Detailed (& long) review of Celebrity Millennium 12 Night Best of Japan 14-26th July

[catweazlecat]

Really enjoy reading about your travel adventures 🤩
Will be boarding on August 31 and spent a week before in Tokyo and Kyoto to get more time in these cities.
Looking forward to read more 😍

[Lunastella]

Day 2: Shimizu (Mount Fuji)

 

Bunkbed sleeping was as expected, lacking. No matter, it will be DS’s turn tonight!  When DS’s alarm went off at 6.30am (regime!!!), we opened the curtains and to our surprise we were already docked in Shimizu. The sure do like Ferris wheels in Japanese ports it seems! They are everywhere!  I was hoping to see Mt Fuji in the distance as we sailed into port, but guess I was too late. Spoiler alert, this would be the theme for the day.

 

Cabin view

 

 

Today is our first full day of the cruise, and our first (and only) private tour. I had booked a 4hr tour with Local Travel Partners (www.shizoka-tour.com). It was 60,000JPY (or €381) for a private tour guide and taxi to visit Nihondaira ropeway (cable car), Kunozan Toshogu Shrine, Nihondaira Yume terrace (for views to Mt Fuji…maybe), a tea house, and Miho Pine Tree Grove and cultural centre. Everything was included in the price except the cable car and shrine (an extra 1,750JPY).

 

I didn’t have time for the gym, well theoretically I could have gotten up at 6am but didn’t, give me a break, I am on holiday! Instead, we got up, showered and went to the madness that is the Oceanview Café on the first morning of a cruise. Won’t be doing that again, I say! I just cant take that mania so early in the morning. I ate…who knows, it was a blur. Actually, its coming back to me…..water that definitely thought it was yoghurt and a banana. Pretty sure pastries were involved. I was too traumatised to take photos.

 

This was me before breakfast…cool, calm, relaxed, I won’t show the after

 

 

We left the ship at 8.30am to meet Masa, our tour guide, right out on the dock. He was very courteous and full of information for us throughout the day. The taxi had good aircon, which was important as it was (thankfully) a sunny morning.

 

The drive to the Nihondaira ropeway was short, maybe 15 minutes. Actually, everything around Shimizu was pretty close by. The ropeway doesn’t open till 9.15, so Masa waited in line for the tickets while we explored a little and used the restroom etc. [SIDENOTE: Something I noticed at every site we visited….there are loads of restrooms, everywhere! You gotta love Japan for that alone. And they are clean, and free!].

 

I explored the vending machine

 

 

DS, being sensible, went to queue for tickets with Masa. Next thing I know, I got a panicked “quick!” text from DS as the ticket booth had opened and the queue swarmed….DM and I were well behind! But luckily a security guard let us through. Phewww…

 

We ended up in the first cable car (yay), but it was pretty jammed and we are at the back (boo). The cable car does down 1,000 meters  into the valley (somehow I expected it to go up, but I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention).

 

Cable car trip

 

 

 

Will do!

 

 

As you exit the cable car you enter the Kunozan Toshogu Shrine, which is my favourite shrine so far (out of the two I’ve seen, well temples and shrines I should say, yesterday we were in a Buddhist temple, and today its Shinto shrine).

 

Word of caution - you have to walk up 100 steps at this shrine, and these are not your everyday average steps, these are the steepest steps in history (well I may be exaggerating, but they felt like that in 30 degree heat and 80% humidity). I am so proud of DM for managing it, and not even complaining about it. It was tough for me and I am almost half her age!

 

Steps

 

 

Masa walked us through the shrine and explained all the important features, the history and the rituals. Once we reached the pinnacle of the shrine, we double bowed, double clapped, made our wish, and clapped again once. We learned this yesterday, so I guess Shinto and Buddhist rituals are not that different.

 

Entrance

 

 

Torii gates

 

 

Shrine

 

 

Shrine 

 

 

 

There were lovely views of the beach and sea and we even managed to get a rare photo of the 3 of us.

 

Look happy and pretend you are not roasting

 

 

After walking up the 100 steps, we walked down the 100 steps, and took the cable car back up the mountain, but this time we had prime views!

 

We were first in!

 

 

Pacific ocean in the distance

 

 

DM enjoying the breeze after a very hot cable car journey

 

 

The Nihondaira Yume terrace and observation deck is right beside the cable car entrance, although you do have to walk up more steps. DM decided to sit it out (literally her sat on the steps).

 

TV Tower

 

 

Observation deck

 

 

They basically built this observation deck around a TV tower, and from the deck you can (in theory) see Mt Fuji….if she is cooperating…which she doesn’t seem to be today unfortunately. There was too much cloud cover so we had to use our imaginations, or better again, a photo of Mt Fuji which Masa gave us!  The views were still pretty good from up here, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.

 

Mt. Fuji is there I promise you…right there somewhere

 

 

 

I wistfully passed iced coffee in the observation deck café (Japanese tour guides like to stick to a schedule, which didn’t include an iced coffee break apparently). But no matter, a tea house was next on the agenda. The tea house was only a 5 min drive away and the scenery in this area is beautiful, sorry I should have mentioned that already. Its all I imagined it would be. Mountains, fields, the sea, Mt Fuji (apparently).

 

When we arrived at the tea house they swiftly brought us into the gardens and very enthusiastically tried to entice us into a traditional tea-picker hat and basket. DS and DM were having none of it, but I could see the disappointment in the owners eyes, so I tried them on, while feeling very uncomfortable with the cultural appropriation of it all! They wanted to take pictures of me picking the tea leaves in the gear – this just feels very wrong! But to make them happy, DS took some photos of me, which we immediately deleted!  Anyway, enough of that, then we went inside had some green tea. 

 

Tea planation

 

 

The best tree

 

 

Tea shop

 

 

After that, we drove off again, for about 3 minutes, and stopped seemingly in the middle of nowhere…DS was ‘ do we really have to get out again?...’….Yes, we do because this is on the schedule (you are probably getting a sense of why we don’t do organised excursions!). We had stopped at this particular point because apparently it is a good spot for a photo of Mt Fuji….except there is no Mt Fuji…no matter, Masa gave us a photo he took from the same spot the week before, phew!

 

View

 

 

Back in the taxi for a longer drive to the Miho Pine Tree Grove, for, you guessed it, another great viewing spot for Mt Fuji…but it is also a beautiful area in its own right and was made a UNESCO heritage site a few years ago. It is considered a very sacred place in Japan as it brings together 3 elements they consider important - trees, the sea, and Mt Fuji. We walked through the pine trees to a beach with crazy waves. Its not save to swim here according to Masa, although apparently you can jet ski….as 4 jet skis appeared from nowhere, very James Bond like. From the beach you can get a beautiful view of the sea, sand, trees and Mt Fuji in the background, but you guessed it, no Fuji….however we did sneak a peek…if you squint! Again Masa came to the rescue with another photo from the very same spot. It was so windy on that beach, but it was a welcome relief from the heat.

 

Miho Pine Tree Grove

 

 

Crazy beach person

 

 

Mt Fuji is almost visible…if you squint

 

 

We walked back to the cultural center which had a video about the area, plus lots of information in Japanese about pines tress which DM found fascinating much to the annoyance of DS who was over it already! I think DM was just trying to annoy DS ‘…look DS, the mushrooms….”, while DS is thinking about AC and lunch.

 

Back in the taxi, all done now, or so we thought, nope not yet, one more shrine. In fairness, this was a really lovely shrine that we never would have found on our own. No one else was there. We rang the bells, bowed, clapped, wished, clapped… took photos (ok but particularly religious).

 

More Torii Gates

 

 

Local shine in a what I guess is a Japanese housing estate

 

 

We asked Masa to recommend a sushi restaurant for lunch as we still haven’t had any and we have been in Japan for almost 3 days now. DS was starting to suspect that people in Japan don’t really eat sushi….

 

There is a shopping mall right beside the port (with a Uniqlo of course), and Masa said there were lots of places to eat in there, but didn’t mention any specific ones. We were dropped off right by the ship and Masa and the taxi driver gave us some lovely gifts of green tea and a calendar. So sweet!

 

Tempting as it was to get back on Milly in her air conditioned fabulousness, we struggled on. First, to Uniqlo (of course). Then we tried to find somewhere that had sushi or sashimi, but we were out of luck… maybe DS was right. Anyway, that put an end to our sushi lunch plans so we headed back to the ship.

 

On route back to Milly

 

 

 

Back on board, we went to the Oceanview Café for lunch. Still traumatised from breakfast, I was not a happy camper, but there were not too many other options. That said, the blue cheese and hummus were very tasty. No wine today.

 

Lunch

 

 

After lunch I headed to the solarium to chill. It was busy but it was pretty easy to get a lounger. I read, I wrote, I listened to music. As I missed the gym this morning, I decided to squeeze in a workout at about 5pm. It gets hotter and hotter in the gym as the day goes on…be warned!

 

By 7pm, I was showered, dressed and ready for the evening ahead. Someone had plans for cocktails before dinner….

 

But first, non-sunset outfit post number 2. It was very windy out on deck, so we took it inside for a change. The sunsets are so early here (~6.30-7pm) compared to home (~10pm). On our European cruises we always have beautiful sunset deck outfit posts, here, as you will see, its more challenging! Plus, its ultra windy. I gave up even trying to style my hair.

 

Outside

 

 

Inside

 

 

Did someone mention cocktails….we went off-menu and had some negronis ($12 plus gratuity, pretty good value actually), we will be having more of these.

 

Cocktail time

 

 

In hindsight, we should have gone to the MDR to pick up a buzzer before the cocktails, but obviously we were not that forward thinking, so we had to wait about 30 minutes in the Rendezvous Lounge for a table. No worries, there was live music to enjoy or maybe it was a gameshow…struggling to remember as I curse the fact the buzzer wont buzz if I move too far away….maybe I could make it to the Martini bar….not worth the risk when food is at stake.

 

Half an hour later, we were buzzed, and our second dinner in MDR commenced. Normally we eat in the speciality restaurants quite frequently, but on this ship the options are limited - Tuscan Grill (which we plan on going to), Sushi on 5 (sorry but not when I am actually in Japan), and Qsine (indeed). It’s now that I am missing Eden and Finecut, and Le Voyage, ah Voyage, I loved that on Beyond..a distance dream.

 

That said, I cannot complain, as we had a really nice meal in the MDR. I had the French onion soup, pork schnitzel (with extra vegetables of course), and an apple, I promise you there is an apply in there somewhere. Pretty sure I had a glass of merlot. Just the one mind you.

 

DS and DM looking pretty snappy

 

 

A classic…

 

 

Schnitzel

 

 

Always extra veg

 

 

An apple (I promise)

 

 

We finished the evening with a walk around the upper desk where DS attempted to play basketball without a ball.

 

It’s the attempt that counts

[DaKahuna]

So sorry that you missed the views of Mt Fuji from Shimizu.  In case you want to show some back home, here are the ones I took from the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[AstoriaPreppy]

3 hours ago, Lunastella said:

while feeling very uncomfortable with the cultural appropriation of it all!

 

Loving your review and updates!

Also, I completely echo your feelings as a Westerner visiting Japan and experiencing the total lack of issue with cultural appropriation. At best, it was wildly disconcerting. Over time, we figured out that it's viewed societally as a cosplay/very inclusive sort of thing celebrating the culture, and not as co-opting... but it still induces a deep level of cringe in my American brain.

[Lunastella]

On 8/6/2024 at 7:27 PM, hcat said:

our grandsons would love it..but youngest has to wait 2 yrs before his parents would ok him for top!  It does look cozy.. Does it stay open or put back each day?  thnks

 

Yes the bunk stays open all the time. They don't put it away each day, so the cabin feels somwhat smaller.

[Lunastella]

12 hours ago, cinnamon said:

Lunastella, did you notice if there was a nightlight in the refurbished bathrooms?  We are both in our 70s so always need the loo during the night. 
Thanks.

Hi Cinnamon

No, there was no night light, this is was something DM mentioned actually. Night lights are very handy, but here in these cabins as far as I could tell.

[Lunastella]

9 hours ago, catweazlecat said:

Really enjoy reading about your travel adventures 🤩
Will be boarding on August 31 and spent a week before in Tokyo and Kyoto to get more time in these cities.
Looking forward to read more 😍

 

Good idea to spend more time in Kyoto, one day is not enough at all!

[Lunastella]

4 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

So sorry that you missed the views of Mt Fuji from Shimizu.  In case you want to show some back home, here are the ones I took from the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah so that's what we were supposed to see!!! Lucky you!

[Lunastella]

4 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

Loving your review and updates!

Also, I completely echo your feelings as a Westerner visiting Japan and experiencing the total lack of issue with cultural appropriation. At best, it was wildly disconcerting. Over time, we figured out that it's viewed societally as a cosplay/very inclusive sort of thing celebrating the culture, and not as co-opting... but it still induces a deep level of cringe in my American brain.

 

Completely agree! Felt so wrong, but when Japanese locals are encouraging you to do it, you feel like its acceptable there. There is a Japanese garden close to my home in Ireland and they recently had a cosplay event so I guess its a real thing in Japanese culture.

[cinnamon]

6 minutes ago, Lunastella said:

Hi Cinnamon

No, there was no night light, this is was something DM mentioned actually. Night lights are very handy, but here in these cabins as far as I could tell.

Thanks. I’ll look for a battery operated one to bring. 
You’d think when refitting all the bathrooms that would be standard, as they are on newer ships. 

[hxhbk]

For what it's worth, at the Shimizu port, there are people offering private taxi tours with no guide, with different itineraries and prices.  The air-conditioned taxi will seat 3 persons comfortably.  My wife and I took one of these taxi tour for the itinerary similar to yours, and it costs us 24000 JPY.

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, Lunastella said:

No, there was no night light, this is was something DM mentioned actually.

 

We left a light in the bathroom on and closed the door.  Light usually leaks around the bottom of the door since there is a ledge between the bathroom and the cabin floor. 

 

[Canada17]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

We left a light in the bathroom on and closed the door.  Light usually leaks around the bottom of the door since there is a ledge between the bathroom and the cabin floor. 

 

Pretty sure there was a “night light” under the counter and was always on…….

[DaKahuna]

47 minutes ago, Canada17 said:

Pretty sure there was a “night light” under the counter and was always on…….

 

 Guess it depends on the room.  I do not recall that in either our Sky Suite or Aqua Sky Suite.

 

[vickykay]

We also just leaves the bathroom light on and towhee door slightly open. 

[Lunastella]

Day 3: 1^st Seaday 

 

Not too much to report from our first day at sea. It was a much needed day of relaxation after the last few days of sightseeing and jet lag. Speaking of which, DS took the bunkbed last night, so I had a better sleep in the regular bed…although whether that can be attributed to the bed or the tiredness it’s hard to say.

 

I got up at about 7am (well it is a sea day!), and went to the gym. DS and DM cannot understand why I workout on holidays, but with views like this, why not, plus, I feel 100% better after a workout.

 

Gym view

 

 

I used these alot

 

 

Today we had breakfast, lunch AND dinner in the MDR. So we are really putting it to the test. In terms of rankings, I would say, 1^st place dinner, 2^nd place lunch, 3^rd place breakfast.

 

Where we spent most of the day

 

For breakfast, I tried to re-create my usual at-home breakfast of Greek yoghurt, berries and seeds. However, according to the waiter, they have no Greek yoghurt, or indeed berries, on the ship, so, so much for that! Instead, I got very lumpy yoghurt (v. bad) and banana (good). I also got a spinach and feta omelette (6 out of 10) and wholewheat toast (1 out of 10….remind me to avoid in the future). But, I did have a very delicious hot mini pain au chocolat, and coffee, lots of coffee! DS and DM fared much better with French toast and eggs.

 

It tasted as insipid as it looks…you can’t beat Irish dairy

 

 

OK omelette

 

 

What does one do on a sea day? I have forgotten, it’s been so long! Get me to the solarium!  Problem, no free loungers, ok get me to the pool deck (as long as I am in the shade, I really don’t mind where I lounge). I read my Kindle, finally finished my book (Yellowface, maybe a 6+/10). DS and DM were up on the top deck where they show movies. It’s very quiet up there during the day, and they have very comfy seats, so why not. The pool area was very loud with dance classes and lots of activity, but I like the people watching opportunities. I am trying to work out the main nationalities onboard…seems to be mainly South American, or at least Spanish speaking.

 

We decided to try the MDR for lunch. No queuing, we walked right in. DM really liked her burger, however DS and I ordered the wholewheat pasta, so it was our own fault really, that’s what you get when you try to be healthy. Apple crumble for dessert (less healthy) was very good (any apple based dessert is a winner with me!).

 

Salad

 

 

Pasta

 

 

Apple-based dessert

 

 

Ok so, back to the pool area for yet again more relaxing, life is hard on a cruise ship! I possibly got a coffee from Oceanview at some point. At about 5.30pm I went back to the gym for a 5km treadmill run as this morning I only did weights.

 

Gym part II

 

 

Tonight it ‘chic’ or elegant chic’ or ‘evening chic’ or what-ever-you-call-it night. It’s basically a chance to get dressed up. Plus, we have the first proper show – Boogie Wonderland at 7pm in the theatre. We always love the dancing and singing shows, magicians less so.

 

Tonight we wanted to be cleverer re the buzzer and reckoned that if we arrived at the MDR right after the show we wouldn’t have any chance of getting a table any time soon, so instead we planned on leaving the theatre a little early and retrieving said buzzer.

 

It worked pretty well. The show was excellent and we had a chance to see the captain. We left at about 7.35pm, retrieved said buzzer, ordered a cocktail (Negroni of course), planted DS in the Rendezvous Lounge, while DS and I did non-sunset outfit posts (then drank the negonis). It was an excellent plan, and we only had to wait about 20 minutes to be buzzed.

 

Captain

 

 

Deck outfit post #2

 

 

 

Dinner was again, very good. I had salmon tartar, t-bone lamb (with extra veg), and yet another apple related dessert (this has to stop, tomorrow I’ll have a banana related dessert, promise). I also had a decaf coffee.

 

Formal night chic

 

 

Someone may have gotten a little sunburnt up on 11 today

 

 

Salmon

 

 

Lamb

 

 

Extra veg (of course)

 

 

Apple crumble & vanilla ice-cream

 

 

Ok, back to the show…literally, we went back to the theatre to catch the second half of the show. I told you, the perfect plan! The singers and dancers were excellent, really enjoyed it, and a great end to our first sea day.

 

Show part II

 

 

PS. Obviously today being a seaday meant I have no wi-fi/cell connection, which was pretty nice actually, no emails, no social media for a whole day! I should turn it off tomorrow I tell myself…but of course, I don’t!  Bunkbed for me tonight, fingers crossed.

[Provence55always]

Wish I had your discipline re the gym. Maybe not having a drinks package is helping with those early morning workouts 🤣. We usually have lunch in the MDR on sea days and it can be hit or miss. We enjoy Aqua when the price is right, breakfast in Blu is fabulous. We just put in a MoveUp bid to Aqua for our upcoming October cruise so 🤞

[tscoffey]

Quite a bit of discussion about 'cultural appropriation' here. Properly defined, it is the usage for monetary gain of something normally associated with an underrepresented culture, in such a way as to deprive someone of that culture the same opportunity. Since this is in Japan, anything associated with Japanese culture cannot be underrepresented there (by definition). Also, how would you monetize it there, and deprive someone their due share? So this is not something you would have to be concerned with.

 

As far as nightlights go - we bring 3, rechargeable, motion sensitive night lights (which also have a magnet), and place 2 near the bed, by the floor, with 1 in the bathroom.

Edited August 8 by tscoffey

[Barcolyn]

I have a couple of magnetic nightlights that I use while I am on a cruise. They are motion sensors and quite sensitive. I find them excellent in the cabin.

they are on Amazon

[Lunastella]

5 hours ago, Provence55always said:

Wish I had your discipline re the gym. Maybe not having a drinks package is helping with those early morning workouts 🤣. We usually have lunch in the MDR on sea days and it can be hit or miss. We enjoy Aqua when the price is right, breakfast in Blu is fabulous. We just put in a MoveUp bid to Aqua for our upcoming October cruise so 🤞

 

Definetly, no drinks packaging is making it easy to go to the gym in the morning. I have never been able to go to Blu, but Aqua class is do-able so maybe in the future!

[Pushka]

3 hours ago, Lunastella said:

 

Definetly, no drinks packaging is making it easy to go to the gym in the morning. I have never been able to go to Blu, but Aqua class is do-able so maybe in the future!

You are a gym junkie like my husband. He is a much better person if he goes regularly. And the gym at sea is his favourite place on the ship. 😂
 

So gym question. Do they supply the hand towels still? Or do we need to bring one. He works out Hard! 

Edited August 8 by Pushka

[Barwick Cruiser]

41 minutes ago, Pushka said:

You are a gym junkie like my husband. He is a much better person if he goes regularly. And the gym at sea is his favourite place on the ship. 😂
 

So gym question. Do they supply the hand towels still? Or do we need to bring one. He works out Hard! 

We were on the Silhouette in June and there were plenty of towels provided in the gym! I would’ve wished for more open floor space for mat work but was thankful for other gym goers not tripping over me 😂 

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, tscoffey said:

Quite a bit of discussion about 'cultural appropriation' here. Properly defined, it is the usage for monetary gain of something normally associated with an underrepresented culture, in such a way as to deprive someone of that culture the same opportunity. Since this is in Japan, anything associated with Japanese culture cannot be underrepresented there (by definition). Also, how would you monetize it there, and deprive someone their due share? So this is not something you would have to be concerned with.

 

 

If you avoid dressing up like a geisha or sumo wrestler you should be fine.  See Breakfast at Tiffany’s for what to avoid.

 

In my local art museum there is an attempt to put things in a historical perspective.  There is one painting by an American artist who used Native American symbols.  It’s about 75 years old.  The commentary by a member of a local Native American tribe is quite harsh.  Yet they don’t establish that it was meant to offend.  

[little britain]

@villauk - looking forward to your thoughts and recommendations!!

 

 

@Lunastella fabulous start! I’ve downloaded Suica and done a trial top up of Y1000. We also stay in Shinjuku so  the lemon 🍋 drink place is now on the list in addition to the Albatross bar which appears in your photo! 
 

This trip is totally out of my comfort zone lol!!

[Lunastella]

Day 4: Kobe (but really Kyoto)

 

Today was the ‘biggest’ day of the cruise for us - DS, DM and I parted ways. Don’t worry just for the day!

 

DS and I are attempting our own self-guided tour of Kyoto and DM is doing a ship excursion. When organising this cruise, this port was the most tricky to work out. We arrive in Kobe at 7am and leave at 3.30am (i.e. in the middle of the night), while the next day, we arrive in Osaka at 7am and leave at 3pm. While Osaka is closer to Kyoto, we would not have time to travel from Osaka to Kyoto and back on our ‘Osaka’ day, so many people, including us, are treating ‘Kobe’ day as ‘Kyoto’ day. I hope that makes sense! This means we will miss Kobe, but you can’t have everything !

 

We (or should I say ‘me’) did lots of research trying to organise a private tour of Kyoto, but the prices quoted were insane and the guide wouldn’t even meet us in Kobe, we would still have to make our own way from Kobe to Kyoto by train and meet our guide there (and that was the bit we were most concerned about in advance of arriving in Japan, now that we are here, we know how easy it is to get around). So we decided that a ship excursion would just be easier, but there was only 1 place left on the tour we wanted, so being the considerate daughters that we are (sometimes), we secured a place for DM. She was a little nervous about doing a tour on her own for the first time, but she was more nervous of travelling around Kyoto on public transport with DS and me! I don’t think she trusts us not to kill her with steps!

 

It turned out to be a fantastic day. DM was very happy with her tour, and DS and I were also really happy with our choices, although we were all absolutely wreaked when we got back to the ship.

 

DM did the ‘Highlights of Kyoto Tour with Lunch’, which included visits to the Golden Pavilion, Nijo castle, and a bamboo forest. It’s a 90 minute bus ride from Kobe to Kyoto and there were about 45 people on the tour. She said the tour guide was excellent and spoke the whole way there and back! No napping to this trip! DM was just happy she survived the heat and steps. We kept in touch via WhatsApp throughout the day to make sure she didn’t get lost (or miss us too much!), in addition to installing FindMyPhone on her new iPhone so we could track her…just in case... When I hugged goodbye in the morning, the excursion team were lovely and assured us that she would be fine, it was like the first day of school in reverse!

 

But let me back up a bit, I missed the gym and the breakfast bit. So I went to the gym and then had breakfast…ok, glad to get that out of the way.  I only did a weight session this morning (no running as I reckon I will be doing a lot of walking today). I finished the last workout of my ‘6 week summer challenge’. It was tough!!! Probably not a good idea to do that particular workout today…lots of glute work… this may come back to haunt me on the Kyoto metro steps later…

 

For breakfast, I was adamant that I was not going to the Oceanview Café again, so I persuaded DS and DM to try the Spa Café. On our last Beyond cruise, I went there almost every day, it has all my favourite breakfast foods. And lol and behold, what did I find in the Spa Cafe….Greek yoghurt and berries! So much for there being no berries on the ship! Needness to say, I had said yoghurt and berries with some seeds, plus some extra fruit, and a banana muffin….need to fuel up, it will be a long day. The only thing missing from the Spa Café are the pastries, but the less of those I eat the better, however I am not entirely convinced that those banana or zucchini muffins are actually ‘healthy’. And I had coffee, always coffee.

 

Spa Café

 

 

Breakfast spread

 

 

We dropped DM off in the theatre at 8.45am to meet with her tour group, while DS and I set out alone. We had a plan….kind of.

 

Kyoto celebrates the Gion Matsuri festival in July, and today is the main day of the festival - what luck! When in Rome and all  that (or Kyoto I guess). The will be a procession of 34 floats along a 3km route in the city starting at 9am. So, hitting the parade will be first on our list. But first we have to make our way from Kobe port to Kyoto city.

 

Our plan was to take the monorail from right outside the terminal building to the Sannomiya train station (10 mins), then take the JR Shinkansen to Kyoto station (50 minutes), then a metro from Kyoto station to Kyoto city hall (20 mins), to arrive at 10.30am, just as the festival procession would be passing. There would be lots of Suica use today, glad I topped up. [SIDENOTE:  You have to pay to use the monorail from the port, but you can use your Suica card. Another sidenote: the train to Kyoto is about 1,100JPY, so pretty cheap].

 

View of monorail from our cabin

 

 

Kobe  (Sannomiya) train station

 

 

Kyoto train station

 

 

Everything went like clockwork, almost, we successfully made our way from the monorail to the train station, and then successful made our way from Kobe to Kyoto, but then we just couldn’t find our way from Kyoto train station to Kyoto metro station! I assumed that would be the easy bit! Hence, there was lots of going up steps, going down steps, confused looks, but eventually we found the right metro line. However, now we were going to be late to see the festival at City Hall, no matter, we recalibrated and went to another metro stop where the festival would be passing at 11am. My advice – as long as you have Google maps, travelling around the metro, train, bus etc. is really straightforward. Google maps is a lifesaver.

 

As we arrived at the parade area there was a very eerie atmosphere, there were loads of people lining the street waiting to see the procession, but everyone was deadly silent….a St. Patrick’s Day festival it is not!!!  This is not a rowdy festival….or maybe we missed it the rowdy bit! Anyway, we were early and we were very hot after all our trekking through metro stations, so we went to a 7 Eleven - I wanted an iced coffee and DS wanted a fruit and cream sandwich, I kid you not. I am guessing it’s a tik tok/Instagram kinda thing (DS will not be happy with me for saying that!). In case you are interested, DS said the fruit/cream sandwich was delicious…as long as you close your eyes. I was just happy that I figured out how to make an iced coffee in 7 Eleven. You take a tub of ice from the freezer, pay for it, then go to the machine, and press some buttons, and hey presto! Go me!

 

Fruit & Cream sandwich

 

 

Iced coffee & Gion festival route (picked up in 7 Eleven)

 

 

We joined the (silent) crowd and waited and whispered.  The first float was coming into view. This festival first began in the year 869 to appease evil spirits who cause epidemics (note to self…google if parade happened in 2019…).  The floats are basically portable shrines, some very elaborate, others less so. The larger ones have musicians who play music using traditional instruments and there is lots of shouting, and bells, I think there were bells anyway, maybe drums. I am not going to lie, we did not stay to observe all 34 floats.

 

A selection of floats

 

 

 

Festival viewing done…for now…DS identified a food market that was within walking distance, so we had a really nice stroll through the back streets of Kyoto, enjoying the mix of modern and traditional buildings.

 

Kyoto city sights

 

 

 

The market, called Nishiki, was amazing, all fresh food and fish of every possible kind. If you were hungry this is the place to be, unfortunately, DS had just eaten her cream/fruit sandwich (and I had a oat bar) so we didn’t want to have lunch yet, which was a shame as everything looked great, so we just wandered for a while.

 

Nishiki market (outside)

 

 

DS looking like a local

 

 

Nishiki market (inside)

 

 

Fish

 

 

More fish

 

 

On consulting Google maps we noted that there were some shrines nearby, so never one to miss a good shrine, we headed in that direction. I have a sneaky feeling DS is veering me towards an Instagram shine…., however, it was not to be. As we tried to make our way to the said Instagram shrine, we soon encountered the festival procession…again, and there there were so many more people in this area (in fairness there was more rowdiness here too). We had obviously done an internal loop of the parade loop. The problem was, we couldn’t get out of it!! We needed to cross the road to make our way to the other side of the river, but it was impossible as all the roads were cordoned off. Instead we literally followed the crowd. It was obviously the high street of Kyoto. I had to keep a firm hold on DS to navigate her away from Zara.

 

Now we were nowhere near DS’s Instagram shrine, so back to Google maps to find a back-up shrine. I randomly found another one that was about a 25 min walk away so we headed in that direction. As soon as we left the main streets, we found a much quieter side of Kyoto which was a welcome relief from the craziness of the parade. We followed a small river, it was very pretty.

 

Small river, look casual

 

 

Big river

 

 

Keep following the small river

 

 

On our walk by the river, we spotted a restaurant that seems to do sushi (at last!)….we took a note of it.

 

We google mapped here, we google mapped there, and then we came upon the largest torii gate in history (well the largest we have seen yet). This was going to be a good shrine, I could sense it.

 

DS and a Torii gate

 

 

And I was right! The Helian shrine (founded 1895) itself was grand, but the gardens were stunning, and we had them almost to ourselves. The main sights in Kyoto are the Golden Pavilion and Nijo Castle, but there you had to contend with thousands of other tourist, here in the Heian gardens, we had only ourselves to contend with. We took many photos…..here are a select few.

 

Helian shrine

 

 

Best Japanese garden ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was quiet, it was peaceful, it was serene (ok I know all those words mean the same thing). I love a good Japanese garden, and this one does not disappoint. Its hot, its humid, but so far we are surviving, mainly because its cloudy rather than sunny. We did a fortune when at the shrine, but it was in Japanese only, so I have no idea if I got a good fortune or a bad fortune, but after randomly finding this shrine and garden after literally being diverted here because of the parade, I sense it was good fortune.

 

We decided to head back to the sushi restaurant for lunch, via a 7 Eleven to get some cash from the ATM, as we sensed this restaurant would be cash only, and we were right. Before we came to Japan, we heard mixed reports about whether cash or cards are the norm, and so far we could use our cards everywhere except restaurants.

 

I don’t know how DS even realised this was a restaurant, its on a tiny sidestreet with no name outside.

 

Sushi restaurant

 

 

We entered the restaurant and saw that there was counter space only for maybe 6-8 people and it was already full.  So we sat and waited before two lovely Japanese ladies, noting our waiting, got up and ushered us to sit down (note, they had actually finished their lunch, we were not forcing old ladies out of their seats!).

 

Counter space only

 

 

This is basically a mom and pop restaurant Japanese style. The husband makes the food and the wife does everything else. The menu had pictures and some English so it was easy to avoid the eel sushi. Plus, they had beer! We ordered some tuna sushi rolls, cucumber sushi rolls, and some other random roll which could have been anything, and a prawn sashimi. Two of everything. We ate everything! It was so fresh, although I suspect wasbi was involved in most of the rolls, so avoid if you don’t like wasbi. It was exactly what we were looking for, and very reasonable at 4,500JPY for 2 beers and all that sushi.

 

Sushi haul at last

 

 

 

Throughout the lunch we were WhatApping with DM to check how she was getting on. All good so far, except for the lunch, she may have eaten some rice (in fairness, she later showed us a photo of it, and it did not look very appetising).

 

Next, we felt like we should do at least one of the famous Kyoto sights - it was a toss-up between Nijo castle (which was an 18 min metro ride away) or the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaki-ji) (which was a 50 min bus ride away). Our preference would have been Kinkaki-ji as DM had scoped it out for us in the morning, but we didn’t want to spend almost 2 more hours on a bus when we still had to travel back to Kobe, so Nijo won.

 

Nijo was less of a success (we should have gone with our gut). As soon as we left the metro station, we were hit by a wave of heat…the sun had emerged, and it was stifling. (SIDENOTE: All metros and trains in Japan have very good air con].  In an ideal world, we wanted to go somewhere cool for ice-cream before tackling the castle, but the closest place was a 20 min walk away and that was just not going to happen, so we decided to brave it, let’s do this Nijo!!!

 

It was almost the death of us, I may exaggerate, but not completely. I feel we didn’t enjoy (or appreciate) Nijo as much we should have. It was so hot and we had already taken many steps today. But we did everything one is supposed to do in Nijo – we walked through the castle rooms (barefoot which was kinda nice), and then walked around the grounds, saw the fort, the moat, the trees, tick, tick, and tick, right lets get some shade and get out of here! Even that proved more challenging than it should. But we made it out in one piece eventually!

 

Nijo Castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was about 4pm at this stage, and we were both of the view that we were done! We decided to head back to Kobe. This was much earlier than planned, but we were wreaked and I was personally  looking forward to a nap on the air conditioned train back to Kobe.

 

So we did the journey in reverse, metro to Kyoto station, train to Kobe, monorail to ship. We got back at about 5.30 I think. I never drink coffee (non decaf) in the afternoon, but today was an exception so we went to the Oceanview Cafe to pick up a coffee and a cookie….DS tried the ice-cream like substance…the After Eight was quite good apparently. Then back to the cabin where were collapsed in a heap. DM arrived soon after, and also collapsed in a heap (and told us about her day).

 

Evening coffee shock

 

 

DS and I half-heartedly discussed whether we should go back into Kobe for the evening. It seemed such a shame to be in Kobe and not see any of it.  But the chances of getting DM off the ship again was about 0.001%. So we decided to stay put. Plus we wanted to see the performance by the local Japanese drummers at 9pm. So, no rest for the wicked if we want to have dinner before the show. Quick showers all round to make ourselves semi-respectable. I relaxed on the balcony with a chilled glass of wine while waiting for the others to get ready. It was lovely to just relax while watching the city lights of Kobe come to life.

 

Balcony life

 

 

Minimal effort tonight, didn't even try sunset deck outfit post

 

 

We went down to the MDR at about 7.15pm and got straight in - no buzzer tonight!!!! This is not surprising as most people are probably still in Kyoto or having Kobe beef in Kobe. Not us! We had MDR. But again, we had a lovely meal. The room was alot more peaceful and the waiters were very chatty tonight. We had bread, and then more bread, then a green salad with goats cheese, followed by chicken roulade (with extra veg of course!), and something non-apple related…I had banana! Told you I would. I love waiting to see what extra veg I get. It changes everyday. The first time, it was roasted peppers and broccoli. Then it was carrots, broccoli and green beans. Today it was green beans, carrots, and green beans. Must be out of broccoli.

 

Bread

 

 

Goats cheese salad

 

 

Chicken roulade

 

 

Banana foster

 

 

We made it to the theatre just in time. The drummers were amazing, really glad we did not miss this. A perfect end to a perfect day, ok bed now please…even if it is a bunk bed!

 

Drummers

 

 

 

 

Great spending the day with you