January 10 - Tokyo

My cruise is over and I’m sitting in my hotel lobby in Tokyo waiting to be able to check in.  It won’t be too long because it’s nearly 11AM and check-in is at 12:30PM.  I need to unload some of the stuff I carry around in my bag.  Why is it that we women load ourselves down with everything but the kitchen sink when we travel?  

I haven’t written in a while because with all those sea days there wasn’t much to write about.  We saw no land since leaving Kauai and only very rarely another ship, usually a massive container ship off in the distance.  There were a few birds that flew by; I think a couple of them were some species of albatross though I’m not sure of that.  We had a couple of very rocky days but actually smoother than I expected since it was the north Pacific.  It was also warmer than I think any of us anticipated.  We played trivia (we didn’t win), I listened to some lectures and took naps.  That’s something I never used to be able to do but I’ve discovered the pleasures of what one of my friends calls a “scan,” senior citizen’s afternoon nap. Al would be surprised because I always got after him for taking naps.  So sorry about that.

This morning when I had to vacate my home for the last two months I did feel a little nostalgia.  It’s hard to make the transition from a place where you are pampered and where you walk away from a dining venue or bar and don’t have to get a check to pay and instead reenter the real world.

I have some initial observations about this cruise which in the coming days may change but at the moment I must say that this one had a very different vibe from my more recent ones.  Only a few of my old friends were onboard and perhaps that’s part of the difference although I did meet and make some lovely new friends.  There were also some characters that I encountered that I found really annoying. This will sound very petty and childish, but I can’t help it.  My trivia team had been sitting in the same spot since I boarded the ship in Athens at the beginning of November.  On our first trivia day after setting out from Kauai on our last leg when I went down to the Club for the morning’s game, someone with whom I had played Name that Tune was sitting in our spot.  When I looked at him with a “what’s going on look” he said, “someone stole my team’s spot so I’m taking yours, get over it!”  How rude can you be? The rest of my team came and we were all flummoxed because we all were still onboard.  I know, I know.  It’s petty, but I guess that’s what I’ve come to.  

Anyway, not just because of that but there was just something off.  For one thing I didn’t enjoy the Club and dancing as I have in the past.  The bands were so-so and there were long breaks between transitions from one to the other, sometimes as long as an hour.  Since I don’t go there just to drink, there were times I just left and then I got out of the habit of going at all.  I missed that, plus it is really very good exercise.  A friend and I did have lunch with the cruise director who came on in Honolulu to talk with him about some of our concerns about the entertainment and there were some improvements, but it was almost too late.  I did still have a very nice time, better than if I was sitting at home, but it wasn’t a 10 out of 10.

I’ve written about some of the strange characters I met now let me tell you about a really interesting (to me at least) new friend.  She is a very petite French-Canadian woman who is now an American citizen.  She’s been on a couple of cruises that I’ve been on, but  this time I really got to know her.  If I were a writer I would try to get her to let me write her biography.  She has worked as a photographer and reporter for a popular magazine.  She was an advance person for a couple of rock bands several decades ago.  Then after she became a divorced single mom with two kids, she applied and became a narcotics detective.  You might think that maybe this was made up, but I know it’s true because I found some articles about her online.  Because of her background in the media and entertainment industry, she was especially suited to undercover work so she worked on joint police and DEA task forces. As I said, her life is so foreign to anything I’ve ever done that I found it absolutely fascinating, plus she’s a really fun person to be around and we also think alike on many things.  She was one of the really bright spots of my cruise.  She too is a widow and she’s been retired for a number of years.  She cruises a lot and I hope we’ll run in to one another again.

So that’s it for now.  Here are a couple of random photos from the last few days.  The first is from several nights ago when we dined outside at the stern of the ship and the full moon gave us a beautiful show as it rose.  The next is our group last night for our “last supper together” in the Colonnade.  And finally here’s a picture of the lobby where I’m waiting.  Not long now until I can check in and divest myself of my stuff.  Then, since I’m across the street from the Imperial Palace and its gardens, I think I shall go for a walk there. Sayonara for now.

Rising  full moon over the north Pacific

Walter's Harem (he's married to the pretty lady on the left) at dinner last night

Lobby of the Palace Hotel  - exciting, right?