drron29

So why not call it an informal night as there is no real formal element to your desires for Formal optional nights. I take Formal optional to mean you can dress formally if you want to but you don't have to.

Yes a miserable morning indeed. now if you had a starboard cabin I got plenty of photos of that side this morning. All in my report.

Until now I hadn't noticed any large fish but then I saw this. they were in shallow water pushing the sand aside presumably to eat something. And finally a coloured koi. Walking back the long way to the hotel able to do a little train spotting. And the automatic train to Odaiba. Autumn is coming. Some footpaths are beautiful. And at the ferry terminal near our hotel. .

After breakfast I went for a walk. The buildings in this area usually have some greenery outside. I ended up here. It is just at the end of spider lily blooming.

The breakfast,

The flight was uneventful though we did deviate to the west of Taiwan to go around a typhoon. Despite that we were at the gate a minute before the ETA. The worry now was could we get through all the formalities and catch the limousine bus to the IC Tokyo Bay.It was 1610 when we got off the plane and the bus was at 1700. We were at the satellite terminal so a fair walk to immigration. There was a fairly long line as well.You get to the automated machine where an agent looks after 2 and basically does everything for you. Then rejoin the queue to line up at an agent where they do it all again. Fortunately we had done the online form so got past a few others but got out of Immigration at 1640. Down to the baggage carousel and our bag was off the carousel waiting for us. Then a long line to go through customs. A couple of groups were given a work over. We were just waved through but now 1652 when we reached the Limousine bus ticket office. The route to the IC had only been restarted on 1/10 and the young agent obviously didn't know but i found a timetable and was able to show her which bus we needed to be on. Again it was at one of the furthest stops from the exit but we reached the bus at 1658.We had just settled into our seats when the bus started off at exactly 1700 as usual. For the hotel I had used a confirmable suite upgrade voucher so checkin a breeze, Taken aback when the agent said because of us being unable to give you an upgrade would you like points or an extra 5000 yen F&B allowance. We took that. Then told as a diamond you automatically have a 4pm check out. After unpacking we went down to the bar. Mrsdrron had 2 glasses of Cloudy Bay SB-the only one they had. I had 2 Kirins. We also shared a pizza of salmon roe and anchovies. The anchovies were tiny , even smaller than the whitebait in NZ. But the pizza was excellent. Our room. The views from the room.

So the only difference to informal is the wearing of a tie?

Interrupting the programming for almost certainly the only real live report for this thread. The Muse arriving on a miserable morning in Yokohama. The tug gets into position to help her turning. And she backs in towards the pier. But she is half an hour late! Good to see our home for the next 6 weeks here.

Indeed it did. The funny part was a staff member spoke perfect English and told me he would take my photo both the jacket and cap fitted nearly perfectly which surprised me. several other staff went around saying something in Jappanese and when i stood on the little podium young kids came from everywhere to take my photo. Maybe a career as an instagram influencer in Japan. 😉

Well I did pack my dinner suit but not my pink jacket for informal nights on the Muse. I did buy a cheap jacket in Bangkok but today in Yokohama I found the outfit as an honary captain in the Japanese Navy. Well so said the fellow who was a retired Captain.

Not quite the same but we have been in 1012 on the Muse. Over the hall from the laundrette it is next to the lifts. We didn't hear the lifts so unlikely you would hear the laundrette. And the lifts go all night. Sorry elevators for our US friends.

I hope your tour of Yokohama is on Monday @Port Power as the port schedule only has you arriving here at 0630 Monday morning. If I happen to be up I will give you a big wave as the Muse sails in. I may be as sunrise here has been spectacular at ~ 0530.

We flew to NRT on JAL. We really like them. When we rrived at the gate lounge an FA came over and told us that the IFE wasn't working in the Business cabin but they were trying to fix it. A few minutes before boarding she came back to say it hadn't been fixed and gave us a form to get 2,000 yen from JAL. Also free wifi on our next 2 JAL flights. Fortunately we have 6 booked in the next 6 months. On board though the IFE wasn't totally down and we were able to watch live TV but not movies or their TV collection. So not unhappy. We did have to divert to the west of Taiwan because of an approaching typhoon. So now for Terry the food. Rojaan thought her appetiser was excellent and the steak pretty good and much better than she had on Singapore or BA on this trip. And I virtually always pick the Japanese meal. Presentation and taste usually very good. And the main meal served with miso ,pickles and rice. dessert the same for both of us. Later on I tried their Soba in a cup. really nice.

Our flight from BKK to SIN was delayed an hour because of engine problems. Fortunately the lounge was nice. And my meal on the plane was really tasty -Northern Thai beef. I watched a very good documentary series on Lee Kwan Yew. Time nor Tide. Remembering Lee Kwan Yew. Released in September to coincide with 100 years since his birth. Then to bed early at the Crowne Plaza Changi as we had to be up at 5am to make our flight to Tokyo.

If you are staying in Yokohama for a day they have the Autumn festival along the harbour front at the moment and will still be going on Monday. A wonderful selection of food plus a few Japanese craft distillerys. Mainly gin but occasional vodka, rum and Whiskey, lots of craft breweries and wines. talk about a small world i met a winemaker from the Clare Valley selling his wares. I think he was chuffed as he was speaking to a Japanese distributor when I was there and I did say Clare valley Rieslings are the best in the world. I probably will buy a couple of bottles of the gin tomorrow. Don't have to worry about airport security as we get off in Cairns. Anyone else who has a cruise beginning or ending in Yokohama take a few days here. not a bad place at all. The only thing that went wrong was they were forecasting strong winds for today which didn't happen. obviously because we went up the Landmark Tower from where on a clear day you can see Mt. Fuji. Today smog and cloud. Could have used those winds. All we saw in the direction of Fuji If you look hard enough you can see the lower slopes of Fuji taking off from the second peak on the left. One Day.

Flying in to Japan on Monday our flight diverted to the west of Taiwan to miss the approaching typhoon. The weather since a bit on the cold side with showers. Until yesterday which was basically perfect with not a cloud in the sky here in Yokohama. Today is nice but increasing cloud. a few showers predicted Sunday afternoon and rain early Monday but clearing by 10am with just an occasional shower in the next 36 hours.

Terry the dining is still not cheap for us but certainly not as expensive for Americans. When we first went to Japan in 1984 we were getting 360 yen for our dollar and $US 1.30. Today it is 90 yen and 62 US cents. But in 1984 we couldn’t afford to eat in any hotel restaurant yet now some are not expensive at all. 30 years of deflation are the cause of this happening. Just look up charts of the Nikkei index or Tokyo land prices. Horrendous falls.

Time for some food porn. I really loved the breakfast buffet at the Kimpton. Thai ,Chinese ,Japanese. Indian , Middle Eastern and some western dishes. i love curry and spices for breakfast. First a couple of shots of my typical first plate. A few of the dishes at breakfast. In the late afternoon we went across to Coffee Nation a couple of times as they have the best mushroom pizza we have had anywhere in the world.

on my last day in Bangkok I went for a walk to the Platinum Fashion Mall. Didn't tell Rojaan my aim was to find a cheap jacket. success a bright blue jacket for 900 baht -$A39 ,$US25. No pictures until on the Muse. I did suggest I leave it behind when the cruise ended but Rojaan said no keep it for the next cruise as well. I obviously did very well. so some pictures of the walk. On my way back I stopped at the garden I passed. A lovely oasis in the city.

Now for an interesting day in Bangkok. I went to the Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Close to the old Don Muang airport but with a Skytrain station near by with the obvious name of the Royal Thai air force Museum station so you can't miss it. I had to travel 23 stations in 40 minutes at a cost of 47 baht -$A2, $US1.3. So a few of the photos I took. even helicopters. And an air museum isn't complete without one of these. I learnt a few things. There were a few planes that the Thais bought from the Japanese between 1942-45. I didn't know they were so close during WW2. So for any who likes old planes or war planes this is a very good museum. what's more is that it is free and only closed on Public holidays. Recommended.

Yes hotel prices in Tokyo are almost always high. Some times such as cherry blossom time they are exorbitant.

Same with us this year.