First Cruise of the Year!

 Well the first quarter of 2020 alone quickly trumped the whole of 2019

12/31/19
I'm once again on board a Carnival cruise ship (the Fascination) out of Galveston,TX.

 I did a 10:30 half hour set, watched the ball drop in NY, called my wife and finished packing my bags. I had to be on another ship (the Fantasy) out of Mobile,AL. on the first and I had a long travel day ahead of me. Traveling in the Gulf, I never know what to expect so without expectations I'm rarely yet often pleasantly surprised. not this day.

1/1/2020
 From Costa Maya, Mexico to Houston, Texas not bad. I miss the connecting flight to Mobile. At 7 pm It's the last of the night. I have to overnight in Houston. Customer service re-book flight, find a hotel, get to the hotel. It's the wrong hotel. Same name wrong end of the road and Texas has some long ass roads. I Get to the room by 9:30 pm. order take out. delivery person has no change. I say "I'll wait!". I have a 7 am flight Alabama I'm back at the airport at 5 am. The place is empty and the fog is thick, so thick that the flight doesn't leave till noon. I'm the last crew member on board. I have an  11:30 pm show. I'm heckled by a front row redneck named Tubby. The ship never leaves the dock due to the fog.

1/2/20
 Tubby the heckler showed his worth. Next night I'm watching my colleague's set. She goes into crossover material (jokes with same subject, premise or concept). Tubby used that time that I would've used that material. She needed it more than I did. A fresh to cruising young Jewish lesbian from NY on a ship out of Mobile, Alabama! She need every bit she had.
  Gemma our #punchlinercomedyclub manager is a natural comedian. She's a test tube baby from Singapore. She says "I had a womb with a view". You know they didn't get it!

1/3-4/20
 We were going to Progresso and Cozumel Mexico. It becomes a cruise to nowhere. My cold is in full effect but manageable. the ship is in the north gulf of Mexico. it's cold, the seas are rough and full of whitecaps. The skies are gray and brittle. I stay in my cabin as much as possible. seems this ship has a bug also as most of the crew display the same symptoms as I. Ships are incubators and hold whatever germs are brought aboard well for all to share. I spend as much time as possible in fresh air on the open decks away from people. Great practice for what was soon to come.