April 11, 2019 Shimizu Japan Mt. Fuji

 

 

Today we docked in Shimizu port which is close to Mt. Fuji. Most of the tours offered by the ship involved Mt. Fuji.

 

 

We booked a half day tour in which we visited several parks and temples with the last visit a stop at a park by the sea where one was supposed to be able to see Mt. Fuji.

Because we are members of the loyalty club/Captains' Club we were invited to view the sailing in to the port on the helipad. We were greeted by the staff with a flute of champagne or mimosa once we were on the helipad. 

 

The weather was sunny with a few clouds. Fortunately there were no clouds covering Mt Fuji and we had a great view of it. It was breathtaking.

 

View from the helipad of Mt. Fuji

On the helipad Mt Fuji behind us covered with clouds

 

It was lucky that our tour started at noon so we could enjoy time viewing Mt. Fuji before we had to get ready for the tour.  

Today our guide was Mr. Sun who was a retired engineer. He had a good sense of humor and was very informative.

Our first stop was at Sumpujo park.  https://www.visit-shizuoka.com/en/spots/detail.php?kanko=342.

 

 

Our guide explained about the park and then gave us 15 mins to wander and take photos. 

Next stop was the Sengen Shrine.  https://sengenjinja.jp/english/index.html.

 

Here Mr. Sun again gave information about the Shrine and grounds and gave us time to wander and take photographs. The Shrines and grounds were very nice and there was peace and calm. No noise.

 

Last stop was the Miho No Matsubara Park- a World Heritage site which had a pine forest which has the beach on one side. 

https://www.visit-shizuoka.com/en/spots/detail.php?kanko=336

Standing on the beach we tried to see Mt. Fuji but the cloud cover was too thick.

Mt Fuji in back covered with clouds

 

We stayed our allotted time at the beach hoping for the clouds to clear enough for a photo of Mt. Fuji but no luck. We did enjoy the stroll through the pine forest though.

This was our last stop and back to the ship we went.

All in all it was a very nice day and we were so lucky to get a view of Mt. Fuji. 

This was another highlight of our cruise.

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April 10, 2019 a tour of Osaka Castle

 

 

Our ship stayed overnight in Kobe which was a good feature of this cruise. We booked an Osaka highlights tour which took us to visit the Osaka Castle and Sumiyoshi Taisha.

The early tour was sold out so we were on the 10:30 tour. The drive to Osaka took approximately one hour arriving at the castle at 11:30 am.

 

 

 It rained lightly the whole time we were on the tour. Fortunately  we were prepared with rain jackets and umbrellas. We had 90 minutes to tour the castle. It was interesting to see how the Castle was turned into a museum with dedicated pathways and stairs to go up and down to visit the three floors.

 

 

On one floor a photographer had set up a scene where the visitors dressed up as warriors and geishas. Of course we waited in line for getting dressed up and had photos taken. This took away some of the time to see the castle but that was fine. We saw what we could and then proceeded to leave to meet our group at the appointed time. Walking to the bus we enjoyed the cherry blossom trees. We were lucky that most places we visited on our trip the trees were in blossom.

Last stop was the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine.  http://www.sumiyoshitaisha.net/en/#about.  We stopped here for one hour. The Shrine grounds were so peaceful, quiet and well maintained. 

 

 

There were several booths with items for sale. We walked around with the guide explaining the purpose of the temple and different customs. After her explanations we 20 minutes to walk around and take photos. 

At 3 pm we got on the bus for our ride back to the  ship.

 

Osaka

Osaka

 

welcome at the terminal

Got back to the ship around 4 pm. 

 

April 9, 2019 Kobe Japan with an overnight stay

 

 

Today we toured Kobe on our own. 

 

The ship provided shuttle buses to the downtown near the Chinatown where we can get off and then board the bus back to the ship after our visit.

We were told we could walk to the large shopping complex near by and walk into Merikan Park from the bus stop.

 

 

We did get off the bus near Chinatown and decided to walk to Merikan Park and then go further to the large outdoor mall. It was three stories and had lots of shops and restaurants plus a great view of the bay.

Merikan Park

 

 

 

Mall

 

Merikan Park

After an hour of window shopping and walking we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we walked back to Chinatown to see all the shops to look for souvenirs. There were lots of restaurants offering Kobe beef. The staff on the ship had warned us to be careful if we went to a restaurant specifically for Kobe beef. They said that some restaurants use regular beef and charge Kobe beef prices.

 

On the way back we stopped at a Starbucks for coffee and a do-nut and use the WiFi.

 

 

Local customer with weenie dog at Starbucks

We boarded the bus and headed back to the ship. It was a nice easy paced day.

 

View of Kobe at night

 

 

Tomorrow we take a tour of Osaka featuring a visit to Osaka Castle.

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