Japan & Alaska 2023

     Today ended the first 14 day cruise around Japan when Westerdam docked at 6:30 a.m.   The second 14 day cruise to Seattle via Alaska officially started when we left the ship to explore more of Yokohama.   With the steward’s help, we moved our luggage down the hall to our new stateroom 10 staterooms closer to the front, which should be quieter as it is under the Casino rather than the Rolling Stone Lounge, an evening rock music venue.      The dining room was open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. About two thirds of the passengers were leaving the ship starting just after 7:30 a.m. About 200 fewer passengers are expected for the northern Pacific crossing. Rather than leaving at 7 p.m. this evening, Westerdam is staying an extra day due to the cancellation of the day in Kushiro, Japan.   There is severe weather predicted there for Wednesday, our scheduled day there, with strong winds and high waves. We should leave Yokohama at 5 p.m....

      Sunrise is about 4:40 a.m. in this region of Japan. We left Hakodate about 30 minutes later than what was scheduled to allow the wind to decrease its strength and make it easier to leave the dock and harbour. Westerdam entered the windy Tsugaru Strait going east to the Pacific Ocean then overnight turning south along the eastern coast of the Tohoku region. As we walked around the Promenade Deck this morning, the ship was just north of Sendai.       After Tai Chi, shortly after 9 a.m., we went to breakfast in the dining room and were fortunate to be in line behind Pat and Pete who we see each night at ballroom dancing. It was nice to be able to talk to each other at a normal level and not fight with the volume of the dance music. When we returned to the stateroom there were two porcelain Holland America tiles waiting, celebrating the 150 years of Holland America Line.     There was a port talk about Yokohama at 11 a.m., after which we we...

    Westerdam docked just before 7 a.m. The temperature 7° C, part sun and wind 25 km per hour which increased to over 45 km per hour during the day.      We had breakfast in Lido. Even just after 7 a.m., it was hard to find an empty table. There was plenty of time to walk for 40 minutes on the Promenade Deck. Most of the shore excursions today travelled to Goryokaku Fort and Hakodate Morning Market.   We were on the bus by 8:30 a.m. for the day’s seven hour excursion.    The first stop was Goryokaku Park and Goryokaku Tower. The group took an elevator from the main floor up to the observation deck, about 14 floors. The tower is 107 meters high. The iPhone counted this as flights of stairs, which we removed from our day’s count of 57 flights. We had a great view of Goryokaku Fort’s pentagonal structure and the Hakodate area. The day was clear, so we could see where Westerdam was docked far below.     The fort was where the final battle o...