It advertises that the experience on Shin Nohaiken is called “cruising resort”. That is a stretch but the main thing is that our stateroom is comfortable, we have twin beds, a sink, kettle and a window…plus the bathroom is pretty close by. There is little to do on the ship other than relax, the gift shop and food areas are open for a short period of time at strange times, so it is good that we have brought food with us and downloaded entertainment from Netflix and Apple TV.
Forgot to load these photos from last night when we boarded. It was a slow painstaking experience but they got the job done.
You can see the rickshaws which shared the space with our trikes.
We both slept well. Had breakfast in our room and a walk about the ship.
The seas are calm which is fortunate as the waters can be pretty rough in this area. Watched the movie Air based on the development of Air Jordan sneakers and their relationship with Michael Jordan….recommend it. And as days like this go…time passed quickly and we are having a very relaxing day. The trip is 20 hours and we will arrive at 8:50 pm.Had we made the trip from Nagoya, that journey has a stop in Sendai and takes 40 hours. This seems better.
Barry BartlettThanks.
Despite our comments about the ship, what really mattered was the beautiful scenery, safety and people we met. It did us good to have time without devices or planning or activities. Reply to this comment 10 months ago
Barry’s ramen hit the spot. He had a Hokkaido specialty, butter ramen with a creamy miso broth. The menu was difficult to read, so we just chose and pointed.
Like so many areas on the ship that offer services or entertainment, the hours are brief. This place offered ice cream and drinks, but we never were able to find it open.
There is one outside deck where you are allowed to go and it was popular…at the rear of the ship. We were surprised at how warm it is on the deck. We realize that we are lucky with the weather. The other outer decks are closed due to the possibility of rocky seas.
Another glimpse of Hokkaido. We have really enjoyed the trip as most of the passengers are from Hokkaido. We have been able to chat with a few of them and learn a bit about their Island.
This ferry line has daily sailings in each direction. That could be us in a month’s time returning to Maizuru, riding to Osaka, then flying home. Gulp!
Our accommodation in Otura is only a couple of Km away, so that should be a simple finish to our travels today. However, it wasn’t straight forward. Our accommodation was not to be found on Google maps (didn’t know it had another name), the address on booking.com took us to the wrong place, a small street with no accommodation. We finally found a reference to a sushi place near our Inn and we were able to find it. But when we arrived, the owner wasn’t there and we had no idea where our room was. As we were about to leave, he arrived, apologizing in Japanese, bowed repeatedly…and all was fine. Ready for bed.
