Rock and roll on the high seas for George
WHEN veteran performer George Jones goes on a cruise with his band Emerald Connection, he hopes to rock the boat.
But the popular radio presenter got a bit more rocking than he bargained for, courtesy of a Mediterranean storm.
The singer and bass player is a regular on the cruise circuit, but bad weather ensured this time the music wasn't the only thing making a splash.
"It's as bad as I've ever seen it," he said.
George came home this week after a fortnight on the high seas where he and his five-piece band were entertaining 2,000 passengers from across the world on a Royal Caribbean liner.
The boat left from Barcelona, taking in Cannes, Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, Dubrovnik and Corfu.
"We had arrived in Barcelona, but the ship came in late because it had been damaged in a storm," he said.
"We thought nothing of it, put it down to a one-off squall."
But there were ominous signs of angry seas.
"When we got to Naples it started to get overcast and rainy – there was a slight swell but nothing to worry about.
"It was on the return journey where it all started to get really rough."
And conditions were so bad that the ship was forced to take a longer, slower route back.
"The captain had to change course through the Strait of Messina (the narrow strip of water between Italy and Sicily] to avoid the open sea, where the waves were about 20 feet high.
"There were a lot of sick people, and many passengers couldn't cope with it - but the captain was very reassuring and the crew were fabulous."
But Emerald Connection is one band who will perform come hell or high water - and they continued to belt out the hits as the wind and rain belted the boat.
"We made a bit of a joke about it on stage, and the audience seemed to appreciate that."
And George suggested that Emerald Connection might become a full-time cruise band, though he's not sure if he has the sea legs for it.
"I was a bit queasy on one of the days," he admitted, "but I took a seasickness tablet and was fine."
And, despite being fairly experienced travellers, this was their roughest outing.
"We had a hurricane chasing us in the Caribbean once – a hurricane called George would you believe? – but that time we managed to stay ahead of the storm."
This time, while the seas lashed the side of the ship, the band were making sure they never missed a beat.
As George explained, they performed "a selection of Irish, country and Latin songs, a lot of music from the shows and tributes to the Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison".
And the passengers seemed to enjoy the tunes
"A lot of people said we were the best act on the ship, and we were pulling huge audiences," he said.
The experience hasn't put George off cruising.
"It must have happened on every cruise ship in the Mediterranean, and it just goes to show you how these things can happen in even a fairly sheltered sea."
And George arrived back home to another rising tide, as the radio station U105 – where he presents the afternoon show – is celebrating a bumper increase in listening figures.
The latest statistics show 142,000 people are tuning in to U105, up from 111,000 in the third quarter of last year.
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
