April 19, 2023 Sea Day #3
Yesterday at 3:30 p.m. Westerdam left Busan (Pusan) Republic of Korea entering the Korea Strait from Busan harbour going toward the Sea of Japan through its Tsushima Basin and today travelled into its Yamato Basin going towards Otaru during the day.
We have established a Sea Day routine of walking on the Promenade Deck for about 30 minutes before going to breakfast. We might stop at the theatre to fit in 30 minutes of Tai Chi too. There is usually a lecture at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. to attend. In the afternoon there is time for another walk, usually a lecture of some sort and the possibility of Afternoon Tea in the dining room, if we did not have lunch.
As we walked this morning, the temperature was 12° C and partly cloudy. We noticed that even though the sun was shining, the ship was moving into a fog bank. The fog lasted for hours with the ship sounding its horn every two minutes as required by marine law. About 2 p.m. the fog was less dense, there was no more horn blowing as the visibility was about two kilometres. By 5 p.m. the visibility was almost normal. The captain announced that we would be arriving in Otaru an hour early that scheduled and arrangements were made that the Japanese Customs people would be onboard an hour earlier to start processing the passangers. Our time slot is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. We do not have a tour in Otaru since all options were sold out in mid-January when we booked the cruise.
We were invited to a Mariners Lunch at 11 a.m. We sat with Darryl and Margaret form Adelaide, Australia. They have cruised with Holland America seven times, while this cruise is our sixth time. From speaking to other passengers, it seems that each Sea Day a different group of the Mariners Loyalty members are invited to a special lunch.
The port talk covered the last three ports: Otaru, Aomori and Hakodate. Otaru has a canal which has shops and restaurants lining it which is within walking distance of the pier.
Tonight was the third dressy attire for the evening. You no longer see gowns and tuxedos, but more likely dressy tops with pants or skirts for the ladies and a dress shirt and pants for the men. We sat with Uta, originally from Germany, and again with Susan and her parents Rita and Ernie from Maryland.
After dinner the ship was approximately 120 km west of Aomori. The swells were less the a meter high.
There are times when it seems that the Guest Services staff is confused. Five days ago a letter was sent with the Japanese Customs form to complete. The letter stated that passengers were to keep it until April 20 when we returned to Japan at Otaru. Then two days ago a letter was sent saying that we did not turn in the form so we did. Tonight the cruise director announced that passengers should have their passport, key card, assigned number card and Japanese Customs form when they go to the theatre for the Japanese Customs inspection tomorrow. So Larry went back to Guest Services for the third time. There was a rack of forms to just take one to fill out. It is a little frustrating.
One night soon we might go to Deck 11 for the peak viewing time of the Liryd Meteor Shower (area of the sky near the constellation Lyra, the Harp) The Lyrids are associated with Comet Thatcher, a long-period comet that orbits the sun every 415.5 years. The comet last reached its closest approach to the sun in 1861. The meteor shower averages 10 to 15 meteors per hour at its peak on a moonless night. The best time to watch is late evening to dawn on the nights of April 21-22 and 22-23. Tonight’s entertainer was instrumentalist Dennis Daye, a Canadian, who mainly played the piano.
Total steps 10,593 and just 21 flights of stairs.
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