Japan

Japan was, unfortunately, a disappointment for us. With the port change from Yokohama to Kobe (and cancellation of Nagasaki altogether) due weather concerns, we were unprepared for this port. We chose to take ship excursions both days, which also were much less than satisfactory. Weather also had a big part in that - excursions go rain or shine without any variation from pre-planned itineraries.

We did see the Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion and Kiyomizo  temple in Kyoto, but only for about 15 minutes each - out of a 6 1/2 hour tour. So, we essentially drove for 6 hours, mostly through industrial Japan and very unattractive freeways  with a few very quick glimpses of small historic buildings and Shinto temple entrances. Cunard's decisions to run these tours even though we were not able to see the sights within the timeframe was very frustrating.

Our second day was to Osaka, again very rainy, but we did actually see the two sites on the planned tour - through pouring rain. However, again, 3/4 of the time was just driving on the freeways through and over the ports of Kobe and Osaka.

The people who chose to just take the shuttle into downtown Kobe had the best experiences in this port, but it does not compare at all well to Yokohama or Nagasaki as a port stop. Unfortunately, these past two days did nothing to entice us to return to Japan (though we have been told again that it's a beautiful place to visit).

Most of today has been cool, with hazy skies - bouncy seas this morning but quite calm since then. We're supposed to go through a very narrow strait in about an hour, so we will go get mostly dressed for dinner (Madam Butterfly theme night and formal) and then go out on deck for part of the transit before dinner. I was up on deck 11 (sport deck) as the top mast above us appeared to barely miss the bottom of the bridge. After clearing, the captain blew the horn as if to say "whew, we made it" :)

To give Cunard its due, they were willing to cancel our South Korea excursion without penalty since we'd had two bad experiences in a row. We also later got a letter from the shoe excursion office that they were refunding 50% of the first tour's cost since it was almost dark when we arrived and closed within minutes after we entered. We had heard that they were giving a credit for to missing a port, but the front office says that is not being done. We'll see.