January 11, Sunday , Day 4

What a great way to spend a vacation – waking up to beautiful skies and 80 degrees.   After breakfast we went up on the deck to soak up the sun until Noon.  Then it is was down to the Aqua Spa area for a healthy lunch which was quite good.

We went back to the room to take a shower and relax a little before going to the casino for a 2pm slot tournament and then a 3pm blackjack tournament.

In the slot tournament, neither of us qualified for the final.

The Packers football game was going on so in the blackjack tournament there was only one table playing and Ed did not win.

After the tournaments, Barb played a little slots and Ed played roulette and black 20 hit twice in four spins and Ed got up from the table up $100 - just a no-brainer win, but fun.

After the tournaments we had a snack and shopped for Celebrity “stuff” and went up to the room where we had our evening canapés followed by a nap – remember, naps are good!!

The show tonight was at 7:00pm so it was before dinner which we really love as we can go right to the casino after dinner.

This was formal night and of course Barb looked spectacular in her long green shimmering gown!!

In the casino, Barb was up on the slots and Ed ended up exactly even, which is just fine.

Tomorrow our first of 5 islands – Barbados.

Snacks in the afternoon

Flowers from Ed, Champaign and fruit from Celebrity

Barb at her favorite slot machine

Canapes delivered to our room

Our first formal night

 

January 2015 – Day 3, Saturday, January 10

The weather was perfect when we woke up and Ed ate breakfast as usual and Barb got ready to spend the morning on the beach together.  The sun was really, really hot but we were only able to stay on the beach until 10:30am as we had to pack, check out and go to the ship.

We took a cab to the ship and basically walked right into our cabin – the service was probably the fastest we have ever seen.  Later we found out that very few of the passengers had arrived before us and most came later.

We took our carry-ons to the room, me our room attendant and went up to the deck to eat.  Our friends from New York, Jeff and Vera who had just been on this cruise told us that the food was better than they have seen in a long time and they were right.  The presentation and food was outstanding. 

We first had a sandwich, then some food from the buffet and finally deserts.  After that we went to see where our dinner table was located, walked around a little more and then went up to the deck to be in the sum. 

They had a great steel pan player and we also danced to some of his songs – it was a lot of fun.  We stayed on deck until 5:00pm and went to our cabin where our luggage was waiting for us.  After unpacking we took our usual nap.

Later after the life boat drill we went to dinner.  Our table is in perfect spot and is a round table for 8; however, the other couples did not show up which is not unusual for the first night.

After dinner we went to the show which had a couple of good acts and then it was to the casino.

We basically closed the casino are 1:00am and Barb had lost just a little at slots and Ed was up nicely.

We hope Jason had a Happy Birthday and the two new puppies are getting along fine.

Miss everyone and it is going to be a fun cruise.

Night for this day.

Going out for our first night on the cruise

 

 

 

January 2015 – Day 2, Friday, January 9

It was a fun day for our first full day in San Juan.  Ed got up first and had breakfast then we walked about ½ mile to a Walgreens to pick up pop and Kahula for the cruise.  The only problem was that it rained on us about 4 times as we were walking to Walgreens.   

After we got back, we changed and went out on the beach, first eating at the ocean front grill. 

We stayed out on the beach until about 4pm and yes we probably got a little too much sun, but it was fun.

Then it was up to the room to clean up and we walked to the bus stop to take a bus to Old San Juan.  After waiting for about ½ hour, we gave up and took a cab to town.

We walked around, bought a magnet and then took a cab back to the area of the hotel where we went to a local restaurant that we had seen on our walk in the morning.

The food was really good and we had three appetizers for our dinner.  One was Sweet Plantains (basically a banana) stuffed with shrimp or ground beef with garlic cream sauce.  Then we had crab portaricon fritters, beef portaricon fritters.  The last appetizer was a sweet Plantain hollowed out with mixed vegetables topped with cheddar cheese.  All three of these appetizers were served hot and when we were finished we did not need a main course.

We walked back to the hotel and changed clothes and went down to the casino.  Barb did not play slots as the only slot machine she likes was a penny machine and she didn’t want to play it.  Ed played blackjack for over an hour and just broke even but it was good practice for the cruise.

As it is Friday night, they had a band and a DJ playing in the lounge for Salsa dancing we sat and had a free Rum drink the hotel had given us.  After that it was time to go up to the room – big day tomorrow – sun on the beach first and then onto the ship for our cruise.

Night from San Juan.

 

The beach

A new friend for our new puppy - about 6 feet long!!

 

Sweet Plantains (basically a banana) stuffed with shrimp or ground beef with garlic cream sauce on the left.  Then crab portaricon fritters, beef portaricon fritters on the right.

A sweet Plantain hollowed out with mixed vegetables topped with cheddar cheese

 

 

January 2015 – Day 1, Thursday, January 8

We didn’t spend New Year’s traveling or in a foreign port, but this is the next best thing, travelling January when in when it is terrible weather in Illinois!!

When we awoke at home at 4:00am, the temperature was -13 and after we arrived at the airport, we would out that it was also too cold for airplanes.

They were able to get the plane started; however, they said it was too cold for some of the instruments to work properly.  Finally at around 9am or so, they allowed us to board and it felt great – but only for a few minutes because then they took us off the plane and told us the flight was cancelled.

Since we would have missed our flight in Atlanta anyway, I had them previously protected us by booking the 4:30pm and 7:00 pm flight from Atlanta to San Juan.  Now all we had to do to get to Atlanta. 

After just a little bit of time, they announced that because there were so many international passengers, they were flying in a replacement plane from Atlanta.  It was supposed to get to Bloomington by 11:00am and it finally arrived at about 1:30pm.  We all boarded quickly and the flight to Atlanta was uneventful, finally!!

We made the 4:30pm flight to San Juan and we were on our way on time and upgraded to first class.  The coach section of the plane was 3 & 3 seating so we were very fortunate for this 3 ½ hour flight.  They served us a great meal and we watched a movie on the iPad.

We arrived in San Juan right on time, 9:00pm their time (we are two hours ahead of Illinois) and we took a cab to the hotel.  This is a nice Marriott Courtyard and right on the beach.

We walked around a little bit, went through the casino and then it was time to go to bed after a long day traveling to San Juan.

At bedtime the temperature was 76 degrees – WOW we are here.  We have only Friday and then we board the Celebrity ship the Summit on Saturday and most of our time will probably be on the beach.



Barb's Dinner



Ed's Dinner



The Beach our first night

Asia – Day 21, Tuesday, October 28, 2015

Our plane wasn’t scheduled to leave until 5:05pm so we had time in the morning to sleep in a little and then go to the area of town that is the major electronic area so we got on the subway and rode two spots to the shopping area.

 It was about a 5 square block area and just jammed with every kind of electronic and game type store.  We walked around, bought a few souvenirs and then took the subway back to the hotel.

 As a shuttle bus to the airport was $60.00 and a cab was $200.00 we took a short cab ride to the airport shuttle bus location.  The only problem we had was where we were dropped off was across a huge street from the bus stop.  So, we had to roll our suitcases across the street where we met a very nice man who was responsible for loading everyone on the bus and he helped with the suitcases.

The bus ride took 1 ½ hours and then we arrived at the airport at about 3:00pm.

 On flight from Tokyo was on Japan Airlines on a new 787 and what a difference between US carriers and Japan Air.  We had great food, great service and everyone was always smiling.   We have a totally new respect and appreciation for the Japanese culture.

Tokyo is like most big cities except it is cleaner, the people are very friendly and they go out of their way to help you.  Also their transportation system works.  Other nice thing is that there is no tipping.

 

The flight from Tokyo to San Diego was 10 hours and it was on time, followed by a 3 hour flight to Dallas and finally a 2 hour flight to Bloomington and we arrived at a little past 10:00pm, right on time.  We had been up for 29 hours by the time we arrived in Bloomington.

 

 What a trip and we can’t share what we learned and saw on the trip.

 

Our morning snack on the plane - beef and rice

M

The free breakfast at the Marriott

More breakfast

and more breakfast!!

$553.58 for the new toilet seat with all the controls

Lunch before flying home

Barb's lunch before the flight

Dinner on the flight home

 

 

Asia – Day 20, Monday, October 27, 2015

             What a beautiful day it was when we awoke in Tokyo.

Ed, as usual, had breakfast while Barb got ready. 

First we went to a Buddhist Temple that on the outside showed an Indian influence and then on the inside it was all Japanese.  It was very peaceful and a lot of people were worshiping there. 

Then it was off to the gigantic Tsukiji fish market.  If you wanted to see the Tuna auction that goes on every day, you had to be one of the first 60 in line at 5:00am.  That was a little too early for us, so we missed that auction.

But we did experience one of the largest markets we have ever been to.  It also seemed like every other stall was a restaurant as well as a wholesaler of fish products.  There also were a few other vendors there but mostly they were fish vendors.

We ate samples at a lot of the booths and also purchased food as we worked our way through the stalls. 

We ate tuna, calamari, squid, a root vegetable and then what Ed liked the best was a seaweed wrapped item made up of rice and vegetables or some type of seafood.  It was really good and he had a couple of different types.

Then we took the subway to the Tokyo Tower, the largest free standing broadcasting tower in the world.  The highest we could go was to the 450 meter level, which is 1,476 feet tall.  The elevator in the tower went up 115 stories in 50 seconds – that’s fast!  Had we know how long it would take we might not have gone up the tower, but we did.  It probably took us 1 ½ hours just to get to the window to purchase the tickets.  Then you took an elevator to the 350 meter level and then purchased another ticket and another elevator to get to the 450 meter level.  On a clear day, you could see Mt. Fuji; however, it was not clear today.

Next we were back on the subway going across town to see one of the famous Shinto shrines, the Meiji Jingu Shrine.   The souls of an Emperor and Empress are enshrined here.  The gourds are massive and have approximately 100,000 trees along with some beautiful ponds and walkways.  It was a very peaceful place to be.

By then it was 5:30pm so we took the subway back to the hotel for a nap.  After an hour nap, we took the subway to a major shopping, food and entertainment area when we walked around a lot and then had dinner.

All we know for sure was that both dishes were very good.  One was very spicy; however, we finished both of them.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel for the evening.

Tomorrow we have the morning in Tokyo and then we take a shuttle bus to the airport and WE ARE COMING HOME!!

If we get a chance, we will write about tomorrow; however, if we don’t it will be because we ran out of time.

It has been a wonderful trip and can’t wait to be home.

Night from Tokyo.

Toilet seat controls

Rice, other things and seaweed



Going for a walk at the Shrine

Part of the gardens at the Shrine

Snack time

Dinner tonight

Shopping area where we ate dinner

The alter at the Shrine

 

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