You may not have got the Email notice for Part 14 – Japan.  I sent it off from Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, and the Internet wasn’t swell.  I had to do it twice because the first one went out title only and I had to modify it nine times, once to get the text in, then once for each picture.  It’s here, though, just under this post.  You might want to read it first, to stay in order. 

Saturday, April 18, 2026

This is the first of eight sea days.  I had high hopes of catching up with my logs and blogs.  So why is it May 8, as I actually write this?  I wasn’t loafing, just taking care of business.  It’s also the beginning of about seven time changes where we go ahead an hour at noon.  It’s easier on the body because you do get a full night’s sleep, but it’s hard to keep track of, and you certainly can’t depend on your smart watch, which is tied to your phone and neither of them has any clue as to what’s going on.

Dee Wescott was our Distinctive Speaker at 4 o’clock, with a bunch more pretty fish and an audience that kept dribbling in, coping with the time change.  We were missing a couple at dinner, who had got trapped in Mass, which started at five, which they thought was four.  We still had a perfectly pleasant dinner.

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Another day at the office, another lost hour, ending with a nice dinner with Dee after which we saw two cellists on the World Stage. A nice safe act.

Monday, April 20 no 1

Another day at the office, another lost hour.  To relieve the boredom, the ship is rocking and rolling, pitching and yawing, defying the peace in the Pacific Ocean.  I am just as glad to have work to do, takes the mind off it.

It’s still too dangerous for our production cast to be dancing on a stage that might be three feet higher or lower that what it was when they took to the air, so our classical trio came out of the Explorer’s Lounge and climbed up on the World Stage.  It was very nice for a change.

Monday, April 20 no 2

If you noticed April 20 came twice, you aren’t seeing double, nor did I err.  We just crossed the dateline again and got back the day we gave up in February. We had White Magic again on the World Stage.  The ship is still riding some mean waves.

Tuesday,April 21, 2026

HAL hosted a cocktail party, for everyone on the full cruise, at 6:30PM.  If I had been in charge, it would have been held in January so we could meet each other.  It was very nice and I ended up sitting with Josh Laforce, the Travel Guide.  He has been to our table before and I know he and Dee are friends, so I invited him to dinner and he came.  That livened the table up.  We saw Cello 2 Cello again on the World Stage.  The seas have yet to calm down, but are improving.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Another day at the office at sea, another time change.  They are starting to take a toll.  Everyone feels a little “off”.  The production cast hasn’t made it to the stage yet, so the World Cruise band gave us their Santana show again.

Thursday, April 23, 2026

And another work day.  This time it was DV work, time for another newsletter.

And Vivace, the Classical Trio were back on stage, if you can believe it.

Friday, April 24, 2026 – Kodiak, Alaska

Finally, land and I didn’t even get off the ship.  Kodiak isn’t much of a place.  There are better ones coming and still plenty of office work.

They had a Canadian comedian on stage, Tim Nutt, but I missed him.

Saturday, April 25, 2026                      At Sea

I spent this day putting in my DV expense account for the cruise.  There was a deadline as DV is changing the supplier that does our expense account processing.  It’s the day after tomorrow.  I meet my deadlines.

Sunday, April 26, 2026               Sitka, Alaska

Now Sitka is a port to play in.  Dee and Linda and I went out to see what damage we could do in the shops and find ourselves a good lunch.  We did both.  The lunch was particularly good.  We shared clam chowder and fish ‘n chips.  Halibut fish ‘n chips, really good.  Captain Frank and his wife came in and she wanted to know what to order.  We could recommend everything we had, so they had it, too. 

Dee hung back to do more shopping, while Linda and I headed for the pier.  There they had a kiosk serving “Fried Bread”.  That was intriguing enough for us to buy one to share.  It came with cinnamon and sugar and was so good that Linda bought another one to take back to Bob.  I almost bought another one to take back to me.

Just hanging out in Sitka was a popular thing to do for our Distinctive Voyagers.  I met 12 of 48 of them.  Back on board, I went to shore excursions to pay for Pat Sainz out of my own account.  I wasn’t going to have her miss tomorrow’s excursion for bad timing and I was pretty confident I wouldn’t have to come through.  I prepared farewell letters for Werner Mittermeir, getting off in Seattle and Jan Barnes and Dee Wescott, leaving in San Diego.

Sailaway was good, dinner was good and so was Maria Campos on the World Stage.

Monday, April 27, 2026              Ketchikan, Alaska

The shore excursion was fun.  It started out inauspiciously when Emily, our driver-guide, announced to the bus that it was just a ride out to a crab feed.  I hauled out the detailed tour description, with its HAL and DV logos all over it, and showed it to her.  She and I got off the bus to speak to her dispatcher and I went and found Magali (HAL Shorex), who, luckily, was still on the dock.  It took them 10 minutes to organize a second bus to finish the tour after lunch, as Saxman village now requires its own certified guide. Our people were very grateful that I caught this quickly, as a good few of them caught it too.  It was interesting how many of them brought the tour description along.  You wouldn’t want to try to put anything over on them.

George Inlet Lodge was a super destination

They serve up an “all you can eat” crab feast.  I sat with my Taiwanese people and we won the crab shell stacking contest easily.  He was responsible for most of the eating and his wife did most of the stacking but Werner and I contributed a good bit, too. Considering Werner didn’t think he even liked crab and ordered a chicken breast, which he ate, he was a good contributor.  I channeled my inner piglet.  It was a lot of fun.  

We got back in the bus, effected our change of bus and driver, and made off for Saxman Village with a guide versed in the totem stories.  I am glad we didn’t miss this part.  It was particularly enriching.  We got a nice little tour of Ketchikan on the way back to the ship and a bar recommendation.  It was “Sourdough” which is an odd name for a bar.  I was the only Distinctive Voyager up for it, likely because it’s my sober month so I hadn’t been drinking at lunch.  I ran into Renée, though and she liked the idea, so off we went.  It wasn’t far at all, which was part of its appeal.  It really was an old time bar, complete with old timers playing darts.  They were inclusive old timers and let a couple of ship people join.  I was grudgingly served the only non-alcoholic beer they had.  At least Renée bought a real one.

There’s not that much lingering in the Sea View Bar on Alaska sailaways, but one of my Distinctive Voyagers  and I found a heater to sit under and have a nice chat.