SELENE2026 Year in Voyages
Hotel Indigo Inuyama View Suite: Sleeping Inside an Old Castle Map
Three nights beside Urakuen Garden: an antique castle-town map above the bed, the Kiso River on one side of the balcony and a National Treasure castle keep on the other — even the soy-sauce dish hides a dog.
Embarkation Day on Silver Moon: Champagne and Paper Cranes at Tokyo's Harumi Terminal
April 30, 2026, Harumi, Tokyo. Silver Moon waited at the pier as a 15-day, 14-night trans-Pacific voyage to Alaska was about to begin. The welcome spoke in paper cranes and chilled towels, all the way to a bottle of champagne opened by our butler in the suite — embarkation day, with the excitement written all over it.
Embarkation Day Dinner on Silver Moon: S.A.L.T.'s Taste of Tokyo, Café Sweets and Late-Night Room Service
The first evening aboard Silver Moon: a dual-menu dinner at S.A.L.T. Kitchen shaped by the port of Tokyo — king crab legs, Fukagawa clam rice, duck nanban soba and four dessert plates — then macarons and a matcha latte at the café, and finally a late-night room-service supper of burger, hot dog and crème brûlée in the suite.
Cruises
Lunch aboard Silver Moon, Dinner at Silver Note, and the Table in the Suite
Eating aboard Silver Moon: breakfast by the suite window on May 7; a May 10 lunch from the menu's starters to a cold plate on green glass, and dinner at Silver Note that evening — sauces for the bread, egg salad with caviar, a quinoa tart, tuna tartare and a lobster-and-steak duo; plus two late-night suppers delivered to the suite, in the early hours of May 11 and May 13.
A Day in Kodiak aboard Silver Moon: Docking, the Waterfront and Bears
On 11 May, Silver Moon docked at Kodiak. From the balcony we watched the crab-pot yard by the dock, then walked the wet asphalt pier past the processing plant and the harbour, and met the town's bears: an information board, a statue, and sculptures fishing for salmon in an exhibit hall.
Cruises
Silver Moon's Days at Sea: Wakes and Grey Seas
From Tokyo to Alaska, the first part of the voyage had plenty of days spent entirely at sea. This post is not about itineraries; it is about the ship's own days: the harbour at departure, the wake behind the ship, grey seas, and then the sea seen from a restaurant window and a balcony, and evening and fjord waters.
Cruises
Lunch aboard Celebrity SUMMIT: The Chef's Recommendations, the Day's Menu and Seafood Shack
Two lunches aboard SUMMIT: the chef's recommendations and the day's menu in the main dining room on May 16, plus lobster bisque, fish and chips, the seafood platter and wild berries cobbler at Seafood Shack on May 21.
Cruises
Boarding SUMMIT at Whittier: Ashore at Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan
On May 15 we changed from Silver Moon to SUMMIT at Whittier, where she waited in a snowy-mountain bay. Then: the gondola over Icy Strait Point, the boardwalk's red house and old boats, two ships side by side, and a souvenir shop in Ketchikan.
Cruises
Café al Bacio: Coffee aboard Celebrity SUMMIT
The café we reported to daily aboard SUMMIT: white cups with dark stripes, heart-shaped latte art, a biscuit on the saucer, striped-plate treats, an iced-tea pitcher and gelato — and late at night, a teapot, a green drink and the atrium lights.
China Airlines CI31 Vancouver–Taipei Premium Business Class: The Pre-Selected Lamb Rack That Proved Me Right
On May 25, 2026, CI31 Vancouver–Taipei. China Airlines' catering was so good I nearly finished everything — especially the pre-selected lamb rack. Choose China Airlines over EVA whenever you can.
InterContinental Taipei Junior Suite Review: Strong Hardware, Service Still Warming Up
Taipei's new InterContinental impresses with a corner Junior Suite and two-sided views, but the lobby bar took nearly an hour for two desserts and a pot of tea — and got the tea wrong. 3.5/5, worth a return visit.
Fulin Restaurant, Guanxi: The Hakka Table Worth the Detour
Poached chicken, Hakka stir-fry, pork intestines with ginger — old-school Hakka cooking in Guanxi, Hsinchu: no décor to speak of, just decades of unchanging craft. Every time we drive past, the steering wheel turns in on its own.
InterContinental Taichung Midtown Suite: A Living Room, a Bedroom, and a Bathroom with Nothing to Apologise For
A Midtown Suite at InterContinental Taichung: a NT$65,000 rack-rate suite with a living room of its own, a bathroom with nothing to apologise for, and minibar drawers that keep escalating. A full tour of the room, from the front door to the bathtub.
Club InterContinental Taichung: From Afternoon Tea to Next-Morning Breakfast
Beyond the Midtown Suite itself, a full day at Club InterContinental: afternoon tea, the dusk cocktail hour and breakfast the next morning — all three acts.