Our first full day at sea as the ship makes its way from Yokohama to Sapporo (Otaru):
(Note that the above track was at the point on day 4 where the ship had docked at Otaru but, as it was essentially a 2-day journey, it fits better at the start of the journey)
We started the day by taking a tip from some fellow passengers we met on yesterday’s excursion. Each stateroom has a card hanger that allows you to order breakfast to eat in your room … but you don’t have to order breakfast. What the passengers suggested was just to order coffee! My wife & I agreed on a time of 7:30am for the coffee to be delivered, I set an alarm on my phone for 7:15am so that I would be awake and somewhat presentable when the coffee arrived … and it was delivered at 7:15am!
It was definitely an indulgent way to start the day, though. Nicer coffee than we could have made with the pod machine in the room.
Breakfast as usual in the World Cafe followed by some time spent in the Living Room area of the ship. I really wanted to get caught up with writing this blog!
There was trivia in the Star Theatre at 12:15pm and we formed a team of six with four Americans. Didn’t do too badly - 10 right out of 15. More trivia tomorrow and we’ve all agreed to continue with the same team.
All six of us had lunch together in the World Cafe where we were treated to the most amazing sights of dolphins leaping out of the sea. Of course, being on deck 7 of a cruise ship, they didn’t exactly look like dolphins - they looked so small! Hopefully the first of many opportunities to see marine wildlife on holiday.
In the afternoon, my wife tried out the onboard gym while I did yet more blog writing & formatting. Spent a bit of time trying to get the gallery looking OK when I have multiple photos in a group.
After that, a brisk walk around the deck - 5 laps to equate to 1.25 miles or roughly what we do each evening at home.
Back to the Explorers’ Lounge for pre-dinner drinks then dinner in the Restaurant where we met up with and dined with a husband and wife couple that we met on yesterday’s excursion. Sorry - forgot again to take photos of the meal.
After dinner, off to the Star Lounge to meet the executive team on-board and have some previews of the entertainment we’ll be getting through the rest of the cruise. It also sounds like we’re going to have fun with changing the clocks as we travel eastward … putting the clocks forward an hour at 2pm on sea-days and having two Monday 29th! This is going to be very interesting!
Drinks: Koppaberg Wildberry cider, White Lady (Highclere Castle Gin, Cointreau, lemon juice), Francis Ford Coppola Diamond Series (Zinfandel)
Dinner: Chicken Kiev with mashed potato/baked potato and steamed vegetables; creme brulee with cheescake ice cream & lemon tartlet with raspberry sorbet.