March 5th, 2024 Day 7 of 24 Fukuoka, Japan

Hello from our last port in Japan, Fukuoka. Today we opted not to take a Holland America tour. After our dinner last night with Gail and Marty we had plotted out our location based on Cruise Director Kimberly’s port talk. I got up early and tackled my workout and then headed home to shower and get ready for our day. We actually arrived in Fukuoka last night after I went to sleep but we were not allowed off the ship until this morning. We were all clear to go aboard at 7:30am, but the mall we were headed to didn’t open until 10:00am so we met Gail and Marty at the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast at 8:00am and then headed out at 9:00am. Right outside the port we caught a taxi to the Canal City Mall. It was a gray day and it rained on and off throughout the day. It is also still pretty cold, about 50 degrees right now. The taxi stand employee provided us with a paper to give the taxi driver on our return journey that clarified to the taxi driver where to bring us back to at the cruise terminal for our return ride. The Canal City Mall is a five level mall in the downtown area. It has a water show that they run every 30 minutes and lasts about 5 minutes. It was very reminiscent of World of Color at Disneyland to Megan and I. There is a Grand Hyatt right in the middle of the mall and would be a great place to stay for a return visit. We had fun shopping for souvenirs and gift for love ones back at store. There were many Japan specific shops and also many others we know and love including a Disney store. We eventually made our way to the fifth floor which has 8 different Ramen restaurants where we shared ramen bowls and pot stickers. WE walked around little more after and then made our way back down to the first floor where we had seen some other sweet shops earlier this morning. Megan had a peach boba milk, Gail, Marty and I had crepes, then we had yen bread which is filled with mozzarella cheese, Megan had some candied strawberries and lastly, we tried Takoyaki balls. They are a popular Japanese street food with bits of octopus inside hot grilled balls (dumplings) topped with savory garnishes and sauces. We pretty much rolled ourselves back to the cab stand to take a taxi back to the ship. We actually had intended to try and walk back to the ship, but the weather was not cooperating so we decided not to take the chance. When we got back to the port we had a lot of Yen in change left over so we hit the vending machine and grabbed a few sodas to take back on the ship with us. On our way back to the ship we had to go through immigration face to face inspections as they “checked us out” of Japan. As we approached the gangway there were four Holland America staff lining our way with umbrellas to keep us dry. It was a fantastic touch! t was a lovely day. I definitely feel like we over ate, but it was an amazing experience. We spent the rest of the afternoon crocheting, cleaning up the cabin, Megan did some homework and then we watched the ship sail away from Fukuoka around 4:30pm. We met Gail and Marty at the main dining room for dinner this evening. Although none of is were especially hungry. All in all I would give Japan a 10. It was such a lovely place to visit. I can’t emphasize enough the level of customer service, politeness, respectfulness, cleanliness, and enthusiasm shown by the people of Japan. I felt like they appreciated us being here and that they strived to make sure we were having a pleasant experience while we were here. It is definitely on my “come back again” list. Tonight we set our clocks back an hour. So we will now be 16 hours ahead of California time. The time difference has made it challenge to communicate with loved ones back at home, but we make it work. Tomorrow is also a Sea Day and we are looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and having a down day. Sweet Dreams to you all!