Shadowing Cherry Blossom and Sushi 21/4 to ??

[Silver Spectre]

About to start a long journey to Tokyo to meet the Shadow WC, thankfully not flying Emirates this time.

[spinnaker2]

Safe and enjoyable travels.

[jpalbny]

Have a great trip Silver! Looking forward to your reports.

[Silver Spectre]

About to join our Qatar flight to Doha, Q suites here we come 

[highplanesdrifters]

20 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

About to join our Qatar flight to Doha, Q suites here we come 

 

Oh what fun! 

[Silver Spectre]

Made it to Tokyo, in the Westin Yokohama by 1am

[Silver Spectre]

Room with a view

[drron29]

So those over 60 departing Yokohama should really compare hotel prices as quite a few better rates than the Westin which SS uses. We stay at the IC Yokohama which is right on the bay and about 100 metres from where the Muse docked. Paid a rate 25% cheaper than the equivalent rate at the Westin.

[Silver Spectre]

Finally onboard at 1:30. A quick lunch at La Terrazza and a big hello from Gilbert, Jason and the crew. Bumped into Norman who has just joined. Stopped by Reception to say hello to Begonia and Flavio. It’s great to be back home!

[Silver Spectre]

A parting gift from Tokyo

[highplanesdrifters]

8 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

Bumped into Norman who has just joined.

Norman the sommelier?  If so, he did an amazing job on Cloud last month for us!

Edited April 21 by highplanesdrifters

[Silver Spectre]

6 hours ago, highplanesdrifters said:

Norman the sommelier?  If so, he did an amazing job on Cloud last month for us!

🤣🤣🤣

[Silver Spectre]

Actually SS’s only Norman of note, Rafleson.

[Silver Spectre]

An interesting day in Shimizu yesterday, with our tour completely rescheduled. We visited a Buddhist temple, followed by a shrine. We lastly went to a volcanic beach for an iconic photo stop to see the elusive Mt Fuji, which was covered with clouds and invisible. At Team Trivia we came joint first.

[Silver Spectre]

Captains welcome and rain day, St George’s and pub lunch

 

[Silver Spectre]

Today we are in Kagoshima. Visited the Sakurajima volcano and this afternoon we were treated to a view of it without clouds.

[Silver Spectre]

[les37b]

On 4/19/2024 at 4:20 PM, Silver Spectre said:

About to start a long journey to Tokyo to meet the Shadow WC, thankfully not flying Emirates this time.

Have a great cruise SS. Looking forward to your reporting.

 

Out of curiosity, what was the Emirates problem? We just flew out to Bali on Emirates and back from Bangkok with Qatar and vowed we’d never use Qatar again because of our experience in Doha. On our third security check from leaving BKK which was excessive and very unpleasant, leaving all the contents of my carry in a tangled heap. (Probably took about 10mins to get it nicely arranged and able to all fit in the bag again!) I appreciate this wasn’t Qatar directly, but did ask the boarding staff who said this was usual! 
 

Hope you have a better weather for the crossing and luck with your Alaskan ports than we did. The time zone changes were pretty challenging to! Fingers crossed.

Edited April 24 by les37b

[Silver Spectre]

Hi Les,

the Emirates issue was rain in the UAE and flights cancelled.

 

We have had rain but yesterday afternoon was nice and today is sunny, off the South Korea tomorrow.

 

shocked yesterday to find that SS no longer stocks Drambuie or Polish vodka. ***** is going on here?

[Carolfay]

7 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

 

 

shocked yesterday to find that SS no longer stocks Drambuie or Polish vodka. ***** is going on here?

When I was on Nova in January, one of the bartenders told me that management has substituted a cheaper liqueur for Drambuie.  A couple other bartenders were candid enough to confirm this and add that there have been a number of similar substitutions.

[les37b]

5 hours ago, Carolfay said:

When I was on Nova in January, one of the bartenders told me that management has substituted a cheaper liqueur for Drambuie.  A couple other bartenders were candid enough to confirm this and add that there have been a number of similar substitutions.

Fevertree tonic is being replaced by club tonic….. Ghastly stuff!. Ok, I was still able to get it, but only if I specifically requested it.

 

.

[Gourmet Gal]

9 minutes ago, les37b said:

Fevertree tonic is being replaced by club tonic….. Ghastly stuff!. Ok, I was still able to get it, but only if I specifically requested it.

 

.

Bean counters at work.  That’s really penny-pinching.

[Silver Spectre]

8 hours ago, Carolfay said:

When I was on Nova in January, one of the bartenders told me that management has substituted a cheaper liqueur for Drambuie.  A couple other bartenders were candid enough to confirm this and add that there have been a number of similar substitutions.

Yes, it’s called Glayva, and it’s a cheap alternative that will not pass my lips.

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, les37b said:

Fevertree tonic is being replaced by club tonic….. Ghastly stuff!. Ok, I was still able to get it, but only if I specifically requested it.

 

.

 

That's disappointing. Love Fevertree and now that I'm hooked, it's tough to go back.

[DavyWavey70]

19 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

Hi Les,

the Emirates issue was rain in the UAE and flights cancelled.

 

We have had rain but yesterday afternoon was nice and today is sunny, off the South Korea tomorrow.

 

shocked yesterday to find that SS no longer stocks Drambuie or Polish vodka. ***** is going on here?

There is no “substitute” for Drambuie. Drambuie is Drambuie. Glayva is Glayva.. They are not interchangeable. Any barperson that doesn’t know the difference doesn’t deserve their own nylon waistcoat. It feels like the Titanic has finally sunk.