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Our final sea day meant packing and fond farewells. All too soon it was Monday morning and disembarkation at Yokohama. We had a couple of places to see before we headed to Narita. I enjoyed the Garden more than the Buddhist Temple Complex so fortunately we had more time allocated at the garden. And then it was goodbye to SilverSea, Narita is has lots to do if you have time before your flight but I would say the food and shopping is better before you clear security. Although for @Port Power and the other lucky 105 it was the start of another 14 days onboard the wonderful Silver Muse. Coming up next: more photos from my cameras which I am going to download now! (i'm not done yet!)

Oh oops! I hope I have got it right but the night we left Muroran was also the night of the Death By Chocolate Disco Deck Party. A perfect end to a perfect day. (I think our team finally won 1st place at Trivia so that was super too!)

catching up a bit: Saturday 23 September. Muroran. I actually had lower expectations for Muroran than Kushiro, but the day began well with an on time departure of all our tours. I am not exactly sure WHY i booked a Ninja show, possibly because there were not many options by at the time of booking but I didn't try to change, and possibly after choosing many nature themed excursions I thought i might like some culture. Firstly let's be clear I should say "culture" because far from a museum or heritage site this was a visit to a Ninja or Edo Period THEME PARK. (Noboribetsu Date Jidaimura. https://edo-trip.jp/en/about/) And as such it was great fun! We had time for 2 shows but unfortunately the 3rd was outdoor and a very light rain caused it to be cancelled. While we were disappointed it did mean we had time to explore some of the other attractions which were fun too. I couldn't resist trying out the shuriken target practice. I would have gladly spent up to a whole day at that place but we had another place to visit. Jigokudani (地獄谷) or "Hell Valley" is a spectacular, appropriately named valley just above the town of Noboribetsu Onsen. There were various trails, the longest one to a "Natural Foot Bath" which the guide tried to dissuade us from visiting as it was "too far" for the time given. It was tiring and we did have to hot foot it back but we made it back with some minutes to spare. Thanks to a forward thinking (and researching) fellow guest I was loaned a towel, so I eagerly though briefly in view of the time constraint dipped my feet into the naturally warm waters at our turning point. So much more of a hike than the previous day's stroll around the marshlands, Back on the ship before we sailed out a high school band set up right next to the ship and played a set of Jazz pieces until we sailed out. They were really good! So all in all we had a great day in Muroran.

Wow that's more than i thought. That's just about a quarter. I was thinking more like a third! But i am sure the ship is much nearer to capacity for this sailing?

Oh! you mean you are still onboard for the Japan circumnavigation? Bon voyage! Safely back home, but need to sleep!

Sunday 24th Sep, at sea on the way to Yokohama. I know I still owe you an update from Muroran, but it will have to wait at least two days. The bags have been put outside the door and it got quite emotional at dinner as everyone made their goodbyes. Tomorrow we have a half day tour that takes us to Narita and our flights home. In case you were wondering …

Jonathan is going to stay on as cruise director until at least October 25 when the Muse reaches Hong Kong.

Friday 22 September, Kushiro. After 5 sea days we were eager to set foot on land again. Unfortunately our time in Japan did not begin well as the immigration procedures took longer what Silversea had expected. As a result our tour left 45 minutes late. Many of us booked this excursion, Kushiro Marshland Walking Tour, with the expectation of seeing the iconic red crowned cranes. Our guide began the tour by explaining the history and importance of these cranes in Japan. After explaining their reproductive cycle we were then informed that after the baby cranes learn how to fly they all leave this area and head to their winter feeding grounds. This happens in August. So we were very unlikely to see any cranes today. (And then showed us a beautiful photograph of cranes doing their mating dance in February when she recommended we come again.) This did not improve the mood of our group. On the positive side the sun came out and it was really pleasant to have a gentle stroll with the temperature around 20C in the sunshine. A little black american mink ran across our path on the boardwalk, and we heard a bird that turned out to be an eurasian jay high in the trees. And wayyy off in the distance we saw a deer. (whoopee to those who have deer visit their back yard, but i live in a high-rise apartment.) As our thoughts were turning towards whether we would be back in time for a burger or would pizza be our only option for lunch we saw a large white bird flying in the distance. It was soon joined by another one. So we stood around to see if they would take off and fly again. After a while the guide nudged us on and then a crane came flying towards us and across our path… (P.S. folks on other tours saw cranes up close in captivity, and in a further location several families with juveniles but they were nesting and not flying. So choose your tour carefully if you want to see cranes in Kushiro in September.)

Venetian Society Lunch at Indochine. there was a choice for main. This is veal.

British Pub Lunch

Sea days… expand to see the gulls.

Wednesday 20 Sep. After a the still bumpy morning the sun came out and it was a beautiful day yesterday with not a cloud in the sky. Everyone slept well last night. This morning we woke up a some movement and fog, which has lasted all day so far. Even as I type this the ship’s fog horn is sounding. Yesterday’s Japanese themed lunch was on deck 10, today’s British Pub lunch was back in Dolce Vita with the singers singing British standards. Just after we had gone through the answers at trivia in the Panorama lounge yesterday someone spotted whales aft of our ship and most of us crowded outside for a look. Sure enough we were treated to the sight of several blows. They were far off but still clearly more than two whales. Don’t think we will be able to see anything today.

The good thing about this itinerary is that you don’t need to find someone to go with you. I booked solo as there was only a 25% surcharge. On the current sailing there are 50 solos and many meet up every evening before going on to dinner. The various organised activities are also conducive to making friends with the non-solos. Combined with the less than full sailing, I would say this itinerary and ship are one of the best to do solo.

Oktoberfest Buffet on deck 10 “yesterday”/Sunday.

Alaskan Buffet in Dolce Vita on sea day on Saturday. Singers and Trio leading the singalong.

Oh I am very behind with the photos! here are some from Dutch Harbour.

it is now 6am on Tuesday 19 September, we have left the Bering Sea and are now trying to get through a low pressure system in the North Pacific, We lost Monday 18 Sep when we crossed the International Date Line and last night we were advised to change our time zone from Hawaii Time to New Zealand Time. I was worried about what the weather would be like for the crossing. I would say you can definitely feel the motion and people who are prone to seasickness (including some crew, poor things) are feeling it. Thing started to get really bumpy during our solo get together in the evening and during dinner in Atlantide we were treated to some spectacular splashes that went higher than the windows. (Atlantide is part of the four restaurant cluster midships on Deck 4.) As dinner wound down suddenly everyone got up and clustered round the windows. The sunset must have looked especially beautiful. Although the morning had started a little overcast we had bright sunshine all through the day despite the increasingly heavy seas. There was even an Oktoberfest buffet on the pool deck in the bright sunshine. It was still cold and getting windier as the day progressed. When i got back to the room, after dinner and the show, there was a high pitched whistling. A few minutes after my call to reception a maintenance guy came and quickly pasted a strip on my balcony door track and it was silenced. With the whistling gone you could now hear the creaking. So he tinkered with the door frame and that stopped too! Unfortunately, as i was getting ready to sleep the whistling and creaking came back (reduced but still audible). I had to open and shut the balcony door which had come unlocked and turn the handle down tight to stop the whistling again. In the middle of the night there was a huge bang (ship’s motion) and the whistling started up again. I eventually had to get out of bed to fiddle with the balcony door again. I’m not sure if the seas were calming down or I just got used to the wooshing sound and creaks but I managed to sleep though the rest of the night. Unsung pro of getting an ocean view: you balcony door will not misbehave in bad weather.

Nice thread you’ve got going there, Terry. I will definitely add my 2 cents and answer the questions you have raised here on that thread. I will be in a much better position to answer once safely back in Singapore and reunited with my extensive photo archive. In the meantime it’s back to …..

Friday 16 September, Dutch Harbour. it’s actually Saturday afternoon on the first of our series of sea days as we cross the pacific but before I write about that I still owe you an update on our call at Dutch Harbour. It’s actually almost 30 degrees of longitude between Kodiak and Dutch Harbour, so you might be forgiven for expecting it to be in a different time zone. As it turns out it keep the same time as Anchorage and Juneau and as a result the sun rises and sets much later than you would expect for any given time of the year. It was still dark as we docked and went ashore expecting to be met by our guide for our morning Bunker Hill Hike. While the shuttle buses arrived to take us around the small town, our hiking guide and transport was nowhere to be seen nor contactable by cellphone. This caused some to speculate that somehow we were in the wrong time zone, as indeed some people’s phones and watches had automatically moved an hour back. After some confusion while everyone tried to assure us we were indeed still on Alaska Time, our guide called in to say he had simply overslept and was holding the keys to both vans so even the 2nd driver could not come on time. After this we pretty much had a perfect port call for the rest of the day. Our guide had learnt this amazing ability to walk backwards while talking facing us, and he had much to share about the history of and current way of life in Unalaska and Dutch Harbour as well as the Aleutian Islands and Alaska as a whole. The hike it itself was along a clearly marked trail going past bunkers built in world war II in various states of (dis)repair. This ended in a gun emplacement and command post at the peak. This of course afforded stunning panoramic views. When we were about halfway down the Sun broke through the clouds and the low Sun lit up the scenery beautifully. After the hike I took to option to stop at the small museum for a visit. This meant I had to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship, which had an unexpected entertainment value. We had a relatively early sail out and as a bonus there was a pod of humpback whales off our port side as we sailed out of f the harbour. A perfect farewell to our last Alaskan port.

Hello Terry, i would be happy to answer any questions you may have about Singapore. 😊

photos from Kodiak Russian Orthodox Church

Wed 13 Sep, Kodiak. hmm… i think we’ve found a hole in Starlink coverage? I’m typing this offline as the internet has become glitchy, and right now there is no connection. many of us couldn’t get on the included tours, and shoreexcursions.com had no offerings for this port. so we were expecting just a wander around town. but before that our captain tried to dock the Muse but at the last moment decided to anchor instead. This of course caused a delay in our arrival at Kodiak. The only small silver lining was that our tender took us right to the town centre rather than the dock which originally required a shuttle bus into town. it took a little wandering around town which was fortunately small and filled with friendly locals before we found our way to the visitor information centre where we discovered a local was offering a small van tour that included going a little out of town in search of bears. we were assured that he was also very good at bringing his tour back in time for the departure of the cruise ships. he was going to appear at 11am and in the meantime we could visit the local wildlife refuge visitor centre across the road where there was a whale skeleton on display. the wildlife refuge visitor centre was good for the half an hour or so we had and even more impressive than the whale skeleton that hovered overhead was the photo essay about how it came to be. back across the road there was now a 16 seater van and a man happily swiping credit cards from cruise passengers. there were a total of 12 people all from the ship, and we were off. before we went to the bear viewing spot we were taken to see some of the local scenic spots: the fishing docks, the seaplane airport both on near island, and Fort Abercrombie back on the main island. The first bear viewing spot was white sand beach. This was the most beautiful place and had a carpark. There was a little wooden bridge to cross over a little creek (rivulet or stream). The water was barely deep enough for the salmon to swim upright and only a couple of feet wide but it was jam packed with salmon swimming up stream as well as dead salmon drifting back down. There were whole and half eaten salmon scattered along the banks as well. The only thing missing were the bears. Our guide explained that the bears were there. They just didn’t want to be seen or possibly were having a nap. Our next spot was on the other side of town and during the drive back and through town our guide answered our many questions about bears and life on Kodiak. At another creek outside of town we soon saw bears wandering along the beach. We had to pull over and park on the side of the road. There was a sow and a cub. They cub seemed so happy and playful. The mom appeared to be a bit more wary of us. Our guide told us to keep a respectful (and safe) distance but there were local fishermen who appeared to be very close to the bears. Apparently the bears and fishermen sea each other regularly and are very used to each other. Also, the fishermen most likely had gun on them, (almost?) all residents own guns. As we drove to our final bear viewing spot a huge male bear crossed the road in front our van. It was a blink and you miss it moment, but most of us saw him. We slowed down and even circled back later to look for him in the dense foliage but that was all we saw of him. After scouting out our third viewing spot (no bears) we were driven up to the top of the town where the wind turbines are. The road up was only open during the summer and therefore not well maintained but we were rewarded with spectacular views and a bald eagle soaring by. Oh did I mention that despite a forecast of intermittent showers we were blessed with sunshine and blue skies all day? It was then time to say goodbye to our guide and there was a tender waiting to whisk us back onboard. Someone in our tour said we missed seeing sea otters so some floated by the tender to say hi before we reached our ship. You really couldn’t ask for more.

I vaguely remember when booking that there was an indication that there would be bridge on this sailing. Generally I would say they provide an instructor when there are more sea days. There are lectures in the morning for beginners ans well as intermediate players and tournaments in the afternoon for those who already can play.

Tue 12 Sep, at sea en route to Kodiak. The seas calmed down overnight and there was a beautiful pink sky at dawn. I suspect this will the routine for the coming sea days: 8am Yoga 9am Breakfast (at Atlantide today) 10am Beginner’s Bridge 11am Lecture (today: about the British Monarchy) 12noon Lunch at La Terrazza 1pm Ballroom Dancing lesson (today: Meringue) 2pm Today i went for a walk round the deck, alternative is Art Class. 3pm Nap time 4:45pm Team Trivia 6:15pm Solo Travellers meet up 7pm Dinner (update cruise critic) 9:30pm Show in the Venetian Lounge. Looking forward to the upcoming sea days.