in the place for more than an hour just taking it all in.
On my way back to the ship, I stop at a frutería for a jumbo-size horchata. The traditional iced Mexican drink is cinnamon-spiked rice milk; it's delicious and sweet, and the perfect antidote to the day's heat and the first two days at sea.
That afternoon, I head to the Black and Red Seas Lounge on the fifth floor for the first of three open-mic shows, which are like American Idol minus the snarky judges. It's loads of fun — 16 different Clay Aiken and Kelly Clarkson wannabes sing for us, and it's so popular that people are sitting on the floor and spilling out into the hallway. It's also one of the reasons 25-year-old musician Zack Nichols from Los Angeles came on this trip. "I love it," he says. What he really loves is all of the above — the shows by the lesser-knowns and the headliners. He's been trying to catch everything and loves the vibe of the whole thing: "It's cool because the artists are just mingling on the ship with everyone else."
It's true. Musicians, both the unknown and the known, are everywhere. There are those who, like Zack, are hoping to be discovered, and others who are hoping not to be noticed when they're offstage. The next morning, I see a familiar-looking redhead in the coffee bar, and then again later, standing next to the elevators. Then I see her again, sunbathing in a row of blue-and-white-striped deck chairs below me on the lido deck. It is only after the fact that I realize it's Patty Griffin. Dakota Blair, a 27-year-old folk musician from Santa Cruz, California, is here with his girlfriend, Barbara Merriss. He's not here to play, he says, but to be inspired. "I like that around every corner, there's a musician," he says. "It's like a community."
At first glance, it's hard to see how this mismatched group could have anything in common. You're just as likely to see someone like Blair, who is reed-thin and wears gingham-check vintage cowboy shirts and never takes off his dark Ray-Bans, as a 50-something woman wearing a beige "Keep Austin Weird" T-shirt over her bikini. Or a 70-year-old man wearing a tuxedo to dress up for "Hollywood Night" and me, with my well-worn vintage cowboy boots, funky Agnès b tees from Paris, and Levi's. We don't look like we belong together, any of us. But we all fit in. Every one of us loves this music, and that's what connects us.
On Day 5, in the souvenir market in Ocho Ríos, Jamaica, among the ramshackle stalls filled with carved coconuts and small burlap bags of Blue Mountain Coffee, I run into Lisa Nazzaro, 47, and her husband Carl Nazzaro, 48, who are here from Princeton, New Jersey. Since they boarded the ship, they've been listening to a minimum of eight hours of live music a day, Lisa guesses. She utters the now-common refrain: "We're here for the music. I've never been on a cruise and had no desire to go on one. The musicians I wanted to hear just happened to be on a boat," she says.
Back on the lido deck later that afternoon, it's standing-room-only for Buddy Miller. It's the next to last day of the cruise, and my fellow passengers are wearing painful sunburns and drinking cans of Miller Lite, served out of white plastic buckets filled with ice. By Miller's third song, Shawn Colvin joins him onstage; next, when he starts singing "Worry Too Much" from his Universal United House of Prayer CD, Emmylou and Patty join Shawn, and the three women sing backup. The crowd is standing and dancing. And singing. As the sun sets on the port side of the boat, Miller ends his hour-plus set and humbly thanks the crowd. "You folks are so nice," he says quietly. "Thanks for listening. Again."
We do not want Buddy to leave. We do not want Emmylou to go. Or Shawn. Or Patty. We are so happy on the lido deck and having them with us makes life on the ship perfect. We do not care, not any of us — not even food-snob moi — about the overcooked pasta that awaits along the buffet line at the Mediterranean Restaurant. We just want them to keep on playing and the sun to keep setting and the ship to keep sailing.
The next day, they play again. It's the last day of the cruise, and Emmylou, Patty, and Buddy play one after another in the Adriatic Lounge. I sit and listen in a cozy C-shaped banquette, seated right next to Shawn Colvin. Later that night, for Emmylou's late show, and the trip's last concert, Emmylou says that she's going to try to talk her friend Linda Ronstadt into coming on the cruise next year. She plays for more than two hours, and I go to bed really late — and way happier than I ever thought a night of music could make me.
In the Miami airport the following day, I'm the sort of tired that feels like jetlag mixed with a terrible hangover. My eyes burn and, at this point, coffee will not do me any good. Sitting down just makes it worse, so I stand. As I lean against the wall waiting for my flight to board, I pull out my iPod and slip on my big Bose headphones. Hair of the dog that bit ya. I click on Buddy Miller's "Somewhere Trouble Don't Go" and dial up the volume. I start tapping my feet. And I'm instantly — and happily — transported back to my blue-and-white-striped chair on the lido deck, dancing and singing along with everyone else.
TRAIL GUIDE
MIAMI'S SOUTH BEACH
We suggest arriving a couple of days early to take in the sights of Miami. Sure, South Beach can be a bit over-the-top, with tanned musclemen strolling shirtless along the boardwalk, but watching the parade is part of the fun. So slather on the SPF 30, grab your hat and sunglasses, and hit the streets.
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By Marissa Wallace
Shop
• Open just a year, ALCHEMIST is one of the most avant-garde boutiques in the area, with Libertine blazers, Diane von Furstenberg dresses, Ann Demeulemeester pants, Givenchy dresses and bags, and Tom Binns jewelry. Jil Sander and Ric Owens are on the racks, too. 438 Lincoln Road, 305-531-4653
• BOOKS & BOOKS is Miami's own indie bookstore, known for its hefty calendar of author readings as well as its tiny cafe within the store that spills onto the sidewalk. Why not enjoy black bean hummus and a raspberry iced tea as you begin to devour a new book? 933 Lincoln Road, 305-532-3222
• FLY BOUTIQUE isn't cheap, but it carries some of the best vintage pieces around. On a recent visit, we spotted a Louis Vuitton belt from the '70s for $118; a cream-colored Carlos Falchi leather pouch for $80; and a collection of cotton petticoats from the '50s starting at $42, which would look great with a pair of old boots. 650 Lincoln Road, 305-604-8508
• BROWNES & CO. is like what you wished Sephora could be — less clutter and more upscale hard-to-find lines. Here you'll find makeup by Model & Co. and products by Aveda, Dr. Hauschka, Bumble and bumble, and Mario Badescue. 841 Lincoln Road, 888-276-9637
• JOURNEYS isn't fancy, but it has a dizzying selection of Vans, Converse Chuck Taylor (from plaid to those that lace up all the way to the knee), Puma sneakers, and Crocs, the perfect wash-n-wear shoe for the beach (or the kitchen if you're Mario Batali). 603 Lincoln Road305-672-6884
Eat
• DAVID'S CAFE may just have the most amazing café con leche on the planet — the perfect balance of sweet, milky, and strong. This Cuban walk-up coffee bar and adjacent restaurant has been a South Beach staple for years. Pics of Latin celebs — J.Lo, Gloria Estefan, and Marc Anthony are local favorites — adorn its walls. Celebrities aside, the chicken empanadas and Cuban sandwiches are divine. 1058 Collins Ave., (305) 534-8736
• PIZZA RUSTICA, a Miami Beach-based chain of by-the-slice pizzerias, is one of the area's consistently busy restaurants, and one of the best bargains around. A slice of quattro formaggi will set you back just $4.75. 667 Lincoln Road, 305-672-2334
• BIG PINK, we hear, is one of Matt Damon's favorite haunts, and even though we didn't spot him on our recent visit, we understand why he comes here. This diner done in pink offers whatever you may be in the mood for, from waffles to a Cobb salad that's big enough for three people, at least. 157 Collins Ave., 305-532-4700
• ICE BOX CAFE is known for its desserts (Oprah's apparently a big fan), so after a light dinner of, say, a Caesar salad with chicken, we suggest the key lime pie, a cross between a cheesecake and the iconic Florida treat. 1657 Michigan Ave., 305-538-8448; www.iceboxcafe.com
Sleep
• FOUR SEASONS When you arrive, we suggest a Miami Mojito scrub and massage at Splash Spa, followed by — keeping with the theme, here — a small plate of Latin-style tapas, such as lobster tempura bites, by the pool at the hotel's rooftop bar, Bahia. You can enjoy the fabulous rooms that overlook Biscayne Bay, later, right? 1435 Brickell Ave., 305-358-3535; www.fourseasons.com/miami
• HYATT REGENCY Flat-screen TVs, ergonomic workstations, and new buttery walls are just part of the $20 million facelift that Miami's largest hotel has recently undergone. Situated on the Miami River, the Hyatt's an easy hop on the tram to the financial district, or a quick cab ride to South Beach. 400 S.E. Second Ave., 305-358-1234; www.miamiregency.hyatt.com
— E.P.
Issue: January 2009
