So…here we are. Now not only less than two months to go, but literally, NEXT Month. Our excitement is escalating!!
However…I guess reality must set in as well. A couple of years ago we had a different cruise to Asia planned and it did not materialize. The ship was re-booked (in its entirety!) for a full month and our cruise was cancelled. This time it’s possible that tensions between North Korea and the USA could once again put our Asian visit back on the bucket list. As monumental as this cruise is to us (personally), far greater is the impact this political strain could have on a world-wide scale.
One can only hope those two sides can come to some mutally-acceptable accord.
Ok…off my pedestal and on to more enjoyable topics. Like…planning for excursions for instance!
We now have a few booked with one being in Bosan (South Korea). Normally we try to get booked on most of them well ahead of time but for a variety of reasons there have been some delays in our planning. Hence we now find ourselves on a number of waiting lists. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. Pre-planned tours have advantages but planned-on-our-own expeditions have worked very well for us in the past as well.
Another tour that recently opened up (well…ONE seat has become available and more may yet come to pass) is when we stop in Akita. Starting with a visit to the Akita City Folklore Museum and then moving on to a local market to wander about window-shopping and sampling of various foods. The last part of this day trip is a stop at a local Sake brewery. Given that Sake is only made between October and April, this time of year is perfect. As I mentioned, there is (currently) only one seat available on this tour. My Dear Wife has graciously consented to let this one seat be mine given my penchant for good Sake. Albeit with the proviso that I take ‘plenty of pictures!’.
Yes Dear!!
It is highly unlikely that we won’t find anything to do or anywhere to go on a day we are in port. There is, however, one exception to that statement. There is a stop in Korsakov, Russia that seems less than exciting. We have seen some videos made by people that have made that same stopover and have yet to see anything that intrigues us…and we’re generally pretty flexible people. That may change – we shall see when we get there.
Certainly in Japan where English is far from common, and most signage is likely to be challenging to figure out, anything we arrange on our own has to be given some thought. Getting back to the ship on time is paramount. 🙂 Attempting to arrange a trip to the next port o’ call because we missed the ship would be an adventure that is not high on our bucket list. Online and downloadable maps and translators (to our oh-so-intelligent phones) will definitely be only an icon click away. More research is being done.
Are we there yet??