Days 35 & 36 - "The Chunk" - August 29/30th

The Chunk?  This is the 7 day blat across the north pacific from Japan to Alaska.  Seas are very smooth and the weather is getting cooler but so far, still with decent sunshine each day.  The constant 1 hour a day forward means we tend to sleep latish, but that is fine. We don’t have to get up early anyway.  We did get a note on our beds informing us that we do indeed have a novo virus on board and reminding us that we must observe good hygiene practices, so the stricter regime continues.

Morning trivia continues with scores of around 12 to 14 and some may have noticed that we are not bowling as much these days – if at all.  The timing shift hasn’t worked and the format has changed as we preferred the straight knock outs.  The team bowling usually means just one roll, having queued up for ages, as it is still very popular.

On the Wednesday (day 35) we went to comedy juggler Jeff Bradley (from either USA or Canada) and enjoyed it.  Not too much juggling other than the famous W. C. Fields 11 cigar box act which he did very well, but fake knives through the arm had a few wincing.

After a dinner for six of us, we went to the theatre to American vocal impressionist Tony pace.  What a great show and a standing ovation too.  We then retired to the atrium for a late hot chocolate and Tony appeared, just watching all the dancers enjoying themselves.  I went over and thanked him for the show and he came over and joined four of us and then Alana joined us.  What a really nice guy he is too.

After a discussion on feedback regarding entertainers, Alana told us of one cruise they were on where they had an official complaint.  Seems that one guy complained that he wanted to join in the Karaoke but some blonde woman hogged the mike all night.  Her singing wasn’t too bad but he was upset that he didn’t get a go. It was Alana of course and it is not Karaoke!

Clock an hour again for August 29^th.

 

August 30^th was much the same other than it was formal night.  Although I ordered the lobster and monkfish as my second course, I didn’t care much for the look of the lobster (a bit too much black on the flesh) so I sent it back.

Quiz time with Alan & Alana and with one lady joining us and adding to our musical knowledge, we finished second.  We stayed chatting to Boris and Roma (both Polish) until very late which - was later still by the time the clocks were put BACK 23 hours, so it means that tomorrow is August 30^th – again.  In fact it was about 1:50am before it was lights out.  

So, don’t think I have gone loopy by dating tomorrow’s as August 30^th again.

 

Day 37 - Groundhog Day - August 30th - again

It is definitely getting cooler!  The people sunbathing are showing a lot less skin.

NOT a light breakfast today for a change, as I added poached eggs, bacon, fried onions and toast to the day’s start.  Very nice it was too.

Quiz results were as expected – not first place.

Lunch since the tightening has been restricted to the normal stuff, whereas traditionally on sea days, there is an additional, speciality section.  It is tough for those who are first time cruisers – particularly if they joined at Beijing, as this is not representative of the Dawn Princess food experience.  Although we choose to eat a bit late (after 1:30pm), we miss most of them anyway, but that is our choice.  Thankfully the pineapple has been superb!

The number of reported new novo-virus cases has dropped markedly, but no doubt the restrictions will stay in place for a while anyway.

Just for a change, as there were so many emails in response to the ones we sent out, it was easier to download them, rather than try and read them on the server, which is what I normally do when travelling.

One sender claimed that she had put on 5kgs since we have been away – which just goes to show that  just because we have access to free food, it does not mean that staying home means you won’t indulge.

Just 4 of us for dinner, which concluded with one of my favourite desserts – hot cherries jubilee, with cream.

Just for a change, there was a production show in the smaller Vista lounge – Country Jam.  Enjoyable enough, but I have never seen cowgirls looking that smart!

The day ended as is often the case in the atrium again, where our Cha-Cha on a relatively empty floor elicited a round of enthusiastic applause.  Gee, they must have been bored before...

Clocks forward another hour tonight (and again tomorrow night) so we are now getting used to 23 hour days on this leg.

A very happy birthday to Marilyn back in NZ for August 31^st – whenever that is/was.

We are now half way through this “chunk” and the new ‘rage’ today was bridge vs handicrafts!  Also, last night, Tony tapped on the shoulder of the big guy in front, who was moving around then sitting well forwards and blocking his view in the theatre, and was threatened afterwards with fisticuffs!   Life is never dull on board.  Just something else to incorporate into the video, along with the previous laundry rage, queue rage, Mah Jong/chess rage and so on.

 

Day 34 - Yokohama welcomes the Dawn Princess in style - August 28th

With so many devices to keep up to time, plus so many changes, it was rather unfortunate that somehow, I managed to set the alarm on my watch for 5:45am last night - but forgot to change the time.  Fortunately, it didn’t really upset Paula too much as she was out of bed really early to enjoy the sail into the amazing pier of Yokohama port.  Yokohama is Japan’s second largest city.  At about 5:30am – by which time I was up anyway, the piped music from the pier was playing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, as we berthed on our side of the ship.

What is so amazing about a pier? Well, if the combination of millions of strips of wood screwed down with stainless screws forming amazing shapes wasn’t enough, add in the hobbit like semi underground halls, with a recreational area, complete with grass, above. What this means is that there is no boring concrete edifice spoiling the skyline, with wasted lofty interiors.

Many local residents were out early, some to greet the ship and many just to exercise out in the fresh air.  Underneath, the customs entrance hall is also a dark timbered floor, but ceilings are low and when we returned later in the day, there were several stalls set up.  Height is great in a building’s interior but in a utility building like this, can be  a total waste, so in this instance, the architects have come up with a design where from the outside, you wouldn’t even know there was a two storey building under the boardwalk.

We headed for the buffet early (of course) but I opted to supplement my light breakfast with a couple of Imodium pills, as 4 hours on a bus with a rumbling tum was a gamble I wasn’t prepared to take.

Unfortunately, we were fairly near the end of the queue for bus 9 and we were led through to the terminal building for a fingerprinting - both index fingers at the same time, in twin readers.  At least 25% of people failed this and were sent elsewhere, so our queue didn’t move too quickly.  (Having had a face to face with the Japanese on board the ship and issued with a photocopy of your passport to take ashore, quite what the purpose is of the finger-printing I am not at all sure.  At least it was just the two fingers and not all fingers and thumbs and an eye scan as in a US airports – but not sea ports.)  We were therefore almost last on the coach and had to sit right at the back, which was fine, as we had more legroom than the average business class aircraft seat.

The run to Tokyo was surprisingly smooth, given that we were on the road about 7:30.  Yokohama and Tokyo almost merge, so there was no run of green fields and forests before hitting the centre of Tokyo.  Our city tour trundled around until the seemingly early time of 9:30, going past the Imperial Palace which seems to occupy a very large city site, but is only open to the public twice a year.  Today wasn’t one of those days.  At 9:30 we alighted at the Tokyo tower, a somewhat odd representation of the Eiffel tower, but painted bright orange and white.  After the impressive modern towers in Shanghai, this was not exactly something that was a true representation of Japan.

After the usual, ritual, wheelchair unloading from the coach, holding up everyone else, we eventually collected our tickets, queued, then crammed ourselves into the lift up to the observation platform, whereupon the resident wag, in a loud voice exclaimed, “Sorry to disappoint you, madam, but that was my walking stick.”

The observation deck and the view was nothing compared to Shanghai, as the view was just of city buildings for as far as the eye could see in just about all directions.  Signs on the (enclosed) platform point to various points of interest and the sign to Mt Fuji was 97kms and in the heat, was of course, well out of our viewing range.  From what we can gather, on a winter’s day,  Mt Fuji is visible from here.  The trip back down to the ‘shopping’ floor was uneventful and the various stalls had heaps of merchandise, but almost all would only deal with Yen, not USD.  Fair enough I suppose, but as most passengers just can’t be bothered to change into local currency for a one day short stop, they miss out on many souvenir sales.  With today having at least 500 passengers, all happy to spend say $5 each, I suspect they lost out rather more than we did.  It is pointless accumulating piles of change in local currencies wherever we go, as the leftovers are usually only worth a few dollars and by the time you have been changed $6 transaction fee, it isn’t worth it.

We did hear of various stories regarding ATM machines though, ranging from “They only accept Japanese cards”, to “Minimum withdrawal, ¥1,000” (over $100USD – I think) even on Visa cards.

We had to be back on the coach 10:30am.  The wheelchair bound arrived at 10:38... People are not at all impressed and more and more are just opting to sort out their own tours, or take care of their own arrangements.  We opt generally for short tours and whether they are easy with no steps, or with steps is not our consideration, just the length, but it seems that most of these short tours are also classed as easy, but it doesn’t take into account getting on and off the coaches.

We headed back to Yokohama and the last 500m could easily have been mistaken for France, as the pavement cafe’s did not look Japanese at all.  Back at that superb pier building, Paula managed to find one stall holder with signs in USD, so she bought a couple of shot glasses, so that should stop her swigging the port from the bottle in the night!

As I wrote yesterday, the ship was undergoing a massive sanitising programme today.  Our cabin was stripped, devoid of bed linen, toiletries, toilet paper, tissues, towels, drinking glasses etc., so we headed up for lunch.

The cabin still wasn’t ready on our return, so we headed out back for a lounge, but even in the shade, it was rather warm, so we headed back inside and found a cool spot in the vista lounge for a while.  The cabin was eventually done and after our own clean up, just before gangway lifting, the pier came alive with the sound of music.  Wow!

There was a school band of young teenage girls, who marched along the pier and back again before assembling about half way along the pier, level with the ship’s deck 7.  We opted to stay and watch from our cabin, as they put on a most accomplished and polished musical performance.   We just loved it.  With one or two featured soloists playing a real mix of music, these young girls were really talented and got a huge and thoroughly deserved response from the ship.  No sheet music either.

We sailed away to the strains to a spirited rendition of “When the Saints go Marching In”, though maybe that should have been the arrival number, rather than “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.   The crowd on the pier was large and this was a fantastic send off, with lots of waving.

A good visit and we can see now why many so many people love visiting Japan.  Clean and friendly - not a fatty in sight anywhere.

Whilst in Tokyo City, it was pointed out by our guide, that the city men are still in white shirts and black trousers, but are now wearing short sleeved shirts and no ties.  Sensible.  On a hot day like today I can’t now imagine anything worse than having to wear a collar and tie, but thinking back, it was never an excuse during most of my working life, regardless of the weather.  The times are a changing.

Just after sailaway we opted to go and see the comedian, American Jack Mayberry, but scheduling an act at sailaway time is not a very good idea and after the show, we, along with the few passengers who witnessed the show, probably decided that we would have been better off enjoying one of the various sailaway parties too.

After a pleasant dining room dinner, we went to the atrium and Alan’s entertainment trivia quiz, with M & M.  We didn’t do too well at that one either!  No dancing as Paula’s twisted her knee on the coach, so that needs a bit of R & R.

Clocks now go forwards an hour a night as we do “The Chunk”.  Seven days at sea heading straight across to Alaska, so there won’t be any exciting or interesting blogs for a while – not that there ever were of curse.

Who knows?  Maybe even Paula will find the time to write a personal email or two.

Marilyn has a BIG birthday coming up back in NZ, but we are crossing the international date line about then.  I think we get two August 30^ths on board, which confuses everyone!  So I‘ll just change the dates in my diary, so that when we fly out of San Francisco September 14^th, arriving in NZ on September 16^th, I won’t have a blank page in it.

 

Day 33 - Guess what, another sea day - but an exciting one - August 27th

Paula found  a new cure for the night coughs – a swig of port!  Regardless of the almost daily clock changes, we still seem to be able to sleep fairly late and today was no exception, so by the time we got sorted it was almost 10am.  Paula missed her Zumba class yet again...  Continuing the strict and sparse breakfast regime is made so much easier now that there are queues at every single station waiting to be served – and still there are passengers who don’t seem to grasp the importance of hand sanitising every time they enter the buffet.  Information on the numbers affected are of course not available but we believe it is over 100.

(The rumour about the ship flying the red flag has not been substantiated so the comment in an earlier post has been deleted for obvious reasons.)

Our relaxed and distinctly less than energetic regime still contains the quizzes, and we excelled ourselves today with 18/20.  The only two we got wrong were:

Q: What fabric was invented in Nimes (France).

A: Denim... Doh!

Q: By what name was the 1919 Volstedt Act in the USA better known.

A: Prohibition

But we lost out to two teams who managed 20/20...

‘Our’ atrium waitress was somewhat shocked by an order of tea (for Paula) but just iced water for me.

We then retired to the cabin to watch the film “Salmon Fishing in The Yemen”.  What a great film.

Lunch was yet another soup plus pineapple.  We stopped to chat to M & M for a while, then things got really interesting.

All the outer decks and cabins in section 7 on decks 9, 10 & 11 (the aft end of the ship) had to be cleared, in preparation for a helicopter evacuation.  The crew were extremely impressive as they also had to clear all the deck furniture from the central pool area, even though the helicopter wasn’t landing and was just going to hover over the rear of the ship, way back.  Entertainment staff, office staff, security staff, cabin staff, engineers, accountant, maintenance, were all involved in what was a well organised drill.  Yet, even though there were several PA announcements, ordering all passengers indoors, 20 minutes later, whilst many of us had taken refuge in the Horizon Court with its glass panels, there were still three or four passengers outside at the front on decks 14 and 15, either totally oblivious or just plain awkward, until security eventually rounded them up, to cheers from the horizon court!

The whole exercise took the best part of two hours and even though we made it back to our cabin (section 6 wasn’t locked down) we couldn’t see a thing, even though we could hear the helicopter hovering above.

That rather threw our plans for a swim right out the window.

We managed the early ‘variety’ show in the theatre which was basically a couple of numbers by the new singers/dancers cast, three from Australian vocalist Jennifer Green, followed by a duet with Michael Montgomery, before his three numbers.  I have to say I am not a great fan of vocalists though Michael is very impressive.

Just six of us on the table for a pleasant meal then due to Alan still being out of action, the Dawn Princess orchestra played a jazz concert in the atrium, where the young half of “Duo Yelba” took over lead guitar, then a passenger played along with a small trumpet for a couple of numbers and later, another passenger took over the piano.  Good fun and an appreciative audience.  Not really my kind of jazz though.

With an early start tomorrow, even with the clocks back yet again, we opted to turn in early but watched a bit of TV and a bit of reading.

Yokohama tomorrow and for us, a bus tour to Tokyo which returns about 11:30.  We don’t really know what to expect but meanwhile, the ship is going to go through a major sanitisation clean up – and we do mean major.  

Day 32 - At sea yet again - August 26th

Thank goodness, a decent night’s sleep and I felt so much better for that!  Even though I felt almost back to normal, I stuck to the light regime of the parfait and orange juice – still no coffee...  The fog and mist from the night gradually lifted and it turned into a rather pleasant day.

After the morning trivia (no, we didn’t win) we headed for the atrium and I hit the coffee.  Felt much more normal after that.

Thane and Tony from our afternoon quiz team joined us and after a while I decided that I’d better try the on board salon for a long overdue haircut, but they couldn’t fit me in until 5:30.

Up to lunch and stuck to the excellent cauliflower soup and a couple of wedges of fresh pineapple.  Note how good I have been about avoiding the bread rolls?

Just for a change, we escaped the cabin, even with an open door, and laid out on the rear of deck 11, where I even managed a bit of colouring to my fair skin.

Up for the haircut and I had expected a charge of $39 so was pleasantly surprised to get a bill for $28AUD.  Double what I’d pay on land of course, but the lady (from Bulgaria) did do a very good job and seemed very grateful for the tip!  Paula was really pleased of course.

Dinner was a full table and I probably ate as much then as in the previous 2 days so normality has returned – almost, as the on board sickness is still causing a few problems.  Latest victim is Alan, so Alana did the “ABC” quiz on her own.  We joined George and Helen,  Bev & Lynne.  Boy, were George and Lynne quick!  We managed 24/26, but lost out again.  There is a team of academics who just have to win every quiz possible.  When will these people learn that trivia is a bit of fun for normal folk,  so if they really want to test their obvious superior knowledge, they could do it without handing in their papers?  Surely, there is a limit to how many cruise lanyards, magnets etc. they really need?  When people from the higher echelons of sport enter lower classes just to win medals, we class them as burglars or pot hunters and it all seems rather pointless to me.  The same applies to the ship quizzes.    

Although bedtime was after 12, the clocks this time are back 1 hour.

Another sea day ahead tomorrow before Yokohama (for Tokyo) where we will be doing a Princess tour.  Although we have never exactly put Japan at the top of our places to visit list, we are looking forward to this stop and it is the last of the ports where English isn’t the first language.

Day 31 - Vladivostok, Vladi good - August 25th

Oh dear.  What a terrible, sleepless night.  I just could not get to sleep and at least excessive caffeine consumption could not be blamed for that.  Day couldn’t come soon enough but I didn’t feel too good, but not bad enough to confine me to the cabin.  An even lighter breakfast of just orange juice was all that I wanted, whilst the buffet staff were flat out serving people.

We had docked early and like many people, had cancelled our official Princess tour, as we had originally been told that unless you were on a Princess tour, you needed a visa to enter Russia.  This was incorrect, though my suspicion is that immigration authorities may change the rules as they think fit at the time.

The ship berthed just one building back from the railway station so no shuttle required.  We walked off OK and Paula spent a couple of dollars on those Russian ‘family’ dolls.  That was fortunate as when she returned later, the stall was almost bare!  I did consider keeping up the table tradition of buying a hat, but they were a bit expensive as a just for fun item, so my money stayed in the pocket yet again.  If the tourism industry relied on people like me for survival, it would be extinct.

We strolled along the street and noticed that although they drive on the right, many vehicles were right hand drive.  No doubt like NZ, many are ex-Japan, second-hand vehicles.  We bumped into M & M, and Malcolm groaned as he was wearing his ‘uniform shirt’ and the very last person he wanted to bump into was me with a camera in my hand. (More of that anon.)  Hard luck Mal.  I got you!

We headed past the square which is being extensively tarted up and bumped into Alan & Alana who told us that the town had been extensively cleaned up since their previous visits.  At this point, I started a bit of coughing and didn’t feel too brilliant so excused myself and headed back to the ship where I happily lay down and had a sleep.

Meanwhile, Paula had carried on to see the submarine, walk through it; photograph the charming little church and walk through the park.  Paula managed to climb through the sections of the submarine, but a fair number of Dawn Princess passengers wouldn’t have been accepted as submariners.   One sprightly 91 year old passenger who speaks fluent Russian opted to taxi back to the ship, muttering “Getting old is sh*t”...

I could happily have enjoyed this city and am sorry that I missed out part of it.

When Paula returned, we hit the buffet where I was happy with nothing more than a bowl of vegetable soup.

Later we went down for an afternoon drink and I decided that I must get back to coffee as soon as possible, but started cautiously with just a single shot flat white instead of my usual two shot black with hot milk on the side.

I felt a lot better later on (must have been the coffee...) and we went to the “Kalinka”, folk loric show.  A packed Princess theatre again.  It started off a bit slow with a male vocalist, doing “Midnight In Moscow” then featured singers dressed in local costume.  The large gentleman playing the balalaika was a hit and the ballroom dance couple were also extremely good.  The troupe invited several members of the audience up on stage to join in at various times, but the biggest hit was the two guys they dressed up as peasant women, to join in the dances!  Paula was disappointed that there was no Cossack dancing, but a popular show anyway.

We opted to avoid the dining room and headed for the buffet instead, where yet again I stuck to a bowl of (potato) soup.  I must have lost a couple of kilos at least with this austere eating regime.

Sailaway was very foggy but apparently, the Russians on the quayside building were three or four deep to wave us away, but as that was port side and we are starboard side, we missed it.  A spirited rendition of “Waltzing Matilda” and the usual war cry of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – Oy, Oy, Oy!” kept them amused.  They stuck it out through the mist and drizzle but the reason that so many were there to wave us off was that they only get three cruise ships a year, so this was a major event for them.  Pity, as this is a place that we’d happily return to and their efforts to clean up the town, must it more attractive for cruise ships.

We stayed in the cabin, away from contracting anything floating about in the air whilst I continued to rapidly recover, but we did hit the buffet again later for yet another bowl of soup.

We now have two days at sea ahead before Japan and I don’t think I can hold out much longer without a haircut.  Paula has started laughing at me.

Nice to get an email from Darryl and Sue who are missing life on board already.

Not sure when this will be uploaded as I don’t know when our access is switched off.

Day 30 - At sea - August 24th

We seem to have packed a lot into this last month and that often means places we wouldn’t normally choose to visit. We are not as adventurous as some, my youngest brother for example, as we are happy with the protection afforded by arriving en masse with a minimum of paperwork and the opportunity to select tours based on generally good information. They say that travel broadens the mind, but one of the common observations and discussion topics on this ship has been that in many cases, it also broadens the waistline...

Sea days on this trip haven’t been quite as full on as in the past, as we have taken the opportunity to relax whenever possible.

Somehow or other, when putting on a clean pair of shorts, I forgot to pop the Robert Timms coffee bag into the pocket, so breakfast was even lighter than usual.  This may have been a big mistake, having not had a decent strong coffee yesterday, so the inevitable signs of caffeine withdrawal crept up on me.

Our port lecture today was Yokohama/Tokyo, the last by Elizabeth Moran.  They have always been well presented and although occasionally, info is a bit out of date, at least you get a better map than the one issued by the ship, which is often next to useless with the ship location often not marked at all.  Her slides of notices in public toilets and on the subway were entertaining. (See pics)

No luck at morning trivia...

Once again there was a curry on the menu – chicken this time and as I write this, I am not too sure whether the curry had anything to do with feeling off colour later or it was just coincidence.

Afternoon trivia – 12/20. We are fairly consistent.

We went to the early (6:30pm) show which starred accordionist Ross Maio.  We had seen Ross last year on the Dawn and he is one of my favourites on the ship.  I think that back in NZ, Murray Wallace and the Thorpes would have appreciated this show.  With no backing tracks and just the synthesiser built into the accordion, 4 speakers on stage, his playing is just superb.

Dinner was a celebration as Mick & Pat celebrated 50 years of marriage so the champagne flowed.  Although I only had one glass, washed down with water, I wasn’t feeling the best.  It appears that like the Sun Princess, we have now been hit by too many people being well and truly off colour, so hygiene standards have been tightened. No salt pots on the table, nor butter and bread rolls.  The waiters served them instead.  The same applies in the buffet where all food and drink has to be via the waiters.  The Captain puts the increase in gastro problems down to the less than hygienic conditions in some of the Asian ports, but no doubt the usual Princess coughs and splutters from many people who choose to freely circulate and spread their germs, doesn’t help.

I was OK to go to the show, which was a rehash of “Piano Man”, with the same music but different costumes.  This was the first show by the replacement cast. A pleasant enough show.

A half strength hot chocolate as a late drink fir a change so not too sure if that is going to help or hinder! 

Clocks forward 1 hour again tonight and Vladivostok tomorrow.

Apparently on leaving Vladivostok, there will be no internet access for the following two sea days.

  

Day 29 - Soggy Busan (Korea) - August 23rd

For just about the first time on this cruise, it was raining for the sail in.  A relatively late arrival (though we were ahead of schedule) at 10am and a 100% hassle free exit from the ship to the free shuttle made this a real doddle.  We (along with many others) are totally bemused by the differences between the various countries regarding red tape, costs, hassles etc.  Our assessment is that the more likely it is that people want to escape from a country, the more likely there is a cost of visiting and a pile of paperwork and rigid border controls to wade through.

One can only assume that the Koreans are quite happy with their lot in life.

Shame about the weather as Busan is a place that is busy enough to have plenty to offer.  We were dropped off at the Phoenix Hotel, though the first stop was at the park up a hill overlooking the town, where only about six people got off.

We had a (poor) map of the place but followed lecturer Elizabeth’s instructions and turned left and left again through a paved street that led to a major landmark for cruisers – KFC.   Turn right at KFC for the classy shops and left for the market type shops.  We turned left...

Each narrow street off here was effectively a street of market stalls, with various attempts to protect the passer’s by from the rain.  There were tarpaulins galore and many buckets to negotiate.  Almost the whole of the first street seemed to be electrical goods, plus electronics. 

The clothing shops seemed only to cater for the tiny Asians or children.  We heard of several responses from shop keepers to visiting cruisers.

To a larger lady - “Solly no elephant sizes.”

To a larger gent – “Solly, no king-kong sizes.”

Even to myself as I ventured into one shop with what looked like decent business shirts, I was just reaching for a packaged shirt, only for the seated shop owner to blurt out, “Solly, no large sizes.”

So to future visitors, if you are a gentleman over about 5ft 7”, or a lady larger than about dress size 12, don’t be surprised if your purchasing options are somewhat limited.  Prices seemed to vary too with a lot of stuff more expensive than at home.

We headed back towards the Phoenix and about 30 metres before it, is a subway entrance, with underground shopping.  We went down there as Paula didn’t fancy a trip to the massive fish market across the road, though many cruisers did.  The underground shops at least kept us out of the rain, but again, prices seemed steep and sizes small.  Unlike some other calls, the shopkeepers do not hassle you at all.  We spied many people from the ship - and one staff member showing his support for NZ.

Back to the ship and there were a couple of stalls on the quay, but again, prices seemed very steep, so having not changed any money into local currency at all - and no credit card usage, a very cheap stop indeed for us.

After changing into drier clothes, as we walked into the buffet for lunch, Paula said that what she really felt like was a curry, so we were delighted to find a great lamb curry on offer!

Paula didn’t feel 100% and craved her wheatie-bag (the type you throw into the microwave and heat up for about 3 minutes) for her stomach.  It was definitely a cooler day.

Just for once I opted for a half strength hot chocolate rather than coffee in the atrium (5^th floor) then I headed for the quiz whilst Paula opted to go for a lie down. I was the only one in our team so joined a rather grumpy couple.  We managed about 14/20 – which is exactly what I would have got if I’d stayed on my own!

The evening meal menu was “Asian” and this is always a bit difficult as there is so much that is appetizing.  I managed 4 courses without a dessert!  I even skipped the usual delicious bread rolls, so cutting out a coffee and the rolls, I hope is only temporary.

The evening entertainment was a pint sized Australian singer with a gallon sized voice.  Michael Montgomery.  A very good show indeed but we are always amazed at the even smaller Sarah, the orchestra leader.  She is compelling to watch.  She somehow manages to direct the orchestra whilst playing piano and keyboard – often at the same time.  With the right hand on piano, the left hand alternates between keyboard and piano but what I find fascinating is that often, the left hand is playing the melody (treble clef) on the keyboard.  Michael’s closing number from Phantom of the Opera was pushing both of them and it was top class.

Hot choc in the atrium (level 7 of course) but neither of us had shoes suitable for dancing, so we just sat and watched for a while.  Always interesting, as there is a great mix of talent and style, with Alana leaping off the stand to assist a couple of beginners struggling with the rumba.

Clocks on an hour again tonight (and tomorrow night) but a day at sea to look forward to, even though the temperature is now dropping significantly.

 

Day 28 - Weather retraction at sea - August 22nd

Sorry about the wrongly numbered day(!) on an earlier blog, but going into the blog to correct errors isn’t always easy.

After the usual light breakfast, Paula went off to Zumba with Teri and I retreated to the cabin to keep the blog up to date.  (See what I sacrifice for your benefit?)

I headed down again for morning trivia with Teri, Alex and Gayle.  We didn’t too well.

Buffet speciality today was “Parisienne” which for me meant pâté and cheese to go with the soup.  (I always thought the pâté was made on board.  It isn’t...  It is from the USA.)  Paula was unlucky, as by the time she headed back for the delicious looking crème brulee, they had cleared everything away.

We were able to spend the mid afternoon with the balcony door open as it was a fair bit cooler outside than of late, before heading down for coffee. 

Our quiz score could have been equal 1^st on 17 but for a couple of questions where my (correct) guess wasn’t the chosen one!

Another formal night so I opted to leave the shrunken white shirt in the wardrobe where it will now stay and wore a collar and tie instead.

We opted for the “Duo Yalba” for entertainment.  Extremely talented with a massive range of instruments.  The 22 year old on guitar(s) was just amazing.  It meant we missed Carl Doy’s second concert.   Often a tough call with two good acts on at the same time. 

We didn’t do too much dancing and drifted away about 11:20 as I was a bit snuffly and decided that a Coldrex and bed was the best option.

Busan late morning tomorrow and another free shuttle to town.  It seems that it is often the local authorities who supply the free shuttles rather than Princess.  A good move as it does encourage cruisers into town to spend.

      

Day 26 - Tianjin, China - August 21st

With a free (yes, free!) shuttle to town operating from 10am, there was definitely no rush to get organised.  We had Chinese visas (single entry if you remember) and had to take our passports AND a photocopy (supplied by the ship) in Shanghai.  These photocopies were stamped, not the passports, and all we needed in Tianjin was the photocopy.

We are not sure what was happening on the quay as we spied this squad on parade and having their photographs taken.  Filming was going on just outside the terminal building too, so maybe it was related as there were police cars, vans and an ambulance around.

Getting ashore was just about as fast as is possible, as having shown the photocopy at the gangplank, that was it, we just walked straight through the modern terminal to the shuttle bus.  As soon as it was full, away we went at 10:40am, expecting a 40 minute ride.

The roads leading to the Tianjin port are wide and straight (3 lanes in each direction) and this is presumably to cope with the 1,000’s of shipping containers and new cars delivered to and from the port.  The tree planting is impressive with blocks of different colours and heights and the place was very smart.  The straight road must have gone for two to three miles before a turn at traffic lights, following the coast - which appears to be mainly reclaimed land, so it looks rather like Mablethorpe (UK) when the tide is out.

The journey only took 20 minutes and we passed absolutely nothing of interest and parked at the Aeon shopping mall.   The collective groans and grumble from the men could be heard miles away.  The mall was extremely bright and modern but the shops held little of interest to most people. The only interesting part for me was the upstairs food court where the dishes looked appetising and fairly chap.  I am not sure of the payment system but it looked as though you bought a swipe card from a central kiosk, but I could easily have misread that, as the signs were in Chinese!

Down stairs was “Restaurant Street” which was also fairly interesting. You could tell the cruisers as they were all in McCafe or SPR Coffee, with  a few poking their heads around the door of KFC and Pizza Hutt!  There didn’t seem to be much outside the mall.  Along with many others, we caught an early shuttle back to the ship but had already been warned that immigration wouldn’t start until 1pm.  We were there a bit earlier and once again, just strolled onto the ship, handing in our photocopies on the way through.

About 280 people joined the ship in Tianjin (Beijing) and there was a tannoy call that all those who did NOT have a Chinese visa and hadn’t got off the ship, were required for a face to face with the Chinese officials.  We later heard that most Americans were not granted visas...

We called at the buffet for lunch (of course) before having a bit of a nana nap as I had once again developed the sniffles.

Atrium 5^th floor for coffee where we bumped into Mick & Pat who were with M & M and were joining our table for dinner.

The sailaway was instantly forgettable as there is nothing to look at but I did spend a lot of time chatting to very nice elderly lady.  We piled down for dinner to our normal table, even though dining is “open” on changeover days.

The entertainer tonight was Kiwi pianist Carl Doy who plays very well, but oh dear, the patter was dreadful.  Three long winded rehashed jokes we had heard dozens of times before.  No wonder the orchestra looked quite bored.

I didn’t have decent shoes on (still in sandals) so couldn’t dance and the atrium was rather quiet, so Alan and Alana packed up early.

Clocks forward 1 hour again tonight and it is visibly cooler than it has been, whilst the UK is having a late summer.

Another day at sea ahead before Busan.        

Day 26 - Guess what? At sea - August 20th

Pictures belong to yesterday’s post!  Lobster tails pic for Jo, dance shoe pics for Helen.  Other pics show Darryl & Sue with their ‘spoof’ trophy and the phantom judges, Teri & Alex, who are joining our table after Beijing.

This is the half way point of our trip and with most of Asia in the bag, we still have the delights of Alaska ahead.  I think Paula is basically over Asia already, finding it far too hot and too crowded, so the ship is our refuge.  Paula was awake 6:45am and had her MP3 player plugged into her ear so is now feeling much better, though we still have Tianjin (China) and Busan, (Korea) to look forward to.

We were joined at the end of breakfast by banjo player Jim Coston who now has a Chris Barber/Kenny Ball CD to take home to New Orleans remind him of our meeting.

We had to leave Jim at 9:30am to head for today’s port lecture – Vladivostok.  I remember so well at school trying to absorb details of the trans Siberian railway that terminates at this Russian port after its 6,200 mile journey from Moscow.   To be honest, I really don’t think I ever thought I’d go to Russia – (nor NZ and all calls between there and the UK we have managed over the years!) as it was a different world then and our horizons didn’t really extend beyond St Ives, Bournemouth and Skegness.

Just for a change, we headed to the morning quiz and sat next to Darryl & Sue, but they had a full team so didn’t need our expertise.  Maybe they were as surprised as we were when we beat them, scoring 15/20!

Paula stayed on to watch the final of the Bingo, where the jackpot had to go, whilst I kept up to date with the blogging.

After a pleasant light lunch, we went to dance class which was mainly revision but also a bit more on the square tango) I think that is what it was...

The passenger talent show is often a must see but having suffered 4 recitations of the “Man from Snowy River” on 4 previous talent shows, I was ready this time and sat at the rear of the vista lounge as I had seen the chief culprit down as number three on the list!

Sure enough, every other act was about three minutes and his was 9 (but felt like 19) but I had escaped to the library so I missed it.  The star turn was “The Laundry Lament”, set to the Tom Jones hit, Delilah.  Very well done and very original and funny. The final act we missed, as we went off to the quiz, but not before catching the first few bars of Bali Hai, which really was bally awful.  In hindsight, I should have stayed and videoed it as it would have been perfect for the spoof video as it was done by a 90 year old.  Good on her for standing up, but she really should have stayed seated.

I have a new name for our video – “The Twilight Princess”.        

A miserable 11/20 for the afternoon quiz before relaxing before dinner. I have carried on collating photographs towards my spoof Princess video, mainly of the plethora of “Ralp Lauren” shirts and the width challenged passengers.

On this, the final night at sea for some, was the traditional baked Alaska parade by the chefs and assistant waiters.

It was just Paula & I for Alan’s atrium travel quiz – another we didn’t win.

Sadly, we farewelled Darryl & Sue who are young enough to have to go back to work.  Of all the nightly atrium dancers, they have been the keenest (and the youngest of course) so have often been the last one’s standing when Alan finally covered his keyboards.  We hope we’ll catch up with them again some time. 

Many had retired early anyway, as they are on early starts for long trips to the Great Wall of China or Beijing City tomorrow. (Ten hour trips, with 7 hours trapped in a coach are not our idea of fun.)  We are just taking the (free!) shuttle to Tianjin City so bed at 12:10 isn’t a problem.

 

Day 25 - A lazy day at sea yet again - August 19th

Thankfully, Paula had an excellent sleep and was feeling much better.  We decided to breakfast after the port lecture on Busan (was Pusan) in Korea.  As always, a well presented lecture after which, we headed for the food with M & M.

I missed seeing the parfait this time, so settled for beans, sausage and also chorizo sausage – then I found the parfait, so a larger than usual breakfast.

We opted for a really lazy day (again...) so this gave me chance to catch up with writing the previous day’s blog, (which I couldn’t upload as the connection kept dropping out) then start to transfer the video footage of Jim Coston’s show and also the colourful Shanghai sailaway.  If the connection speed was better and more reliable, I could upload part of it to the blog.

A slightly earlier lunch at 2pm which was just soup (a very nice cream of ratatouille) plus one spoonful of pasta and a couple of hunks of pineapple.

Paula then sat out on the sheltered back deck for a while whilst I continued transferring footage, which is quite slow.

Our routine lower (5^th floor) atrium coffee before the quiz where it seems that team member Tony has the same quirky fascination with collating on board whale photographs as I have.  Quite what we will do with them is anyone’s guess, but mine may well find their way into our spoof video.  I am already avidly collecting as many pics as I can of the “Ralp Lauren” polo shirts...

Anyway, the quiz score was round about our usual score with 12/20.

Now formal nights can be a mixed blessing as getting dressed up means that so many people scrub up well.  The down side is that it seem that the laundry must have shrunk my white shirt a tad.  I struggled to fasten the collar, so a new white shirt may be on the shopping list before next year.  The sleeves also seem a bit short.

Terri & Alex joined us as they are the only ones on their table and we had two spaces.  Rob & Sharon returned to the table for their last formal night, as they get off at Beijing (Tianjin) but we have never ever seen number’s 7 & 8.  Daryl and Sue in passing, showed us their dance trophy and written citation for coming second, with comments from the ‘judges’ as to why they didn’t come first, such as hogging the dance floor and Darryl’s regular hand position on Sue’s behind!     

Lobster tails!  I was the only one to have them this time, as course 2, with everyone on the table settling for beef Wellington as their main course.  The previous lobster tails were a bit on the tough side, so many were put off trying them again.

As is usual on formal nights, there was a production show and we believe this is a new one -  “Tributes”.  This was the original production cast as we already have on board the next cast.  The show was as good as always though very light on backdrops.

We went on then to the atrium (7^th floor) where Darryl and Sue were confused as Alan & Alana knew nothing about their trophy.  Then Alex and Terri turned up with name tags “Phantom Dance Judges” and all was revealed.

Loads of people dancing (you can always tell a sea day followed by another sea day, by the number still up late) until close down at 11:45.  We continued chatting to another couple, George and Helen, where it seems that George and I have a similar work involvement with improving productivity.  Plenty to chat about between now and San Francisco.  Bed very late at 12:25!

Another sea day ahead tomorrow before the changeover, or sector port, where 300 passengers are leaving and presumably the same number joining.  The chances are that we may well know a few and Pat & Mick from the 2011 cruise are joining us for dinner.  We are not sure whether or not the two absentees are getting off.

Incidentally, we have heard of some amazingly cheap deals for the San Francisco to Sydney leg, which are 30% cheaper than our one way airfare!  It means that last minute booking are ridiculously good value, but obviously, you need to be very flexible with your lifestyle.  With friends paying more for ten day’s cycling in France next year, I think we’d rather pay a lot less for 24 days on the Dawn!  Although 2013 dates are sorted, we are now keen to get 2014 pencilled in as soon as possible. 

 

Day 24 - Shanghai's Saturday surprise - August 18th

An early sunrise so we were awake fairly early but certainly not on deck for the 5:30am docking.  Wow!  Looking out of our starboard/dock side we saw an immaculate park with a fancy foot-bridge and several very modern buildings and a clear sky.  This we did not expect.  Heading up to the buffet, the view across the river to the financial district was better still, with the futuristic towers, right across from where we were berthed.

We were booked on an 8:45am city tour with “easy walking”.  That is ship speak for “loads of mobility challenged; width challenged; fitness challenged passenger son each and every coach.  By the end of the tour, several fit and able passengers were losing their patience with the inconvenience some of them cause.  One such specimen occupied two seats on the coach; sat half way down and insisted on getting up and slowing all the other passengers behind her, as she waddled up the coach, struggled down the steps, then blocked the door as the driver had to scoot round to unload her walker from the luggage compartment.   Our ten minute stops often got shrunk to nearer 6 minutes for those seated further back.

Suggestion to Princess: Allocate 1 specific coach on each tour for these people, instead of inconveniencing everyone else on each coach.  If they are overall slower and have to miss out on a couple of photo stops, or their tour takes 30 minutes longer, who cares?  They too have to expect that tourist coaches in these countries are not built the same as local transport in NZ & Australia with kerb level floors.  They are indeed tourist coaches that need to be higher to accommodate the luggage – and wheelie walkers – so steps are inevitable but some passengers insist on moaning about them.  For many of them, not piling their plates at the buffet or adding extra pork crackling might help.

After the first photo shop at the futuristic rocket ship (this may be the Post office tower), where there were at least 30 coaches, our next door neighbour Alastair tried out his new wide angle lens, as we headed for the Jin Mao tower, 88 storeys (not stories Princess!) high.  Here, there was an escalator down to the lifts and a bit of a queue for the lifts up to the observation platform.  The lifts featured a picture mosaic in mirror glass but with an orange light showing the progress.  At 9m per second, one or two people experienced the old ear problems, but once up there, it was just fantastic.  Alighting from the lift, our first view was across the river where we could see the ship. For those not too good on heights, you know, those who get dizzy licking airmail stamps, this was no problem at all and well worth the view.  (The cost was included in the tour.)

We even did a bit of shopping up there - 2 Magnum ice creams and they cost us $2 each – with change in local currency for the $5 note offered.  We may present these Chinese notes back in Auckland at our favourite local cafe, where the owner is Chinese...  Paula also bought a nice glass ornament of the futuristic post office tower - and it came with a free coffee mug.  For future visitors, don’t forget to go to the centre and look down the inside.  A note of caution too. Despite the thousands going up the tower, there are only a couple of toilets at the top.

Our guide was more than a bit disorganised on this trip as meeting places weren’t specified, so several were in the wrong place again to get down to ground level and others made their own way.

Outside there were a couple of very persistent hawkers and one was flying an impressively long string of pennants.  One lady dug deep but then found out that the string wasn’t included.  Once on the coach, she unwrapped the package to find just three pennants and the hawker was tying several together for his display.  He saw her disappointed face on the coach and gave her a big grin (for free).  Another tourist suckered.

The coach then headed into the older part of Shanghai where it was interesting to see washing lines strung out between lamp posts at street level! Most on the coach were quite positive that they wouldn’t be hanging their smalls (or bigs in many cases) at street level.  

We stopped at Central Square for a photo-stop, but some passengers obviously didn’t take note of the return to bus time and a couple of others were obviously suffering from the heat. The sound system on this bus wasn’t too good - and I still don’t know the name of our guide.

The last stop was only a few minutes from the ship so several passengers elected to make their own way back.  This was the Bund.  A pleasant walkway along the river but it was far too hot for us to venture far, so we were back in the comfort of the air-conditioned coach, well before the 30 minutes allowed.  We were back at the ship at 2:15, but one elderly chap was a bit sick on the coach and didn’t look too well when we got off.

Back on board, once again, we attacked the buffet and Paula was quite tired. (Not from attacking the buffet, but from the heat.)  After a nana nap (both of us) we were ready for M & M calling at 6:30, but Paula didn’t feel up to eating, so stayed in the cabin.

As darkness descended, this Saturday night on the water really came alive, as there was a constant procession of LED lit up pleasure craft going out past us, then back again about 20 minutes later.  Some of the lights constantly changed colour, as did the lights on several buildings.  The waterfront was brilliantly lit and sorry Hong Kong, but Shanghai knocked you into a cocked hat with this one.  The view was just stunning.  It was so good that I dragged Paula back out of the cabin to the rear deck for the 8pm sailaway, as I knew she would not be pleased at missing it.

We were a bit late leaving but the ship had to be towed into mid stream, then almost 1km, backwards, before the river was wide enough for it to turn 180 to head back out again.  Once under the bridge, Paula returned to the cabin and I went to banjo player Jim Coston’s second show.  Sadly, not a huge crowd in the vista but this is normal after a heavy port day.  Those who did make the effort were treated to another superb show.

Back to the cabin afterwards and bed a bit early. Two days at sea now to look forward to and we also expect the weather to start to get a bit cooler, especially at night, though  it is still about 30 degrees during the day.

Although we didn’t really do any shopping as such in Shanghai, the wide clean streets and well manicured greenery were a surprise, but there again, most of Shanghai is a modern city.  The bonus of a great spot on the river and the Saturday night river traffic made this a very pleasant stop indeed.  Hopefully, the memories of the mobility challenged will soon fade, though I couldn’t resist that pic...  of Alastair taking a video of course.