Live from Silver Muse - Tokyo to Seward to Vancouver - May 2024

[Stickman1990]

Hi everyone - we embark today for a 27 day back to back from Tokyo to Vancouver on Silver Muse and will try and post news and experiences from onboard 

 

It’s our second cruise on Silver Muse and first time to northern Japan & Alaska so we’re excited about visiting new ports 

 

If anyone else is onboard and wants to add to the story please feel free to post as well 

 

 

[drron29]

Lovely fried oysters in Miyako. Been there a few times and always enjoyed them.

[Stickman1990]

31 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Lovely fried oysters in Miyako. Been there a few times and always enjoyed them.

Ticked that one off at Tsukiji outer markets yesterday - yum! 

(Can’t get the shot of the raw oyster to load but boy they’re huge) 

[lincslady]

Looking forward to your reports, and an excellent idea to put your itinerary on post no. 1. Always there for reference as we read your reports.  Thanks.

[Port Power]

My goodness, there are a lot of CCers cruising around and to and from Japan at the moment!

 

I really like this itinerary, going up to Seward and then visiting much more of Alaska.

[julmops]

We will be on the Muse for a week from Seward to Vancouver starting June 6 so very interested in first hand tips from current passengers ... Do you know who's the captain ?

[highplanesdrifters]

Have a fabulous journey!

[sea bright]

Thanks for your thread! We're on the same back to back. We've had multiple cruises on the Muse and are excited about this itinerary.

 

For us this was a very smooth embarkation process.  We're DtD, but when we heard the hotel was in Yokohama we canceled and, for slightly less than the price Silversea was charging us, were able to book a room at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo and private transfers. We were on the ship less than 40 minutes after leaving the hotel and have had a lovely first day. Looking forward to a great cruise!

[spinnaker2]

Enjoy Dutch Harbor. Lots of history there. Look up the book “when the wind was a River”.

[les37b]

Did the first leg last year. Adore Japan and cant wait to go back. We were unlucky with the weather with the crossing, with rain and very cold so not much fun and we missed all ports after departing Japan. Try to watch the departure in Myako. We could still hear them saying goodbye 30 minutes after leaving. Felt quite humbling. The time adjustments you'll get are a real pain - ship lag at its best!! 

[CruiserFromMaine]

@Stickman1990 have a great cruise!

[Stickman1990]

12 hours ago, julmops said:

Do you know who's the captain ?

The Captain is Tomasz Kulas

Cruise Director is Roy Perez

[Stickman1990]

We’re off to a great start!

 

We embarked at around 1.30pm and walked straight through the check in process, never having to wait at any point. We had thought Silversea were very rigid on boarding times and we wouldn’t get on until 2pm but that was not the case 

 

We were a little disappointed there was no champagne on offer as we stepped aboard but not a major disaster as we soon found some. Our lovely spacious suite was available immediately and our bags arrived soon after boarding. We’re very happy with our veranda suite on deck 7 forward

 

We decided on lunch up in Spaccanapoli - even though it was pouring with rain we sat outside under the heaters and enjoyed champagne and pizza - it really is the best pizza at sea - and such a wide selection of toppings 

 

Then after a brief exploration of the ship to reacquaint ourselves with the location of lounges etc we attended the safety muster briefing in Dolce Vita lounge - after that the bar opened and we snuck in a drink. Glory be they have Roku gin as one of the standard drinks - a great Japanese gin we enjoy. I pushed the boundary a little on changing from shorts to evening wear but there was no warning issued so perhaps they’re a little lenient on day one. After changing it was back to the lounge for pre dinner drinks and we met some fellow guests
 

I should explain our group is 4 couples (most of us met on Crystal back in 2017 and we’ve cruised together many times since then) so 8 in total so we know getting larger tables can be a challenge and it got even more challenging when we invited another couple to join us for dinner. No luck for a table for 10 at Atlantide but that was easily solved as they offered us a table for 10 in Indochine which is a restaurant we enjoy so we happily moved cross there. Everyone was very happy with the service and friendly staff as well as the variety of dishes we chose. We met the Maître d for the restaurant as well as Igor the ships Restaurant Manager who is ex Crystal (he was part of the opening team on Crystal Endeavor) and he recognised one of our party - my friend was quite surprised when he said he recognised him and though he’d caught him out when he said it was his first time on Silversea so he was mistaken - but Igor said no I recognise you from Crystal! What a great memory. As I say all the crew were friendly and very welcoming and the service was excellent

 

We missed the show which was at 9.45pm - it was a local drumming group (not Taiko drums) but after dinner some of us went onto the Panorama lounge and danced the night away - even my wife who is not usually out and about in the bars joined us and got into the dancing and the DJ was happy to oblige with all our requests. We closed the place down and eventually decided it was time to call it a night

 

We laughed as while in Tokyo we discovered the 2 hour drinks packages you could typically buy in restaurants to accompany your meal - we joked we were now on the 27 day drinks package! 

 

What a great start to the cruise!

[Stickman1990]

Todays Passages

 

Day 2 - 2 May Tokyo - day 2.pdf

 

Indochine menu 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stickman1990]

5 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

Todays Passages

Ooops - my mistake - it’s the Daily Chronicles of course 

Here’s yesterdays Daily Chronicles - the embarkation day edition 

 

Day 1 - 1 May Tokyo - Welcome.pdf

 

 

[Stickman1990]

Day 3 Chronicles - Sendai

 

Day 3 - 3 May Sendai.pdf

[Silver Spectre]

How’s the included wine and beer selection on the Muse. As the Shadow has run out of many wines the HD and F&B mgr managed to effect a heist of some 600 bottles whilst you were in Hakodate.

[Randy Z]

We will be joining your ship in Seward on May 16.  First booked two months ago, we had a vista suite "guaranteed" cabin reserved and received our cabin assignment yesterday--upgraded to deluxe veranda.  That has been our experience with guaranteed cabins on Silversea.  Enjoy Japan and Safe travels.  

[Stickman1990]

Just now, Randy Z said:

we had a vista suite "guaranteed" cabin reserved and received our cabin assignment yesterday--upgraded to deluxe veranda.  

Yes we did the Vista guarantee as well and got a nice upgrade - as did 4-5 others we know on this leg 

[Stickman1990]

9 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

How’s the included wine and beer selection on the Muse.

 
So far so good - plenty of Champagne (Monopole & Pommeroy), Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and a couple of Sauvignon Blancs (France & Tiki) - not a red drinker so can’t comment on those

Haven't had any beer yet - had way too much of that in Tokyo over the last week 

[Port Power]

The Japanese string duo are very good.  I really enjoyed their show.  After sailing a few Silversea cruises, you get to know the production shows off by heart.  It's refreshing when local talent comes aboard.

[Stickman1990]

5 minutes ago, Port Power said:

The Japanese string duo are very good.  I really enjoyed their show.  After sailing a few Silversea cruises, you get to know the production shows off by heart.  It's refreshing when local talent comes aboard.

They’re on tonight and certainly looking forward to them

 

Last night it was the Motown show by the ensemble - we weren’t impressed with it but another couple we spoke to loved it so I guess it comes down to taste and what you’re comparing it with 

[Stickman1990]

Day 4 Chronicles - Miyako

 

Day 4 - 4 May Miyako Iwate.pdf

 

 

[Stickman1990]

Let’s start with some copies of the Chronicles

 

Day 5 Chronicles - Aomori, Honshu

 

Day 5 - 5 May Aomori.pdf

 

Day 6 Chronicles - Hakodate, Hokkaido 

 

Day 6 - 6 May Hakodate.pdf

 

Day 7 Chronicles - Muroran, Hokkaido 

 

Day 7 - 7 May Muroran.pdf

 

I’m pleased to say the ship seems to be finding it’s rhythm in terms of guests flows when dining and table availability for a group which didn’t work well for us 

 

This state of the cruise is very port intensive so posting is a challenge but I’ll try to jot a few thoughts down this afternoon and do an update 

 

 

Edited May 7 by Stickman1990

[luv2kruz]

Nice send off from Muroran, Hokkaido.