DaKahuna

It is hard to believe we are already at the half way point of the cruise. It certainly has gone by quickly. So many things I have thought about doing, so many things I have not done. We had stopped by the casino last night and were told they expected to open at 8 pm. We went to the lounge for a cocktail and waited until 8 pm and went to the casino. We were then told that it was not going to be until about 9:45 pm before they opened, the ship needed to reach international waters. We decided not to wait around so we went to the Rendezvous Lounge and listened to Magnifica until they finished their set and then decided to call it a night. This morning after breakfast in Luminae we put in our bag of laundry and bag of dry cleaning. Had to ask for a second laundry bag since only one was provided in the room. Went and relaxed in the lounge while our room was being serviced. Just came back to find more paperwork from our Retreat Concierge’s. The Officer’s soirée invitation — this is usually when the Retreat is the most crowded. Not sure if we are going to attend or not. Most of these our attendance is all about how we feel at the moment. Look like Future Cruises will be in the retreat tomorrow. Have not decided whether to book another cruise or not. Time is running short. Some helpful immigration information regarding Busan. As I posted earlier, we have been invited to attend the Retreat Hosted Sail in to Hiroshima on the helipad. I may go for a short while but have to leave to be in the Theater by 2 PM to meet for our shore excursion to Miyajima.

Well we can add one more thing to the items that Celebrity has taken away from Sky Suite guest, not sure if it applies to other suites as well. No more free shoe shines. I looked for the shoe shine bag that is usually in the room and this morning I talked with our “Retreat Host” who said that service was no longer offered.

$17 for a martini. Drink prices are easily found in the App.

I love the Wedge Salad from the MDR - always asks or extra blue cheese and heavy with the dressing. Glad you ladies are having a wonderful time, I am sure it will continue. The M-Class ships, as you well know, are known for spectacular service. I really like those little tables in the theater and the spacing between the seats. Easy for people to get by without you having to stand up to let them pass. Not to mention being very comfortable.

It took us about 30 minutes from the ship to Osaka Castle, from Osaka Castle to Dotonbouri, and Dotonbouri to the ship. I was not really paying that much attention. But roughly an hour and a half of driving, hour and a half at each site.

I hope you have a safe and uneventful trip home. I will be thinking of you and Ian while having my pistachio roll in Luminae here shortly. We are scheduled to arrive in Hiroshima at 1300 so a nice leisurely start this morning. Look forward to following along on your next adventure. As I said when I did my first live review, you are the one that inspired me to share our experiences with our fellow CC members.

We did feel a little rushed at Osaka Castle but there was adequate time to wait for the elevator to the 5th floor, walk up to the 8th floor, walk all the way around the 8th floor taking pictures, and then walking back down to floors 4 and 3, where pictures are not allowed but a lot of historical artifacts are on display. All in all, we had about an hour and a half at the Castle. In Dotonbouri we had a little over an hour and a half, but not quite two hours. This was more than enough time, given the crowds, to get a feel for what it was like and to have lunch in a restaurant. To really do Dotonbouri you need to spend hours and hours there as you can see from the map I posted, it is really a big area. We only walked from one end to the other of the main Dotonbouri street and did not feel like fighting the crowds to go down some of the others. I felt the tour was well worth the price we paid for it. And in October you are not going to have to deal with the crowds remaining from the last day of Golden Week.

The ships excursions range from $80 pp to over $300 pp depending on the type and duration of the tour. I purchased ours fairly early and then watched for various sales to occur and ended up getting all but one of ours at 40% off, the other I got at 20% off. For example @Reisdawg mentioned that they were able to book the Osaka Castle and Dotonbouri tour for $85.00 per person. We were able to book it at just under $70 per person (40% off) Our 10 hour three site tour which included lunch was $300, or $150 for each of us, This was the longest and the most expensive tour we booked. A number of people on our roll call commented about the price of the shore excursions but a number of people also opted to get private tours. So your best bet if you are worried about the price of shore excursions is to price out what a well known tour company would charge and let that be your high end. The five excursions I booked using OBC came in at under $1000.

@Jim_Iain I saw my first roaving photographer today. He was on the Helipad for our sail away from Osaka. This was open to Elite guest and above. Tomorrow is the Retreat guest Helipad for our arrival in Hiroshima.

Tonight my DW and I were not interested in anything on the menu’s and she mentioned wanting pizza so we went to the Oceanview Cafe for dinner. she had a slice of vegetable pizza and a small salad that came in a glass. i had two slices of Pepperoni pizza and then had some Indian food - rice, roti, and beef korma. for dessert I made the trip to the ice cream bar for a scoop of coffee and a scoop of butter pecan. we walked around and seating was available everywhere. There were plenty of selections and tonight the daily favorites featured a stir fly with a wide selection of meats, vegetables, and noodles.

I stopped by Cafe al Bacio on my way back from the Helipad sail away. They have a new Japanese tea offering that we’ve never seen before. I also spied more of the Lemon Tarts and chocolate tarts, plus Tiramisu — I ordered a Aspen and two pieces of Tiramisu (one of my DW and one for me) and took my order to go. We enjoyed it on our balcony while the ship backed away from the dock. I prefer the lemon tarts without the little caps, as I mentioned before, but they are easily removed and disposed of.

Some additional information we received in our room concerning tomorrow in Hiroshima. We have a ships excursion booked to Miyajima to view the floating Tori gate. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 1 PM and our excursions meets a 2 PM in the Theater.

Our next stop was Dotonburi, an area known for its food, primarily crab, takoyaki, and beef. There are many small restaurants here and in the evenings it is a popular place with the young crowd. Here are some of the pictures I took while there. We had our lunch here — Our lunch — deluxe sushi and tempura set — it was delicious I bet this place is amazing at night with all the signs glowing. Maybe someone else on the cruise too some pictures at night and will share them.

After a leisurely breakfast in Luminae this morning, my DW decided no breakfast for her today, we made final preparation for going ashore on our booked shore excursion - Osaka Castle and Dotonbouri District. We actually left the theater early, had an orderly boarding of the bus with everyone finally on the bus 5 minutes early so we got off to a good start. Our first stop was Osaka castle and there was virtually no traffic so we arrived there ahead of schedule giving us an additional 10 minutes. Here is a map of the castle. The current castle is the third build, the original having been destroyed by a war and a fire. This current version was built in 1931. Here are some of the pictures I took .. First the grounds around the castle The inner walls are made of some very huge stones that were brought it from other parts of Japan. It’s a mystery how these stones were transported and place given their huge size and lack of machinery at the time of construction. Some flowers that I thought were very colorful Those flowers were in front of this museum, which was constructed in 1931 the same time the latest castle was rebuilt. A signal gun that was used to sound the stroke of noon according to the sign. From the 8th floor of the tower you have some great views of Osaka. Unfortunately, we did not have clear weather today but still there were some nice views in all four directions (the floor is square shaped with views all around.

As was mentioned earlier, you still have to do math for the 20% surcharge.

That same menu is in the Retreat Lounge on Millennium right now. My understanding that it is new and is going to be fleet wide in a few more weeks/month. Don’t tell anyone but I have been drinking Ron Zacapa 23 in the lounge and have not been charged a surcharge yet. Fingers crossed that continues.

Celebrity is not doing well with the casino on this cruise. There are only four seas days on a 13-day cruise. We are in port most of the time and the casino is closed. I am going to see if I cannot get half of our remaining OBC out on the next sea day and then the rest on the one following that. That would leave me one final sea day for any ‘left overs.’

Thank you. I hope the video’s I posted of last nights Taiko Drum performance in the theater work for everyone. It was really a joy to experience those drums again. Just returned from today’s excursion and going to try and get some pictures posted before heading to the Helipad for sail away.

There was a green screen set up just out side of Luminae at the photo shop area on Millennium. They were breaking it down when we went to the theater for the Taiko Drum performance around 0845. Otherwise, have not seen a lot of photographers or sets up so far this cruise.

Greetings from Japan - That view certainly is spectacular. Already enjoying your adventures and you have not even set sail yet.

More Taiko Drums IMG_1564.mov IMG_1566.mov IMG_1580.mov IMG_1587.mov IMG_1597.mov IMG_1614.mov IMG_1579.mov IMG_1586.mov IMG_1594.mov IMG_1608.mov IMG_1615.mov

we arrive in Hiroshima at 1:00 pm. As soon as we are cleared passengers can start leaving the ship but all passengers must be off the ship by 2:30 pm. We have a shore excursion scheduled for 2 pm so we will clear immigration when we return from our tour. the ship is scheduled to depart at 10 pm. Grits are ground hominy and are a staple in the southern US. It’s similar to farina but oh so much more delicious.

Got an invitation and a very information letter this evening. We’ve been invited to the Helipad for tomorrow’s sail away from Osaka. And a very comprehensive and detailed letter explaining the immigration process that we will be undergoing in Hiroshima.

Thank you. We embarked in Yokohama and will disembark there at the end of the cruise. Our flight was non-stop Washington Dulles to Haneda and was about 13 and a half hours flight time. Going home will be a little faster as I believe the winds are more favorable going west to east.

We decided we wanted to see the Takio performance in the main theater this evening so after dinner we proceeded to the Retreat lounge. My wife had a small glass of hot sake and I had a spicy margarita in honor of cinco de mayo. We then proceeded to the theater about 15 minutes before the performance started. I took a lot of short video segments and a few pictures of the group. They were fantastic for having only been together for 1 year. Let’s hope some of the video’s will upload. IMG_1601.mov IMG_1620.mov I’ll post more video’s later —