After two days in Osaka, I've found it becoming my second favorite port that we have sailed to in the world. It's a splendid setting to dock the ship and located right next to many activities. There's a Ferris wheel, world class acquarium, shopping mall, Lego land, easy access to public transportation, and good access to WiFi and money exchange. Nearby is Universal Studios Osaka.
We met up with a group of travelers from Cruise Critic and navigated our way on the subway including a transfer to the Shitennoji Temple. It's a big temple and among the oldest in Japan. Besides the beautiful temple grounds, there was the largest collection of sunning turtles I've ever seen in the world. Back on the subway we traveled back to the Temmabashi station where we joined the masses who were walking to the Okawa River with its beautiful display of cherry trees and the nearby Osaka Castle (which we didn't visit). After viewing the cherry blossoms and sampling some food from one of the many street vendors, our family and one other traveler walked back to the subway station to be whisked back to the port. I would add that we purchased all day passes for 800¥ so we wouldn't have to bother with lots of separate ticket purchases.
Back at the port, my wife and I enjoyed several hours at the acquarium. I especially like the penguin exhibits and the remainder of the acquarium was very nice also. Just before boarding the ship we tried to use the port wifi but it was overloaded. So we elected to use our personal WiFi device which worked wonderfully and allowed us to get our email and read and post to Facebook and other sites where lerealxing in the comfort of the Crow's Nest. Based upon onboard feedback and interest, I'll do a separate post about the device.
The sail away was beautiful and accompanied by a game of trivia which my wife and I did well in.
After dinner, we re-attended Phil's lecture on Ramen, and watched the movie, Collateral Beauty starring Will Smith. It was really good. Our evening ended with another concert by Tomoro xxx, the Japanese pianist we saw on the first segment.
Tomorrow is a sea day and a chance to rest up.
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