My wife and I went our first cruise on our honeymoon 25 years ago (Carnival Cruise line). We really loved it and said then we would do it again real soon. You know how those things go; soon was not until 2010. When we heard we were going to China for a couple of years, we decided to take our second cruise with the girls as a last fun thing together before we left. We booked a 4 day cruise to Cozumel on Celebrity cruises and we all had a lot of fun; we really enjoyed Celebrity experience.
What is not to like about a cruise? You have a floating hotel, many restaurants, fitness, theater, casinos (not a fan), and just great things to do all day and most of the night. Hard to go wrong with a cruise in my humble opinion. So we had Chinese National holiday coming and were told that the thing to do was to leave China. The People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen square – Beijing. The Central People’s Government passed the Resolution on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China on December 2, 1949 and declared that October 1 is the National Day. We were told that, since everyone takes a holiday, there is not much to do and very few places open. Everyone seems to take most of the week off.
So we took the advice and booked a 7 day cruise to Japan (stops in Osaka and Fukuoka) and S. Korea (stop in Busan). Did not take too many pictures from the ship (Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas’s), but it was a nice, not too big of a ship. Clearly the Chinese middle class is growing and major cruise lines are literally flocking to South east Asia to capitalize on the growing market before them. About 85% of the passengers were Chinese nationals. Pictures below are from the first full day, the majority of which was spent on the sea en route to Osaka.
Not the newest or the largest ship in the Royal Caribbean line, but a nice ship never the less.
The weather was good. A few cloudy days, but for the most part very pleasant.
One of our favorite spots to relax during the day or early evening (my wife in the background). After 10 PM, not a place to relax, actually it turns into quite a lively place. All the young people loved it; that leaves us out.
As we left port, we saw a massive ship go by ours. These cruise ships are quite large. IMPORTANT FACT: How does the RMS Titanic compare to our ship (The Legend of the Seas)? This may surprise you...some quick statistics Titanic/Legend of the Seas: Length 882 feet/867 feet; beam 97 feet/ 105 feet; number of decks 9/11; number of passengers 2,662/2,067; speed 21/27 knots. As you can see, very small advantage to the Titanic. Other larger modern cruise ships now dwarf the Titanic.
One view of the main lobby. As I said, not as big as other, and the most traveled ship in the Royal Caribbean line, but they keep it very nice.
Looking down to the same spot from the previous picture.
The first full day was mostly spent in route to Osaka. Perfect time to relax; these two ladies are just one example of many others that took this opportunity to shut down for a while.
Yes, we also relaxed and caught up with some good reading. The story I am reading is what happened to the last roll of Kodachrome; hands down the best color slide film ever. Yes, call me boring, but it was a great article. The most famous slide film of all time is no more. The last roll was taken by Steve McCurry, a photojournalist famous for his work with National Geographic. Would you like to see pictures taken with the last roll...see below.
For more on the last Kodachrome roll click HERE
We arrived at Osaka in the late afternoon. Took us a while to get off the ship, but we had an opportunity to wander around the dock. This group caught us all by surprise. Young Japanese business men going home after work? Men in Black anyone?
I like symmetrical pictures. This elevated high-speed train entrance invited me to a picture.
We found Japan extremely clean and orderly. This public restrooms stall was a bit of a surprise though. Hmmmm...a bit different from the US would you say?
Liked this ornate manhole cover.
As we were walking around we went by a very small sushi bar. Squeezed my lens between a small opening in the front widow to take this one. Yes, very narrow, what you see is the whole place. Must be good; not a seat left open.
You just do not see this in the US. The major soft-drink companies have not monopolized the vending machines yet in Japan. One machine has a variety of brands and flavors; this is good for the customers.
The large number of vending machines with drinks and cigarettes was really noticeable. Saw several American brands no longer available in the US.
Huge ferris wheels are becoming very popular around the world. While this is not as large as the one in Suzhou or London, it is quite large.
Same ferris wheel as we are getting ready to tour Osaka. More on that on next week's posting. Thanks for visiting.