Miaminice

Given the distance it is doable... taking for granted that the ship gets to the port on time. Flying back from Japan we always grant ourselves another day which we use for some more sightseeing - Kamakura, Tokyo or Yokohama etc. The day also provides a comfortable buffer. Flying back from Hong Kong the last times we had a 11 pm flight. That was also fine with me. Otherwise I wouldn´t do it for such long haul flights. Within Europe, no problem. Long story short... 11am is doable. If you are up to possible stress due to delays in arrival or disembarkation is something you need to decide.

We did the trip in October on our third cruise to Japan. Bought the ticket at a machine (unreserved seats) and did the same on the way back. No problem. No need to reserve in advance.

Celebrity always use Osanbashi Cruise Terminal in Yokohama. Pretty easy to rech by public transport from Tokyo. JR train to Yokohama Station and then subway or taxi to the pier.

Being one and looking like one are two different things 😉 To me wearing a lanyard and looking like a marked sheep as part of a flock definitely belongs to the looking like one category 😉

Never did and never will! First I am on vacation and not on a convention, second - How could I look more touristy? 😁😉

We have done one cruise to Japan on HAL and two on Celebrity Millennium. Cruisestitch link our latest review above. Besides the occasional dish on the buffet - like Ramen - and maybe a cultural show activities and food on board are like anywhere else and not really tailored to Japan. Diamond Princess is a little different because she also has Japanese passengers on board. We considered Diamond Princess for a next cruise but ended up booking Millennium for a fourth cruise to Japan. Mainly because of the more attractive itinerary.

@Carlea1961 Yes, some companies do that. Regardless, we just did the tour and we planned all our Vietnam tours with Rose, a young lady from Hanoi. Best tours ever - and we have done 30+ cruises worldwide, We enjoyed Vietnam so much that we booked a Mekong River cruise for September this year including Anchor Wat at the end. Here’s our report including contact info

look at #31 for links with lots of info

So do we. We never cared much about the thermal suite. And we couldn´t care less about a tote bag or things like that. We always asked for the canapes NOT to be delivered. Enough food as it is... However, we love Aqua for Blu!!! We just don´t like the loud and hectic MDR and very much enjoy the more personal service of Blu. So whenever we are not sailing on E class - very we also enjoy the smaller MDRs - we book AQ just for BLU. Given the price is not too crazy.

I used an international pocket wifi until a few years ago when the e-Sims came up. Used Ubigi e-Sim in Japan on two cruises and Airalo regional e-Sim in SE Asia. Works great! Ubigi is supposed to be better than Airalo in Japan. Calling via whatsapp etc is no problem.

Metropolitan Marunouchi near Tokyo Station or the Park Hyatt known from the movie "Lost in translation". We like to stay at the Gracery in Shinjuku.

Maybe this helps: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/page/2/ This was our third Japan cruise. This time we did Kyoto on day one by Shinkansen and Osaka on day 2. Cruise # 4 is already booked 🙂

We like to stay at The Kowloon Hotel. Good hotel at a great location for reasonable rates. Cheapest way from the airport is the Airport Express train. However, taxis are not too expensive either. You can use the uber app for a small extra fee. For example a taxi from the port to the airport is just HK$ 280 - roughly US$ 35. And the distance from the city to airport is shorter than that.

@wblotner66 We have stayed at the Metropolitan Marunouchi in Tokyo once and it was nice. On other occasions we stayed at the Gracery Shinjuku and like it for its fabulous location and good quality for a reasonable price. We have also stayed at APA hotels (one in Shinjuku) and they offer very low rates. However, the rooms are miniscule. A ship´s stateroom is huge compared to them 🙂 If you are interested in the report of our latest cruise to Japan, you can find it here: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/

@catweazlecat Hello, also from Germany, try Koichi Wasa for the Kyoto area. We have toured with him on some of our cruises to Japan and he´s very good. You can also look into https://gowithguide.com/ for guides. If you are interested in the report of our latest cruise to Japan, you can find it here: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ Enjoy Japan!