chubbypiggy

@cr8tiv1  For Kagoshima, do you remember how long was the walk from Princess shuttle drop off point to Tenmonkan (main shopping district)?

@4bande  For Kagoshima, do you remember how long was the walk from the ferry terminal to Tenmonkan?

TIA.

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

That I couldn’t tell you, but it usually didn’t take too long. But then we were on an excursion every port day, so we really weren’t paying that close of attention. For example, today in Osaka passengers were allowed to leave around 7:30 am.

Thank you.  For Osaka, the Patter indicates arrival at 7 a.m.  So about 30 minutes after arrival to allow passengers to go on shore.

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Day 16 - July 25 - Osaka, Japan

 
 

 

 

Very nice pictures, thank you for sharing.  

Just curious, for your 2 cruises, on the average, how much time after ship arrival at the port before passengers were allowed to go ashore?

8 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But we are staying in the Osaka Bay area for about the same timeframe as the restriction, so that might have something to do with it. You can see how close the two cities are in today’s weather map.

 

 

Your guess is probably right.  

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Actually we will be in port at Kobe until around 4 am tomorrow morning when we will then make a short cruise over to the Osaka port for a scheduled arrival around 7 am.

Thank you.  My wild guess for the Environmental restrictions for laundromat was maybe because of the ship staying in port overnight.  Since there is no overnight, my guess is wrong.  ☺️

17 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

When we first saw this in the Patter last night, we immediately texted our son to make sure they saw it, as they have been using the laundromat the entire cruise. For us we brought enough clothes to avoid having to use it. However, even though we are not Elite yet, we did use the professional cleaning service once to have our initial travel clothes cleaned with the turnaround time being 2 days.

  

 
This did not happen on the first leg though. We’ve asked a few crew members and they confirmed this was the first time the entire laundry service, both the self-service laundry facilities as well as the ship’s laundry service for towels, linens, etc. has been shutdown for this long that they can remember.

 

 
My purely unofficial guess as to the Why from over here in the peanut gallery is that we will be docked in both Kobe and Osaka, which are very close together, from 6 am tomorrow morning, July 24, until around 11 pm the following day, July 25. If you add in the time we originally entered the Osaka Bay until we leave it the morning of July 26, that’s about the same time the environmental restrictions are in effect.
 

We’re guessing Japan doesn’t want the DP to be dumping their “purified” gray water in their bay for this extended period of time where their fisherman also catch a lot of fish. Like I said this is purely a guess from someone over here in the peanut gallery. 😁
 

Just want to make sure I interpreted it correctly.  The ship will be "overnight" at Kobe-Osaka port?

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

When we first saw this in the Patter last night, we immediately texted our son to make sure they saw it, as they have been using the laundromat the entire cruise. For us we brought enough clothes to avoid having to use it. However, even though we are not Elite yet, we did use the professional cleaning service once to have our initial travel clothes cleaned with the turnaround time being 2 days.

  

 
This did not happen on the first leg though. We’ve asked a few crew members and they confirmed this was the first time the entire laundry service, both the self-service laundry facilities as well as the ship’s laundry service for towels, linens, etc. has been shutdown for this long that they can remember.

 

 
My purely unofficial guess as to the Why from over here in the peanut gallery is that we will be docked in both Kobe and Osaka, which are very close together, from 6 am tomorrow morning, July 24, until around 11 pm the following day, July 25. If you add in the time we originally entered the Osaka Bay until we leave it the morning of July 26, that’s about the same time the environmental restrictions are in effect.
 

We’re guessing Japan doesn’t want the DP to be dumping their “purified” gray water in their bay for this extended period of time where their fisherman also catch a lot of fish. Like I said this is purely a guess from someone over here in the peanut gallery. 😁
 

Thank you so much for the information and the laundromat pictures.  When I get on board, I will check with GS if there will be any laundromat closure days for our 1st and 2nd cruise.

I emailed Intercontinental Yokohama Grand this morning asking if they have self-serve laundromat, and I just received their reply.  They do not have self-serve laundromat.  They only have the professional service laundry, price range is very expensive.  

@Ken the cruiser  

1 minute ago, ROCruiser said:

Oh, great! We are in Claremont, which city are you in? If you don't mind me asking.

Monterey Park.

1 minute ago, ROCruiser said:

I was just going to say that my Kagoshima video was the one time that the auto subtitle did not work therefore no captions was available. Good to know that you understand Mandarin! Wow! I am so envious of your trips coming up. Sounds fun! We love traveling around Japan. I am sure you all will have a great time!

Thank you.  BTW, I am also from L.A. ☺️

22 minutes ago, ROCruiser said:

We have stayed at Intercontinental Yokohama Grand before, a beautiful hotel. It's a little walk from the train station with luggage but a nice area to be. You may find more information in my blog post of other ports in Hokkaido in the past if not on the video list. That was before I started learning to edit videos during the pandemic.

On my last Japan cruise in 2018, we stayed in Yokohama nearby Chinatown, which was nice.  That hotel was only about 10 minutes walk to the Osanbashi Pier. This time, I want to try out the Minato Mirai area.  So we booked the Yokohama Grand IHG hotel for 1 night pre-cruise and 5 nights between the 2 cruises.  From Haneda airport, there is airport bus that have a stop directly in front of the hotel, so that is nice.  

7 minutes ago, ROCruiser said:

Sorry it took me so long to see your post. So glad that my video helped. Yes, we were in Kagoshima and here is the video on that day. Now come to think of it, check to see if there are other kind of shuttles provided at port instead of the Diamond Princess one (quite expensive) that would take you to downtown. The taxi line was quite long on our day there and the DP shuttle was expensive. Walking out to the tram station was too far for some of us so we took the taxi after patiently waiting for a bit. 

The City View Bus was a good transportation between the sites just not to and from port. 

I also have videos on other ports like Beppu, Seogwipo, Miyazaki, and Wakayama. If you click on my name "Taste of Retirement" under the video, then go to 'video' you will find a list of all the videos that we have. Hope this help.

I really enjoyed your video on Nagasaki, so I looked at posts by you, and found the link to your video and blog.  The last 2 days, I watched a lot of your videos; truly enjoyed all of them.  I even "bookmark bar" your link so I can watch more videos whenever I have time.  The hot pot you had in HK is very interesting.  I will be going there for 4 days in Dec., will try to find a restaurant that offers that kind of hot pot.  I can read Chinese and can understand some Mandarin, which makes watching your video more enjoyable.  I love to travel, and have visited 70+ countries.  I really envy of your retirement life.  One day, I plan to travel like you.  But at this point, I don't want to be away from home more than 3 weeks at a time because my mom is age 95.      

Our 7 days cruise in Sept., we will have a port stop in Kagoshima.  There will only be 2 of us, so I plan to take the taxi to Kagoshima Chuo station, which is stop #1, for the City View bus.  We plan to do a complete loop, then get off at the last stop, Tenmonkan, and do shopping there.  Then take taxi from there back to ship.

After that cruise, we will be staying at the Intercontinental Yokohama Grand hotel for 5 nights.  Seven friends from L.A. will arrive and join us there.  After that 5 days, all 9 of us will board Diamond Princess again for their 9-day Hokkaido cruise.  Kagoshima is also on the itinerary.  Since it will be the first time for the other 7 people, we will probably do the City View bus again. 

6 minutes ago, charlie murphy said:

Ken looks like you got some good entertainment in the evenings . we were on the DP slightly before your cruise and for 14 days which was basically two short cruises with a Tokyo turn around. prior to our cruise they sent info on a New production show "SILK" . We did not see any production show on the two weeks other then Bravo and Born to run. it looked like parts of a set were set up on the sides of the stage but were not relevant to any show on board.  they were taken down by the second segment of the cruise. we got demetri and Anna show case dancers on each segment. I wondered what happened to the production show, it looks like it is now "I got the music show". 

Prior to our Majestic 27 days cruise in April from Sydney to Los Angeles, we also received Princess email telling us "SILK" will be a show on our cruise.  I watched the show every day, and SILK was never shown.

Thank you all for the valuable information!! 

13 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I just checked and it’s $99 for 9 days or less. When you get up there talk with Manveer, a nice Indian lady. She said she might be able to give you a discount if you’re on a B2B.

Thank you for taking the time to check for me.  My 2 cruises are not B2B.  My 1st cruise is 7 days (only 2 of us), then get off ship for 5 days, then back on ship for 9 days (9 of us this time).  

On 7/16/2023 at 4:13 PM, ROCruiser said:

All you need to do is to walk down from Glover Garden, through the shopping street and you are back at the cruise terminal. Here is our day in Nagasaki, with Glover Garden at the end of the video.

Really enjoyed your video on Nagasaki.  Have you visited Kagoshima?  If so, did you do a video of it?  In Sept., we will be doing an 7-day Kyushu cruise and an 9-day Hokkaido cruise on the Diamond Princess.  Between those 2 cruises, we will spend 5 days on land.  Will be staying at the Intercontinental Yokohama Grand hotel.  Hopefully not too far to get to the Yokohama station; really enjoyed your video of the underground shopping in the Yokohama station.  

Within the last few months, anyone visited the Kagoshima port and bought the Kagoshima one-day pass or the "Cute" one-day pass?  If so, did you buy the pass at the cruise terminal? There was a recent CC post that I read, saying maybe those passes can not be bought at the cruise terminal, and must be bought at the Tourist Info Center in town.  We want to do the Kagoshima City View bus.  If we can't buy the pass at the terminal, that mean we must take the Princess shuttle to town (I think drop off by Dolphin port), then have to walk from drop off point to Tenmonkan's tourist center to buy the pass before we can get on the bus

On 7/11/2023 at 4:46 PM, 4bande said:

For Kagoshima, as previously replied, we took a taxi (4 in each) to the Ferry terminal to go to Sakurajima, came back via ferry and then walked to downtown, ate lunch and took taxi back.  Want so say it was about 3000 yen each way.  

 

 

I read a lot of taxi drivers don't speak much English.  At the cruise terminal, did you have problem telling the taxi driver you want to go to the Sakurajima ferry terminal?  And getting taxi in Tenmonkan by Don Quijote to take you back to the terminal, did you just tell the taxi driver (in English), to take you to "cruise ship terminal"?  Did you need to pay your taxi fare with cash or you were able to use a credit card?

@Ken the cruiser  For your 1st cruise (9 days), the picture you posted showed the cruise pass for the Izumi Bath is $99.  If you don't mind, when you have the time, can you kindly pass by Izumi Bath again (Sun deck aft) and ask what is the cruise pass for this 8 days cruise?  In Sept., we have a 7-days cruise, then 5 days land, then a 9-day cruise.  I am curious to know what is the pricing difference for a 8 day cruise vs a 9 day cruise?  Of course, it will be 7 and 9 days for us.

Thank you so much for your assistance! 

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just went up to the Spa on Deck 15 Forward, and the free Sauna and Steam rooms are still there.

Thank you !

@Ken the cruiser  Next time when you are at the Fitness Center, please check if the free Sauna and Steam rooms are still there (by the changing rooms).  I heard some of the Grand class ships (for example, Emerald Princess), they have been removed from the Fitness Center.  TIA.

2 hours ago, wallyj said:

Hi @chubbypiggy, I believe your original query was regarding the steam and saunas that were in the changing rooms by the fitness center, not The Enclave which is on Royal class ships but I believe on the Emerald they have what is called the Thermal suite, which is a separate venue with heated stone beds and aromatherapy saunas in an area by the Spa, which you can purchase a cruise pass to have access to this venue.

 

The ‘free’ steam and saunas were removed when the Emerald Princess was last in dry dock last year. I believe the space was remodeled for accessible treatment rooms for the Spa, meaning for passengers needing extra space for possible mobility devices, not just ‘access’ to these treatment rooms.

 

The changing room still has larger showers in case you want to freshen up after a workout or use a shower that is larger with better water pressure than you might have in your particular cabin.

 

The sister ‘Grand Class’ ships being the Crown, Ruby, Caribbean, and Sapphire I believe still have the ‘free’ steam and sauna in the fitness center changing rooms. Not sure about the Diamond.

 

I was on the Crown in May,  so I can confirm the steam and sauna are still available in the fitness changing room. Was also on the Emerald last month, but already knew the steam and saunas were removed from the fitness center changing rooms from previous threads and friends confirming when they sailed on the Emerald this past February.

 

 

Yes, my original question was about the steam and sauna in the Fitness center. Thank you for the explanations.  

10 minutes ago, 4bande said:

$25 USD per person.  No need to sign up on the ship.  Just go outside to the shuttle area and put your name down and room number.  It's really an honor system.  I think one of our shuttle signups were not charged.

Thank you.

5 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

You've ruled out a lot of Asian foods.  There are always hot pots, lots of udon, a few Ramen places.  Do you eat sushi or sashimi?  Then there is always teriyaki (not katsu).  

Yes, and that is sad, because I love hot pots, Korean char-broiled food, etc.  It is a health issue that started in 2016; saw so many doctors and tried so many different treatments, and none seems to work.  Every time I eat spicy, grilled, fried food or even roasted nuts, in less than an hour, canker sores will start inside my mouth, and in a day or two, will become a large white painful canker sore patch.  Super painful.

I love Udon and Ramen.  Do not eat sashimi, but eat some sushi (California rolls). 

1 minute ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

 

If, I can remember, the line was to get off the ship (immigration into Korea).  The market was fun.  Yes, walk and see first.  It was tangerine season.  I was able to taste a few different varieties.  They were really good.  You can bring them back to the ship.  But they spoil very quickly.  

 

If you are into Kim Chee, there are so many varieties.  They have a version of Korean Fried Chicken.  Very tasty.  Could not find anyone to cook the fresh abalone.  I was looking for "omiyage" that would not break the bank.  Found small packages of dried tangerine covered with chocolate.  Should have bought more to give away.  

 

 

 

 

That look very interesting, thank you for posting it.  I can't eat anything spicy, so definitely no kim chi.  I also can't eat fried or BBQ/Char-broiled food; so Korean food is not for me.  I like Japanese food; though can't eat their tempura food.