A plug for Cruise Critic.

[pedro47]

Jim, please do not use your internet posting to us.
Jim, Please just enjoy your cruise and when you return. Please tell us all about your cruise.

 

[GrayFal]

I have booked a cruise with good friend @mpizza starting in Singapore and ending in Tokyo. Can’t wait! 2021.

 

[Passepartout]

I have booked a cruise with good friend @mpizza starting in Singapore and ending in Tokyo. Can’t wait! 2021.

Will that be on Celebrity Millennium? That itinerary would be the reverse of the one we're on, plus the next 14 nights Hong Kong to Singapore. Some new friends we've been seeing castles & gardens around Kobe, Osaka & Kyoto are continuing after we come home.

We've been self catering tours with a guide and using public transport. We saw a lot of the inside of buses, taxis & trains, but save a lot of money.

Two more full days in Japan before a sea day then a ship's tour in Shanghai.

I'm tired!

Jim

 

[Glynda]

Jim, are you on Celebrity's 14 day Japan, China & Taiwan Cruise? I've been on Celebrity checking them out. Looks like a great itinerary.

 

[Passepartout]

Jim, are you on Celebrity's 14 day Japan, China & Taiwan Cruise? I've been on Celebrity checking them out. Looks like a great itinerary.

Yep. That's the one. It's a little port intensive, but after we finish Japan tomorrow, it will start to sprinkle in some sea days so we can relax.

 

[Passepartout]

I wonder how I double posted the above post. Just be the palsy sneaking in. Oh well. I hate to waste a post by just saying [Deleted]. Meanwhile, here's the So. China Sea from our balcony.

 

[RX8]

View attachment 15119 Hibachi-ing (is that a word?) Kobe beef after a long day of self-catered sightseeing in Kobe. My pedometer showed over 20000 steps. A lot for us old kermudgeons!

You must have been running towards that delicious looking food because the picture is blurry.

 

[Passepartout]

Here's a nice photo of a garden in Cochi, Japan, an island in the South of Japan.

Very clean and friendly place. Great food. I recommend it.

Jim

 

[Cornell]

Here's a nice photo of a garden in Cochi, Japan, an island in the South of Japan.View attachment 15136
Very clean and friendly place. Great food. I recommend it.

Jim

Wow -- Love this. I went to Japan for the first time last summer and it was possibly the best vacation I ever took. ENJOY. I love Japanese gardens and their appreciation for nature.

 

[Passepartout]

Lunch on Thanksgiving at Sangen Garden Kagoshima, Japan. Probably the best classical Japanese garden we saw on this trip.

 

[Passepartout]

VOLCANO!
We were waiting for a bus in Kagoshima this morning. Several Japanese near us pointed, yelled, pulled out cameras. Sakurajima, the volcano that towers over the city was ERUPTING! No one seemed particularly surprised, and later, after clouds rolled in and shrouded it said we were very lucky to have seen it. Eruptions are common- it's one of the world's largest active volcanos- but we saw it within seconds of the beginning. A first for me!

 

[Glynda]

Wow! Good timing for you!

 

[Passepartout]

I feel like my mother not wanting in-home care for my Dad because "what would they do all day?" What exactly would a butler do for me and why would I want him/her underfoot?

Well, finally, a sea day. We can relax after a week of travel, running around. Sightseeing.

This is Nelson, our butler. He brings coffee, holds seats at the theatre for us, brings ice, of course straightens up the cabin. He will make reservations in any restaurant, unpack, get laundry done, pressed, hung in the closet, shine shoes, if we are returning late from a private tour, he can hold the ship to be sure we are aboard before sailing. He's handy without being underfoot.

THIS, I can get used to..
Jim

 

[Passepartout]

OK, this is the night before flying home. Every night at 8:00 pm, the city of Hong Kong does a laser and fireworks show. From our vantage point we couldn't see much of it. They've built a HUGE new cruise terminal where the old Kai Tak Airport was so this is a good place to originate or end a cruise.

What a City! Here's the night skyline:

Too big a picture to put side by side.
Be home soon, via Seoul.

Jim

 

[pedro47]

Thanks Jim, for your review and photos. What a great Far East cruise.

Jim, I feel you are going to miss Nelson, when you return home. LOL.

 

[Passepartout]

Jim, I feel you are going to miss Nelson, when you return home. LOL.

I am. But he and several of our favorite crew members who joined Millie after her dry dock & $5 Mil refurb in February are going home tomorrow at the end of their 10 month contract. Nelson will go to the new Apex to train other butlers. He is in his 12th year with Celebrity.
Yeah, when I throw my towels on the floor, I'll be the one picking them up. So it goes. . .

We have over a month already booked on X in 2020.

Jim