All internet gone on the ship, as of midnight last night. Sorry, I was doing something else at midnight other than worrying about my connection. JM sleeping late, so I was up and out about the ship. Our first port in Japan required a "Face to Face Immigration Inspection" for all guests. We had Japanese Immigration Cards & Customs Declarations; in addition they zapped us all with a heat sensor (making sure we didn't have fevers), fingerprinted us and inspected our passports. We have our passports back now and are required to carry them ashore. I have some neat stamps! We took the shuttle into Kagoshima and wandered aimlessly about hunting for a bank, so at least we'd have a bit of running around money, but gave up and returned to the shuttle pick up point... oops, Saturday no banks are open, and oops, oops, 7-11 has the best "banks" around, offering an international ATM... good knowledge to have in Asia. So back to the ship with some "walking around money". Also, China and Japan are huge on surveys... you get the impression that if the guide doesn't get high marks, or you aren't satisfied with the shuttle service, heads will roll! Great fresh burgers being grilled and served up on the pool deck, along with various other goodies, including pistachio/almond gelato! Yum... a few minutes of peace and quite before this afternoon's "Artful Travelers" called "Toasting Tinseltown" with author Mark Bailey. He read various stories from his acclaimed book "Of all the Gin Joints" Stumbling Through Hollywood History as we sampled four of the cocktails of the stars featured in his book; Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall's Bourbon Milk Punch (Bourbon, Half & Half, Vanilla Extract, Confectioners' Sugar, Grated Nutmeg) ; Brown Derby Cocktail (Bourbon, Grapefruit juice & Honey); John Wayne's Margarita (lime wedge, coarse salt, tequila, cointreau, fresh lime juice) - the tastiest of the bunch; and Moscow Mule (Vodka, Lime, Ginger Beer)... what a pleasant way to wile away an afternoon!
"Artful Traveler" has announced the next Regent cruise; 21 night Istanbul to Dubai through the Suez Canal. Ports include Kavala, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Petra, Luxor, Safaga, Muscat, Abu Dhabi & Dubai. The program is being developed, but I can highly recommend any "Artful Traveler" departure. This trip, they have been a wonderful, unexpected enhancement to our cruise.
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