Yes, after 9 days at sea – most of them cloudy and cool and two of them very unpleasant – we finally had a beautiful day in calm seas. And we sighted land! We sailed through the Tsugaro Strait (and passed close to Fukashima, site of the 2011 nuclear plant disaster).

The casino was unkind. I lost more than I should have. Down $200 for the trip. But I can’t feel too bad – we had lunch with a woman who has lost $15,000 in the first 10 days. Ouch!

I tied for first in two general knowledge trivia contests but lost both on tiebreakers. We played some cards (I didn’t win), did some blogging, had a nice dinner where we were serenaded by two talented servers (there are a lot of fine voices on this ship), did some dancing and then saw Eileen, the “Queen of Hearts.” She put on a very nice show.

We finished the evening in the casino where I completed my losses. Marlene lost, too, though she began the day by winning $100. Put it all back. And more.

Three more days at sea, en route to Japan. We haven’t settled into a daily routine, but some common activities are casino, cards and eating. Can’t cruise without eating.

Day 7 was notable for a number of minor emergencies. First the captain informed us that “everything was under control” which, of course, begged the question “what was out of control earlier?” Rumor has it that there was a small fire. We also diverted, in a minor way, just after midnight, to intercept a cargo ship that had asked us to take on a sick crewman. But when we rendezvoused, the cargo ship decided no help was needed after all. The third emergency was Marlene’s and mine: we got locked out of our room. Apparently, the lock has a battery which ran out. It took about 30 minutes after reporting the problem to Guest Services to get a crewman to fix the problem.

Again, the seas were pretty rough (4 to 8 foot swells) and the day was cloudy and cool. I spent the morning at breakfast, then did the blogging for Days 4 to 6. I did get to a general knowledge trivia contest and did ok but did not win. I did, however, learn that Beatrix Potter’s second Peter Rabbit book was The Case of Squirrel Nutkin. Such are the benefits of trivia. After lunch we did a little shopping on board, I won $10 in the casino (still down $70), and we played cards (more Oh Shit; I didn’t win). Dinner was with Dottie and Maureen and new friends Shelly and Mary Ann. We then attended the Love and Marriage show, which is a cruise staple. It was entertaining, though less so than the one on the Carnival Pride in April.

Day 8 was a bad day. The weather started dreary and foggy and became rainy and windy. The seas started rough and got rougher. By evening they were running 8 to 10 feet – very rough. The waiters had a difficult time serving dinner without dropping the trays. Not pleasant at all.

Marlene was also not pleasant. She didn’t accompany me to trivia (general knowledge – I tied for first place) and sent me a text message that she wasn’t feeling well. When I got to the cabin around noon she was sleeping sounding, so I quietly left and went to eat lunch alone. When I returned she was still sleeping and I fell asleep beside her. When I woke she was up and stomping around the cabin, clearly angry. She left without saying a word, but I later learned that she was angry that I didn’t wake her for lunch. She pretty much gave me the cold shoulder the rest of the day, all night and into the next morning. We did have a quiet dinner (in a dining room that was rocking uncomfortably) but after dinner she sat by herself to watch the show (Vintage Pop – a very entertaining revue of music from the 30’s and 40’s with some newer songs mixed in). I went up to the cabin after the show, fell asleep and woke to find Marlene sleeping on the sofa. Yes, still angry.

Not a fun night or morning. But we made up after breakfast on Day 9, so all is well.

Day 9 (Saturday) included some time at the casino (won $40 early but lost $50 later, so down $80 for the trip), cards (I won one game), dinner with Deb and Evie (and got a photo with the captain) and some comedy with PJ Walsh. He is a funny guy who, while in the navy was the White House dental technician. Yes, he cleaned Bill Clinton’s teeth. Quite a claim to fame. We also saw Paul Conyers who is 6’7″ and has some funny things to say about being tall.

The weather was very nice for a change (one of the few days we have seen the sun). We got a very nice sunset.

One more day at sea, then Japan. I am not sure what we will do there – we haven’t booked any excursions – but it will be the first time I have set foot in Asia. Should be interesting.

I have been remiss in providing photos of the ship. It is not stunning but is nice. The cabin is spacious by cruise standards and the bed is very comfortable. The TV selections, as with the Carnival Pride in April, are poor. But who wants to watch TV?

Yes, 3 more days cruising the Pacific Ocean. And there will be 3 more before we set foot on land, in Japan. Or maybe 4 – the International Date Line comes first and that confuses the heck out of everyone.

Day 4 was a no good, very bad, terrible day. Sunday and we went to brunch. But seas were running 8 to 10 feet and the ships was rocking badly, which is not good for a guy like me who is susceptible to seasickness. Couple that with the development of a full-blown head cold and I did not feel like eating much. I had orange juice and a croissant and went back to bed. And stayed in bed until dinnertime. Didn’t eat much then, either. But Marlene was her usual gregarious self and made friends with one of the entertainers on board, Richard Steele. I did rally enough to attend the comedy show that night. Two comedians who were reportedly quite good. But I slept through much of it.

By Day 5 (Monday) I had recovered a bit. And so had the ocean – waves were down to 2 to 4 feet. Marlene and I spend some time at the casino. I won $60 in the morning and lost $60 after noon, so I am still down $40. We did meet a really interesting fellow in the casino – JR. He is a retired butler who served 5 presidents in the White House. He had some really interesting stories. We also spent some time in the hot tub and met two women – one from Canada and one from Florida – and had dinner with them. We made plans to jointly rent a taxi in Tokyo to get a private tour.

We participated (though we arrived late) in a “guess the song and artist” country music trivia contest. It was entertaining because the emcee got the audience involved in the answers, including getting two men up to pantomime “The Devel Went Down to Geogia” song. Pretty funny.

I took a few photos of the atrium (I realized that I haven’t taken many photos of the ship yet) and our balcony. We went to the Richard Steele show at night. Very entertaining. A combination of magic and comedy.

On Day 6 I was nearly fully recovered but we did very little other than play cards. We got our caricature drawn in the morning, then spent some time in the casino. I won $65 but gave that all back – and more in the afternoon. Down $80. The seas were running 4 to 8 feet and it was quite chilly – in the high 50s – so we played cards with our jackets on. The card game is “Oh Shit” which is a rummy game with progressive wilds – 3s are wild when playing with hands of 3 cards, 4s when using 4 cards and so on. I lost every game.

We apparently crossed the International Date Line the evening of Day 6. One of our fellow passengers invited us up to the top deck so we could watch the line in the ocean as we crossed it. Yeah. We didn’t bite.

We have been pushing the clock back one hour every day. We are now 9 hours earlier than Fort Myers. Or 15 hours later after losing a full day. Very confusing. But we will get the day back when we return to the US.

There will be a lot of these “at sea” days to start the TP1, thanks to the storm in the Gulf of Alaska that prompted Carnival to cancel our Alaska ports.. As Alaska is the only state that I have never set foot in, the loss of those ports was deeply disappointing. But I am less distressed than the woman that I overheard during check-in who had sent items to Ketchikan to be taken with her on the cruise. I hope it wasn’t anything vital, like medicine.

Almost immediately after boarding I started to develop a scratchy throat. I didn’t sleep well that first night so after breakfast I fell sound asleep, waking around 1pm, totally disoriented. I thought it was morning and couldn’t understand why I had slept fully clothed on top of the bedspread. I figured it out, then went to lunch. I spent the afternoon reading and listening to music at the pool (but not IN the pool). Marlene and I spent a little time in the casino (down $40), had dinner (formal attire), danced a bit (the ship’s band is quite good) then watched the production of Flick in the theater. This was a revue of movie tunes, with some first-rate singing and dancing. I went straight to bed after the show.

There was a medical emergency the morning of Day 2 which resulted in a rescue via Coast Guard helicopter. It was amazing to watch this real-life drama play out. It is sad that someone’s 30-day cruise ended on Day 2, but it was probably a good thing as we were still close enough to shore to permit a helicopter evacuation.

On Day 3 my scratchy throat turned into sniffles and I wore my hoodie all day, to stay warm (it was a cloudy, cool day). The wind had whipped up some 5-to-7 foot swells and the ship got rocking pretty good. We had breakfast and lunch, of course, and I attended a military appreciation event by accident (I was trying to get to a sports trivia event but was off by an hour due to us setting to clocks back). I did ok, not great, on the sports trivia. I spent a few minutes in the casino in the afternoon (broke even so still down $40), Marlene and I took some ballroom dance lessons and we played some cards with Dottie and Maureen. Dinner was casual and I went straight to the room after dinner while Marlene listened to music with Dottie and Maureen. I bought 24 hours of internet and started working on this post.