April 23, 2023. Sea Day #4


 

   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 went to the Ocean Bar to use the coupons for a complimentary “Mariners Special” cocktail each. We worked on yesterday’s blog entry. From the bar’s windows, we had a good view of the white capped one meter waves, the clear sky and good visibility. If the visibility stays like this tomorrow, we might be able to see Mt. Fuji from one of the parks or the Landmark Tower in Yokohama.

    Today’s captain’s announcement had several important points.  Mask wearing will be changed to recommended onboard for the next cruise, as per the American CDC. Also there is a severe weather front predicted in the Kushiro area for Wednesday, which is predicted to cause high seas and strong winds causing the Kushiro port to be cancelled. Instead the ship will stay overnight in Yokohama with departure on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The departure clearance from Japan will now take place in Yokohama rather than Kushiro. An extra day in Yokohama with the refund of our Kushiro excursion is good news to us.

    In the afternoon we attended Dr. Kam’s lecture was about Japan’s Railway system. We skipped his morning talk about Religion and Sumo Wrestling. Following Dr, Kam’s talk in the theatre was “Ask the Captain”. Captain Wauter Van Hoogdalem explained the operations on the Navigation Deck thoroughly. We had learned some of it when we have had in person tours of the Navigation Deck but this was much more comprehensive. Then he took questions from the audience. There are close to 700 passengers staying onboard for the next cruise, Yokohama to Seattle. About 1,200 people will be leaving this cruise tomorrow and about 1,000 new passengers will board.

     Then we climbed up to the Crow’s Nest on Deck 10 to meet Pat and Pete for a couple of games of Five Crowns before dinner. When we got to the stateroom to change for dinner there was another letter that revised the Japanese Customs departure information.

   We joined Judy and Doug for dinner, with a view of the setting sun. Tonight’s show was the quartet, Cantaré, singing movie soundtracks.

     We packed our luggage, putting in items which were not on hangars. Tomorrow the room steward will move the luggage and place the hanging clothes on a trolley to move them 20 staterooms toward the front to the new stateroom for the next 14 day cruise across the northern Pacific Ocean to Seattle. It will be interesting to talk to the incoming passengers to find their reaction to the change of itinerary giving an extra day in Yokohama and not going to Kushiro. There will now be seven Sea Days in a row. Since we will be crossing the International Date line on April 27, we will gain a day and have a second April 27. 

   For people leaving the ship wishing to take their luggage with them, they can leave in selected time slots between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. which is different from other cruise lines. Usually “self-assist” passengers have about 45 minutes, as soon as the ship is cleared by port authorities. Other passengers who elect for the crew to take their luggage and transport it to the terminal in the morning have the later time slots.  They just take their carry-on off the ship and go to the terminal to pick-up their luggage. There are several busses to take passengers to one of the two Tokyo area airports – Haneda is between Yokohama and Tokyo or Narita which is east of Tokyo. 

   Total steps today 10,065.      Just 26 flights of stairs today.


complimentary “Mariners Special” cocktail

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