Advertisement
Diamond Princess Beijing to Anchorage
After a fantastic time in Beijing, it was time to begin the main part of our vacation. We arranged a private car through the same tour company that looked after us for the last 3 days. Not wanting to travel 3 hours in a Red Flag sedan, the size of a Mitsubishi Galant, we asked for a bigger vehicle. We both thought it would be an Audi A6, but as it turned out, it was a Mercedes mini bus. It looked strange at first, but it turned out to allow both of us much more space on the long journey to Xingang, the port city of Beijing.
Making our way through the heavy Beijing traffic and hitting the freeway, we were saying to each other how quickly we would make it to Xingang. But soon enough, we came to a standstill, and in China, when traffic stops, people get out of their cars to see what is happening. Our driver told us there was road works ahead, and because nothing was moving, people just walked down to a fence to urinate, and others just threw rubbish from their cars onto the roadway after they
diamond princess
Balloon Drop, 13 May Formal Nighthad an impromptu snack.
The freeway was only 2 lanes wide, but the Chinese drivers ignore all rules and turned it into 3, so after about 30mins of standstill, we began moving through the roadworks with only one lane open. Many trucks just stayed in the 2 lanes, while sedans decided use the new lane, as did our driver. At one stage the driver drove on the kerbside and grass verge next to a 4m slope, so Paul stuck his head out the window to tell the driver how close he was rather than end up in a heap at the bottom. This traffic jam happened several times along the journey, and we were hoped that e wouldn’t break down because of it. Finally, we arrived in the port town of Xingang, and a passing driver called to us to let us know we had a flat tyre. Luckily we were next to a auto service centre, and in no time it was fixed and we arrived at the terminal fairly soon afterwards. The boarding formalities were completed reasonably quickly, and we made it to our cabin in no time. Our bags arrived soon after, and we began to
explore the Diamond Princess, our home for the next 16 days.
This cruise we took the alternative dining option as usual, which allows us to choose where, when and with whom we eat, at a selection of 7 restaurants on the ship. Tonight we had dinner at The Santa Fe restaurant, and we met a couple from Jamberoo, south of Sydney. There are quite a few Aussies on this cruise, the Australian accent is very distinctive among the many Americans and Canadians. After a delicious dinner we headed back to our cabin for a well earned sleep, tomorrow we will be in Dalian.
Saturday May 1,
We decided to self-tour in Dalian, and took the free shuttle bus to the Friendship Store downtown. After a quick investigation there, we made our way to Zhongshan Square in the centre of the city. The Russians once controlled Dalian and the many buildings reflect that influence among the modern city buildings. We were approached by a Buddhist Monk there, who offered us both a bracelet made of prayer stones. After giving him a donation he blessed us and we continued along the street. Paul saw a woman with a small
baby who was begging, and he gave her some coins. The monk saw this and gave us extra blessings.
Along the main streets there were large maps of Dalian for tourists. We decided to go to Russian Street, and asked a local how to get there as the map was hard to read, but he really didn’t know but very kindly asked another couple, who showed us the entrance to an underpass to cross the street. Once we were in this underpass it opened up to become a series of underground shopping malls, creating a labyrinth under the city. Hundreds of shops selling clothes, shoes, souvenirs, accessories and the Aladdin’s Caves of copied designer labels. This mall just went on and on and down and down. After buying a few gifts and a small travel clock we had a Korean Bibimbap for lunch in a packed food hall. We could have walked for hours, but we needed to keep moving.
Back on street level, we walked around the squares of Dalian towards the Friendship Store, and caught the bus back to the Diamond Princess. We headed down to the Explorers Lounge for first Trivia game of the cruise.
We have not found a team yet, but as the cruise progresses we can seek one out.
After the trivia game there was a GLBT get together in the tiny Wakeview Bar, at the back of the ship. Getting to it was hilarious though, as we had to walk right through a Catholic Mass in progress and down a staircase behind the stage where the Priest was standing. We met several people, mostly gay plus one lesbian couple. Jeff then said “I don’t believe it” and the Cruise Director from last yeas cruise, Simon, turned up. What a hoot it was, and we laughed when he remembered us!
After introductions and small talk we went our different ways, and we decided to walk around the promenade for a bit of exercise, it was a cold and windy night, but perfect for a brisk walk with our Ipods. After 3 laps of the Promenade deck, we went back to our cabin to relax and get ready for dinner.
Tonight we decided on dinner in the Pacific Moon restaurant. When we walked in we ran into our friends Suzy and Garry, who we had seen at the Forbidden city
a few days earlier. Then I heard, “Hello Mr Jeff and Mr Paul” to be amazed to see our waiter from last years cruise, Nestor standing before us. After much laughing and catch up, he took us to a table in his section, where he treated us like old friends, and even remembered what we liked to eat! So amazing after 14 months!
After a great dinner, we arranged a table with Nestor again tomorrow night. A good nights sleep was in store for us.
Sunday, May 2
Today we were in another Chinese port, Qingdao. After a quick breakfast we made our way to the theatre, the assembly point for our day tour. Chinese authorities took a long time to process the ship on arrival, which delayed our departure for almost an hour. Once on our coach, we were given the usual talk by the tour guide, a student studying linguistics. Her English was very good, and she talked lots about the city while we made our way through the slow traffic. She told us how the city had been occupied by the Chinese, Japanese and Germans, and how the latter had left a lasting influence
on the city and its residents. We saw a lot of buildings in a very German and European style all over the city.
Our first stop was on a hill overlooking the coast and one of the cities beaches, called Small Fish Park. There was a Pagoda there, and nice gardens overlooking the view. It was very foggy today, and the view wasn’t the best, but at least it was sunny.
Next stop was the beach below, and we walked along the footpath gazing at the hundreds of people on the beach, all wading and digging, and generally having fun. Everyone was eating and drinking, and there were many couples having their wedding photos taken, since it was Sunday. Further on we came across a quieter beach, where people we flying kites and there were many stalls selling ice creams and fruits.
Next stop was lunch at a large Chinese hotel. We were seated at tables of 8, and soon the staff began serving a Chinese style banquet lunch. The weird thing about it was that they served the dishes in no particular order, and after several dishes out came the desserts, followed by more main course
dishes and finally a large fish, which Paul thought was the highlight of the meal.
After lunch we were back on the coach, this time on our way to the former German Governors residence, and also once home to Chairman Mao. It was easy to imagine how grand it once was, and how many visiting dignitaries would have been entertained there on a lavish scale. There were lovely views over the beaches, and nice gardens all around.
Our last stop was the Tsingtao brewery, another one of Germanys legacies, and Chinas most famous beer. The brewery tour was very dull, and the free samples were meager, but it gave Paul the opportunity to buy some beer to enjoy back on the ship over the next few days.
Back onboard, we relaxed in the cabin, and again enjoyed dinner in the Pacific Moon, being waited on by Nestor, who fussed over us. After dinner we saw a Comedian in the Explorers lounge, and finished off by watching the first heat of the Princess Popstar competition.
Monday, May 3, 2010
After putting our clocks forward one hour last night, we woke up late, and got ready
for our day at sea. Jeff went off early to a lecture on Busan, our next port in South Korea, while Paul had a light breakfast and did some walking and shopping. We met up and spent some time in the Internet café, before having a lovely lunch in the main restaurant.
We took some time to catch up on some laundry, and our blog. Later in the afternoon we went to trivia, but we failed miserably as the questions were quite hard. After going our separate ways we met at 5.45pm and walked 6 circuits of the promenade deck.
Tonight we had dinner with Gary & Suzy from Arizona, our friends from last years cruise. Their friends Betty & John from Texas, and Bill & Laurie from Brisbane, Australia joined us. Pre dinner drinks in the Explorers bar were fun, and dinner was great as always in the Pacific Moon restaurant. The equal share of culture from the USA and Australia showed just how similar we all are. We are all well travelled, and the conversation just seemed to flow all night. Off to bed, an early start tomorrow for our day in Korea.
Tuesday, May
4, 2010
Busan, South Korea
We woke to a very thick fog today, and noticed that the ship not moving. We were informed that until the fog clears, the Port authorities in Busan would not give clearance enter the harbour. We just spent the morning on board as if it were a day at sea, but man passengers were constantly asking what was happening, and all morning tours were cancelled.
We went to the morning’s trivia, and despite a score of 18, we were beaten by 1 point. Around 1pm the Captain announced that there was a possibility that clearance may be given to enter Busan. An hour later the ship received the clearance, and the tour desk hastily began rearranging tours, for those that had missed then in the morning. We were finally able to disembark around 2pm, there were many shuttle buses ready for the short trip to town, in the area next to the Jagalchi Fish Markets.
Many locals were around and we both decided to walk around the streets of Busan, it was the typical Asian shops and market stalls also McDonalds, Starbucks and other American franchises. This market area was divided
into specific types of goods. Stationary, electrical, clothing, hardware, 2nd hand goods and then the copied designer brands. What was completely different from China was that you were not approached y any hawkers or people at stalls or shops, they were indifferent to us. They would only give a small discount and that was it, they were not concerned if we bought it or not. It was good to be able to look and see what was on offer without being overwhelmed to purchase anything we slightly looked at.
After walking around for a few hours, many small food sellers appeared in the middle of the streets and began cooking. Many locals were crowded around tasting the food that was on offer. There was lots we recognised like Tempura, Sushi and noodles, and many things we could not recognise or would even want to try. At one stall we ordered some dumplings and Sushi, and it was served to us in a plastic dessert bowl covered with a plastic bag, that saved on washing up. As we were next to a small convenience shop, we bought a big bottle of beer to have with our meal. An Australian couple, Kim
and Narelle from Sydney came and joined us, and some other passengers asked why were we eating this food, and aren’t scared of getting sick. It’s sad that some people will starve themselves all day, and only eat on the ship abd miss out on some great culinary experiences on shore.
Kim told us about the Seafood market nearby, and he gave us directions on how to get there. Making our way to the markets there were many restaurants with large tanks of live seafood and big trays of fresh seaweed. It was terrific just taking it in. Once we got inside the market we immediately saw the diversity of seafood available. Paul saw tanks of Abalone and was told it was $70 per kilo, much cheaper than at home. Anything it seemed that lived was available to purchase, and there also was no limit on seafood that had not fully matured. One stall was selling octopus, and it was funny to see the woman trying to put wriggling octopus in a plastic bag. After taking lots of photos it was time to head back to the Diamond Princess. Since the sun sets quite late here, we didn’t realise
how late it was, and did not get on board until 8.30pm. After just relaxing for an hour or so, we went to the buffet for a cup of tea, and spent about 2 hours talking to a Canadian couple until bedtime.
Wednesday May 5, At Sea
We played trivia this morning, and managed only an average score. Trivia is very competitive on this cruise, and we still don’t have a regular team to play with. We had lunch in the International Dining room, and just took it easy the rest of the day. One couple that we have met, Wayne and Marinella from Toronto, have decided to walk around Vladivostok tomorrow, and we asked if we can join then, since Marinella is originally from Bulgaria, and can also speak Russian. Tonight after dinner we went to the Explorers Lounge to see a band called Epithani. All the band members are Afro American, and they have a wide repertoire.
Thursday, May 6 Vladivostok
We arrived in the Russian port of Vladivostok to a bleak, rainy and windy day. The temperature on our balcony was 2 degrees, so we rugged up
and headed downstairs to meet up with Wayne and Marinella. As we disembarked we were hit by the rain and wind, so by the time we got inside the nearest building, which happened to be the railway station next to the wharf, we were all wet. We spent around half an hour inside the station, and Marinella enquired through some locals about getting around the city.
After looking at the map, a helpful local girl about 20 years old made some calls on her cell phone to friends who had taxis, to see if they were available, but because of the weather, they were all busy. During this we admired the architecture of the railway station and its interesting occupants, and saw a train about to depart for Moscow, and thought what a trip that would be!
We eventually made our way outside again, and began walking through the streets filled with potholes of water, battling with the wind to keep our umbrellas from blowing inside out. Marinella stopped to ask directions again, and another helpful local walked with us to a nearby café where we sat a dried off for a while.
Later we walked into
the centre of the city, and visited some shops where things were generally expensive. We went into the Government run GUM department store, and bought some souveners, but even they were way overpriced. Back into the bleak weather we went, and passes a statue of Lenin on our way back to the wharf area. Vladivostok has only been open to foreigners since the 1980’s as it is a major Naval base and has strategic importance for Russia on the Pacific, but we were surprised how friendly the locals we to us.
Close to the ship we stopped in a small workman’s café, and bought Potato Piroshkis, a type of fritter that warmed us up. We reboarded the ship, and mad our way back to the cabin to change into some dry clothes.
After lunch, we had a leisurely time onboard, and after a delayed departure from Vladivostok due to refueling, we had dinner with Marinella minus Wayne, who was feeling a chill after our wet adventures.
Friday May 7
At sea, the weather had closed in and at different times of the day there was sleet and light snow. On the pool deck there were
about 25 Albatrosses using the thermal of the ship to glide along it was fantastic to watch thes graceful birds effortlessly keep up with the ship, every now and then one would duck and dive and be carried back to the end of the flock. We have met 3 Canadian boys Rick and Reed and Rick’s brother Robert they all are a laugh to be with, Jeff met them when he was playing bingo. Another unsuccessful day of trivia we just don’t seem able to find a consistent team. After a delicious dinner we both went to the Explorers Lounge and relaxed listening to the band
Saturday May 8
An early wake up, and a quick breakfast saw us downstairs to meet up with Marinella and Wayne and Bill and Laurie, as we were going together to Sapporo today by train. Unfortunately Wayne didn’t feel any better and decided to stay onboard, so it was just the 5 of us.
We disembarked quickly, and got straight into taxis to a nearby station called Higashi Muroran. After arriving at the station we bought our tickets, and waited on the platform for our train. It was cold and rainy again, but we were all rugged up.
When the train arrived we all boarded and took some vacant seats. The train made a loud noise, like a diesel motor, but it soon quietned down once we reached speed. We arrived at another station and some people boarded and had tickets for our seats. It turned out that we had sat in seats in a reserved seating carriage rather than and unreserved one, and so all 5 of us made a hasty retreat to the next car. We were embarrassed, but not as embarrassed as the Japanese people who apologized profusely for making us move.
Once settled in again, and attendant passed through the carriage selling drinks and snacks. Paul fell asleep and snoozed most of the way, while Jeff admired the scenery and regretted passing by the airport without having an opportunity to stop. After a journey of around 90 minutes, we arrived in Sapporo.
We decided to part ways. Marinella stayed with us, and Bill and Laurie went their own way. We made our way outside into light rain and walked toward the University Botanical Gardens a few blocks away. It was cold, but the first of the Cherry trees were in blossom, and many Japanese were taking photos and admiring the important event.
We continued walking, and found ourselves in Odori park, which runs many blocks down the centre of the city area. We explored the streets, and did some shopping at Tokyu Hands, an amazing store in Japan that sells many amazing things.
We realised our time was running short, so we made our way back in the direction of the railway station, and did some more shopping in the wonderful food section of the Daimaru department store. Nearly all Japanese department stores have basement level food areas, selling an amazing array of foods, much of it pre prepared to take away and eat. We bought a Bento box to have on the train for late lunch, and some wine to drink on the ship over the next few days.
Meeting up again, we made our way to the platform, and boarded the train that would take us back to Muroran station. After a slightly longer trip back due to more stops, we arrived in the port city of Muroran. It was a dull town, true to what we had been told, so we were glad we had not spent much time there. We took taxis back to the ship, all tired but happy we had an adventurous day.
Back on the ship, we watched our departure from Muroran from our balcony, and Jeff called his Mum to wish her a Happy Birthday and Happy Mothers Day
for tomorrow. The ocean was so calm, like a swimming pool, and we glided
out of the harbour and began our long voyage towards our next stop in Alaska.
After dinner in the Pacific Moon restaurant with Nestor, we made a brief stop at the Deck party, and watched people dance and play silly games, before turning in for a well earned sleep.
Sunday, May 9 - May 14
This is the start of six days at sea, and each of those nights saw us put our clocks forward one hour to eventually adjust to the time zone in Alaska.
Many people found this upset their routines, but it was better than just adjusting one day by 6 hours!
On our second sea day, Jeff woke up with a bad headache and felt terrible. Paul did his best to stay out of the cabin for most of the morning to allow Jeff some extra sleep. At Trivia, Paul and his team came second. One of the crew, from a South African always asks questions that are beyond most peoples knowledge, he is the hardest by far!
By mid afternoon, Paul convinced Jeff to eat some dry toast delivered by Room Service, and he found this helped his queasy stomach after all of the headaches medication he had taken.
Later in the evening, and feeling a bit better, we had a light dinner in the Horizon Court buffet, where Jeff didn’t feel so bad about sitting and not eating anything. Later we found out that Lobster had been an option at dinner, and Jeff felt bad that Paul had missed out on it.
Shipboard life began a regular routine of morning Trivia, visits to the Internet café, movies and general relaxation and meeting shipboard friends, as well as walks on deck and quiet cabin time.
Paul had found some people to play cribbage with each afternoon, and is enjoying the competition of the game. There are quite a few Chinese passengers on board most of whom live in North America, and we can usually hear the click of the Mahjong tiles in the indoor pool area each day. Other passengers are playing card games or reading. Because of the drop in temperature to around 0 degrees all activities are indoors, and many walkers around the promenade are rugged up as they walk around the decks.
After sailing past the Aleutian Islands a few days earlier, we entered the Gulf of Alaska near Dutch Harbour. Jeff was on the balcony and pointed to some dolphins and whales, which were quite close to the ship. Soon many other passengers were also on deck, most with cameras and binoculars. We could see whales ahead of the ship, so we quickly made our way to Deck 14, as did many others. The Australians were typically dressed in shorts whilst most others were rugged up. Quite a few birds were flying around where the whales had surfaced, and even though we couldn’t see the whales fully, it was fantastic to see them nevertheless.
Tonight we had dinner with some Canadian friends, Rick, Reed and Robert in the Santa Fe dining room. Rick and Robert, two brothers, were born in Newfoundland, where Robert still lives. Rick and his partner Reed have a apartment in downtown Vancouver overlooking Stanley Park. Coincidentally, Reed works for a Canadian airline called Westjet, so he and Jeff have lots in common.
On Wednesday we went to the Princess theatre, and saw a variety show. Afterwards, we went to Club Fusion, and there we met an ex Bold and Beautiful star, Jeff Trachta, who played Thorn in the series. Paul asked him for an autograph for his Mum, and he was very obliging and offered to deliver it to our cabin the next day.
We had another dinner with the Canadian boys on Thursday night, after dinner we went to the production show “ I’ve got the Music”. This was a better production than some we had seen on other cruises, where false smiles on the leads were all too apparent. Later, in the Atrium, hundreds of balloons were about to be dropped, so we found a great position on the stairs, and enjoyed the party atmosphere. A band called Phoenix Rising was playing, and everyone was dancing and having fun. When the balloons were dropped, people let go streamers and it became a fantastic party.
On Friday morning, Paul decided to play bingo for the first time on this cruise and won $100 dollars. In the final bingo in the afternoon, he had only 2 numbers to go in the Jackpot $2400 prize, but wasn’t lucky enough that time. We both gracefully retired from Trivia for this cruise, it just wasn’t for us this time!
Tonight we had a farewell dinner with Susi, Gary, Betty, John, Bill and Laurie. We joked and laughed a lot. Susi and Gary are great people, and we both hope to bump into them again in the future. We had already packed our bags for disembarkation tomorrow, but there as there was little entertainment tonight, so after our final goodbyes we went to bed for our early start tomorrow.
It was a great cruise, and it went so quickly. We both felt the warmer weather cruises seemed to go on for longer, perhaps because there was a lot more activities. The food was excellent, and all staff we very pleasant. The organization of shipboard activities wasn’t so good this time, we felt that they were often bunched together making it hard to attend too many things. This seemed to leave a lot of time left were the only option was to sit in a bar or have time in our cabin, not such a bad thing if all you wanted was relaxation, but sometimes we felt like we wanted the option of something a little more. The Captain of this cruise was English and his shipboard announcements were boring and uninteresting. We enjoyed our time, but would probably do a warmer weather cruise next time.
Arriving in Whittier on a cold morning, it was evident Spring was removing the hold winter had held for the last few months. The scenery was just as I imagined but with all things, it not until you are actually there. Disembarkation was quick and we waited for a half hour before we caught a coach to Anchorage
Advertisement
Tot: 0.327s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 11; qc: 58; dbt: 0.0593s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
karen sorensen
non-member comment
Hi
Text me the questions for the trivia undercover and I will google them for you.