RachelG

March 28, 2023–embarkation in Yokohama, Japan Of course, we awoke early due to the time difference. By 4 am, I gave up on more sleep, so got up and did some work, which was good as the office was still open. A word about the bathroom—narrowest bathroom ever. It reminded me of one on the river boats in Europe. Definitely a one person affair with a dangerous step up tub/shower combo at one end with water that is scalding hot, sink and vanity in the middle, and super high tech electronic toilet with so many buttons I couldn’t figure out at the other end. Seat was nice and heated. You could not open the door to the bathroom if someone else was standing at the sink. We went down to the expansive breakfast buffet. It wasn’t as elaborate as some we have encountered inAsia, but had enough that anyone should be happy. Noodle and egg stations along with a salad bar and a lot of western offerings as well. I stuck with noodles and salad. I had planned that we would go walking this morning, but it was pouring rain and cold (high to be 50F), so we went back to the room. George watched Japanese tv then realized he had brought no dress pants. Fortunately there was a mall right next to our hotel. We braved the cold rain and ran over. There was a Gap store that had a total of 2 pairs of dress pants in his size (the largest size they carried- which isn’t actually that large), so we bought both. Taxi to Yokohama port was slow as there was terrible traffic plus a couple of accidents, which our driver related to the weather, but we finally made it. We were ushered into a large holding room where we filled out health declarations and showed our negative covid tests, through security then onboard to Compass Rose where we received our keycards. From drop off to finish, it took about 30 minutes, and most of that was waiting for the health declarations. Right behind us in line were DaveFR and his lovely wife, so we had plenty of time to catch up. We went up to the heated portion of the pool deck for lunch and hadn’t even finished eating when they announced suites were ready—the shortest we have ever wAited for that. We are in a superior suite. There is a ton of storage, more than we could ever use. The bed faces the windows and big balcony. Balcony is one of the angled ones toward the front of the ship, so extra room. It took a long time for the luggage to arrive which I guess is the trade off for getting into the room quickly. The safety briefing was easiest ever. They broadcast it into the suite. By the time for sailaway at 5:00, the rain had finally stopped and the clouds had parted. From our balcony, we had a beautiful view of downtown Yokohama, with a park along the shore then upscale looking high-rises behind. Hundreds of ships, big and small in the harbor. But it was still too chilly for me to stay outside long. Dinner at Prime 7 was something of a disappointment. I had the shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad (both good) then the crab cakes as my main. They were way more breading than crab. George had ahi tuna (just barely ok), harvest salad (good), and the filet ( again just ok). Nothing great. At the prices regent charges, there should be something great. it should be noted that the old menu was what was served in Prime 7. No changes I could see. You can still get crab legs as part of the seafood sampler or the seafood tower. An early night as the entertainment didn’t sound that great either.

Agree—working out on vacation only because I need to fit into my clothing. But on the pool deck, in the morning, my husband loves his orange, carrot and ginger juice made fresh to order.

We embark today. Really appreciate Portolan’s info. I have yen in cash but this far have only used a credit card. airport yesterday was crazy as lots of people, probably at least 25% , didn’t know about the required enter Japan and QR code.

March 26-27, 2023–on our way to Japan We are off again, this time headed to Japan to board Regent Explorer. This cruise has been put off for quite awhile as Japan just recently reopened for tourism and is my birthday present to myself. As usual we had the normal pre-departure drama. You are no longer required to have a negative Covid test to visit Japan from the US if you are fully vaccinated, but a negative test is required to board the ship and can be done no more than 72 hours prior to embarking. Oddly enough, they will accept either a PCR test from a lab or a rapid antigen self test (I see the possibility of all sorts of fraud with that). So I got a couple of the self tests, which we did last night and were thankfully negative. You take a picture of the test with its packaging and your passport. We get to TUL to check in on AA, and they were still thinking we needed a negative test to board the flight. I pulled out my phone with the pictures. Mine popped right up, but no picture of George’s test. George is starting to freak out as is did the gate agent. Fortunately I thought to check on my iPad as it is connected in the cloud To my phone, and there was the test. I have no idea what is going on with my phone. Flight to DFW was on time, but as we were getting off the plane in terminal C, I noticed George had 2 huge holes in the back of his shirt. It looked like it had snagged on something then ripped. So we had to make a detour to Johnson and Murphy in terminal A to get a new shirt. And one of the sky trains was down.. We got lots of steps. Then terminal D for our flight which used up all the time of what I thought was a generous connection. Flight to Haneda was uneventful with an on time arrival, but getting through customs was a zoo with very long lines and a lot of confusion as you are supposed to have downloaded their entry forms and filled them out online, but a lot of people hadn’t. It took us an hour to get through. The advantage was that we didn’t have to wait at all for luggage, but the taxi line was long. After about 20 minutes, we got the fanciest taxi ever, with big club seats and a chatty driver who told us he likes to talk to passengers to improve his English. Traffic was backed up, so we had plenty of time. After a very efficient checkin, we were in our room at the Hilton Odaiba. Since we are only here one night, I just reserved the cheapest room. It is clean and comfortable but no view. Food in the executive lounge was meh, but we were too tired to go elsewhere.

Stumblefoot just alerted me to the situation. The hamburger is to be avoided at all cost. Pizza is good to great, depending on the day.

Thank you for your review. And I agree with pretty much everything you said. My husband I call the carpeting in the hallways the dog barf rug.

Looking forward to our Japan cruise, where tipping is neither required or expected. Here, I do tip, 15%for just ok, 20% if good. But one problem with tips in cash at least here, is that they never report it on their tax forms and thus don’t pay taxes on it. Totally unfair to the rest of us who pay income taxes on every dime we make.

Short answer—can’t do online. You or your TA have to call.

Good to know.

Portolan, we have that same excursion booked in Nagoya. What is lunch like?

Thank you, thank you, Portolan for all your valuable information as we embark on March 28. I am hanging on to every word! any information about the ports is also appreciated.

We also didn't have to produce printed copies. I had the original vaccine certificates with me, but I don't think they even looked at those either.

What you are having to deal with is ridiculous and a perfect example of why D2D is just a bad idea. You aren't getting what you paid for if they refuse to transport you from Seward to Anchorage. But if all else fails, there is a car rental place in Seward. My husband and I have disembarked from a ship there, gotten a rental car and driven to Anchorage. It is a very nice drive and a good way to spend the day.

Good review. Fortunately different strokes for different folks. A lot of issues you mentioned aren't a problem for my husband and me because we generally eat early and we definitely are not pool deck people (though chair hogging should NOT be allowed). But I do agree with you about the difficulty opening the door to the balcony--on our previous cruise on Splendor, I was never able to open it. My husband could do it with difficulty. As far as Pacific Rim, it is totally inconsistent. Some great meals there but others very similar to what you describe and like I said, we eat early so the time of the meal isn't the solution.

I just finished filling out the Japanese government website form. It is ridiculously confusing. But now done, I think> But I have a probably stupid question. How does one time stamp a photo on an iphone??

They are only on certain cruises, usually those with more sea days.

I wear a cocktail dress to dinner almost every evening when onboard.

I heard about the crab moratorium too, but then saw the crab on offer at Costco. Didn’t check the price though. Dave, I have thought of trying that. I still like the big once a year catalog with all the cruises though. Just wish they would stop the every week mailings.

I can answer a couple of these. People who did the evening tour defintely were back in time to go out to dinner. Remember, this is South America. They typically eat dinner later than we are accustomed anyway, but if you are wanting to make reservations, I think 8 pm would be safe. We ate at the hotel restaurant which was quite good. We had plenty of time on Saturday afternoon to walk around in Guayaquil. In the afternoon, it was fine. We walked over to the Malecon and all around there, and there were families, etc. But at night, the area around the hotel is full of prostitutes--did not feel safe at all.

Totally agree. If they would stop sending me brochures every week (and sometimes more often) I would really appreciate it as they go right in the recycle.

yes, crab generally seems to have gone missing, except for the crab salad in Chartreuse which was my least favorite of the crab onboard.

we have done plenty of SS excursions and plenty which I booked myself in advance or where we just did our own thing once in port. The SS ones have mostly been fine, some great. The problem with ones that you book on your own in advance is that if the port is missed for whatever reason, if it is a prepaid tour, you may not be able to get your money back. So make sure upfront before you book, that you will be able to get your money refunded if the port is missed.

Some good new options here, but I am disappointed that the crab cakes are gone from Prime 7. But agree all menus were in need of a refresh.

looks beautiful and just the sort of place George and I enjoy--not overly touristy, lots of natural beauty and white sand.

Can’t change excursions on the website. Old fashioned but true. as far as waitlisted excursions clearing, we are about 50/50. It kind of depends on the type of excursion. If there is a big demand and it is a situation where they can just add another bus, those usually clear. If it is a small excursion with limited availability, not so much. Someone will have to cancel and turn in their tickets. I have had some luck with just showing up at the departure time for the excursion and waiting for a no show. The excursion desk will advise you to do this if there is something you want that isn’t available.