Ashore In Busan Korea

   After an early breakfast, we tried to get off the ship as fast as possible. However we needed to go through immigration here in Korea. Although the ship said that independent travelers would go first, they made sure that the 45 buses of ship tours had priority. Immigration was very fast but we were still about an hour late leaving.

Fish Market

Seaweed For Sale

    Today we again toured with 2 women from Ontario so we acted as tourist guides because we had been here 3 or 4 times before. The city did have shuttle buses available to take us downtown. Our first stop was the fish market. They are preparing for a world expo in the area and all the vendors were out on the streets. The eatery was still in operation inside where you pick out the live fish (or whatever) and they cook it while you wait. It is always interesting to see that most of the stalls by tradition are run by women. How they can sell all that fish is a mystery as the street is about 4 blocks long!

   

Street Food

 Next we headed for the International Market which is nothing more that block after block of stalls selling everything you can think of. Who buys the thousands of hats, running shoes, etc. is also a mystery but the place was very crowded. We learned latter that there was a national holiday in Busan. There are many food street vendors selling all types of food but you need to know what you want which we definitely did not! The ladies did but a hat each. Judy still has not locate her Tilly which she may have left at security a few days ago. “We” did “misplace” her camera last night but it was in lost and found this morning.

At The Market

     After the street market we headed to the large Lotte department store. We ate Korean in the food court then headed to the top of the 12 story building for great views of the city. Later, we left the ladies to explore the gardens and tower on their own and we headed back to the ship. Still fighting a cold makes wandering around all day a bit hard. A rest before dinner was in order.

    We sailed around 5:30 and the rest of the evening was the usual round of snacks and a drink (eating before dinner!) and an Effy Store presentation. By the time we finished dinner it was getting close to the show so we decided to skip the cabaret showtime. We are in Sakaiminato Japan tomorrow which means more Japanese immigration and then another day of discovery.

Sailing To Busan Korea

Today was a restful day at sea with with light winds and a calm ocean. After the fiasco of the boarding yesterday there was plenty of complaining. People basically said that Princess should have given some information as to why there was a delay. One rumour was that the port authority would not allow the ship to open a second gangway although it was opened in the morning. Another was that the “authorities” were upset that the ship was going to Korea.

    We started our usual sea routine with zumba in the morning followed by a port lecture. The guy has to be the worse one that we have ever encountered. Again we learned all about his career and so very little about the ports. He did 2 ports and there was nothing of usefulness in either of them. I am glad that we did our own research before the cruise! Besides we have been to Busan before so we know what we want to do. We will tour with our friends again.

Under the Weather

   Lunch with tea at the International Cafe and then a peek at the line dancing followed. As usual it was very basic but I never expected anything different. Judy went back to bed as she is still fighting a cold. Our CAA agent gave us a voucher for dining at a specialty restaurant so we made reservations at the Crab Shack. They serve nothing but sea food. We have been before and enjoyed the shrimp, crab, etc. They only have it available for lunch 1 day during the cruise. Our shore friends and a couple that we dine with will be joining us.

   The rest of the afternoon was a quiet one. Our appetizers arrived at 5 pm. After a glass of wine, we headed to the Skywalker's for a drink, then went to see the Australian comedian again. It was a different show from the other night but we both found it funny. We were late for the welcome aboard party and the champagne waterfall but managed to hear the Captain welcome everybody. He noted that there were over 500 Canadians on the ship which is the most of any group except for Americans. Dinner was very good and was the new (to us) production show Born To Dance. We were glad to see that Princess has modernized the routines.

  Tomorrow Busan and another immigration experience.

Around In Osaka and Then The Wait!

At The Castle

Today proved to be long and tiring. We went ashore around 9:30 and did not get back on the ship until 7:30. We toured Osaka with 2 Canadian women who we met at the airport.

Our first stop was Osaka Castle which dates back to the 15^th century. To get there we needed to take the subway and we did have some help buying the ticket. Because Osaka is a large city, you pay for the distance that you actually travel. The castle is the centrepiece of a large park in the middle of Osaka. The castle itself is surrounded by a wide moat. Being Sunday it was very crowded. The inside presented a history of the castle and the various rulers but what was missing were the rooms decorated in period furnishings.

Downtown

After wandering for a few hours, we headed by subway for the center of Osaka. The downtown area was very alive with large crowds. More wandering until we finally stopped for lunch and a beer. We did not order the octopus balls this time although we did see them being made. Instead we found a Japanese restaurant where we could sit and enjoy the lunch. After that we navigated the 2 subway lines back to the ship where we stopped to ride the “world's largest wheel”. The wait was nearly an hour for the 20 minute.

     The worse part of the day was getting back on ship. Because we are leaving Japan, we needed to clear immigration. This time it had to be done face to face. However they would not do that until every single passenger was off the ship. You can imaging what it must be like to get every single person to do something like that. It was suppose to start at 4 but apparently not every one left on time. The result was that 2600 people had to wait for the few and that took until after 5 because not everyone left “on time”. The backup was very long, worse that the lines at Disneyland! The few who were tardy got back on the ship immediately but we waited an hour for immigration. In addition the ship only had 1 gangway in operation and everyone needed to be checked back into the ship and have their goods scanned. Princess could have opened a second gangway. They had 2 working in the morning. In all it took about 2 hours from start to finish. Needless to say there were many unhappy campers. We did not finally get onboard until about 7:30 which made for a very long day. It was another very tiring day. On this trip we need to do the same in Busan, then again in Japan when back into Japan and finally another face to face to leave Japan. I hope that the next 3 times we do this it moves a bit better. Tomorrow is a sea day and we are both looking forward to that! ride.

  

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!

Going Home On Canada's Birthday

We were up early day was of the ship by just after 7:30. The departure from the ship was relatively easy. The luggage seemed to be arranged much better than in our past departures. We did not need to fill out any customs declarations and there was no passport control. Perhaps that was because we were only in Norway. In any case it was a very easy departure. At the airport we ran into the same problem when we left Canada. The ticket had |Judy's middle name and her passport does not. Thus no quick check in but the line for special assistance was long. It only took a few minutes to get it settled but the wait was long enough. Good thing we were 4 hours early. The boarding was quick. The plane was only 3/4 full. We had an empty seat besides us which made the flight much better than the last time. Even Judy said it was “way better”. Clearing Canadian customs was easy as usual. We had finally arrived back in Canada . We really had a good time on this cruise. With the 11 stops in 14 days we had plenty of time ashore. We rank it up there as one of the best cruises that we have had. It was a place that I have wanted to visit and I am glad we had a chance to do so much. The weather was outstanding with only 1 day of showers. All the guides remarked at how nice the weather was. Until our next cruise. Cheers!