20241004 One Really Long Day Flying Home
Our suitcases were packed and picked up around 8pm last night so we were just living out of our carry-on back packs. The World Cafe opened at 6am for disembarkation. We said good byes to some of our favorite staff members including the head waiter at the Chef's Table who snuck us in early so we could make the 9pm shows, and Monica, a head waitress in the World Cafe and other venues who was especially attentive and who fixed our disappearing birthday cake mystery. We also said fare well to our Team Whateva trivia partners, who we had a very enjoyable time with. They are all well traveled and we expect to someday run into them again.
Viking's disembarkation and airport transfers were all very well organized. We didn't have excursion tickets for the transfers. These were managed mostly via color coded luggage tags, and Viking had segregated groups based on flight departure times and departure airport terminals. Tokyo has two main international airports so it's good they kept everything well organized. We were to be out of our staterooms by 8am and waited in the Star Theatre until our group was called. That was at 8:15, so we didn't have long to wait.
Having nothing to declare to Japanese customs, we breezed through customs and onto our coach, which was only about 2/3 capacity, so we could spread out a bit with or backpacks and carry on bags. Our checked bags were stowed below in the bus which drove us to the Capital Tower Hotel in downtown Tokyo. This was adjacent to the Hie Shrine, and between the National Diet Building and Akasaka-Mitsuke neighborhood. Viking had a large ballroom reserved for guests in transit. This was equipped with tables and chairs with ample room for everyone. There was hotel wifi available and nice restrooms, coffee, tea and fancy individually wrapped madelines and macaroons of various flavors.
The outside temperature was in the mid to upper 70's with moderate humidity. There was moderate to heavy cloud cover helping to keep the temperature down. We went for a walk to explore the neighborhood. The Hie Shrine is right behind the hotel and accessible via several entrances. We explored the shrine and got to stretch our legs and climb some steps.
From the Shrine, we walked through the Akasaka neighborhood which had lots of small shops and restaurants. One of the more unique sights was an aquarium full of puffer fish or Fugu. We imagine it was a restaurant that specialized in fresh Fugu, which is highly poisonous if not properly handled and expertly prepared. Since we were going to be spending the better part of the next day in a metal tube at 30,000ft we had no interest in experimenting with food poisoning. It did start to rain on us as we walked around the neighborhood and headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, it was mostly just a sprinkle and not a downpour.
We reboarded our bus, which held our luggage, and headed to the airport at noon. It took more than an hour to get to Tokyo Haneda airport from downtown, but we arrived with ample time to get our luggage checked and then find the Air Canada lounge. We were able to enjoy lunch and beverages there before boarding our flight.
The business class flight was quite comfortable with individual lay flat pods which allowed for actual sleep, although the padding in the middle of the pods was somewhat lacking. Air Canada had a decent selection of movies available and noise cancelling headsets. Ben watched Back to Black, a biographical drama based on Amy WInehouse, and a funky artsy movie called Asteroid City, which was a Wes Anderson comic sci-fi with tons of big name cameo appearances. Both are worth watching, although in very different ways.
Through the magic of the international date line, we arrived in Vancouver earlier in the day than when we left Tokyo. We did have a couple of hour layover in Vancouver before hopping the short flight to Seattle. We were fortunately able to use the Air Canada lounge there as well for breakfast and lunch.
Our flight from Vancouver spent more time on taxiways than in the air. It was only a 25 minute flight, but we spent nearly an hour on the runway and taxiways for various reasons. We arrived 15 minutes late to the terminal, and missed our 3pm shuttle home, but were able to rebook on the 4:30pm shuttle, which got us back home just before 8pm. We knew we were truly back home when we stopped at Dairy Queen for dinner.
It will take a few days to get everything unpacked and back into the rhythm of being back home.
In retrospect, this was quite an adventure starting in the plains of Alberta in Calgary. Crossing the Canadian Rockies on the Rocky Mountaineer train was a unique experience. It was about as comfortable as flying domestic business class, but the meal service was better. The scenery is compelling in some stretches, and not so much in others. But fans of train travel would really enjoy it. The Fairmont hotels in Calgary and Vancouver were first class, and worthy of the trip, but the Banff and Kamloops hotels were mid tourist class and just adequate at best. For the price paid, we should have stayed at the Fairmont Hotsprings hotel in Banff, and a better venue in Kamloops, and banquet styled meals should have been included. Most importantly, we met many like minded travelers who had also booked this as a pre-cruise extension for the Viking Orion North Pacific Crossing and had some terrific shared experiences over the next month.
The North Pacific Crossing was by far the most scenic and intimate Alaska cruise we have done to date. Both Princess and Norwegian cruise lines sprint to get to international waters as soon as they can so they can open their casinos. The Viking Orion could take the inside passages that one would take on a private mega yacht, which were by far more scenic and adventuresome. The excursions in Ketchikan were a bit less crowded and the use of the Voxbox devices to keep us connected by audio to our guides is a big step up from Princess and Norwegian excursions which are more like trying to herd cats through busy tourist sites. This was our first call to Sitka, as well as Seward, Valdez and Dutch Harbor. Each was unique and offered different cultural and historical perspectives. It took some time, but we did ultimately end up seeing whales, seals and otters in the wild. We probably could have seen bears on an optional excursion, but on a prior trip to Wrangell Alaska we took a jet boat ride to the Anan Wildlife observatory and saw enough brown and black bears to last a lifetime.
We were a bit surprised by how easy the North Pacific crossing ended up being, even with 8 consecutive sea days. The Captain said this was one of the calmest crossings of the Bering Sea that he can remember, and it literally looked like a big duck pond at times. As we worked our way down the east coast of Japan, we managed to dodge another low pressure system that just left us with some residual swells to plow through in our final stretch to Tokyo. The inclusive excursion in Otaru/Sapporo was interesting and worthwhile, and getting to do it a second time was a bit of a bonus. The Tokyo included excursion wasn't nearly as engaging as we spent most of it stuck in a bus in traffic around Tokyo seeing things through the windows. You really do need to see Tokyo from the ground level and explore the neighborhoods on foot and via subway over several days. We had the good fortune of having done that in 2017 in conjunction with a cruise on the Diamond Princess. We had spent 2 days before the cruise and 5 days after the cruise, and that worked out very well. Because October is a high season for Tokyo tourism, we were unable to do the Viking post cruise Tokyo extension because it had sold out, so it was a good thing we extended in 2017.
So now we'll put our roots down for a bit until we rendezvous with two of our three adult children in the Caribbean for a Christmas cruise on the Enchanted Princess.
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