The ship pulled into Kagoshima port and we headed to breakfast in the buffet before meeting in the theater for our excursion. We exited the ship and boarded a bus taking us to Sengen-en. Senganen Garden is a Japanese-style landscape garden along the coast north of downtown Kagoshima. One of the garden's most striking features is its use of Sakurajima and Kagoshima Bay as borrowed scenery. The garden also includes small ponds, streams, shrines and a bamboo grove. Senganen was constructed in 1658 by the local Shimazu Clan, one of the most powerful feudal clans during the Edo Period (1603-1868). The Shimazu ruled the Satsuma domain (present day Kagoshima) for almost 700 years until the end of the feudal age in 1868. They continued to be influential into the modern era as some of the earliest adopters of Western technology. Japan was the only country in Asia in the 1800s to participate in the industrial revolution.

We were led past the Vermillion Gate and the Watchtower with its mosaic tile floor.

Our guide left us to have free time so we walked around the Kyokusui Garden in the rain. We got some great views of the Sakurajima volcano across the bay. We explored some of the shops, including the Sengan-en Brand Shop with beautiful cut glass. We bought a glass as a souvenir and also picked up some Shochu, a Japanese distilled spirit, similar to vodka, made from sweet potatoes.

We got back on the bus and traveled to lunch, where we were excited to learn it was a shabu-shabu meal. We had soup, vegetables and thinly sliced pork which we cooked ourselves in a light broth.

Our next stop was the Reimeikan Museum, dedicated to local history and culture. It provided a wide variety of exhibits that cover the span of Kagoshima's history from ancient to modern times. The museum was built on the former site of Tsurumaru Castle and is located at the base of Mount Shiroyama ("castle mountain"). The museum had some interesting exhibits including a large diorama of Kagoshima from the early 1900s.

The bus headed on a winding road uo Mount Shiroyama to the Shiroyama Observatory, which advertised spectacular views over downtown Kagoshima, Kagoshima Bay and Sakurajima. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate as clouds obscured Sakurajima at the beginning. But eventually the clouds moved away and we were able to get some decent views.

The bus took us back to the ship right about all aboard time and we headed to the martini bar where Yopi was putting finishing touches on the Spooky Panther, a special drink they had created for Halloween. Janie had a couple of these at the Martini Bar as well as one later at Rendezvous. We got some good views of the volcano at sunset as we sailed away.

The evening show was "Duo Mystery: Him & Her", a theatrical circus performance by a couple telling their love story through various circus and aerial performances. We headed back to main dining for dinner before our nightly pre-bed drink in Rendezvous.

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