The past two days on the Diamond Princess have been frustrating, yet mostly enjoyable. Still trying to get visas for Viet Nam. Shower water is too hot, and have had difficulty getting it fixed.  Ah, but the repairman finally showed up.  Fixed. Am sleeping and eating well. Been to several karaoke sessions.  My blogs show us singing.   We will be on this ship for almost a month, and I want to see if I can improve from hopelessly mediocre to presentable. I don't mention  much the other person traveling with me to protect her privacy.  But when she sings well, I'll sneak them in. About our TV.  Smallish Saved a lot of movies.  But haven't even watched one.   There is a huge assortment. Regular stations are limited. Mind you, the ship must have around 50 activities per day, three or four individuals and groups performing here and there throughout the day and night, the usual two theater shows/night and more. We have usually ended the nig...

   On departure from the Port of Osaka, saw a tourist boat. We left at around 7PM, and took the following photos and videos from our veranda.  We were berthed that close to largest aquarium in the world. The Tempozan Ferris wheel has a diameter larger than a football field ( 330 feet ), for a ride that lasts around 16 minutes, costing $6.  There are sixteen cabins.  LED lights put on quite a show at night. Today is Thanksgiving. So I ordered a traditional Thanksgiving meal, with glasses of Duckhorn Chardonnay and Paraduxx. We met the Chief Sommelier Leo, who convinced us to join his Caymus dinner table on December 5. This will be the menu. Ended with a pumpkin pie. Then, off to Explorers for karaoke. About Tropical Storm Koto in our path to Singapore, here are some details. Appeared as a tropical depression on November 24, the day before we boarded the Diamond Princess. November 25:  strength increased to 45 MPH. November 26:  became Typhoon Koto at 8...

Haven't said much about the Diamond Princess.   The bed is single, and thus, too small.  However, I've found a way to sleep comfortably through the night. We are having visa problems so could miss getting off the ship for Vietnam tours.   The itinerary of our ship is such that it will at some point intersect with an ocean storm, which was called  Typhoon Koto.    However, there was a weakening back to tropical storm status today.   Tropical Storm Koto is expected to make landfall over Nha Trang on December 3 or 4.   However, the Diamond Princess will be in that general area during that period, with a stop scheduled for Phu My ( Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon ) on December 5. We make our first stop in Singapore on December 7, but remain on the ship as it  reverses courses and heads back up the coast  of Malaysia, Thailand....and back to Vietnam on December 15, with stops in Cam Ranh, Cal Lan, Halong Bay, Da Nang, ...