When Frank looked into ways we could view the total solar eclipse this year, the best option seemed to be a cruise in the Pacific, where we could view from the center line. We booked the cruise through Astronomy Vacations, who chartered a cruise ship through Costa Cruises, an Italian cruise line with Asian destinations. The itinerary looked appealing, taking off from Tianjin, sailing to Cheju Island, Korea, then to Kagoshima, Japan, and out to sea to view the eclipse. We decided to disembark at Kobe, Japan to cut it short due to limited vacation time off from work, and to be able to visit friends in Japan.
After leaving Tianjin by car, we headed toward the port. We were told that we could board the ship starting at 2:00 pm, and we arrived at the dock at 1:30. Already, there was a huge crowd of people in front of the entrance. Nearly everyone was an American or European, so we figured we were in the right place.
There was no real queue, and no one seemed to know what was going on, but one door was open, and everyone was converging toward that door. We managed inch our way inside within a few minutes, where we all filed through a single x-ray screening machine. As far as I could tell, the one we walked through was not actually turned on. We were directed up an escalator, where a long line of people stood waiting to check in. After standing in line for 10 minutes and not moving, some young Chinese women came and ordered, “Only one per party for check in! Take your bags to the waiting room!” so Alex & took the bags and Frank waited in line.
About half an hour later, Frank emerged with stickers on our passports. The Customs Office downstairs was not open yet, so we amused ourselves by shopping at the dusty little gift shop on the first level. We found some nice items that were quite a bargain, including a pair of stuffed pandas joined by a string at the lips. When you pulled them apart, they said, “I LOVE YOU!” in a high pitched voice. Alex alternately amused and annoyed the people seated around us in the waiting room by pulling the string repeatedly while we waited.
The customs check was downstairs, and I could see from the top of the escalator that people were starting to crowd the door. We sat in our designated waiting room and waited for about 2 hours. Meanwhile, the crowd downstairs grew larger and larger. At one point, I went to take a picture of the crowd, and there were so many people at the bottom of the escalator that a few people tumbled off the escalator and into the crowd. People started to fall, so some of the men on the escalator started walking back up. An elderly lady fell and was knocked down by people coming off the escalator. It was a really frightening scene. It didn't look as though anyone was injured.
The Chinese women from Costa Cruises decided to take action and stopped allowing people down the escalator. They had security guards reinforce them, and they would not allow anyone downstairs, even after the Customs Office opened and the crowd had cleared.
We later learned that the ship had come in 5 hours late, and the customs officials were busy processing the debarking passengers. No one told us anything at the port, however, which led to a great deal of confusion and short fuses on the part of our fellow passengers.
After another hour of waiting, people upstairs started to get angry and annoyed, so they let one or two people down at a time. We waited patiently, and by the time we got to customs, there was no line and we sailed right through. We boarded the Costa Classica without incident or injury, to greet our home away from home for the next seven days and nights, and our vantage point for the Great Solar Eclipse of ’09.
