Seto Inland Sea Cruise on the Asuka II – Final Day

It’s finally the last day of our 6-day, 5-night Asuka II cruise.
That said, since we dock at Yokohama Port at 9:00 AM, the day wraps up pretty quickly.

Link to Day 1 post
Link to Day 2 post
Link to Day 3 post
Link to Day 4 post
Link to Day 5 post

I completely overslept on the final morning.
By the time I opened my eyes, it was already 5:45 AM…

Looking out the window, the sun had well and truly risen (haha).

I rushed out to the deck.
The ship had already entered Tokyo Bay.

Even though the sun was fully up, the soft light illuminated the silhouettes of the mountains in Minamiboso (Chiba Prefecture), which was still incredibly beautiful in its own way.
The cloud coverage was just right, and the slightly hazy atmosphere gave it a painting-like, memorable look.

Since I’m originally from Chiba Prefecture, I head down to Minamiboso quite often—I even visited the ocean in Tateyama just last month.
However, this was my first time looking at the Boso Peninsula from the sea.
I had no idea it looked this gorgeous. It was a wonderful new discovery.
(Click here to read about our snorkeling experience in Tateyama)

I headed back to our cabin to pack.
We were using a luggage delivery service, so we set our suitcases outside the door.
Stepping into the hallway, I saw rows of suitcases lined up outside almost every room.
It seems most passengers choose to ship their luggage home, though I wondered how international travelers handle theirs.
I assume they just carry them along!

Once the bags were out, I went back onto the deck to soak in a bit more of the ocean view before breakfast.

On the left side of the ship was the area around Yokosuka on the Miura Peninsula (Kanagawa Prefecture).

On the right was the Boso Peninsula.
The industrial area of Futtsu started coming into view.

Along the way, I spotted a very artificial-looking island.
Curious about what it was, I looked it up and learned it’s called Daini Kaiho (No. 2 Sea Fort)—a naval fortress built between the Meiji and Taisho eras to defend Tokyo.
It no longer serves a defense purpose today, and you can actually land there on guided tourist tours.
(If you’re interested, you can check out the Daini Kaiho tour here)
Now I really want to take the tour and explore the island!

Yokohama started appearing in the distance on the far left.
By the way, Yokohama is Japan’s largest and most stylish port city.
Whenever I visit Yokohama, I always get super excited!
Just the other day, I came here to explore Chinatown and try all the street food.
There are so many delicious eats, making it such a fun place to visit!

I decided to take a random shot of just the sky for a change.
Taking shots like this comes in handy for sky replacement when editing photos taken on gloomy days.

Faintly visible on the far right was the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line.
The island-like structure rising up near the middle is “Umihotaru” (the Aqua-Line’s famous parking area).
The view from Umihotaru is fantastic as well, and there are plenty of restaurants and shops there too!
(If you’re interested, you can check out Umihotaru here.)

After enjoying a quick cup of tea at the Palm Court, we headed to the Lido Cafe & Lido Garden for breakfast.

They had my favorite—salmon roe (ikura)—so I spooned a generous portion over my rice. Wrapping the ikura rice in dried seaweed was absolutely delicious! My child loves ikura too and loaded up their plate. We thoroughly enjoyed our final breakfast on board. Thank you for the wonderful meal!

Visible through the window was the Yokohama Bay Bridge.
While we were eating, we had passed right under it without me even realizing!

Having crossed under the Bay Bridge, arrival was just around the corner.

On the way back to our cabin after breakfast, I took a quick peek inside “The Veil,” a restaurant reserved exclusively for suite guests.

The private partitions gave it a cozy, exclusive vibe.
The blinds were drawn at the time, but I bet the ocean view through those windows is stunning when it’s open for service.

We docked right on schedule at 9:00 AM and disembarked around 9:30 AM.

For the trip home, a shuttle bus ran from the Osanbashi International Passenger Terminal to Sakuragicho Station.
From Sakuragicho Station, you can take the Keihintohoku Line straight to Shinagawa Station without transferring, which was super convenient.
We all headed home together saying things like, “It’s really over… I’m so sad to leave!”

While we only joined the Seto Inland Sea cruise starting on August 20th, we heard that some passengers connect multiple itineraries to stay on board for up to a month.
How envious!

It was such a valuable and wonderful experience that I would love to do it again.
I completely understand why people get hooked on cruising now!
Granted, it’s quite an investment, so I’ll need to work hard and earn money for the next one.
I hope I can sail on board again someday.

Link to Day 1 post
Link to Day 2 post
Link to Day 3 post
Link to Day 4 post
Link to Day 5 post
If you’re interested in learning more about the ship, check out the official Asuka II & Ⅲ site here.