March 9
Since our departure from Guam yesterday, the Princess has maintained a northerly course across the Philippine Sea, leaving the chain of Marianas Islands.
Our good friends Dave and Karin sent the answer to the question I posted on the blog, what is the difference between an ocean and a sea? Thanks for the information, we will pass on the info aboard ship.
In terms of geography, a sea is part of the ocean partially enclosed by land
Many people use the terms "ocean" and "sea" interchangeably when speaking about the ocean, but there is a difference between the two terms when speaking of geography (the study of the Earth's surface).
Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land.
A sea is a smaller body of water, often/usually a part of an ocean, like the South China Sea, which is an "arm" of the Pacific Ocean, or the Bering Sea, also an "arm" of the Pacific, or the Caribbean Sea, an "arm" of the Atlantic Ocean.
We had a port talk on Tokyo, it looks scary to get around but we will be there for 12 hours so if we get lost we should be able to find our way back in time. Twelve million people live in the city, with the suburbs that swells close to 40 million. There is no signage in English used on the transportation system, and most people do not speak English. The port is located right in the city so it appears we will be able to walk pretty easily. The temperature should be between 45 and 60 although it was snowing there a couple of days ago.
We had our last talk with Art Lowe, the Oakland A’s manager that the film Money Ball is about. Actually it is really about Billy Bean the General Manager. Art Lowe had no input regarding the movie and is upset with the portrayal of him and the situation. Billy Bean sounds like a real A-hole, and the truth is the Money Ball system was not started by him but the previous GM. Art Lowe comes across as a genuine person and a true leader and cared for his players. Bill Bean did not. Of course a few parts were not true but that is Hollywood enhancing the movie to sell it to the public.
We are still going to trivia and just doing average. This morning everyone on the ship had to get their temperature taken to comply with Japanese rules, also we had to have our picture taken for an ID card we will need to carry in India and Dubai. I was surprised that Princess did not charge us.
The after-dinner show was another magician, Jonathan Neal & Liane. He was the average but it passed the time. At night we are getting more sports, getting to see Tiger golfing, and seeing highlights of College basketball, even some spring training. Also a lot on Peyton Manning, looks like he is headed to Miami from what I see.
March 10, Iwo Jima
The skies this morning were very cloudy and temperature has dropped to the lower 70’s. This morning we received more forms to fill out for Japan. Plus we will be fingerprinted and photographed once ashore after we have a face to passport viewing by Japanese officials. We have no internet because it is being blocked by the Japanese in order for us to comply with the Japanese Radio Communications Regulations. You would have thought we lost the war. I wonder what our government imposes on them.
The island of Iwo Jima is officially known as Io-to. It is located 750 miles from Tokyo. The US occupied Iwo Jima until 1968, when it was returned to Japan. Why I don’t know, something I need to research when I get home. The U.S. Navy still has a 1,639 acre communication facility on the island. The U.S. Navy’s Carrier Air Wing Five uses the base for field carrier landing practice. The island is only 8 square miles with Mount Suribachi as the most prominent feature. Mount Suribachi is where the Japanese dug their tunnels and bunkers for the battle. No civilians live on the island, and it is closed to tourists. U.S. and Japanese vets do visit the island, there is a memorial on the beach honoring the soldiers from both countries who died in the battle.
We arrived at Iwo Jima at 11:00, it did not look like what I thought it would. We sailed around the island for 2 hours and we were lucky as it could be seen from our balcony. There are still shipwrecks from the war that can be seen in the water. At 11:45 a memorial service was held on the upper decks. They laid a wreath in the water in front of the beach head where the troops landed. All the veterans on board (including me) were seated in a special section and we were honored by the ship and all the cruise members. It was a touching ceremony and brought a tear to my eyes thinking of the troops that fought here. It felt good to be honored. Prior to arriving they were several sightings of whales breaching, but we didn’t see them. We left at 1:00 and again sailing north through the Philippine Sea to our next port in Tokyo, Japan.
We had a port talk this afternoon on Hiroshima, Japan. Almost destroyed by the first Atomic Bomb at the end of WWII, this city has risen like a phoenix from from the ashes and now offers vast green spaces and much interesting pre and post war historical places for visitors to learn and enjoy.
Tonight’s show is a evening of music and laughter with the one and only Bayne Bacon. Who else would name their child Bayne Bacon? He started out by saying it was his real name, who could make that up. Well to my surprise this turned out to be the best show of the cruise so far. Everything he did he did very good from playing the piano and guitar and stand up comedy. He is going to perform again and I will not miss it. He said he always likes to leave his audience with a tidbit, which was “No matter how wealthy you are, the size of your funeral will depend on the weather!”
Tonight we sail across the Philippine Sea toward the mainland of Japan.
March 11
The Philippine Sea was very active overnight and we both slept very good. Anytime I sleep 7 hours straight is a good night. Walking was a little difficult this morning. The swells are big with large space in between each one causing the ship to come out of one and crash into the next. There will be some people seasick today. During the day we passed various islands of the Nanpo Shoto(3 Groups of Islands), first being the Kazan Retto, the second the Ogasawara islands and the Shoto islands. Nothing scheduled for the morning, but this afternoon we have a talk by our naturalist on “The Air Above us”. Then we will have a port talk on Busan, South Korea. It is known as the fifth busiest sea port in the world.
Tonight’s show is a encore Magical Showtime with Jonathan Neal & Liane and they change the show times so we might catch the end of the first show if not no big deal.
The sea continued to be rough all day and into the night and we also had some rain on and off. We are scheduled to arrive at the Harumi Pier Terminal at 7:00. The sail in should be very interesting starting around 6am. As the pier is only 5 miles from the city center of Tokyo. Then we will do all the screening to get set loss among 12,000,000 million people. Half of the museums are closed on Monday’s, but there will more than enough to do. Betty and I will probably walk in circles all day.
