Review - Diamond Princess 35 Day Asia to Alaska

Diamond Princess 04-15-12 Asia – Singapore to Vancouver 35 Day

E732 BD Aft Balcony Cabin

Charles and Judy – Colorado Springs, CO

Ports – Singapore, Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Phu My (Ho Chi Minh), Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nagasaki, Busan, Tianjin (Bejing), Dalian, Busan, Vladivostok, Sapporo, Seward, Juneau, Ketchikan, Vancouver

SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

WOW What a trip! From Singapore to Thailand, to Vietnam, to China, to Japan, to S Korea, to Russia to Alaska. What a grand tour of people and places most westerners will never see – and they should. Convinces me that my grandkids need to see some of these other places in the world in order to appreciate what we have at home – not that they ever will appreciate what they have at home – but it might open their eyes a bit. We really enjoyed the different sights, sounds and people we met along the way. From the strange looks from the older people in Vietnam and China to the respectful bowing of the Japanese, to the unique curiosity we represented to the young people in all the countries – they all wanted their picture taken with us – it was a buffet of different sights, sounds, tastes, cultures and peoples.

Notable Highlights:

Asian Ancient Architecture – from the grand scale of the great wall to the minute details of the guardians at the entrance to the Royal Palace in Thailand. Buddha’s in so many variety of faces, poses and materials. And when compared to western architecture, a real interesting contrast. A veritable feast for both right and left brained people of all ages. I’ll never forget the painstaking engineering and construction required to build arched roofs on the temples. Straight roofs are so much easier, but not only are they arched and curved, the roof joists are carved and most are put together with no nails, glue or screws. Only mortises and joints. That’s attention to detail.

Asian Modern Architecture – From the high rise heaven of Hong Kong to the rural little farms and “factories” of Vietnam to the neat and precise houses in Japan. From the super highways of Singapore to the confused mass of roadways in China to the smooth series of tunneled highways in Japan. There was more than enough for fans of both rural and urban architecture. The waterfront of Hong Kong is so modern, so packed, so WOW at first sight. And then the details of the buildings start to standout, and each has its own story. From Feng Shu to modern classical high rise. Some areas look like California, some like Colorado, some like areas never seen before. People and living quarters, can’t call them apartments or houses, just stacked on top of each other.

Cultural – From the serious, 90MPH, on the way to work, determined, young professionals of Singapore to the laid back, ambling down the mall style of the same people on a weekend shopping trip at Marina Bay Sands. Ranging from a cute little smile to an outright thumbs up I would get 9 times out of 10 when butchering an attempt to use their language. The bowing of the Japanese, the love of anything western in S Korea. I’ll never forget the lady chasing the octopus across the sidewalk that had gotten out of its bucket in the Busan Fish market. Everyone around her was laughing in a dozen different languages, but the message was all the same – ‘don’t care who you are, that’s funny’!

People – The girls Winter and Allyson in Dalian, Mike in Nagasaki, Mr. Lee in S Korea and Herman in Hong Kong. Unforgettable tour guides that really made the excursions special. The girls on the motor bikes in Vietnam. (Hard working, persistent capitalists.) The Japanese girls on holiday in Shimabura that wanted their pictures taken with us. The great send off from Nagasaki, Sapporo and Vladivostok. Lots of people turned out to see us off.

Princess People - And not to forget Stephanie (Night Manager), Kim (Zumba instructor), Kelvin and Matt (CD and deputy CD), Frank our room steward, Monica the aft ship’s bar manager, Monica and Piya – waiters in Pacific Moon and Savoy respectively. Paul, Jorge, Heidi and Nicole from the cruise staff. Kathy, our lobby bar barrister and a host of other people on the ship that really made for a great cruise.

Fellow Passengers – You really have to look no further than the other passengers on this ship to see and experience a variety of cultures. Americans are a distinct minority on this ship. I think Canadians are in the majority, but there are a lot of Aussies, Chinese, Koreans and Japanese on board as well. A lot of Asian cultures are represented, more than any other cruise we’ve been on. We’ve met some really interesting people from different countries and listened, really listened. I love being a fly on the wall in Skywalker’s when a bunch get together and talk about stuff ranging from food on the ship, to Princess cruising, to retirement planning, to politics.

The Food – The Ciappino in San Francisco before we left. The food in Business Class on the ANA flight from SFO to NRT. Laksa and Scallops in Brown Sauce in Singapore, as well as carrot cake – which has no carrots and no cake in it at all – its basically a sweet egg omelet. The Japanese lunch in Nagasaki. The Chinese lunch on the floating restaurant in Hong Kong, the Vietnamese buffet in Vuc Trang, the Chinese lunch in Dalian, the Clams in Seward, the clam chowder in Juneau, the smoked fish in Juneau. The cold salads in the buffet for both lunch and dinner – really exceptional. The vegetable cream soups, the bread, OMG, the baked breads around the ship. We could not complain about the food on this trip at all. Although, for those of you contemplating long cruises, the food on the ship does get tiring after a while. Even though there is great variety, it does get a bit tiring…

I cannot recommend this ship and this itinerary enough. Everyone should do this trip, or at least one of the smaller trips the Diamond does in Asia. It is an eye opener and a fantastic way to do an overview of an area, only having to unpack once, and sample many different sights and locations for later travel. We may do this trip again in 2014 or 2015. We won’t be doing as many ship excursions then, concentrating on getting out on our own and more immersed in the local culture and food. Or we might travel back on a land tour. Kong Kong and Japan are really high on my list to re-visit if we ever have the time.

Trip tips for this itinerary:

Plan on arriving at least a couple of days prior to departure to get used to the time zone differences. The complete reversal of the circadian rhythm is a killer for a few days.

Prepare for hot weather at first, cold weather at the end. From 95F and 100% humidity to 28F and snowing. That’s the range. We brought layers and they actually worked out well.

Bring the pharmacopeia. See your doctor before you leave. The two most important prescriptions we brought, besides getting all of our shots updated (DPT, Polio, Hep A & B), was a sleeping aid and a wide spectrum antibiotic. OTC cold medications are also important as the supplies on board are expensive and can run out.

Bring local cash. I would recommend at least $100US in each currency. More if you plan to shop for more or if you are doing things on your own, less if you are just touring with Princess on full day tours.

Bring your own water. Lots of water. In Thailand we ran through 8 bottles of water. Four of them we brought. In most of the tours, water was not provided.

Learn a few words in the language. Thank You, Hello or an appropriate greeting, How much, and basic numbers. Smile, smile, smile. You will 99% of the time, get a nice smile back from the locals even if you completely butcher the words.

Youtube your ports of call. Watch prior tourist videos, professional videos and others to get a feel for the area or port you are going into.

Be mindful and respectful of cultural differences. Asian cultures are different. They don’t always do things the way we do in the US. That’s ok. Revel in the differences. Its part of the experience. As Hutch the Port lecturer said ‘You paid for different…’.

Prepare for the squatty potty. Both men and women. Squat toilets are the norm in Asia. Western toilets are few and far between. Believe it or not, getting your leg muscles in shape for squatting is not a joke. It will help. But so will bringing packaged wipes with you at all times – the TP is either outside the stall or not around at all.

One of the most important things I brought on this cruise was my Kindle, packed with books. Whether waiting for a show, you can only read the patter so many times, whale watching, killing time in the HC, or just stretching out on the balcony, having something to read was vital to not getting frustrated. Judy brought her Itouch and her smart phone, so she had plenty of games to play.

Cell Phones – we brought our Incredible 2’s with Verizon. We always had cell service, either on the ship or on shore. We did not have data service in Vuc Trang (Vietnam), Shanghai (away from the main highways) or Tienjen (at the wall), but had no problems in Singapore, Thailand, Japan, S Korea, Vladivostok or any of the ports of Alaska. Google maps worked everywhere we had data service without a glitch.

The Detailed Travelog

Pre-Cruise 04-07-12 to Singapore:

When booking this cruise and having never been to Asia before, we decided to spend additional time in Singapore pre-cruise. We also decided to use our FF miles to do business class to Singapore, and we wanted to make this one heck of a vacation rather than a simple get away cruise. So we spent a couple of days in transit, first to SFO on Saturday the 7th and then leaving SFO for Singapore on the 8th via ANA business class. Loved the flight to Narita from SFO. The ANA airport staff bowed to all passengers prior to boarding. Our first indication that this was not going to be a normal trip to the Caribbean. This ANA 777 had the new staggered lie flat business seats that were comfortable and very private. So private that Judy and I barely saw each other the whole 12 hour flight. The food, and we selected the Japanese entrees, was superb. Very different tastes and textures and highly enjoyable.

Having never been to Narita before, we were a bit apprehensive about the connection, but the pathways were clearly marked and easy to find. We made our way to our connecting gate easily and quickly – but forgot to get a souvenir from Narita! Now we have to go back!

The trip to Singapore was on an older 767 with the older business class seats. Not as comfortable as the previous trip, but still comfortable enough to sleep most of the way to Singapore.

We arrived in Singapore about 12:10 AM. We breezed through luggage collection, customs, immigration and out to the cabs, which were our only choice and had the 50% surcharge. I think it was about S$35 to the Conrad Singapore. We picked the Conrad Singapore because of the HH points I had banked. We had two choices, the Hilton on Orchard and the Conrad. I picked the Conrad because it was off the orchard complexes and had a better set of reviews on various websites over the Hilton. It was a good choice. As a Diamond member, we got upgraded to the executive floor which features a free breakfast, high tea and drinks at night. The Conrad was also a good choice because of its proximity to a lot of stuff to see and do around Raffles, Suntec center and City Hall.

Our first day was actually Tuesday morning. We had read about the SMRT tourist pass and went to City Hall MRT to pick one up. Two things are readily apparent first off.

1 – Singaporeans take work very seriously and move at 90MPH on the weekday to and from work.

2 – Singapore is one big shopping mall after another.

Once we got into the underground system of tunnels, shopping malls and escalators around Suntec and Raffles, we didn’t have to go out on the street and face the heat and humidity.

A 3 day SMRT pass was S$60 for the two of us, with S$20 being refundable upon return of the card. Can not recommend this option enough. It is a great and cheap way to see the city. We definitely got our money’s worth on this one. The SMRT pass is good for the trains and the busses, and you just tap in and tap out of the stations or the busses. Piece of cake.

So on Tuesday we did the Botanical Gardens and the National Orchid gardens. Very beautiful. A cheap (Botanical is free, Orchid Gardens S$10 each I think) and easy introduction to the city and well worth the time. We simply MRT’ed up to the Botanical Gardens station, got off and walked around the place for most of the day. Got caught in a thunderstorm rain so nice we didn’t bother to get our umbrellas out. It was that nice and warm. That evening we had dinner in the Food Republic food court across the street in the Suntec convention center. Just a simple matter of getting in the longest line and asking what to get. French cooking may have great sauces, but Asian cooking has broths down pat.

Several on-line Singapore sites suggest splitting the Zoo and the Night Safari into different nights. As hot as it was in Singapore, I couldn’t agree more. So we did the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, the Zoo on Wednesday, Little India and Mustafa on Thursday morning with the Night Safari on Thursday night, the HIPPO on Friday (with Marina Sands), the local sights (Merlion, Esplande and Raffles) on Saturday.

The Zoo was pretty good, but it was pretty hot and humid as well. The Night Safari was very different. Both highly recommended and with the MRT pass you get to people watch the locals although the trek via MRT to the Night Safari and back was long but part of the experience. Little India and Mustafa was interesting, but Mustafa was not what Bourdain lets it on to be in the Layover. Yes, its big and yes it has a lot of stuff. But its not that big Tony! We did all of our bangle and bongle shopping for the trip there. Prices not that great, but we got some good stuff for the inlaws.

We were very glad that did the HIPPO on Friday as the busses were just jammed on Saturday. We did the city route first, then jumped on the historical route and ended up at Marina Bay Sands. Marina Bay Sands is a shopper’s and architect’s dream, while being a builder’s nightmare. It is impressive from the shops under the convention center to the top of the observation deck. There is a HUGE water feature, I call the Salad Bowl, that swirls water around the bowl while draining out the bottom into an artificial river with gondola’s on it. We explored it from top to bottom. It was a great way to spend a day out of the heat.

The heat and humidity was an appetite killer for sure. We did not get to eat our way through Singapore. We did have some really good dishes. We did Chicken Rice, Laksa, Hosien Shrimp, some incredible fresh and fantastic scallops in a spicy brown sauce.

The prices at the food courts and hawker centers were ridiculously low. Chicken Rice as like S$4.50 and Judy’s noodle soup was S$7.50. When you got to the restaurants, the prices went insane. At No Sign Seafood we spent like S$120 on dinner – and we got charged for using extra napkins – S$0.50 each! At Oscar’s, in the Conrad, we spent S$115 for lunch. Singapore is not cheap.

Overall, we really enjoyed our time in Singapore. The hotel was great, the location perfect for our travel needs, the SMRT pass a great bargain, the Zoo, Night Safari and Botanical gardens a must see, Mustafa a great source for all kinds of souvenirs and the view from the Marina Bay Sands just not to be missed. While we did not do the DUKW, we do recommend the HIPPO to get an overall view of the city and to see a lot of sights in a very little time.

04-15-2012: On Board

The one thing we hate about land cruising, but love about cruising is the packing and unpacking. So Sunday morning was a matter of repacking everything. We had pre-scouted Exhibit Hall C at the Marina Bay Sands convention center, so it was a matter a getting a cab and running over. It was easy as pie, the smoothest embarkation ever. From entering the hall at about 12:15, to the ship was around 60 minutes. (The ship was actually parked at the container port 30 minutes away by bus.) Luggage arrived almost immediately and we were unpacked and settled well before muster drill.

We are in E732, one of the aft balcony cabins. We were in one similar to this one on the Star to Antarctica in 2010. It is a standard balcony cabin but has a huge deck that overlooks the stern and the wake. Basically no wind hardly at all and lots of room. Unfortunately we have one of the new coasters with legs for a table. Large enough for a couple of cups of coffee, not much else, and the two new deck chairs are not loungers and feel sort of flimsy. Having been in a suite for the past three cruises, we do miss it, especially Sabatini’s in the morning, but it’s not that bad. The main thing I miss is the large shower in a suite. I’m getting to know the shower curtain much more intimately than I care to at this point.

The one thing we did do, and we really thank ToTo From Kansas for, is that we purchased a $35 mattress pad before we left home to put on the bed from Walmart. It works great. The bed is now super comfortable without the canyon or the hump in the middle.

We’ve never been on the Diamond or Sapphire before and I really like the layout and subtle differences between this version of the Grand class and Fincanteri’s version. The ship is longer, or at least its only 2.5x around for a mile, and the promenade deck is much wider as they have loungers on the deck rather than benches or chairs and there is still room for walkers and joggers. The balcony cabins on Emerald deck as you go up the stairs around the bow are missing. The dining room layout is much more intimate with the four midships dining rooms rather than two. The HC is pretty standard layout, but at least they are enforcing the entrance and exit at opposite ends, which does help the flow. The elevators are offset in a nook rather than side to side across the lobby. It took some getting used to. MUTS is brand new and really a great screen with no flaws that we can see. The Diamond has the wheelhouse forward like the super Grands and the Coral class. The internet café is back by Sabatini’s and the photo gallery.

The Diamond has not had her full upgrade yet. The IC, Vines or Alfredo’s and the new Piazza is not in place yet. We will miss the IC for its greek salad and Vines for its Sushi, or Alfredos for its great Pizza. Crown Grill is not yet installed and still using a portion of the HC for the Sterling Steakhouse – but I must say it is nicely done compared to the old Sun class method of sectioning off with portable partitions.

At sea entertainment is packed with stuff. Hutch’s port lectures are real port lectures with lots of real tips, not just a fluff piece of various shopping venues. He does tell it like it is and thank goodness they tape and show the show in loop later on TV, because he covers so much ground you need to hear all of this stuff once or twice just to get all the tidbits. Zumba, ball room and line dance classes are packed. Tap class, not so busy. (Judy is learning how to tap dance – I’m observing from the side lines.) MUTS has stuff going on all day.

Evening entertainment has been mainly movies, a little dancing and a lot of sleeping. The 14 hour time difference from home is just a killer.

The Food. So far we’ve only been to the HC, but the food has been really good. The heat is a real appetite killer, not to mention the fact that we are on this ship for 35 days and I only have one size of clothes, plus we learned a long time ago that you don’t have to eat everything in sight. That being said, the HC food is pretty good for lunch and dinner. The Pizza is good and the burgers as well. I’ve really enjoyed the cold salads for lunch and dinner. For breakfast Judy has been chowing down on the Chonge, a thick rice soup, and I’ve been doing the yogurt and horse feed cereal (mueslix).

The Service. Really good so far. No problems in getting glasses of water. Always a smile and still the ‘don’t look away from your plate or its gone’ type service in the HC.

Thailand –

This is our first trip to Asia. Thus the criteria for excursions was that we were going with Princess and the excursions with the more sights were the ones we selected. So in Thailand, we did 100-A. The palace, golden budda, river cruise and lunch. Overall I would give it a Fair to Good score. Two things made it less enjoyable, the bad A/C on the bus and the food for lunch was too westernized. We left Lem Chabang around 0730 on the bus. Our guide was knowledgeable, funny and quite personable as was our bus driver and the on-board helper. I did not know that in order to be considered an eligible bachelor, you must have spent at least 3 months as a Buddhist monk. And it was clear that these people adore their king – don’t care for the crown prince as much – but they adore their king.

About an hour into our trip, we knew we were going to have problems as the bus A/C was not keeping up with the heat load at all. But the excitement and frenzy of Bangkok was keeping us enthused. This is a huge sprawling metropolis with the ancient and new right next to each other. The Wats were incredible. Standing out like beacons in the midst of houses, office building and apartments. We were just in Rome last October and the differences in architecture and design philosophy are striking. Straight lines, perspective and accurate depiction of human anatomy are the sin qua na of Roman design. Curves, no straight lines and emphasis on story telling (caricature) in figures seems to be the basis of Tai and Buddhist architecture and art. Such a contrast of styles. It was impressive. The golden Buddha and the story behind it was fascinating – how would you like to find over 5 tons of GOLD discarded! That was a treasure story. The palace was fantastic. Everywhere you turned a cacophony of colors and figures and buildings. Just dazzling.

After the palace we did a quick river cruise and fed a whole school of catfish with bread. Great photos and an interesting view of Bangkok from the river. While I’m not big on this kind of touristy stuff, it was enjoyable as well as much cooler.

Lunch was a let down. The best thing on the menu as the pork rib soup, as long as you added the Thai chilies to the mix. Everything else was too westernized and safe. On the way to the river walked through a street food vendor area that had some really good looking food. That’s where we should have eaten. Oh well.

I need to mention to heat. It was hot. As our guide said, there is hot, really hot and bloody hot. According to her, it was bloody hot – and humid. We almost lost one lady to heat stroke during the walks around the Grand Palace. The sun was overhead and scorching. If not for the breeze around Bangkok, we all would have collapsed. Even the locals were sweating, so I didn’t feel too bad.

Back on the bus after lunch, the A/C was only cooling a little bit - I would guess the temp in the bus was around 85-90F. It was a pretty miserable ride back to the ship, interrupted by a stop at a jewelry store with really high end gems and prices to match. No way I was going to spend 30 minutes and several thousand dollars, so we just sat around the lobby until it was time to go. The heat got worse on the two hour ride back as the sun settled and shown right in through the windows. Closing the curtains helped, but not completely. On top of that we ran out of water. We went through eight bottles of water, plus two at lunch and still should have had a couple more. I will have to recalculate my water carrying during our trips to Vietnam.

But I would recommend this trip to first timers to Bangkok. It was a quick trip and overview of a lot of stuff at once, but now I would probably do Bangkok on our own, or do the Tiger Zoo closer to the port. One final note – take a lot of water with you and I mean a lot of water.

At Sea Toward Phu May:

An at sea break is much welcome after the heat and bus rides of Bangkok. Love that shipboard A/C. Tonight would be chef’s table. They have raised the price of Chef’s table once again to $95. At $70, it was a bargain, at $90 it was border line. I think at $95 its too much. We did it anyway to see if anything has changed – it hasn’t – although they are a bit freer with the wine than before. This particular chef’s table was one of the better ones. The appetizers were completely different than any before with a crab ceviche (spiced completely differently), a faugra mousse and a prosciutto wrapped lobster tail. With the champagne, a very good start.

The seafood Risotto was absolutely fantastic, followed by the strawberry sorbet drowned in grey goose vodka. The main course was beef tenderloin, scallops, lobster and a lamb chop. Very good. The cheese course was the standard camembert with a port wine reduction and then the dessert course was the standard frozen mousse on a sugar plate.

As this was probably about 7 or 8 chef’s table for us, it will probably be our last. It is really good and I highly recommend it for first timers, but we’ve had so many of these things the shine has worn off. Especially at the increased price.

Speaking of prices, drink prices have increased again. From $6.95 to $7.50 from our last cruise in November. Still a relative bargain compared to other places around the world – how about S$25 for a long island iced tea in Singapore! Or US$10 for a real Long island iced tea on Long Island!

One thing of interest I discovered during Chef’s table. While the dinner menus are set by corporate, the HC menu is set on board, and subject to the executive chef’s direction. And Reggie, our chef, is really good. The HC food has been really good and diverse. We’ve been there done that in relation to the dining room menus, so its good to know that at the HC we are getting some really creative stuff. And its pretty darn good as well.

Phu May –

Lots of veterans on this cruise. I missed the war by about a year. When I turned 18, they had ended even registration. I work with several Viet Nam vets. So I had mixed feeling about visiting. We did not go to Saigon, we went instead to Vuc Trang and did a lot of local stuff including a rice wine distillery, a rice paper maker and a little orchard, along with a couple of temples, a local market, a seaside restaurant, a couple of parks, viewed the largest statue of Jesus in the world – yes it is here in Vietnam.

This was one of our better tours. The guide was great, the bus A/C worked, the food was not too westernized, but I didn’t get to try Pho, and the places we visited were real, not show.

The distillery, complete with pigs and having raised pigs when I was a kid, these were big hogs, was in the back of someone’s house. We were treated to Vietnamese Whiskey – which is rice wine mixed with a bit of Coca Cola. At the rice paper maker, we were taken to a little old ladies house where she sat and make rice paper. 500 pieces a day. Up to a 1000 if necessary. The orchard was again the back of someone’s house. A couple of acres of Mangos, Papayas, Durian, black pepper, bananas and pineapples. We sampled watermelon, jackfruit, banana, coconut and Asian pear. The jackfruit was our favorite.

It was really interesting to see the capitalist nature of the area we were in. A bunch of ladies on motorbikes carrying all kinds of souvenirs followed us from one stop to the other. And the prices got lower. Kimonos started at $20 each, ended up at $14 each – we probably still paid too much. Fans started at $5 each, we go them at 3 for $10, but one lady on the bus stuck to her guns and got 2 for $5.

The market was rather interesting and completely local. Locals swarmed around us trying to sell us everything under the sun. As we wandered through the stalls, we woke up more than one girl as she saw the lot of us trampling through the narrow aisles. Think flea market, then double the number of items, narrow the aisle space by 50%, extend the shelves up to about 10’, then double the number of items again. Now you have a Vietnamese market.

All of the girls riding the motorbikes are covered from head to toe. Only indoors do they uncover themselves. This is to prevent any skin tanning at all. Tanning apparently indicates a poor person that works outside.

The restaurant was a seaside affair with a Vietnamese buffet of food. Very good food. Some must have been pretty authentic since I didn’t care for it too much. (Fried baby fish?) Not as spicy as I’ve heard, but the BBQ’ed calamari was fantastic. Fresh and rubbery! The spring rolls were certainly memorable as well.

After lunch we spent a few minutes in a sea side park, dodging the ever present ladies on motorbikes. Then went over to see the largest statue of Jesus in the world. Up on a hill near the sea shore. Weird feeling, looking up at this statue, while seeing the standard communist banners and signposts along the road.

A final stop at the Whale Temple, complete with whale skeletons and bones, one final bargain with a kid over a fridge magnet – and guess what, kids, whether whining “Oh MOM!” in English or Vietnamese, sounds pretty much the same.

(Now that is weird, as I type this from the Atrium a bunch of Vietnamese military just walked by on Deck 6 with cameras. Same uniforms, same fruit salads, different faces. Just one weird feeling. These are the most military I have seen at all. None while on-shore past the seaport gates.)

We got back from Phu May about 1600 local. Immediately headed for the shower and then up to the Elite and Platinum Lounge for some chips, guacamole and the special $3.99 margarita. That did me in for the day. I have apparently picked up an infection somewhere along the road and have a low grade fever as well. So it’s off to bed and hopefully I can kick this thing.

Nha Trang:

We got back from Phu May last night and it was one of those weird nights in which I slept for 12 hours and feel like I haven’t slept in a week. I had to finally confide in Judy that I had some health issues, upon which she has now whipped out her pharmacopeia, provided by our travel doctor prior to leaving, and has prescribed a day of rest and relaxation. So we will miss Nha Trang today, while I stay out of the heat and keep well hydrated.

At Sea to Hong Kong:

We basically took it easy while the wonders of modern medicine did their job. Three days of on the wagon helped the bar bill tremendously. There was plenty to do. We went to see Hutch and his Hong Kong port lecture. He is the single best port lecturer I have ever seen on Princess. (The Penguin professor on the Antarctic Cruise was the best destination lecturer.) Hutch’s tips and descriptions on where to go, how to go, when to go and what to avoid are fantastic and dead on. And its all practical. How far to walk, how much money to change, how to bargain, when to bargain. And he is not a “port and shopping” guide. We get those in Alaska.

There were lots of activities during the day. Wacky pool games were great. Went to see ‘don’t know how she does it’, IMHO a solid waste of 90 minutes of electrons and magnetic tape. It almost made Justin Timberlake’s ‘In Time’, we watched that at MUTS later, seem really good. ‘In Time’ was an interesting concept, just written to an old and worn script that was as predictable as telling the future…

And then for the first time in 24 cruises we went to afternoon tea. Sat around the table and chatted with a German couple from Australia, a couple of ladies from England and a couple of ladies from Canada. Great conversation, no politics so Judy loved it, had some tea and some munchies.

We also had to say goodbye to Nadia, one of the photographers. She was on our last Golden cruise in April 2011 and she was ending her contract in Hong Kong. Showed her our pride and joy picture from the last cruise (our CC avatar) that we’ve put on canvas.

IMHO Kelvin is one of the top CDs Princess has. British, funny, the kind of guy you want to go out drinking with. The morning shows are a hoot and they are getting crazier. The schedule is filled with a large variety of activities for everyone. The cruise staff is energetic, enthusiastic and a lot of fun. Matt (Deputy CD) plays off Kelvin perfectly, although his Balut (Philippine delicacy) eating on camera was pretty horrifying as I thought he was going to lose it…

We finally made it to the dining room for Italian Night. Got to, got to, get my Eggplant Parmesan fix. Judy just had the head waiter prepared Penne pasta and I had the brazatos. Both were really good – but I missed my lemoncello fix – oh well – next cruise…

Hong Kong:

As with Bangkok, how many times during our youth did we hear about and read about such exotic and far away cities? Never thought I’d ever see it, but it was well worth the effort. We took the 100 Princess excursion which goes practically everywhere on a full day bus/sampan/tram/ferry ride all over town.

Hong Kong is the most intense place I have ever seen. I just could not get over the density of buildings and it is the most densely populated area in the world. The skyline is simply a marvel. Such a wide variety of modern architecture taken, essentially, straight up! Beautiful buildings. The real surprise though, was that you expected shoulder to shoulder people. Not so! It was not as crowded as I expected on the streets. Maybe everyone was at work!

Herman was our guide. (Yep his Chinese name was basically unpronounceable.) From the moment we left the dock he was funny, informative, constantly commenting on lifestyles, people, history – never a dull moment. (Herman has an MBA – Married But Available.) He was the most enjoyable guide so far on this cruise. Really, really good. On this excursion we were joined by some new friends – Richard and Diane, from Hawaii, whom we’d met at the Conrad in Singapore. It really made for a much better excursion with friends.

We started driving from the container port down the Peninsula and onto Hong Kong Island via one of the tunnels. Herman relayed to us that the business venture that paid for the tunnel on a 30 year lease got their initial investment back in 3 years, and then having 27 years of almost pure profit, minus maintenance costs.

We drove around to the south side of Hong Kong Island to go to Stanley Market. Stanley Market was great, but I wish we’d had longer there. At least we came prepared with Hong Kong dollars from SFO when we left the states. Working in HK$ was much more simpler. We picked up a great looking magnet and a set of chopsticks. Richard and Diane got a Rainbow Calligraphy plaque with their names on it from a vendor that made Bill Clinton a personalized stamp when Bill visited 10 years ago. Oh, and I should now mention one other thing – Herman is 43 and looks to be in his late 20’s early 30’s. The “kid” doing the calligraphy was also 43, and looked in his late 20’s early 30’s. His grandfather, who trained him in the art he was practicing, lived to 104. Super friendly people. I videoed him working on the plaque for Diane and Richard. The plaque really turned out beautiful. We just didn’t have time for us to get one done.

So we left Stanley Market and went to the Jewelry Factory. While the pieces were great and it was gorgeous stones, they were not exceptionally priced and there is no way anyone in their right mind is going to spend 1,000’s of dollars on jewelry in only 20 minutes.

After the factory, we took a short Sampan ride through the fishing fleet and houseboats in the harbor and ended up at the floating restaurant for lunch. Lunch was great. Cantonese style food served family style. More than enough for 10 of us. Eggrolls, several dim sum dishes, fried rice, vermicelli, noodles, a green veggie that was not bok choy but was really good, a sweet veggie and chicken stir fry and a couple of other things. Good food, interesting atmosphere, very expensive if done on your own.

A short boat ride back and off to Victoria Peak! Which, unfortunately was socked in. So we targeted the Hard Rock café, a friend of mine collects hats from them, and Richard had to get some ICE CREAM from Hagen Daz, having not getting his fried ice cream fix at lunch. The ride down the peak was fast and STEEP. With the clouds, not a lot to see, but just something different.

Catching the bus at the bottom, we headed to a ferry dock to ride one of the older double decker ferries around Victoria harbor. We got some great shots of the waterfront, the buildings, on both sides and the new construction going on at the old airport. The place will just be getting that much more dense.

After the ferry ride, it was back on the bus to head back to the Peninsula via the tunnel. We dropped a few people off at the cruise shuttle stop. (Diamond Princess had to dock at the container port. She’s just too big for the cruise terminal. No private or public vehicles or walking was allowed at the container docks, so they shuttled people to the cruise terminal. About a 20 minute bus trip. But it left you off in the middle of all the activities.)

When we got back to the ship we had intended to go back out and watch the laser light show, but it started raining, so we nixed that in favor of seeing the local acrobatic, magic and dance show on board.

If we come back to Hong Kong, we definitely will do it on our own now that we know a little more of the lay of the land.

The itinerary on this trip is really enjoyable. We like the sea day or two between ports. These all day port tours are pretty intensive and tiring. Having a day or two in between is great!

At Sea To Shanghai:

Was it one day or two? Quite frankly don’t remember and don’t care. It’s all a relaxing blur. Sort of got our routine down. Coffee and computer in the Atrium, Judy does Kongee for breakfast, I do some horse feed and yogurt. Then we do Zumba with Kim, ballroom with Kim and Paul, line dance with Paul, Kim or Nicole, and then wing it from there. Sometimes Judy does a crafts class and I nap, sometimes we go to a movie, and I nap, sometimes we watch a movie on tv, and I nap, yep definitely a trend here.

It has cooled off significantly. Chased most of the people off the Lido deck and under cover, but felt wonderful after the heat of Bangkok and Vietnam.

We’ve met a couple from Hawaii, Richard and Dianne, that we’ve been hanging with the past couple of days. Lots of fun to have another couple to interact with on excursions. We had dinner together in the Santa Fe night before last. It was one of those innocuous Princess dinners. I had the duck, Richard and Dianne had salmon and Judy had the steak. It was an ok, same old, same old Princess dinners. The real treat was the ice cream. Love the Princess hand made ice cream. Richard and Dianne have the coveted last aft mini on emerald deck with the large balcony that wraps a bit. Fully covered. And they had a real table, same chairs as we do, but with an ottoman each. So they can really stretch out.

Night time entertainment of note was the comedian, Rikki something, who was high energy, pretty funny and only one of his british jokes either went by too fast or way over my head!

Shanghai:

Judy and I both have to sit back every now and then and take stock of life. Visiting the Orient and Shanghai is one of those moments. Both of us were born into working class families who had gardens, chores and animals to take care of for food. After my dad was hurt when I was 7 we were actually homeless for about 2 years in the late 60's, living with friends and relatives.

Traveling back then was getting in the car and going to see grandparents. Planes and trains were unheard of luxuries only used by the rich and wealthy. I would not get on a plane until my first job interview in my last year of college, and then for only a 60 minute flight. I'll never forget calling judy from the first night in a hotel in LA, a foreign country for all I knew, telling her about the phone in the bathroom next to the toilet! And there was soap and shampoo in the bathroom for FREE!

How young and innocent we were back then. You heard about these foreign places, read about them, watched events on TV from them, but never in your wildest dreams every imagine that you would actually visit them.

So on that note - Let's go to Shanghai.

Weather was beautiful in Shanghai. The best of the cruise. Not too hot, not too cold. The new cruise terminal was fantastic and beautiful. Too bad we in the US are still burdened by the PVSA which forces the building of all of these nice docks and cruise terminals to “foreign” ports. I’m sure there are several Gulf of Mexico ports that would love to build nice cruise terminals to attract cruise passengers and their money. But as we all know, we must protect the lucrative US cruise ship building industry! (NOT!)

Ok, off my soapbox.

So the weather was perfect, the bus was comfortable and we settled in for a great tour. Unfortunately our tour guide was not so good. He was soft spoken. While he had a mike, we could hear and understand him. On a tour, you had to stand right next to him. And you had to keep up with him in this city. On more than one occasion, several people would have gotten lost when they stopped to take a picture and he turned a corner in a crowd.

So first we went up on top of the Jin Mao tower. Nice view, but if you think LA has bad air, think again. Visibility was about 3-4 miles. The contrast across the Bund to old Shanghai was pretty interesting, but I’m still fascinated by eastern architecture in contrast to western. Curves versus straightlines and completely different design options as well as preferred materials. A couple of building had the interesting “mad scientist air arc insulator” on top. Looks like one of those things they shoot or collect lightning bolts with. When we left SFO I had gotten some Chinese Yuan, so we were good as far as currency went. Picked up the obligatory refrigerator magnet, the photo and a bag of nutty little treats for snacks. Learned the Chinese word for ‘thank you’, ‘she, she’, and got a big smile from the cute girl behind the counter when I used it. Don’t know what the smile meant, but it made me smile too!

After the tower we headed to the museum. Only 80 minutes at the museum. Not nearly enough time, but we rushed through as much as possible. Most interesting to me was the Jade, the coinage and the pottery. Finally got to see a real Ming Vase - that legendary piece of pottery broken in every sitcom since dirt. Note that we lost 5 people in the process of exiting the museum and had to go find them. From then on, everyone stuck to the tour guide like glue, which spoiled it for a lot of people.

From the museum we headed to lunch in a hotel. It was a nice Chinese lunch, lots of variety. Sort of westernized and a little on the oily side – like the Wok was not hot enough. I’ve had much better in the states. Once again some of the street food vendors we sent by had some really mouth watering tasting stuff cooking, but you never know with unregulated street food. Unlike in Hong Kong, the servers in Shanghai never really smiled. I noticed that a lot in Shanghai. Very few smiles. Whereas in Hong Kong, there were smiles all over. And big genuine smiles.

Lunch was hurried. Only about 30 minutes and only one glass of water, coke or beer. That’s it. In fact, no water was distributed on the tour, a 9 hour tour. Good thing we brought our own.

From lunch we went to the Jade Buddha temple. The differences between Thai and Chinese temple design, contrasted with western church design is really, really cool. That is the kind of thing I love to experience on these cruises. The differences in human sculpture is also really interesting. Western artists concentrated on accurately depicting the human body, down to the tendons and musculature. They even go so far as to, like in David, attempt to get the perspective view down just right. Eastern artistry, IMHO, captures via caricature, exaggeration, color and costume. Such a different contrasting approach and very, very intriguing.

In college, my elective courses concentrated on western philosophy and western history. If I had another lifetime, I would love to learn the history of the eastern civilizations.

From the Jade Buddha temple we went to the Yu gardens via a market area. Here the crowds were much larger and after losing people at the museum, our group stuck to the tour group leader like glue, which was not easy. He did not give us any guidance, just took off in a general direction and you dared not stop to take a photo as he was likely to turn a corner and be out of sight in a minute. So we spent most of the time simply dodging through the crowd trying to keep him in sight.

Yu gardens was interesting from a layout and a design perspective. Loved the concept. Would liked to have appreciated it a bit more with a more leisurely stroll through the place, but the crowds made that pretty impossible. Everywhere you turned someone was taking a picture of someone across the path, and of course, being polite, we would stop until the finished, then move on. We need faster autofocus cameras!

We had 15 minutes to “shop” in the market area outside of Yu gardens. Not enough time to really look around and our tour guide had a habit of being 5 minutes late or 5 minutes early, but whenever he showed up, he left immediately. So most of us just hung around the rally point, dodging other tourists and waiting for him to show back up.

Then there was the ubiquitous ‘factory’ stop. This was a silk factory. And we only had 20 minutes there, with hundreds of other Diamond Princess tour people. It was a real zoo. Not a lot of purchasing in 20 minutes, that’s for sure.

Interesting thing – when we started, our tour guide specifically said we would get back to the ship by 630pm. On board was 530pm according to the Patter. When I told him that, he said our sailaway was not until 7pm. As this was a Princess excursion, and there was about 15 busses at the factory with us, I wasn’t too worried about the ship leaving. After we got on board, the captain mentioned that a few of the tour busses were late due to traffic. Since we were one of the last busses, we weren’t in any traffic, we just got in when they planned us to get in. Not sure of why the disconnect.

BTW, we were given back our passports to carry into China and then had to surrender them again upon re-boarding.

We did not feel like eating in the dining room and went up to the buffet, but it was packed, so we visited the Elite lounge which had my favorite snack. Stilton marinated in Port wine on walnut bread. Along with a glass of Port, it is, for me, really a tasty treat. And that was essentially dinner. After which we crashed for the evening as nothing exciting was going on…

At Sea to Nagasaki:

Once or twice in a cruise we have a perfect day, or near perfect, and today was one of those days.

A busy day, but nothing too dramatic or stressful, we just a lot of quality time together.

We got a good night’s sleep last night and started off in the Atrium having coffee together, Judy doing soduko and Itouch games, me updating my blog, checking my email and answering some pressing questions from work. Two tall latte’s each and we were ready for Zumba, but not for breakfast. I’d rather work out on an empty stomach anyway. Zumba with Kim was energetic, frenetic, fun, tiring, but infinitely satisfying. Got those endorphins really flowing.

After Zumba it was time for a quick bite of lunch. Ship board sushi today. The rice was good, the shrimp and roll fish was all cooked, but not too bad. A nice light lunch.

After lunch it was the Paso Doble and Tango class. Hmmm, maybe not so perfect a day after all after walking all over Judy’s feet. We had a slight break watching more of Hutch’s port lecture on Nagasaki (he’s the best port lecturer I’ve ever had) and then back at it for a line dance review class. So far a pretty busy day.

Back to the room for a shower, some more port talks, then out to see Kelvin and Matt tape the morning show in the Atrium. That was a lot of fun. Kelvin does a pretty good morning show and Matt plays off him quite well. Not to mention the fact that we are spreading the rumor that Matt is a father, again. He thinks Kelvin is spreading the rumors – well not anymore as we have fessed up to both of them. But it was fun while it lasted.

After the taping, we were pretty hungry and instead of heading to the buffet, went to the Savoy for some French dinner. We really like the dining concept on the Diamond. The four dining rooms seem much more intimate due to the layout. We’ve been in three of the four theme dining rooms and the international for breakfast one morning. But anyway, back to dinner, which was really good. I had two snail appetizers, with extra bread to soak up all that garlic butter goodness. The onion soup and the duck a’lorange. Judy had snails, pumpkin soup with turnip and the beef medallions with mushroom sauce – and a side of asparagus. The meal was absolutely the best thing we’d eaten since chef’s table. Tasty, perfectly prepared, spiced and seasoned just right, it was really good – capped off by some really creamy, delicious and really bad for you homemade ice cream. Yummy!

The band in Explorer’s is Nightwatch. We’ve never sailed with them before. They are an ok R&R band. We’ve had worse, we’ve had better, but we can dance to them and that’s what important. The wheelhouse band, the Moonlighter’s Quartet, is ok when instrumental. I can’t dance when she’s singing – I lose count and fall all over myself, plus step all over Judy – not a good thing. Dancing in fusion is to canned music and as far as we can tell, there is no dancing in skywalkers. Haven’t made it up there late at night.

So after dinner we did some dancing in Explorer’s, then moved to Fusion, then off to bed as we have an 0500 alarm set to go to Nagasaki.

See, it wasn’t that exciting, but it was relaxing, satisfying, fun. A very good day at sea…

Nagasaki –

We love Japan. We love the food. We love the people, their attitudes, their customs, their courtesies. From the time we stepped on the ANA plane in SFO to fly to Singapore, and got bowed to by the entire staff at the gate (when’s the last time that happened on United?), we were looking forward to visiting Japan – and we weren’t disappointed. We had a great tour and a great send off from Nagasaki. There were no street peddlers, no beggars, no high pressure sales, only big smiles, bows, and waves. An absolute joy to visit…

We started the day with a continental breakfast on the balcony as we sailed into the bay. The Mitsubishi ship works have expanded to outside the bridge and several brand new ships could be seen under construction and one brand spanking new tanker ready to sail away. After traveling under the bridge, which according to the Captain, has a whole 30’ clearance to the top of the stack, I noticed several Aegis class ships (I’m pretty sure they are DDG class with SPY-1 radars, a single 5” gun and, with no missile rail visible, I assume a VLS launch system) under construction in the same Mitsubishi yards that spawned the Diamond and Sapphire princess. I wasn’t aware we exported Aegis technology to Japan.

Nagasaki is the birth place of the Diamond and the Sapphire. Although we are on the Diamond, the actual hull was originally intended to be the Sapphire, but after the first ship, to be named Diamond, caught fire and was delayed a few months, the other hull, originally to be designated Sapphire, was changed to be the Diamond. Confused?

Mike was our tour guide – couldn’t even come close to pronouncing his Japanese name. Older and ageless, but self admittedly retired, we traveled to Shimabura castle in the Southwest corner of the prefecture. About a 2 hour bus trip. Stopped at a little shop on the way and bought some castellan, plum and orange, a Portuguese cake influenced by Japanese bakers since the 1700’s. Having the local currency was very helpful and the girls spoke a little English, but their manager spoke English almost fluently. As we boarded the bus they all came out in the parking lot and bowed as we left. Then the manager went out into the highway and stopped traffic so that the bus could depart. Wow. That’s service! (We are preparing to eat part of the cake this morning in the atrium with coffee preparing for our trip into Busan. Plum and it is absolutely delicious.)

The trip was about 2 hours through various fishing villages, farms, along the coast. Very interesting and ancient land. The farm plots have concrete walls, some rock walls, and concrete irrigation ditches along the perimeters. This land has been farmed for millennia. I knew Japan was mountainous, but not this much. The Shimabura castle is near a recently active volcano (Mt Unzen?) that erupted in 1970 and killed several persons. The pyroclastic flow track went through the center of this sea coast village and buried/destroyed many houses, several of which are on display at a local monument that we also saw.

The castle tour was followed by a tour of the nearby Samurai village. Most of the cottages are occupied, but a few were left vacant for tourists. A lot of young Japanese tourists were in the area including one family with two cute little girls wading in the water course that flows down the center of the street. (Giggling little girls in Japanese sounds the same as giggling in English.) The architecture, the yards and the grounds were all very interesting. People watching the locals reacting to us were even more interesting. We got all kinds of pictures of the locals and they got all kinds of pictures of us.

After the castle, we went to lunch. And finally, a not too westernized lunch. We had a soup with seafood and a fantastic broth, sashimi of two different fishes, some egg, seaweed and poached fish. Braised pork belly and rice. It was the best meal of any excursion on any trip we’ve ever had – and we had time to enjoy it. After lunch we went downstairs, did a little shopping, found the required fridge magnet, saw a kombu farm and then off to the volcano park.

The park preserves the houses as they were buried, except for one was moved into its final place during construction of the park. Everyone had been evacuated from the houses. The 1970 eruption was not as drastic as the 1700 eruption that almost destroyed the town, slid into the bay and killed several hundred on the other side by the landslide induced tsunami.

The lunch alone made this excursion worth every penny, but the sights were interesting as well and we had a really good time.

Sailaway from Nagasaki was great. A school band played as we left and several hundred people showed up to cheer us as we left. Kind of poignant since the Diamond, and Sapphire, were both built across the bay from the cruise terminal at the Mitsubishi ship works. The captain let loose with more than the usual ship’s whistles, which really got the crowd going. (The Diamond will not be back until next fall.) The trip back under the bridge was pretty spectacular from the upper decks and several dozen people were on hand to see us go under.

Hands down, our favorite port. We are really looking forward to Sapporo next week before crossing heading to Alaska.

Busan –

How would you like to live next to a complete nutcase, a military dictatorship and a starving population with nuclear weapons? Two things were apparent in S Korea; they are very nervous about the North and they love Americans. We had a great excursion with Lee, or Mr. Lee. We were nervous because our ticket said ‘student guide with limited english’. This was not the case as Mr. Lee was pretty fluent in English.

Since the ship was only in port for 7 hours, the excursion was a half day excursion to one of the local temples and then to the fish market. The temple was beautiful, but with lots of steep stairs, so beware of this excursion for the mobility limited. Nestled in the side of a hill, they call them mountains, we come from Colorado, they are hills, the temple complex is a series of Buddhist pagoda type buildings and statuary, with one temple being rebuilt. (They use pine for the carved figures, which surprised me as I thought they would use a hardwood.) Since it was Sunday, there were a lot of worshippers, not because they worship on Sunday, but a lot of people had the day off! So we pretty much stayed out of the temples and out of the worshippers way. But it was an enjoyable start to the day.

Then we went to the fish market. Both live fish and dried fish market, as well as the food stalls along the waterfront near the fish market. We’ve seen these things on various travel shows, but never actually have visited one. It was a pretty interesting experience as every type of seafood, whether it crawls, walks, swims or slithers, was on display for sale – live or dried. Hundreds of vendors with thousands of fresh tasty treats, with water flowing everywhere, it was quite a unique sight. We go back to Busan on Friday for a full day stay and we plan to spend more time downtown and possibly purchase some fresh fish. They will clean it and cook it in the restaurant upstairs.

The food stalls were full of fresh fish being fried, poached and served. Lots of soups, stews, some pancakey looking stuff, the air was filled with the smell of roasting meats. Again, we’ve seen this kind of thing on TV, but never experienced it before. It was really, really neat and we will be back on Friday to see more.

They did run a free shuttle from the port to the Phoenix Hotel and had a money exchange bank set up on the dock alongside the ship. A small stand of various souvenirs were there as well. And they ran constant entertainment on a little stage with a variety of local dancers and musicians playing and dancing to local music. The kids on the drums were the best with one little girl just really getting into beating the drum. Pleasure to watch.

Today is an at-sea day prior to arriving at Tienjen and our 0600 meeting to go to the great wall. An early morning, that’s for sure.

At Sea to Tienjen:

A packing day in which we don’t have to pack. Love em. Tomorrow will be a very early morning so we don’t plan to stay up very late. So it was Zumba with Kim and line dancing with Kim and Paul for the most part.

Tienjen and the Great Wall:

China has a real pollution problem. Wow, this was worst than anything I’ve ever seen in LA. Where to start. The great wall and people watching made the trip completely worth while. The driver, the guide and the food made it less so. After the guide finished telling us of all the experience this particular driver had, he turned the wrong way and we had to back down an on ramp. Of course we heard a couple of other busses had to turn around due to the road being closed and drive the wrong way back down the roadway. Our driver definitely had a horn blowing issue. Blew the horn every chance he got. Just nod off to sleep and HHOOONNNKKKKK.

The guide’s English was limited, but understandable. His problem was delivery and lack of enthusiasm. When a guide starts out telling you how long he’s been in the business and how experienced he is, you kind of know you are in trouble. We miss Herman, or Mr. Lee or Mike. While their English may have been limited, their enthusiasm telling you about the subject area more than made up for any communication difficulties.

But anyway, we made it to the great wall in one piece. It was worth the trip to see it and interact with the various people in the area. (People watching is one of our hobbies.) We went up on the western side as far as Judy’s knees would allow – about one tower from the end. The steps are very steep, very uneven and extremely tricky for anyone with mobility problems – heck even mobile people would have trouble. Great photographs except for the smog in the air that limited visibility.

This part of the wall is restored, not everything is original. In fact most of it is relatively new, but they did keep with the construction methods and designs. This part of the wall is due north of Tienjen just inside the mountains. Not the part that has the terra cotta warriors which is to the west of Bejing.

Our guide was pretty knowledgeable about the area, he was from Tienjen. We spent about 2 hours wandering around the wall and investigating the various shops and vendor offerings. Got the mandatory T-shirt and magnet, sat down in one of the local shops with a couple from Canada and had some water. Watched as a family got some really interesting dishes in the shop. Smelled wonderful and made us hungry. Unfortunately lunch would really disappoint.

This lunch made Panda Express taste gourmet. The egg drop soup was really gross. The chicken with peanuts and the rice were about the best things. We actually got a plate of French fries as well – shades of our “gourmet” French lunch in Monte Carlo last November – pomme fries! With Heinz no less!

But still, to be able to see the Great Wall and watch Chinese people at play was rather interesting. They are more westernized than one might think – or at least the vehicle mobile class is. The rest stop, squat toilets and all, reminded me of a scene straight out of the 60’s and road trips with my family. Mom, Dad, mother-in-law, child stopping to eat fruit and sandwiches, drinking a coke, arguing about the time, saying hurry up, hurry up, and then driving away in a cloud of dust. It was a strange case of déjà vu!

We got back to the ship and had a wonderful time skipping muster drill and going straight to the dining room. The Savoy’s signature dish is a grilled pork chop and I had to try it. It was delicious. The menu was sailaway and we’ve probably had it several times over, so the pork chop was a nice change. I also had the spring rolls and the cream of porcini mushroom soup. Both were excellent as well. Judy had the fettuccini alfredo, which she really likes on this ship, the mushroom soup and the texas chili. All of which she liked as well.

For dessert I had the carrot cake and the Eggnog ice cream. The carrot cake was absolutely fantastic. The pastry chef on this ship is one of the best. The desserts are not too sweet, but sweetened just right.

We topped off the evening with dancing in Explorer’s to Nightwatch and with Dailan the next day, we hit the sack.

Dalian:

Finally a great Chinese port with fun guides, good food, great sites and a wonderful day touring. Started the day with our latte’s at the lobby bar while the Diamond slipped into Dalian harbor. We ended up backing into the slip and with our balcony on the aft we enjoyed a great view of the harbor and all the people watching us as we docked.

Our guides were Allyson and Winter. Two young, energetic, smiling and cute local girls – and as we would find out later, they could sing as well! This would be the city drive, community center and polar exhibit tour. Our tour was 105.

It was a whirlwind tour of Dalian with a senior/community activity center first. Don’t get the wrong idea – it was anything but an ‘old folks home’. They had a series of dance troupes do some traditional and more modern dance routines. And there were absolutely stunning displays of painting and paper art. They even had a dance troupe outside on the sidewalk welcoming us with a Chinese style drum corp. Needless to say, we ran our camera batteries down during this session. With only 45 minutes there, we didn’t get to see all of the different dance routines, but the rotation of busses through the area at least allowed most of the people on tour to see a couple of routines. After the routines, the performers would come out into the crowd and take pictures with us. So friendly, all smiling, all having a great time. It was a great welcome to Dalian and a great start to a day long tour.

After the center we went to a park (People’s Square I think) near the center of town and the seashore with a lot of great Olympic art, an interesting horizontal sculpture consisting of footprints embedded in bronze stretching about 100 yards towards the seashore ending in a couple of children pointing to the sea. And then there was the giant skateboard ramp at the end. The Olympic art was unique. Every Olympic event was depicted in an action figure in three separate poses. For example the javelin statue would have the thrower in wind up, at the release point and then in the follow through with the javelin taking flight. There were several dozen statues around the park reportedly showing each and every Olympic sport. Again we really didn’t have time to see all of them, but it was a great taste of the town.

After the park we drove along the sea coast back toward the ship. The bus stopped in the middle of the street to let us off to walk across a bridge – lover’s bridge – apparently. A nice stretch of the legs and some great photos of an old windmill. Too bad the air was smoggy. Not as bad as Tienjen, but not exactly blue sky either.

After the bridge we did a short stop at another park with flying tiger sculptures. Very nicely done and with some interesting vendors at the park. There were toys for kids to ride and one was a rickshaw with a robot child pulling it while an adult sat in the chair. Of course the robot only walked along as the drive train moved the wheels, but the effect was pretty convincing that the robot was pulling the rickshaw.

After the park we went to lunch. Finally a good Chinese food lunch. Not too westernized, tasty and plenty of variety. We had 45 minutes to eat, but unfortunately the woman’s bathroom was backed up as there were only two stalls. (This was a common problem on all of our tours in Asia. In most cases, we ended up standing guard while the ladies used the men’s restroom stalls.) In any event, lunch was good. Eggplant, stir fry dishes of chicken, beef and pork, spring rolls and a pretty good soup. We were not disappointed in this lunch.

After lunch we did the polar aquarium and show. Really nice exhibits. Think seaworld on a smaller scale. The Chinese apparently have a growing middle class, and based on the cars seen around Dalian, they have money to spend. Entertainment is a growing industry in Dalian and this park is apparently expanding its offerings. Exhibits of seals, walruses, a polar bear cub, penguins and a beluga whale were in the park. The show was about 30 minutes, and it was packed to the gills with people, of some routines with the Beluga whale, and five dolphins. Pretty standard tricks, all narrated in Chinese, which was a hoot, we couldn’t understand the words, but we got the meaning and the gist of what was going on. It was kind of fun and great for people watching and totally killing our remaining battery power.

But then I did a faux paux in translation that I just have to talk about. Winter, one of our guides, had never seen this particular show before. So I told her that if she liked it she should come to the states and see Sea World in CA or FL. I told her about the Orca shows, but made the mistake of calling them “killer” whales. Somehow she translated this as the whales were “killed” during the show! Oh jeez, major international crisis when she lamented on the bus going back to the ship about how the killing of these animals made her so sad! (Please just shoot me now!) Needless to say I had to pull her and Allyson to one side and explain to her that we call Orcas killer whales, not that we kill the whales during the show!

Open mouth, change feet. No wonder wars are started for much less!

After the polar show we headed downtown to the friendship mall for shopping. But it was a more upscale shopping center with no cheap souvenirs. We were unable to snag our fridge magnet for this port! However, the staff and the people were actually quite friendly and even smiled at this invasion of about 1000 foreign shoppers. The wine in the grocery store was going like hot cakes. Apparently it was on sale!

So we returned to the ship about 430pm, having started out about 0930. It was a great day with two wonderful tour guides and a really nice town, nice people.

After the tour it was a quick shower and a prep for dinner. We decided on the buffet, which really had some tasty offerings. I really like the cold salads. Judy, unfortunately with her mayonnaise allergy, can’t eat most of them. The lamb was a good medium rare and seasoned well. We had a great dinner conversation with a couple and their brother that we had Chef’s table with last week, or was it last month, oh, well, who cares.

After dinner it was dancing in fusion for a couple of hours and then off to bed. We’d seen the comedian and the entertainment, so no need to fight for seats in those venues. Time went forward an hour, so it would be an early day in the morning, but a sea day and we plan to do Zumba with Kim at 0945.

Have to research some more on Busan since we will be on our own for the entire day.

At Sea and Busan:

The days are certainly just blurring together. Soon we will surpass our previous 21 day maximum cruise length and head into uncharted territory. We do miss our suite (we’ve had suites on the previous 3 cruises), but not as much as I thought we would. We mainly miss Sabatini’s, the larger bathroom, the better balcony furniture and the fresh fruit baskets with the suite exclusive additions of grapes and strawberries. The aft balcony we have with no wind is much more preferred than a side balcony that is almost unusable while the ship is underway. Our breakfast the other morning was perfect, except of course for the coaster with legs they call the coffee table.

The at sea day was busy with Zumba, ballroom and line dance. At night we stayed on Club Fusion and danced to canned music for a couple of hours then headed for bed.

Busan was a do it yourself port this time around. We waited until around 0930 for the crowds to clear, then headed for the shuttle bus and headed downtown. The Phoenix hotel was the drop off point and it was just across the street from the fish market. We headed into the bowels of the market and shopped for a few hours, picking up a few knick knacks here and there. I tried my four words in Korean, Good Day and Thank You, on a variety of locals and got the biggest smiles and thumbs up from all of them. One lady really appreciated me at least trying some of the language. They really laughed when I put my finger about ¼ inch from my thumb and said, that’s it, that’s all I know.

The shops, the markets are just incredible as to variety and diversity, but not in the same shop. There were shoe shops with every kind of shoe, or a luggage shop packed to the gills with luggage, or a T-shirt shop, or a food shop with just one or two kinds of packaged foods that I did not recognize. There were also lock and key shops, with every kind of padlock and some I’ve never seen before. And this went on for blocks and blocks. With little narrow alleyways and small street. Scooters zooming by, delivery trucks, cars. It was a unique experience.

A couple of tips on the market. You almost have to go down every little alleyway to see it all. Some alleyways are so narrow, it looks like they are part of the stores, but they are not. Also, there are street underpasses everywhere so you don’t have to risk life or limb – especially on the major drags. I also tried half a dozen ATMs and none of them would recognize our ATM card. Hopefully its still working, but we will have to wait until we get to Alaska to double check. Hutch said most ATMs here were not international.

The cruise buddies were out in force. Local young men and women dressed in distinct garb helping out, giving directions. The girls were all cute and giggly, more than willing to get their picture taken with us Americans. Very, very friendly people.

One of the main reasons I wanted to get out on our own is that we are not seasoned international travelers – but we have to learn how to do this as we plan to travel a lot after I retire. This was a perfect spot to jump in the shallow end of the pool with no fear of drowning. Some trepidation, stepping out into a foreign land without speaking the lingo, but a good first step. We were here last week, so I knew the lay of the land. We felt perfectly safe in this environment. No beggars, no high pressure sales and a very westernized culture that felt familiar.

We did go back through the fish market in hopes of getting some lunch before getting back to the ship in time for a soccer game, more about that later, and one of the highlights of the trip was an octopus escaping from a fish monger’s bucket and taking off across the sidewalk with the lady in hot pursuit. It was hilarious. Everyone was laughing in a dozen different languages.

Didn’t get a chance to sample any of the local food as we had committed to come back to the ship around 12:45 and cheer our room steward on in a game of soccer at a field near the ship. It was India vs. ‘the world’. Frank, our room steward, was on the India team and they kicked major tushie! 6 to 1 was the final score. ‘The world’ got trounced. I did ask Frank later why they didn’t let them score a few more points and he pointed out that ‘the world’ was trash talking the night before how they would run up a 6 to 0 score against India. Guess they could talk the talk, but not walk the walk. (Found out later that one of ‘the world’ players had played professional soccer. Probably why they were trash talking.)

I know, sounds pretty weird spending a couple of hours in port watching the ship’s crew play soccer, but it was really fun. Frank had his own cheering section. All five of us. (It was a very small wave when he scored.) But no one else had anyone cheering them on, so he really appreciated us showing up and we had a really good time.

After walking around town and the markets all morning, we had a late lunch and crashed back at the ship. Decided to grab some chips and guacamole at the Elite Lounge and then settled down to watch Footloose, the new one, on MUTS. Temperature was perfect. A slight chill in the air that made snuggling down nice. The movie was definitely not as good as the original and they screwed up a few of the old classic songs, but it wasn’t a total waste of time.

Watching Footloose last night brought one of those light bulb moments that happen to me every once in a while – and brings up a subject I’ve been avoiding since I really don’t like to criticize things. But here goes. The Princess shows, which used to thrill us, seem old and tired. The choreography, the dancing, just seemed off. We saw, Do You Want To Dance a couple of weeks ago and just haven’t been back. Watching Footloose last night made me realize why. The dancing in the new Footloose is much tighter, choreographed to modern standards. Yes, they screwed up Ren’s solo in the warehouse compared to the one Bacon did, but it was a much more difficult routine. Judy and I watch Dancing with the Stars religiously and over the past several years the dancing and the choreography has gotten better, better and better. Princess is simply not keeping up. It may be unfair to compare the ship’s dancers to Dancing with the Stars, but perception is reality and when we watch, quite frankly, the tired same old choreography of a Princess show and compare it to what is on TV, the differences are striking. Princess needs to turn their dancers loose. I would love a show in which the dance company self choreographs little vignettes in the Atrium or the Piazza (they do this sometimes on the Emerald), or maybe a dance competition between troupe couples in Explorer’s/Vista lounge. Or an entire show that emphasizes up to date modern dance choreography – choreographed by the troupe during the cruise. Our favorite Princess show is still Caliente (with Motor City a close second), with the emphasis on troupe and individual dance. While we do enjoy the vocals, there is still no reason to not have a significant amount of modern precision dance routines to back up the vocals.

Come on Princess. Turn em loose! Let’s have a ‘so you think you can dance’ competition on Princess between troupe members on the longer cruises. Or at least a one night, freestyle, showcase of dance talent.

We lost another hour last night and will lose another tonight. Getting out of bed this morning was hard. Hopefully a couple of latte’s will help.

Misc Ramblings:

About Kelvin I agree he is one of the top CDs that Princess has, and I really agree about Matt. He has a good future with Princess and Princess really needs some fresh young blood in the ranks. Although we’ve really only had one “bad” CD in all of our travels – our 2010 Antarctic cruise on the Star. Tim Donovan was also one of our least favorites on a CP cruise we had in 2004, but has really performed well in our last couple of cruises with him, making him one of our favorites as well – and no one does pub night like Tim does. Martin on the Grand last year was great and David Cole on the Golden is also very good. (BTW, we heard that David Cole will be taken off the Golden in 2013 and moved to the Sapphire to start a new HI program on that ship. After seeing the Golden’s new schedule of South American cruises, now I see why. I wonder if EULA is moving with him. )

While the CD makes a big difference it really takes a great cruise staff to support him. Kelvin is blessed with a pretty good staff. Matt, of course, we’ve pretty much already mentioned. Kim, our Zumba, Line Dance and Ballroom dance instructor. Paul, who helps Kim, Jorge, Nicole and Heidi are those who we’ve had the most interaction with. It’s a good crew.

At Sea to Vladivostok:

Another one of those really nice days at sea. Up early after losing another hour, this is really going to suck on the crossing, we hit the lobby coffee bar. We are now on our third coffee card and Ronnie in the bar is taking very good care of us. Tall white chocolate latte’s are the drink of choice while typing up the latest travel log. I have only used 240 minutes so far. Half of my time and none of judy’s yet. Typing off line and uploading is the only way to go.

BTW, we stopped by the internet café last night to talk to the internet lady. Just wanted to stop by and say everything is working fine and thanks. She gets so many complaints and gripes, the line is always long, it just seems fair to stop by every now and then and say thanks. I remember one person commenting on the internet speed compared to military naval ships and how slow it was. Well geez, if I had a multi-billion dollar satellite network, I’d better have a fast internet connection as well!

So anyway, after coffee it was time for Zumba with Kim. Club fusion is getting so crowded its getting dangerous. We’ve moved off the dance floor and onto the carpet in front of a TV to keep from hitting fellow Zumba’ites and we now get people trying to walk around us to get a seat for trivia, or to watch the Zumba antics. Trust me, when I get moving you do not want to be in my way when I reverse. Almost took one guys head off with a side snap punch and then almost ran over a lady when I did a blind pivot turn with arms flailing.

We missed breakfast and ended up at the Mexican buffet for lunch, which was really quite good. The Pico de gallo was quite good and they had chopped fresh jalapenos to go with everything. Refried beans, chicken and beef fajitas, flour tortillas, fresh guacamole, sour cream, onion, it was really tasty and I was so tempted to go back and get another plate, but we had decided to go to the steak house for dinner. After lunch we did something new on Princess. X-box Kinect dance central 2. We have this at home and it is a lot of fun since both of us can go head to head. I kicked Judy’s but 2 out of 3 times. We like the kinect version much better than the Wii version since the body tracking does not let you cheat with a controller.

After Dance Central 2, it was line dancing with Kim and Paul and then off to shower, do laundry (oh I love that little black card), watch Hutch’s Vladivostok talk, catch 40 winks and get ready for dinner.

Dinner was pretty good. The old Sterling Steakhouse menu lacks lamb like the new Crown Grill menu, so I had to settle for grilled halibut, which was really, really good. Judy had the filet and we shared the BBQ chicken breast as well. The creamed spinach, corn casserole and clam chowder were really good. The steak was a bit overdone, but tasty, the chicken was very moist, but the BBQ sauce was too overpowering. I would have preferred a simpler roasted chicken with a lighter sauce, or no sauce at all. (It turns out, in my later discussions with Kim, that they will do a different sauce or no sauce on the chicken at all if you request it.)

I had the chocolate pecan pie with vanilla ice cream. Judy had the fried peach turnover with vanilla ice cream. Mine was ok. I wanted to try something different and chocolate pecan pie is just not my cup of tea, but the vanilla ice cream was wonderful. Judy really liked the turnover, especially with the sauce and the ice cream. The highlight of the meal for me was the grilled halibut. It looked overcooked, but it was very moist. Halibut is a difficult fish to cook, but this was done just right.

We went down to Club Fusion for dancing after that, trying to take it easy. We got in a few dances during the ballroom hour, then switched to the Elton John hour, but for some reason the tracks kept skipping. How in the heck does an MP3 track skip? Dirty CD or dirty player? I figure everything is off of a hard drive, but maybe not. That was pretty frustrating to most of us and we left about 30 minutes into the hour. Rikki Jay was doing his routine in Explorer’s, but we’d already seen his material. Stopped by the wheelhouse to check it out, but the temperature had been increased in there as well. It was warm. So we decided to settle down and watch a movie in the room instead. Besides, we would lose another hour.

Russia and Vladivostok:

I had read mixed things about this port. Nothing to do, kind of dumpy, grey. Well, they were partially right. We liked it. The best thing was the map of the walking tour with pathways marked and in full English. It was great.

With no tour we got up and had coffee in the atrium and waited for the crowd to thin out. Then we leisurely strolled out through security and into the terminal, which is actually next to the railway terminal. A bridge connects across the tracks for a short walk to the standard statue of Lenin and the main street that goes by the terminal.

The first thing I noticed was the stunningly beautiful and tall women walking around the area, and handing out literature. The next thing was all the fur. Lots and lots of fur being worn. (PETA people would have heart attacks – buts its renewable!) As a huge cruise ship, we were the subject of much curiosity of both the locals and the people arriving on a train that pulled in while we were wandering around.

The weather was overcast and drizzly to start out. Then the drizzle stopped and we shed our umbrellas, but the overcast remained for much of the day. We did the various walking paths around the city highlighted by the submarine museum, the war memorial and the beautiful little Russian Orthodox chapel or church next to the war memorial. We did not go into the submarine museum. We’ve been in the Midway in San Diego and according to Hutch, this is much, much smaller passageways and spaces. The walking map has 30+ highlights around the city. We did not make it to Eagle’s Nest as it was about 3km away.

The architecture is definitely European, the population as well. But they seemed extremely curious about all of us, but welcoming. The girls handing out literature spoke almost flawless English, and very knowledgeable. One police officer at least had a sense of humor. He was out directing traffic and his buddy was in the car, so he motioned for his buddy to get out of the car. With a big smile I indicated his buddy was napping by laying my head against my shoulder. He smiled back and said ‘dah’, ‘dah’.

On the way back to the ship we shopped around the terminal. We did not exchange for Rubles so we had to shop in dollars, and pay a premium, but we got the required souvenirs. It was a Sunday so all of the banks were closed.

Lunch on the ship was great, and very tasty. They had a meat pie that was really good. The early evening movie was Real Steel, another knock off of Rocky, but this time with Rock’em Sock’em Robots. It had its moments, but was mainly formula. I liked the kid the best. Dinner was junk food. Popcorn, ice cream, cookies and milk. Judy had grilled hotdogs – she loves the hotdogs grilled to give them a little more flavor.

Sailaway was great. Hundreds of people turned out to see us off. Similar to Nagasaki, but with no brass band, the Captain gave them all extra ship’s whistles and they responded with a loud roar and cheers.

After dinner it was time for some serious dancing. Explorer’s with Nightwatch, then Fusion, then back to Explorer’s. After about 3 hours my ankles and Judy’s knees gave out. Time for Ibuprofen and bed.

All in all, a really good day.

The time zone mystery. So when I turned on my smart phone, it indicated a local time 2 hours behind ship’s time. Yet we had advanced time twice to get ready for Vladivostok! Now we lose two hours to get ready for Sapporo. Hmmm. What gives?

Muroran/Hokkaido (Sapporo)

Once again we opted for a Princess tour. We did the Jidaimura & Jigokudani tour. We had a great time and are just really enamored by Japan, the people and their culture. (Unfortunately we were sorely disappointed in some of our fellow passengers’ etiquette and respect for foreign customs, but more about that later…)

Our tour guide was June – with a pretty complex Japanese name. No horn honking with Japanese drivers, that is for sure. Perfectly dressed and groomed, the drivers are all very polite and very professional. June’s English was pretty good and we appreciated her commentary as we made our way via the backroads to the theme park.

Jidaimura is the Edo period historical village “theme park”. It’s a very small park compared to other, maybe a couple of dozen buildings and several acres. Park staff dress up as samurai, geisha, ninja and others. There are several venues and shows. We did two shows, the Ninja show and the Oedan Geisha show. The Ninja show was fun, mainly because they didn’t even take themselves that seriously. It was a parody of Ninja/Kung Foo shows missing only the subtitles or the out of synch English dubs. Although the slightly out of sync sound effects of woushing and clinking swords, along with the thuds, were almost straight out of batman – the tv show. Anywho, it was a show about a gold mine and an old man, who was a martial artist as well, supported by a friendly ninja, holds off two bad ninjas trying to steal his gold. I really wish people would learn to use their cameras. No flashes whilst it was dark, yet person after person would flash the stage in the dark.

About 20 minutes for the Ninja show, and we went to the Odedan Geisha show and it was actually more fun and more embarrassing.

First for the fun. It was entirely in Japanese, although the “host/narrator” was trying to translate into English and others were translating into Korean for a Korean group and Chinese for a Chinese group, you actually got the gist of the story. First off they had to have a Shogun played by a male member of the audience. Immediately a Japanese, Korean and Chinese guy jumped up. The rest of the audience then proceeded to prod an Australian in taking the position. The four then fought to the death in a Rho Sham Bo match, or rock paper scissors. The Australian won. He was hilarious. First of all, trying to read Japanese cue cards (Kanji is the common written language in Asia, so the cue cards are in Kanji, but not English), and follow the prompts of the host. He ended up saying ok, ok, ok at lot. It was a hoot. Especially when the bill came due and the shogun had no money, he asked – ‘do you take Visa’! The Oedan was absolutely gorgeous and the amount of makeup worn is incredible. The costuming just wonderful. So much fun.

Now the bad. All of us tall guys stood back against the wall as to not block the views of shorter people standing around the perimeter. Well, all but one. He decided he wanted the perfect vantage point and blocked one half or the other of the stage for several people. But the worst was the shoes. We were requested to take our shoes off to enter the house. Hutch and Kelvin have reminded everyone on board about the Japanese custom. Heck, anyone who flies in the US is used to taking their shoes off. So why then, does a half a dozen people put their shoes back on inside the house? Geez, it was embarrassing. The Japanese were mortified. We even requested a couple of them to not put their shoes on and were just ignored. How selfish!

We picked up some wasabi crackers, and wish we’d picked up more, they are delicious and spicy. I just wish we had more time at the park. We really only had 30 minutes after the show to look around.

After the park we headed to Hell’s Valley. A fumarole loaded little valley with lots of visible sulfur deposits, hot springs, steam and stinky egg gasses. We only had about 35 minutes here, but were able to see a couple of fumaroles and one small geyser/bubbling spring. We did not get a chance to explore the whole area, which would have been lots of fun.

One thing about these princess tours, especially this one, is that we didn’t have a lot of time to explore the area. I wished we had at least an hour free time at each place rather than just a few minutes. But the tour gave us a really good overview of the area and some interesting sights to see, and really nice people to meet.

Local kids put on a great show for sailaway. It is really nice to come into a port that really appreciates you coming in. The locals turned out in force to see us off. Not as big a send off as in Nagasaki, but pretty good in any event. The mayor and local officials also met on the dock in a welcome ceremony with the captain and Kelvin.

We really like Japan. Of all the ports we’ve visited, Japan and Hong Kong are highest on the list to return to.

Six Days at Sea –

The first day was great. Started off with our typically latte’s with Ronnie in the Atrium and updating the posts on CC.

Zumba class with Kim was great. Almost took out a couple of people wanting to grab tables early prior to trivia. Trivia is getting quite competitive I guess. People lining up to grab their favorite table as soon as Zumba is over with.

The it was off to a pub lunch in Savoy. Judy finally got her bangers and mash, I got the Ploughman’s lunch and we shared a fish and chips plate. We each had a Guinness to go with it. The bangers and mash used the same sausage as the English breakfast sausage. The mash was pretty good. I liked the Ploughman’s lunch. It had head cheese in it. Something I never saw in England when I had it there. The fish and chips were good. Maybe a slightly higher oil temp would have made them perfect, but the fish was tasty, flaky and not fishy at all. (The best fish and chips I’ve ever had was at Trencher’s in Whitby, England years ago. The place burned down the last year we were there and I don’t know if its been rebuilt. The second best was last October in Southampton at the Slug and Lettuce.)

Line dance class was a partial review and a couple of new ones. The most important was the Cha-Cha line dance as it would pay off at night during 70’s night. Line dance class s always a good boost to the endorphins after lunch. Nicole was hosting 100 pin bowling on the Wii prior to Line dance. That was a kick. Never saw it before and it was pretty popular.

Temps are falling rapidly. By 10:30 at night, the temperature on the deck was 34F. It was mainly around 40-45F most of the day with a stiff breeze, so it was just flat cold outside. Not as cold as when we were in Antarctica, but still pretty cold. The crew is all bundled up and the passengers have now broken out all their winter gear. Seas have picked up during the night. The report from the bridge showed only 1-4 foot swells, but the rear end of the ship was moving pretty good during 70’s night dancing and the latter part of the ballroom hour. Judy started to feel it as soon as we quit dancing and went to the cabin to watch the morning show. Good thing laying down helps her feel better as well.

After line dance it was watch some movies, and prep for dinner. This time it was back to the Savoy for some lamb on a Princess menu. Judy had the signature pork chop and while it was ok for her, she won’t have it again. She wants more of the penne pasta she had for Italian night.

Speaking of Italian night, which was the Muroran port, we did hit the Savoy again. Dinner at a table for two with Piya, from Thailand. Judy wanted the head waiter cooked penne pasta, which she thoroughly enjoyed. I had the veal scaloppini, which was ok, but both of us skipped dessert as we needed to catch up on some sleep as we were up early at Muroran.

So back to the first night of the six at sea. We did dinner again in the Savoy with Piya. The garlic soup was fantastic. For the main course I had the lamb, which was really good. And dessert was wonderful. A black cherry chocolate cake with fudge and vanilla ice cream. Judy thought the pork chop was too tough and chewy, but tasty. When I had it last week, month, whenever, I thought it was pretty good.

After dinner it was dancing night. We started at 730PM in fusion with Sammy and the ballroom dance hour. There are about 2 dozen dedicated dancers on this cruise that float between the dance venues. One couple is notable. He is 90+, she is 85. And they are great to watch. We want to be like them when we grow up. During Sammy’s ballroom hour he has up to a dozen couples on the dance floor. Fusion has the biggest dance floor, so there is a lot of room, but it is odd shaped and makes for some interesting avoidance maneuvers.

At 830PM the 70’s music started so we did a lot of Cha-Cha line dances to break up the monotony of Hustle after Hustle. Tried the Hustle line dance, but the hitch quarter turn step and back three on a moving ship is simply not a smart thing to do as the deck would invariably not be there during the first back step. Keep it simple and keep the feet close to the floor.

About 930PM Princess pop star started so we went off to bed. We have been watching the morning show, which starts broadcasting at 10PM, religiously. Matt and Kelvin play off each other perfectly and are a lot of fun to watch.

5/10 #1 – Groundhog Day the First

Another day at sea – how many is that now? Who cares! Why is it we develop habits and patterns? But they are different every cruise. This one has lobby coffee at 0700 every morning we can. Oh that wonderful caffeine. Then Zumba with Kim, then lunch, line dance, lecture, game show, dinner, show, dancing, collapse in bed, get up and do it all over again.

We have decided we really like, and I mean really, really like, these longer cruises. This is our longest and its one of our favorites. (Our top 5 is getting crowded.) Since Princess.com is free on the ship, I can even do some future cruise planning when I get really bored.

Matt and Kelvin still have no shown up for Zumba. We did remind them several time yesterday – actually every chance we got. And they’ve not picked on Kim for the last two morning shows. During Zumba only almost took out one potential trivia player. Scared the heck of out em. Hey, when Kim changes the step we all follow.

The slight, and I mean very slight seas yesterday, put Judy in bed late into the morning and gave her an excuse to skip Zumba. So she went to Origami instead and made a butterfly. Ahhhhhhhh. I skipped breakfast so was ready for lunch and their cold salads attracted me once again. The cole slaw is great, the carrot salads, a chik pea and tuna salad, the ever present greek salad, a couple of pasta salads. Nothing else has captured my attention - oh except for the breads. But that’s on every princess ship. I love, love, love the fresh baked breads. Yum. Yum.

Picked on Matt yesterday. Apparently in Muoran he actually took Kim to lunch at KFC in town –pronounced Kefeke. And apparently several ship members went as well. And we have noticed a lot of KFC’s around Asia – so apparently they are doing well. Chicken after all is pretty universal…

After lunch we just chilled and read. I started with about a dozen new books on my Kindle and that has now dwindled to just a few left. Don’t know what I did before my Kindle. Judy brought a little crochet project and her electronics to play games with. We watched the Northern Passage lecture. Interesting little tidbits of information.

It was formal night and the night for a lot of Circle parties. I think half the ship is CC, so they have 4 parties scheduled. We did not pack formal clothes, so we opted for the buffet where I found shrimp cocktail and some wonderful Garlic bisque – and some yummy desserts. On this ship they make the plain chocolate cake. Not all ships do this. No frosting, no sugar, just plain chocolate cake – and it is the best of the bunch.

The after dinner show was the mind reader show, and I can’t remember his name this morning. First up was a math trick that we’ve seen before. Then he did a couple of things with members of the audience that was pretty good. I’m pretty sure they were legit as he seemed to be reading their expressions and reactions to guess the number they were thinking about. Then a couple of more stunts with audience members that seemed a little more contrived, ending in a couple more that did not seem possible without prior cooperation with the audience members. He might be good, but I really doubt he is that good. But it was entertaining and a change of pace.

We did get our passports back yesterday – and the transfer paperwork. Since there will be 3 ships in port that day, I opted to get the Princess transfer to YVR. I think cabs will be in very short supply. They did not offer EZ Check. Probably will set that up for later in the season and they did offer a transfer to Seattle – for flights after 1600 hours.

After the mind reader show it was time to burn some calories so we went to Fusion and danced to canned music until the Dance through the Decades with the cruise staff activity. Nightwatch was playing. Let’s see, Nicole was dressed in the 60’s with a psychedelic blouse with billowing sleeves, Paul was also 60’s, Jorge and Heidi were the 50’s in Elvis and a Pink Lady respectively. Kim was 80’s or 90’s in a Levi skirt. Anyway I got to show Kim and Paul how versatile the Cha Cha line dance was. Basically most 4 count rock and roll songs can be danced to it. Especially those too fast for a slow dance or night club two step or too slow for freestyle. We had several people out on the floor learning it, including the 90+ year old gentleman and his 85 year old bride.

By the time we got to bed and set the clocks forward, it was after midnight. A little morning show, a quick night cap and then off to sleep.

Groundhog Day –

Had to reset the calendars on all the clocks this morning. Now we are 6 hours behind CO – and on the same day. Finally something I can understand.

Just like it was hot in Thailand, I can now admit it is cold here in Alaska. Got to admit though, after showering last night, I stepped out on the balcony and watched steam condense in the air around my head. It was so cool – literally and figuratively. 34F at one time according to the ship channel and with wind chill must have been in the single digits. The wind just cuts right through you, which is why we really like the aft cabins. No wind.

Sometime today, we are supposed to enter the Bering Sea to avoid a low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska. That was what was causing our motion. The swells were not that big, but the wind was 15-20 knots from the front quarters which caused a lot of buffeting of the entire ship. We won’t get as far north in latitude as we got south during our Antarctic cruise, but we will be getting pretty far north. I wish Princess still had those 14 day small ship cruises to Alaska that stopped at all the smaller ports.

Coffee in the lobby. Tall white chocolate latte. MMMMM. Stephanie the night manager stopped by. She’s been trying to get the date changed in all the computer systems since 3 this morning and finally got the last one altered, so she’s happy. Judy just got here. She slept in a bit. Unfortunately, a week from next Monday I must pay then penalty for this 6 week vacation and go back to work. So I have to get adjusted to time zones as quickly as possible.

Today is Zumba and the Diamond Dash starts as well. The Diamond Dash is Kim’s answer to the Amazing Race on the ship. Might be fun to watch. Another pub lunch today, but having tried all of the dishes – except Kidney pie – we might opt for the Rijstafel buffet. Since I have no idea what it is, it perks my interest. Line dancing returns and Nicole is doing Wii@sea dancing as well. Lots of stuff to do in the patter. Tonight is a bit more sparse for us. Harmonica or Hypnotist. Neither strikes our fancy. Probably will dance with Nightwatch and hit the sack a bit earlier than the previous two nights. Got to get more than a couple of hours of sleep.

At Sea on the 11th. Friday.

Another day at sea that really wasn’t half bad. Lots to do and see. Judy did finally get out of bed and did join the Zumba class (she’s still in bed this morning). We checked out the Rijstafel buffet and didn’t see anything the peaked our interested. I opted for a few of the cold salads and the Monte Cristo sandwich. Love those cold salads on this cruise. We did some Wii dancing in the afternoon with Nicole, some line dancing with Paul and Kim, and then actually watched the entire movie Rango on the TV rather than the typical bits and pieces.

So we did an early dinner in Savoy with Piya. It was another Princess dinner with the highlights being the baked mahi-mahi and the steak Diane. Judy ordered the mahi-mahi and I had the steak Diane which was perfectly cooked med rare. Some interesting dinner conversation with the next table neighbors and a coffee later, we went to the Explorer’s lounge for some dancing with Nightwatch. With the choices between a Harmonica player and a Hypnotist, we opted for sleep. Dropped by the Conservatory bar and picked up a large glass of fresh squeezed OJ for $5.50, which when combined with the remains of the Elite bar, provided 4 perfectly tasting, fresh screwdrivers. Watched Hutch’s talk on Seward and really looking forward to spending the day exploring the town and getting some fresh CLAMS! Sleep was easy after that and we both slept through the night till about 0530 this morning.

There is no Zumba today. Kim has been given the morning off (actually a whole hour to sleep later) and we will have a Paul and Nicole “high octane” line dance class. Kelvin is starting to utilize more of the TV channels to play more of the movies that are being requested. That’s good.

The dance troupe is changing out, tonight in fact, and the new troupe has been using the Princess theater to rehearse. So the Princess theater has been closed a lot. Tonight is Piano man, but it is with the new cast, so we are headed to 3rd row center to take a look. Piano man will be retired from the fleet soon with a new show coming out.

There is an asian sushi buffet for lunch. Always good for a light snack. Then I think we will just snack at the Elite lounge for a light dinner and head to the show early.

This morning is mother’s days. Sunday the 14th and we are only 1 hour behind Seward, 2 hours behind YVR and 3 hours behind home. The end on of the nightly hours ahead is in sight. The last couple of days and nights at sea have been wonderfully relaxing and lots of fun. The high octane line dance wasn’t high octane enough, so I followed it up with a run to the gym. By 1030, 11am, there are plenty of machines available. The elliptical are CYBEX, not PRECOR. A little bit different motion, and really no difference between forward and reverse leg motion, but a good workout nonetheless, and the TVs work really well.

The food in the buffet has been really good for lunch. (I’ve been skipping my usual heavy breakfast for Zumba.) The cold salads are absolutely delicious and I’ve been trying every almost all of them. The Elite lounge had one of my favorites. Marinated Stilton in Port Wine on Walnut bread. The Stilton needed a bit more marinating, but with the special drink being port wine, there was enough to go around. Judy can’t drink or eat anything with high levels of Tannic acid, so she settled for assorted cheeses and crackers. The Elite lounge food is done very nicely with a large variety of munchies. Honey roasted peanuts, a snack cracker mix (with the little Cajun snacks I hate, but the spiced little rice crackers I really like), dried apricots, olives, bread sticks, assorted cheeses, individually packaged crackers (Ritz, Saltines) and the featured item (the aforementioned marinated stilton, smoked salmon, chips and guacamole, herb toast and goat cheese, sushi Princess style and a few others.

Piano Man was actually quite good. The new cast is energetic, fresh, enthusiastic and has some really good vocalists. We thoroughly enjoyed the show and then went dancing. Getting to sleep at night is becoming harder and harder. We’ve even started skipping the power nap to try and get to sleep a little faster. (I do not want to start depending on our portable pharmacopeia. Once in a while is ok.) But getting to bed at 11pm, moving the clocks one hour forward to 12, then getting to sleep about 1, waking up about 0600 is getting a bit tiring.

So Saturday morning the alarm goes off at 0600 and I simply turn it off and get an extra hour of really good sleep, followed by a half a shot of 5 hour energy. That stuff really works. This would be another really good day at sea. The latte’s in the Atrium were great, Kim’s Zumba class was really good, but again, needing a little more kick, I headed for the gym and did about an hour on the elliptical. Actually got interested in that Sorcerer movie with Nicolas Cage and just ran until it was over. For lunch we did something different and went to the dining room. Had a great lunch, French fries and a mufaletta sandwich, along with some ice cream, and about 6 glasses of water. We skipped ballroom and line dance class and instead watched Kim’s Diamond Dash round 3.

Because the Captain, and let me say we really, really like this captain, tracked northward into the Bering Sea to avoid a storm in the gulf of Alaska, we ended up exiting the Bering Sea just north of Dutch Harbor. Lots of ship traffic, including a close up view of a crabber, puffins and a pod of Orcas were the highlights as we spent a few hours out on deck 16 aft watching the various islands go by. Snow covered islands and the sea. Reminded me a little of our Antarctic cruise. Without the little detour, there wouldn’t have been much to see.

Speaking of the captain, there were a couple of “assessment” parties a couple of nights ago. One during dinner, was in the Officer’s mess on Deck 4. We actually smelled something funny in Savoy. It turned out to be someone left a plastic tray on a coffee burner. The captain came on and explained everything. Later we heard another one called in the Explorer’s lounge, which we had just walked out of. We ran into Kim and Matt while Matt was headed to the lounge as he was part of the assessment party.

Once again the Captain came on to explain it was a dishwasher that went belly up and needed to be unplugged. Something like half the ship are previous cruisers, so we all know what assessment parties are and when you are in the middle of the Bering Sea, with 36F water all around you and the nearest help in Kamchatka, your ears perk up at the slightest hint of trouble!

This is our first cruise since the Concordia and I have noticed that this Captain is much more hands on, vocal and projecting an “in charge” persona than any of our past captains. The noon update is given by him, not the officer of the watch. However, we’ve not sailed with this captain before, so that could just be his way of doing things. We like it.

After getting thoroughly chilled outside (what a change from the 90’s in Thailand), we retired to a very nice corner of Skywalkers to watch the remainder of our passage through the straits, and into a blizzard. Haven’t seen snow on a ship since Antarctica. Pretty neat and the view was great. We just stayed in Skywalkers and had guacamole and chips, and margaritas until the snow got so thick you really couldn’t see anything anymore.

We decided to see the “mind reader” again after dancing to Nightwatch on their first sequence. This show was much better and much more mysterious. It’s pretty clear he is one sharp cookie with probably a photographic memory and a really sharp and quick mind. I still don’t believe in mind reading, but do believe in passenger list memorization and memorizing entire books. One will never know.

After the mind reading show, it was the ABBA hour with Paul and the cruise staff. We danced for a while in Fusion then headed for bed. After changing the clocks, we still didn’t get to sleep, if you call it that, until after 1am.

Seward

We’ve been to the attractions around Seward a couple of times over the last couple of years, so this time we wanted to just see the actual town, wander around, buy some gifts for the crew, get a pair of gloves for judy and find some CLAMS! Plus, get back in time for Judy’s massage appointment at 3pm.

Had we known how long immigration would take, we would have slept late. We needed it since we lost yet another hour and didn’t get to sleep until around 2am. Immigration was a by sequence number and without a tour, our Emerald deck sequence number was 27, next to last. We did not get called until a little after 11am and finally got off the ship around about 11:20. We could have slept until at least 10, but the patter said immigration would start at 7am. Oh well, got to catch up on email using my smart phone hotspot rather than ship’s email, called the office (I really don’t want to go back to work) and just putter for a few hours. There were four immigration officers in fusion checking passports and customs forms. The sequence numbering really helped. Much better than the cluster we went through in St Thomas one time on the Dawn Princess where it was a free for all. (I suspect people on Princess tours got a lower numbered sequence because several of the boat tours left the dock while we were waiting our sequence.)

In any event we did have to cut short our visit. We had planned to go to the Marine Mammal center, but settled for a lesser agenda. The walk to town was great. Shopping at the small boat marina is only 15 minutes away. The town center another 10 minutes.

We hit the ATM at Wells Fargo. (Card still works!) For some reason our ATM card did not work in several of the ATMs we tried during this trip. It worked in Singapore, but not Japan or Korea. So for those of you going this trip next year, bring local currency. It makes things so easier and its cheaper since everyone is rounding UP to the nearest US dollar. You can survive on US dollars in Vietnam, Thailand and Russia if you are only spending up to $20 on little things. But if you are doing stuff on your own, bring local currency. Most vendors will not take credit cards and your ATM card will most likely not work. You will definitely need S Korean, Japanese, Singapore and Chinese currency. As far as amounts go, there are bargains, but not as great as you might think. For street food think fast food pricing in the states – or the equivalent of US$20 in local currency. For bangles and bobbles, really small stuff, think US$3-5 each. Except for Singapore, we brought $100 each in local currency and it worked out well, but we were on Princess tours with limited time to spend local money. For on our own, I would have brought about 2x more. Fancier, more expensive places to eat or purchase typically will take credit cards.

Back to Seward. We forgot gloves for Judy, so we hit the Ace hardware store across the street from the small boat marina shops, and to pick up a couple of tubes of superglue. From there we hit Sweet Darlings, a local candy store in downtown. We like to pick up local sweets or unique food treats to pass out to the crew. They really don’t have room for bangles or bobbles, but they do get tired of ship’s food and really like special treats from shore. Saltwater taffy was this shop’s specialty and a unique item. So we picked up a bunch of different flavors, as well as some local homemade chocolate candies for the girls around the ship. Can’t go wrong with chocolate.

From downtown we went back to the marina area and had a bit of lunch at a dockside restaurant. They had CLAMS! And fresh calamari, and a really good fish chowder, and fresh sourdough bread, and a really good local beer. What more could you ask for? We didn’t have much time to linger as we had to get back in time for Judy’s massage appointment, but we were able to accomplish our goals for the day, had a really good walk around town and some good seafood.

Did not really do dinner last night. Wasn’t too hungry until later. We did the new comedian’s show. An American comedian. But I can’t remember his name this morning. Not awake yet. Ok show. Funny in spots. A lot of standard cruising jokes that we’ve heard before. Not as high an energy as the British comedian earlier in the cruise – yeah like last month.

After the show it was time for the country western night in fusion. We did a bunch of line dances, the bang bang game, and they have switched the cotton eyed joe to a line dance now, instead of a circle partner dance. Probably a good idea considering the spread of noro on a ship.

A little coffee and dessert in the HC and then off to bed to watch the morning show on a night we would not have to turn the clocks ahead. YEAH!

Yakutak Bay:

Still no rough water across the gulf of Alaska. Amazingly smooth cruise. Now approaching Juneau docks on Wednesday morning. Only 2 days before the dreaded packing day. Bummer.

Yesterday was a really good day. Coffee, then Zumba with Kim first off in the morning. It appears that both Matt and Kelvin have backed out of their promises to attend a Zumba class. With only one sea day to go, and that before the ship’s first YVR disembarkation, I really doubt either of them will show up. Excuses, excuses, excuses…

For lunch just prior to Yakutak bay we went back to the international dining room and found a waitress, Monica, that was on our last cruise in Med with us. She got on in Hong Kong and is working in Pacific Moon, so we just haven’t crossed paths. (She was in Sabbatini’s for breakfast on the last cruise.) Talk about having only a few days to catch up!

Yakutak bay was beautiful and white, with snow down to the tree lines on both sides. It was cloudy and overcast over the ship, but the glacier was in full sunlight, which made for really white whites and really deep blue ice. The photos should be amazing. The drift line was far out from the glacier so we could not get very close at all. The Captain hovered for several hours, switching sides and turning around so everyone should have gotten great views. The top of the bridge was open and it was packed with people. We stayed back on the stairs under skywalkers from 16 to 15, had great views and hardly any people at all.

As we headed out of the bay, apparently a pod of Orcas showed up, but we were back in the cabin getting ready for the night and did not see them.

The show was a new duo called RootBerry. Two jugglers/comedians (one is a sword swallower as well – while he juggles!). It was their first show on the ship and the comedy needed a bit of work, as well as the juggling content, but all in all it was fresh and new. Not as high energy as the young juggler kid Princess has on with the laser lights on his knuckles, but still something new. They are to have a new show later in the cruise to demonstrate some of their world record juggling feats.

We just had to have dinner with Monica, so we went to Pacific Moon to catch a late dinner prior to the Liars Club game show. It was another Princess dinner menu. I had the specialty dish, a stir fry, for the first time, which was really good. The mushroom appetizers were great, the crab bisque really good and Judy’s tex-mex home cuisine, while dry, still tasty with the corn salsa and a little sour cream on the side.

The we went to Liars Club. Hands down the funniest and best liars club we have ever seen and quite frankly the funniest show on the ship for the entire cruise. (With the team they have on this ship, why hire outside talent? Between Kim’s Zumba and Diamond Dash, Jorge’s trivia pronunciations and Liars Club, who need guest entertainers?)

Kelvin, of course, stole the show, but Matt and Kim held up their end. I can’t begin to pronounce or remember some of the words. The first of significant note was the display of victory, like an endzone dance, which Kelvin decided to demonstrate with an exaggerated pelvic thrust, over, and over, and over, and over, again. The picture may not be pretty, but it was funny. The next was Matt’s demonstration of the word for ‘good looking buttocks’. Of which he proclaimed his was a very good example, showing the crowd exactly what he was talking about.

The culmination was Kelvin’s demonstration of the word used to describe a woman’s wiggling of her body to fit into a tight pair of panty hose – which he then proceeded to demonstrate with a large pair of panty hose, taking off his shoes and jacket, and pulling them up, with great effect, over this pants and up around his chest. He then sat down with the hose on, and with various exaggerated sitting poses, as well as persistent stroking of the nylon hose, basically distracted everyone for the rest of the show.

Absolutely freakin hilarious. That, just could not be topped for the evening, and I wish they would have gone for another couple of words, but we decided to get a good nights sleep.

All in all, a really good day.

Juneau:

Love Juneau. So much to do, but we are only in port for 6 hours. Not really enough time to do our favorite things (walk out to Nugget Falls from the Mendenhall Visitors center and go to the top of the tram). Cloudy, a little rainy, with clouds covering the top of the mountain for most of the day, and its now 1400 with no break in sight. We reverted to plan B and sought a couple of specific items. An assorted box of Alaskan fudge Company slices as gifts to the Cruise Staff, a Juneau specific magnet and a replacement Alaska hoodie for Judy’s old one that finally gave up the ghost last year.

We wandered through town and the shops. A lot has changed since 2006, our last trip here. The new boardwalk along the waterfront is new, no more walking on the roads, and of course a lot of shops have changed hands or names. The major ones are still there. The T-shirt factory, the knife factory (nice swords in there for sure), the fudge shop, various other familiar shops. A new parking structure next to the police/bus station has a great view of the harbor from the top, and a little park and walking path up to the top. ATMs are everywhere as are the dozens of booths, on both sides of the pier, touting various independent excursions. If we were here for the full day, I would not have hesitated to go whale watching, but flight seeing would have been hampered by the cloud cover, although the glacier may have been clear while the town was socked in.

Two Holland America ‘dam’ ships were in with us. Lots of tourists all over the place. Lots of crew getting a few hours off as well since our crew could not get off in Seward due to the Coast Guard inspection.

Twisted Fish is still there. Our favorite stop in Juneau, and right next to the ship, to sample the Taku smoked salmon, get some clams, some great on tap Alaskan Pale Ale. The Taku smoked salmon is the best, besides homemade, I’ve ever had, but it is VERY expensive. They will ship it home for you if you’re at your luggage limit.

Funny, when we first started cruising I refused to eat off the ship – I paid for it, we’re going to eat it all. But now, especially after 30+ days, it’s good to get some different food than what’s available on the ship. Fresh steamed clams is one of those things you just can’t get on the ship and Pacific Northwest clams are some of the best in the world.

After getting all of our loot back to the ship we went up to Skywalker’s to watch sailaway and whale watch for the trip down the channel. It was formal night and we did not bring formal wear on this cruise. The port wing of Skywalker’s on the Diamond is a great place to watch from. (They still allow smoking on the starboard wing.) We sat for hours watching for whales, having a quick sushi snack from the Elite bar, but no whales. Lots of birds, eagles, gulls, ducks, but no whales or seals.

The Sea Princess was docked just south of us. Rumor had it that she had engine trouble. Not a good start for her Alaska season for sure.

We then made our way to Tim Wakoe’s show. As an American comedian he did make contact with the American passengers, but we sat with an Australian couple and some of the stuff was too American for them. Especially his references to the south, Swamp People, Hillbilly hand fishing, no teeth and lack of DNA differentiation. But it was much better than his first show.

After that it was lights out. Did not make it to the various parties or the production show.

Ketchikan:

Judy’s sore throat has developed into a cold now. But she wasn’t down enough to skip Ketchikan. We scooted up to the starboard wing of Skywalker’s to watch the approach into Ketchikan. No whales, only a ton of eagles. Westerdam was in dock already as we approached, and another one followed in behind us.

The lumberjack show was all we had on the formal schedule, that and some lunch, so we wandered over to the show venue from the dock. Slightly misting when we arrived, it quit soon afterwards, the sun tried to break through, but the wind was cold.

The show was pretty much as I remembered it. We were on the Canadian side cheering – the crowd is broken up into US and Canadian cheering sections. Not as high energy as the show we went to in 2006. (Maybe because all of the people watching were either in day 33 of a cruise or from a Holland American ship.) Fresh Alaskan bear bait, I mean newbies, from the lower 48 are so much more enthusiastic. I really recommend this show. Its not fake, the stunts are real, the axes sharp and it’s a lot of fun if you get into the mood and just go for it. You have axe throwing, standing log chop, vertical log chop, spring board chop, cross cut saw race, unlimited chain saw race, pole climb race, log racing, log rolling and a lot of other stuff.

After the show we wandered around town for a while and ended up in Annabelle’s, a café that serves CLAMS! We had a lunch of clam chowder, fried calamari in a spicy oriental sweet and sour sauce, and steamed clams. The chowder was really good, no crackers needed, but not quite as good as Twisted Fish’s in Juneau. The clams were ok, but not as good as at the waterfront in Seward. The calamari was really tasty, but I preferred the calamari in Seward.

So the perfect Alaskan meal? Chowder and Taku smoked salmon from Twisted Fish in Juneau, clams and calamari from the marina side restaurant in Seward.

After the mandatory shopping stop in a lot of stores, and there seems to be a lot more carvings in Ketchikan, I took Judy back to the ship and put her to bed with some Nyquil.

I went up to Skywalker’s and stayed through sailaway and down through the Tongass channel. Only saw one pod of whales blowing several miles away with the binoculars. Nothing up close. I did see a bait fish boil in front of the ship with no less than 8 eagles and about two dozen gulls wheeling, turning and diving for dinner. But that was about it for several hours.

I went to see RootBerry’s alternative show while Judy stayed in bed. (She wanted to go, but I didn’t let her. She needed her rest and people sitting around us didn’t need to get exposed to her hacking and coughing.) Disappointing show to say the least. The best thing in a 45 minute show was the last routine in which they juggled 6 or 7 clubs between them, demonstrating different throws to each other. That was enjoyable. Had they done more of those routines, rather than the attempts at comedy, it would have been much better. I hope they evolve the show. It has potential, but can’t last too long in its current state.

After the show, It was just time to go to bed. Thought about attending a trivia, but we would lose another hour and tomorrow would be packing day.

The End -

What can I say. Packing day sucks. But I showed up and did Zumba! Kelvin and Matt did not! But our plan to just leave the mattress topper on the bed left us a lot of room in the duffle, which we used every bit of it. Good thing I get the 3 70# bags on United! We spent the evening saying goodbye to the staff and everyone we could find. After 35 days you really feel like family with some of them.

Getting off the ship was a piece of cake. Even with three ships in Canada place. We sat in Fusion, the Platinum Lounge, for a while and got off about 0800, 15 minutes after our scheduled time. (Our luggage would show up at the airport.) 15 minutes later, we’re on the bus headed to the airport. Stand in line about 15 minutes waiting to pick up our luggage and we still have to wait until 1100 to check in. (Can’t check in sooner than 3 hours and our flight was at 1400 – 2pm).

Check in was a breeze, then through security, US customs and over to the Maple Leaf Lounge for some snacks before the plane. We flew through SFO, landing in plenty of time to exchange all of our left over money, hit the red carpet club, dinner and then fly home. Arriving 44 days after we left.

What a GREAT Vacation!

Oh my goodness. I don't know if I've ever read a review that I've enjoyed more than yours. You have quite the way with words. I loved your review and found it very interesting. I was also following the live from thread from Pia that you also contributed to. Your review has now made me want to cruise in Asia. Thanks so much for all the detail. It sounds like you and your wife had an amazing cruise!

Thanks Charles and Judy for taking the time to do such an extensive review.

The information you have provided will be invaluable for my trip next year.

Awesome review!!! I would love to do this someday!

Thank you for the detailed review. We did this cruise last year on the Diamond and it brought back many memories. It was an awesome trip, wasn't it. We will be on the Diamond again next year doing Sydney to Beijing this time and we are looking forward to seeing her again, she is a great ship!

Quite frankly the Western Med cruise last year hooked me on destination CRUISING. Oh, we like a good party cruise, but seeing sights have really perked my interest.

Now I am picking cruises based on destination and what we will see.

So now we need to go down under, the south pacific, the eastern med, Africa, Southwest Asia....

All I can say is Wow Wow Wow!!

What an excellent intensive review!

Thanks for taking the time to write/post it. :)

What a wonderful review. I have always been fasinated with Japan. Makes me really want to go there.

Quite frankly the Western Med cruise last year hooked me on destination CRUISING. Oh, we like a good party cruise, but seeing sights have really perked my interest.

 

Now I am picking cruises based on destination and what we will see.

 

So now we need to go down under, the south pacific, the eastern med, Africa, Southwest Asia....

We are in the same "boat" so to speak... tired of the Caribbean and cruising just to cruise... we are going to Alaska and the Med this yr....

Next year SA or Asia... However, after reading your review I'm unsure of how I want to do Asia, by cruise or land. I know for certain I want to do Thailand by land... I want to do Bangkok 3 nights, Chiang Mai 3 nights and Phuket...for 4 nights...

We want to travel more for the destination... However, we're still in corporate america's strong hold...:eek::D

CC

WONDERFUL review! Thank you. I felt like I was there with you.

Hello Charles & Judy, another fantastic review, Charles your reviews are thorough, complete and always engaging, full of good information, we have often used your reviews for our own traveles, thank you.

In 2010 we did the 16 day sailing Beijing to Whitter with the five day Best Of China land tour, your so right... Culture Shock.

Our plans are to do the 16 day Beijing to Singapore sailing with the Yangtze River precruise.

We are off on the Crown this Dec. 2nd., 20 days Venice to Galveston TX.

still plenty of room, you guys should book and come with, we would love to cruise with you guys again.

Thanks for the review.

John,Laura and Gaby

Seattle,Wa.

What a wonderful review! Thanks so much for sharing all your thoughts.

I know for certain I want to do Thailand by land... I want to do Bangkok 3 nights, Chiang Mai 3 nights and Phuket...for 4 nights...

If you want the name of a great guide for Bangkok at a very reasonable price, e-mail me caribill at yahoo dot com

We are in the same "boat" so to speak... tired of the Caribbean and cruising just to cruise... we are going to Alaska and the Med this yr....

 

Next year SA or Asia... However, after reading your review I'm unsure of how I want to do Asia, by cruise or land. I know for certain I want to do Thailand by land... I want to do Bangkok 3 nights, Chiang Mai 3 nights and Phuket...for 4 nights...

 

We want to travel more for the destination... However, we're still in corporate america's strong hold...:eek::D

 

CC

Although talking to all of these early retirees on cruises really makes me wonder.

Your plan for Asia sounds great. We're not that adventerous...yet. For land cruising we want to start in Australia first. At least we will understand 90% of the language, before we venture into really foreign lands.

I look at cruises like this one as a sampler or a scouting trip. If we plan to go back to, say, Hong Kong or Japan, I know pretty much where I want to go and what to do.

A couple we met on the first part of the cruise, hi Richard I know you are lurking here somewhere, had a really cool time in Bejing with a private guide. It really sounded great. Now Richard, there's an adventerous one for sure!

Hello Charles & Judy, another fantastic review, Charles your reviews are thorough, complete and always engaging, full of good information, we have often used your reviews for our own traveles, thank you.

 

In 2010 we did the 16 day sailing Beijing to Whitter with the five day Best Of China land tour, your so right... Culture Shock.

 

Our plans are to do the 16 day Beijing to Singapore sailing with the Yangtze River precruise.

 

We are off on the Crown this Dec. 2nd., 20 days Venice to Galveston TX.

still plenty of room, you guys should book and come with, we would love to cruise with you guys again.

 

Thanks for the review.

 

John,Laura and Gaby

Seattle,Wa.

Love to do that one. A T/A is on our list. But my company has now put their foot down. All vacations, and soon - bathroom visits, have to be pre-approved by management. Our new President is right out of Dilbert and Robin Hood Men In Tights, think Prince John who knows how to spell "nano-management".

So I'm keeping the 49 day Cape Horn Adventure until final payment and decide wether I just quit or cancel. I guess it depends on the economy and the election. Although Home Depot, Lowe's or "welcome to Wal-Mart", is looking better and better!

I'm going to update my signature with my latest plans. Either the January 2013 will be my retirement cruise, or the December 2013 will be. Either way, we should be able to at least schedule something together after that!

Give the youngest elite I know of a hug for me. How many days at sea for her now? Can't wait to see her picture in the patter as the "most traveled member"!

See ya...

Charles,

It has been fun cruising with our (at least on line). I remember Gaby. May we sail with you and Judy again.

Sally