Seto Inland Sea Cruise on Asuka II: Day 2

This post covers our second day aboard the Asuka II cruise.

Link to Day 1 post
Link to Day 3 post
Link to Day 4 post
Link to Day 5 post
Link to Final Day post

Woke up at 5:00 AM.
I’m not usually an early riser, but whenever I travel, I wake up early. It feels like a waste to spend time sleeping!

I headed outside to capture the sunrise, snapping photo after photo. I ended up with a huge batch of almost identical shots… Sorting through them later is going to be a pain, but I just can’t help myself.

A band of clouds stretched along the horizon, so the sun was hidden right at sunrise. Before long, though, a gorgeous morning sun peeked out above the clouds. I absolutely love the “sun road” reflecting across the water—it always reminds me how much I love the ocean.
To capture that quintessential cruise feel, I took a few shots featuring the ship’s railings in the frame.

For breakfast at the Lido Cafe & Lido Garden, I opted for a refreshing Japanese spread: rice, pickled plum (umeboshi), chilled tofu (hiyayakko), and miso soup. In my book, this combination is top-tier. I’ve always been a huge bread lover, but after hearing that rice suits the Japanese constitution better, I’ve been making a conscious effort to eat more rice lately.

On a completely unrelated note, traveling to India for a long stretch years ago made me crave Japanese food like crazy. Back then I was young and strictly in the Western/Ethnic food camp, hardly ever touch Japanese meals. Yet, that experience really made me realize that deep down, I’m Japanese through and through.
Specifically, the two things I craved most back then were udon noodles and chilled tofu.

Walking around Varanasi, I kept seeing open-fronted shops selling square, white blocks. Every time I saw them, my mind jumped straight to tofu and my mouth watered… turned out it was just cheese.

Partway through breakfast, my niece started feeling seasick. She pushed through and ate some pancakes, but she was clearly having a tough time.

Truth be told, the ship was swaying more than expected…
My mother-in-law and sister-in-law had previously sailed on the Diamond Princess in Alaska and said it hardly moved at all.

The cruise guide sent prior to the trip recommended bringing seasickness medication for those prone to it. But relying on their Alaska experience, none of us anticipated this much motion.

My sister-in-law had some stomach medicine on hand and gave it to my niece, but it didn’t help…
We checked with reception, bought proper seasickness medication, and once she took it, it kicked in! We had her take it every few hours after that. The meds made a huge difference, though she still felt a bit off whenever mealtime rolled around.

The ship has a Medical Center (for a fee) with a doctor on board. They can prescribe seasickness medication and even give injections if needed.
However, medical hours are limited and listed in the ASUKA DAILY—a newsletter with the daily schedule delivered to each cabin.

On this day, the hours were only 8:30–9:30 AM and 3:00–5:00 PM.
We didn’t want to wait until 3:00 PM, so we decided to start with the medication and see how it went.
By the way, in case of an emergency, you can contact Reception to be seen outside these hours.

In one corner of the Lido Cafe & Lido Garden, a monitor displays our current location. Around 8:00 AM, we were just off Cape Shionomisaki in Wakayama Prefecture.

We swung by the Vista Lounge for tea. Last night it was too dark to see anything outside, but during the day, the panoramic ocean views are stunning.

Here is the free menu at the Vista Lounge. The White Chocolate Banana Milk caught my eye, but worrying about calories, I opted for the “Shine Rouge” herbal tea instead.
It’s a hibiscus and rose blend, so it feels like a great beauty booster!

Hibiscus teas can often be super sour, but this one had just the right balance of tartness matched with a lovely rose scent. Delicious.

The Vista Lounge connects directly to the bow deck, so I stepped outside for more photos.
It was around 9:00 AM, but already pretty hot… Cape Shionomisaki was coming into view ahead, so once again, I snapped a million nearly identical photos (haha).
Eventually, my camera focus shifted from the cape to some ships.

My child and sister-in-law came out to the deck too, but after taking just a couple of photos, they hurried right back into the lounge. Staying out in the heat just to keep taking photos made me realize how much I truly love photography.

Next up: the pool I had been dying to try! Located outdoors on Deck 11, it’s free to use and filled with saltwater. There are no changing rooms or lockers, so you change into your swimsuit in your cabin and walk up in sandals. Walking through the ship requires a cover-up like a t-shirt or rash guard.

Bath towels and swim rings are available in abundance for anyone to use.

The water was sloshing back and forth pretty wildly—it felt just like a wave pool!
Was this artificial, or natural? I wondered for a second, but hopped in anyway.

At 156 cm (around 5’1″), it was deep for me! I assumed it would be shallow since the pool itself is small, but it has serious depth.

By the way, it gets about 5 cm deeper as you move toward the wall that says “ASUKA” in the photos.

Smaller kids definitely need a swim ring in there. My child can swim and is around 150 cm tall, so she got in without a floatie—though she was treading water pretty hard! I kept a watchful eye the whole time just to be safe.

It turned out those waves were completely natural, caused by the ship swaying. Thanks to the saltwater, you float effortlessly. Floating around on top of those natural waves was absolute fun!

Some kids were splashing around in swim rings, while older guests were peacefully floating along.

I slathered on sunscreen, floated on my back, and gazed up at the blue sky. Pure bliss. Swimming in a pool on a cruise ship feels like such a luxury!

After swimming for about an hour, I moved up to the Grand Spa on Deck 12, complete with an open-air bath.

The Grand Spa is free of charge. Photography is strictly prohibited so I don’t have photos, but it features both indoor baths and outdoor baths overlooking the ocean. There’s a sauna too (I skipped it since I’m not a fan). The shower area is spacious and stocked with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.

The changing area has key-locked lockers, along with towels, hairdryers, skincare products, brushes, and makeup remover.

Note: Mixed-gender bathing is allowed for children up to age 7.
The outdoor bath closes during port stops (where it might be visible from outside) or in bad weather.

I adore outdoor baths, and soaking in one right on top of the ocean was the absolute best! The weather was lovely, and I spent a quiet moment spacing out while watching distant ships pass by.

I wanted to stay longer, but we had a lunch gathering scheduled for noon, so I wrapped things up early.

The hairdryers in the changing room actually had decent power—not those super weak ones you usually find at hot springs! My hair dried in no time.

Since I was there, I tried the provided lotion and emulsion. I’m not particularly picky about skincare so I didn’t check the brand, but it left my skin nicely moisturized.

Before heading to lunch, I stopped by the laundry room to start a load.

Laundry rooms are located on every deck and require your keycard for access.
I expected a fight for the machines, but there were plenty of washers and dryers available. Best of all, detergent is provided free of charge! They even have irons and spray starch available.

You carry your clothes in a dedicated laundry bag found in your cabin’s drawer, which has your room number on it.
Each washer has a box attached to hold your bag while it washes.
When I thought the wash cycle was about done, I went back down. The staff had already emptied my clothes into my dedicated bag and hung items up on the rack!
I moved the laundry into the dryer, hooked my room bag onto the dryer’s attachment, and headed out.

At 1:30 PM, we watched Spider-Man: Far From Home at the Hollywood Theater. I think I watched a Spider-Man movie way back when, but I barely remembered it… This one was super high-tech and really entertaining!

I used to love Hollywood movies and watched them all the time, but lately I rarely do. Movies take up about two solid hours, and I just don’t have that kind of time anymore. As a result, I didn’t recognize a single actor except for Samuel L. Jackson… I definitely need to update my pop culture knowledge, or I’ll be completely out of the loop!

Starting at 5:00 PM, the dress code shifted to Informal.
I dressed up in an inexpensive dress I bought on SHEIN and headed to dinner. Since it wasn’t Formal, simple dresses or suits were totally fine. I worried I might look overdressed in a gown, but that wasn’t the case at all.
Plenty of people were dressed up, while others wore vibrant, resort-style dresses—everyone was enjoying their own fashion.

We immediately ordered a bottle of champagne to toast!

For this meal, we could choose our main course and dessert from three options. I chose beef for the main and sorbet for dessert.
Normally, I love chocolate cakes and rich desserts. But with course meals, I’m usually stuffed by the time the main arrives, so I try to avoid heavy desserts. Sorbet is light and refreshing—a perfect finish.
That said, the course portions here aren’t overly huge, making them just right for me. They probably keep it reasonable knowing there’s a late-night snack served later on!

By the way, the service is quite brisk. As soon as a plate is cleared, the next one arrives almost instantly. At first, I wondered if I could finish it all, since long pauses usually make you feel full faster, but it worked out fine.

Everything was delicious once again. Thank you for the meal!

At 8:15 PM, we attended Masatoshi Ono’s concert at the Galaxy Lounge. Photography was prohibited here as well.

You could order drinks inside, so I went with a Gin & Tonic. It was surprisingly delicious!

I wasn’t familiar with Masatoshi Ono at first, but the program mentioned his 1992 hit song “You’re the Only…”, which was a drama theme song. I rarely watch dramas nowadays, but back in the 90s, I was a massive drama addict. So I thought, maybe I know it?

Sure enough, when he sang it as his final song, I recognized it instantly! (haha)
It was a huge hit back then and a staple at karaoke. Even though I had forgotten the title and the artist, I’ve always loved that song. So he was the one who sang it!

He also sang the theme song for the anime Hunter x Hunter, which the kids recognized immediately and were super excited about.

After the concert, I headed to the Grand Spa for my second bath of the day. An outdoor bath at night is unmatched—the stars were absolutely breathtaking. With nothing left on the schedule, I took my time and relaxed.

After my bath, I set an alarm for tomorrow’s sunrise and drifted off to sleep.
Next up will be the Day 3 post.

Sweet dreams!

Link to Day 1 post
Link to Day 3 post
Link to Day 4 post
Link to Day 5 post
Link to Final Day post
If you’re interested in learning more about the ship, check out the official Asuka II & Ⅲ site here.