April 12th: Ishinomaki

One of the problems we had with Princess Cruise is that although we bought the upgrade to make things easier and more fun for mom, we weren't sure exactly what it entailed. I wish they'd put a little sheet in our suite to explain everything. Now that I'm writing this, I suppose I should have gone to the front desk or asked our steward.

We knew we had:

* No waiting boarding
* Free laundry service
* Mimosa breakfast at a specialty restaurant called Sabatini's
* Complimentary drinks in the refrigerator (you pay for refills)
* Anytime dining at the Santa Fe restaurant
* Special waiting area at time of Departure

We never drank the complimentary liquor. I ended up telling our steward to take it away.

One of the best things about the upgrade was that we had more room and storage for the three of us.

I asked Art if he'd get the upgrade again for just the two of us. He said no. I agree, but for the three of us, it was great!

The first port we stopped at was Ishinomaki.

We took a shuttle bus into town where we were greeted by men dressed like samurai which was fun.

Apparently, the Manga Museum is the tourist attraction for this city.

Unfortunately we weren't quite sure what Manga was. I had to look it up.

They're comics or graphic novels. So the museum was full of comic book heroes.

We didn't know any of the characters, but it was still fun to see.

After leaving the Manga Museum we went back into town to see a tea ceremony being conducted. Everyone was given a sweet mochi and then some matcha tea. Mom enjoyed that. Her mother actually taught how to conduct a tea ceremony.

We had lunch outside in the sunshine and then visited a Tsunami Museum.

Ishinomaki had been devastated by the tsunami of 2011. It was amazing to see the extent of the destruction.

We got on the shuttle bus and headed back to the ship. Our suite was on the 10th (Caribe) floor! Our suite had a name too. It was Portofino.

Chocolate covered strawberries were waiting for us when we got to our room.

I loved the fresh flowers in our suite. I wondered if anybody ever picked an orchid from the plant.

It was Formal Night. Everybody who wanted to dine in a restaurant was required to wear formal clothes. The 14th floor Horizon buffet was available for those who wished to dine more casually. Thank goodness mom could get away with a muumuu. I had a crushable long dress which could be packed into a small space. However, Art's jacket did take up a lot more space in his luggage (not to mention his shoes!). I would really prefer not having Formal Nights.

We really liked the food though, especially the small portions which we could handle without a problem.

Mom went back to our room in the evening to rest, but we went to a musical production of The Secret Silk. They had adapted a Japanese fairy tale called Tsuru no Ongaeshi (Crane's Return of a Favor). It was well done and we enjoyed it.

We looked forward to what the next day would bring.