Japan 2025 Bridge Cruise

Our 2025 journey to Japan started on 10/10/25 flying to Japan via Singapore Airlines landing at Haneda Airport.   We then took a taxi to the Hyatt Regency Yokohama which was a 5 minute walk to our embarkation point.  In 2024 we went to Japan to see the cherry blossoms.  This time we are in a group of 44 people who are in Japan for a touring cruise but also to improve our Bridge.

12/19/25            We have the morning to ourselves; we decide to walk down to the park on the harbour.  There are over 1000 dogs being wheeled about in prams. It is a NaACtional holiday weekend  called ‘Sports Day.  It celebrates the opening of the Tokyo Olympics on Monday 1/10/1964.

 

Our embarkation point has moved from a 5-minute walk to a 15 minute drive which takes an hour because of Octoberfest celebrations.   At dinner that night we meet other 42 members of the Bridge Group.

13/10/25            Day at Sea.  Our 1^st Bridge Lesson 3 hours!!! I am rooted.  1^st lecture by Dr John Freedman. Very Impressive.

14/10/25            Hakodate Vivienne goes to Fish Market and meets an octopus.  That afternoon I go to the IT desk to sign up to the Internet.  I am only allowed to connect 1 device at a time unless I pay US$30/day.  I am in disbelief and complain during the Seabourn Welcome to Newbies Cocktail Party.  Result is the letter to the Seabourn Chairman at the end of this email.

15 /10//25 Akita is the birthplace of Japan’s National Dog.  Loyal Hachikō became legendary after waiting every day for his master to return at Shibuya Station in central Tokyo.

 

 

We go for a walk and end up petting a couple.  There is also a Wind Expo promoting the use of Wind Turbines.  Can’t help myself and argue against them to several distributors but logic and science fail to convince them.  When I say the only thing renewable about renewables are the government subsidies they get quite upset,

16/10/25            Nigata Pouring with rain stay on ship and play bridge.

17/1025              Day at Sea 2^nd Bridge Lesson

18/10/25            Tsuruga – Polish Jewish Museum   See blog Courage: the most important virtue

19/10/ 25           Sakaminato Before the cruise starts, we are asked if we'd like to  book any excursion trips.  When I looked at them I thought they were incredibly expensive.  For a four-hour tour it was US$400 which is A$533,  for 2 of us the total would be $1000+, Like many Australians on the cruise , we bucked up at the price.  So we would just take a shuttle bus into the town centre and walk around.  But I did book one excursion, which was called Daisen and its Temples. Daisen is a big mountain near Sakaminato.   The coach trip took an hour to get to the base of this mountain. It was a steep climb and my mobility is not as good as it used to be so we dropped out.  We managed to get a taxi back to the boat   That evening I met someone who also gone on the same excursion.  He was about half my age and said, "You never would've made it.   It was unbelievable rocky, the path was very, very tortuous and difficult; be glad you didn’t go."

 

20/10/25            Busan finds us ending up with a terrific Christian Korean woman who spends an hour with us searching for and finding a store that sells men’s urinary pads that I need because my prostate was removed in 2014.

21/10/25            Cruising Kanmon Strait 3rd & final Bridge Lesson

22/10/25            Kochi Pouring with rain stay on ship play Bridge.  It rains a lot in Japan.

23/10/25            Wakayama   Go to and climb to top of Wakayama Castle. Grab and keep the free Bamboo walking stick.  Am I glad I had it.

I picked up thse two bodyguards in Wakayama

 

24/10/25            Kobe Disembark and  taxi to Hyatt Regency Kyoto.  It’s a great hotel. Recovery day.

25/1o/25              We had a great time in Kyoto. The concierge was incredibly helpful.   My wife said the pillows were the best she'd ever slept on in her life.

As part of our package, we were given free tickets to the shrine next door to the hotel Rengeo-in Temple (Sanjusangen-do) .  Also known as Sanjusangen-do, this 750-year-old temple features 1,001 Senju-Kannon (female statues housed in a 120-meter-long hall.  1,000 Buddhas are wooden female statues painted over with gold leaf arranged in 5 tiers.   The final buddha is  a large gold stature in the centre.    At one end of it was the god of thunder and the other the god of wind.

 

You don’t think these guys are merciful and loving like you think the Christian God is; they are pretty ferocious. And there were five-year-old girls kneeling and praying before these gods. -

26/10/25            The two things you have to see in Kyoto are the Golden Temple and Nijo-Jo Castle.  You don't go inside the Golden Temple, but it's located on a hill top over looking over a lake.  It makes for a great photo.

 

Nijo-Jo Castle is nearby 5-minute taxi ride and is enormous.   It needs 3 hours to walk around the circumference.   Its claim to fame is that it is where the samurai warlords handed over power to the Emperor for  all of Japan.

Two Restaurant recommendations:

My wife, Vivienne, is a coeliac. Dining out in Japan where soy sauce is a common ingredient, is hard work.

Here are two gluten free restaurants courtesy of the Hyatt Regency Concierge.:

Gion Tempura Koromo which uses only rice flour and rice oil and serves the only gluten-free tempura in Kyoto,’

Both restaurants are 5/5,  The food and service were excellent

It was the first time my wife had tasted tempura.  She loved it.

Kappazushi which is located in the Punto Cho. This restaurant is part of national chain.

 

Conclusion

I would not go on a Carnival-related cruise again.   I prefer to pay more money upfront and then not be hustled during the cruise. 

Carnival owns the following lines: 

AIDA Cruises

Carnival Cruise Line

Costa Cruises

Cunard Line

Holland America Line

P&O Cruises

Princess Cruises

Seabourn

And here is the letter I sent to the Chairman.

 

20 October 2025

Mr Mickey Arison

Chair of Seabourn

450 3rd Ave W Seattle, WA 98119 United States

           

Dear Mr Arison

 I am currently a passenger on the Seabourn Quest sailing a circumnavigation around Japan.

I am writing this letter to basically make suggestions to both your head-office marketing and IT teams.

On your website Seabourne is positioned as the ‘Ultra-Luxury Resort at Sea’.  The staff on the Quest are terrific; the meal I had at Solis was the best meal I have had on a cruise ship and the rest of the cuisine has been excellent.

  “The CEO of company sets its culture.”

Captain Joris Poriau may be standing on the shoulders of his predecessors but I cannot think of single thing that would improve the culture on this boat.

However, you do seem to be emulating Viking in saying your passengers are not ‘travellers’ but ‘explorers’.  More on that later

But first I must commend Swenja Henrich, Guest Services Manager, who has been particularly helpful.  She has senior level management potential.  You can tell that by the respectful tone in the voice of the staff when talking about her.

When I signed onto the ship’s internet, I was astonished to find that I was restricted to only one device unless I paid US$30/day and the same applied for my wife.  I have a PC, mobile and Kindle, and my wife has an iPad, phone and Kindle.

The internet, like the GPS system was developed by US Military, courtesy of the US taxpayer.  Subsequently the US Federal Government gifted free access to these two systems to the world.   Two of the best of the many gifts the USA has provided to all the people of Earth,

It must be 10 years now since hotels have included basic wi-fi access as a free service.  Now the airlines are introducing WIFI and it was free on Singapore Airlines flight I used to get to Japan.  There are volume charges but free access is available to all devices.

So my first suggestion is that this policy of free access for every device be adopted by your IT Department

I raised this issue at the Welcome to First time Seabourn party and at least 5 people came up to me afterwards and declared they were in total agreement. 

Numerous people have since given me various examples of additional charges being made or attempted.  One was someone who went for a massage at your Wellness Clinic and discovered 25% had had been applied as a “automatic gratuity”; he  thought the massage alone was already expensive. And he is telling everyone that the massage does not provide value for money. 

Another attended two 30-minute lectures: one on improving your metabolism; the other on treating knee-joint pain.  The first 15 minutes were excellent, the second half was a series of repeated closes, simply  asking for the order, trying to sell a 5-day consultancy program.

The repeated close technique is good for the Carnival demographic who buy emotionally on impulse unless they are in the top 5 percentile for IQ.  If they are, then they are described as quick decision makers.

The Seabourn demographic are older with high net worth (HNW) and usually high IQ.  They use a lot more logic in their purchasing decisions and techniques like cost-benefit analysis and risk-return analysis, The Repeated Close technique irritates them.  Instead, they like to be making the decision themselves and you should use the minor alternative closing technique.  Eg “Do you want a hybrid or pure electric model for your new car?”

Personally, I like many other HNWs prefer to pay a full investment price with very limited add-ons like Regent, Ponant, and Viking do.  For example, if asked to decide between Seabourn and Viking I would choose the latter.  Limited add-ons/Full Investment pricing would be one reason.  Another would be Viking are a true “Explorer” cruising line.  At every port a complementary free excursion is offered in the morning and every afternoon there is an “expert” lecture.  Finally, you can connect your laptop, mobile phone and Kindle at the same time to the Internet.

So my second suggestion is that the Seabourn Board should so a review of its marketing (especially pricing) policy.

In conclusion when I was a Divisional General Manager of an Australian multi-national favourable survey results were nice but what I wanted was suggestions from all my stakeholders on what improvements we could make.  I particularly liked those that would improve my ROI. That is the secret to successful Kaisan.   I have provided two; what you do with them is your decision.

Yours truly,

Chris Golis MA (Cambridge) MBA (with distinction, London) FAIML

7 Rickard Avenue, Mosman, NSW 2088. Australia

Mobile +61418222219

Email cgolisau@gmail.com

 

 

USA 2025 Cruising the Mississippi

 

© Christopher Golis 2025

Summing up San Diego

Vivienne and I had a pretty hectic time socially.

We are staying with my sister in one of the most affluent suburbs in San Diego (Mission Hills) and yesterday we had lunch at the most affluent, La Jolla.

The majority are Democrat’s convinced Trump is going to destroy the USA.   We reply, surrounded by unbelievable wealth, that actually life does not seem that bad here.

 Summing up Memphis

We spent 4 days walking in Memphis and our hotel was only a 5-minute walk from Beale Street.  On day 2 over lunch, Mayer calmly announced that Memphis is the homicide capital of the USA, per captia, and Beale Street is one of the most dangerous streets in the USA.  This was corroborated by the Trump appointed Director of FBI, Kash Patel who had declared during a press conference that this was the most surprising thing he had learnt during his tenure. To revive the town, Memphis is trying to develop a tourist industry around its historic connections to Blues, Soul ad Rock &Roll ad this was a dart to the heart.  Forget the warning, Memphis is a terrific place to visit.

Summing up the Mississippi

It is a big river that gets bigger every mile to San Orleans.  We did the cruise on Viking Mississippi, only 2 years old and staffed only by Americans.  Viking’s market niche is top of the market, no kids, no casinos, and the emphasis is on exploring and explanation.  This trip was excellent value and made you realise how important the Mississippi has been in the history of the USA.

Summing up New Orleans

Although it was hit with the double whammy of Hurricane Katrina and Covid, the city is rebounding well.  Stay at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter.  Forget Bourbon Street.  My favourite story was that 10 inmates escaped the nearby state prison.  The main Casino and Newspaper immediately organised a lottery on which inmate would be the last one caught.

 

Thurs 15 May 202

The trip begins with a 21:30 flight Sydney to San Francisco,  Our taxi to Mascot that normally takes 30 minutes took an hour as our driver brilliantly drove us through a very heavy thunderstorm.  We get to the check-in counter where the assistant immediately called in her supervisor.  She took one look at me and asked if I had a medical certificate to travel.  On Monday I had a BCC removed from my right eyebrow, I also had the stitches taken out for a suspected BCC on my forehead removed 7 days earlier,.  Unfortunately, the suspected BCC was an SCC and not all of it had been removed.  The doctor said I needed to see a plastic surgeon, unbelievably I saw the surgeon at 8:45 am the day and he decided to remove it that afternoon.  The result was a massive black eye.  So I ended up in a video conference with a specialist in Los Angeles who ultimately gave me clearance to travel. 

Viviene then returns to the check-in counter to be told that while I could get on the plane she could not.  She did not have a ETSI Visa, Fortunately I had a hard copy of her visa approval and soon we were good to go.  In the Business class lounge we polished off a bottle of champagne in 30 minutes.  We arrived in San Fracisco early.  Because I brought my cane and requested a wheelchair we shot through customs in 10 minutes.   Unfortunately, the plane to take us San Diego arrived late, we missed our take off slot, we then had to wait 90 minutes before another slot became free.  Then just as we were about to land in San Diego 3 hours late the pilot hit full throttle upwards.  We started another circle and the pilot announced that the reason the first attempt was aborted was that we were outside the safety parameters to land.  We all quickly disembarked 3.5 hours late in silence.

Friday 16 May 2025

We spent the day recovering from the trip.  That night we attended a concert at the newly refurbished Jacobs Music Centre.  The first part was the Saint-Seans Piano Concerto No 5.  The soloist like the composer wss French, Jean-Yves Thibaudet.  Most of you have heard him play.  He is the pianist in the latest film version of Pride and Prejudice.

 After the interval the orchestra played the rarely performed Shostakovich Symphony No 7 The Leningrad.  I thought the first movement excellent but the rest had too many notes.  However, when I researched the history of the composition I changed my mind.  It is a fascinating story, The siege of Leningrad began in November 1941 and Shostakovich began composing it shortly afterwards.  The first movement depicts the beginning of the siege with the advance of the Germa Army.  He finished the symphony in December and the rest of the symphony depicts the ambiguity of many ‘victories’.   For Leningrad this was certainly the case.   The siege lasted 3 years and over a million Russians died.  The symphony was performed over 60 times in its first season, an amazingly high number for a first composition.   80 years later it is rarely performed.

Saturday 17 May 2025

Sunday 18 May 2025

Wendy throws her weekly dinner party for 10 people.  Somehow our conversation moves from psychotherapy (everyone in California is in therapy) to people profiling that most of you know is a subject close to my heart. Ooe of the female guests asks me to profile her using my 7MTF technology ,  I begin by saying there is some manic in her temperament,   She stands up, aggressively sucks in air and  then screams ‘‘I am not a Manic!!!’  Later on, I profile her husband who scores me 10/10 for his profile, and the same score for his wife when she is out of ear shot. 

Monday 19 May 2025\

Wendy has organised for my stiches to be removed in the morning and I concurrently receive messages that both cancers have been removed, that afternoon after touring San Diego we go to lunch in La Jolla, the most affluent suburb in San Diego if not the USA with two food friends  of Wendy: Davis & Sharrie. 

Tuesday 20 May 2025

We have a chill-0ut day.  8 of us meet for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, The link between the two groups is Catherine Mayer, Anthony’s sister and a great fried of my sister when they both ere studying at Bath Tech.  Another great night.  

Wednesday 21 May 2025\

We fly to Memphis via Dallas a massive airport and hub for American Airlines.  We make all the flights with no food till we get to our hotel.   A quick dinner then it is off to BBKings in Beale Street which is just around the corner, Vivienne and I hit the dance floor when the excellent band start playing Tia Turner’s Simply the Best.  Vivienne turns in a=fantastic performance (She has always been a great dancer) +and we walk off to applause from the audience which turns into stunned silence when I yell out ‘You should have seen us 60 years ago.’  When people discover we are in our 80s they start shaking our hands in amazement.

Thursday 22 May 2025\

In the morning, we go to the Museum of Rock and Soul which just across the street from the hotel.  It is a terrific museum.   Two big learnings: there was a gradual buildup of blues and soul music singers being signed up.   But when Sun signed Elvis and released ‘That’s All Right’ Memphis exploded; It was radio that provided the mass appeal of Rock & Roll combined with the voice and pelvis of Elvis.

Before dinner we went to the Hotel Peabody, and saw the famous ducks.

Friday 23 May 2025

We go to Graceland, the home of Elvis and the 2^nd most visited tourist site in the USA.  See the Jungle Room.  Should be on everyone’s bucket list,

In the evening, we go to the historic Lafayette’s Music Room for Delta BBQ and Delta Music.  Food was mediocre and band was awful.  The problem is this.  If the band plays covers of old famous songs, it gets carried along by the memory.  If the band plays new, recently composed songs, they are quasi heavy metal i.e. crap.  On the way back our tour leader plays a song from his band and then ‘Walking in Memphis’.  I rest my case,

The next evening on the Viking Boat the show was a beautiful black female singer, Keia Johnston, who just sang old hits, was terrific and got rapturous applause.

 Saturday 24 May 2025

Morning is spent visiting Stax Museum (former recording studio) which was interesting (it has Isaac Hayes's Gold-Plated Cadillac), and Sun Records (still a recording studio) which was brilliant.  You heard the first recording Elvis made.  He was singing and recording a gospel hymn as a birthday gift for his mother.  The Sun secretary, Marion Keisker, was doing the recording.  She tried to get the producer to sign up Elvis and failed.  Elvis came in a second time to record ‘That’s All Right’ as a demo tape and the secretary was again managing the recording.  The producer, Sam Phillips, was just walking by, was impressed by the voice, and took over the recording session, the rest is history. 

We board our ship, the Viking Mississippi.  Very impressive.

Sunday 25 May 2025

We start our cruise and moored in Greenville whose main claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Jim Henson, the creator of Kermit the Frog.   I decided to give it a miss and have a chillout day; and stayed on ship.  I try to read a book relevant to every trip I take,  A key meme of the Mississippi is the role it played in the US Civil war.  The book I chose was Grant Moves South, 1861-1863 by Bruce Catton.  This is the first part of the military biography of Ulysses S. Grant and follows Grant from the summer of 1861 when he takes on his first Civil War command through battles at Belmont, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg to the summer of 1863. 

Monday 26 May 2025

We are moored at Vicksburg a key Civil War battle site.  This was another victory for Ulysses S.Grant.  The ultimate realist after two attempts to take Vicksburg by force had failed  he laid siege and starved the Confederates out who surrendered the day after Gettysburg.

Tuesday 27 May 2025

We are moored at Natchez, a attractive tow that describes itself as the Bath of the South.  Having been born and bred in Bath I beg to differ but it I attractive if dead.   The tour highlight was Magnolia Hall, a magnificent townhouse residence, that has been restored by the people. Of Natchez.  Why so wealthy?  Natchez stayed neutral during the Civil War and was the major slave trading port of the Mississippi.

Wednesday 28 May 2025

We are moored to a tree near St. Francisville.  We visit the Rosedown Plantation.  Our first plantation, 400+slaves, magnificent house and tour.

Thursday 29 May 2025

Baton Rouge, State Capital of Louisiana, State Museum is again very good, and another claimant to be the birthplace of rock & roll.

Friday 30 May 2025

We moor to a tree and disembark on the grounds of the Houma House Plantation.  I spend the morning at the ship’s medical centre and succeed in getting a 5-day course of antibiotics.  My shaven tooth felt infected.  Last night on the boat drink too much.

Saturday 31 May

 Day begins with walking tour of French Quarter of New Orleans.  Guide is excellent.  City is clean but lots of pavement needs repairing.  Need to walk looking down.  History is a mix of French, Spanish and British History.

We transfer ro the Hotel Monteleone.  Highly recommended and the place to stay.

In the afternoon a coach tour of The Big Easy.  I think our guide was tipsy at the start and never dries up.   1^st bad experience of the trip.

Anthony had been complaining that there had been no cock-ups on the trip.

We agree to have dinner at The Rib Room starting at 17:30.

By 19:00 Anthony was still a no-show.  After complaining the whole trip that there have been no cock-ups, one finally happens.  At 7pm he finally turns up for dinner.   Instant karma.  His suitcase and computer bag have gone missing.  They show up in his room at 23:00.

Sunday 1 June 2025

National WW2 Museum.  Very impressive.  See the plane my father flew dropping bombs on Germany.  He flew some 25 missions and somehow survived.

That night Katherine and David again rejoin us for dinner.

Monday 2 June 2025

Anthony departs for London; we have a chillout day. 

Tuesday 3 June 2025

We return to Jackson Square and visit two more Museums.  I am beginning to suffer from information overload.  Hurricane Katrina was big storm but New Orleans has a hurricane every year.  The problem is that much of the city is behind levees and below sea level.  Mardi Gras is also a big event.

Wednesday 4 June 2025.

We fly to London overnight,  Long day but we got to London at lunchtime and Vivienne’s sister at 2pm Thursday where we are staying for a week. Sunday night we had a great meal at Ma Cuisine in Kew.  Great meal and the ambiance of Paris Left Bank Bistro,

I am stopping the blog here and will add any photos here.

Cooking Crepes at the Courtyard of Two Sisters