Hlitner

The drink madness continues. We are sitting at the pool (on a sea day) and decided to have a Bloody Mary. At the pool bar, they expect you to sign for each drink even if covered by the drink package. We are not dealing with HAL or Westerdam policy, but now it is bar by bar policy. Why have folks sign tabs after a bar tender has swiped the cruise card? And why does this happen at some bars and not others? We truly love sea days where our big decisions are whether to go to the lectures (history of Japan), stay in our indoor pool loungers, etc. And then there is the major issue of where to eat lunch. The MDR lunch menu stays the same (every day) with the exception of one daily special in both the small and large plate categories. There is also a daily “catch of the day” not disclosed unless one actually goes to the MDR, The Lido is….. the lido with the usual HAL offerings. We were underwhelmed with the Lido breakfast (most items not hot unless you wanted to order an omelet), but regular cruisers are aware that is normal on HAL and many other lines. As usual, many passengers “hang out” at Lido tables which creates a table shortage at peak meal time. Just normal life at sea. HAL continues their long time practice of removing about half the indoor pool loungers to make room for shop clothing sales. This leaves about 45 loungers for a ship that has more than 2000 passengers. But the shop sales generate revenue while loungers are non- profit. Folks that expect to get a lounger after 10, may be disappointed. Hank PS. Since we are enjoying a slow, lazy day at sea, it makes sense to rant about silly things 😋. We could also whine about the awful donuts and croissants in the Lido, but that is simply typical cruise stuff that happens on any line.

Perhaps the question should be, "what is par?" Our vote is still out. But the lack of live entertainment (when compared to every other line we cruise) is staggering! Consider that this evening folks could choose between a BBC Documentary or 2, 45 minute sets of a decent R&B group. Consider that when we cruise on MSC in their Yacht Club, just within the small Yacht Club enclave they have rotating entertainment from about 6 - 11:30! And if one leaves the YC and goes out to the normal part of the ship will find nightly Production Shows and 3 or 4 other venues with live groups! On other lines such as Princess and Celebrity one will also find various live entertainment from about 5 - midnight and a late-night venue (usually with a DJ) until much later.

Howdy folks! I am going to toss out some first impressions and observations which may change over the next few days. This evening we left our cabin about 6:15 for our usual pre-dinner cocktails and decided to try the Ocean Bar. What is sad (compared to other lines) is that there is no live music anywhere in the bars/lounges. The Ocean Bar was crowded and it took about 20 minutes for us to get drinks. And even this was not easy as I had to leave our table (where we got zero service) and go to the bar, and finally order directely from the bar tender. At that point he told me to go back to our table and he would have the drinks delivered (this took about 10 minutes). All the visible staff were working hard (and non-stop) so there was simply not enough staff to handle to demand. About 1/2 hour later, some seats opened at the bar and we moved. We quickly met a couple from Australia and had a fun dialog until about 7:30 at which point we decided to head to the MDR for dinner. Since 7:30 is considered very late on HAL, there was no queue and we told the host that we would be happy to share. We were joined by an English couple (they were 4* Mariners) who were very unhappy with HAL and said that after their next cruise (an Oct transpacific) they would not likely go on any more HAL voyages. Dinner was actually delightful, and I am sure we will again spend some time with this interesting, and well traveled, couple. The food was OK (not fantastic, but certainly acceptable) although our English friends thought everything was several stops down from the old HAL. We all ordered glasses of wine and the service was very good. I will admit to being very disappointed in the bread (the Brits were very unhappy with the offerings) which was about the quality one might find at a cheap diner. A small thing, but still worth mentioning. Our waiters were excellent! Dinner conversation was good so we did not leave the MDR until 9:30 when DW and I went looking for some music. We found it in the old BB King Lounge which is now the Rolling Stone Lounge. The band (2 keyboards, a drummer, bass guitar, lead guitar, and two singers) were very good. This was a retread BB KIng group minus the brass (another HAL cut-back). They only played two 45 min sets (9:15 and 10:15). At 11, although they had what they called their best crowd ever on the ship, they quit, All the folks in the lounge had nowhere to go but to sleep since the ship essentially shuts down around 11. Many of us crowded the bar to get bottles of water (covered by the drink package) to take back to our cabins. Let's talk about masking, which is mandatory on this cruise. An earlier announcement by the CD was that the masking was a requirement of local authorities, This is not likely true since Japan dropped all their mask mandates on 3/13. A later announcement by the Captain told us that the the requirements on the ship were "more stringent" than the Japanese requirements. Masking does not seem to be enforced, and once folks are in a lounge or at a bar the masks quickly disappear. This is similar to what we have experienced on several other cruise lines. This evening, when we returned, we had a 2 page letter setting forth some of the future clearance procedures. The information is not good, but we salute HAL for being transparent and warning us of some long hour ahead...in dealing with various officials. No surprises, nothing HAL can do, but still disappointing. In some cases, we are talking about many hours of delay (to go ashore) because of local immigration issues. The biggest problem seems to be when a ship returns to Japan after having been to other countries (i.e. Taiwan and Korea). Unfortunately, that is the price we pay to cruise in Asia. By the way, there has been no mention of the Korean K-ETA issue! Some folks wonder about whether they need a K-ETA to go to Korean ports, but HAL continues to completely ignore and stonewall the issue. I guess we will find out the day we get to Busan! Another strange thing is about drinks. We have the normal Signature Package that comes with the HIA program. I tend to order drinks that exceed the $11 max which means I %must pay the overage difference plus 18%. When I did this at the signature bar, the bar tender warned me about the $3 overage and that was that! I got the drinks, assumed I was charged the few dollars, and all wa fine. But later, at a different bar I was not only warned by the bar tender, but we gave me a paper receipt to sign which had a space for an extra tip! But 30 min later, I ordered the same drink at the same bar and did not get any receipt to sign. So tonight I ordered 4 drinks that exceeded the $11, was properly warned on each order, but only had to sign for the drink 1 time out of 4! One other interesting tidbit. Today we stopped at a desk to book some additional dinners in the Pinnacle and Canaletto We were informed (for the fist time) that Caneletto would be alternating the Canaletto menu with the Tarimind menu on a weekly basis (this has never been previously disclosed to us). When we asked if our free 5* meals applied to the Tarimind weeks, the HAL staffer had no clue and had to make a phone call. Even she admitted that the policy seemed to vary by ship! We appreciated that she checked (the Tarimind menus are included under the free meal plan) but found it weird that even the HAL staff do not know the policy. It will be interesting to see if we get charged for our "free" meals and need to later seek an adjustment. Although we are on the ship for 42 days, she could only handle reservations for the first 14 day cruise. And that is true even though our first 28 days are under a single booking number. ARGH! Hank Hank Hank

I would just add that this is probably best handled by calling HAL. The reservations clerk (who you get on the phone) may need to transfer you to the Flightease folks (they are the specialists in air). In fact, I would be gently assertive (if that makes sense) in trying to get to the Flightease folks rather than dealing with a regular reservations clerk. Hank

Wahoo. We are finally aboard and our initial impression is that the ship looks really good. We arrived at the port around 11am (our assigned boarding time was 11:20) and there were several hundred folks just sitting in the terminal because nobody was being checked-in. Around 11:40 they started boarding, and because we were in one of the early priority groups (5* works for some things) we were aboard by 11:50. Having completed Verifly let us avoid a longer line. It has been 10 years since we last cruised on the Westerdam, but the ship quickly felt like home. We went directly to our cabin (a Signature Suite), were pleased with the cabin, dropped our stuff, and decided to head to the MDR for lunch. When we got to the MDR we were among 4 other diners (they were all on the previous cruise and doing back to backs). It was a normal MDR lunch open to anyone. I decided to have the Spring Rolls (quite good) and a Croque Monsieur sandwich which looked pretty good, but was quite cold. Rather than send it back I just pretended that it was supposed to be cold. We went up to the Lido and it was relatively unchanged from our previous voyages on Vista Class ships. I was pleased to note that they no longer are serving pre-made sandwiches in paper bags and they are now simply on trays at a sandwich station where they will also make some limited custom made sandwiches. So far, things seem pretty normal. The folks we met from the prior cruise were pretty happy with the cruise but unhappy with many passengers ignoring the mandatory masking rules. They told us there were a lot of sick folks on the prior cruise, with coughing all over the ship, but most did not self-report to the medical folks. Accordingly, it is impossible to know how many Covid, RSV, or the more common "cabin cough" is afloat. The main show tonight is one of those BBC Documentaries (I would be happy to throw all those videos overboard) which have no business as the main theater entertainment on any ship. The Ocean Bar closes at 11 which is a bit early...even for HAL. The Lido Market has a "steak dinner" but is only open until 8. Many folks around the world think that dining at 8 or 8:30 is pretty normal, but HAL continues with their meal schedule aimed at the Florida Early Bird crowd :). The Casino is closed tonight (strange, since we depart the port at 7pm). This means that the relatively small Gallery Bar (Deck 2) is the only venue that MIGHT be open after 11. Sounds like this will be a lively late night cruise! Hank

The other day we had lunch at the Nishiki Market (Kyoto, Japan) at a popular stand that had all kinds of crab (and other seafood). A simple crab on a stick item (these are quite large) cost 400 Yen (about $3) and was quite delicious. A similar sized item of King Crab on a stick was 4000 Yen (about $30). Suffice it to say that they were not selling many King Crab treats. I do really enjoy King Crab but it is now difficult to justify the cost. The last couple of times we were on Seabourn, they were no longer offering King Crab (they used to sometimes have it at a special party in their Colonnade (Lido). No way HAL can now afford to offer King Crab unless they had a very big extra charge. Hank

Yes, but of course the Eurostar goes thru the Chunnel. We have contended that the engineers who designed the Chunnel made a huge error and built it in the wrong direction :).

Speaking of food, Japan is quite international when it comes to food options. One does not need to live on Japanese food (although that is a pretty good thing). DW mentioned to me that since we arrived in Japan we have eaten a lot of Japanese food (i.e. Udon, Soba, lots of yakatori, tempura, wagyu beef, etc). But we have also had delicious croissants, gelato, italian food, burgers (shake shack), Chinese, etc. And of course there is plenty of sushi and sashami for those who enjoy that cuisine and are willing to pay for the really good stuff. In Japan you will also find the usual McDonalds, Burger King, and even KFC. Our hotel, here in Yokohama, has multiple gourmet restaurants including French and Chinese (Cantonese). On the other hand, eating at good hotels is generally not advisable unless one wants to spend an awful lot of money. In fact, last evening we had to small cocktails (at our hotel) which cost us nearly $40. Speaking of cocktails, Japan has been slow to embrace the cocktail generation or become big fans of the Martini Bar. You do see a lot of "Highballs" which is a very old term not known by many of the younger generation in the USA. Highballs are usually simple mixed drinks like rum-coke, scotch-soda, etc. Try ordering a Cosmo or Gimlet at many small (non-hotel) bars and you will get a puzzled look. By the way, for those of us who enjoy whiskey (neat or on the rocks), Japan produces some excellent products with prices to match. They have some a long way from the "HiHi Nikka" of my youth. Hank Hank

Not a world cruise. The Westerdam is simply doing a series of Asian cruises that primarily focuses on Japan (along with some Korean and Taiwanese ports). The series of cruises ends in April when the ship does a 14 day repositioning cruise from Yokohama across the northern pacific to Alaska and than down to Seattle. Most of the sailings are 14 days with many passengers having strung together various combinations of back to backs. For us, we looked forward to the entire trip. In some ways I favored our pre-cruise 11 day trip where we split our time between Tokyo and Kyoto. As to the cruise, I do look forward to going up to northern Japan (i.e. Aomori, Hakodate, etc) which is the part of Japan where I lived (for two years) when in the Air Force. But the ship moves all around Japan which gives passengers a tremendous opportunity to vary their port days. I think many passengers will find the two days in Osaka a highlight since it gives them access to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. With the turn around days being in Yokohama, it also gives us all easy access to Tokyo, Mt Fuji, and other places in the very populated region of Japan. I should mention that this is a cruise that has essentially been postponed for 3 years. Many of us were booked on a similar cruise in the spring of 2020 that was cancelled because of COVID. The same thing happened to 2021 and 2022, and many of us kept rolling over our bookings to the following year. Hank

For us, it is a pretty routine (we travel quite often) endeavor. DW and I start putting out our clothes (to pack) a few days prior to doing the deed. We normally put them in separate piles in our living room. The day before we are to leave for our trip (which can be from a week to many months) we both cross-pack together. If we have too much stuff we either add another suitcase or make reductions. I will add that we have been doing this for several decades and have it down to an art. Recently, we returned home from our winter in Mexico (on a Saturday night) and left for a 2 month Asian trip on Tuesday. DW spent that Sunday doing all of our laundry, and by Sunday night we had put out most of what we would pack for the long trip (involving several different climates). Monday afternoon we did our usual joint packing exercise and were ready to go by Tuesday morning. A word about "cross packing." As frequent travelers we always hope for the best and do our best to prepare for the worst. Since we normally travel with two large suitcases (sometimes a third) we try to pack so that if one case gets lost or delayed, we both have adequate stuff. Put simply, rather than having a suitcase for me and one for her we split our clothes to minimize the trauma if one case goes missing or gets delayed. Hank

Absolutely, and we have done it (mostly to Europe) a few times. With the UK it can be quite easy. Not only do you have the various repositioning cruises, but there is the QM2. But do not limit yourself to the UK because when you toss in the continent (especially Barcelona, Amsterdam and Civitavecchia) you really increase the number of options. Keep in mind that once you are in Europe, getting to the UK can be done via train (Chunnel), ferry, or flying. Hank

We have never stayed in La Spezia, but I am sure you will have plenty of open cafes/restaurants with some touristy shops being open until at least 7pm. In the villages it varies, but many of the shops stay open until at least 9 with a few open somewhat later. Hank

Re the large luggage, we did send it ahead to our Kyoto hotel (from Tokyo). But since we are only in our Yokohama hotel for one night, with little margin for error, we opted to drag our luggage along with us on the trains from Kyoto to Yokohama. As a long time (over 50 years) very independent traveler, we have learned to carefully play the odds and have a Plan B, C, etc. The desk clerk at our Tokyo hotel told us that the luggage shipping service (which is excellent) is not perfect and they will sometimes have luggage arrive 1 or even 2 days late. It does not happen often, but in our case, it was not worth the risk. Today we did take the Hakari (bullet train) to Shin-Yokohama where we changed to the local JR Yokohama line to get into town. The weather was awful with rain, high wind gusts, cold, and truly miserable. We waited in a taxi queue (under cover) at the train station and finally got a taxi to take us to our hotel. Our room is on the 63rd floor of the Royal Park Hotel (a real luxury hotel) and we are finally in a very large room (by western standards) with a fantastic view. Our hotel is part of a huge city within a city complex so we can walk from our hotel into the Landmark shopping mall where there are some reasonably priced restaurants if one does not want to spend $250+ for a meal in this hotel. Given the horrible weather, we will not go outside until tomorrow morning when we grab a taxi over to the port. At check-in, the very nice desk clerk ask us if we wanted to add breakfast to our account. The idea of paying $35 per person for breakfast just rubs us the wrong way (we have previously mentioned this in another post), especially when we can easily walk to a Starbucks (in the connected shopping mall). I do look forward to my eggs benedict onboard the "Westy" which, so far, does not involve any add-on fee :). As frequent cruisers, we have learned to treasure that magic time when we are checked-in our pre-cruise hotel (close to the port) with all of our baggage and our health. We have now reached that wonderful time when one can just think about a 42 day cruise with none of the anxiety that happens in travel mode. The only feeling that is better is when one walks up the gangplank for embarkation. This is my last post as an independent land traveler in Japan, and we now look forward to the cruise. A majority of our ports will be DIY although we do have 3 private tours (done through the CC Roll Call boards) along with a few HAL Excursions needed to use our HIA credit. We have yet to use all of our HIA credits, because we are wait listed on one of our desired excursions. See you all on the ship 🙂 Hank P.S, One amusing tidbit. From our 63rd floor hotel room we can see into a few other rooms (because of the angle of the building). DW noticed a Japanese man wearing a mask while in his room! While we have noticed some Japanese letting go of the masking thing, a big majority (especially in the Greater Tokyo area continue to wear masks everywhere! You can even find some folks sitting off by themselves in a restaurant (with nobody within 20 feet) wearing a mask and pulling it down every time they sip a drink or put food in their mouth.

Also raining here in Kyoto as we get ready to head for the train station and Yokohama. We came prepared for the usual spring rain, but would prefer nice sunny skies. The rain does make life a bit more difficult, For us it means using taxis where, in good weather, we might have used public transit. Hank

I love that many of us can have a civilized discussion (here on CC) and sometimes disagree (it is rare that Cruisemom and I disagree on these boards). Speaking of Okonomiyaki, DW and I dined at a decent teppanyaki restaurant, last evening, here in Kyoto. We ordered a set meal that included A5 Wagyu steak and Okonomiyaki (ours was topped with thin slices of port (with the skin)). I enjoyed the dish while DW was not overly fond of the "pancake." As to the A5 beef, well I think we can agree that we set ourselves up for a major disappointment when we get steak in the Pinnacle. This morning (it is now about 10am) we completed our COVID self-tests and uploaded the results to Verifly (HAL urges folks to use Verifly). While we are not fans of Verifly, we are more than willing to go along with HAL's plan/advice. We had our Verifly approvals within 15 minutes so have now gone through all the pre-cruise "hoops" that, in theory, should make embarkation relatively pain free. I pointed out, in a post on one of the Roll Calls, that meeting all the "wants" of HAL and the Japanese government requires a working Smartphone and some knowledge in how to use the device to complete apps and upload both pictures and copies of important documents. Traveling without a Smartphone is still possible, but has become increasingly difficult and can create a lot of problems. Hank

I think lynncarol gets it right. If you are going to Cinque Terre during the busy tourist season it is going to be a mob scene at any of the villages. While we agree with those who favor Vernazza, even that village has suffered from the ridiculous overtourism found at these villages. If you are prepared for hoards of other tourists than Cinque Terre is the place to go. The best way to do Cinque Terre is to spend a few days/nights staying in one of the villages and leave for other places during the daytime. Come back to your hotel/B&B around 5pm, and the charm will begin to return as the last of the day trippers depart. Hank

You want FREE shuttles than cruise Seabourn, Silverseas, etc. Cruise on HAL and you will pay, pay more, and pay often. If there is a paid shuttle to the center of Livorno, it still will not get you to the train station. That will be a long walk or an additional pay local bus. If you want to take a train at Livorno, do your best (which is not always enough) to find a shared taxi directly to the train station. Hank

Like you, we took care of it just in case. The cost (about $15 for the two of us) was not an issue but the refusal of HAL to tell us what was required was bush league. In fact, on that call to HAL we were first told we would need to get it on our own, a few seconds later were told that HAL would take care of it, and finally told that they were not sure and the Documents Department would send us an e-mail within the day. Three different answers on one phone call is a bit strange, even for HAL.

If the Anthem fits your budget, then it makes sense. Europe would be a real stretch on that budget, especially since the ports can end up costing nearly as much as the cruise. Hank

What are you overlooking? Money! Bottom line is that decent cruise agencies/agents can "enhance" your booking with lots of OBC. On our upcoming HAL cruise we are talking well over $1000. On another upcoming cruise with a luxury line we are getting over $2000 in OBC (not available if booked direct with the cruise line). Besides the money aspect, I like having a decent cruise agent who will act as my advocate rather than a cruise line employee. When things go wrong (it happens) having a high volume agency on your team is quite helpful. They have a lot more clout with HAL (or any other cruise line) that one cruiser. Hank

I think that would be $10 a day? So, for example, if on a 42 day cruise one would ONLY pay $420 for that connection (if it were truly $10 a day). A decent "wisp" router should cost less than $50. If it works (and that is a big if) it would be a pretty good option.

Loved the pix from Yokohama (where we are heading tomorrow). Today, in Kyoto, we had a chilly misty Saturday which is also around the start of the sakura or Cherry Blossom time here. We spent a good part of our day at the Kyomizu Temple complex. This is an expansive area which has a temple/shrine, many related buildings, and lots of walking paths. It also is one of the better places to go, here in Kyoto, to see cherry blossoms and today did not disappoint. The area was packed with tourists (mostly Japanese) enjoying their first unrestricted (from COVID) sakura since 2019. Many of the trees are now in full bloom (others will need another week) and DW and I spent hours admiring the grounds, trees, temple, etc. Tomorrow morning, we leave Kyoto for the 2 1/2 hour bullet train to Yokohama for our last evening before boarding the "Westy." Yesterday we got two more e-mails (one from HAL and another from out cruise agent) telling us (for about the 8th time) that we need to do a self-test before going to the port (no testing at the port). Funny thing about HAL is that they continue to remind us about COVID testing on a regular basis but have stubbornly refused to respond to many requests (clearly noted on Roll Call blogs) for information related to the K-ETA (needed to visit Korea which is a port on our cruise). IMHO, HAL should be "strung up" for the stone walling on the Korea ETA issue. Before leaving the USA, I finally called HAL and managed to get a message to their "Documents" department who promised to get back to me within 24 hours. We never did get a response (and apparently it has been the same anyone else (on various Roll Calls) asking the simple question, "Do we need to get our own K-ETA or is this handled by HAL?" Hank

We are at the Intergate Kyoto Shinjo Shimachi. It is well located for our purposes and there are few Western guests at this property (which we also find desirable).

I will jump in and mention that we are just finishing up 11 independent days in Japan where we have spent our time in Tokyo and Kyoto (using the excellent trains). We have a blog going on the HAL board where we talk about the fun of doing things on one's own. Like most DIY travel, much of the secret is in doing some pre-trip homework, having a spirit of adventure, and exercising some basic travel common sense. And I like to tell folks that it does not take a PhD to ask folks for help 🙂 Hank

For us it is not a problem. We have two large cases plus 2 packed carry-ons. During our pre-cruise time (only 11 days in Japan) we have plenty of clothes. The truth is that one can get along with jeans for quite a while without laundry and we have plenty of tops. Once on the Westerdam, we get unlimited laundry because of our Mariner status. So, when we board next week, we will certainly be sending out a load of wash. Back in the days before we got free laundry, we would simply pay for bags on HAL (and most other lines). DW and I do not like to spend our travel (play) time doing laundry and are happy to pay to have it done. I should add, that if we did need to do laundry, our Kyoto hotel (where we are staying for 6 nights) will take care of laundry (it only takes about 1 day).