We have arrived in Japan so I will start the sea mail thread. We flew to San Francisco and then to Osaka on our first day's travel. Due to a schedule change we have to stay overnight at a hotel at the airport here and then continue on to Sapporo tomorrow at 8 AM, then we have another overnight there and on to board the ship in Otaru on Friday. Long journey!

Our United flight over here was on a new Dreamliner, which was quiet and comfortable. Our task for now is to try to stay awake for awhile and go to sleep at a regular hour tonight.

I imagine that everyone else is enroute.

We are also in Japan but in Tokyo. We left yesterday and flew to Vancouver and stayed overnight and left the next day in the afternoon. We board a flight in a couple of hours for Sapporo. Can't wait to hit the bed. We were on JAL with very nice service.

We are in Sydney waiting for our QF flight to Tokyo at 9:30pm ( we flew down from Brisbane a few hours ago ) It's a 9 1/2 hour flight so we should get some sleep. From there we will fly to Sapporo and stay at the airport hotel, meeting up with some of the group.

Fortunately for us, although in hours it's a longish trip we will have no jet lag.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Hope you all have a wonderful trip! Absolutely cannot wait for the seamail from some of my favorite story tellers! Wish we could be there with you...

At DFW waiting for our flight to Tokyo. Remember on the sea mail we are in Japanese waters where maritime internet is blocked. So do not worry about us if you do not hear. I know on Narwhal everyone thought we were stuck in the ice. Actually that did happen four times. Luckily our wonderful ice breaker The RADISSON broke us free. No ice on this trip!!

We flew in to Tokyo yesterday arriving, at 430 pm after 11 hour flight. Delta in upper deck of 747, not too bad. Originally we were to stay at airport hotel and fly onto Sapporo this morning. But our morning flight was canceled and we were then on a flight at 645 pm this evening. So I packed the Loubutins and switched us to Park Hyatt ( of Lost in Translation fame). Sadly we never made it to our dinner reservation or to even have a drink in the famous bar as after the 2 hour drive from the airport we were fast asleep almost immediately after we got here! Oh well, next time.
It is 415 am here and now we are wide awake. We will do a little tour and head back to Narita. Overnighting at the airport and joining some SUMOs in the morning for the transfer to the ship. Can't wait to get back aboard the Explorer!
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Helen

We will have internet when we are outside of the 12 mile limit so that will be mostly evening & night or when we have 1/2 day at sea.

A few airport shots to kill time



Last night we had dinner at one of those sushi places where the plastic examples rotate around on a track, you order via the on table computer and your order pulls up on the top rail on a boat.

We had a good flight over on AA TO TOKYO. George and Rachel were on the same flight. Our steward reminded us both of Eugene and he was super we gave him one of "something special" slips from AA.

Checking in for our flight to Sapporo they offered us a paid upgrade to a Sky Suite it looked great. We asked how much and it was $10 each. We thought we misunderstood it was so inexpensive. So with great glee at the bargain of the century we left the ticket counter happy. George and Rachel got the same deal

We have a five hour layover and we were all sitting in the lounge. A Japan Airlines rep came to us and offered us all a free upgrade to first. I guess the sky suite was business.

Kind of a shame the flight is only two hours. So much fun when something neat like this happens unexpectably. Good omen for a great cruise to come.

Leslie loved your shots going to get you to teach me a few things on this trip.

As ngaire said, good flight over on AA in F and right on time. And we got the bargain of the century with our upgrades.

The lounge and airport were stiflingly hot when we got here, but George went up to the desk to complain. Thankfully they have now turned on the air con.

The Sapporo airport is like a city! And it is bustling.There are hundreds and hundreds of places to eat. Whoever has the concession on the plastic food samples that are displayed outside of every restaurant made a killing here.

You can watch chocolate being manufactured in Royce Chocolate World, ride on a stuffed Steiff animal in Steiff Nature World, stock up on all the Hello Kitty or Pokemon items you could possibly want, play crazy Japanese pinball machines in the amusement area, go to a spa, take your kids to an indoor playground, shop in a grocery store, go to a wine tasting, on and on and on.

A few pix:

A personal welcome! How did they know I was coming?







Tough day for the stuffed animals...



Everything is very colorful

Looks pretty real



These kids were everywhere. They were on some kind of airport scavenger hunt

Thank you all for our sea mail fix. Off to a great start.

We, too lucked into the sky suite deal, but only business class. The plane was even nicer than the JAL that we took over from Vancouver! We arrived at the hotel last night. The Mercure hotel is right in the center of town and we fell into our bed upon arrival. The room is teeny, but has all the "right" appointments...pajamas, robes, fash washes, sea salts, free beverages, the room had "things to come" with a burgundy framed tv that matched the room and a designer decorated Keurig coffee maker.

We've had a long day in Sapporo. Doug started the day for us at 4am and I eventually stumbled out of bed.

Sapporo is surrounded by mountains and we can see the ski lift from our room. It must be pretty in good weather. The weather was weird...at times sunny and warm and other times rainy and cold. This changed every 10 minutes or so.

What's Sapporo like? Neon everywhere. Loads of retail. Not many banks. Fashionably dressed women.talking crosswalks with music.There is an Eiffel Tower in the center of town. It seems very safe...folks don't lock up their bikes and they left their umbrellas outside with no seeming fear of losing them. The department store clerks were elegantly dressed with hats and uniforms.

This morning we met Mitch and Bert for breakfast and begin our day which we named "Lost In Translation." The guys were armed with a map which wasn't much help because they couldn't read any of the street signs or the map. We walked and walked and found ourselves back where we started. The only good part is we found some interesting stores. We walked past fruit stands with watermelons selling for $30 and cantaloupe was a bargain at only $15. They must be really great for that price. The guys got us lost right into a department store which was ripe with cheaper things than the fruit, so all wasn't list. Then, we decided to go to the Sapporo Beer factory. Since Doug and I are old pros with Beer Factory tours (coming from midway between Chicago and Milwaukee) we decided to add this tour our list. Mitch suggested we take the bus. We went up stairs and down stairs, round and round blocks, and couldn't find the bus station...must have been an hour of this. Finally, Bert and I plopped ourselves down on some stairs and suggested a cab. The guys ventured off still looking for the bus station. We thought we'd lost them for good when they turned up even more confused than ever. Bert took matters into her own hands and asked directions as only a woman knows how and found the bus we needed. We gleefully hobbled onto the bus and got off, of course, at the wrong station. Instead of the Beer Factory, we ending up at a Factory Outlet mall, which was fine by Bert and me. We insisted on a taxi this time and ended up at the Beer Factory and found out the tour was in Japanese and free beer was NOT included. We settled for some beer ice cream. Not too exciting a day, but full of laughter and memories we won't forget.

We were tired when we finally returned from our adventure. The guys said we'd walk to the restaurant tonight. Not fully trusting we'd ever eat, Bert and I sent them to scope out the restaurant in daylight, not expecting them to return for a few hours. They somehow found the restaurant and their way back to us, and Bert and I had fun looking at our purse purchase and marveling at our bargains.

Thanks to Mitch, we had a yummy omakase at an Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant which Mitch recommended. We decided that the hit of our seven courses was the wasabi tomato pasta. Exhausted and full, we headed back eager to get to bed and rest up for the fun on Sumo.

Loving all the photos and pre-seamail adventures. Thanks bunches!!

Enjoying the photos! Thank you for sending them.

Andi

your descriptions make me feel like I am there. Keep it up.

Posting for Andi

So who did we find at the gate area in narita to board our flight too? Helen and Jerry!

The JAL first class seats are amazing. Lie flat and very comfortable. We are all unconscious as soon as the plane took off. Too bad the flight was only 1 1/2 hr. That was the best sleep ever.

George and I are staying at the crowne plaza as I am trying to build up my IHG points, and we got a good deal. They have a free shuttle, but we were too tired to wait for it. Short taxi ride got us there quickly. Room is adequate size, very clen with comfortable beds. Of course, I am now up at 5 am though and trying to be quiet to let George sleep.

It was so nice to hear from the four in Sapporo. Sounds like it was a tiring but fun day. At least Andi got some shopping in!

The first class seat on japan airlines was the best I have seen. Super wide, big TV beautifully appointed. I put it in bed mode and the next thing I knew we were descending.

The hotel was a few minutes walk from baggage claim. We stopped and bought water (that turned out to be something that tastes like flat sprite) and then went to the front desk. This hotel was. Only $150 a night in Japan so my expectations were very low. The lobby looked better than I expected. The had a food vending machine. I was hungry so we got a fried chicken and fries box. It was piping hot. This cost only $3.70 talk about low expectations. Well surprisingly it was good. Obviously not a healthy food. But it was salty with a yummy heavy batter on the chicken it really hit the spot.

The room was small but free wifi I. Two twin beds were like a rock and a small pillow that felt like the filling was grain. However as tired as we were the location could not be better. We were so tired we cleaned up and CRASHED.

wish we had time to investigate the airport. Leslie's pictures and descriptions made it sound like fun. I like the Johannesburg airport great places to eat as well

So now getting ready to go to breakfast and meet the next challenge our Skybus transfer to Otaru turning up. Double confirmed but always worry about a transfer not showing up.

Soooooooooo excited to be reading this and seeing the photos. I was afraid I'd suffer seamail withdrawals. You all are off to a great start !!

And a few pix from breakfast

Salted squid guts on the buffet



And on Brad's plate... Yes, he ate most of this

You all seem to be having a great time. I am loving the sea mail…sure with I was there with all of you

Wish you were here too, Arlene.

Me, shop? It was all Bert..

So envious of all of your experiences and wish I was there to attempt in helping you with the Japanese language! Enjoy the trip.

Just loving the seamail and so much fun to see the great photos, especially the "people pics". Judging from Brad's breakfast I would have to buy all of my meals from a vending machine! Have fun!

Loving all the SeaMail and the photos! Keep it up, Please!

Internet is fine so far.

Ngaire and Ken picked us up on the party bus yesterday morning to join the rest of the group that had been staying at the airport hotel. The plan was to go up a mountain that looks out over Sapporo, then walk around downtown and eat lunch. But it was alternately pouring rain then clearing off rapidly then pouring again, traffic was a mess. So our guide called up his friend who owns an Italian restaurant called Genoese, and he opened the place early for the group. We had a wonderful pasta and pizza lunch, then walked a little bit downtown.

Then off to the ship where we boarded rapidly, all aboard at 3 and muster drill.

George and I were absolutely beat last night. Me, probably because I have been getting up so early. Anyway, we were to tired to do anything except eat a quick dinner with Helen and Jerry then crash. But I am bright eyed and bushy tailed this am, and slept a whole 30 minutes longer than yesterday.

We are in Hakodate today and going to onumu quasi national park.

Great start guys....pizza and pasta lunch would be on my to do list, kind of scary stuff Leslie and Brad are eating but enjoying the always great photos.

Ngaire, did someone take a photo of my doppelgänger? Wish we were there.

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Eugene (and Gail)

You were - they ALL look ALIKE!

Rats, I like my squid guts unsalted. Wish we were there.

Maddy & Paul

Nice to see faces I recognize from our North West passage. Ralph tell Brayden that Robin Aiello is on this trip. First night there huge swells but since then it has been fine. Sunshine with little rain yesterday but did not rain on us during our excursion. This was a typical big cruise ship excursion with lots of bus time not the normal expedition experience. Robin saw our group heading for a bus and immediately jumped into action to get us on our own bus. Just two people who were not with us one was staff from the ship. So nice when staff understand our groups like to go on excursions together
So far the expedition staff seem to be pretty good. All came on stage with big personalities and been super friendly. They have four local Japanese guides sailing on the trip with us who will also accompany each zodiac group along with the expedition team member.
After our first briefing looks like we are going to see a bunch of volcanos many active. I think that is quite exciting. We are right on the” ring of fire” Also a cyclone heading our way so we are keeping an eye on that. Right now blue sky, sun and just a very slight wave.
Do not expect us back online again after today until probably September 27th.

Nice to see faces I recognize from our North West passage. Ralph tell Brayden that Robin Aiello is on this trip.

First night there huge swells but since then it has been fine. Sunshine with little rain yesterday but did not rain on us during our excursion. This was a typical big cruise ship excursion with lots of bus time not the normal expedition experience. Robin saw our group heading for a bus and immediately jumped into action to get us on our own bus. Just two people who were not with us one was staff from the ship. So nice when staff understand our groups like to go on excursions together.

Highlight of the tour was the view of Hakodate from the mountain and also the soft cone ice cream. Amazingly no one selected the squid ice cream!!

So far the expedition staff seem to be pretty good. All came on stage with big personalities and been super friendly. They have four local Japanese guides sailing on the trip with us who will also accompany each zodiac group along with the expedition team member.

After our first briefing looks like we are going to see a bunch of volcanoes many active. I think that is quite exciting. We are right on the” ring of fire” Also a cyclone heading our way so we are keeping an eye on that. Right now blue sky, sun and just a very slight wave.

Do not expect us back online again after today until probably September 27th.

Yesterday we arrived at Hakadote during lunch, complete with a welcome escort spraying colored water into the air as it accompanied us to the pier. We were met by four buses for an afternoon tour to the base of Mt Komagatake, the Onuma Quasi National Park and to an observation deck on Mt Hakodate with sweeping views over the city, said to be one of the most beautiful night time city views in the world.

We got our first exercise of the trip climbing up a trail at a volcano and also strolling around some lakes and marshes in the park. George led the charge up the hill, but since we were only given about a half hour there even he didn't reach the summit. The Oruma Quasi park was quite charming with lots of trails over the islets, connected by picturesque bridges; I would have loved to spend more time there. Renting swan boats was a very popular thing to do. According to our guide the best ice cream in Japan was available there, so we all indulged in that before continuing on to the lookout point.

Upon return to the ship we enjoyed watching farewell dance performances on the pier before we sailed; there was one traditional number done by ladies in kimonos and several high energy, kind of hip hop numbers by a lot of teenagers. A couple of the Japanese guides were dancing on the deck along with the kids.

From the volcano climb:

From the park:

From Mt Hakodate

Great pics, Leslie!

Can't add much to the great reporting but I tried and it got lost. At sea today and still working on a bit of jet lag. We were up early this morning in time to see a very large school of dolphins swimming alongside. There were literally hundreds. It was a great way to start the day. I am really enjoying meeting the people whose postings I have followed over the years. We have been on 2 land trips with Ngaire and one with Linda Littiken but this is our first cruise with B&K. We have travelled with George and Rachel before and Leslie and Brad and knew how much we enjoyed their company but had not met any of the others. What agreat group of people!
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Helen