Holland America Westerdam

We checked out of our hotel this morning at 11AM and walked to the Osanbashi Port.  It took about ten minutes.   

We were going to carry all our bags with us so we didn't need to check any luggage with a porter.   We were given a number which would be used to call us when it was ready for us to check-in.   We has number 6 which was called at 12:10.  We then went through the usual check-in process of passport validation.  There was also one special step.   Since this sailing will stop in South Korea, that country has a requirement to have a digital copy of your passport.  Once they took care of that, we headed onboard at 12:30.  We had all our luggage and the cabins were ready.   We headed to our cabin which is on the port side in the forward section of the ship and rejoiced in being able to unpack everything!!   We hadn't done that in the last eight days, just living out of our suitcases.  We also had to watch the safety video so I put that on the TV as we unpacked.   We also had some laundry which I put together for our steward to take.  We should get that back sometime on Wednesday.   

It was then time for some lunch.  We headed to deck 9 for some lunch.  We both had burgers from Dive-In and some of their double battered fries.   The best fries on any cruise ship.   

And there was a taco bar which had an assortment of chips and taco shells along with beef, chicken and all the toppings.  

We then headed to deck 10 which has the Crow's Nest,. An observation lounge in the forward part of the ship.  We found some comfortable chairs and just relaxed.   "Allegedly" we might have napped a bit.  Who knows for sure?   Only one of the other 1700 guests onboard.   

At 3:30 we needed to check into our muster station on Deck 3.   After that we checked out all the public venues on deck 2 and 3 including several bars and music lounges.   We'll do a more thorough review of those as the cruise progresses.  

After that we went back to the Crow's Nest and found those same comfortable chairs.  This was my favorite venue when we sailed on the Koningsdam and I think it will be on the Westerdam as well.  Big open area.  Comfortable seats.  Great views.  And a bar.  What's not to like?  

For dinner we went to the Lido Buffet. We both have loved the salad station on prior HAL sailings and it was no different on the Westerdam.  They make your salad for you.  Your choice of three greens and all the usual toppings.  They also had some seared tuna.  They also had a steak dinner as well as an assortment of other grilled favorites such as salmon and chicken. I got a medium rare steak and it was pretty good.  Needed a bit more seasoning, but it was cooked properly and juicy.    They had all the usual sides including mashed potatoes.  I was hoping for a few more vegetables such as broccoli.   They also had a very good lasagna and pasta made to order with a choice of three sauces.  

After dinner we decided it was time to call it an evening. We have our first port of call tomorrow in Omaezaki and we dock there at 7AM.  We will meet our guide for a private Tours By Locals excursion at 7:30.  So we put out the room service breakfast hanger.

Hamarikyu Gardens, Tsukiji Fish Market, Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sensoji Temple

 by Glenn 

April 3, 2023 

Today started with breakfast at the hotel.  Cauliflower rice with vegan sausage and the buckwheat pancake with bacon and parmesan cheese.   We then met Hiroko who was our tour guide for the day.  We headed to the subway.   She provided us a few quick tips on how to use the subway.  Hopefully we were paying attention   We visited the Harmarikyu Gardens built in the 17th century and learned the difference between a temple and a shrine.   One difference?   You can clap at a shrine.  Never clap in a temple.  And we saw cherry blossoms!!  They are at peak or past peak, depending on the area. They bloomed earlier than average this year. 

 

Then it was a visit to the fish market. So many places to see with interesting food.   And so many people! Long lines!!   Reminded me of the Beijing street market. We went to a less crowded food court and had the number 5 and number 7 (tuna sashimi and fried shrimp in curry sauce). Both very good. I ended the meal with a milk and coffee soft serve. 

 

Then a bus ride to the oldest department store in Japan and the Ginza Food Hall.  Reminded me of Harrod's In London.  So many places with prepared foods.  This is very popular for people who work in the city to stop here and pick up meals for their family.  So many options!! 

 

We then headed to an observation deck in an office building.  Great view of the Asahi brewery and a temple.  And of course we needed to sample a beer from the cafe. 

 

We then headed to the temple. The original was destroyed in the WWiI air raids so this is a replica. And is it really an authentic temple unless there is a gift store with charm bracelets?

 

After seven hours of touring we took a taxi back to the hotel.  They have a social hour from 5 - 6 each evening with wine and snacks.  We both had some delicious sake and also tried the rose. The sake is served in a small wooden box. Sip about of the corner. 

  They had small bites of fried chicken, snapper ceviche and parma ham.   We headed back to the room to regroup and ended up staying in for the night. 

(Angie here - We had to cut our tour a bit early because I was having a lot of trouble with my knees and ankles after all the stairs in the subway stations. It was a bummer.) 

Hello Japan!

 By Angie 

April 1, 2023 

We set off around 5:40 am from the Tiny House in Zephyrhills. We were hoping to make it to the hotel in 24 hours. We were close. 

Our flight to Chicago was easy. We spent about thirty minutes in the United Polaris lounge for a little bite of lunch and some water. 

We boarded our flight to Haneda. It was a 12 1/2 hour flight. We booked Polaris business class which was awesome. We had great lie flat seats, slippers, two meals, and a good size TV. I watching Ticket to Paradise, Girls' Trip, Notting Hill, and two episodes of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I slept about 6 hours. My favorite was the make your own sundae cart. 

Landing was easy. It took about an hour to get through customs and immigration. I completed all the paperwork in advance online. I had screenshot the immigration and customs QR codes, but didn't screenshot the quarantine page that showed they had approved our vaccines.  They had a lot of people helping you figure it out. We were pulled to the side until we could get wifi up and running on our phones to pull up the page. We then got into a very long winding line, but it kept moving. 

Our bag was waiting for us. We had to go to another kiosk to confirm our Customs paperwork and then we headed out. I pre-booked a Meet and Greet service to help us exchange our rail passes and wifi. You can rent a hotspot that works all over Japan. That was easy. The line for the wifi was about 30 minutes. Our greeter took Glenn to get into the Rail pass exchange line. After we waited about an hour in the rail pass line, we decided to give up. It was going to be at least another hour in line plus an hour to navigate the train plus a 15 minute walk in the now dark. We grabbed a taxi and were at the Kimpton Shinjuku in 40 minutes. Check in was easy. We were so thankful that the hotel clerk spoke English. I'm always ashamed when we travel. So many people learn English and I cannot speak another language. Our room is really nice. 

The toilet has a of features.