Diamond Princess... Here I Come!
With both Barry and I flying out in different directions, we decided to alter my plans by a couple of days. He has to go to Boise for work and I am prepared for my solo journey to Japan. To make things convenient, we booked one of our comp rooms at the Atlantis Casino and Spa. Barry’s flight … 5am! Yikes! Mine is a 8am. We decided it would be a good idea to get in line for the Bistro Napa Social Hour (4-6 daily). It is truly one of the best deals around! Cocktails and appetizers are 50% off! The food is incredible!
With my favorite Lavender Lemon Drop ordered, our food arrived quickly. Thai Lettuce Wraps and an Ahi dish for me, a Flat Bread Pizza for Barry. We decided on dessert for a change… Barry got a Banana Split and I got a dessert pairing. His was a little more filling than mine!
After the shortest of sleeps, Barry headed out at shortly after three in the morning. Stalker that I am, I snapped a couple photos of him walking out to his car. I still had a few hours before it was time for me to take the shuttle to the airport. Back to sleep I went…
Oh the irony… as one who flies standby, I have been studying the trends on passenger loads for months. My choices for getting to Japan would be either SFO, LAX, ORD, SLC, or SEA on either United or Delta. Wanting to stay closer to my starting point, I narrowed it down to SFO or LAX. With a cancellation in LAX, SFO seemed the better choice. As I entered the flight information to my google doc, I realized this legitimate pairing… actually first choice in my United app search… there was only 37 minutes transfer time from touch down to take off. That was definitely NOT going to work considering the flight out of Reno was a Skywest flight and would be in a terminal far from the International. So, I left a day later and had almost two hours transfer time… at least that’s how it started.
When I arrived at the airport, I received a notification that my flight was delayed. As it turned out, the delay made it so that I had what the airline referred to as a 57 minute transfer time. It really wasn’t. We had to taxi in, wait for a gate and disembark. That was about 20 minutes. As you can see, the walk was 19 minutes! Time to hustle~
Every hallway seemed endless… turning corners thinking I was almost to the gate, only to find another long walkway. The phot on the left shows the final stretch. At the end, I turned right and headed to the end of the long series of gates, down an escalator and to my aircraft. I barely made it! Shockingly, there were three other Reno passengers on the flight so they held it. Whew! Close call.
Well, finally in my seat, the cabin door closes. We begin to push back and stop. Sitting and waiting for over twenty minutes, the Captain begins to speak. Apparently, we needed two tires changed. OMG! So, we sat on the plane for two and a half hours while tires and paperwork were completed. Finally ready to take off, my eleven-and-a-half-hour flight turned into a thirteen and a half… should be fun!
Landing hours after intended, I turned to my document that had complete instructions on the next step of my journey. Having read about speeding up the process for immigration by filling out the entrance paperwork online and receiving a QR code, my wait was not long at all. After breezing through the immigration, grabbing my suitcase and walking through customs, I was ready to head to the hotel.
One notable part of the process worth talking about was the QR code. Before the long lines of customs, there are kiosks to scan the codes. Fingerprints and a photo are taken. Interestingly, as you head for the line, a large screen scans every person in a fast moving line and a colored letter appears on your face. The letter “A”, which I had been assigned, showed up on my face as I moved through the line… I was directed out of the long line and into a short area. It was amazing!
Grabbing my bag, I headed out to buy a ticket for the train to get my down to Yokohama. If I had taken a taxi to the hotel, it would have been $80+ depending on traffic. The train was $2.70. One transfer and I was down near the hotel. I took a $6 taxi because it was dark by then and I was tired! The train really filled up… it was packed by the time we got to Yokohama Station!
My plan was to keep myself awake until nine or ten at night. That way, I could have a good, solid sleep and get up for boarding day! The lobby bar was perfect because I didn’t have to leave the Hyatt. I ordered a margarita, which was served like a martini. The drink was served with nuts and I ordered an additional appetizer. The chandelier in the lobby was spectacular!
Unable to resist, I took a picture of the bar. It was a circle bar in the middle of the hotel lobby. Lined with high end alcohols, the center had a post full of more commonly used liquors. As I scanned the area, there along with all the high end bourbons from all around the world… was a can of “engine oil”. It was there the entire time I sat at the bar. Not sure if it’s something they use on their equipment or if it was accidentally left there. But I found it humorous. It’s time for sleep… tomorrow will be another fun day!
