It’s happened to nearly every one of us on the Rock & Romance cruise, and likely multiple times. You’re standing in the buffet line loading up your plate or strolling unexpectedly into the elevator in your bathing suit and voila—a headlining celebrity sighting!
Like spotting a rare bird in the wild, it almost always catches you off guard. But in the case of rock and roll legends who you’ve listened to for decades, the moment causes an instant case of rapid heart rate and tongue-tied goofiness. With hands scrambling for your smartphone camera, you try to look cool, calm, and collected to no avail.
You’ve just experienced a Rock & Romance brush with fame.
As a veteran cruiser, I can honestly say that one of the most common topics of conversations is who did you happen to see while ordering a pina colada or running on the gym’s treadmill. I love hearing these stories, and I suspect others do, too.
So here are a few of mine.
On the first cruise, not only did I have notable brushes with fame with Barry Willilams (Greg Brady. (Yes, I’m an uber-Brady Bunch fan) and Christopher Cross, I watched my mother, who came with me, flirt with Mik Kaminski from The Orchestra (ELO). Go Marilyn!
I returned to my Rock & Romance ways on the third cruise. This time I brought my relatively new boyfriend at the time, “Dan.” There were loads of celebrity sightings on that cruise including multiple photos with the wonderful Leo Sayer.
But then, I admit that I went a little haywire. We were standing in the hallway, waiting to disembark at one of the ports. Next thing you know, Gino Vanelli is coming around the bend, heading into the men’s bathroom. I cheered Dan on to get in there and meet him.
Far more mature than I am, Dan asked, “And then what?” He fortunately didn’t rub elbows with Gino at the urinal, but it’s a story that he has told many times, chuckling at the absolute absurdity of it. Dan and I are now engaged, by the way, so I guess it wasn’t all that bad.
On the fourth cruise, Dan and I rode the glass elevator with Edgar Winter, said hello to Don Felder in the hallway near our cabin, briefly chatted with Randy Bachman’s son in Puerto Rico, and then, oh my goodness!
I had a 15-minute conversation with Todd Rundgren at the Martini Bar. We discussed the fact that we both had sons named Rex and shared some stories about bowling. I bowl, and his brother used to be a pro bowler. It wasn’t a conversation about his hits or anything like that. It was just a friendly, down-to-earth chat about commonalities, and it truly paints a picture of what is so unique about the Rock & Romance Cruise.
You just never know what will happen or who you'll meet.
On the fifth sailing, the sightings, of course, continued and culminated in me having a fantastic opportunity to meet Maria Muldaur and get my Midnight at the Oasis album autographed. How cool is that?
Who will we meet next year? You just never know, but I’m keeping my eyes peeled. What is your favorite Rock & Romance brush with fame?
Song of the Day: Midnight at the Oasis - Maria Muldaur
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