Certificates we received for crossing the International Date Line!!!
Our last two days in Alaska we enjoyed cruising Hubbard Glacier and spending a day in Seward. Understandably, the weather was a little bit different than when we visited these two places in June. It was kind of what you might expect at this time of year….cool, misty and damp. While not yet here, winter is on the way.
We enjoyed seeing Hubbard Glacier again and walking the nice waterfront area in Seward. When we left Seward around 5 pm on Sunday, October 8, we knew it would be a while before we were on solid ground again. Little did we know that it would be even longer than expected.
Hubbard Glacier is over 6 miles wide and 600 feet high
Seward Harbor
Our planned itinerary had seven sea days in a row with us arriving in Hakodate, Japan on Tuesday, October 17. However, Mother Nature had different ideas. Multiple storms started brewing in the Pacific Ocean between Alaska and Japan. At one point there were a total of five storms. They ranged in strength from what we know as tropical storms all the way to a super typhoon with winds equal to a category 5 hurricane. Every day at noon we would get a weather update, as well as an updated plan to steer us safely around (not through) the storms. The captain masterfully guided the ship between two storms and kept us a safe distance from the powerful super typhoon, which was projected to have up to 60 foot waves. The cruising was a little bumpy a couple of days, but never too bad. It was impossible to dodge the storms and keep our original itinerary intact. We ended up having to skip two ports, Hakodate and Sendai. It was a little disappointing, but beats ending up being as legendary as the Titanic. The silver lining to the stormy cloud is that instead of having just one day in Tokyo we now have two days and an overnight stay.
 |
In addition to daily announcements, the captain would post weather charts showing locations of the storms and the ship
For seven consecutive nights we had to set the clock back one hour. While an extra hour of sleep sounds nice, it can get downright confusing. We would do our very best to stay up till 9:30 every night to watch the ships nightly entertainment, but it was tougher than it sounds. With an extra hour of sleep each night from the changing time zones, we were fully rested and ready to wake up by 4 am each day. Coffee and tea were always available and we were able to enjoy some amazing sunrises shortly after waking
The ship had many activities offered during the day. We enjoyed some of them, but mostly we kept ourselves entertained with reading, playing our daily game of scrabble, exercising in the gym or walking the promenade deck, relaxing in the hot tub, and of course eating a little food along the way.
To add to the confusion, we also crossed the international date line. When we went to bed on Wednesday we were told it would be Friday when we woke up. Friday the 13th!! Not the best date when you are dodging a super typhoon. But we survived!! There was a fun poolside carnival to celebrate crossing the date line. Thankfully it was held in the middle of the afternoon and we were wide awake.
 |
| We didn’t make them, but we did eat them! |
 |
Tokyo will mark the end of the first of our three back to back cruises. This one has been interesting and fun, even if we lost Thursday somewhere along the way.
