Kirsten Captures

We left the port in Shanghai around 4pm on Sunday evening and were due to dock in Wakayama, Japan early Tuesday morning. That meant an entire day at sea!

Sunday

 

First we cruised past the massive port of Shanghai, with the Financial District in the distance.

The port is huge with hundreds of loading docks and ships ready to set sail.

 

As the port slipped away from sight, the air began to clear and we could breathe a bit easier. We were finally in open water.

The cruise activities began right away to entertain the hundreds of Chinese guests and fifty or so non-Chinese guests. We met in our designated restaurant for dinner but discovered that Peter and I were not seated with our friends. So we sat with an American family and two solo American travelers and had a great time.

Unfortunately around this time I began to feel very seasick which only intensified through a delightful magic show, drinks, and late-night pizza. The pizza actually helped which confirmed my suspicion that I did not eat enough at dinner and was getting extra nauseous from hunger. Well I remedied this situation for the rest of the trip and certainly ate more than enough to stay happy and nausea free.

Monday

Our cruise ship was essentially chasing a typhoon northward so the water was a little rough, making sleep a challenge with intense rocking. I was relieved to wake up and spent time on deck in the sun! As we sunbathed, with the Americans in bathing suits and the Chinese wrapped in sweaters and towels, we noticed large silhouettes in the distance.

Islands!

 

These are not the infamous and contested Senkaku Islands but I believe we went by them at some point. Other passengers even saw a submarine!

Large birds flew next to the ship for miles and miles, gliding effortlessly through the air before diving straight into the sea in pursuit of fish.

It was a beautiful day at sea. We even got a tan!

The islands looked magical. They were so close yet so far away and shrouded in a misty fog, almost like a dream. Then I realized they look a lot like Jurassic Park so maybe it’s good we stayed far away.

 

In the afternoon we went to the gym (hooray!) and then got ready for the formal dinner. I love any opportunity to get my fancy pants (dress) on. And of course any formal event calls for pictures!

Here is Peter and I with our friends Randy and Jenny and their daughter Sammie. The little girl on the left is Simone, the daughter of a Scottish couple in our group. We had such a fun group!

 

After another 6-course meal (whew, exhausting!) we went to the 8 o’clock show. For the show, there was a mix of famous hit songs by performers dressed as the musicians themselves. My favorite was the 70s section with several Bee Gees hits. The performers wore some pretty sweet disco onesies. Simon and Garfunkel were also pretty good.

We finished the evening watching our friends play roulette in the casino, drinking Bailey’s Banana Coladas, and eating more pizza. But we had to make it an early night, because in the morning we would be in Japan for our first excursion!

Stay tuned…