richwmn

Osaka, Japanese We arrived on schedule in Osaka. After finishing trivia and a small dinner, we took a walk into the area near the port. Here are some pictures of the port from the ship, and then from our after dinner walk.

We have used a mixture of card and cash. The taxi we used yesterday did take cards and I used it. Small purchases have been in cash so far, but I believe I used the card one other time.

09/23/2024 At Sea, Destination Kobe/Osaka, Japan It is Monday morning on Westerdam and NFL football is on the TV. At 2:00 am we had the Eagles vs the Saints, currently we have the Ravens at the Cowboys, and at 9:20 we will have the Chiefs at the Falcons. The Falcons game will be completed by the time we reach Osaka at 3:30pm. We are currently headed Northwest at 13 knots. The current temperature is 75°F / 24°C under overcast skies. The humidity is at 67%, and the winds are at 17 mph. I checked earlier and the high temperature in Osaka is expected to be 81°F. Looks to be a nice day today. For sail away yesterday we had another group of school kids do a couple of dances for us. A large group of people gathered on the promenade deck to watch a nice series of contemporary dances. The kids seemed to be having a lot of fun. There was a large group of spectators watching us leave. Today’s activities and menus –

I thought I fixed our destination, oh well. We will be arriving at Osaka at 3:30 on the 23rd (our tomorrow) and stay overnight.

Mt Fuji this afternoon

Mt Fuji this afternoon

Today in Shimizu We arrived around 7:30 and the wind and currents made it difficult to position the ship at the berth. We required more than one attempt to get the ship properly positioned. Once the ship was in place and the paperwork done, we were allowed to leave the ship. However, it was raining when we first arrived, so we delayed leaving the ship until about 9:30, when it was just misting. Once off the ship we spent a couple of minutes negotiating with the taxi stand to use a cab for an hour to see the area and two shrines. They ended up with a quote of 7,700 yen, which works out to about $55. We agreed and off we went. After a bit of a scenic ride we arrived at the first shrine. We had noticed quite a bit of traffic headed back toward the pier so we agreed to just return to the ship to stay under the hour we had agreed to. However, our driver wanted to make sure we saw the second shrine, so we went there. After visiting the second shrine, we returned to the ship. It was a very nice ride thru a scenic waterfront area. Our driver was very good, the cab was clean and decorated. A nice time for a reasonable price.

09/22/2024 Shimizu, Japan 0800-1800 Another day aboard Westerdam, we are just a short time out of Shimizu. We are headed North at a brisk 18 knots. The temperature is 79°F / 26°C under broken clouds. The humidity is 87% and the winds are at 21 mph. The forecast I saw yesterday indicated that we might have some rain today. Yesterday was another very hot day in Yokohama. The heat index was again around 100°F. In answer to a question yesterday ( @jay888 ), I live in the South so I handled it better than most. The main thing that is stressed is to drink, mostly water. Don’t overdue it. Rest when tired. Victoriia handled trivia at 1 & 4. The early trivia showed distorted pictures of celebrities and we had to identify them. The pictures showed only the eyes, moved next to the nose, the nose, and the lips. They were all difficult and we got four right, the other team that played got five right for the win. The second session was general and we did ok. Jose was back for the final session with songs with peoples names. Again the winning team got almost a perfect score. Sail-away from Yokohama was beautiful. The city really has a nice skyline and it was well lit. The ferris wheel has lights on it that can be programmed to look like fireworks and it is a nice effect. 20240921_211359.mp4 Today's activities and menus --

Leaving Yokohama tonight https://www.facebook.com/share/v/EQ6LWjEFezLCUDAh/

A little more information on Hakodate from a friend The museum of Northern peoples is small but comprehensive, documenting the lives of the Ainu people, including canoe building, and unique clothing designs. There is a very small shop with items in the local designs such as tiny fridge magnets, earrings etc. There is also an interactive section for paper cutting and musical instruments. Cost is 300 yen (about 2 dollars). Mount Hakodate (1100feet) can be reached by a hiking trail or by ‘ropeway’ ie a gondola. Not that scary but if you don’t like heights, stand in the middle. 3 minutes to the landing but an additional 3 flights of stairs to the top platform. Views of the town, bays, extinct volcanoes ...and your ship in the harbour. Cost 1800 yen return (about $12)

09/21/2024 Yokohama, Japan -ovn--2100 So it is now day two in Yokohama, and it is again very hot. My phone tells me that it is 86° F and with the humidity if feels like 97°. The ship tells me that it is also 86°F / 30°C with a humidity of 66% and winds of 22 mph. While typing the phone temperature just went up to 87°. The skies are cloudy and the sun is very bright. Impressions of Yokohama. The skyline of the city is basically the same as any large metropolitan area. Any time you read about Japan, one of the things that is mentioned is that the people are extremely polite and try very hard to be helpful. That is definitely something I have found so far. It seems that almost everyone has a smart phone with a translate app and it does make things a lot easier, although translation is an inexact science. Japan is also very clean, and that is refreshing. It was funny that while walking around we couldn’t find a trash can, so we ended up carrying some trash back to the ship and discarded it there prior to boarding. We were back on board the ship for two trivia sessions, at 4:00pm and 8:30pm. We did well on both, winning the early session and coming close on the late. The late session was music with a theme of Love. Jose has been doing a marvelous job of hosting trivia and it has been fun. On the World Stage last night for two shows we had a group of fourteen young singers and dancers who performed a show highlighting Japanese traditional dancing. I did find it a bit strange that the announcer said that the dances were from Okinawa, not the Yokohama area. It was a very good show with two dragons that went out into the audience and teased the guests. Today's activities and menus -- Some views of Yokohama

Unfortunately HAL's website was better when it was an amateurish in-house design. It has been out-sourced for several years. Maybe when the current contract runs out they will get a better design team.

09/20/2024 Yokohama, Japan 0800-ovn- Good morning from Westerdam, on the final approach to Yokohama. We are currently traveling about 12 knots due North. The temperature is 81°F / 27°C, the skies are overcast with a humidity of 94% and winds at 4.5 mph. In response to a question a bit earlier ( @wilpower ) I will list the ships officers again. I posted them before just after I got on the ship and before the first announcement from the information on the TV. I didn’t realize the Captain’s name was wrong until I checked this morning. Captain Mark has been with us the entire cruise. Ship’s Officers Captain – Mark Andrew Trembling – London, England Cruise and Travel Director – Karlijn Verpalen – Netherlands Staff Captain – Leon Luncan – Romania Chief Engineer – Robert Vlaardingerbroek – Netherlands Environmental Engineer – Stephen Rockliffe – United Kingdom Hotel General Manager – Francois Birarda – France Assistant Hotel Manager – Johan De Vries – Indonesia Food & Beverage Manager – George Nurchandra – Indonesia Executive Chef – Noorul Ali – India Future Cruise Consultant – Melane Bruwer – South Africa We are about two hours away from docking in Yokohama, and a little more than that from being able to leave the ship. It appears that Yokohama is a very walkable port and we plan to see a lot of it that way. We also have two full days to explore the city. Yesterday was a nice day at sea. We had the normal activities and everything seemed to be well attended. The staff is still doing a great job of taking care of us. Yesterday was a dress up night and a large number of guests participated in that. We managed to win the second session of trivia, while the final music trivia, with a theme of ‘One Hit Wonders’ was won by a group of musicians sitting behind us. They missed one artist. The show on the World Stage last night was a comic named Helene Angley billed as ‘the Tall Blonde Comic’. She has a very good act and had the capacity audience laughing. Her routine was maybe a bit edgy, but not bad considering her audience. The last two nights have had very good entertainment on the World Stage. Dinner was in the Lido with a couple from Michigan, the same ones we shared a shuttle to the ship with. They are a great couple and we had a very nice evening. For the dressy night the Lido had a filet and shrimp meal that was very good. The meal ended with an Apple Tart which everyone had and was delicious. Here are today’s activites and menus –

Housekeeping I became aware of a couple of things and I need to add a few comments. First and foremost, I didn’t mention the show last night on the World Stage. The performer was a Japanese Juggler named Tempei. Now I can understand people thinking that a juggler might not be much of a show, but this guy is really good and is also a magician. While juggling he was constantly moving around the stage, and his card tricks were done to a camera that placed a large image on the screen. Even with the extreme closeup provided, it was impossible to see how the tricks were performed. His comments were very good and kept up most of the time he was on stage. If you ever see him on the schedule, he is worth the effort to attend. Second, the Captain was pleased to announce this afternoon that arrangements have been made for us to arrive in Osaka at 3:30pm on the 23rd, rather than the morning of the 24th. The announcement letter to the cabins included information for two reasonable ($109.95) shore excursions for the evening. They are Osaka by Night for 2.5 hours and Panoramic Osaka for 2 hours. This is something a bit unique. Also, the Captain will be leaving the ship in the hands of the Staff Captain for a couple of days. It appears that he has to attend a meeting in Seattle of all the Captains for planning and whatever. He said he had planned his return flight so that he would be away from the ship for as short a time as possible. So far, this has been a very good cruise and I am glad to have the opportunity to visit Japan.

The Day in Hakodate, Japan ‘The Best of Hakodate’ As I mentioned earlier, I took a long HAL tour yesterday. It was a bit disorganized to begin with and did get a bit better. The tour promised four highlights and at least came thru with that promise. We were on bus number 6 (I know I said 8 earlier, there were 8 buses). Our tour leader was Roy, and he had an assistant. We also had a separate driver. Roy was an animated leader and had quite a bit to say while transiting from place to place. His english was good and he was easy to understand. The first stop was Goryōkaku Tower and Star Shaped Fort. This was a short ride from the ship and Roy gave us some information while we traveled. We arrived at the tower and got in a line to ride an elevator to the top. This commanded a very good view of the fort and the city in general. We then took a flight of stairs down to another observation area and gift shop. From there it was an elevator back to the second floor, then down more stairs to the first level and a big gift shop. After a few minutes we proceeded to the fort. The fort itself was very impressive. Once inside the grounds are well kept and seem to be used for local activities. The big attraction inside was the old Magistrate’s Office. The story goes that it was burned down and after finding an old picture of it, they rebuilt it to look like the original. After the fort, we were back on the bus to the Hakodate Morning Market. This is simply a large shopping area, with a large selection of sea food. Everything was very fresh and well displayed. The prices also seemed reasonable. I did hear some grumbling from a couple of the guests that it should have been the first stop since the market was just a short walk from the ship, but I’m sure that a good reason exists for the choice. After the fort we proceeded to a hotel where we had a nice Japanese lunch. Given the location and food, I made my first semi successful attempt to use Chop Sticks. The food was good, but not exactly to my taste. I do feel that if I was to have an extended stay in Japan I could learn to enjoy it. After lunch we went to a local museum mostly dedicated to the indigenous peoples of the area. It was very interesting and Roy (our guide) provided some extra, interesting, commentary. The museum contained a large inventory of artifacts from the early times on the island. After the museum we went to Mount Hakodate. There was a ride to the top of the mountain which I chose to skip and stayed in the bus. Those that did ride to the top had another good view of the city. Once everyone returned to the bus we proceeded back to the ship. We arrived back a few minutes before the promised 4:00pm. All in all, it was a pretty good day. However, I was reminded why I pretty much stay away from HAL tours. While our bus had 29 guests, there was another bus (number 4) that stayed with us all day with their own leader. That made a total of about 60 people arriving at attractions at the same time. I believe we got priority elevator access at the tower, but other than that, no special treatment. There is just something about walking in a large group. Also, the length of the tour was a bit much. I’ll stick to shorter excursions, both with and without HAL, in the future.

09/19/2024 At Sea Destination Yokohama, Japan eta 09-20 Good morning from another sea day. We are headed South at 15 knots, the temperature is 73°F / 23°C. We are sailing under scattered clouds with a humidity of 83% and winds of about 10 mph. It looks to be a pretty day aboard Westerdam. After breakfast I’m going to spend a little time making a separate post about Hakodate. For now, shipboard activities for yesterday. We had a normal breakfast in the Lido. It is never crowded when we eat early, or almost never. Service was quick and the food was good. We took a seven hour HAL tour yesterday entitled ‘The Best of Hakodate’. We were asked to meet in the World Stage at 8:45 and were scheduled to leave at 9:00am. It turns out that eight buses were doing that tour. Our bus had 29 Guests, so assuming each bus had about the same 240 people signed up for that tour. A majority of the people were seated near the exit (of course). The crew member in charge tried to control the line by asking only those in a particular section to get in line, but that didn’t work. Most people went ahead and got in line. We ended up on bus 8, and left a little after 9. After the tour was over we arrived back at Westerdam a little before 4:00pm, right on schedule and in time for the second trivia session. We managed to get 15 right and won the game. Dinner in the lido, then the late music trivia and we called it a night. The late trivia theme was places, and the same team got a perfect score again. Today’s activities and menus –

Not POA1, but the answer is yes. However, the username and password for internet is now your cabin number and birthdate, not the password you use for your online account.

Since HAL doesn't generally assign boarding times you might have assumed that OP was talking about another line. In general, you show up at any time after about 10:30 and the porters will take your luggage. Check in will start shortly after that, then you go to a waiting room in the terminal until the ship is ready. The last thing that has to be completed in US ports is that the 'In Transit Passengers' remaining on board have to be accounted for, generally be parading them off the ship and thru immigration. When that is complete, the new guests can start to board. All it takes is one 'In Transit' to mess up the start of the boarding process.

Today’s activities and menus –

Since I have a beverage package I haven't really thought about 'Happy Hour', so I just looked. Today and yesterday the Daily Program lists a Happy Hour at 4:00pm in Billboard and Ocean Bar. It is the final listing for the 4:00pm slot and has a grey background. Unfortunately, it appears that is the only one for the day.

Kushiro, Japan – We had an interesting start to the day. It was well publicized in advance that we would be going thru immigration and customs today. We were given forms to fill out in advance, and had to go to Guest Services and pick up a ticket to schedule a time to meet with immigration. The process was supposed to start at 8:30am. Japanese Officials got on the ship a little late, but not much. Shortly afterward there was an announcement that they were having trouble connecting their equipment. We were scheduled at 10:00am, but ended up going thru around 11:30. The process was quick once we got to the head of the line. A picture and scan of both index fingers, followed by a quick scan of our passports and a sticker was added and they collected the immigration form. After we exited the ship, we went thru a check point that collected the customs form after a quick glance at it. The shuttles ran continuously, we got on one quickly, and after a short ride we were in town at MOO. This is a big shopping area inside a building of three floors. This is similar to a market I saw in Sydney, Australia in 2019. After touring that market for a while we exited and walked around town a bit. It is similar to other towns around the world and I enjoyed the walk. We then explored MOO a little bit more, then joined the shuttle back to the ship. All in all, a nice first stop in Japan.

I did Vancouver to Auckland in 2019, but not Auckland to Vancouver.

09/17/2024 Kushiro, Japan 0800-1700 It is 5am on Westerdam. We will be in Japan shortly. It appears that the problem with the weather information might have been fixed. It is currently showing 63°F / 17°C under overcast skies. The humidity is 83% and the winds are at 11 mph. Looks like our first day in Japan might be nice. Once the ship is berthed we have to undergo customs and immigration, after which we will be free to leave the ship. We will have a shuttle available to take us a short distance into town, which I’m told is a nice place to walk around. As always, there was trivia yesterday. On Westerdam Jose has it scheduled three times a day. We are always close, and sometimes happen to win. That happened yesterday for the early trivia. The late session was entitled ‘Duets’ but was a little vague as to what was considered a duet. For instance ‘Under Pressure’ with Queen and David Bowie was one of the featured songs. It was still a fun evening and we almost won. As I have mentioned before, most of my meals are in the Lido and are early in the service times. At that time the seating area is usually very open and getting a table is easy. For some reason the seating area was close to full at 7am yesterday. I did manage to get a good breakfast. The piano duo continues to play and because their set is just before trivia, I generally listen to around 10 minutes of their set each day. I feel that their sets are uneven, and I have been told they sing everything in the same key and are sometimes off. Rolling Stone Lounge has been rocking the entire cruise. They have a full venue each night and people are up dancing for the entire time. While others don’t seem to mind, I feel that they are to loud and unless I’m at the back I don’t stay long. They are very good musicians and I would be happier if the volume was down a bit. Enough people don’t mind that, so I’ll just stay at the back and enjoy them for a while. For the past few nights we have been ending the night in the Crow’s Nest. Last night was no exception and the bartenders were very entertaining. It was a nice way to end the evening. Today’s activities and menus –

I just left trivia with Jose and told him your comments. He said thank you!

This is correct if each of you has an individual internet package, either paid for or part of HIA. The question her is if two people can share a plan for multiple devices, and they can, which would be less expensive per device.