11. Life aboard the Diamond Princess

As we have no ports of call for a few days, I will fill up part of the gap with a few notes on life aboard the ship.

The Japanese are the largest group aboard, followed by the Americans, the British, the Chinese, the Australians and then a smattering of other nations. Everything is announced in English first and Japanese afterwards and there are as many Japanese speaking staff on the entertainments team as English speaking. Likewise the guest services and tour desks. 

So far, the food has been excellent. The self service buffet caters for both eastern and western tastes as does the evening dinner menu. Perhaps the only complaint is that the portions are on the small side, but we have been told that this is deliberate as the Asian nations have a smaller appetite than the gluttonous west. Having said that, the waiting staff have more than encouraged us to order a double portion of anything if we want to!

Speaking of the waiting staff, our servers, Sandra and Bernardino have been friendly, helpful and absolutely faultless. The bar staff have your favourite drinks ready almost before you have entered the bar, and James, our steward is thorough and the epitome of efficiency.

The standard of dress on the formal nights has been mixed with the western nations making a bit of an effort while the eastern are immaculate. There have been some very pretty kimonos on show, mostly worn by the older ladies, while the gentlemen are always smart; we have seen everything from a three piece suit with tails to a Fu Manchu style smoking jacket to a flashy white satin suit that would not look out of place in an Elvis impersonation contest. We have also learnt that a kimono with short sleeves signifies that the lady is married, whilst a long sleeved one indicates that she is single.

We have no complaints whatsoever with our dining companions. We are on a table of six; on the first sector we had Harry and Helen from Yorkshire who I thought were very similar to us in terms of age and character (except that they had 4 grown up children including a set of triplets!), and we got on very well. As they disembarked in Yokohama we now have Terry and Joyce from California instead and we are still getting to know them. Joyce is First Nation and rather quiet (maybe because it's her first ever cruise), whilst Terry makes up for her shyness and he's never had use for a passport before! Think the insurance salesman in the movie Groundhog Day and that's pretty much him! Accompanying us on both sectors of the cruise are Roger and Mary from Seattle. They are a little older than us and have a grandson who was recently seriously ill and who they understandably worry about and absolutely dote over but they are just the nicest couple, friendly, chatty, open and with a wonderful sense of humour. We like them a lot. They are also Trump supporters and pro gun lobby and although in no way do I hold either of those things against them, it does make for some rather lively dinner time conversation!

The entertainment on board has been disappointing with very little to appeal in the way of evening shows. On previous trips, the acts have often played in the other lounges as well as the theatre but this has not happened on this trip. Maybe it's to do with the language barrier...an English comedian's routine for example would not be understood by the majority of the passengers. The regular musicians are the same as you would find on any cruise, the house band, a couple of pianists, a duo from Hawaii, a duo from Hungary, a guitarist from Italy who looks like he'd be more at home in a heavy metal band than a cruise ship and a couple of classically trained violinists. We were somewhat amused by the latter, two girls from Ukraine, who were all smiles when we saw them at the beginning of the trip, but a few days later they were grim faced and shot each other daggers when they were performing. A case of creative differences maybe? Unfortunately we will never know as they left the ship in Yokohama, either by accident or design.

We have done a few of both the specialised and general knowledge trivias, always ending up two or three points off the winners. We have yet to visit the roulette table. Still there is still time to win at both!

As we have had to avoid two typhoons by skirting around the edge of them, the weather on the sea days thus far has not been great. The sky has been generally overcast or with threatening clouds and the sea has, to use an old nautical term, been rather lumpy. On the plus side, it has been getting considerably warmer as we sail further south and today it is a hot and humid 28C.

Unless there are any significant new events, I will post the next update in a few days after our port of call adventures.