DaKahuna

I am headed to the Rendezvous lounge. The weather is not condusive to gathering at the Sundeck Bar!

Yes, but the speeds are throttled. You can expect downloads to be around 4.5 -5.0 Mbps and uploads to be 2.5 - 3.0 Mbps.

I think it is one of the best dishes on the menu. I always ask for 5-gallons but usually get a large bowl (think salad bowl vs soup bowl).

Today is our 4th and final sea day. The captain warned us last night that today’s weather would be bad. The seas are a little rough, there is wind and rain - it’s the northern pacific - we’ve seen worse. There is nothing on our agenda today other than meeting @Traveler+ and her husband for lunch. Then an impromptu meet up for those that care to join, around 1430 at the Sunset Bar - Although the weather may necessitate a change to the Rendevous lounge.

the best advice I can give is you do you, not what someone else thinks you should do. Tipping is something that is very individualized so each person seems to have their own manner of tipping. We do not hang out at a lot of bars but the ones we do if we receive fast couterous service, the I will tip a $1.00 or two to the individual service my drink, whether it’s a wait staff or the bartender. It’s just what we do. Tipping as we go, with the exception of individuals we interface with every day seems to work out best for us.

Really? It may be one of those things that vary ship to ship. The again, you are always better off retrieving your room keys as soon as possible.

Good evening fellow CC members. I took a nice little nap this afternoon, shortly after my last post, and we missed the Martini party in the Suite lounge. OH well, one can only do so much. Dinner this evening in Luminae was delightful. Our amuse-bouches was interesting - beef and some sort of cheese. I did not like the first bite but then I took a sip and wine and finished it off! the wine For starters we were not imaginative at all — French Onion Soup for DW and Caesar Salad and shrimp cocktail for me — scroll back for pictures - it does not change. Four our main course we both had the Rack of Poke, which is a fancy name for a bone in pork chop. We both agree it was delicious, prefectly prepared and very flavorful. Four our desserts my wife with with a chocolate dish And I had the Vanilla Baba All in all it was a delicious dinner. After dinner we walked forward and found the Casino closed until approximately 1030 pm, and the show did not start for another 45 minutes. Oh woe is we. Fortunately there is this unique place on Celebrity ships, especially on M and S class that is so inviting and entertaining that it cannot be passed up when you have time to spare. I am speaking of the Martini Bar on deck 4 of course. We had the place practically to ourselves. My wife started with the Lemon-Basis-Ade she had the other night I went with a Sidecar After finishing those off we decided to have another .. This time i ordered her a lychee Martini. She loved it. I think I have found her new martini bar drink. While i had a drink I have read about many times on CC but have never had until tonight — a French 75 .. It was not bad at all My DW stopped at two but I decided to indulge myself and had, what has become my nightcap of choice, an espresso martini. We finished our drinks, slipped the bartend a tip and off to our cabin we went. I am not caught up on today’s activities and ready to call it a night. Don’t forget I am looking forward to meeting those onboard and following again tomorrow between 1400 and 1430 ( 2:00 - 2:30 pm) tomorrow at the Sunset Bar. I’ll most likely be in a ball cap with Outer Banks on the front.

For our current 13-Day Best of Japan cruise I purchased the dry cleaning package for me and my DW. We have not used both of them along with one of our bags of regular Wash & Fold elite laundry. I hav to say that the dry cleaning was well worth the cost, even though we did not put 12 items in either time. My plan is to purchase the dry cleaning package again for our upcoming 17-day cruise next April. We’ll be elite plus so wash and fold is taken care of already.

I was a little disappointed that more was not done on our sailing for Mother’s Day but it was like any other day on Millennium. I guess the differences in the day it is celebrated in various countries impacts what is done. There is no concept of Mother’s Day in Japan so guess that is telling.

They can check you in based on your boarding pass. The choice is up to you. When we boarded for our current cruise, the muster stations were not manned so we kept walking and went to our stateroom, dropped off our bags, found out our safe was not working, told our stateroom attendant, and proceeded to lunch. After lunch we went by our must station, checked in, and proceeded to our room.

Yes, fortunately we have a few months to figure it out. I’ll keep everyone updated but in the mean time — does anyone have recommendations for accommodations (1) pre-cruise in Sydney and (2) post cruise in Honolulu? The last time I was in Sydney was in 1986 to help Australia to celebrate their bi-centennial. I did not have to worry about a place to sleep as Unclas Same provided me with a “cot and three square meals a day.”

We were given the option of returning to the ship with the bus or terminating our tour and returning on our own. We chose to go do some other things before returning to the ship. First on our list was to have lunch. In the A-Factory across from the museum there was a restaurant on the 2nd floor. We took our place in the queue, which is done by sitting in the next available open chairs. There were two people ahead of us and the wait for a table was about 15 minutes. We both choose the daily special which was a spaghetti with shrimp, bacon, and vegetables and in a broth more than a sauce. My wife went with ice coffee and I chose to have a beer. It was good and filling. We then walked up past Aomori train station to a multi story department store and did some shopping before deciding to head back to the ship. We were really interested in looking for only one item and did not find it. We decided to walk back to the ship, which was about a 30 minute walk along the water for almost all of it. I managed to take a couple of pictures.

Our second stop on the tour, after about a 30 minute drive was the Nebuta Hours or Wa Rasse. This is there the award winning floats, about 1.5 tons each, from the Nebuta Festival, which takes place each August, are housed. If you are really into photography there is really so many great pictures that can be taken here. I took so many it’s actually hard deciding which ones to include but there are just too many to include them all. To give you an idea of how these are constructed here is a cut away of a face, the interior is a wire and wood frame covered with paper and then hand painted by various artist. Here is the front view Here are just a few of the mask and their artist that have been on floats over the years.

Today was a nice day weather wise. Our tour bus was called early and we were sitting in the bus waiting to go by the time printed on the tickets said to be in the theater. There was a little more delay when it turned out four people on our bus had been given the wrong numbers in the theater. They were supposed to be on ed an all day tour vice a short three and a half hour tour. Once that was sorted we were on our way. Our first stop was the Siery_-iJi Temple, home to Japan’s largest seated Buddha. This one is 70 feet tall and weighs about 220 tons. It was about a 30 minute bus ride from the ship’s terminal to the temple. the temple is also know for it’s impressive 5 level pagoda. It is one of the tallest 5 level pagoda’s in Japan. And of course the start attraction is the sitting buda Inside the base of the buda there is a number of drawings showing 17 items that are a part of the buddast beliefs. After going through and looking at them, you come to the end and they are written out on three sheets of paper There are a lot of interesting things to see and experience at this temple and many felt that one hour was just simply not enough time but that is what the tour was allotted.

Good morning from Aomori, Japan. We were welcomed by a small band of performers, playing across from the mid-ships gangway area. We listened to them from our balcony until they finished their performance. Glancing around I could not help but notice snow capped mountains in the distance. Just the way I like anything related with snow — far and away from where I am but viewable. Our shore excursion meets at 0845 in the theater so we have a bit of time to relax before heading there.