Today is our second day at sea, and it has been great to see glimpse of the Sun through the fog and to feel some warmth in the air. It has been so cold since we left Hong Kong last week that very few have been walking out on the deck. I am afraid I am not as stalwart as that and, like most passengers, have walked around the inside of the ship and up and down stairs for my exercise.
I gather the eight who were left behind in Korea were able to get back in board in Shanghai. I have been told that they were not left stranded without their passports and money after all. As soon it was clear they were not back on board (we are registered going off and back on the ship electronically), their passports and the contents of their room safes were all bundled together and handed over to the ship's agent at the port. Apparently they were all at the wharf in time to see the ship depart. But because of the huge difference between low tide and high tide, the ship could not wait a moment longer Already the lines had been cast off.
I also gather they were all Chinese, which is just as well as they would have had Chinese visas, which would have been necessary to enter Shanghai. One of the passengers who joined us in Shanghai told me that she had been kept at the airport for over 6 hours because she did not have one. She eventually was permitted to travel directly to the ship on the proviso she did not then leave it to go sightseeing. In fact the rules changed for us between our two visits to Shanghai. If we did not have a Chinese visa, the first time we were there we were allowed on shore to wander around even if we were not on a paid shore excursion. (We were issued with specially stamped photocopies of our passports on the ship. Chinese immigration agents had joined the ship the day before to check our passports.) But this second time those without a visa were only permitted to enter the city if they were on a shore excursion. So my advice to anyone even just visiting China by ship is you must get a Chinese visa before you travel there.
In terms of our electronic checks, this is all done by the use of our special key cards. They also serve as our room key and our credit card - the ship is cashless and the amounts we spend are then charged to our personal credit cards every couple of weeks. And that amount quickly adds up - you have to buy your bottled water and any other drinks, even a cup of coffee (unless you have coffee in the dining room), and pay $3 USD for posting a single postcard, and of course pay an exorbitant amount for WiFi. A single bottle of wine costs $100 USD. As most people drink quite an amount of wines, beers and spirits, and serving them includes a 15% surcharge, the ship must be making a huge profit. Then there are all the gratuities . . .
It is not really surprising that people fill their plates, sometimes more than once, in the smorgasbord area, since that is already covered by your payment for your voyage. You can eat all day long if you wish, which is why most put on weight. But I was told in Shanghai that Buddhists believe any man with a pot belly is very lucky. One of the passengers told me that when they were in Cambodia, many children, who themselves were painfully thin, came up wanting to pat her husband’s big pot.
That reminds me - our tour guide in Shanghai told us that the reason why people keep bowing before a statue of the Buddha is that they believe that each time they bow low, all their anxieties and problems flow out of them, bringing them peace. What a wonderful way to restore calm to your life.
I had a couple of photos but they are taking too long, so will post them tomorrow.
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