USN59-79

Sara and I are very comfortable travelling on public transportation in Japan. When we pick a hotel we want one near a subway terminal and with breakfast included. In 1963 when we in Japan for our honeymoon we were a large train station with tickets for Fukuoka. I wasn't sure which side of the platform we should be on for our train. A train stopped and I stepped aboard to ask a passenger if this was the right train. The doors closed, the train left, and Sara was still on the platform. She was smart enough to just stay there. I got off at the next stop, went to the other platform and caught the next train back. In ten minutes we were reunited. Ten minutes of panic of course. Ray

I could not get a straight answer from them regarding the K-ETA. I would not have known about it if I hadn't heard of it on CC. I spent too much time trying to do it on my desktop computer. So I will let HAL worry about it. If they don't want me to get off the ship in Buson, no big deal. I have been there before. Ray

We have often taken the airporter, particularly when returning to SeaTac. It stops. It stops in Silverdale about 3 miles (mostly downhill) from our house. In the past I would often drop off the luggage and DW, drive home and park the car, and walk the 3 miles to the pickup point. I considered it this time, but not sure at 83 I am still comfortable walking 3 miles, they raised the price from $27. to $37. P/P and took away the senior discount, so the rental car (at $42) seemed like the sure thing to get us there at the proper time. Interesting that our limousine bus transportation from Narita to Yokohama is only $16.80 P/P or 2200 Yen.

Kind of a damp and cool day here in Western Washington. Saturday was our warmest day since October, yesterday was nice, but cool and wet has come back. Saturday our DS came over for a visit with his dog, a beautiful and well tempered golden doodle. We took the dog to the local dog park where they can run around without a leash. Very interesting watching the different dogs playing and interacting with each other. Kind of like a school playground, where there is always one bully but everyone else enjoys playing together. Yesterday I finally got serious about packing for our cruise. Still have some little decisions like how to pack the Irish Cream I use for my morning coffee, what shoes to take, should I pack or wear a coat, etc. We live about 60 miles from SeaTac airport and it isn't practical to park a car there long term, so I usually go there the day before and pick up a rental to drive the the airport the next morning. It involves taking a ferry to Seattle, walking about 6-8 blocks to the light rail, take it to airport, then a rental car shuttle to the rental car place. Wastes most of a day and I don't look forward to walking through the worst part of Seattle or riding the light rail with the drug smokers. Anyway, the DS volunteered to come over tomorrow evening, spend the night and drive us to the airport the next morning. That will make it much easier. I had booked a Thrifty rental car through Priceline and tried to cancel it this morning. Called both of them and neither would allow me to cancel it. Oh well, lesson learned. Ray

Thanks for all the congratulations on our upcoming anniversary. I still remember that one of the requirements the Navy had if we wanted to marry was an interview with the base Chaplain. He was a Baptist minister and looking back I suspect he wasn't happy with interracial marriages. He kept using slang words that Sara didn't understand implying that she didn't understand much English. He then said "You know, these marriages usually don't last very long...." Well, we proved him wrong. I never served on a submarine while in the Navy. I did work for the Navy as a civilian after I retired and spent a week on a nuclear ballistic missile submarine, the USS Ohio developing training materials for some electronics courses. Learned a lot of what the sailors have to live with on those boats. Ray

Interesting selection of ports today. The Westerdam will be in Osaka on 7 and 8 April and then stop at Kobe on 12 April. We will probably take the train to Kyoto while the ship is in Osaka. In 1963 we honeymooned at Kyoto for a few days. We were married in Taipei in March, but the government there didn't allow it's citizens to travel out of the country for pleasure as they were technically at war with China. So when we were transferred back to the U.S. I took leave on the way back in Japan for our honeymoon. We will celebrate our 60th this month when the ship is at Naha, Okinawa. Ray

No. The QR code for quarantine is no longer required.

One of the joys of cruising is looking through clothing that you never wear elsewhere and choosing what to take on the trip. My DW once met Imelda Marcos in Manila and maybe learned something from her. I think she has at least 40 pairs of shoes so she is enjoying choosing what to take with us next week. Concerning the Oscar Wilde quote. At the time and place he lived homosexual acts were criminal and he was jailed for them. He must have been told many times that he would go to hell so he tried to make the best of it with a joke. Ray

About the Dam Dollars. They are actually called Grand Dollars. I have six 20s and 89 ones. Any idea what I should do with them?

I noticed you have a choice of having it delivered either on embarkation or the first sea day and either in the dining room or your cabin. We are embarking in Yokohama, so no worry about city taxes, but it might be an issue in some U.S. ports. Ray

On the HAL website it lists a price and doesn't mention that it includes the gratuity. They list the 8-bottle cellar package at $258.42, so now I know that is the price with gratuity. I am boarding the Westerdam soon so I will order a package from home and see how they handle it. Ray

Thanks for the reply. We board the Westerdam soon with fifteen different Japanese ports. Fortunately Tokushima is not one of them. If it were, I would be looking for an alternative way to get around. Ray

Could you expound on that? Who is charging $150 roundtrip? Is there no public transportation? From a map it looks like Tokushima is a seaport with downtown less than a mile away.

HAL recently had an issue with non-reusable plastic water bottles; thus, they are not allowed on the ship. They will try to sell you water in non-reusable metal cans. I assume if you found a store that sold cases of canned water you could bring it onboard. The water onboard is good to drink and we fill our own reusable container and drink that. Ray

I am very surprised that HAL actually reduced the price on something. I guess they got tired of saying to their Mariners "Yeah, you get your 50% discount, but we are going to charge you a 36% gratuity charge on top of that." Ray

Not sure if I understand this. If the list price is say $200, does that mean that the actual list price is $236? And 50% off for a 4/5* would be $136? I think that I the way I was charged when I cruised pre-pandemic. Ray

Is the Rotterdam the only HAL ship where we might expect this annoyance? Ray

I have a suggestion, but it is too late for it now. I would have looked up the name of the most prominent law firm that specializes in malpractice claims in your area and would have added them as a "copy to" on the letter. That would certainly get their attention! Ray

Suggest you tell Rob to check his flight. The Westerdam is in Okinawa today. Ray

We have been getting ready for our upcoming cruise later this month on the Westerdam. It is interesting that a person now on that ship has mentioned how they are emphasizing mask wearing on board; a crew member stationed at the Lido entrance will ask you to put one on as you enter, etc. Just saw the pictures that a person on the Zuiderdam WC posted of a party last night. People crowded together dancing and drinking and not a person, including crew, is wearing a mask. Ray

Does that mean that you needed it?😄 Ray

I am not sure what Winter 2024 means. Is December 2023 thru January 2024 Winter 2024? Or is December 2024 and January 2025 considered Winter 2024? This year winter begins on 21 December, 2023.

Can't tell you how much I enjoyed watching the film of the Midway and the other carriers. Hard to believe that a ship commissioned in 1945 was still in good shape and operational in 1991. I wonder what it took to get that helicopter on the bow of the Kitty Hawk to fly again after being drenched multiple times with salt water. Probably wasn't a good idea to tie her down on the bow. Interesting that the Midway is now a museum ship in San Diego. I think it would be fun to show your family around the ship you served on. My last ship, USS Hector (AR-7) was also built at the end of WW2, but ended up being given to the Pakistan Navy. Don't think I will ever see her again. Ray

Just prior to the pandemic the Westerdam had an instructor who taught us how to use a smart phone as a camera, both in taking pictures and processing them. Before that I had no idea that my iPhone was a better camera in many ways than my $300. Canon. I would be more likely to book a cruise if I knew I could expect classes like that. Imagine how many would sign up for a class on using AI or something like ChatGPT to learn about the ports we are visiting? I certainly would. Ray

Today has been a good day. Went to my final physical therapy session this morning for the leg fracture. The therapist did a few tests to see how far I could bend the ankle in different directions and how much pressure it could exert in different directions. All the numbers were good, some surprisingly better than just a week ago. So I can consider myself healed. I was talking to the therapist about computer applications and he said he was amazed at what the new ap ChatGPT can do. He had it on his laptop and showed how it could write a three paragraph description of the first year of the American Revolution just by him asking it to do that. I asked him to have it describe a one day walking tour for a tourist in Yokohama. The results were amazing! I just bought a 900 page Lonely Planet book on Japan and have started to research some of the ports, but using ChatGPT may make the old way of researching a port obsolete. Have any of us in this group tried it yet? Ray