A Quick Stop In Shimizu!

     What a difference an overnight sleep makes! After a day of looking and acting like zombies, a good night's rest was all we needed although by the end of the day we began to drag again. As we came alongside, Mt Fuji was very visible but still a long was off. Finally we could get a photo of it!

Mt Fuji

    We had breakfast with some world travellers (Britain and New Zealand) . We also ran into a couple that we met in the airport. They are still waiting for their luggage which ended up in Hawaii! His name is Richard Alan same as mine. The only difference is that I had on fresh cloths! They hope to get their luggage today. The day was warm and sunny so shorts and light clothing was in order.   

Game Museum

Shimizu turned out to be an interesting little port. Since we had an early afternoon sailing, we decided to walk around the area. Along the dock were the usual shops found in every port. We headed to the local fish market which had the usual unusual items. However, little in the market was fresh. All had already been put into wrapped packages unlike what we will see in Busan. There were very few shops in the “downtown” area. The S Pulse mall seemed to be the key game in town. It was not the usual type of mall, having souvenir type shops. The eateries were a bit different. They have a vending machine where you order and pay, then take the printed slip to the counter where they serve the foods. We had never seen that before. I guess it makes ordering and handling money a lot easier. The mall also had a large play zone called a Game Museum filled with “vending” vs action type games. A high school band was also giving a concert along the waterfront. In all a pleasant few hours on a warm sunny day.

Food machine

Mt Fuji

One of the highlights had to be seeing Mt Fuji. It was only visible 5 days this month. It was covered in clouds the last time we were here. The downer of the day is that I “lost” my camera case. I lost one on an earlier cruise while in Shanghai a few years back. It must have something to do with being in Asia! I guess that I left it at security when we came back because it was in the lost and found.

    After the sailaway, we had a quiet afternoon. We seem to still be feeling the effects of jet lag. In addition Judy has come down with a sore throat. I hope that it is a passing thing. There was little of interest on the programme. They have the usual offerings – a movie, art talks, detox talk, diamond sales etc. I did go to the port lecture but it was probably the worse of any we have attended. He seemed to promote the ship tours, rambled on but never got to the things that independent travelers needed to know – like where is the subway station, downtown, etc.

Now that the mini bar is set up, we can enjoy a drink or glass of wine in our cabin when Judy feels a bit better. The Elite lounge specialty tonight was beef steak tartar in Skywalkers – the deck 17 lounge at the aft of the ship. Someone remarked that it makes the ship look like a big shopping cart because of the way it extends out the aft!

The Australian comedian was very entertaining with an off beat show. He used slides and video to make the point. We finished dinner and decided on an early night. Tomorrow we are in Osaka!

Forever Flying!

   I guess you could say that we arrived fresh and ready to go but after the long long trip to the ship I think we are ready for a nap!

    We arrived at the Toronto airport at noon on Wednesday having already checked in. 2 hours later we finally had cleared inspection and were ready to board the Cathy Pacific flight to Hong Kong. Cathy had my name as 1 word and it needed to be changed on the manifest . That only took a minute but it took an hour to get to the counter. Inspection also was very slow.

   The 15 plus hour flight was as comfortable as you could expect. Wider seats, leg room and a full entertainment slate. Judy and I watched 3 movies each. They did have a menu with the lunch and dinner selections and wine was available. We flew directly over the pole and the shapes and configuration of the ice and snow were something we had never seen before. We did not get much sleep arriving at 7 pm. Is it morning or night? Now that it is night here but day back home we can't seem to figure out what to do. We did get some sleep in the 5 hour wait in Hong Kong.

The 4 hour flight to Tokyo (overnight) was smooth and easy but we were wide awake for most of it. Customs and immigration went quickly and we met the Princess rep around 7 am and then had a 2 hour wait for the 2 hour bus trip to the pier.

   We were among the first to arrive but the ship did not started boarding until noon. This seemed to be one of the poorest boarding that we have been through probably because the venue was not that good and they organization left something to be desired. Having been up all night we were tired but glad we had finally arrived.

Drum Ceremony

We lunched in the dining room with a couple from Hawaii. We were ready to eat after the airline food for the past 30 hours! A walk around the sun deck and a small nap before the life jacket drill followed in quick order. Luggage was in our room and stored quickly. We fought the need to sleep all day! As we left the dock, a group onshore performed a traditional drum. We have seen it before but the crown waved yellow towels. The sailaway party was a bit of a bust but the band was lively and the line dancing woke us up.

   Our assigned dinner time is 7:45 pm. We are sitting with 2 other couples, one from San Francisco and one from England but are Canadian. We decided to retire immediately after dinner. Tomorrow is a port day but it is a small port with little for us to do. We can sleep in if we choose as we need to get our energy back. A long tiring 32 hours of travel finally comes to an end.

Japan and North Pacific Crossing

       After a winter season in Florida golfing, biking, line dancing and hanging out, we are headed back to the Princess cruise line. The “Japan and North Pacific Crossing” cruise of 16 days starts in Tokyo. We sail around Japan with 5 stops and a side trip to Busan Korea. After the 9 days near Japan, we then head north east for the 7 day Pacific crossing to Whittier Alaska. On the crossing we do have 2 Mondays as we get back the day `lost` in our flight to Japan.

    We have been to Japan before but 3 stops are new. We will explore some new places in Osaka and Muroran and just wander through Busan , a place we have stopped at “many” times. Shimizu, Sakaiminato and Hakodate are new ports.
    The Golden Princess carries 2600 passengers and was updated in 2015. It will be our 5^th time on this ship. We have a cabin on the Aloha deck about mid ships forward and may get another “upgrade”! The ship has an International Cafe, the small food bar in the atrium which is where we like to gather for daily tea and small meals .

   The map and chart shows our itinerary.

We have not booked any ship tours. Having been to the area before, we have already taken tours of city sites, temples, volcanoes , etc. After doing the research on all the stops we think we can just wander which is our style. We will wait to see what the on board port export has to say before deciding on any ship tours.

   As frequent Princess passengers, we are ready to enjoy the perks of being “Elite”. Free laundry, on board credits, internet, mini bar and wine tasting are part of it! Anyone that has cruised will appreciate the free laundry luxury. Thanks to Stacey our agent at the Automobile Association, we will enjoy dining in a specialty restaurant!


     We leave Wednesday afternoon April 25 from Toronto with a non stop to Hong Kong arriving at 7:00 pm. on Thursday night. We lose a day crossing the International date line sometime during the 15 hour flight. We are flying Cathy Pacific for the first time and have heard good things about them. After a 5 hour layover, our second leg (over 4 hours) will get us into Tokyo early Friday morning for the 2 hours bus trip to the ship. After more than a day travelling we will be ready to start the cruise!

            I hope to post each day. With the time difference it should be ready sometime after noon. At the bottom of each post is a small icon that looks like an envelop. If you open it, you should be able to send us an email. If you have a gmail account I think that you can leave a message on the blog. It is always nice to read the comments. More Later!