Live Mariner Tokyo to Vancouver April 27 to May16 2019

[crusin7]

Many people had their families and their beloved dogs!  Dogs were everywhere. They ride in top of the line baby strollers. They are dressed in sweaters and some even had pants. This was a great place to people watch. Thanks to Gilly’s excellent blog we were able to stamp or journals. 

 

[Gilly]

25 minutes ago, crusin7 said:

we were able to stamp or journals. 

 

Oh heck Chrisy, hope I haven't started you on a new obsession! 😀    Those flowers looked amazing - couldn't believe the colours.  

 

Busy days, aren't they?  Hope to catch up with you soon!

 

G x

[crusin7]

We had dinner in Prime 7 last night.  The service was excellent. Calm and relaxed atmosphere. I had a wonderful filet. The prettiest dish was my fresh berries. 

 

[Travelcat2]

That is pretty and looks yummy!

[crusin7]

Today was a fun day. The highlight was when I realized I had the silver-tongued Gilly sitting in front of me on the bus.  Ha what a surprise!  

As we move north the weather is cooler and we finally see the remaining cherry blossoms. Our guide told us they should be in full bloom tomorrow in Hakodate. Yippppeeee!  

Today was sake tasting...more like sake learning.  Yes, there is a Sake University.

We ended up buying 3 bottles. We then drove the crowded highways to Matsushima.  There we walked across Fukuura Bridge and visited Zuiganji Temple.  Again the cities and attractions are buzzing with activities. We enjoyed the day but were happy to be back onboard at 2:15.  We can only go so long without strapping on our feed bags!

 

[Hambagahle]

The fields of blue flowers are extraordinary!  What lovely photos.

[crusin7]

Thank you Hambagahle. It was so amazing!  

Tonight was the Captain’s welcome. Sorry Captain but we did not attend. We did have dinner in Compass Rose. The staff was excellent even though their were hundreds of guests arriving simultaneously. The special destination dish was sweet and sour glazed fresh red snapper. It was deelish!  Jim had Peking duck. He said my fish was better. 

 

 

 

[Gilly]

6 hours ago, crusin7 said:

silver-tongued Gilly

 

Cheeky!!  🤣

We sent our apologies to the Captain's welcome too, but sat with friends in the bar and watched as the queue for CR went from zero to out of the door in no more than five minutes.  We waited till it subsided and then took our chances, securing our favoured table with no problem whatsoever.  I will admit to wishing I'd had the fish too (I opted for Beijing Duck) but never mind.  We had a super dinner and I will simply have to remember that for next time.

We were optimistic about the show - Tuxedo - tonight but were rather disappointed.  Was it just us?

[UUNetBill]

Wow, what great photos.  Thank you for the writeups and for taking the time to post commentary and photos - since I won't be on board until next spring this is a great way to travel with everyone else.  Tell Davor that Bill and Annemarie said 'hello' - he's awesome!  I hope you enjoy your cruise!!

[Travelcat2]

And, if you don't mind, tell Davor that Dennis and Jackie miss him.  He is a wonderful G.M. and saying hello from Bill, Annemarie and us is a good introduction!

 

I love sake and thought that only Explorer carried it (in Pacific Rim).  

 

 

[boblerm]

Crissy, thank you for posting your experiences and your lovely photos, we will be following along.  

That "sea" of nemophilla looked like an actual sea!

Great news about the changes in the lighting in Compass Rose, those blue lights made photography challenging to say the least.  Hopefully the Voyager and Navigator will be following suit!

Bob

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

I love sake and thought that only Explorer carried it (in Pacific Rim).  

I believe Crisy's pic of the sake was on the flight, not on the ship, or am I mistaken?

Is sake only available in that one venue on that one ship?

Bob

[Travelcat2]

48 minutes ago, boblerm said:

I believe Crisy's pic of the sake was on the flight, not on the ship, or am I mistaken?

Is sake only available in that one venue on that one ship?

Bob

 

You are probably right.  I saw the picture of the sake on the plane but then, in post #7 I saw a "thing" on the table in Japanese with glasses around it.  Thought that it was sake but, upon second glance, it was champagne.

 

Yes, Pacific Rim is the only venue on Explorer with that serves sake (unless you know someone and you likely could get some for your suite ...... not sure).  Pacific Rim has 4 styles of sake that can be served warm or cold.  I've tried them all - both warm and cold and enjoy it with the food in Pacific Rim.

 

cruisin7- Quick question about vodka on the Mariner.  It has been mentioned on another thread that Chopin is no longer being offered.  It is possible to list the vodkas available from the bar menu.  Thanks so much!

Edited April 29, 2019 by Travelcat2

[crusin7]

Good news for you Vodka lovers. Chopin and Tito’s are available. 

Sake is available on this cruise. 3 different types. Maybe because of our location. 

 

[crusin7]

Bill and TC I will relay your greetings to Davor tomorrow at our meet and greet. We finally saw the cherry blossoms. Yahoooo!  They were worth the wait!  Went to Mt. Hakodate and saw beautiful views of the city and bay.  

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by crusin7
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[crusin7]

Vista at Mt. Hakodate 

 

[crusin7]

The best part of the day was the wonderful greeting (except for the wind). I see 3 new welcoming agents!

 

 

[RJ2002]

7 hours ago, crusin7 said:

Vista at Mt. Hakodate 

 

 

Beautiful!  We really enjoyed our visit up there several years ago. 

 

Loving your pictures and narrative. 

[crusin7]

Sea Sickness Report 

 Last night the captain told us the winds would be picking up and we could expect to start rolling once we got out to sea.    When we came back to our room after dinner the fruit was placed in between the couch pillows. The flowers were taken off our table and sat on the floor in the corner.  We had some movement but it was not terrible. We swallowed our prophylactic seasickness medication. Luckily we are still smiling!  

They delivered a whole new stock of beautiful flowers in Hakodate. These are near Coffee Connection.

 

[crusin7]

We had our meet and greet today.  It was well attended.  Bill and TC I gave Davor your best. I think everyone had a good time putting names to faces. 

The Captain said in his noon report that we are trying to outrun a low pressure system that is chasing us.  Unfortunately it’s going to catch us.  Because of the system we will have to cancel our port of call in Petropavlovsk.  We can expect very rough weather.  Ugh!  It’s cold, rainy and very windy.  I’m hoping for calmer seas.  

[Travelcat2]

9 hours ago, crusin7 said:

We had our meet and greet today.  It was well attended.  Bill and TC I gave Davor your best. I think everyone had a good time putting names to faces. 

The Captain said in his noon report that we are trying to outrun a low pressure system that is chasing us.  Unfortunately it’s going to catch us.  Because of the system we will have to cancel our port of call in Petropavlovsk.  We can expect very rough weather.  Ugh!  It’s cold, rainy and very windy.  I’m hoping for calmer seas.  

 

I'm quite surprised at the weather.  We sail in November/December and February/March and the weather has been much better than what you are going through (and people on the Explorer transatlantic cruise had bad weather as well).  Hope that it gets better.

 

Thank you for going Davor our best.  He is a wonderful man and a great G.M.

 

In my personal opinion, you did not miss much by not stopping in Petropavlovsk.  Hope that the weather improves as you continue to go south.

[crusin7]

We are disappointed that we will miss our stop in Russia only because we were doing the Siberian K-9 excursion. We couldn’t wait to see those adorable huskies!   Of course the less bouncing around the better for us.  

We were told to expect rough weather tonight as the winds pick up.  We ate in Compass Rose last night.  Service was excellent and the food very good. 

I got a manicure this morning.  It was good.  The nail technician did not pressure me to buy anything or give additional tip.  She barely spoke.  $55

The flowers onboard are gorgeous. 

 

 

[crusin7]

It’s  38° and windy. Not often do you see a deserted pool deck. 

 

[crusin7]

BRRRRRRR it’s cold!

 

[Gilly]

OK I'm going to stick my neck out in public and admit that we left mid-show tonight (The Burt Bacharach evening).  I think the company shows are pretty poor so far and in particular, the Dionne Warwick number was awful.  Is it just me?

(I don't think we have ever left mid show before, always sticking it out to the end)