Mickey22

Always love reading your reviews!   You look fabulous in that dress! 
 

15 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Trains are the way to go in Japan. So unless you are walkers like us, just find the nearest subway station by your hotel - Motomachi-iriguchi - and take the subway to Yokohama station.

Once you are at Yokohama Station take the JR train to Kamakura.

We walked to the Buddha (roughly 30 min) but you can take the train which we took back both ways (Hase Station). There’s also a bus. Google or Applemaps will show you all connections once you are there.
The three places we saw in Kamakura were awesome and filled the day, so the Buddha, the nearby Hase-dera-Temple and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu (walk from Kamakura Station) are definitely what we‘d recommend. The day was one of the highlights of the entire trip - the icing on the cake so to speak.

Thank you so much for your help! We look forward to having a wonderful day in Kamakura.

On 10/25/2023 at 9:12 PM, Miaminice said:

2023 - Japan - Celebrity Millennium - Day 2 - Tokyo/Yokohama

A good night‘s rest must be followed by a good and tasty breakfast - I am pretty sure that’s an old Japanese proverb. If not, we followed it anyway. The buffet at the hotel made it easy. It offered a nice choice of Asian and western delights and Birgit thoroughly enjoyed the healthy Asian part.

 

 

Following breakfast we decided to take the train to Yoyogi Park. The park is for Tokyo what Central Park would be for New York or Hyde Park for London. And hidden within the area of Yoyogi Park and forest lies the Meji-Jingu shine of Emperor Meiji and his wife Shoken. Once you enter the Park through the huge Torii gates, everything seems to decelerate. It becomes quiet - the sound of silence only enhanced by the song of the birds - and the air is filled with the earthy sent of the 120,000 trees donated by the people of Japan.

 

 

 

 

Following the wide gravel road through the forest, mindful not to take the middle part which is reserved for the Emperor, we reached the impressive shrine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking around the two “husband and wife” trees, bound together for eternity, strolling by the wooden tablets with wishes written on them and bowing before the shrine for a wish ourselves, we knew why we love Japan so much. The pleasant cocktail of crazy and mind boggling metropolises mixed with the pure tranquility and serenity of Japanese gardens and shrines enhanced by a very generous shot of friendliness and respect from and for the Japanese people just goes down so very well.

Due to some Meiji festivities, donations were displayed around the area. Chrysanthemum flowers, representing the Imperial family, Bonsai trees… all very nice to look at.

 

 

 

 

When it was time to start the next part of our journey, we returned to the hotel - not without a stop at another Uniqlo store -picked up our luggage and took the JR train to Yokohama.

When we reached Yokohama station about 35 minutes later, we took a taxi from the station which I called and paid by using the Uber App.
Driving up to the cruise terminal, it was nice to see the big blue hull of our home for the next two weeks on Yokohama’s pretty Osanbashi port. 
Embarkation on Millennium took less time than it took to look at the watch. We presented our boarding passes on the App and basically walked right through. No desk, no wait… we were really impressed. 
Once on board, the positive surprise continued. We hadn’t been on a refurbished M class before. They have given this elderly M class lady a very nice touch up and it felt as if we were on a new modern ship. Although we thought Infinity was in good shape a few months ago, Infinity’s old and Millennium’s modernized design now felt like night and day. Same goes for our stateroom 1106 (A1 Aqua Class). The new colors and design really met our taste. We also enjoyed the changes made to the Ocean View Café and the Sunset Bar. Millennium is still no S or E class, but bravo!
While Birgit unpacked her luggage I sipped on a Latte from Al Bacio on our balcony before we headed to the sailaway meeting at the Sunset Bar to meet some fellow cruisers with whom we‘ll be doing tours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When darkness set in, the skyline of Yokohama began to shine and presented a beautiful background for the start of our cruise.

 

 

We had dinner at Blu and a tea for a nightcap at Al Bacio before going to bed early… those of you who know us know that we are actually pretty boring people 😉

 

Hello,

  My husband and I will be in Yokohama following our Millennium cruise in March. We are staying near the port (New Grand Hotel).  I would like to visit Kamakura and was trying to find out  how far it is to the train station in Yokohama and how far is it to the Big Buddha from the Kamakura train station. I remember reading that you made this trip, also any other suggestions you might have for not to be missed places in Kamakura.  Thanks, your live blogs and photos are always wonderful and make us feel as though we are there with you.

                 Jane

Always enjoy following along on your trips!  Wonderful pictures and some great tour information. Happy New Year!

Jane

Hi Jim,

We are on the Beyond now on our first leg of a B3B. Booked dining packages ahead of sailing but made reservations on the first day of cruise. We were able to get all of restaurants at the times we preferred (we are early diners 6 to 6:30). Our favorites are Eden and Rooftop Grill. Le Voyage was ok but we will not be booking for the next 2 cruises. Fine Cut  and Raw on 5 are also good, we have always had  good meals and great service. La Petite Chef was a one and done for us, wish they had kept Quisine. Le Grand Bistro is very good and our go to for lunch on boarding days.

 Yesterday after a long day of touring around Athens, we did not feel like going to the dining room so went up to RoofTop and had no trouble getting a table with no reservation at 6pm. This might not happen on a holiday cruise.

 Glad you and Kathleen are doing well, I have been following your adventures on your blog and nice to see you back on Celebrity.

Jane & Ron

Hello,

  I have been following your review as we are doing this cruise in July. As soon as I read about your day in Visby I emailed Consu and arranged for the same tour. I loved your pictures and am glad that we will be visiting the farm. She answered immediately and I was able to confirm the tour, so thank you for posting! Hope you continue to have a wonderful cruise.

Jane

We will be in Oslo in August on the Celebrity Apex. I have been considering the Brim Explorer which is a 2 hour fjord cruise before touring the city. Has anyone done this? If so was it enjoyable?

It is a long day in port for us so we would still have plenty of time for seeing the sites in the city.

Thanks to everyone who answered, we will definitely be doing this when we get to Naples.

Has anyone done this tour? How far is it from the cruise port? We will be there in October and I am looking for something different to do. Thanks for any help you can give me.

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Well, it's happening.  Our March 25th cruise has cancelled Monterey.  And on top of that they completely re-did our schedule, changing dates of call,  and cut a few hours off of several other ports.  They added an overnight in San Francisco, which frankly does nothing for me (and I know, it's not all about me, some people love that part).  Very frustrating and very disappointing.  

We are on the March 25th cruise and have not received any information about changes. My app still has the same itinerary and the website still shows the same ports. How did you find out about the changes and what are they? Thanks

Hello,

We will be doing a B3B this fall with a lot of stops in Greece. Has anyone ever used shore excursiongroup.com to tour? They do offer some good options at reasonable prices. Before I book I would like to hear about anyone’s experience with them or if you can recommend another tour group or guide. Thanks in advance.

   Jane

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

You will have a wonderful time.   We were on Solstice for a B2B in December.  She is in beautiful condition, albeit not Revolutionized.   The staff is incredible .  The Retreat host, Mar is one of the best in the fleet.    Food was both well presented and tasty.

 

If you are able book a whale watching with Cabo Whale Watching -   best I've ever done and reasonable. 

Hello Jim,

We will be on the Solstice in March and  have 2 days in Cabo. Are you referring to Whale Watch Cabo? If so did you take the Zodiac Adventure Tour and how far is it from the port? 
 

Thanks, and while I don’t post much I love reading your live reviews!

     
   Jane

On 10/19/2022 at 12:31 PM, LongStrangeTrip19 said:

We used cinqueterretour.it (CTT Tours). We made the reservation and they assign the driver just prior to the trip. The driver we had was Robert and I would highly recommend him. He was friendly but also very prompt and knowledgeable about the area. Getting on the ferry and knowing where to meet the driver can be confusing but the driver was very clear and we had no issues. 

 

Here is a link to the itinerary we had. https://www.cinqueterretour.it/en/private-tours/italy-shore-excursions/shore-excursions-from-la-spezia-and-portovenere/cinque-terre-and-portovenere-shore-excursion-from-la-spezia-with-private-driver/

Thank you!

Hello, 

Thanks for a great review.  We will be going to La Spezia next year, who did you use as your guide?

To all on the Aug 28th sailing.   The Tahiti Tourism has changed the requirements for vaccinated people.  You can now get an Antigen Test done up to 48 hours prior to boarding your flight.  You can still get a Covid test if you would rather but you can get into Tahiti with a negative Antigen test.  As of now, Paul Gauguin still requires a negative Covid test no more than 3 days before boarding the ship on the 28th.  

On 12/7/2019 at 7:23 AM, Miaminice said:

You might find additional information in our travelogues about our two Japan cruises.

We loved both and already have a third booked 🙂

Japan on Millennium 

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

Japan on HAL Westerdam

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html
 

 

Hello, 

   We will be on Celebrity's Best of Japan cruise next March and plan to spend 4 days afterwards in Tokyo.  I have booked the Hilton Shinjuko.  Is it easy to find your way around and is language a problem?  What would you recommend as the must see sights?  I plan to use Tours by Locals for a day tour in Tokyo and possibly another day to Kamakona.  I would appreciate your input and any advice you could give me.  I read your reviews and it sounded wonderful.  We were originally suppose to go in Sept of last year and now I am hoping they will be ready for tourists by March of 2022.

  Thanks

Jane

2 hours ago, Pengawin3 said:

Well, fortunately we're only around $6k in, depositwise, on this sailing. Just not comfortable traveling under these circumstances. Sorry I won't be able to report back. 

I just want my $$ back! We booked this in 2019 while on the Tahiti to Fiji cruise. 

If anyone is interested, I'm giving up cabin 767! 😁

Hello,

     We are also on the August 28th sailing and would be interested in cabin  767.  I am sorry you won't be cruising but would appreciate your letting me know if you cancel.  Thanks

 Jane

Hong Kong to Sydney on Seabourn in April,  Norway with Azamara in August 

Hello, 

  We have also done the SeaCow snorkeling excursion twice.  Really loved it and  would highly recommend it to anyone

Norris,

  We are on Azamara next year and I am considering just buying the tickets for the railway in Flam online rather than doing a ship excursion. How far is it from the dock to the rail station?  Would we be missing something by doing it on our own versus with the ship?  Thanks and loved your review. 

    Jane

We just returned from a 10 day cruise on Equinox, we were in Aqua so Blu was our dining room.  I can honestly say the food, with the exception of 1 appetizer was wonderful.  In addition we purchased a 3 pkg specialty dining for Murano, Tuscan Grill and Qsine.  We enjoyed each of them but I do miss the old Qsine. Le Petite Chef was entertaining and the  food was very good but I think its a one and done. After all how many times do you want to see the same thing.  I miss the variety of foods that were available in Qsine, we always went to dinner there at least once on every cruise and I do wonder how many people will be repeat customers in the new concept.  Hope you have a great cruise.

Thanks for making the time each day to take the rest of us along on your cruise. I have really enjoyed reading your review. I have always been one of those people who don't like to many sea days in a row but now that it's over it seems as though it went by to quickly.  I hope you both had a wonderful time and wish you a safe journey home.

Jane

We booked a guarantee Aqua cabin for Oct 4 on the Equinox and got our room assignment last week.   It just showed up in our planner. This was our first time booking a guarantee and we booked the cruise on Aug 5.  Before we were assigned a room we got a move up offer which we decided not to do and fortunately we are happy with what we got.  Have a great cruise!

 Jane

Hi Norris,

  We are booked on the Azamara Norway Intensive cruise next year so I am really looking forward to your port reviews. Your pictures of London are beautiful, have been there several times but never did the river cruise so something to put on my to do list for next year.  Can't wait to read the rest of your review!

 Jane

Hello,

  Will be following along as my husband and I are on the Equinox on Oct 4, also in aqua.  We did the ABC Islands on the Equinox last year and went snorkeling on the Sea Cow (is it called the double dip snorkel?).  It really was great and we are doing it again in Oct.  We have been spoiled by the Great Barrier Reef, Tahiti and Bora Bora.  Bonaire is the best (most color and coral) that we have seen in the Caribbean and I am sure you will love it.  Hope you both have a wonderful cruise!

Jane