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Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff Carithers
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Ali and Jeff Carithers

Ali and Jeff Carithers

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    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo
      1

      Tokyo, Japan

      October 1, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

      After a quiet day at sea yesterday, we have arrived in Tokyo!!! It’s the first time ever in a big city that we don’t know what to expect. We are considered in-transit passengers since most of the passengers have completed their leg and will get off this morning. Since we have another 2 week leg, we go off on a trip into the city for the day to explore. We’re on our own!😳

      Well, it was quite a day in Tokyo! There were just 6 of us on an 8 hour tour with a fabulous guide so we got a good taste of Tokyo. We went to an area that was filled with temples, Buddhist
      Priests and many symbolic shrines. We cleansed our souls with a water bath and incense so we are as pure as can be. It was a riot of color, sounds, exotic inscriptions and tastes. A little rain did not dampen our spirits as we continued through the maze of streets and people. I was the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to do the traditional fortune telling. You shake metal container until a stick comes out of a small opening. The characters on the stick relate to a wooden drawer that you open and pull out your fortune. Mine was all good. Our guide had a very apprehensive look on her face as this was happening, but breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out well.
      We went on to the Ginza area of Tokyo which is a high end shopping area. It was much like Madison Avenue in NY, but incredibly clean.
      In Japan, there are no waste receptacles or any kind of garbage bins anywhere, you are expected to pack out any garbage you have. Litter does not exist here.
      Lunch was a challenge. We ordered from pictures and were not 100% sure about anything we ate. About an hour later, it didn’t feel like we’d eaten anything. No wonder everyone is so thin.
      There is a stationery store called itoya that was 8 floors of absolute stationery bliss. There was one whole floor of pens! I could’ve spent an entire day there.
      We also went into a department store that was simply bustling with shoppers. Heading down 2 floors below the street level, we discovered a mind-blowing world of beautiful food for sale. Cookies, cakes, salads, seafood, meats - you name it, it was there, looking more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen.
      All these experiences took a lot of processing. We are happy to have a sea day before our next port.      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo
      Newer tsunami seawall.
      This hotel withstood the tsunami and the owner recorded the tsunami wave from the top floor.Jeff and I went out of our comfort zone and had some ramen at a local restaurant.

      Miyako, Japan

      September 29, 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌬 59 °F

      We had an an interesting day in Miyaka, Japan.
      You may have heard of this town because in March of 2011, a 130’ tsunami wave wiped out most of the town and almost 20,000 people perished. Since then, they have constructed a sea wall that can be sealed off when it closes automatically when a tsunami is on its way. There was an existing sea wall at the time, but this enormous wave breached that with no problem. It is difficult to look at what was incredible devastation - some people left and others rebuilt.
      As we have experienced so far in Japan, the people are lovely and welcoming. When a new ship comes into a port the first time, the town exchanges gifts with the ship’s captain representing the Silver Nova in this case.
      The townspeople were at the port the whole day with booths and food trucks. There were several musical performances. When we left the port, there was a very touching send off from hundreds of locals.      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo
      2Squid ink ice cream!11Volcano!Our room on the ship.Our bathroom on the ship.

      Hakodate, Japan

      September 28, 2024 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

      We spent the day in Hakodate, Japan. We are getting into the swing of things and not feeling so overwhelmed with the language issues.
      We took a tour to a national park today. The highlight was that it was one of those iconic, perfect early fall days sweetened even more by the horrible rainstorm yesterday. Sun, 70°, and a light breeze complemented our several mile walk on a trail with our guide and a naturalist.
      Our Japanese guide had an amazing grasp of the English language, many times experimenting with words like “trendy” or when asking about sunlight through the trees, tried out the word “dappled” and then spelled it. In any case, Japanese is difficult at best and it was interesting to see someone whose native language is Japanese embrace another language with the zest he showed.
      Our walks afforded views of an active volcano (there are a lot of those around here) that last erupted 400 years ago 15x more violently than Mount St. Helens. We walked on pathways that wove between lakes and passed tiny islands.
      For the first time this trip, we actually may have burned 1 drink’s worth of calories!
      We are halfway through our trip, and it seems like this is when the time starts to fly.
      By the way, everywhere you go has a Toto toilet.
      The one at the park today had more buttons than I had time to read. Besides all the water buttons, the was a heat button and a music button.
      See you tomorrow!      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo

      Sea Day Number 6

      September 25, 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

      Our final sea day before reaching Japan. We are still perilously close to Russia, but moving right along.
      Yesterday we had a bridge tour and learned that even though things are run primarily by electronics, there is still much hands-on working of the ship. There is someone on watch 24 hours a day and always scanning the seas for any possible problem, rogue wave, obstacles or other vessels. We hope there isn’t a stealth submarine anywhere because that is one thing they can’t pick up on radar. Yikes.
      As we get closer to Japan, our food choices seem up have changed as they now include lots of soups, raw fish and tempuras.
      I am showing a picture of our arrival cards. It starts to get a bit challenging when you need to fill out a form that is mostly written in Japanese.
      Luckily, the ship has a very specific form saying what to write where.      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo
      Jeff relaxing.
      The hot tub.The "hidden" library.The set up for the cocktail class.

      North Pacific Ocean

      September 24, 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F

      The sun is shining, the seas are calm and the temperature is starting to warm. The outdoor decks, which were previously empty, now are filling up with people enjoying the chaise lounges and other comfortable sofas that are scattered all around. Everyone still has coats on, but that will change soon. When we arrive in Japan, the temperatures will range in the 70’s
      to mid 80’s.
      Last night we crossed the International Date Line, so we went to sleep on Sunday night and woke up on Tuesday morning! This presented a challenge to make sure we didn’t miss a day of Wordle. After much fussing with the dates on our phones, we managed to get all of our games in.
      The true bonus of this is that we can call September 23rd the day we fasted and had no alcohol!
      We continue to sail along at about 15 knots and look forward to our next destination!      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo
      Pisco Sours!

      Still in the Bering Sea

      September 22, 2024, Bering Sea ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

      We are still traveling through the Bering Sea.
      It looks as though we are about to round the west end of the Aleutian Islands before we head south.
      We are enjoying cooking demonstrations and various lectures. Napping and happy hour are priorities. Entertainment occurs regularly.
      Where does the day go?      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo
      Sacher torte today at lunch.

      The Bering Sea

      September 21, 2024, Bering Sea ⋅ ☁️ 48 °F

      We have moved from the Gulf of Alaska into the Bering Sea while skillfully avoiding a large and nasty storm. Although the Bering Sea is notorious for its scary weather patterns, we are enjoying some relatively calm seas that afford a gentle rocking motion to fall asleep by. The nightly time changes are a challenge. It used to be that you simply turned your watch back, but technology has made it so it’s more like playing a game of “who really knows what time it is?”. Case in point, this morning I told Jeff that I needed to get ready to go to the 9:00 lecture on Japan. He was quick to ask what the heck was I doing since it was 6:00am. Hmmmm….. I obviously didn’t set my phone correctly. Jeff’s phone said still a different time so we had to check the ship’s TV to see the “real” time. Jim and Nancy had a similar situation, but with a different set of times.
      This is a tremendous amount of activity and use of brain power at 6:00am.
      Lots of good lectures today, including one about 60’s music that included a satellite phone call to Judy Collins!
      We were also briefed on etiquette in Japan, and after the ease of traveling through Alaska, we realized that all bets are off once we get to Japan. There are a lot of rules to follow. I’ll let you know how that goes. Jeff was practicing bowing this afternoon.      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo

      At Sea

      September 20, 2024, Gulf of Alaska ⋅ 🌬 50 °F

      Our first of 6 sea days as we head toward Japan.
      We are speeding through time zones, moving the clock back 1 hour every night. It won’t be long until we’re waking at 1:00am ready for breakfast! Sometime early next week we cross the international date line and lose a day (yay, we have 1 alcohol-free day on this trip!) which they promise to give back on the flight home from Tokyo.
      Today our enrichment lectures included the history of The Beach Boys, how the earth’s oceans affect us and AI. Between activities, napping and meals, we are exhausted!      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo

      Kodiak, Alaska

      September 19, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

      Wow! We are way up here in Alaska!!
      Kodiak is a fishing village that welcomes cruise ships in spring and fall when the ships that are either starting or ending their southern Alaska runs are repositioning their ships to Asia.
      We left the ship on a tender at 8:00am when it was just barely light. Temperature 49°.
      6000 people live in Kodiak proper. As I mentioned, fishing is the main source of work and income here. They fish for salmon, cod, halibut and Dungeness crab. Our guide has been fishing here for almost 50 years and had some very interesting stories about his own experiences as well as those of fishermen he knows. It’s an extremely dangerous occupation in these waters as the weather and the seas are quite unforgiving at times. One story he told was that the seas became quite rough on a crabbing boat. The crab traps are large and as the waves kept splashing onto the traps that were sitting on the boat, they froze and the traps became heavy and rolled the boat upside down.
      There is a monument downtown with all the names of the fishermen and fisherwoman from the town that have perished while fishing.
      In any case, it was a beautiful day and we enjoyed strolling through town on our last day on land ahead of 6 days at sea while traveling toward Japan.      Read more

    • Ali and Jeff CarithersAli and Jeff CarithersVancouver to Tokyo

      The Gulf of Alaska

      September 18, 2024, North Pacific Ocean ⋅ 🌬 57 °F

      Today we are sailing through the Gulf of Alaska on our way to Kodiak Island. The Gulf of Alaska is known to be one of the roughest on earth. That kind of fact doesn’t seem too threatening when you book a year in advance. Then you’re on the ship one night on your way to dinner and you realized that they’ve drained the pool. That’s always an ominous sign. Today, our winds are going to be 40 knots and the seas will hopefully peak at 16’. Remarkably, it’s a bit rough, but not nearly what we have experienced on some of the older ships. I think the stabilizers are much more advanced for a smoother ride, Note: I’ll update later when the swells get bigger😊.
      As I’ve said before, we love our sea days and finding a little nook somewhere to read a book.
      There are great lectures on sea days. Today was a professor emeritus from the University of Hawaii who talked about the Pacific Ocean.
      It was a little concerning to count the number of volcanoes we are encountering through this voyage. We will hope for the best that none of them are irritated by our nearness and want their feelings to be known.
      The photo from Windy.com shows the storm we are heading into. We are still in the blue area (lesser waves) and are quickly going into the pink area where things will undoubtedly ramp up. Stay tuned…..      Read more

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