October 2023

After our brief stop in Kushiro, we’ve had two sea days as we steam south to Yokohama.

On the first day, we had ate in one of the ship’s specialty restaurants, thanks to our toilet.

You read that right!

After our toilet broke several days in a row, Holland America gave us a coupon for a free lunch in the Pinnacle Grill.

We are budget travelers and don’t usually eat in ship venues that charge an extra fee, so this was a special treat.

Today, the lido deck featured a menagerie of towel animals. It was warm enough to open the roof, so we enjoyed some fresh air. At one point, some type of crossbill bird perched near us and peeked in. I’m always intrigued by birds that drop by cruise ships.

After skipping lunch, we decided to try the afternoon tea. They serve tea, obviously, but there’s also a nice stack of nibbles. The bottom plate features savory finger sandwiches, the middle one has mini scones, and the top has desserts.

The tea is a nice way to mix and mingle with other guests.

Since many people are leaving the ship tomorrow, Larry figured out a liquor loophole. He had a friend who is disembarking buy some whisky, after which she handed the booze off to us.

Since we’re staying on the ship longer, Holland America would keep the whisky and only give it to us as we left. They want their passengers to buy the booze onboard.

They offer a beverage package for $50/day, but neither of us drinks that much in a day. We just buy a coffee or cocktail when the mood strikes.

The ship had a “buy 2 whisky’s, get one Johnny Walker blue free” deal today that intrigued Larry. Neither of us are big drinkers, so I’m not sure how much of this we will end up drinking before the cruise is over. We shall see!

As Larry said, we can always give someone one of the bottles as a gift. I think he’s mostly just chuffed over the loophole he figured out.Read more