I woke up early around 4 AM to see if the ship had arrived yet, but it had not. I rested a bit more and the ship finally arrived at 6 AM. The problem was that the sun was creating a ton of glare on the water so I couldn’t really get a nice photo of it from the room.
I organized my photography equipment for the day and repacked my luggage so I could drop off my bag at the front desk while I went exploring as check out time was 10 AM and I didn’t want to have to go back. I took a few more photos from the room before leaving.
I dropped my key in the drop box and left my luggage behind, they have a nice bar code system to track it.
My first stop was Chinatown. Because I left the hotel at 6:30 AM it was completely closed and empty. I did however see all the Chinatown gates and a couple of nice temples. I especially liked the dragon on top of the second temple.
I decided to walk over to the park near the baseball stadium and I did see a few nice flowers..
From here I decided to walk along the waterfront to go to the bluffs. The first interesting thing I saw was a Morgan. I’ve only ever seen these on TV.
Next I stopped at 7/11 as I hadn’t actually eaten anything since I arrived in Japan. I found my favorite snack. They are puffed wheat snacks that are covered in chocolate. Just enough chocolate for the taste.
Next I walked by the location where the trade agreement with the US was signed. Nothing too spectacular – don’t go out of your way to see it.
Next I walked through Yamashita Park and took pictures of the flowers and the Diamond Princess next to Osanbashi pier.
I also took a couple pictures of Yokohama Marine Tower as I walked past it.
The upper part of Yamashita Park had a mosaic water feature that reminded me of Park Guell in Barcelona. You could also see the giant robot from the Gundam Factory.
I walked across the overpass and the doll museum to get to Harbor View Park.
I took a picture of the ruins of the French Consul’s residence. Apparently it was destroyed during an earthquake.
It was also possible to see the Giant robot at the Gundam Factory from the park.
A good view of the Diamond Princess docked at Osanbashi Pier.
I then visited a number of the bluff houses. These were residences of westerners and they are now open to the public – and free. All except the British house require shoes to be removed and to wear slippers, but that was fine with me as I had boots with boa laces. It would have been painful to untie and tie my shoes 10 times.
I went back to watch the robot show at 10:20 AM. It moved very slow and was hard to see from the cliff, but you could tell it was moving. I tried to record a video, we will see how it comes out.
I continued to visit the bluff houses and went to all but one. At the end of my walk I had two options – walk back to the hotel (29 minute walk, 2.2km) or take public transport (20 minutes). Since I was already at a higher elevation and it was only 10 minute difference (if I don’t miss a train or bus) I decided to walk back to the hotel. You never know what interesting things you will find wandering about…
I passed by Yokohama station again and found a cool mural.
I arrived at the hotel at about 1 PM and retrieved my bags. I repacked and started dragging my bags to the pier (I know, I should have paid $10 for a taxi – but at least this will burn some calories to counteract the colortinis). I arrived at Osanbashi at about 1:15 PM.
I dropped my bag at the cruise terminal as the hotel was nice enough to attach my luggage tag I had printed at the airport lounge.
Next I went through security – really easy, not sure they were checking for much of anything.
The next table they verified my vaccination card and the picture of my COVID test. Surprisingly enough they only needed a picture of the basic test – no fancy test like in the old days by a lab or witnessed. I guess I really did waste my money by buying a few of them last year.
Finally I got to the actual check in. Here they took my passport and gave me my medallion with a lanyard as well as a free clip holder. The medallion is black for having Elite status (thanks to me completing the Princess training).
I got the obligatory embarkation photo – Mt Fuji with cherry blossums in the background.
I was finally on the ship. The atrium was decorated with koi (carp) for boy’s day which is one of three holidays that occurred during the cruise (aka Golden Week).
I was able to drop my bags in my cabin. I was surprised with the fact that it had a walk in closet. There were a lot of mirrors as well, I think to make it seem even larger.
Due to the Elite status I had some mini alcohol bottles and some other mini bar refreshments awaiting me.
I watched the safety video on the TV while I charged my devices. It was actually the best video I have seen yet. I then went to my muster station and my mandatory requirements were now complete.
Below is the port guide for Yokohama, although it doesn’t show the correct ship location.
Today’s activities and information:
Next stop was food. I was more thirsty than hungry. I got some pork char siu, chow mein noodles and some bread. To eliminate waste Princess now has the butter cut from sticks rather than be individually wrapped.
I walked around the ship and took some photos of the ship and the bay.
Time for my first colortini… an Amaretto Manhattan
For those of you playing along at home here’s a link that includes the recipe for the drink.
The ship left a few minutes after 5 PM, but they were moving. I never saw a ship leave port that fast. I guess the pilot wanted to go home early today. I did set up a time lapse on the port side, it was the more interesting side before leaving, but after leaving port it was mostly water while the starboard side had land.
I had dinner in the Savoy main dining room at 6:20 PM. For the starter I had baked potato soup and vegetarian spring rolls. For my main I had the prime rib. For dessert I had creme brule, but there wasn’t enough sugar on it.
It was now too late to see the show, so I went to a lounge to listen to music and ordered a pie. The pizza was actually really good.
I couldn’t stay up much later – even with a Red Bull. I called it an early night.
Today’s timeline (all walking)
