colesjoholm
- Nov 19, 2023
- 2 min read

A Volcanic day in Kagoshima

After departing Yokohama on Friday, November 18th and having our first sea day on Saturday, the Celebrity Millennium arrived in Kagoshima, Japan and we were able to disembark by 9a.

Today was a do on my own day. No shore excursions and honestly zero research done until two weeks ago.

I knew that the port provided a complementary shuttle to/from the port to the downtown harbor so exploring Kagoshima on my own was in order.

I ended up taking a 15 minute ferry ride to the towering volcanic island just across Kinko Bay from downtown. I should revise the last statement. Towering, ACTIVE volcano. Smoke and steam rises from the caldera that pokes out from the sea with majestic power.

The ferry ride cost 200 yen (about $2) and then a hop on/hop off shuttle around the island was another 500 yen.

We didn’t get as close to the volcano as I had hoped/expected, but we were close enough to smell the sulfuric gasses and could see the steam/smoke billowing from the crater.

Kagoshima is known as the Naples of the Eastern World. Palm tree lined bay and volcanos are said to make the sister cities similar.

After the volcanic adventure, I moved back to the city of 600,000 and visited the Eastern Gate, the ruins of the Kagoshima castle before walking a bit further to the Saigo Takamori bronze statue (the real Last Samurai)

Dinner tonight back onboard Millie was among the best I’ve had in a dining room on a cruise ship. Soba noodles with Maine Lobster, a warm sweet corn velouté, baked Brie with pepper jelly and finally a perfectly cooked NY Strip salad, I passed on dessert and decided to drink my dessert and have my first espresso martini of the voyage.

Tonight’s show Elysium was excellent. Singers and dancers were all in top form and I really enjoyed a cruise ship performance for the first time in a long time.

Celebrity Millennium seems to be hitting on all strides right now. Let’s hope that continues for the remaining 10 days.

Monday we’ll visit Nagasaki. I’ll pay honor to those that passed in the 1945 Atomic Bombing of the city by visiting the Museum and next-door Peace Park, along with the famous One Pillar Torii Gate.

Not exactly sure I am ready for all of that, but acknowledging history is a powerful reflection on where we’ve been as a world and how we can change the future or at least, hopefully prevent the past from repeating itself. In these ever increasing uncertain times, we can only hope.

So with that, I’ll sign off for the night. The time change and lack of sleep last night has caught up with me.

Cole from Colorado

5 Continents in. Counting to 7.