April 16 - Home

We had breakfast again at Eggs N Things to fuel up for the long trek home.  Interestingly, they sell branded water bottles made by Hydroflask (a local Bend company).  And we saw Deschutes beer in Sydney so Bend is truly internationally known.

Caught a bus transfer to the airport and our flight to Seattle took only 8 hrs, 15 mins.  They fed us twice with an ice cream snack in between. I watched 3 movies again so that really helped pass the time.  Unfortunately we had a 4 hour layover in Seattle, but the flight to Redmond left on time.

This was a very good trip.  Saw a lot of different things, experienced very different cultures, met some very nice people and made lots of good memories.  Someday we'd like to go back to New Zealand and Japan. 

April 15 -Tokyo, Japan

Forgot to mention dinner last night.  Since we ate a late lunch, we weren't overly hungry so we went to a sushi bar with the plates that go around on a conveyor belt.  If you didn't see what you want, you could order off of a tablet provided.  Each item comes on a specific colored plate that indicates the price.  At the end the cashier scans the pile of plates with a gizmo and it gives him the total bill.  We had one beer, one wine spritzer and about six pieces of nagiri each for $25 total.  Very good deal for Tokyo and it was delicious! 

Woke up to lots of wind and rain so we lazed around.  After a late breakfast at a place called Eggs 'n Things, a Hawaiian restaurant chain (no salad with my eggs benedict), we took the train and subway back to the area around yesterday's temple.  The weather was better by then so we just walked around for a while.  There were many young women in kimonos around the temple, most of them posing for selfies.  A vendor was selling octobus balls (pieces of octopus cooked in a dough) which were a specialty of Osaka but we didn't get to try there.  The port expert on the ship recommended them.  Hmmmm, maybe they are better in Osaka, but we couldn't finish the Tokyo version.

At breakfast I noticed several families were wearing shirts that had horizontal black stripes - not all the same shirt, but all with black stripes.  Then I noticed others outside the restaurant, also in black stripes.  We theorize it was some kind of a promotion to get into a movie or an amusement ride at a discount.

We realized today that the train we've been riding has no driver, but is run completely automatically.  Many airports have trams like that, but this is a line with 19 stations and trains that come every 3 or 4 minutes.  It also runs on rubber tires with a third rail for power which must also keep it centered on the course.

For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant, Zest Cantina, which was pretty good.  We were a little surprised that the jalapeno popper appetizer included only 2 pieces, but they were good as were the tacos and chicken enchiladas.

Another good day in Tokyo.  We are very favorably impressed with everything here.  The streets are amazingly clean and we only saw one homeless person begging and he wasn't Japanese. I admit I don't get the thing with small dogs though. I suppose if you live in a big city in a high rise apartment, they make sense, but why do so many clothe them and push them in little doggie prams? 

April 14 - Tokyo, Japan

We had to meet our morning tour at 8:30 and yesterday on our reconnoiter of the meeting place we saw a Danny's nearby so we thought it would fun to give it a try.  It wasn't busy when we arrived so having only 2 waiters was OK.  We ordered American style breakfasts, although my scrambled eggs with bacon also came with a little lettuce salad.  After a while.e we figured out what all the various bell ringing about - one when the door opened, another when an order was ready and the last when a table wanted something. There was a little plastic gizmo on each table with a button at the top. When you pushed it, a bell sounded, your table number lit up on the wall and the waiter came over.  As it got busier, more and more bells were going off.  The poor waiters were running every which way.  It was like a comedy skit.  I imagine those poor guys heard those bells in their sleep.

Probably 6 or 8 tours left from one central bus station at the same time which is a smart plan, but it was pretty chaotic for a while.  We went to another shrine, a castle and a temple, all of which were lovely.  At the Shinto shrine there was a wedding party coming out which was fun to see.  A couple of times along the road we saw little kids from a daycare or school on an outing.  Several of the teachers escorted the kids (around 1 or 2 years old) on the sidewalk by putting them in what amounted to a large laundry cart like a hotel would use and wheeling them around.  All the kids had uniforms and hats on in bright colors.

Now in the hotel, I figured out how to add photos so I'll throw in some of my favorites.  They are in no particular order.   Look at the left side of the street scene for the kids in the orange hats - I only got it on the run as we drove by.  The stuffed crocodile, Sweetheart, was about 18 feet long.  The five huge apartment buildings are outside Ho Chi Minh City.  The toilet instructions are fun.  There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty near our hotel, not sure why. 

After the tour we had a late lunch and walked around the Ginza area for a while.  It has lots of upscale shops so we didn't make any stops.  Then the train back to the hotel for a bit.  I took a nice bath in the big tub with the provided bath salts and I can confirm that the water drains clockwise now.

April 13 - off the ship and into Tokyo

We had a nice breakfast in the dining room where we saw Peter and Carol one last time and said goodbye to other friends made on board.  Unfortunately one of the 4 couples with us was one we'd eaten with before and she is rather a grumpy snob.  She complained to the waiter that one of her two poached eggs on English muffins was "stone cold and unpalatable".  I had to wonder if perhaps it had gone cold while
she was eating the first one, but didn't say anything.  She had also dumped HP sauce (like our Heinz 57 steak sauce) all over it all so I had to wonder at her taste to begin with 😉.  Ah well, takes all kinds and fortunately she was in the small minority of complainers.

We were called to get off the ship right on time at 9:40 and walked right off to our bags and out to the taxi stand.  As suggested by the concierge at our hotel, the Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba, we took a taxi to the Yokohama City Air Terminal, which is a bus terminal despite its name.  From there we bought tickets on the highway bus to Odaiba leaving in an hour which has a drop off at the door of the hotel.  Easy breezy.  The check in clerk said that even though check in technically is 3:00 pm (it was noon) our room was ready so we could go on up, but don't tell anyone (wink).  They normally have a charge for early check in.  The room isn't very big, but it has free WiFi and they provide a free smart phone that has unlimited WiFi and unlimited local and international calling! We are free to bring it with us when we go out! Unbelievable, especially since we are paying about $150 a night for this room - a deal through booking.com. 

We booked a half day tour tomorrow with the concierge, reserved 2 seats on the bus to the airport on Monday and headed out to explore.  There is a multistory shopping center right across the street with lots of restaurants so we ate at a noodle shop.  There is a train station (Odaiba) right in front of the hotel so we went to the location of our tour meeting place so we could find it tomorrow morning.  Of course we got on the train in the wrong direction and had to get off and turned around, so it's good we did a dry run.  We wandered a bit more then came back for a rest before having a good dinner at a different place in the shopping center.  Love that the restaurants have pictures of everything on the menu since even the English translations aren't that informative.  The hotel has many restaurants also,  but looking at the menus online, the average price for dinner is nearly $100 per person, so we'll give them a miss.

April 12 - Shimizu, Japan

This morning we did most of our packing since we didn't arrive into port until around noon.  Around 11:00 am the captain announced that Mt. Fuji was visible ahead so we grabbed the phone and headed up top for pictures.  It was beautiful!  There is still snow on top and the air was pretty clear. Apparently the day before was very cloudy, so we were very fortunate.  While a nice gentleman was taking our picture together, my visor flew over the railing and landed just out of reach on a ledge.  It stayed there and since we couldn't reach it through the slats, I wrote it off.  But the gentleman used his camera on the strap to snag it and pull it in.  I was so afraid he'd drop his camera all for a $5 visor!

Our tour was to 2 more shrines, but I enjoyed these more than those in Osaka probably because they were smaller and less crowded.  The last stop was to a beach where we got more good pictures of Mt. Fuji.   Wish I could post them, but the WiFi on the ship just doesn't allow for it, or I'm not doing it right.

We had our last dinner with Peter and Carol, which was very sad.  They are so much fun to be around and we will miss them very much.  Hopefully we can cruise again, or do something else with them in the future.

Our waiters confirmed that the errant third engineer they were looking for that night was indeed in another cabin when they tried to reach him after he didn't turn up for his watch.  A big no-no.   And there was someone who had a heart attack in Osaka and didn't get back on board, so we think it probably was that couple on our tour.  Hope all's well with them.

Final packing and put out our bags after dinner.  We have to be out of our cabin before 8:00 in the morning.

April 11 - Osaka, Japan

We were welcomed to the pier this morning by a sort of marching band wearing black suits.   One of their songs was "Life Goes On" by the Beetles - interesting choice.  Since we all had to go through Customs and Immigration here, the tours were late getting started. Everyone had to put two fingers on a scanner and look into the retinal scanner as well, so it wasn't a very quick process. Our tour stopped first at a Samurai castle which was impressive on  the outside, but too modern on the inside.  It was rebuilt in the 1930s so the best parts were the grounds and outside walls. Unfortunately, 2 people never made it back to the bus, so after waiting 35 minutes for them, we had to leave. We did see an ambulance take someone away - hope it wasn't them!  Next stop was a Shinto shrine which was interesting. Then back to the ship. All in all not the best tour. There was a lot of driving and not through very interesting areas but Osaka is very clean and modern, of course.

There was fast free WiFi at the cruise terminal so everyone took advantage of that, naturally.  There is also a huge ferris wheel that takes 15 minutes to go around and has a capacity of around 450, and a shopping center with a small Legoland right here as well.   The public toilets have heated seats and all the buttons for washing and drying, but you have to figure it out as it's in Japanese. They provide paper also for those of us who like the old fashioned way. Can't wait for our hotel in Tokyo where I'll have time to learn what all the buttons do.

At departure time they paged 2 passengers to please check in.  Maybe our missing pair didn't make it back to the ship.

April 10 - at sea

Nothing to report today. Still not feeling 100% so we hung around the cabin although Michael spent 90 minutes in the gym. He also found me another Lee Child book in the Jack Reacher series in the library, so I was a happy camper.

April 9 - at sea

I was feeling a little under the weather intestinally so we did a whole lot of nothing again. The seas are pretty calm and it's a nice temperature so reading, sudoku, and gazing out from our balcony was the order of the day. Lots more fishing boats lately and we came very close to a net marker.  Wonder how many we've run over.

April 8 - at sea

At 1:15 this morning again over the speakers in the cabin we heard DING, ding. We know this can't be good. The captain came on calling for crew member Dory Cameron, 3rd engineer, to please report to the senior engineer in the engine control room.  Ok, at least not a fire, but is it a man overboard situation?  A second call 15 minutes later.  Then finally the announcement that the crew member has been located so all's well and sorry for the interruption of sleep.  We speculate that Dory was in a cabin where (s)he wasn't supposed to be and perhaps didn't turn up for watch. I bet Dory gets off at the next port.

Other than that, it was a typical quiet sea day of reading and watching the ocean go by.

April 7 - Hong Kong

Our tour departed about on time at 9:30 this morning.  The woman guide was a little difficult to understand, but  she was enthusiastic. We drove to Victoria Peak and caught the tram down. Wonderful views. Took a sampan ride of the Inner Harbor, went to  a jewelry shop (of course) and then had some time at a local market in Stanley.  That doesn't sound like that much, but with traffic we weren't back to the ship until 3:30.   What a fascinating place this is. With a population of 7.4 million living in such a small area, it's easy to see why they have more than 8,000 skyscrapers of over 14 floors. I believe our guide siad there are 60,000 people per square kilometer.  Many of their private apartment buildings and public housing towers are 50 stories high.  And everywhere you look there are more being built, many using bamboo scaffolding.   Didn't see many scooters, too much affluence I guess, but there were lots of buses. This was Saturday so I would hate to see what traffic would be like on a workday.

After dinner we sat on the balcony and watched the lights until we sailed at 9:00 pm.  There were jelly fish around the ship but no other sea life that we could see.  Michael said he remembered way more traffic on the harbor in the past. There weren't any sampans in the main channel this time.  Twice a night there is a coordinated light and music show with many of the buildings participating. Apparently you  need to download the app "ICC light and music show" to hear it, but the lights alone were pretty cool.

April 6 - at sea

Today was a good day to recover from the busy Vietnam days. Did a load of laundry because I wanted some of the things back right away and the free service takes a couple of days.  Went to the wine tasting and met a Philippina woman who retired to Klamath Falls - it's a long story.  Had another fun dinner with Carol and Peter, who is feeling much better, thank goodness.

I forgot to mention that we could have  bought Pringles in "chili and fried squid" flavor in Vietnam but for some reason Michael didn't want to.

April 5 - Nha Trang, Vietnam

This is a tender port and our tour wasn't until 12:30 so we didn't get onto the tender until about 10:00 am. There was a complimentary shuttle into town (15 minutes away) so we took that. Since we had to be back at the pier at 12:20 we only had a little time to walk around a bit. The tour was good, but a lot of on and off the bus. Fortunately there were only 12 of us and everyone was nimble and on time. We saw a temple dating back to the 13th century and then took a short boat ride to a village  where a man made the clay pots used in traditional cooking.  We went into a typical local house and visited the community hall. Every place is dominated by the shrine to the ancestors. The village was what you would expect. I was struck by the very sickly looking chickens pecking around. There were plenty of dogs but not a single cat to be found.  And not many people around since they were all working. Children go to school starting at 1 year old, but our guide said education isn't free, even in the elementary grades, which is not what our guide said yesterday in Ho Chi Minh City.   She said that you didn't pay for the school, but you had to pay for the uniforms, books, supplies, etc.   Maybe that's what he meant by "not free".

Again this is a city of contrasts. It is a lovely beach town with many beautiful hotels and resorts along the beach and fishermen eaking out a living around the corner. We saw the remains of the bunkers built into the hill by the Americans next to a new water slide park.   We ate with a fellow who was here with the navy during the war and remembers they would say at the time that Nha Trang would make a great beach town after the war and now he was able to see that come to fruition.

As before the scooters are amazing to watch. We saw a few with 2 mothers and 2 children on the same bike coming home from school. My favorite was the 2 men with the fellow in the rear holding a piece of window glass on his lap that was about 3x4 feet big. But it was ok  because they had their helmets on!  One of the passengers commented that it was safety glass, so no worries. 😉

There is no Uber here, but Asia has Grab ride sharing service. I believe there was something in the news the other day about Uber investing heavily in Grab.  You see the Grab drivers on their scooters with green jackets and helmets with the logo. Passengers have to wear the Grab helmet too.  It works the same as Uber with the app and set price and is becoming very popular.

April 4 - Phuy My (Ho Chi Minh City)

Since Ho Chi Minh City is 90 minutes away by bus, our tour started early. The first half was along a busy commercial street with little businesses one after the other - some nice, others not so nice. Our guide told us that many of the owners live at the back of the stores. The second half of the drive was on the freeway which was just completed a few years ago.  As we drew near to the city the high rise apartments began. They are building thousands of apartments with investment money from all over the world. HCM has a population of almost 10 million already and it looks like that will just continue to grow.  We stopped at a laquer factory to see how it's made and have a little shopping opportunity. Next was the Notre Dame Cathedral and post office building. From that square we could see the famous building rooftop where the last helicopters took out the people as Saigon fell.  Then to a market that was an indoor maze where Michael bought 2 sarongs. We had a couple of hours of free time so we went to the Rex Hotel which was used by the journalists covering the war. They would sit at the rooftop bar and count the planes and choppers leaving and returning to see how many were lost each day.  We ran into Peter and Carol so we joined them for a beer and a plate of fried rice for me.  We also tried the Vietnamese coffee which is delicious but more expensive than Starbucks. We took advantage of the free WiFi to check emails, but no calls home due to the time difference.  We had a bit of a walk around before meeting the bus for the return trip to the ship.  As expected it was very hot and muggy so a quick shower felt very good before dinner.

The traffic in HCM is amazing. There are almost no stop lights or signs and everyone just seems to figure out how to get through intersections by weaving in and out.  Scooters outnumber cars and trucks and they don't always stay in their lanes or even on the right side of the road in some cases.  To cross on foot, you wait for a little break and then just start across. You don't look at the traffic or change your pace or direction - they will go around you.  It's rather unnerving to say the least, but it works.

We were beat so we skipped the show tonight - some Japanese jugglers.  Tomorrow is our second Vietnamese and port, Nha Trang. 

April 3 - at sea

Today was one of the laziest yet.   After breakfast we headed to the atrium for coffee as we usually do and ended up spending the whole morning there reading or chatting with other passengers.   An Australian couple told us about a man (also Australian) they ate with who went on about how bad it is that so many people don't wash their hands enough on the ship and spread their germs everywhere, and then he proceeded to put his finger on the open top of the Worcestershire bottle and shake it!  She said she was too flabbergasted to even say anything.    After lunch, more of the same laziness.  Michael didn't even make it to the gym.

Our TVs were out yesterday again, but are working today.   We seem to put on the Australian or NZ news channels more often than not and it's interesting to see that they have the same problems we do - lying politicians, police officers being bad, real estate prices getting too high, etc.

I've been checking the water as it drains and so far it is still counter clockwise. The captain did say that the phenomenon is real, but you have to get far enough from the equator to see the change.  I'll keep checking. And sort of related to that, we've noticed that in Australia, NZ and even on the ship, people tend to walk on the left, so we are making a real effort to follow suit.

Peter has not been himself for a few days now and tonight he left dinner early. Hopefully it's just a cold or something, but we are a little worried about him. 

Tonight's show was the wonderful Welsh violinist, Chris Watkins, again with the ship's pianist as accompanist (?).

Tomorrow is Phu My,  Vietnam the port for Ho Chi Minh city.

April 2 - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Last night was more excitement. At 3:15 am we were awakened by an announcement in the cabin from the captain calling for First Station on deck 10 in the breadbox. At least that's what it sounded like.  Fifteen minutes later he came back on to say there had been a small fire on deck 10, but it was out now and the smoke should be clearing soon, so not to worry, everything is fine. And again 15 minutes later to ask those on deck 10 to please not open their cabin doors, that the smoke would clear better if they let the ventilation work.  Needless to say, sleep was a long time coming after that.

Kota Kinabalu is the capital of the state of Sabah,  one of the states of Malaysia and located on the island of Borneo along with parts of Indonesia and the nation of Brunei. This morning was a tour of "the colours of Borneo", although I have no idea why it was called that.  We took a nice air conditioned bus on a 45 minute drive to a sort of beach resort (I use that term generously) where we made a little batik painting,  had a chance to try a blow dart weapon, and had tea and banana fritters. There was a beach, with jelly fish warnings,  and nice hammocks in the shade and that was about it. We spent 90 minutes there, which was 30 minutes too long. It was terribly hot and humid.   Then we drove to a pottery factory, which was ok, then back to the ship. We did get a chance to see the extremes - lots of high rise office and apartment buildings going up,  and then poor tin roof houses of wood with trash all over. They all had satellite dishes though.

Again the pool was very refreshing after the heat.  During dinner the captain explained that the incident last night was a fire in the motor of a dishwasher in the room service kitchen on deck 10.  It was promptly extinguished and no one was hurt.

Tomorrow is another sea day before Vietnam.

April 1 - Easter at sea

They offered church services this morning and had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids, but the dinner menu was the same as scheduled, although there was lamb available.

The show was a couple who did flamenco dancing, but not particularly well, in my opinion.  Tomorrow is Borneo.

March 31 - at sea

Another lazy day.  Michael is taking advantage of the time to go to the workout center for an hour or so.  I'd rather spend my time reading or going to talks; today's was on tea.  I will pay for my inactivity when we return home and I go back to exercise class.   Another bit of slight dripping this morning.   We're at the point where we ignore it if it is just a few drops.  Hope it doesn't turn into a deluge at some point.

The show tonight was a Welsh guy who played an electric violin - he was really great.

March 30 - at sea

The dripping stopped during the night, so hopefully that is all done. Overnight the crew decorated the ship for Easter with a big display of large chocolate eggs and balloons in the public areas. This morning we lounged on the promenade deck. The seas are very calm, sometimes eerily so. We see lots of those little flying fish skittering away from the ship and in the distance there was a pod of dolphins or small whales gathered around perhaps feeding since the group didn't move.

We crossed the equator around dinner time. They had the Neptune ceremony this afternoon which we've seen before and it is usually a crowded event where you have trouble seeing anything anyway, so we skipped it. Just for the record, up to this point the water has been draining counterclockwise in the tub. We'll see if that changes.

A woman at lunch told us about the waiver they have to sign for the pedicab tour in Vietnam since the pedicabs are unregulated, uninsured, unlicensed and unsafe. ( I added that last one)  Makes you want to run out and sign up. Actually we think we'll hire a couple in Tokyo, where I imagine they are regulated, insured and licensed.  We'll see ...

The show tonight was Russell Harrison, a singer from NZ who was on the last cruise and is very good. 

No dripping when we got back tonight, so perhaps we are past that little adventure.

March 29 - at sea

More excitement during the night when Michael discovered that our leak in the bathroom  had returned.   It was not nearly as bad, so we just put the garbage can under it and tried to go back to sleep.  But it began to sound like the dripping was getting faster, so we called Guest Services. The housekeeping supervisor came by after a little bit, confirmed the leak, and said he'd send the plumber.  After conferring with the plumber, we decided to let it wait until morning and went back to sleep as best we could.  So again this morning they worked on it and they say it is fixed - fingers and toes crossed.

Had a lovely breakfast in the dining room with a man from Dallas and an Australian couple. She told us about getting knocked down by a car in Vietnam. She wasn't seriously hurt, but learned the lesson not to be first in a group crossing the street. 

It was another lazy day lounging by the pool and reading. When we got back from dinner we saw that the dripping was back.  Now they're thinking it is the soaked insulation dripping and it should stop soon. So the garbage can is again collecting the drips and we'll reevaluate in the morning.  This is frustrating, but the crew is being very kind and trying their best to get this solved.   At dinner Carol offered her umbrella for us to use in our bathroom.  Hope we don't have to take her up on that offer!

March 28 - Darwin, Australia

This morning we had breakfast with two Australian couples. I love the Aussies - they are so open and friendly that it's like you've been friends forever when you've only just met.   We had a city drive tour of Darwin today.   Poor Darwin -  they've  had such a rough go of it. First they were bombed horribly by the Japanese in WWII, then they had a devastating hurricane in 1974 which flattened the place again. And last Saturday they were hit again, fortunately not a major one. It knocked down countless trees, many of which were planted after the 1974 event. Fallen trees and branches were everywhere.  There wasn't much to see in Darwin itself, but we were impressed with the loads of green spaces and light traffic. We were told later that most people live and work outside of the city center and don't come in very often. A couple on the ship told us they lived here for 2 years and said they'd never come back.  The weather is very difficult and we would agree that today was very hot and humid. 

After the tour we had a beer with Peter and Carol, then walked around the shopping area for a while and had a bite of lunch.  There was free WiFi at the museum so we called Anna and Daniel to check in. Didn't even try Andrew since he would have been at work and unable to talk. We also called Jim to wish him a happy birthday.

Upon returning to the ship we headed to the pool to cool down. After dinner we went to the show which was a magician who was pretty good.

Tomorrow is the first of another 4 days at sea.

March 27 - at sea

This morning was a port talk on Nha Trang,  Vietnam and then after lunch we went to the second part of the ship pilot's talk. Michael went off to the gym and I watched the passenger talent show. Of the seven performers, one was very good.

We had a little excitement when we came back to the cabin after dinner. There was water leaking out of the light fixture in the bathroom. It took a few hours, but they got it all fixed up. Good thing we had decided to skip the show or we might have had a lot more damage.

Tomorrow is Darwin.

March 26 - Sea day

This morning we decided to try trivia, but it was terribly crowded in the lounge. They put the questions on the multiple TV screens around; unfortunately the one near us was broken. The crew member leading is a Japanese woman whose English is good, but her pronunciation is very difficult, so we didn't always understand the question.  Not a very successful outing.   I attended the lecture on Australia history of culture and food which was not very informative at all, then stayed to listen to the talk about ship's navigation, which was better.

We had lunch at the Japanese sushi restaurant on board, which was very good, but no better than Oishi back in Redmond.

We have rounded the top of Australia and are heading west to Darwin so the seas are a bit rougher, but still not too bad.

The show tonight was a Buddy Holly tribute, which was very good.   Our TVs are working and we got new batteries for the one sluggish remote, so that's all good. We get news from BBC, Fox, MSNBC and Australian news so we have everything covered.

March 25 - at sea

Another quiet day. Hung out at the pool this morning since it is noticeably warmer and humid. I'm still fighting a cold, so I took a nap this afternoon.  The show was a  comedian who was ok.   We haven't been to trivia but one time this cruise - it would be hard to find another team like last time, but maybe we'll give it a go soon.

March 24 - Sea day

Sometime during the night, the seas calmed down so now it is very smooth sailing. We had a lecture this morning about piloting The Great Barrier Reef (being a ship's pilot, that is).  He explained that it is calm because we are behind the barrier of The Great Barrier Reef.  Mmmhh, makes sense.  It should be calm until we get close to Darwin.

Nothing exciting today, just another low key day. I've been fighting a cold for a few days now.  We learned that kiwi fruit has more vitamin C than an orange. While on our NZ cruise there were none to be found at the buffet.  But now we have them so I've been having one or two a day. Hope it works.

Still having intermittent problems with the TV so they've given us another $50 credit. 

March 23 - SeaDay

These sea days we get into a kind of rhythm. Breakfast, down to the International cafe for coffee and reading or sudoku, morning trivia (this morning we played with Ian and Wendy from New Zealand and got 14 out of 21), a lecture on history of music, lunch, another lecture on color and its influence on society, then a relax at the pool. That was interrupted today by a glitch that caused a sound like a very loud vacuum cleaner coming from the speakers. They're still working on the TV problem, although ours have been working today. Perhaps the two problems are related.

It is noticeably warmer although the seas are still a bit rough. Not bad, just enough to make walking amusing.

I was mistaken - there are 5 sea days before Darwin, so we still have 4 more to go.

March 22 - Sydney turnaround day

Today is the end of the New Zealand cruise and the beginning of the Tokyo cruise.  We were up at 6:00 am to do the little packing necessary and be ready to be out of the room by 8:00 am. Tradition said we have breakfast in the dining room where we ate with two couples who were getting off.   Since we had to get off the ship anyway for immigration, we wandered off with everyone else. We strolled around the pier to the Sydney Opera House and got there just in time for a guided tour. It was very interesting - would love to attend a performance one day. They are doing a refurbishment of the whole place which will take 10 years and is budgeted at around $200 million AUD.  The original cost of building it in 1961 was budgeted at $7 million but ended up costing $103 million which was paid for from proceeds of a special lottery that ran for about 7 years. There are approximately a million tiles from Sweden on the roof-nobody knows for sure since no one thought to count them during construction. Now they go around every 2 years to tap each tile checking for broken or damaged ones. Why don't they just  count them then?

When we came back out I saw that I had missed a video call from Daniel so I hooked onto the free WiFi from the nearby botanical gardens and called back. Great fun to call with the iconic opera house behind me. 

Getting back on the ship was quick and easy and we had lunch in the buffet with a couple from Indiana.  There are about 2,100 Australians with a couple hundred each  Americans and British on board. The last cruise had quite a few Chinese, although we didn't  hear exact numbers.  Spent the afternoon unpacking and reading/resting.  Then it was off to dinner to meet up with our British cruise friends, Carol and Peter. We haven't seen them since our South American cruise in 2015,  but it was just like we had been with them only last month - immediately back to laughing and joking.

The show was an Australian comedian, Scott Williams, who was OK.  The televisions were working for a while this afternoon, but were out again after dinner.  Hope they get this fixed soon.

Tomorrow is the first of 4 sea days before Darwin.

March 21 - Last Day

Today was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Trivia with the gang in the morning then hot tub and reading in the afternoon. At afternoon trivia we only got 14 out of 20, a record low for us. Chris was really off his game!  I think I mentioned that Chris, the OB/GYN, was our resident genius. He'd have written the answer as the rest of us are debating what is right.  He's a very quiet guy, but when he does speak, it's a zinger.  Rob asked him once how he could keep all this trivial stuff in his head along with the medical stuff and without missing a beat he said "Oh I just let that medical stuff go." We all had dinner together one last time and lingered at the table until we started getting anxious looks.  We feel very fortunate to have met them and  we'll really miss them all - they really added to our enjoyment of the cruise.

Tomorrow is Sydney. We have to move cabins so we have to pack up the loose stuff. They will move the clothes on hangars, so it's not too bad.  The televisions have been out for the last 3 days so they gave everyone a $50 per person shipboard credit, which was nice. 

This has been a wonderful cruise, one of our favorites. Can't say a negative thing about the New Zealanders.  We'll, maybe they could smoke a little less. But they were all so open and friendly and seemed to be so genuine, not like they were just putting one on for the tourists.   We've talked about looking  into a longer stay some day and really exploring the area more.

March 20 - Sea Day

Today was a quiet sea day. We did our best at trivia yet, getting 20 out of 21. Again the 6 of us kept on talking until lunchtime when we all went to the dining room and ended up closing the place. Then back to the cabin for a nap for Michael and reading for me. The seas were pretty calm, some rocking but not bad.  We had the captain's reception and formal dinner and then a nightcap before returning to the cabin. The stateroom televisions have been out since yesterday afternoon, so no movies.  Also no news, which might be a good thing.

Clocks go back an hour again and tomorrow is our last day of this cruise.

March 19 - Fiordland

This morning was so dark we couldn't believe it was already after 7:00 when we woke up. The seas weren't too bad during the night but it was wet and foggy in the morning.  We met the gang for morning trivia and continued the fun onto lunch in the dining room.  This afternoon we entered Milford Sound which is part of Fiordland, the largest National Park in NZ.  We didn't expect to see much, but it cleared just enough that we could see the towering hillsides and waterfalls everywhere you looked. Because of the big storms the last few days, the falls were really running, apparently not something many get to see too often.

After dinner we went to the show - a very good Australian singer. Tonight we turn our clocks back and tomorrow is the first of our 2 sea days back to Sydney.

March 18 - Dunedin

Today we had a city tour of Dunedin followed  by a tour of Larnach Castle.   Dunedin (pronounced dun-ed-in with a short e as in Edinburgh) is a big town, about 150,000 when all the students (25,000) are here.  It's probably our least favorite since there doesn't seem to be much charm. The areas around the universities are quite messy with the students living in houses in the neighborhoods and keeping them run down as they tend to do - cars parked in yards and old couches on the grass, etc.  The Cadbury factory closed down a few years ago which had a hit on the local economy. There is a lovely old train station, but too many old warehouses that are kind of a blight.

Then we went to Larnach Castle, a huge home built by William Larnach in the 1870s - early 1880s.  He called it The Camp.  His first wife died at 37 of "apoplexy" leaving 6 children so he married her half sister who also died at 37 from complications after surgery for fibroid tumors.  His young third wife outlived him, but he found out that she was having an affair with his younger son and he was going bankrupt in 1899 so he shot himself.  The kids sued the scandalous son and stepmom and inherited all of what was left of the estate.  The house, which cost about $150,000 to build was sold to the government for $5,000 and turned into a "lunatic asylum", then a home for wounded soldiers after the wars, then fell into disrepair before a local family bought it and refurbished it and the gardens.  They don't live there now.   Beautiful, but a tragic story.

This afternoon we had a nice nap and then off to afternoon trivia.  Then another early night to the cabin instead of the show.  Tonight is supposed to be kind of windy and rough and tomorrow is sailing in the fiords, weather permitting.

March 17 - Akaroa

For dinner almost every night Michael has a big custom made salad. It always has walnuts, blue cheese and parmesan cheese.   And he might add a protein from the menu like scallops or pork bellies. We learned that a server named Gracie from Mexico makes them for him. This morning we saw her at breakfast so we were able to thank her directly and she was tickled to meet the salad man.

Akaroa is a tendering port so we waited until about 10:00 before getting tickets. We forgot about the Elite benefit of priority tendering until we got to the front of the line for tickets.  We were able to join other Elites and get right on the tender without tickets which was nice.   Apparently ships haven't been able to go directly into Christchurch since the earthquake not long ago so Akaroa has become the alternate port. Christchurch is about 90 minutes  away by car so we just wandered around here. There is a French influence since it was originally settled by French in the 1840s. It's very small but nice.  We popped into the supermarket and discovered that prices for food are quite high., e.g. a dozen eggs for about US$4.50 Gasoline runs about $5-6 a gallon so it's not inexpensive to live in New Zealand.

After returning to the ship we just relaxed talking with other passengers before dinner and another early night back to the cabin for reading and watching a movie.   Tomorrow is Dunedin.

March 16 - (Windy) Wellington

Last night was quite windy.  As I returned from the bathroom in the middle of the night, I was sure I was walking uphill. You could hear the wind through the balcony door and the chairs and tables on the deck were blown around.  But it was pretty steady without much rolling. 

We arrived in Wellington, the capital of NZ, around 8:00 am.  Apparently its nickname is Windy Wellington thkugh we didn't  have much today.  To avoid the crowds, we hung around until nearly 10:00 am. Since the port is a ways from town, a complimentary shuttle was provided. We were dropped downtown which is clean, not too crowded and offers free WiFi in the CBD. We got tickets to a hop on - hop off bus and rode around for 90 minutes. Our guide was very good.  Wellington reminds us a lot of San Francisco with hills and a big harbor. Turns out we weren't imagining things. They had a big earthquake here in 1848 where many homes and buildings fell down. A ship from San Francisco was here at the time and they told the Wellingtonians that they should build their homes out of wood and they would bring supplies and plans here on their next trip. So as we drove around we saw lots of homes and neighborhoods that looked very familiar.  Many homes are built on the steep hills and some have private trams or elevators from the street.

The movie production business is very big here since the filming of the Lord of the Rings series. Lots of tours feature visits to various filming sites all around the area.   One scene with Frodo and others walking down a path and then hiding was filmed in a park here. But the trees weren't oak like in the book, so they brought in gazillions of oak leaves and a local karate club was hired to strip the pine trees of their needles and glue oak leaves on.  Some of the karate club were used as body doubles for the stars.   Can't believe a thing you see on the big screen.

We had a nice lunch at a German style brew pub and then popped into the Wellington Museum, also free, then the shuttle back to the ship.  Michael relaxed in the Wheelhouse Bar with his sudoku and a beer and I played trivia with Chris and Marian.  No win this time but I learned that it took 10 years to complete the Statue of Liberty (the one with 7 points on her crown and raising her right hand - another question a few days ago) so it wasn't a total loss.

After dinner with our regular group, it was back to the cabin to watch a movie.   Tomorrow is Akaroa.

March 15 - Napier

Since we didn't dock until noon today, we had another trivia game with the gang this morning.  Another win with 19 out of 21 correct.  More coasters.  I got the credit for being certain that there are 7 points on the crown of the Statue of Liberty and Simon and Garfunkle are the ones with the album called Bookends.  Between Chris and Michael, they are responsible for most of our correct answers.

We had an hour city tour which pointed out all the lovely art deco buildings built after a devastating earthquake and fire here in 1931 that destroyed most of the town. Napier is another beautiful town that would be very easy to live in.  Then we just wandered around the downtown area. We stopped at the post office to mail a few things and I was asked to remove my hat for the security cameras.  Apples are a big crop here and, like in Tauranga, they import lots of labor from the Pacific islands for the picking season.  I forgot to mention that in Tauranga there are no welfare payments during the 3 months of kiwi fruit picking and packing since there is such a need for unskilled labor. Wood is another major product here in Napier. Here at the port are seemingly endless stacks of logs and finished lumber ready for shipping all over the Pacific area.  They also process some of it into wood chips.  In keeping with the art deco theme, there are some owners of cars from the 30s and 40s that give tours. They all parked by the ship just before we sailed and a band played music from the era. A very nice touch.

We had our dinner with our trivia friends so we could share our bottle of "champagne".  It's a very fun group and we had lots of laughs.  Our regular dining room is the International but we ate in the Santa Fe tonight since its an Anytime dining room. It's nicer than ours with a more contemporary decor.  Afterwards we were kind of tired so we just headed back to the cabin for the night.

Tomorrow is Wellington.

March 14 - Tauranga

Today we were in Tauranga, the unofficial kiwi fruit capital of New Zealand.   You have to say kiwi fruit to distinguish from the kiwi bird and, of course, the slang term for New Zealanders.  Tauranga has a very active port where we docked close to Mount Maunganui ("The Mount").  We had a tour this morning of the Elms House Mission, a former mission station for converting the Maoris. Unfortunately our guide was the most soft spoken gentleman so it was hard to hear him and with all the grass around, there were mosquitoes, a few of whom got me. No zika here I hope. 

Then we went to a kiwi farm, which doesn't sound very exciting, but was actually very interesting.  I didn't realize they grow on vines, and they have to truck in hundreds of thousands of honeybees for 8 days when the flowers of the male and the female trees are open for pollination. There is no nectar in the flowers so no insects will do the job. They feed the bees artificial nectar to keep them alive and doing their job.  Then they send them back to the honeybee farms (?) to  continue making the famous Manuka honey.  Fortunately they don't have the colony collapse problem here. NZ is VERY careful about getting outside diseases. We can't bring any food at all off the ship and we had to step on a washing mat when we got off the bus at the kiwi fruit farm. They lost their whole crop of golden kiwi fruit trees in 2010 to a disease, but were able to start over again with a resistant variety and bring back the whole industry in a few years. They're picked from April through June, kept in cold storage and shipped all over the world until November.  About 25,000 locals and imported labor work at NZ$16 an hour (minimum wage) for 3 months picking and packing.  It's unskilled work, but physically demanding as the work goes 24/7 so there's lots of shift work.

Before returning to the ship we wandered around the little commercial district nearby where we got an ice cream, did a little souvenir shopping and Michael got a haircut.  This is a lovely city of about 140,000 but it is pretty spread out so it doesn't feel crowded. Apparently it's quite popular with pensioners, but the average house price is around US$450,000 so I don't think we'll be looking at vacation homes here.

After dinner, we stopped at the piano bar for an adult beverage and our trivia friends, Rob and Laury, came along. Then the piano player started a music trivia game.  New friends Brad and Pat joined us fortunately, since Brad knew most of the answers.   We got a bottle of "champagne" for making the piano player laugh and agreed to share it over dinner tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Napier.

March 13 - Auckland

This morning we slept in a bit before breakfast in the buffet. Michael is now getting his smoked salmon by asking for it at the omelette station so he's a happy camper.  Met our trivia buddies, Rob and Laury, and Chris and Marian again for a fun game where we won again - Princess water bottles this time.   We were a bit late getting into the dock in Auckland and then getting off the ship took a ridiculously long time for some unknown reason. We walked around a bit,  bought a pair of shoes for Michael and then took an hour bus tour of the city.  It's beautiful and I can see why other Americans have said they could live here.  The economy must be doing well because there's an awful lot of road and building construction going on.  Dinner with tablemates David and Louellen,  and Dan and Nancy and then I went to see The Greatest Showman in the theatre.

Tomorrow is Tauranga.

March 12 - The Trivia Masters

This morning we played trivia with one of the couples we played with yesterday and we won the grand prize of Princess coasters. Then we went to the Japanese bath for a soak and steam which was most relaxing. The seas are still making us roll a bit so the giant hot tub was wonderful for floating around in - like being in the womb.  Michael says it's not truly like a Japanese bath since the water wasn't painfully hot, but I liked it that way.

After lunch in the buffet Michael went for a nap and I went off to afternoon trivia. Both couples were there this time and we won again with the highest score ever, apparently. It was set up like Jeopardy and we only missed 2 out of 25 questions and got both the Double Jeopardy questions right.  One of the questions in the Maps category had a picture of the Big Dipper as the map. We were having a little difficulty until a man in front of us, who wasnt playing, turned around and pointed to his hat.  There was the Big Dipper and " Alaska ". Thank you very much, sir.  This time the jewelry company Effy was "sponsoring" it so our prize was a scarf and necklace set.   We should quit while we're ahead.

There is a wonderful duo called Angelic Dreams Duo who plays in the atrium for a while each day - two Ukranian women who play what look like acoustic  violins.   They look very strange (the violins, not the women), but sound beautiful.  I bought their CD.

Tonight at dinner we had all 6 of us.  Dan and Nancy weren't there last night. Turns out they had originally requested a table for 2 and were put with us on Saturday by mistake. Last night they were given a table for 2 in one of the other restaurants, but then decided they'd rather eat with us, so they came back.   Awww.

The show was a singer from New Zealand who was very good and then the soprano from last night's show sang a few songs in the atrium. She has a gorgeous operatic voice.   We're quite impressed with the talent on board this cruise.

We got another remote today and have no trouble with them conflicting each other. We DO have trouble getting either of them to work well - very temperamental.

Tomorrow is Auckland.

March 11 - first sea day

We had some rolling last night, but just enough to make it nice to sleep. Apparently there's a cyclone called Hola north of here that may cause some high seas later, but the Tasman Sea can be rough anyway.  No smoked salmon at  the buffet this morning but a waiter said if we ask, they'll get some. Played morning trivia with 2 nice couples from the States, one of whom has retired to Fiji.  Had lunch with 2  couples from Australia and one from Laughlin, Nevada and then a lazy afternoon before the first formal night.

Two more joined us at our table tonight, David and Louellen from Wisconsin.   The show tonight, Bavo, was really good. Broadway and opera music with wonderfully talented singers.  Clocks go forward an hour again tonight and then another sea day tomorrow.

March 10 - Sailaway

This morning we wandered around downtown a bit more and found a nice restaurant, Intermezzo, for a good breakfast. We find Sydney to be beautiful with very friendly people.  We really like the mix of old and new architecture.  It's also very busy with both pedestrians and cars. We're told it's also very expensive to live here, which we would agree with based on what we saw.

Around 10:45 we decided we may as well make our way to the ship. We thought about walking since it isn't that far,  but dragging the luggage on the sidewalks in the warm morning didn't appeal, so we took a taxi instead.  Our driver moved here about 20 years ago from Algeria and until 12 years ago was a pastry chef. Interesting guy.  While we were waiting to board I  overheard a woman say they flew in this morning from Cedar Rapids, IA. I bet if I  had told her of our luggage issues, she'd never cut it so close again. Check-in was smooth as silk and we were in our cabin by 11:45.   Then off to the buffet for lunch and a bit of a tour of the ship. There is a beautiful Japanese bath section where we signed up for a session on Monday, a sea day.   Since this ship is based out of Tokyo for most of the year, there is Japanese influence in the artwork,  menus and facilities. The signage is in both English and Japanese and there's a sushi specialty restaurant.

One complaint about our cabin. We have a mini-suite with 2 TVs but only one remote.   Our cabin attendant says that's the way it is supposed to be, because it prevents one remote from changing both TVs but that isn't happening now with the one remote so that makes no sense.  I'm sure the other time we had a mini-suite we had 2 remotes.  I think I'll survey our neighbors.   Otherwise I guess we'll be tossing the remote back and forth to make changes if we have both TVs going.

We met our table mates for dinner - a nice couple from Minnesota named Dan and Nancy.  There should be 2 more, but they weren't there - maybe tomorrow.

We're still not quite adjusted to the time and we lose an hour tonight, so another early night is in the cards.  Tomorrow is a sea day.

March 9 - a very good day in Sydney

We were wide awake at 4:00 am so had a leisurely time getting ready.  We were to meet our tour at 7:40 am at the Hilton a few blocks away.  When they weren't there at nearly 8:00 I called only to be told that they had emailed us about a change of pickup location. Since I hadn't checked my email, I never saw it.  They said they'd refund a portion and we could join them for the harbor cruise / lunch and afternoon tour to Bondi Beach.  Ok, that works. We stopped back at the hotel and I saw an email about my suitcase delay with contact info, so I asked the concierge to see what he could find out.  He knew just who to call and learned it was on its way to Brisbane and I should have it this evening.  Making progress. 

Also while we were at the hotel getting ready to walk on over to the pier for the harbor tour, we got a video call from Daniel. We were SO happy to have received that since we learned upon our arrival in Sydney that he had had a medical incident during our travel day.  It was a huge relief to see him and hear that he was feeling good by then.  Then I received a call from the luggage delivery company that my suitcase was in Brisbane and Customs needed my lock combination so they could inspect it. If we had made the morning part of the tour, we would probably have missed both of those calls, so things have a way of working out.

The harbor tour was beautiful and the seafood buffet was delicious.  Then there was a tour around Sydney and a visit to Bondi Beach which was fun. On the way back to the Westin we stopped for a light dinner at a Westfield shopping mall food court.  We really go to some strange places to eat, but had a very nice sushi selection at a very reasonable price. 

Back at the hotel we checked with the luggage desk, but alas no sign of my bag yet.  We had a delightful conversation with Daniele, from Italy, who told us that Figoni means "the coolest ones".  Fig means cool one, but put the oni at the end and now it means the coolest.  Dont believe him for a minute, but I like the story.  After we went to the bar to use our welcome drink coupon, we passed Daniele again and he presented me with my bag.  I was so happy to see it, I gave him a big hug!  When we got to the room I saw his delivery tag with our room number and under name he put "The Coolest Ones". I have to say that absolutely everyone we have met at this hotel is the best.

Tomorrow we board the Diamond Princess.  We've met several others the last 2 days who are also boarding so we may see a few familiar faces.

It's going on 9:00 pm, we're still jet lagged, so off to bed for a good night's sleep knowing my bag is safely here at last.

March 8 - Planes, Trains and Shuttles to Sydney

So the flight I was worried about from Redmond to Seattle was spot on time. Then things went bad. The Delta flight to LAX was late due to mechanical issues so they changed us to an Alaska air flight to LAX and a Virgin Australia flight that left for Sydney 1.5 hours later than our original Delta flight from LAX.   We got here just fine and so did Michael's bag.  Mine was still in LAX and is expected here on Friday.  Fingers and toes crossed.

We took the train from the airport to the CBD (central business district) and walked a few blocks to the Westin.  Our room wasn't ready yet so we had lunch in the hotel while we waited. Then a shower, 2 hour nap, and off to walk around. We wandered down to the Circular Quay where our ship will be on Saturday and got a couple of photos. Then wandered around til we stopped at The Cuban Place for a delicious mojito ( beer for Michael) and then stayed for an early dinner.  Of course in Sydney you will go out for Cuban food, nothing odd about that. We couldn't find a pub type place but in the CBD, that's probably to be expected. Then back to the hotel where we were asleep by 8 pm. Tomorrow is a tour of the city and a harbor cruise.

March 5, 2018 Getting Ready

This trip will be back-to-back cruises on the Diamond Princess.  The first is 12 days round trip from Sydney, Australia (is there another one?) all around New Zealand.  Then we depart Sydney (still the one in Australia) on a 22 day journey to Tokyo.  We'll spend a few days in both Sydney and Tokyo pre- and post-cruise.

Tomorrow we begin our trek to Sydney.  We fly Delta from Redmond to Seattle to Los Angeles to Sydney where we are scheduled to arrive on Thursday, March 8.  The one possible wrinkle is that the first flight from Redmond to Seattle is late nearly half the time and if we miss our connection to LA, we are toast since there's only one flight a day to Sydney.  I should never have looked up the performance of that flight over the past week or so.   Fortunately, the ship doesn't sail until Saturday afternoon, so we have a little wiggle room.

I am mostly packed, Michael not so much.  But this is his modus operandi so I shouldn't be surprised.