No casino before breakfast as the casino is closed when the ship is docked. So we had breakfast then went ashore.

Indonesia is a very large country – over 250 million people. But it is a third world county. Bitung is definitely a third world city. The sidewalks are crumbling (some manhole covers are missing and an unwary pedestrian could easily fall in) and the buildings – even the banks – are decrepit.

We wandered, vaguely in search of a statue that I had heard of. We didn’t find it. We did find the venue for a pitbull event and the “miniature Eiffel Tower”.

We found a little shopping mall where we (or, more accurately, Marlene) spent almost an hour shopping. We also found a church where a group of children, in costume, begged for photos with us.

Everywhere we went we seemed to be a sensation. Families approached us on the street and asked for photos. Young children – most of whom could speak at least rudimentary English – approached us to engage in conversations. I expected that these encounters would deteriorate into solicitations for money, but while the children certainly would have accepted if I had offered, they never asked. We found a church and did get a simple solicitation from a young man who approached us to get our signature in a guest book, but he did not persist when we refused to give him money.

We visited on a Sunday and, I learned later, on a holiday that was the equivalent of our Thanksgiving Day. Bitung is a predominantly Christian city, unlike the rest of Indonesia which is predominantly Muslim. The shops that were open were all Muslim-owned. In the afternoon there was a huge parade with thousands of mostly young children, all dressed in red (like the church group we had encountered earlier).

The Indonesian currency – the rupiah – is interesting. I always thought the Japanese yen was tiny (150 yen per dollar) but the rupiah is 100 times tinier – 15,000 rupiah per dollar. When we returned to the cruise terminal I bought a large bottle of beer for 60,000 rupiah – about $4. The beer was pretty good. Worth every rupiah.

It was obvious that we were something of a sensation to Bitung residents but I didn’t learn until I had reboarded the ship that the Luminosa was the first cruise ship that had docked there in 15 years. And many of the residents of Bitung had never met an American. We were objects of wonder and fascination. If you want to feel special, visit Bitung.

When the ship left there were hundreds of Bitung residents on the shore, waving lit cell phones. Very touching. It is far from a beautiful city, but the way the people there treated us was beautiful.

I attempted to blog, using the T-Mobile service, but was unable to do so.

After dinner we visited the casino where I lost $30 (down $230), then attended the “80’s Pop to the Max” show by the Luminosa entertainers. Very good.

We crossed the equator just before midnight. A number of people – including me – were crowded around the buffet TV, watching for the latitude to go to 00:00:00 but we were disappointed – it went from 00:00:01 N to 00:00:05 S. But we did cross and are now in the southern hemisphere.

The original itinerary had us arriving in Bitung on Day 24. But because we skipped the Philippines, we arrived in Indonesia around 4 pm on Day 23. More on that early arrival later.

Marlene and I again started the day in the casino. The slots were unforgiving this time. I lost $50 (down $200 for the cruise). Then we had breakfast, played some cards and had lunch before arriving in Bitung.

We originally planned to stay on the ship in Bitung, partly because it didn’t look very interesting and partly because Indonesia charges $35 for a visa. But we were informed that EVERYONE would be charged for the visa (which annoyed both of us greatly but our annoyance didn’t change anything). We didn’t file the visa application, but the Carnival staff filed it for us. So, having already paid for a visa we decided that we should at least go ashore.

But we were never given an actual visa and Carnival had already taken our passports (apparently to simplify the processing of the visa applications by Indonesian officials), so what, exactly, was going to happen when we went ashore? Carnival was not clear on this and we got about 4 different views from other passengers. Also, I could not find the simple piece of paper that i was given when my passport was taken. This slip of paper stated that I did not have a visa and would not be disembarking in Indonesia. So, filled with unanswered questions, I went down to the Guest Services desk. The conversation there went something like this:

Me, displaying Marlene’s slip of paper: What is the purpose of this paper? Is it needed to go ashore?

GSA (Guest Services Attendant): Just keep it with you. They might ask for it.

Me: Who is “they”? I can’t find mine.

CSA: Oh. Well, don’t worry about it.

Me: But what is it for? Do I need to get a replacement?

CSA: It is just a receipt for your passport.

Me (puzzled): But you took EVERYONE’s passport. Why would I need a receipt? I don’t think there is any question that you have it.

CSA (struggling for a response): Well, don’t worry about it.

Me: Ok. When do I get my visa? I was told that you would contact me about the visa.

CSA: You get the visa when you go ashore.

Me: Really? The visa that I need to go ashore will be given to me when I go ashore?

CSI (struggling again): Well, yes. Don’t worry about it.

This idiotic exchange did not comfort me, but I decided that I should take her advice and not worry about it.

We also had to fill out custom declaration forms (simple and easy) and were advised to take them with us when we went ashore. So, after dinner, we decided to venture forth and see if we could figure out how this mysterious process of obtaining a visa worked. We disembarked and walked to the cruise terminal. Customs officials met us there and took the declarations. But no visa was given to me and it was unclear if I would need a second customs declaration to exit the ship a second time (which we were planning on doing the next day). So I asked the customs official what would happen then. His answer: Just tell them that you already turned in your customs form.

Huh? Really? Just tell the customs people that we had already turned in my customs declaration? Obviously, we could have skipped the customs forms and just lied about turning them in. Crazy process. Completely idiotic.

And I never got an actual visa. There was no immigration check on shore.

We got some nice night photos of both the Luminosa and a smaller ferry. Then we reboarded the ship and went to the evening show, a very nice one by mentalist/magician Drew Thomas.

As with Azar, Drew baffled me. The highlight was asking a passenger to think of a musician or musical group. He asked the passenger if the name of the musician or group he was thinking of contained an M, an I and a C and the passenger said yes. He then said “Mick Jagger?” and the passenger shook his head. He seemed embarrassed that he had guessed wrong and asked the passenger what he was thinking of and he said “Metallica.” Upon which Drew took off his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt and displayed the Metallica t-shirt that he was wearing. Baffling.

We ended the day with a toast using our mango plum liqueur. It was the anniversary of the day we met.

We slept in later than usual, getting down to “crafts” at 8:30 am. This is a freebie gift of some little craft package that some people actually do as a way to pass time on sea days. But more people stow them away to give to their grandchildren when they get home. I got a package and give it to Maureen, for her grandchildren.

Then we stopped at the casino before breakfast. And I hit a bonus, winning $180. I finished the day up $150 (down $150 for the cruise – I cut my loses in half).

After breakfast we played cards until noon, then Marlene and I took ownership of a Serenity Deck cabana and jumped (literally, for Marlene, earning her a harsh reprimand from the pool attendant) into the pool. After splashing about and socializing for a bit we retired to the cabana and spent a leisurely hour sunbathing and enjoying the beautiful day.

After dinner (pretty ordinary this time) we attended a show by a juggler/comedian (nothing special). We danced for a bit after that, then, at 10:30 pm, attended Quest, the traditional (on Carnival cruises) adult scavenger hunt event. Always fun. I can’t be specific about what went on there, but a good time was had by all. A very good end to a very good day.

I will add that on this day we also viewed, for the first time, the elaborate towel-art display that has been the talk of the ship. It is common, on board a cruise ship, for a cabin attendant to leave a towel-art animal after cleaning the room. But one attendant on the Luminosa has been leaving elaborate towel-art scenes, first in the 6th floor hallway and then, when it attracted too much attention, in the 6th floor elevator lobby. Every day he constructs a different scene, usually with a smooth transition from one day to the next. For example, one day he had a turtle laying eggs and the next day had many small turtles emerging from the eggs. Very creative.

I was very happy to wake and find the seas were calm and the day was sunny. I didn’t need another nasty day at sea.

Marlene and I started the day in the casino. She did fine but the machines were unfriendly to me: I lost $50 and am now down $300.

After breakfast I bought the one-day internet package ($22 per day – not bad) and blogged through Day 20. That took me to lunch. After lunch we played cards (Oh Shit, didn’t win) then napped. Dinner was formal, which gave Marlene an opportunity to wear her new kimono and gave me an opportunity to tie a kimono bow. I reviewed the video I took and managed to do it pretty well on the first try – it stayed in place all night.

The kimono was a big hit – Marlene was given LOTS of compliments all night long. And the next day, too, when she was no longer wearing it. She did look beautiful.

Dinner was terrific again – Beef Wellington. I have dined well this week.

The show was Kate Lindeman a “classically-trained soprano” who sang popular songs beautifully.

Then we danced to the always-terrific Luminosa Rockband. A good day and a wonderful evening.

A nasty day at sea. We sailed to the east of Typhoon Koinu but felt the effects of its recent passage – 8- to 10-foot seas, After breakfast and some (poorly performed) trivia contests I was feeling nauseous and went up to the cabin. And slept most of the afternoon. I skipped lunch entirely and had only a salad for dinner, By evening both the seas and my stomach were calmer and I went up to the 80’s dance party by the pool. Then had some pizza,

Marlene went to dinner with “the girls” and also caught the show – a revue of Broadway tunes. No dancing though as the stage was rolling too much.

My father was stationed in Okinawa for a time near the end of WWII so the island was interesting for personal reasons. But I suspect that the Okinawa I experienced was very different than the one he experienced.

As usual, we had no excursion planned so we just took the free shuttle to the center of the city and wandered about. In this case the wandering was pretty linear as the main street of Naha is pretty much where all of the action is. We walked probably 2 miles along this avenue, then crossed the street and walked back. The street is lined with small shops of all kinds. We bought some souvenirs, including two bottles of saki for gifts and one bottle of mango plum liqueur for our own personal use. I thought it likely that the booze would be confiscated by the ship security but they weren’t.

Some of the shop fronts were quite ornate. Others were surprisingly western, including a hip-hop dance club and a McDonald’s. We also saw some exotic liquor bottles containing snakes. Disgusting.

We mostly browsed and shopped but had time to goof off too.

Dinner was filet mignon. Not as good as the previous day’s chateaubriand, but very good. The chef is upping his game, I guess.

We danced after dinner, but were pretty tired from the walking (over 15,000 steps) so went to bed early.

This was a very quiet sea day. Until it wasn’t.

After breakfast, I spent some time in the casino (just long enough to lose $30, down $200), and played some cards, then returned to the cabin and spent several hours blogging. That took me to dinner (filet mignon – very good but not as good as the chateaubriand) where Marlene got angry with me for using my phone. I was trying to show Evie the photos I had taken of her in Tokyo but the internet was slow. Apparently I violated some unspoken “waiting too long for the internet” rule. I don’t know exactly what my crime was as she refused to speak to me the rest of the night.

I attended the evening movie: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Not great, but pretty good. Definitely better than John Wick but with a plot that may have been as ridiculous. No matter. It was fun.

Upon returning to the cabin I learned that our Philippines stop has been cancelled, courtesy of Typhoon Koinu. It is a disappointment – the third of our original 8 ports to be skipped. But I am mostly disappointed for Evie and Deb who planned to take an excursion on an underground river. And for Rose, the singer in the Luminosa Rockband, who was planning on seeing her young child for the first time in 5 months.

Tomorrow we are docking in Okinawa. As Marlene and I were not planning on going ashore in Indonesia, this may be our last time on land until we reach Australia. Hopefully we will be talking again before we get there.

By now you should be familiar with our typical sea day: breakfast, cards, casino, dinner (Marlene was initially disgusted by the look of the fish dish served at dinner, but decided, after tasting it, that it was quite good) and show. We did all of that (won $45 at the casino, down $170) but also saw two comedians in the afternoon (mediocre) and played a round of mini golf (I had 4 holes-in-one in 10 holes). The show was a female vocalist, Jenisa Baclayon. Also mediocre.