Asia – Day 19, Sunday, October 26, 2015

There have not been many cruises where we didn’t just fly straight home and this is one of them as we are going to spend the next couple of days in Tokyo.

The good thing is that I once again have internet that is fast and is totally free.  We had free internet on the ship but only for as long as our free minutes held out so we couldn’t really “surf” the web if we needed to.  Also, the internet on the ship was terribly slow and it wasn’t Celebrities fault – it was the governments and the locations.

Enough of that – we were supposed to be off the ship by 8:10am and we were finally off at 8:30am.  We found our luggage and had a cab take us to a luggage forwarding place as it is impossible to move the amount of luggage we had by train to Tokyo.  It cost us $30.00 and they took our luggage and delivered to the hotel by 7:00pm – what a great service.

We arrived too early to check in so we checked our luggage and went out onto the street.  The hotel fronts on a major Ginza street and there was a 2 hour massive parade celebrating the major areas of Japan beginning and it passed right in front of the hotel.  So, we sat on a curb and watched the entire parade – what fun.  The first units that went by could have been any college marching band and they even were playing US music.

We ate on the street and had a fried yam for lunch.  It looked like a thick pancake with lots of “stuff” in it and was it good.

After the parade and lunch we checked into our room and it was terribly small, even though they said they had upgraded us.  We went back to the lobby and requested a larger room – and they put us in the biggest one they had, a corner room that is really nice.  Not as large as Shanghai and Beijing, but this is a Courtyard.  They do have drinks, snacks and breakfast for Platinum holders something that the US Courtyards to not have which is wonderful.

After we unpacked we took a nap.  Then we went to a major shopping area and stayed until 8:00pm and even ate at a little Japanese place.  The subway system here is really great; however, we haven’t experienced rush hour yet and that may prove to be a challenge.  We will find out tomorrow.

Tonight is being spent updating the blog and tomorrow we will have a full day of sightseeing.

Night from our first day not on the ship.

A Parade - 42nd Anniversary

More parade

Yams and contents cooking



Ed eating the cooked yams and they were good!!

Loved the heated seat!

Entrance to a large shopping - eating area



Dinner was ?? and it was good

Saw this on the street late at night.  Barb is talking to the driver

 

 

Asia – Day 18, Saturday, October 25, 2015

As we woke up you could see the port of Yokohama, our last cruise port on this trip.  Yokohama is a big industrial city and the gateway for us to get to Tokyo.

We took the free shuttle bus to the train station and boarded the train to Tokyo.  Once we got to the suburbs, we switched to a subway and came out very close to the Marriott where we were staying tomorrow.

 

It is a Courtyard; however, it doesn’t look like any Courtyard we have every stayed in before.  It will

be interesting tomorrow to see what the rooms are like.

We went in and asked the Concierge about tours, and we found out that all of the Sumo’s had finished their bouts and had left town for another town to practice in.

So after checking emails, we walked about 10 blocks to a Hop On- Hop Off bus and bought tickets for one of their rides.  While we were waiting for the bus, we had a small lunch.

The bus ride wasn’t very good although it did take us around the gardens of the Presidential Palace which were very beautiful – so cross that off our list.

By then it was time to go back to the ship so we bought return tickets and found our train.  The funny thing was that we went into a first class car and didn’t’ realize it until a conductor came by with only 3 minutes left in the trip.  She told us to go to the next car but when we opened the door, there was no way we could fit in.  Were we lucky when she took us back a car and let us stand in the middle between trains for the last couple of minutes.

It took us a little bit to find the shuttle bus but soon we were back on the dock and on the ship, after fist buying a couple of scarves at dockside.

We had a snack and then took a nap before dinner. 

As tonight is the last night of the cruise and the casino wasn’t open, we packed after dinner.

Sad but the cruise is over – now a couple of days in Tokyo and we will be home.

The next email will be from the Marriott in Tokyo.

Night from the ship.


People at the port watching the ship dock

First snack

Imperial Palace Gardens

Part of the train station

Yokohama at night from our balcony

Asking directions from a policewoman

First train ride into Tokyo