RachelG

April 3, 2023–Busan, South Korea For the first time this cruise, we had a really bouncy night. Seas were pretty rough, and the motion of the ship kept throwing open the sliding door to our closet which has an automatic light which would then turn on. And no way that we could figure to secure the door. We finally gave up and propped it open so it wouldn’t keep going on and off. Since it doesn’t shine directly into the bedroom, it was light a strong nightlight. We woke up a little later as a result, as we had gone to sleep when then ship pulled into port. When we awoke, it was bright and sunny outside, with a big bridge visible on our side of the ship, and a large very modern looking city with lots of high rises on the other. Tours were delayed going out by about an hour due to customs, but they had let us know this would be the case last evening, so it worked out well. Our tour for the day was “Tea Culture and City Highlights”. We drove through the huge city across a very long bridge and up a hillside to a Buddhist monastery which is still in the city but is quite and seems remote as it is in a pine grove. The building is very ornately painted, and we were greeted by the head monk and a whole entourage of ladies in beautiful Korean traditional dress. You had the option of sitting on the floor or in chairs for the tea ceremony. I would have done the floor, but George couldn’t handle that due to his pulled muscle from yesterday. We were guided through the ceremony, making and drinking the tea, meditating, then drinking more tea with little sweet cakes. Then the head monk treated us to an exhibition of traditional drumming. He was quite good. We then were allowed to explore the rest of the building and grounds. The people were very hospitable and seemed happy we were there. We drove to what was supposed to be a scenic view. It was just buildings all round and not very scenic. We then went to the fish market. I was sort of dreading this as we have been to fish markets in China and other parts of the world that were downright dreadful. But this was the cleanest and least smelly fish market ever. You could buy your fish and have them cook it right there if you desired. While driving, our guide, who was good and spoke passable English, asked if any of us were from Japan. Once she had determined that none were, she told us she would tell us about what happened in Korea during WWII and after which very sobering. She also thanked us profusely for our help in the Korean War and assured us South Koreans would never forget. By this time, it was after 2, due to our late start, and we were starving. We had planned to eat in town, but since it was so late, we just went back to the ship on the bus and grabbed lunch at the pool grill. We came in 2nd in trivia. I went down to destination services to protest the lack of tour then drop off at the airport for those with later flights out. Their excuse was there is a shortage of guides. I get that, but they should have let us know earlier. They knew this weeks ago. I spent a lot of time online this morning before our tour trying to find a private driver and tour for us. Everything is booked. If I had know a month ago, I could have arranged something. She did advise me there is a left luggage area at Haneda, and we could leave our luggage there then go do something. Incredibly inconvenient, but we don’t have a lot of options. As we sailed out from Busan, we passed 3 large naval ships, one an aircraft carrier. It was the highlight of George’s day. Dinner in Compass Rose with our friends June and Ralph was very nice. They had an Asian theme tonight. Really good pork gyoza, cod tempura with udon noodles, a couple of curry dishes, passion fruit soufflé. All quite tasty, and we had the most enthusiastic happy waiters. Isabelle commandeur’s repeat performance was outstanding. This time she did a combination of opera and Broadway.

Consensus was that the pre tour was very lacking. Weather was bad which didn’t help, but a couple of our friends just bailed on the tour parts.

That is the flight we are on. And the other problem is that if we get to the airport that early, we probably won’t be able to check in with AA yet. So we wouldn’t even be able to wait in a lounge. I am desperately looking for options. Everything I have found so far is already booked for the 11th. I have emailed a couple of places and haven’t heard back yet. Very annoying because literally every Regent cruise we have been on previously has provided some sort of tour then airport transfer for the later flights.

I have listened to all his lectures in the suite. He is great!

April 2, 2023–at sea enroute to Busan, South Korea Today would be a lazy sea day. We awoke and went to breakfast in La Veranda. As it was Sunday, champagne, mimosas, and caviar with all the trimmings were available though we did not partake. They have this really good Greek yogurt on board called Farmer’s Union. Never heard of it before, but it is creamy and delicious. It had gone missing yesterday, but was back today. Sadly, they are out of strawberries. Also out of Perrier. We were assured they would restock in Busan. The sea was calm, and while it was chilly and hazy this morning with temps in the 50s, the high was supposed to be 68F. Looking outside, there were little islands dotted around. I could see a few small fishing boats and larger ships. Internet connection abysmal. I was totally unable to get into my work VPN. Good thing it was Sunday/Saturday at home. They had said the NCAA semifinals would be shown in the Explorer Lounge, but they couldn’t get an adequate satellite signal. The new president of Regent, Andrea DeMarco, did a town hall meeting. She gave a short presentation. The only important things gleaned from that were they are working on the internet and going to try Starlink on Grandeur and roll it to the other ships in the fleet if it works out. They are working of even better dining. And they are going to do more grand voyages. She also talked about the option to do Regent air in coach. Then they opened for questions. There were a lot about UK air and pricing. And someone wanted more excursions which are less physically demanding. Someone did mention the virtual flood of paper brochures and how you need to be able to stop that without completely shutting off the paper brochures. I completely agree with that one—just send the big one once or twice a year and put everything else online. We then went to a private lunch in Chatreuse with our travel group and Ms DeMarco. George expressed his desire for more physically challenging excursions. She does seem to listen. We will see what comes of it. The schedule for the afternoon had trivia moved up to 3 pm as we will be cruising through the Kanmon Strait at 4. We came in 3rd. Who knows how many eyes a bee has? Not us for sure. The Kanmon strait is a narrow opening between to Japanese islands I to the Sea of Japan. They said it was supposed to be scenic, but I just saw a bunch of Industrial looking areas and a bridge. Not a highlight of the trip. The Seven Seas Society meeting was tonight and well attended. There are 9 Titanium members onboard, 33 (I think) platinum which would include George and me. We had dinner in Chartreuse. This restaurant has been hit and miss for us, but tonight was a hit. George said his steak was the best of the trip. The mushroom soup is always a winner, and the salads were good. George pulled a hamstring muscle today power walking on the top deck, so he went to bed early. The show tonight is World Rhythms, which I will attend. But right now, I am trying to figure out what to do in Tokyo after we disembark before our 6 pm flight. Normally Regent offers a day tour of the city with airport drop off, but this time they are not doing that. They have an airport drop off, at Haneda or Narita, but no tour options. I don’t want to spend 6+ hours at the airport doing nothing. So I am trying to figure out options. I think a lot of people are in the same boat. I know someone asked about that on this thread earlier, so I just want to be clear. They are offering no day tour options, only an airport drop off.

That is a shame. Maybe they will add it later.

April 1, 2023–Beppu Japan We had a little bit of rocking during the night, nothing bad, just enough to know you are on a ship. We awoke at 6 am, a much more sensible hour, so are gradually adjusting to the time zone. It was bright and sunny outside. Temperature in the 60s with little wind. While at breakfast in La Veranda, George spotted something you don’t see every day—a submarine, sailing in the opposite direction. It was so nice outside that I had my first walk about on the walking track upstairs. Lots of other walkers were out. Then there was a fascinating lecture about Japan and WWII and their mindset at the time. I missed the first 15 minutes so will watch the whole thing on the tv later. Beppu is a small city with a lot of surrounding geothermal activity. It is famous for a few things. First, the hot springs where people come to soak and presumably cure all sorts of ailments. There were a couple of excursions to these, but with 2 caveats. First, no tattoos. Not a problem for us, but I was talking to a gentleman who wanted to go but has one. I asked him how big it is. The size of a quarter, so I suggested putting a bandaid over it, problem solved. Apparently tattoos are very much frowned upon in Japan as they are associated with gangs and criminal activity. The second caveat is you have to be naked to bathe in the springs. Absolutely no way George would ever do that, so hot springs were out. Second thing Beppu is famous for is macaques which are a type of monkey that hangs around the hot springs. There is even a park where there are about 1500 of them, roaming free. No excursion offered to there unfortunately though if I had been thinking we could have done it on our own. Third thing Beppu is famous for is the Usa Jinga shrine and some large stone Buddhas. That was where we were going. We sailed into port and were greeted by a complete high school marching band. The tourist office made some helpful announcements. There is a free shuttle to downtown. We could see mountains rising up behind the town and steam rising from the geothermal vents all around. BEST Excursion of the trip so far, and one of the best we have ever been on. We had a great guide who spoke excellent English because she had attended Baylor University in Waco Texas. We drove through beautiful countryside with hills and mountains covered with forest and valleys with tea farms. We arrived at Usa Jinga. It is a very large shrine and very peaceful. Usually George doesn’t like to stick with the guide, but ours was so interesting, he really wanted to hear it. We had a little time to shop after and bought some perfect flavorful strawberries. Then we drove further into the mountains to the Kumano Magaibutsu stone Buddhas. To get to them is an extremely strenuous very steep hike on a stone path. It is definitely not for the faint of heart or anyone who is not in great shape. The Buddhas are stone carved into the side of the mountain. There are 2 of them, and they are very large. George of course had to take off to the top of the mountain. And our guide actually was ok with it. He just had to be back at the bus on time which he always is. It was a great tour, and George was happy because he got to hike in the countryside, and no one yelled at him. Back to the ship, we all had to go through Japanese customs as we now leave Japan to go to Korea. Dinner in Sette Mare. I had a stuffed chicken dish that was delicious. George had the veal chop. Unfortunately it was undercooked at first, but they cooked it some more, and he said it was good. The show was Broadway in Concert. I was a little late because we were having cocktails with Dave FR, his wife, and our friends Barbara and Alex. But it was great. I have seen it before a couple of times, and tonight’s version did not disappoint.

Sorakuen gardens

Mystery meat on a stick

Japanese Ferris wheel

She does indeed have another show

He and I prefer our beef for sure. The Hida beef is very tender, but the fat is interspersed in the muscle fibers so you can’t trim it off. It does have an excellent flavor. We just prefer leaner beef.

March 31, 2023–Kobe, Japan We were in port overnight. When we woke up, it was overcast and chilly. The weather forecast said no chance of rain, but it sure didn’t look like that. Looking out our window, we had a view of a big Ferris wheel. Ferris wheels must be really popular in Japan, because we have seen one in every port. La Veranda was really crowded at breakfast, so we ended up eating outside in the heated part of the pool deck. Our excursion for the morning was to Mt. Rocco and a sake museum. We rode in the bus to a cable car which took us up the steep slopes of Mt Rocco which is the 3000 ft mountain behind the city. The cable car was like those in San Francisco except going almost straight up. You couldn’t really see much except trees. We got off at a viewing point then the bus took us the rest of the way to the top. To be honest, it was a bit disappointing. It was so overcast and hazy, you couldn’t see much, and there were really ugly radio towers on the top of the mountain. Then we went back down a very curvy steep road through the forest to the city. That actually was kind of nice. The sake museum was interesting looking, but no signage in English. They did give us an English brochure explaining the sake making process, but it didn’t really explain the exhibits. Then we got to taste 2 different sakis and a plum wine. Back to port, the Regent website had actually allowed me to book an afternoon excursion. Not sure why because technically there is supposed to be an hour and a half between, but it did. So we got off one bus and immediately on another. All fine except no lunch. The afternoon excursion took us first across a huge suspension bridge to an island. There was a big promenade there as well as a food court, so we pointed a couple of things and purchased them for lunch. Actually pretty good. Then on to Sorakuen Gardens, a traditional Japanese garden in the middle of the city. This place is pristine and so beautiful with all different plants we don’t see at home plus little paths and walkways, water features, and koi. It is not large, but what is there is perfect. I told George it had the cleanest public toilet I have ever encountered. It was a short ride back to the ship. We had a quick rest then I went to trivia where our team placed 2nd. There was a pre dinner show , but George and I had been invited to cocktails so missed it. Dinner in Compass Rose was great. George ordered the pork chop while I had the pasta dish of the day and both were great. The entertainer tonight was Isabelle Commandeur from the Netherlands. She won the Dutch version of American Idol a few years ago, and she has an incredible voice. A great show, with a combination of pop, rock , and classical. Pp

I will check this out and get back to you on it. We are sort of the same situation but out of Haneda.

Sorry about the upside down pic!

George and the owner

Dinner at Hanasato

Osaka castle

Not sure of his name, but he was the owner and chef. He was quite a character.

March 30,2023–Kobe Japan After a smooth night sailing, we awoke to another bright sunny day. The sun comes up early here, at about 5:30 am. We were out of the busy commercial shipping channel. Looking out the window, I could only see a few small fishing boats with some rolling hills and hazy mountains behind. We weren’t to arrive in Kobe until noon, so we both worked a bit then had breakfast in La Veranda. There were a couple of lectures as well as other activities scheduled for the morning. I went to Pilates. It was a mat class as they obviously don’t have room for reformers, but it was possibly the best Pilates class on a ship that I have attended. The instructor was an Indian fellow and clearly knew his stuff. I talked to him after, and he said he has actually never done reformer Pilates and was curious about it. We had lunch out on the pool deck. I think the pizza there this trip has been excellent, and I splurged and ate 2 pieces. We were sailing into Kobe port and could see the city, very long and narrow backed by mountains. Our tour for the afternoon was to Osaka Castle. Unlike the castle yesterday which was the original, this is a reconstruction with a modern interior. Osaka and Kobe kind of run together, so I could really tell when we left one and entered the other. The castle is in the middle of the city and surrounded by a large park full of cherry trees which were in full bloom. It was bustling with people out enjoying the beautiful sunny weather. The walk from the parking lot to the castle was long taking about 15 minutes going at a steady pace. The ticket line was huge, but our guide was able to bypass it, so we walked right in. It is 8 stories high, and has an elevator that only goes to the 5th floor. So if you want to go to the observation deck at the top, you have to climb. But the stairs are just normal stairs, so it wasn’t bad. The castle is also a small museum with exhibits about its history on each floor. From what I could piece together, not knowing how to read Japanese, there was a whole lot of fighting and killing. The views from the top were good, but it was very crowded. Our guide for the day was very young. This was his first ever guide job, and he really didn’t talk about anything at all. I actually prefer this over our yesterday guide’s style, as she was apparently compelled to talk constantly about nothing. But I would have liked a little information about the place. We took a different highway back to Kobe which involved a lot of huge bridges with great views, and that and the beautiful cherry trees were the highlights of the trip. We had dinner reservations off the ship in Kobe at Hanasato, a very traditional Japanese restaurant which specializes in Hida beef. We had to take a taxi, and it was rush hour, so it took a while. But the guy got us there despite the language barrier. George’s google translator actually worked ok. The owner of the restaurant took good care of us. We had a multi course dinner with fish and crab appetizers, sashimi, salad, tempura, beef and veggies, miso soup, rice, and ice cream. A whole lot of food. Oh, and sake of course. The owner got us in a cab back to the ship personally. There was a local drumming show onboard, but we arrived too late for that.

Some friends told us today that there was a big welcoming party, complete with brass band and costumed dancers at the Nagoya port to greet us yesterday. We missed it because our suite is on the other side of the ship.

Also boarded in Yokohama and had to show pictures of our test results, though I don’t think they really looked at the dates. She basically just glanced at it to make sure it was negative.

He gets lots of attention, plus he is tall. At least I can find him.

March 29, 2023–Nagoya, Japan We had a good nights sleep with very smooth sailing to Nagoya and were able to sleep until 5:30 am. We both got some work done then went up to La Veranda for breakfast at 7:30. George got his special custom made juice drink out on the pool grill first. Strawberries and some of the best plain yogurt I have ever had for breakfast along with smoked salmon. You can custom order eggs any way you like, and they will bring them to the table. Missing were any berries other than strawberries, but there were lots of other fruits. It was bright and sunny, so we decided to walk up on the walking track above the pool deck. That was very short lived as the sun was deceiving. It was cold and windy. I could handle one or the other, but not both. We were sailing in a channel with very industrial looking buildings and oil refineries on both sides. Lots of boat traffic, but we were the only cruise ship in sight. After a couple of laps, I decided to go back inside and warm up. The cruise port in Nagoya is right downtown. Upon getting off the ship, there were a couple of tents set up. We had to show our passports in the first one. Then we walked 20 feet (with no possibility of going anywhere else) and show our passports and ship key card. But soon enough, we were on our bus with about 20 others and off to “Inuyama Castle and Noritake Gardens. Nagoya is a large city of 2.4 million with huge high rises downtown. It is the home of Toyota and Noritake as well as several other brands I was familiar with. Our guide said “First, we are going to lunch”. That was news to us as the description said nothing about lunch, and Portolan had done the same excursion 2 weeks ago with no lunch. So pretty much everyone had eaten a good breakfast planning to skip lunch. Anyway, we drove out to the suburbs where there were single family houses and apartments to a place that specializes in Haneda chicken. This chicken is supposed to be really special, but it just tasted like regular chicken to me. It came with coleslaw, potato salad, miso soup, pickled veg, rice, French fries, and mango pudding. You could have one beer or wine or a soft drink. Anyway, a lot of food. I skipped the rice and most of the potatoes. Highlight was the mango pudding. Next stop was the castle up high on a hill. Very nice place for photos. The parking lot was at the base of the hill, and going up was really steep. A lot of people decided just to stay below. Inside the castle was the absolute steepest set of stairs I have ever encountered. I don’t know how those soldiers did it because they would have been shorter than me. It was really like climbing a ladder. There were 4 levels but we only made it to the 3rd because there was a huge long line to get in, and we only had an hour total. It was interesting, and I wished we could have skipped lunch and just spent more time there. I felt like there was a lot more to see that we missed. Then to the Noritake gardens which really isn’t a garden but rather just landscaping around the buildings. The flowers were pretty, but nothing spectacular. We were able to go inside the workshop and museum though, and that was interesting, showing how they produce bone china. The museum had a lot of their designs including samples of my sister’s wedding china pattern. There is also a big outlet, and I could have spent some serious money. The problem is I would either have to lug it home myself or ship it which would defeat the cost saving. But the prices were really good. By this time, it was 4:30 and all aboard was at 5:00. Back on the bus, the guide told us we would get back to port at around 5:10. She asked if that was ok. Everyone looked at each other-like what does it matter whether it is ok or not? We are on the bus, and it’s not like it will go faster. Anyway, the ship was still there, and there were actually buses that arrived after ours. We had invitations to dinner with the captain. He is a lovely gentleman from Sorrento, and that is one of our favorite places. We had lots to discuss, and dinner was great as well. George persisted in trying out steak which was still not as good as ours at home, but I had a wonderful Dover sole plus some asparagus soup that was so delicious. Afterward I went to the show Divas and Divos which was excellent. I have seen this show several times, but it always changes and tonights was great. George went to give contributions to the casino.