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Part 2, Week 28: July 29-August 4

  • Katie and Webster
  • Aug 4, 2019
  • 5 min read

This week we spent some time exploring Hong Kong before boarding the Voyager of the Seas cruise ship!

On Monday we woke up bright and early to head to Hong Kong Disney! It was a perfect day for it, 35 and sunny, no rain. We rode the Hong Kong Metro right to the park gates. Disneyland Hong Kong has their own trains that are character themed and connect visitors from the city centre to the park. The park opened at 10am but we arrived just after 9am to make sure we were all set to go when they let us in. We waited very impatiently as they held us all at the end of Main Street USA. We were the first ones in line! When the park opened we ran for the back of the park hoping to lose some of the crowds to the other closer sections. We managed to ride 6 rides before lunch! The lines were nothing like Florida, California, or even Paris. We spent some time in the middle of the day watching a parade, seeing some live shows, and wandering the air conditioned shops. Later in the day we rode 15 more rides. Everything we wanted to do, we managed to get done. After dinner the park really cleared out and Webster rode space mountain 5 times in 25 minutes! It was like having the park all to ourselves! Our favourite ride was Iron Man and Ant Man. It was very similar to Buzz Lightyear in Florida where we could participate in a laser game throughout the ride. At the end of the day we watched the last parade before heading back into the city for a well deserved sleep!

On Tuesday we spent the day exploring Hong Kong. In the morning we headed to West Hong Kong, near the airport for a cable car ride up to Ngong Ping 360 village. We had read about the Big Buddha that sits on top of the mountain outside Hong Kong, so we had to see it for ourselves. The cable car in itself was a great ride. It took us 30 minutes to get up to the top. The views along the way were spectacular!

Once we reached the top we made our way towards the Buddha. There was a village on the mountain with lots of little shops and restaurants to entertain tourists throughout the day. We wandered through the shops and then to the Buddha. Along the way we stopped by a functioning Monastery and a few local homes. 268 steps later we reached the base of the Buddha statue. We had a great view over the village and up to the Buddha. We took some photos, wandered around, and then ran back down the stairs as a huge storm rolled over the mountain!

In the afternoon we headed up the Victoria Peak. We took the metro back into the city and then an old tram up the central mountain for great city views! The tram is a funicular railway that runs 1.4km directly up. It was VERY steep but such an interesting ride. At the top we were surprised to see how many shops, restaurants and attractions there were! We made our way up to the very top for some spectacular views over Hong Kong. There was a big storm brewing over the city centre. It was really neat to pick out some spots we had explored during our time there.

We spent the evening getting some traditional food, exploring a night market and packing up our things.

On Wednesday morning we had a slow start with a little sleep in. We checked out of our hotel in Hong Kong and headed for the cruise terminal! We boarded the beautiful Royal Caribbean ship, the Voyager of the Seas. The ship hosts 3,800 passengers across 14 decks. There are 3 pools, 9 hot tubs, 10 restaurants, a surf simulator, an ice rink, and a rock climbing wall. We have never been on a ship with so many fun things to do! We spent the afternoon exploring the ship, unpacking a little bit, and watching a juggling show.

On Thursday we had our first full sea day. Royal Caribbean has done a great job preparing lots of activities for every age group. We woke up super early, on our day to sleep in, just to see what all the activities were like. We spent our day doing trivia, riding the surf simulator, enjoying some live music, and getting all dressed up for dinner! On the first day we entered every raffle, contest and freebie made available, and on Thursday I was lucky enough to win $150 for the spa! It was a great way to end a busy, first day.

On Friday we had our first port, Okinawa, Japan. Our cruise stops at 4 ports in Southern Japan before returning back to Hong Kong. We did a great four hour, half day tour, to see some highlights of the area. Our first stop was the Gyokusendo Caves at Okinawa World. These caves are more than 300,000 years old. The stalagmites and stalactites were huge! The rock formations were growing everywhere. The cave was made into a serious tourist destination with an escalator down, a platform, and lighting throughout the cave. It was a little sad to see the damage that had been done to the rock formations to make room for tourists to explore.

Afterwards we headed to the Shuri Castle. This castle was reconstructed to mimic the lifestyle Japanese royalty had in the 14th century. We could see parts of the original structure below the refurbished structure. The gardens and grounds were beautifully kept.

We spent the evening back on the ship enjoying some entertainment.

On Saturday we enjoyed another sea day! It was overcast for most of the day and really windy so the upper deck was closed for most of the afternoon. We played a few games of mini golf, Webster joined in a volleyball competition, we went for a swim, and enjoyed the onboard entertainment. The best part of the day was getting to go right up to the front of the ship!

On Sunday we arrived in Fukuoka, Japan for our second port day. In the morning we had a half day highlights tour. We started at a traditional Japanese Garden, Ohori Park. There were no flowers, but lots of trees, shrubs, and flowing rivers.

Our second stop was at the Fukuoka Tower. We went up 123m to the observation deck for a 360 degree view over the city. It is Japan’s tallest seaside tower!

Our last stop on our tour was the Kushida Shrine. We saw the Kazari Yamagase, a wooden float used in the Hakata Gion Festival each year. The shrine is a place of worship for the Japanese people that is used on a daily basis.

After our tour we jumped into a cab and headed to Hakata Station to ride a bullet train! This is something we had to do before leaving Japan. The trains travel from Fukuoka to Tokyo in just five hours! We didn’t have too much time so we only rode it one stop from Hakata to Hakataminami (train depot). It was really neat to go MUCH faster than all the other trains. We definitely didn’t reach full speed but it was still a fun experience. Once we reached the train depot, we turned around and came back to Hakata Station. Webster had some traditional Japanese sushi for lunch and then we headed back to the ship.

We spent our evening relaxing, getting some sun, and enjoying a nice sit down dinner in the dining room!

This week we are visiting two more Japanese ports before returning to Hong Kong. This weekend we fly to Chiang Mai, Thailand! With only four weeks left of our year long adventure, we are making the most of every moment!

 
 
 

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