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Warning: Lightly proof read, so excuse mistakes!

Land At Last

Approaching Otaru (Sapporo)

Ah, land at last. We landed at Otaru, the port city for and suburb of Sapporo. It’s a 45 minute drive from Otaru (population 110,000) to Sapporo (population 2,000,000).

And we are docked right near the Otaru city center as the only cruise ship in town. Some pictures from the ship once we docked and before we got off. With beautiful weather, the retractable roof at the pool area was open.

When we got off to go on our tour, we had to clear Japanese Immigration and Customs. Immigration was time consuming. Each passenger individually had to meet face to face with an immigration officer. There was no verbal questioning; in fact, they didn’t speak much if any English. It was all biometrics. But you were digitally finger printed and your eyes were scanned. I don’t know what that told them, but they intently watched the results on a computer screen. Then you were given a stamp in your passport and sent on your way to Customs. We were waved right through Customs, but we saw one or two passengers who were body searched, patted down, and who had all there possessions (pocket books, knapsacks, and camera bags) religiously searched.

Today’s tour was about five hours long – Highlights of Hokkaido, the island on which Otaru and Sapporo are located. It’s Japan’s northernmost island and Sapporo is where the 1972 Winter Olympics were held. Pictures from the bus:

Our first stop was for lunch at a Mongolian BBQ. It was an efficient assembly line production held at the Asahi Beer Hall. Very well done, especially considering there were four busses of cruisers there at the same time. The Asahi Brewery was next door. We all sat, four to a table, where each table had its own gas grill in the middle and one plate full of noodles and vegetables and another plate full of meat (beef, pork, lamb, and bacon). Then you just threw stuff on the grill (with tongs), stirred as it cooked, and helped yourself with the tongs onto your own plates. Everyone got a separate dish of rice and there was plenty of soy sauce. Asahi beer (or another beverage of choice) was handed out too. Good food. Good beer (and as much as you wanted). Alas, we shared a table with one of our least favorite passengers, but we persevered. There was an interesting vending machine at the entrance. See me chowing down at the shot of the long table (Elaine took the picture)?

After lunch we drove around Sapporo to see the city before stopping at Odori Park where we had an hour to wander on our own. The park runs east to west through the whole city. Sapporo is a beautiful modern city. Very clean. The park is beautiful with lots of flowers. Here are lots of pictures. We loved the two little Japanese boys were were playing in the park with their mothers (or nannies). Note the smoking kiosk. Weird. No smoking allowed in the Park. The city was planning on allowing smoking, but apparently the ban is still in effect. The most noticeable landmark in the park is the Sapporo TV Tower. The picture of the Aurora Town entrance is especially for Cindy. Aurora Town is Sapporo’s underground shopping center (which I’m sure is much appreciated in winter when Sapporo gets lots of snow).

When our hour’s wandering was up, we regathered as Viking Tour #17 and we all ascended the tower for viewing the city. There were two elevators to get the viewing platform. The views were grand. There were gift shops at the base, at level one, and at the top. Also at level one there was an expensive looking restaurant. The picture of Elaine is in the elevator on the way down. The next-to-last picture is looking straight down.

Then it was back on the bus for the ride back to the ship in Otaru, just in time for 5 pm cocktails. Dinner was in the World Cafe, and we were early to bed. We don’t sail tonight and tomorrow we will most of the day to explore Otaru on our own. It looks like a nice little town.

See you then!

Another beautiful calm day at sea. Seven straight is a record for us. We have done five days before when crossing the Atlantic. (We have done a bunch of those – NYC to Southampton on the Queen Mary, Montreal to Southampton, Southampton to NYC, Fort Lauderdale to Marseilles, and Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale) This Pacific Ocean has not been like the one we see raging when we stay in Trinidad, California or Depoe Bay, Oregon. From the pictures from our balcony early this morning (7 am), you can see the sun raising behind the boat as we sail almost due west at the moment. And there is increasingly other marine traffic visible – commercial tankers and container ships. Last night was the last night that we turned the clocks back to gain an hour. We will be on Japan time now until we fly out of Haneda Airport in Tokyo next Sunday night.

The good weather and calm seas continued all day. The temperature was around 70º. Great for sitting on the balcony. And we did see some actual volcanos. Dormant ones, I think.. Japan is the most volcano dense country in the world and sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.. It has more than 100 active ones. More pics from the balcony.

Dinner was in the World Cafe with Don and Donna.

Then we four were off to the Explorer’s Lounge for nightcaps. It was more crowded than usual because instead of the usual piano music, the ventriloquist (and his dummy) were entertaining. We caught the end of the show and his Q&A session. He was pretty good. Elaine had a chance to chat with him. Nice guy.

Tomorrow morning we dock in Otaru, a city near Sapporo, Japan on Hokkaido Island. Every guest on board has to personally clear customs with a Japanese border agent. Then we will be off on an excursion to see the Highlights of Hokkaido. We stay docked in Otaru for another night and see more of Sapporo the following day. Then it’s a another sea day as we sail south to Honshu Island and Tokyo.

History update: For those who wondered and may not have seen the reply to a comment: Of the Aleuts that were taken off Attu and imprisoned in Japan, half died in Japan of malnutrition or disease. When the survivors returned from Japan at the end of the war, they were not allowed to go back to Attu, but were taken to the village of Atka in the Aleutian Islands.

Still sailing open ocean, but we are now in the Sea of Okhotsk. We are getting closer to Japan. Looks the same. Feels the same. It was mostly cloudy today but much warmer. Seas still relatively calm. Elaine did see a whale swim right by the ship while she was on the balcony. (The whale is not in the picture, so don’t go searching for it.) She also saw a pod of porpoises.

Want to see some rough seas on a Viking Ship? Watch this video. It’s the Viking Star in 2019, mostly taken in the Explorer’s Lounge. The ship, identical to the Orion that we are on, totally lost power and came within feet of running aground off the coast of Norway. Passengers were being helicoptered off the ship 15-20 at a time when power was partially restored and the ship limped into port. Not a good cruise to have been on. 450 or so passengers were taken off by helicopter before the rest arrived at port. The story is told here.

History time.

Attu Island is the westernmost island in the Aleutians and the westernmost point in the fifty US states (Yes, further west than Hawaii). The closest we came was our stop in Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island. It has historically been home to 200-400 Aleuts. And it (along with nearby Kiska Island) became the only places in the USA ever occupied by a foreign force. Six months after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese invaded and occupied the two islands. The Aleuts were imprisoned and transferred to Japan. Eventually the US counterattacked and retook the island in the deadly Battle of Attu. It remained a military base and/or a coast guard station until 2010 when Casco Bay Coast Guard Station was closed. The island is now uninhabited although the Coast Guard does periodic maintenance of the airfield there for use in possible emergencies. (End of History Lesson)

Today was Viking’s special Brunch served in the enclosed pool area from 12:00-2:00. It was mobbed! We walked by and you couldn’t even get close enough to take a photo of the elaborate food displays. The band played on. We skipped the whole thing and had a delightful quiet lunch in the World Cafe.

Moving on to dinner, we dined in the Restaurant. Here’s the whole meal in pictures. Elaine: Cream of Celeriac Soup (what the hell is celeriac? – Martha Stewart knows – see link) followed by delicious Scallops. I had Tiger Prawns followed by a Duo of Lamb (roast leg and chops). We both had the Berry Cobbler for dessert. We had a wine from Sicily. All good!

Last sea day tomorrow before we run aground at Sapporo, Japan. There is one more sea day after we leave Sapporo for our disembarkation in Tokyo. The temperature prediction for Tokyo on our last day there is 94º.

Every day is long since we we have passed through a time zone every day since leaving Alaska. So every night we turn the clock back one hour and get an extra hour sleep. The seas remain pretty calm and the weather remains pretty good. There was rain during the night but mostly hazy sun today.

I mixed it up a bit at breakfast. An omelet instead of scrambled eggs. And papaya instead of honeydew melon or watermelon. Always bacon though! And cranberry juice.

At 11 am we attended a one-hour lecture on the History of Japan. Needless to say, it was condensed. There were emperors and shoguns and samurai. There was the Meiji Restoration. There was the arrival of the western powers. There was conquest and expansion. Pearl Harbor. Atomic bombs. And the current democracy that was put into place after WWII. You can read LOTS more if you so choose. Go here.

Lots more reading this morning too. And I started a crossword puzzle. Lunch was in the World Cafe. The food is simply amazing. Today I had some bacon wrapped meatloaf with BBQ onion on top and some Mongolian beef stew with delicious corn and green beans. Elaine had something similar.

I napped. Elaine attended another lecture. I worked on the blog and read some more. Days at sea are pretty tranquil.

Nothing really to report. Here’s a picture of the grand staircase in the Atrium on deck one. The display at the top changes continuously. The second photo is taken from halfway up the staircase looking down. It was taken at 5 pm. You can Lilliya and Tatsiana entertaining the guests with their music (which is lovely). On the right you can the Living Room Bar where we are about to have our nightly libations. If you look really closely, you can Elaine.

We had a leisurely dinner in the World Cafe. Here are pictures of me and my food. Is that a smile or a leer in the first picture? My plate consists of roast lamb with mint jelly, rice with lamb gravy, pasta, and a grilled piece of bell pepper.

In answer to an email question: No, it is not the first time we have crossed the International Date Line. I did it in 1971 on a trip to the Orient (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kyoto, Bangkok, Singapore, and Taipei) with my mother. I crossed again in the late 1970’s on a trip to Australia and New Zealand with a friend. Elaine I crossed it on a trip to Australia in 1998 and then again on a separate trip to New Zealand in 2010. And Elaine crossed it on her trip to Viet Nam with Mianne in 2016. Those were all by plane. This is the first time we have done it on a ship.

Ho, hum. Another day at sea. Still calm seas. Still good weather. Sunny this morning, cloudy in the early afternoon, and sunny again by 3 pm. Today marks the halfway point to Japan. Three more days at sea upcoming.

Today we attended a lecture on Japan Geography. Japan is 1,900 miles long and made up of 14.125 islands. Wow, that’s a lot. The four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. The rest are classified as remote. The climate varies from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical and tropical rainforests in the south. We will visit Sapporo on Hokkaido Island (the boat docks in Otaru) and Tokyo on Honshu Island. The population of Japan in 2006 was 128.2 million. Today it is 123.6 million. A small decline, you say? Actually Japan has a severe population crisis. The fertility rate in Japan is 1.3 births per woman – far below the population replacement requirement of 2.1 to maintain a stable population. So the population is aging and declining. And Japan allows almost no immigration.

Lots more reading. I finished my second book and am now reading this that I found on the Viking bookshelves:

Breakfast & Lunch. Normal stuff. Here’s the view down the World Cafe dining area where we ate lunch today. Also there’s a view of outdoor infinity pool and hot tub at the stern on deck seven. A little too cool and windy for outdoor action today.

Dinner tonight in the Italian-themed Manfredi’s specialty restaurant after cocktails in the Living Room. Scenes from the restaurant.

Elaine had the eggplant appetizer and the ravioli from the pasta selections as her main. She skipped dessert. I had pasta e fagioli soup to start and the traditional bone-in bistecca alla florentina as my main. I had some ice cream for dessert. We had a wonderful bottle of Gevrey Chambertain pinot noir. First time I ever remember not being able to finish a steak. It was huge!

See you tomorrow.

Not much to say today, so I’ll be brief.

Sunny again with some clouds in the afternoon. Windy.

Elaine did a 2½ mile walk on deck two – 10 laps. At one end of the ship she had to hang on to the rail because of the wind.

Usual breakfast – BACON!

Usual lunch.

We did some reading on the balcony. It’s 50º, but we are shielded from the wind and the sun shines brightly off the sea right onto our balcony. It’s quite pleasant out there.

Cocktail hour at the Living Room. The artwork shown is the piece closest to our stateroom. That’s Elaine in the elevator. (There are six – four near the stern and two towards the bow. There is rarely a wait for an elevator.) And Elaine with Igor.

Dinner in the Restaurant – the main dining room. I had seafood linguine. Elaine had duck. Both yummy. I had coconut surprise for dessert (not pictured – the spoon is quicker than the camera). The surprise was embedded raspberries.

Then cocktails in the Explorer’s Lounge. Elaine usually has an Amoretto on the rocks. My latest “good night” fad is an Aperol Spritz (pictured) – Aperol, soda water, and white wine or prosecco with a slice of orange. The artwork (photos from NYC) is near the entrance to the Lounge.

Monday Tuesday – Cruising the Pacific Ocean Lake

We had no Monday as we crossed the International Date Line. We went to bed Sunday night and got up on Tuesday morning.

The international date line (IDL) is an imaginary line that runs along the Earth’s surface from the North Pole to the South Pole in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. When you cross it, you either gain or lose a day depending on which way you are traveling. If you are traveling westward, you skip a day, and if you are traveling eastward, you get it back. Read all about it here. We’ll get the day back when we fly from Tokyo to Honolulu. We both got certificates that confirmed we had crossed the Date Line similar to the ones we got for crossing the Arctic Circle back in May on our previous Viking cruise.

Note that I crossed out “Ocean” in the title above. The Pacific is doing an excellent imitation of a lake. Sailing is smooth as silk as you can pretty much tell from the pictures I took this morning after breakfast as we sat in lounge chairs in the pool area facing out to sea. The pool area has a retractable roof, but its been closed on this journey due to the cool temperatures.

Near where we were sitting is this photograph taken by a Norwegian photographer. There’s no explanation of what it is. I don’t know. Do you?

We had lunch in the World Cafe and sat with an Aussie woman who has spent most of her life in America. We know EVERYTHING about her and her kids, natural born and adopted, and about every volunteering job she has every done as well as everywhere they have lived. We shall avoid her in the future. She knows nothing about us and didn’t ask.

After lunch we spent time on our cabin balcony deck. More reading. Some napping. A few more pictures. (Elaine is awake in the picture – I do the majority of the napping.) The captain in his daily noontime announcement said that he expects good weather for the next few days. Kiss of death? We’ll see.

Cocktails in the Living Room Bar as usual. Don and Donna joined us. We four ate dinner in the World Cafe. And then they went to hear the entertaining ventriloquist in the theater. Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy? Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney? We skipped it and had nightcaps in the Explorer’s Lounge. Our photo from the Living Room. I should have had my gimlet in my hand. You can see it in the foreground. Everyone is smiling. That’s my version of a smile.

Not much to report. Breakfast for me was poached eggs and chorizo sausage in a spicy sauce, some bacon (it’s not breakfast without bacon except at home where I never see bacon), and cranberry juice. Elaine fasted.

Then we both read our respective books in the Explorer’s Lounge. At 11:00 we attended a lecture on Captain Cook (and others) searching for the Northwest Passage to Europe. They didn’t find it, of course, because it doesn’t exist. But Cook did a lot of very accurate mapping of Alaska and Canada and ultimately discovered Hawaii. Not a bad find. The Hawaiian natives were at first friendly and traded with Cook’s ship. Alas, on his third visit Cook decided to hold Kalaniʻōpuʻu, the ruling chief (aliʻi nui) of the island of Hawaii, hostage because the natives stole a longboat belonging to the Resolution. That was a bad idea as the natives killed him and some of his marines. Supposedly, his heart was eaten by the four most powerful chiefs of Hawaii. Most of his bones were eventually recovered. Is all that accurate? So said the lecturer. Wikipedia seems to agree. It’s quite a story. (Aside: we have met up with Captain Cook in various venues around the world that he visited during his voyages.)

Lunch in the World Cafe was excellent. Elaine had Saltimbocca. I had five spices roast duck and some perfectly cooked flank steak with mashed potatoes. We had gelato for dessert.

Then it was more reading and some naps. I filled out the customs declaration and the disembarkation cards required for our visit to Japan.

We can feel the seas now. You need sea legs for walking around. But it’s not by any imagination rough seas. These were taken from our balcony mid-afternoon.

Injury Report

No, not us fortunately. While we were in Kodiak on our tour, a woman on our bus missed the curb when leaving a museum and went down hard. Fortunately two of the women passengers on our tour were retired nurses. They tended to her until the ambulance arrived and took her to the hospital. The woman suffered a five inch gash on her knee and possibly a broken bone. We don’t know if she made back on board or not.

That same day we walked back to the ship from downtown Kodiak. Going into town the guide warned us to walk on the side of the road with the paved sidewalk if walked back to the ship. We did. Another woman and her companion didn’t. She stepped in a hole and down she went. She was able (with help) to get up. Fortuitously, the next shuttle bus came by just at that moment and she got on. No further word on her.

Then last night as we were about to depart from Dutch Harbor, we watched a couple disembark the ship with their suitcases. Viking personnel obviously arranged a ride for them and were with them as they got off. They didn’t appear injured in any way, so we surmise that some family emergency came up and they had to get home.

Cocktails in the Living Room. Yesterday I showed you two of our favorite bartenders. They were both from Bali. This is the third one from the Living Room – Igor from Macedonia. We also see him in the restaurant where he doubles as a wine steward,

Dinner was in the Restaurant. I had Alaskan Rockfish while Elaine had Chicken Breast. We finished up in the Explorer’s Lounge where it was pretty quiet.

So we are docked in Dutch Harbor as I write this. Well, sort of. The harbor is Dutch Harbor but the city is Unalaska. To quote the link, “Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Unalaska is affixed geographically on the Aleutian chain, and historically in the midst of 10,000-year-old Unangan culture, and in the eras of Russian fur traders, Captain Cook, World War II, and of a commercial fishing industry that ranks above all others in the United States.”

Unalaska, or more specifically Dutch Harbor, is home to the crab fishing fleet of Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel. If you’ve never watched, watch an episode or two. The crab boats sail north out of Dutch Harbor getting very close to Russia. We will sail southwest towards Japan. The crab boats are often in very heavy seas. While we wouldn’t mind a bit more turbulence, we wouldn’t want the seas that those guys face.

Given all that, this isn’t the most exciting port to visit. The weather forecast wasn’t good. Much rain expected. But we didn’t get it. It was actually quite pleasant while we were docked. You saw sunset pictures from the past two nights. Here are two sunrise pictures taken this morning from the Explorer’s Lounge. (It doesn’t get light here until almost 9 am. – sunrise was at 8:52.)

After breakfast we got off the ship and took a van shuttle to the Museum of the Aleutians. Even though we were the only cruise ship in port, it seems everyone from the ship descended on this small venue at once. It was packed. We braved the crowds a bit and then decided to move on. Remember the interesting visor from a previous museum? Here’s another example, one of which shows how it would look in use. There’s a good mural depicting the transfer of Alaska from Russia to the USA. And the museum showcases the fact that Unalaska is the busiest US fishing port as well as paying homage to the crab, the crustacean that makes that fact be true.

There’s not a lot of scenery to photograph where we are.

Next we moved on to the Aleutian World War II National Historic Area & Visitor Center. Long name. They have lots of free brochures about WWII in Alaska. I took a bunch and will be reading up. There was also a movie that Elaine watched.

We were back to the ship in time for lunch in the World Cafe. Elaine loved her veal dish. And I had very good roast rack of pork after a cup of good bouillabaisse. Then it was naps and reading.

Cocktails at the Living Room bar, with our favorite bartenders before dinner back again in the World Cafe.

Nightcaps per usual in Explorer’s Lounge.

And finally a stop in Torshavn, the ship’s nightclub that’s open from 9 pm to 3 am. We were gone by 10 pm. One of the Living Room bartenders had transferred to Torshavn by this time.

We sailed at 5 pm and will next hit land on September 30th in Sapporo, Japan. (We will not have a September 23rd as we will cross the international dateline and lose that day – we’ll get it back on the way home from Japan to Hawaii.) Most postings until then will be short. Maybe more ship pictures. I’m not sure how good the wi-fi will be, so if there is no posting, it’s because it isn’t good.

Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews may show just thumbnails of the pictures. By the way, the pictures look much better on a tablet or a computer than they do on your phone. Just saying.

After last night’s terrific sunset, it seemed too much to ask for more good weather. But good weather we got! Here are three pictures from our cabin balcony at about 9:00 am.

About Books

So, on a cruise, especially with lots of sea days, one tends to read a lot. Of course, I brought my Kindle, but I haven’t opened it. All around the Orion in the public areas there are book shelves loaded with mostly hard backs that you can borrow to read. Viking has a special deal with London bookshop Heywood Hill to curate their libraries. It’s no problem to find something good to read. There is also the book exchange near Guest Services on deck one where passengers can leave their own books, mostly paperbacks, for others to read. And, of course, you can take one of those to read yourself. On day one I grabbed this book from the Viking Library in the Winter Garden and just finished it today. Good read. Read more about the Peking Express here.

So today I returned the book and picked up this one:

I just replied to a comment and told Barb that we hadn’t seen many whales. Today while eating lunch we saw a bunch. Another box ticked. They weren’t close enough for pictures, but here’s where we eat lunch most days. Today I had Indian (Vindaloo). The desserts are yummy. We shared the ones pictured.

Now here are some random pictures from the ship. First, the door to our room and looking down the long corridor of deck five. There is art everywhere on the Viking ships. The pictures you see we pass by every day on the way to and from the elevator bank and stairways,

The pool (with retractable roof), the pool grill (where we have burgers and hot dogs some days), and the pool and hot tub.

Finally, the Winter Garden where afternoon tea (cakes and scones and little sandwiches) is served every day. There is one of the smaller book shelves and it’s where I found my two books.

Dinner tonight was in the main dining venue, The Restaurant. We both delicious foie gras to start. Then I had Roast Venison (very good but definitely very gamey) while Elaine had Shrimp Risotto. She had ice cream for dessert. I had crème brûlée. How could we not have gotten the Chocolate Flabbergast?

Then it was off to the Explorer’s Lounge for a good night cocktail. See our reflections in the mirror behind the bar? Another nice sunset. And are those volcanoes off in the distance? Probably not.

And off to bed. Dutch Harbor tomorrow. Cheers!