richwmn

The casinos (and shops) have been closed quite a bit for the past two weeks sailing around Japan because we have stayed too close to land.

10/04/2024 Ishigaki, Japan 0800-1700

 

Good morning! After a couple of days of wondering if we would actually call on Ishigaki, we are here. It is currently raining, and the forecast is for thundershowers most of the day. It is currently 82°F / 28°C with a humidity of 77% and winds of 10 mph. It doesn’t look like much of a day for exploring.

 

Today’s port doesn’t seem to offer very much. The shore talk was about great beaches, not something to visit on a rainy day. A couple of other things are eight to ten miles away, and there will be a shuttle into the nearest town starting shortly. We will have one more stop in Japan before heading to Hawaii, a long stretch of sea days.

 

Yesterday was a nice relaxing sea aboard Westerdam. We had the normal trivia sessions. I have regular partners for each of the trivia sessions. For the first two sessions we have a full team of six with various backgrounds, all seasoned travelers. For the music trivia session in the evening we partner with the bridge instructor and his wife. A couple of times Joy and Allen have joined us for the evening session. In all cases we are near the top and sometimes even win! It is quite a bit of fun to pick up some additional useless knowledge.

 

Last night the show was ‘Legends’ featuring the ‘World Stage Reparatory Company.’ It was another nice night of song and danced featuring songs by Sinatra, Elton John, and Queen along with a couple of others. I have enjoyed these shows both on this cruise and the preceding Grand Australia. The shows are good, but unfortunately some guests want to compare them with the big stage shows in New York or maybe on other cruise lines instead of letting them stand on their own. Someone commented that this group was ‘not as good’ as the group on the Grand Australia. Another comment was that the lead singers from Rolling Stone are better than the lead singers from this group. That may be true, but each show is good and they are worth going to.

 

I didn’t go to the World Stage the other night when the Rolling Stone Room band did a show there because of my dinner time in the Pinnacle Grill. Many people said that the show was very good but was still loud. Those in the back of the venue had it best.

 

The classical group still has a good crowd each day, as does the jazz group in the Ocean Bar. One complaint I hear is that they have a limited play list and because of the length of this cruise all the songs on the list have been played many times. I don’t attend any of them every day so it is harder for me to notice. However, there are some guests that attend each of these groups most sessions, most days so they would know.

 

The pianos in Billboard are a bit of a different story. One of their sessions is just before the evening trivia session and one starts as soon as trivia ends. As a result I have heard them most days for 10 – 20 minutes before and for some time afterward. Maybe ten days ago we went to the Gallery Bar and had a drink after trivia and commented that they sounded better from a little more distance. Then a couple days ago it seemed that they turned down the volume a bit and stopped hammering the piano keys and the time before trivia became more enjoyable. Or maybe we have finally grown used to them, who knows.

 

For those who are interested, here are today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinnacle Grill will be taken over by Tamarind for the next two weeks or so, here is the menu provided for that venue –

 

 

 

10/03/2024 At Sea Destination Ishigaki, Japan eta 10-04

 

Just a quick check in this morning. There is some question as to whether we will arrive in Ishigaki tomorrow. A typhoon is tracking such that it could interfere with our stay there and we might have to miss it. I enjoyed our day in Nagasaki yesterday and posted the pictures earlier. The terminal had quite a few shops available and many passengers returned to the ship with several bags of goods.

 

Here are today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nagasaki Peace Park and the view from the entrance to Glover Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10/02/2024 Nagasaki, Japan 0800-1700

 

Good morning! We are just outside our berth in Nagasaki. The temperature is 73°F / 23°C with a humidity of 89%. The sky condition is broken clouds and the winds are about 8 mph.

 

Yesterday we had a very good day at sea. The weather was nice all day and everyone seemed to be having a good time. The first and second trivia sessions went well, even if we didn’t win. At the end of the second I found out that I share some history with one of my partners and we had a very good conversation about that.

 

The show was the second performance of ‘Sonz of Soul’. Due to a dinner commitment at Pinnacle Grill I was unable to attend but others said that the show was again good. They do a good job of recreating the songs they sing, right down to the dance moves the original artists did.

 

Dinner was late, and at the Pinnacle Grill. We had a group of four and had an excellent time. Everyone else ordered the Lamb Chops, I had the small filet. Everyone commented that their meal was good. We got finished late and headed back to the cabin.

 

Here are today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

@REOVA Stop and say 'hi' at trivia, I'm usually there (except Music tonight)

--Santa

 

10/01/2024 At Sea Destination Nagasaki, Japan eta 10-02

 

Good morning. Today is a sea day heading for Nagasaki. We are currently headed Southwest at 13 knots. The temperature, under broken clouds, is 75°F / 24°C. The humidity is 78% with winds at 11 mph.

 

The last two ports were 60k apart by land and took us about 10 hours to sail around the tip of the peninsula. I took a few pictures from the ship which I posted yesterday afternoon.

 

The entertainment aboard ship has been pretty good, but you can’t please everyone. I have heard grumblings about the World Stage entertainment, the speakers, the entertainment staff, and the food and drinks. There is one team that shows up for most trivia sessions that wins almost every time. I’m sure that upsets some, but I understand because I have been in that position but not by design. There have been a few glitches in the entertainment, many of which could have been avoided by reading the daily program rather than looking over it. An example, Rolling Stone was dark last evening so the Late Music Trivia session was held there. About half the players were sitting in Billboard having assumed that it was there like usual (my team included). Luckily someone mentioned the change and we all moved. Jose did go to Billboard to make sure everyone moved.

 

Today has a full day of activities, ending for me with dinner in the Pinnacle Grill with friends. This will involve missing the Music Trivia, but that can’t be helped.

 

Today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09/30/2024 Kanazawa, Japan 0800-1700

 

Good morning on the last day of September in Japan. We are again under cloudy skies is 74°. Today the high is predicted to be 79° between 2 & 3 this afternoon. The humidity is 71% with winds of 4 mph.

 

I mentioned yesterday that I was staying on the ship to watch a football game. A friend provided this commentary and some pictures.

 

One of 3 large statues of Buddha in Japan and only a 10 minute walk from the Toyama station drop-off point. Plenty of English speaking guides to direct you and clear signage on the street. A further 15 minutes walk brings you to the metal workers district. Watch out for other statues on the way starting at the first left turn from the drop-off.

 

 

At the station, use the elevators/escalators to cross the tracks- going up, then across the concourse and down the South entrance elevators/escalators. A well marked road straight ahead leads you to the temple complex in about 15 minutes walk. Turn right at the temple sign and head up the middle of the road path to the entrance. Look out for bronze statues on the way.

 

The entrance fee is 500 yen, if you are not on a tour. This includes a map and English explanation of the various Buddha’s to be seen. Shoes off at the main buildings (tatami mats). Walk the outside corridors to see small shrines dedicated to different gods.

On the way back, you may be lucky enough to hear someone playing the grand piano on the upper concourse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

54 minutes ago, HSBC said:

Evening Entertainment Show (main one)

If the rating is 1 to 5, 5 is the best, what is your rating at Westerdam?  

Thanks!

 

I hesitate to 'rank' shows or restaurants for that matter. Such rankings are very subjective. In my view, particularly since they are part of the included entertainment, the World Stage Shows range from good to excellent.

 

With that in mind, I will make some comments about the shows in general. Many of the shows should talk less and perform more. For instance, 'Sonz of Soul' went thru the same 'Where is everyone from?' routine that happens at most shows. I would prefer another song instead. Giving their biographies is fine, but maybe a bit shorter. This seems to be true with all of the performers.

 

The comics, the ones whose whole gig is talk, also tend to spend a bunch of time on the old standards like 'Where are you from', 'how long have you been married', and the like. These routines do tend to get polite laughter, but could be replaced with other material.

 

I feel that the best shows are the ones done by the 'World Stage Reparatory Company', a group of four singers and four dancers who have done two for three shows so far and are scheduled for several more. The singers have good voices and all eight dance the routines well. Maybe not the caliber of NYC or London, but the shows are good, and the performers seem to be enjoying themselves.

 

09/29/2024 Toyama, Japan 0800-1700

 

It’s Sunday morning in Japan but Saturday night in Tuscaloosa where the Dawgs and Tide play in about 45 minutes. It should be a good game and I hope to see at least some of it.

 

The weather here under cloudy skies is 74°. The high today is expected to be 78° between noon and 1pm. The humidity is 76% and the winds are 11 mph. It should be a good day for those going ashore.

 

Yesterday was a ‘dressy’ evening on board and many people did dress up a bit. Most appeared to be in nice clothes, with some in the Lido still wearing shorts and crocs. The show was the comic Helene Angley again and the show was decent. The World Stage was close to full for the early show and her jokes got a good response. I do wish sometimes that the entertainers would forget about asking where people are from and how long they have been married.

 

Trivia was billed as ‘Classic Rock’ and was pretty good. I missed several because they were newer than what I listen to, but we still did pretty good. One team only missed one point, it may have been the team that has usually been winning.

 

Here are today’s activities –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason the menus don't want to load today, I'll try again later.

 

2 hours ago, jinpasco said:

First, thank you for all these posts and pictures. We are thinking of this cruise for next year and are enjoying the trip thru your eyes.

I noticed in the pictures there are many translations but I do not see English. Are you finding this to be the case ? 

I don't remember seeing many English translations. Someone mentioned, either before the cruise or early on, downloading the Google Translate  app and it is very handy. It does a very good job translating typed text, almost as good at text in the camera, and I don't know how it does with spoken voice as I haven't tried it. I did have an experience where a sales person used a voice to text translator that seemed to work just fine.

 

Today in Sakaiminato.

 

We had a short day in Sakaiminato and it came down to two choices. There is a tower and shopping area near the dock, and a shuttle into town. We docked at 9:00 am as scheduled and the shuttles started at 9:30 as planned. We planned to go out at a little after 10:00 am and see about the shuttle. When we got there the line for the shuttle was long enough to indicate a wait of 40 minutes to an hour. With the shortness of the port, we quickly changed to plan ‘b’ and went to the tower.

 

The cost to go up in the tower was 300 yen each, and we paid and went up. The view from the tower was really nice. We then took the elevator down to the floor that had the exhibits. Here we saw many articles of Asian culture in nice exhibits. We then went to the ground floor and looked at the shops there. We found some green Kit Kat bars that one of our trivia players had asked about and bought them.

 

We then went back to the terminal and walked around the shops there for a short while. We arrived back on the ship in time to do trivia, which went well with a subject of ‘Asia’. We left as scheduled and we are now back at sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09/28/2024 Sakaiminato, Japan 0900-1500

 

Today we have a short visit to Sakaiminato. We are docking at a small village, then taking a shuttle to a slightly larger place near by. The shuttle takes about 15 minutes and will run every 20 minutes.

 

Yesterday was a scenic cruising day thru the Kanmon Strait. It was a very nice passage between two of the largest Japanese Islands. The passage is narrow enough to see land on both sides while passing thru.

 

Trivia continues to go well and Jose is a very good host. I must add that the other members of the entertainment staff that have filled in for Jose when he was either ashore or otherwise occupied have done great as well

 

The entertainment on the World Stage last night was a group call ‘The Sonz of Soul’. They were backed by the Ocean Bar Band (called Third Avenue West). The combination put on a good show of Motown Hits, along with the dance moves that are always a part of Motown. The full showroom seemed to enjoy the performance.

 

Todays activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Tampa Girl said:

Yes, that is the ship at issue.  Can I assume that a sister ship, Oosterdam, also is not magnetic receptive?  

Currently on Westerdam (same class). These were on the cabin wall when I arrived. They seem rather strong.

 

 

09/27/2024 At Sea Destination Sakaiminato, Japan eta 09-28

 

Today will be a day of leisure on Westerdam. The temperature outside the ship is 77°F / 25°C under broken clouds. The humidity is 77% and the winds are at 11 mph. The ship is currently headed West at 9 knots.

 

We have a normal sea day schedule today with commentary starting around 1:30 this afternoon. The bow will be open for viewing between 1:00 and 2:00 pm. We will be cruising thru Kanmon Straight.

 

Here are today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think I have posted the Room Service hang tag yet, so here it is --

 

 

 

 

Hiroshima Today

 

We arrived on time and everything was in place. We had decided to leave the ship around 9:30, and actually left a few minutes before that. A shuttle quickly took us to Hiroshima Station.

 

Hiroshima Station is a large complex that services train and bus traffic. It consists of a building that is two stories high and contains many restaurants and shops. It is also the starting point of the Hiroshima HoHo bus, which came highly recommended by the greeter HAL had waiting for us. We went to the designated area and found a small office in which to purchase a ticket. The sign indicated 200 yen for a single trip, and 600 yen for a day pass. The price equated to a little under $5 per person for the day pass and we realized a bit later how much of a bargain that was. One trip is not a full loop, it is getting on the bus once and off. If you got off to see a particular sight, when you returned to the bus it was 200 yen more.

 

All of the buses stopped at the Atomic Dome and Peace Garden. We got on the first available bus and went there. Both were very interesting, pictures are in a previous post. The Peace Garden had many groups of students having their class pictures taken. It is a wonderful park in the middle of a very modern city.

 

After leaving the Peace Garden, we got on the Lemon route and finished it back to the station. We looked around the station for a bit, then boarded the shuttle back to the ship. After playing trivia and having a bite to eat, we boarded the shuttle again and went back into the city. When we arrived we had to wait about 20 minutes for the Lemon route bus to arrive. We chose that route because it was the only one to mention directly the Hiroshima Castle. That stop is between the station and the Peace Garden, so we missed it in the morning. We rode to the Castle, and got off. We spent 30 minutes around the castle, then returned and the next bus arrived. We then saw the rest of the sights of that route, but didn’t get off again until the station.

When we arrived at the station we found that we had just missed the shuttle and had to wait a half hour for the next one. The time passed rather quickly and we were on our way back to the ship. It was a very full day in Hiroshima, and a very good one.

 

HoHo Bus route map

 

Hiroshima Castle today

Here are some pictures of Hiroshima today. The first few are from the Atomic Dome and the Peace Park. Then a few of the city and finally some from the stern of the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09/26/2024 Hiroshima, Japan 0800-2359

 

Today we have a very long day in Hiroshima. We are still a little way out (it is 7:17), so it will be about a half hour until we dock. Then the normal rush of people trying to get off first. Our plan is to leave about 9:30 and take the shuttle into town.

 

We are currently under sunny skies, with a temperature of 74°F /23°C. The expected high today is 89°F a little after 2pm. Local weather shows that a Dry Air Advisory is in effect.

 

Yesterday we had a nice walk around Kochi. The cruise terminal is a little bit away from the city, so we had a shuttle. It is a nice terminal other than the gravel pit that is next to it. There is also a brewery with a brew pub a very short distance, although up about 83 steps, from the terminal building.

 

The shuttle dropped us off at the Kochi Bus Station, in the middle of the city. We had a nice walk, and saw some interesting shops. Our big attraction was the Harimaya-bashi bridge, a memorial to the forbidden love of a Buddhist priest. This is within the business district and, along with the park behind it, provides a peaceful area to offset everything that is going on around it.

 

Trivia on board had an ABBA flavor it it, the early session was questions about the band while the music trivia in the evening was all their songs. We didn’t win, but did come closer than I expected.

 

We had a local group provide entertainment at sail away again. This was a group of drummers along with a flag bearer. It is a nice way to leave.

 

Here we have today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a few pictures of Kochi –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

09/25/2024 Kochi, Japan 0800-1700

 

Today Westerdam visits Kochi. We were scheduled to arrive at 8:00am, but it is now 7:20 and we appear to be tied up to the dock. We will see if guests are allowed to leave early.

 

The temperature is again 73°F /23°C, with a humidity of 78%. The skies are overcast and the winds are about 7 mph. It looks to be a very pretty day.

 

Last night the show on the main stage was ‘The Sounds of Summer’ with the World Stage Reparatory Company. It was a good, action filled show featuring songs of the Beach Boys, ABBA, and others. The singers are good and the dancing enjoyable.

 

I didn’t mention the show the night before. It was a drum show from a local group. They seemed very talented and put on a nice show. I enjoy the fact that HAL tries to use local talent when they can so show other cultures.

 

Here are today’s activities and menus –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some views from the Osaka Ferris Wheel, it was only $6.26 each for a nice ride

 

 

 

 

20 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

The Volendam (and Zaandam) still have some cabins with shower curtains. Those went out of style a decade ago.

I am on Westerdam right now and my cabin has a shower curtain. Who is the authority that makes them 'out of style'?? Probably contractors that wish to make a ton of money 'upgrading' bathrooms.

 

 

8 hours ago, POA1 said:

It's entirely possible that you already covered this in your live from thread, but I am going to take the lazy way out and just ask.

 

For the new Pinnacle Grill lunch menu that you posted: What's the price?

 

Thank you in advance.

 

34 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

I'm curious as well. The Navigator app currently shows the new menus for lunch and dinner, with lunch at $19 and dinner at $46. This is for a Zuiderdam cruise in November - it'll be interesting to see if that's really accurate. Knowing HAL, I'm not holding my breath!

 

Sue/WDW1972

 

I walked by the Pinnacle Grill yesterday and asked. I was told that the lunch price was still $19 plus the 18% Gratuity add on. That doesn't include, of course, any upcharged items on the menu.

 

09/24/2024 Kobe/Osaka, Japan overnight-1900

 

Today is our second day in Osaka. The skies are overcast with a prediction of rain later in the day. The temperature is 73°F /23°C, with a humidity of 75% and winds of about 13 mph. Right now it is a pretty day around the ship.

 

I already posted pictures from last night, we are going to walk a little further a bit later today, then prepare for a 7:00pm departure. Night time departures, with the lights of the city shining brightly, are very nice.

 

I keep running into Guests and Crew who were previously on either the ‘23 World Cruise or the ‘24 Grand Australia cruise with me. It seems that once you are on a Grand, you become almost addicted to them and don’t want anything shorter. They are great cruises.

 

As to the question about the shrines I showed pictures of, the first was in a small town about 20 minutes form the port. I don’t remember the name and can’t find it, but the location is 35.10761111N 138.56755556"E (35°06'27.4"N 138°34'03.2"E). The second one is the Minawa Inari Jinja Shrine and is a short distance from the port. The coordinates for the second shrine are: 35.004333N, 138.490275E (35°00'15.6"N 138°29'25.0"E).

 

Here are today’s activites and menus –