October 3rd, 2026

Short and sweet. It was finally warm enough and smooth waters to enjoy being back outside. We are arriving in Tokyo tomorrow morning, which means that activities that have gone on for almost two weeks, needed to get wrapped up.

SCAVENGER HUNT

We did only OK in our pursuit of getting signatures. It was fun for the first few days, but after a week, and with diminishing returns, we both lost interest. I was actually happy to see that a young kid, maybe six years old, came in third place. He won a bottle of champagne, which was promptly turned over to his dad, plus a bag of unknown treasures. I hope there was something he will cherish in that sack!

We managed to walk away with a yellow rubber ducky 😁.

PROGRESSIVE TRIVIA

Drum roll please…

Jan and I, along with our husbands managed to pull off third place out of thirty teams. Not too bad! Regardless of being in the top three, we thoroughly enjoyed playing.

And what did we win?

A metal with Princess on one side and “Winner” on the other side, plus we each got a Princess Cruise 60th anniversary magnet.

One of the teammates from the winning team asked Jan if she would like to trade her magnet for their prize of a model ship, which she did. Now she has a $55 model that can be taken home and gifted to the grandkids.

Late this afternoon the captain came on the PA system letting us know that there was a medical emergency and that we had changed course to connect up with a helicopter so that the injured person could be airlifted to a hospital. They closed the outer decks, and the gym. We think that the gym was used as a staging area. They also requested people to not use their balcony, and no flash photography was allowed.

My prayers went out for safe passage and that they would make a full recovery.

GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am reminded just how fortunate I am to have a close, fun, friendly, supportive relationship with my sister. I know not everyone is this blessed and I do not take it for granted.

COMING NEXT: We arrive in Japan tomorrow morning. Four nights are booked in Tokyo before taking the bullet train to Kyoto. A warm thank you to everyone who has followed along, commented or shared their own travel stories. Stay tuned…