Hlitner

Guess I am a contrarian because we truly dislike hotel shuttles to the port! Why? Folks usually find themselves waiting around the lobby (with many other folks) while they wait for the shuttle van or mini-bus. You then get crammed into a vehicle (which is usually full) and driven to the port (when they are ready to go). Once at the port you sometimes have 2, 3 or even 4 stops before you get to your ship. And there are usually no child seats in the vans or mini buses (are they safer than a car?). Even when we stay at hotels with shuttle service, we call Uber or Lyft. We find it much more convenient (we go when we want) and they drive us from Point A to Point B (our ship) with no intervening stops. As you say, different strokes. Hank

We have never understood why anyone would take a cruise line transfer (including from Princess) between Port Everglades and FLL! My goodness, a taxi or Uber will cost you a lot less, is faster, and will drip you at the proper terminal/door. While others are cooling their heels on a bus at the port (waiting for it to fill and the luggage to be loaded) you can be at the terminal. For those that want to argue about it, we say bless you and enjoy your transfer. I will add that we have been cruising extensively (all over the world) for over 50 years, been in and out of Port Everglades at least 50 times and have never used a cruise line transfer. The only negative on using taxis is that you will likely have to wait in a taxi queue (at the port) for a few minutes. Uber/Lyft is a great option if you have the apps on your phone and understand how it works (you will often need to communicate with the driver on the exact pick-up spot). Hank

I hope it all works out. But this is another reason (among many) that we have long suggested that folk's book through reputable high volume cruise agencies/agents. This gets you a very detailed invoice and decent customer support if something goes wrong (like on your booking). Once you have paid a deposit and get a booking number (from the cruise line) you have a contract! The cruise line cannot unilaterally change the price unless it is specified in the terms of the booking. If they do change the price (or terms) you have the right to cancel (and get a full refund) or you can put the matter into "dispute" with your credit card company (at least for those in the USA). In your case, if you have a hard copy or e-mailed info that supports your case, you can use that leverage. With a decent cruise agent you would simply send them a quick e-mail or make a fast call. When you book direct it is all up to you. Many fans of booking direct with cruise lines will say "I want to keep control" and now you see that "keeping control" is meaningless if you get into a dispute with the cruise line. In your situation would document all my phone calls and not agree to any extra payments. If the cruise line does charge you an additional fee (without your authorization) then immediately put that extra charge under "dispute" with your credit card company. Hank

We think the Greek Government needs to ban cruise ships from many of the Greek Islands that lack the infrastructure to handle large groups. Zakynthos is one of those places. Nothing good will come out of hundreds or even thousands of visitors going to these places. We are big cruise fans (extensive cruisers since 1975) and also very active independent land travelers. There is a place for both kinds of travel and the system works as long as the travel operators respect their niche. When we swam into "Shipwreck" the beach felt just about right with our group of about 15. You can see from the pix (posted above) that it is relatively small/isolated beach not suited for large groups. There is an observation area on top of the cliffs (accessible from land) but even that has is limitations and is not the same as actually being on that beach. Hank

We are similar to "TheOldBear" that we are happy to dine later (8pm is fine). For we later diners, the port days are generally fine for alternative restaurants. If you really insist on dining early, then only you can decide if rushing to get ready for dinner is worth the hassle. One nice advantage to dining later is that, in recent years, it seems like more folks prefer to dine at tea time :). This makes it easy for us to get reservations at 8 or 8:30. Just a tidbit, but on Seabourn (a luxury line we really enjoy) the dining room (or Colonnade (Lido)) does not even open for dinner until 7pm! Early diners are out of luck on that line unless they want to settle for the room service menu. Hank

You can certainly try to schedule an appointment that would work during your layover. It you get approved; your Passport will be linked to the Global Entry System. Assuming that the approval happens while you are out of the country (you should get an e-mail about the change of your status) than you could use the Global Entry kiosk upon your return. You do not need the card or your Global Entry number to use the GEOS Kiosk as it is simply triggered with facial ID. In fact, although the GEOS card is a nice government ID, it has little use. In all the years we have had the card, only once (at the Port of Miami) did a port security person ask to see our card before allowing us to enter the shorter Global Entry line. Of course the card does display your Global Entry number which is also used for TSA Precheck (you use the Global Entry number as your known traveler number when you book airline reservations). On one ocassion, while waiting for our own interview at PHL, we noticed that they did allow "walk ins" at the interview office. But I am not sure if this is still the case. Hank

Today (Thursday) is a complete rain-out. We knew, from the forecast, that today was likely to be a bad weather day, and since we are spending 6 days in Kyoto, we actually looked forward to a quiet day with no temples/shrines. So, this morning, we walked down the main street, which has covered sidewalks, and did a lot of window shopping and browsing. Eventually we reached the large Nisiki Market which is over 1/2 mile long with hundreds of vendors under cover. It is the perfect place on a rainy day (and it was packed with folks) to browse, snack, dine, etc. DW and I have long had a habit of going to food/farmers markets around the world and Nisiki can hold its own against much of the competition. You learn a lot about a culture in this kind of market place and the food can be amazing. For lunch, we stopped at a place that had all kinds of yakitori (food on a skewer) including King Crab. I had crab and DW had a freshly made shrimp. It was divine, although one had to deal with the sardine-like crowding. In fact, it was so crowded that DW and I decided to "mask-up" which is something we have not done most of our time in Kyoto. It is only a few days until we board the "Westy" and we have started to mentally get into cruise mode. I reviewed the current HAL protocols for our COVID test (we will take a self-test the day before we board the ship). One of our private tours (organized by another cruiser) in Taiwan, requires that we pay in Taiwanese Dollars. While browsing the main street of Kyoto, I walked into a major bank, went to the foreign exchange counter, and traded more than 20,000 Yen for a 5000 Taiwanese Dollar note. Quite convenient. Getting Asian currency in Asia is a lot easier than in the States and the rates/commissions are better than at home. One interesting tidbit today. While standing in front of a major department store, a local senior man asked us, in pretty good English, "where are you from?" When DW responded, "USA" he broke into a big smile, bowed, and said "welcome to Japan." I responded with the appropriate small bow and the usual "arigato gozaimasu" (thank you very much) and he grinned and thanked me for speaking Japanese (two words?). What we have learned, since landing in Tokyo, is that Japan has been locked-away from the world for over 3 years and most people are happy to again welcome "gaijin" (foreigners). One other tidbit. I had mentioned in an earlier post that we did not book the breakfast plan offered by our hotel. Yesterday, we finally stumbled on a nearby coffee shop/bakery that makes its own pastries and croissants. The croissants are among the best I have had anywhere (including France). Who knew? Hank

For us, it is a big problem! Both DW and I are over packers, and this causes us some anxiety as we try to reconcile our desire to bring everything with the reality that we will need to handle our luggage in many places (this is often an issue for independent travelers. For this trip (8 weeks in climates ranging from warm to freezing) we simply stuffed as much as possible into two large lightweight suitcases. They both weighed about 48 pounds when we left home. We each also carry back packs (our carryon's) which can be stuffed and quite heavy. One nice thing about cruising on HAL, Princess and some other lines is that we get unlimited free laundry :). This does help. One recent change, for us, is that we no longer are taking formal wear on HAL cruises. I did pack a blazer, but do not even have a tie. Until recently I would have had my tux (with all the related stuff) and DW would have brought some decent outfits for gala/dressy nights. NO MORE! We got tired being among the best dressed and finally accept that times have changed in terms of dress codes. Not carrying the formal stuff gives us more room to bring other clothes :). I truly admire folks who can take long trips out of a single carry-on. But it is not our style to do our own laundry on a trip, wash out stuff every night, etc.

Moving along with the blog, today dawned bright, clear, and warm (it got to about 75). We had expected mostly rain (according to the forecast) but sometimes the weather folks have it wrong :). When we woke up and saw the good weather we knew it was time to go to Nara. So, we grabbed the subway to Kyoto's JR Station and hopped on the Nara Express (covered by our rail pass) for the 40 min ride. Once in Nara we jumped on a local bus and were soon at Nara Park and the Todai-Ji Temple. This place is fantastic and its huge bronze Budda has been featured in many brochures. To see it up close and personal is jaw dropping. Many professional sites suggest that folks should plan on spending 4-5 hours at Todai-ji (the surrounding park and buildings offer much to those who enjoy very long walks. After about 3 hours at Todai-ji, DW and I were worn out and decided to head back to the station, the train and Kyoto. My strong recommendation to fellow cruisers who have two days in this part of Japan (i.e. Osaka and/or Kobe) it to spend one day in Kyoto (seeing the best temples/shrines) and one day in Nara primarily seeing Todai-ji. Nara does have several other good sites (including a few near Todai-ji) so you will find plenty to fill your day. For many (including me) these two towns/sites will likely be the highlight of visiting Japan. So, here are my tidbits of the day (your reward for reading this far in the post). Many Japanese rest rooms have very nice sinks, plenty of soap/water, but no towels (or blowers). If you do not carry your own towel you will leave with wet hands. Another interesting tidbit is that you may not get a napkin in some restaurants, or you will get a single wet disposable towel. Hank

Cruisemom is right about good signage in stations and airports. We also do not hesitate to ask for help at hotels, from Police, or just about anyone. If you stand around looking confused it is likely that a stranger will ask if you need help. I do like Google Translate, which is a free app you can put on your phone. It even has a "camera" function where you point it at writing and it will usually translate. No need to go around saying sumimasen (kind of like "sorry bout that") but "arigato gazaimasu" and a small bow (like a bob of your head) will go a long way in this country. If you do not know how to pronounce a word, Google Translate will also sound out the words. Most independent travelers learn that language is a "challenge" but not a barrier. And in Japan it is more than compensated for by the amazing politeness of the people. Hank

A big deal for many visitors to the island. That being said, I cannot imagine going to Shipwreck as part of a large excursion. When we visited, we were the only 20 at the beach for an entire morning. And several of our 20 passengers never went ashore (they did not want to jump off the yacht and swim in to the beach). Not surprised that they have rockslide issues as the cliffs are very steep. Hank

Kathy and I do want to meet you, on the cruise. Perhaps at a bar, for lunch, etc. Let us know :). We will be in 8040.

I want to talk about cost, which is a subject oft ignored on these boards. Please reference my post #39 to understand what we did during a 7 hour tour day (DIY). What did this day cost us? If we had purchased breakfast at our hotel, it was about $16 per person/day for a decent buffet. But DW and I are not big on breakfast, so we never bought the meal package saving nearly $190 during our 6 night stay. So, this morning we went out to a coffee shop and had coffee and some Danish (less than $10 for breakfast). Our total transportation cost (trains and buses) for the entire day was about $10 per person. Lunch cost us $9.48 (total) for two salads topped with delicious fried chicken pieces, a big order of French fries. 1 beer and 1 coke. One of the 3 major sites we visited was free. The two other sites had small admission fees totaling about $20 (for the two of us). So, a 7-hour tour of 3 of the best sites around Kyoto, with lunch, cost us less than $50 (total cost for two). Just imagine what it costs to book a 7 hour tour (for two) including transportation, 3 major sites, and lunch! You would likely pay around $500 (for a couple) which is 10 times our DIY cost. Is everyday this cheap? No, but it is more typical than not. We love DIY because we are not stuck in a large group and can do our own thing. But the cost savings benefits over a long cruise (with many ports) can easily be in the thousands of dollars. DIY is not for everyone, but it remains a very valid option for this senior couple. Now let's talk about cruisers who stop at Osaka. If they wanted to book the bullet train to Kyoto it would cost them about $70 per person (round trip). So, their cost for the day could be in the $120 per person range (depending on eating and drinking habits). I am not writing this to persuade folks to DIY, but rather just trying to point out the various cost options. The downside to our DIY day was that we did use trains and public buses. On the other hand, we did not need to wait for that one person who is always late back to the bus, 60 folks going to the bathroom, etc. And when it came to lunch we could choose our own venue, menu, etc. Hank

LOL Bruce. When I lived in Japan (over 50 years ago) we all still had electric plug-in analog clocks. Those things generally worked by converting 60 cycles a second into the movement of the clock. When we plugged in those electric clocks, they would only move 50 minutes per hour! I still remember running out to the Base Exchange to buy a wind-up alarm clock. Hank

Folks, we all know that HAL has been facing some tough times so it is wonderful to know their staff has their priorities. Today we received or 4th e-mail in the past few weeks,,,each changing our embarkation time out of Yokohama (next week). But today's HAL e-mail must have taken 20 staff hours to compose. They changed our embarkation time from 11:00am to 11:20pm. For this earth shattering change they felt it worthy to annoy our cruise agency with one more e-mail and cause DW and I to shake our heads wondering if they will be as precise with our onboard accounting or properly preparing our Eggs Benedict :). Meanwhile. HAL has refused to tell anyone on the Asian cruises whether (or not) they need to get their own Korean K-ETA. But, we will do our best to arrive at the port at 11:20 and NOT 11:19. Hank

So yesterday we had a pleasant bullet train ride from Tokyo to Kyoto. We had shipped our two large suitcases the prior day (a common thing in Japan) and the luggage was waiting near the front desk as we checked into our Kyoto hotel. Went to the famous Gian area for dinner and ended up in a sushi/sashami/tempora place which was Ok. Today we had a very cloudy morning and decided to take advantage of no rain and do shrines. We took the JR-Nara train a few stops so we could visit theFushimi Inari-taisha shrine. Lots of walking at a place famous for hundreds of torriis and about 32,000 sub shrines. One could walk miles (including lots of uphill slopes) and this is the #1 rated place on Tripadvisor. Cruisers who stop in Osaka and take a tour to Kyoto will usually visit this place. From that shrine, we took the train back one stop and transferred to a different train to get to Sansjusanangendo Temple which has a most amazing long building dating back many hundreds of years. The building houses 1001 lifesized Budda statutes, not two of which are alike. This is another do not miss place to visit in Kyoto and would be included on most tours. Finally, after geting ourselves some lunch we came back into Kyoto where we hopped on a city bus for the 45 min ride out to Kankakuji Temple. It had started to rain (we are in for some lousy weather) but we walked around the gorgeous gardens and admired the Golden Pagoda. Even in the rain, this famous temple was crowded with many Japanese as well as foreign tourists. The gardens and setting were stunning and worth the 45 min city bus ride. As I post this, I want readers to understand we are in our mid 70s and doing all this stuff on our own with only public transportation. DW and I have been very independent travelers for many decades and this is just an extension of that philosophy. Like most places in the word, Japan can be done DIY if you do a little homework. Many cruisers will opt to visit Kyoto if they have a port day in Osaka or Kobe, but we do not think one day can even dent the attractions in this region, That is why we planned 6 nights in Kyoto (pre-cruise). I think having a small private tour makes a lot of sense for many folks. As to large cruise line excursions.......we are just not big fans. Hank

Children learn respect by trial, error, and lots of practice (with positive reinforcement from their parents). This is something that must be reinforced from a very early age. Expecting children, who have never been taught respect and limits to simply change because their parents get a letter is folly! We have watched children/teens run amok on several cruise lines while there parents simply ignored the inappropriate behavior. In such cases I feel a little sorry for the kids and would like to strangle the parents. Hank

Just a very useful tip about Japanese hotels. Power in Japan is the same as in North America (110-120 volts) and uses the normal North American plug with two flat prongs. However, and this can be critical, it is rare to find that third round ground hole in their outlets. So. if you have a 3 prong plug (such as on many computer power cords) you will need some kind of adaptor that only has the two flat prongs. This is easy to find online or at any big box or hardware store. Hank

It’s a good topic and important to us. Since we have T Mobile. Our phones work just about everywhere in the world without an extra fee (am writing this as I sit on Tokyo Station). On a TA, if we forego Internet on the sea days we are fine when near or in any port. Most cruise lines, we cruise, include internet. HAL has always been among the worst with internet fees (and quality). Since we have the HIA package it is not an issue on our upcoming cruise (which is transpacific). Otherwise, it is doubtful we would pay hundreds for bad internet at sea. Hank

Drama? Perhaps. But reading a few of the recent Westy posts ( and reviews) does make it difficult to be an optimist. And issues like add-ons in the PG are fact, not drama.

Some folks may need to take a deep breath and work through the various issues, one at a time. I say this as a frequent world traveler/cruiser who is now in Tokyo (we landed at Haneda on Thursday morning). The K-ETA stuff is pretty easy to do as long as you do it on a phone! If you do not have a photo, simply take the photos with your phone (before going on the K-ETA site) and than you can simply upload right from the K-ETA app. You do need a Korean address and we got ours from the Roll Call site where somebody had posted the address suggested by HAL. As to the Visit Japan web site, it is worthwhile in that it will save you some time (and hassle) at Haneda or Narita. We took multiple screen shots (all phones can do this and if you don't know how, look it up online) which we saved to a photo folder. When they asked to see the stuff we just opened that up on our phone and handed the phone to the officials (who quickly scroll through. When we entered Japan, the Customs folks were happy we had the Visit Japan stuff done and did not ask further questions or search our bags. We had completed the Yakan Shemei stuff (becaus oe we carry about a 2 month supply of multiple drugs) but nobody ever ask to see that stuff (perhaps we were just lucky). As to being in Japan, folks just need to understand that they have their own culture and do some things differently (some for the better and some not). Spend some pre-trip time reading about their culture and feel free to ask questions here on CC. The big change I have noticed (in Japan) is the very frequent practice of having customers scan a QR code (at restaurants) and do their ordering via an app. Checks are normally paid at the cashier (not at the table) and you either take a card (on the table) with your table number (which tells the cashier were to find your tab) or a normal check (dropped at your table). Beware that you may not be able to read the check, other than the numbers :). Regarding masking, there is no longer any government imposed mask mandate. But (a big but) the overwhelming percentage of the population continues to mask (indoors and out). That is simply their preference, part of the culture, and you can choose to unmask (in most places) without scorn. We always mask on the Tokyo metro/trains because of the tight crowds. Hank

There is a possible tangent issue. I believe that lots of seaweed can cause issues for ships with their various water intake systems. We were once on a ship (cannot recall the vessel) where some cooling intakes were fouled by lots of seaweed. The ship needed a few extra hours in port, so they could send down divers to clean out some intake ducts. Wonder if one the professional mariners who are usually around on CC can expand on this issue or non-issue. Hank

I will disagree as we cannot imagine a cruise with too many sea days. As to the crew, a job is a job! Consider a garbage collector working the same route for their entire career, a factory worker building the same widget, an airline counter clerk doing the same tasks, etc. We have always been somewhat amused at fellow cruisers who constantly concern themselves with the crew. I wonder how many take the time to bond with their trash collector, hotel maid, waiter, etc. All these folks are simply doing the job that they chose. The crew on ships are not slaves but are trained workers doing their jobs. Hank

The first time we ever cruised on Seabourn was an eye opener. After more than 50 years of mostly mass market cruising it was fantastic to be on a real small ship line with NO nickel and diming. Unless one wanted to buy very expensive wines or booze, a cruise on Seabourn meant (and means) having trouble spending any OBC. One could cruise a month and have an onboard account of zero. The only extra expense would be at the ports (we seldom book excursions). Lets be clear that as long as one does not book expensive suites, the mass market lines (like HAL) can be very "price reasonable." Visit cities like NYC, Paris, Berlin, etc. and you will often pay more money (per day) for a mediocre hotel room than you pay, per day, to cruise on HAL. That being said, when HAL started charging extra for soup/salad in the PG...the line hit a new low. I cannot help but wonder when the Lido will become something akin to a Horn and Hardart Cafeteria/Automat. I should also add that we have had better entertainment on some European ferries than on HAL (on certain nights). Hank

I wonder if signs would even help! We still recall the time a lady cut in front of me in the omelet line (Prinsendam) and then turned to me with an angelic smile and said, "Its OK, I am old." My immediate response was, "the line for the old people is at the end of the queue." There was some applause from a few others behind me in the line and the lady did move to the end of the line. Of course, being a long Prinsendam voyage just about everyone was old :). Hank