My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
June & July 2024
For quite a few of my fellow crew members, Kagoshima was their favorite port. We could take a shuttle into the city center, or there was a Don Quixote (more on that later) food and more shopping within walking distance.
My first time in Kagoshima was early in my contract. Kotoha, a Guest Entertainer onboard, had offered to be my local guide. I think we had a drill or I had something to do in the morning, like film the Wake Show, so I had arranged to meet Koto in the city. Fernando, the Cruise Director, tagged along. Fernando and I took the shuttle into the city and then followed the dots on google maps to Koto’s pin for a traditional Japanese lunch.
We were escorted past the open kitchen to some tables in the back.
We removed our shoes and climbed into the booth.
At first Fernando tried to make a high protein low carb healthy choice. Not me! I wanted their specialty (which I think was chicken)!
I let Koto order, and I tasted the delicious food of Kagoshima.
On the way back we stopped at vending machines and picked things up for a segment on the Wake Show where we would try them. We found iced coffee, milk tea, and green tea from the vending machines. Koto pointed out some very expensive grapes at a market and told us they were a local delicacy so we got those too. When we filmed the segment, Koto also brought some very Japanese sea weed flavored chips (crisps if you’re British).
That ended up being the only time I went into the city of Kagoshima. I’m told it’s a good place to go shopping.
The next time I was free to get off the ship in Kagoshima, I was so exhausted. I told Lauren, the Entertainment Director, that I didn’t know if I needed to get off the ship or take a nap more. She said I needed to get off the ship and then take a nap. We changed into outside clothes, met up with Rhys, the Senior Production manager and the three of us complained about the heat the whole way to Don Quixote, the famous Japanese discount store. At Don Quixote we forgave the silly store’s theme song that played on repeat because we were so relieved to be in air conditioning. This Don Quixote was smaller than the one I first encountered in Otauru, but it had a little bit of everything. It’s a little overstimulating with narrow isles, colors everywhere and that song playing on a loop. But it had everything I was looking for and it was walking distance from the ship. And it made my nap in my windowless cabin that much more appreciated (after a shower).
When Kagoshima came round on our itinerary again, Andi was there. I knew exactly where to take him. We had just gone exploring in Nagasaki a few days before and he wanted to see more of Japan.
We stopped to admire the nearby volcano on the way.
I had admired this volcano from the ship quite a few times. It seemed like I was IPM (stay on the ship for safety and to do activities) in Kagoshima a few times in a row, but not today!
We found a Japanese BBQ place that Hiroshi had recommended. Hiroshi had to stay on the ship, but he sent us some links on google maps since we couldn’t read Japanese.
We used google translate to read the menu, and then ordered on the little tablet on the table, and then our raw meat showed up on a robot tray. We had no idea what we were doing, but the food was delicious. I was so happy to navigate this bizarre experience with my friend on the other side of the world.
We concluded that we could trust Hiroshi’s recommendation – that lunch was exactly what we were looking for.
Afterward, I took Andi to Don Quixote and he was thrilled. NOW he was in Japan. Even after being served by a robot and cooking our own food on a grill in the middle of the table and smoking out the restaurant because we didn’t know how the ventilation worked, it wasn’t until we were in the noisy colorful discount store that Andi felt like he was in Japan. The colors and the cartoons and the high pitched sing song was what he had imagined.
Later when he visited other Don Quixotes he was never as impressed or happy as he was in that first one.