OnVacation11

5 hours ago, Ginnyfyr said:

We sailed on the Crown from Dec 27 to Jan 6 and were so disappointed to learn that they weren't doing a Chef's Table at all during our cruise. It was surprising given that we were sailing over the New Year - we had a party of 8 that were really hoping to take part. Just curious if they did Chef's Table over the Christmas sailing...wondering if maybe it's something they are trying to do away with?

I was on the Crown from Dec. 7 to 27 and the Chefs Table was advertised in the Patter but I don’t know if it actually took place.

On 10/28/2019 at 7:28 AM, skynight said:

A bridge visit is not automatic. 

I celebrated 500 days on the Christmas cruise last week and received flowers, champagne, chocolate covered strawberries and our group had breakfast at Sabatini’s every morning with amazing service.
There were 2 other couples celebrating the same milestone on that cruise.

I was told that the bennies are at the discretion of the CC host.

Eva

Enrichment Lecturers present talks on history, astronomy and science, and other general topics.

 

We have had them a number of times on both Princess and NCL. They vary from brilliant to b.....y awful!! Here's hoping for a good one on our round Australia at the end of 2018.

I hope you have a better topic than the one we had on the Christmas cruise last year ... ‘Mass murders and serial killers”. What a cheerful topic for the holidays :o.

Yes! I decorate my doors with themed paper decorations attached with magnets. For the upcoming Asia cruise, I am making an origami wreath with pink Sakura flowers.

The most decorations I have seen were during many Christmas cruises. This past year several people were using the mini fairy lights in most creative ways !

I am considering doing this tour on my Golden Princess cruise in April 2018 when we stop in Shimizu. I am enjoying drinking match tea since I was introduced to it on my visit to Japan 2 years ago.

Has anyone done this tour and can share their experience ?

Thanks.

Eva

I have been on two Japan cruises on the Diamond Princess in the past 2 years. I have enjoyed them so much that I have another booked for next year. I love the culture, food and safety for single travelers. Both cruises left from Kobe so I spent 2 days in Osaka and did siteseeing on my own.

I took all Princess excursion to see sites outside of the cities. All of our guides were excellent as tour guides have to pass government certifications in English and local history. Most ports have a free shuttle to either train station or central shopping area since the ports are large industrial areas away from the city center.

In some ports I did my own thing shopping or site seeing without any problems. A lot of younger people understand some English but are reluctant to speak it. They always go out of the way to help or find someone who can help.

In each port the sailaway is a big event. The locals put on some sort of a show to see us off.

Diamond Princess has a sushi bar and a ramen stations in the buffet at lunch if you enjoy Asian food. There was also local entertainment brought on board where we had a late departure. There are Japanese lessons as well as origami, furoshiki and other Japanese activities on sea days.

If you decide to take a Japan cruise, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for posting. We are on the grand Japanese trip next July. I just was wondering what they offered cultural wise onboard ship. Did they talk about the ports and did they have origami or other things Japanese to immerse yourself in their culture.

There were no port talks, just a very short 2 minute blurb on tv about each port. That is one of the few things I felt was missing. I understand that Japanese are in the majority on those cruises, but it would be nice to have some lectures on Japanese history, art and life on board. I mentioned that on my survey last year and this year, but so far no changes.

Luckily all of our tour guides were excellent and answered all of our sometimes silly questions about Japan. One even thought origami during a bus ride to our destination.

If you are in Ishigaki, take a ferry to Taketomi island. It is a short ride and only $10. It is a sleepy village with sandy alleys, beautiful flowers and beaches. It even has 'star' sand. In the small post office you can buy a set of beautiful Taketomi stamps. You can rent a bike to ride around the island. There are tiny cafes to stop for refreshments and ice cream.

Enjoy your cruise ! This was my 2nd one and I can't wait for next year to visit Japan again.

Eva

Hi. We will be sailing on Diamond Princess Circle Japan. There are six of us, all over 60. Two have mobility issues. One uses a wheelchair for long-distance walking.

 

I would like to know if the following ports are easy to tour on our own. Shopping and eating are the main activities.

 

Busan, Sakaiminato, Tsuruga and Akita.

 

Are taxis available? Are the city centers close to the ports?

 

Thank you for your help.

I recently came back from Diamond Princess cruise to Japan but not the same ports as your cruise. Most ports in japan are huge industrial ports away from any tourist attractions. You will have to take a shuttle or taxi to whatever you want to see. The shuttles usually go to the main shopping area which also has lots of places to eat.

Each port will most likely have English speaking reps that have maps, transportation info and siteseeing advice for those not on ships tours.

Tour guides in Japan have to be licensed so taxi drivers will take you to wherever you want to go but will not take you on a tour.

Princess offered specific tours for mobility challenged passengers so you may want to check into those online before your cruise.

Hello Kristal Blade

 

Great information on Aomori. We will be doing a b2b with Princess in October. Do you have information about these ports? Toyama, Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Sakaiminato, Tsuruga.

 

I know this is a difficult question, but how much would you suggest to budget if "doing your own thing" from the port? Could you use your UK cards at ATMs to withdraw cash?

 

Thanks

Monica

Any Seven Eleven and Family Mart convenience store will have ATMs that accept international cards. You will see one of those two stores on almost every corner in any Japanese city. Also post offices have the international ATMs but those may be harder to find.

Japanese banks only accept their own cards.

I am in Japan right now. I did not have any problems bringing food like almonds, crackers and Kind bars into Japan. No one asked at the airport if I was bringing any food into the country.

There are lots and lots of snacks in stores but all the writing is in Japanese and most sales people don't know enough English to translate the list of ingredients for you.

Enjoy your trip.

Book early - like as soon as new rates come out if possible. This will be DH's retirement trip - IF they still offer it in 5-10 years! :(

It was retirement cruise last October !!! I loved it and I am thinking of booking it again this year especially since they added a Hawaii port. Maybe it will become an annual celebration of my retirement :cool:

I have done several long cruises by myself and love it ! I like anytime dining and always ask to share a table at a meal in the dining room. On a long cruise with many sea days you get to know more people just by participating in activities. After a week you will start seeing familiar faces all over the ship.

I just booked a 31 day South America cruise for December and can't wait for it to get here !

Enjoy your cruise

Here's some things I've heard on CC.

1. The steward exchanges the drawers from one stateroom to the next.

2. You can board with your "Instansit" through where the cruise staff boards so you can board before the general boarding begins.

Anyone have experience with the above?

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Tom😀

#2 was true for me last December when I did 2 b2b cruises from FLL. When returning to the ship in the afternoon, I was directed to the side door where the cruise staff boarded the ship.

I am also a solo traveler. I never gave a tip to my cabin steward in the beginning of the cruise. I usually give him extra tip on the last night. I just finished b2b cruises and gave him the tip on the last night of the 2nd cruise.

It never occurred to me to give him more $$$ because I am a solo.

I am glad you enjoyed your solo cruise. I loved my Diamond Japan cruise last year so much that I am taking another Japan itinerary this May. Like you, I found out that cruising solo is very enjoyable but expensive. Perhaps one day Princess will follow some of the other lines and introduce single cabins.

Beautiful photos. You should submit a few to Princess' contest to win a free cruise. I am going on the same cruise in March... can't wait !!!

Have a wonderful cruise ! I will be doing my second solo Japan cruise on the Diamond in May.

Sailing in 51 days, still holding my breath in case I get sprinkled with fairy dust.

I booked an inside guarantee, declined an upsell to balcony. In the end ended up with free upgrade to obstructed view. I am happy with that :)

I've sent by mail a copy of our stock ownership to Princess. How long does it take to appear and how is it listed. Do they send you an email also?

My $250 showed up as "Customer Goodwill" after about 3 days after faxing the form. I never received a confirming e-mail.

On my past Christmas cruises I have given a card with cash in it and a bag of Christmas M&Ms and I am planning on doing it again this year. I have never had my room steward refuse it :)

We got ours yesterday in Pittsburgh, PA!

I am also in PA and got mine yesterday !

Thank you very much for posting your impressions of this wonderful Hawaii trip. On my upcoming cruise I am going to be in Hawaii for 4 days only and through your pictures I can see all the sites I will have to miss on this visit.

Since they have stopped the chocolate covered strawberries, we no longer order anything. We just do not care for the taste of others.

Same here. Maybe the strawberries will reappear on my next cruise ?:rolleyes:

Big G 111,

Thank you for your informative posts about your recent cruise and experience.

It couldn't have come at a better time for me as we leave for a B2B cruise on the Diamond in less than 2 weeks - I can't wait.

I have a couple of questions:

What was the weather like during most of your cruise?

How was the internet - I have read conflicting reports about availability of internet in Japanese waters?

TIA

I was on the Diamond in June. The best time to access the Internet on the ship was early in the morning. I usually went down to get my coffee and sat by the Internet Café and the response time was reasonably fast.

I think since most of the passengers were Japanese, they used their phones while in port so the on-board usage was not that heavy.

Also, in most of the port there was free WIFI available right at the dock. Some even had a nice tent with chairs. That was fastest in the morning or late afternoon after the crew had to be back on board.

For those who have been on the Asian cruises where Westerners are the minority, what was the food like in the MDR? Was it standard Princess menus, or was the food mostly Asian dishes? Also, did they have trivia? What language was used for the evening entertainment, or was it mostly non-language things (dancers, singers)?

The menu was the standard Princess menu with addition of "always available" Asian items like teriyaki chicken. The breakfast dining room menu did not change at all during the 17 days. There was no special daily item like I have seen on other cruises. There was a set Japanese breakfast available.

In the buffet there was a noodle section at lunch and dinner. Noodles were either in hot broth or cold. You can select different items to add like chicken, seaweed, fishcakes, veggies plus many condiments to make your dish spicy.

At lunch there was also make your own vegetarian sushi station. Both noodles and sushi stations were very good and popular with both western and Asian passengers. It was nice to grab a bowl of soup in the afternoon after an excursion and sit outside by the Terrace pool.

All the activities including trivia were conducted in both English and Japanese at the same time. This was one negative of the cruise for me. I attended couple of Japanese craft activities in the beginning of the cruise but found it frustrating and confusing as everything took very long since there were two conversations going on at the same time. I wish they at least separate English and Japanese speakers by tables so each language group could go at their own speed.

The entertainers were mostly production shows and bilingual singers/entertainers. It seemed to me that the Asian passengers really enjoyed the audience participation acts the most. They really liked to be asked to sing, stand up and clap etc. Many of them left in the middle of production shows. Since they were mostly older, I think the American style dancing and singing was not to their liking.

In 2 ports local folkloric groups came onboard and performed a show singing and dancing to traditional Japanese music.

This was definitely a different type of cruise but I still enjoyed it very much and I am planning to do another one next year.