August 24, 2025

Day 4 off the Ship - doing land tour of Japan ( versus Ports)

Japan's immigration laws make it only possible to get off the ship once in one port and get back on in another port, without going to a foreign country in between. Therefore we had to combine our time off in Tokyo and Kyoto. The bullet train or Shinkansen is an amazing way to travel between the two towns going at a speed of 175 to 200 mph. It took just 2 hours and 15 minutes and was super smooth. We split a Chicken bento box for lunch and got to see most of Mt. Fuji out the window as we speed by mid trip.

WOW!!   THE HEAT WAVE HIT US AS SOON AS WE WALKED OUT OF KYOTO STATION. It was warm in Tokyo, 89 - 91 degrees but KYOTO is off the charts, in high 90's and humid!! OMG!!  We made it to our hotel and AC as quick as we could! Thank goodness it does cool off a bit once the sun goes down - so we ventured out for a walk and our first sights of Kyoto. Our hotel was only a few blocks away from the Kamo River and there was a bit of breeze down there, along with a ton of people. We wandered the narrow alleyways of the Poncho area and found a little sushi restaurant for dinner. After dinner we wandered some more, watching street performers and enjoying some ice cream on our walk back to the Hotel.

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COLONIA, YAP STATE, MICRONESIA

By Patricia Patrick • October 16, 2025
Got to love a place that sells shirts saying " Where the heck is Yap? " Colonia ( population 3,100 ) is the Capital and Harbor town of Yap State ( population 11,600 ) one of four states in the Federated States of Micronesia. We are in the Pacific Ocean or Philippine Sea just north of the equator, Papua New Guinea and Australia.

TERNATE, INDONESIA

By Patricia Patrick • October 13, 2025
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.

CEBU, PHILIPPINES

By Patricia Patrick • October 10, 2025
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.