New Terminal and Finding Local Food in Otaru

Carnival Panorama 18-Day Transpacific Cruise Long Beach to Yokohama

Otaru, Japan -- Saturday, September 7, 2024

After Icy Strait Point, we sailed toward Japan with eight sea days in a row. Surprisingly, the sailing was smooth and calm, making it a pleasant journey. Seemed like the captain was trying to stay as close to land as possible as I looked at the ship map. If interested, a video is available here of the ship tour and activities on board. 

Early in the morning of September 7, I was eagerly up early as the ship sailed into port. I could see that we went past a city with tall buildings, which I assumed was Sapporo. Then, as the ship got closer to port, I noticed that we were not going to the normal direction to where we used to dock. Instead it went to the right, on the other side of the city. I was just hoping that it is closer to the city to make it easier for us to walk into town. 

Early morning before the sun was up.

Could it be Sapporo out there?

Slowly sailing into the harbor.

We used to dock on the left side of this building on our last few times here.

But on this day, we sailed to the right instead.

Here we are, at the new cruise terminal.

Before we can get off, we had to go through the entry immigration process into Japan. The officers had to get on the ship after we docked, then set up and we went through that process one deck at a time. Fortunately, we were the first deck to get in line. It took about 3 hours to get that done. By the time we were off the ship it was around 11:00AM. Here is a picture of the line for the process.

We usually like to head over to Sapporo while in Otaru, but not this time because we have wasted 3 hours for the immigration process already. With the limited time here, we will just walk around town for the day.

They actually have a cruise terminal here.

At least we had great weather!

It was an easy walk into town. Right outside the terminal, at the street corner, there is this store with everything that cruisers can pick up souvenirs or have a snack or drink before getting back on the ship.

Continue walking for a couple of minutes, we reached the Otaru Canal. At the left corner is where the boat tour starting point is.

First picture of the day.

Now, we have walked along the canal and reached the other side where the Visitor Information Center is. Looking back at the bridge where we were on a little earlier.

The main street on the right going up takes you to the Otaru Train Station and Seafood market.

We had other plans. We want to look for a restaurant that was recommended highly by locals.

On our way, we past through the tourist area in town with many glass stores.

Love these old buildings.

After walking about 20 minutes, going slightly uphill, we found the restaurant (Shotoku Taishi-Asuka Shop) that we were looking for.

(Not recommend for people with mobility issues.)

Set lunch was priced very reasonably.

On the 2nd floor, one must sit Indian (Japanese) style on the floor. It was quite busy, mostly locals enjoying their lunch.

Excellent lunch set for 1200Y. I think this is set B. Great value!

Leaving satisfied!

After lunch, we just strolled around a little. There is a mall near the restaurant so we went there for a look but did not find anything to shop for. Then we bumped into the anime day activities held right next to the old train tracks. We didn't understand any of that but it was still interesting to see the young people dressed up in their cos-play costumes.

The old train tracks.

Then, we just walked down to the Sakaimachihondori Street area for some shopping and sight seeing before returning back to the ship.

Pretty umbrellas at the Shussemae Hiroba.

On our way back, we stopped at the corner store and bought some drinks and snacks before the easy walk back to the ship. This new terminal makes it a lot more accessible to town but for those who needs to take the train, a taxi should be a better option from the cruise port to the train station.

Always enjoy seeing the locals sending us off at port. 

For video of this day, please click here.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."  -- 1Chronicles 16:34

Very Crowded Icy Strait Point

Carnival Panorama 18-Day Transpacific Cruise Long Beach to Yokohama

Icy Strait Point, Alaska -- Thursday, August 29, 2024

It has been a week on this cruise now. It feels a little long but we are still in good spirit even though we find that at our age we are not enjoying Carnival as much as we used to. We have come to know more people on the ship and even making friends with some. At breakfast, Hui Mei and Hank asked if we can have a Chinese Bible Study group so more people who don’t know English well enough can join us for a time of devotion. We have decided that starting tomorrow we will get together at 8:30 in Havana Bar and see how it goes on the next week of sea days.

We arrived at Icy Strait Point at around 7:00 before we even had breakfast so it was early and the ship stays until 4:00 before leaving for Japan. It’s cloudy but at least it did not rain when we got off at around 8:30. Panorama docked at the Wilderness Landing, our first time docking there. Which means we will have to take the gondolas to Adventure Landing on the other side so we could walk to the town of  Hoonah. We have always docked at Adventure Landing on our previous visits here. Well, at least we are docked instead of anchored like the Crystal ship that had to tender in.

 It was not crowded at that time and we got right on the gondolas. At Adventure Landing, a Royal Caribbean ship was docked there (I forgot the name of the ship, an older and smaller one.) 

Taking the complimentary gondola to Adventure Landing.

Reaching Adventure Landing side of the port.

Familiar sight.

The iconic whale sculpture.

Love walking along this trail. So picturesque and peaceful!

Started our walk on the Sea Walk to Hoonah.

We saw plenty of whales in the bay the first time we were here in 2017.

    We then walked the trail to Hoonah with the intension of just doing part of the walk only as son decided to walk all the way. While we were walking, we bumped into Mr. and Mrs. Ying, our subscribers on YouTube, and we stopped and talked for quite a while. Mrs. Ying just retired from her nursing career this month and this was their first cruise after retirement. Nice couple! After talking for a while we urged them to just go on walking to town before it starts raining. Then we saw Mr. and Mrs. Miao who came up to take pictures. We introduced ourselves and he recognized who I was. They have cruised 9 times last year, making them real experienced cruisers. After they went on their way, son came back from Hoonah, so we walked back to ISP pier. There were so many people with the three ships docked today. I have never seen so many people in ISP before!

Bumped into new friends Mr. and Mrs. Miao, as we were resting at this beautiful bluff. 

Walking back to port.

Looking back at the bluff.

Too bad we did not see any whales on this day.

    We just walked around a little inside the museum and the stores and then made our way back to the gondolas. The Salvation Army donut stand had a long line of customers waiting to buy their delicious treats.

Inside one of the stores.

    When we saw the line that wrapped around the gondola station, we decided that we should just take the trail back to Wilderness Landing and back on the ship. It was just people everywhere!

Long line at the gondola station at Adventure Landing.

Taking the trail back to Wilderness Landing.

A nice walk in the forest.

Wow! The crowds at Wilderness Landing.

    When we got near the ship we could see an ambulance and a police car parked right next to the ship. Somebody needed medical attention again. The policeman was hauling their luggage onto the police car. Certainly hope that these people are OK. There has been one medical emergency after another each of these days. For the next week, we hope that there’s no more medical situation that will be needed. We will be in the middle of the ocean with nothing around.

Ambulance and police car waiting.

    The ship left a little before 4:00 heading to Japan. We were the last ship leaving ISP out of the three and we were in no hurry. Tonight, we will set our clock an hour back. I think we will adjust the time every day in the next few days.

    Tonight’s dinner we also aimed at 7:00, and we all had the rib-eye steak as main. A good dinner to end the day. After dinner, we took our walk on deck 3, 4, and 5 before coming back for the night.

For video on this day, please click here.

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  -- Hebrews 13:5