BruceMuzz

I have stayed in nearly every hotel at Narita Airport. All are quite good - none spectacular. For an interesting change, you might want to look at Hotels in Narita City. It is only 10 minutes away from the airport, and has some interesting shopping and sight-seeing.

In the Haneda Arrivals Hall, you could change money, access an ATM, have a coffee or breakfast. You could also take the elevator or escalator to the upper floors, where there is great duty free shopping, lots of restaurants, outdoor observation Deck, Massage Rooms, Sleeping Rooms, free internet, etc.

klfrodo is correct in saying that *legally*you may not need a passport on a closed-loop cruise from Seattle to Alaska. But some cruise lines require a passport anyway. You really should check with the cruise line you are booking with. Note; Remaining on a ship in a foreign port makes no legal difference. The ship - and you - entered the sovereign waters of that country a few hours earlier. You are already in that country whether or not you go ashore. Also note; If you are cruising without a passport and you, or your family, or the ship has any problems, you will be unable to fly home.

I never encounter any Casino Smoke. I won't sail on a ship that has a casino - and I certainly would never go into an ocean-going casino. Ship-based Casino odds are for suckers only.

American Coffee Producers have a problem roasting coffee beans. The beans are harvested in the tropics and placed in canvas bags for shipping. It turns out that cockroaches really like coffee beans, so they go along for the ride. When the bags of coffee beans arrive in America, they must be roasted. Removing or killing the cockroaches in the canvas bags is nearly impossible. Killing them would require poisons that would contaminate the coffee. So the coffee companies roast the beans and the roaches together. Then they are ground up and placed in tins for sale. The average ground roasted coffee in America contains 13% roasted cockroach. This increases the protein content of American roasted ground coffee beans. I wonder if it affects the taste?

How do you feel about eyelids, gums, lips, nose, cheeks, and ears of a cow?

I call them McLipLids. My family has a chain of Charcuteries. They produce many varieties of hot dogs. If you saw the parts of the cow that go into a hot dog, you would never eat one.

These fermented soy beans are one of the healthiest foods in the world. High protein, no fat, no artificial anything. Loaded with Vitamin K, and a very powerful natural blood thinner. Very inexpensive. Most of Japan’s 134 Million people eat Natto at least once a day - often for breakfast. Westerners who try Natto often compare the taste to an aged cheese. Have you tried it?

You will be surprised to learn that US Dollars are not accepted in Japan. You may be even more surprised to learn that credit cards - even though everyone has them - are not accepted in many areas in Japan. Even Japanese businesses that do accept credit cards may not accept credit cards issued by banks outside Japan. Currently in Japan the dollar / yen exchange rate is very favorable for US Dollars. Once in Japan, you will find it very difficult to locate somewhere to change US Dollars to Yen. Of course you can change money at the airport or at your hotel - at a very poor exchange rate. The best way to obtain Japanese Yen in Japan is at an ATM at one of the thousands of "Kombini" (convenience stores; 7-11, Family Mart, etc) that remain open 24/7.

Cruise Line pricing - like airline pricing - is a mystery to just about everyone - including those of us in the business. Cruise lines have basic price point levels for different categories of cabins; they also have basic price points for specific itineraries. But many other factors decide the actual selling price: age of the ship, size of the ship, time of year, world economy, special offers to specific age groups/ specific nationalities/ specific states/ specific countries. Then when you think you have it figured out - they factor in Supply and Demand. If a specific cruise is selling well at a specific point in time, the fares go up. If a specific cruise is not selling well at a specific point in time, the fares go down. The cruising public is rather fickle - which also affects fares. On the Mass Market Lines, every cabin on every ship on every cruise is sold an average of 8 times before the cruise actually happens. People change their minds, they cancel, they change dates, they change ships, they change categories, they change cruise lines, they have family emergencies, they have medical emergencies, they miss flights. This also helps to explain the sometimes wildly fluctuating fares offered, and also explains why, when you telephone a cruise line, you must often wait a long time to speak to someone.

Tokyo officially has 6 International Cruise Ports / Terminals. 5 of those ports / terminals are used regularly by international cruise ships. All of them have public transport available at the port.

Kushiro is a really small, very rustic, Northern Japan town. There really isn’t much there except Nature. The Sea Coast is beautiful, the local seafood is wonderful - but expensive. The Cranes are spectacular. The wetlands are beautiful. That’s about it. If you are not interested in the Nature part of this port, you are out of luck. On the pier, right near your ship, you will find a local products shopping building that offers just about every type of Hokkaido food that exists. A nice place for some souvenir shopping and getting a bite of the local food.

Sailing from Piraeus is a rather quick exercise. Takes about 20 minutes to get outside. As soon as you clear the breakwater you will see a rather desolate island in front of you. That is the largest sewage treatment plant in Europe. Be sure to get a photo.

After leaving baggage claim, you will enter the Arrivals Hall. There you will see desks selling tickets for the Limousine Bus. The Staff at the Desk speak English. You tell them where you want to go. They sell you the appropriate tickets and direct you to the bus stop just outside from the desk. OR - your follow the signs to the Taxi Stand that is located across the street.

Japanese pearls are extremely high quality - and extremely expensive. China is a far better place to shop for bargain pearls - the quality is not nearly as good, but prices are much lower.

And which do you prefer: Foie de Canard of Foie d'Oie ?

If you are a US Citizen, and if you have a valid US Passport, you will discover that Google is your friend. Just Google "US Citizen visiting Indonesia" to get your answer.

If you choose to book a cruise on a high quality cruise line (just like they were in the good old days), and pay a higher fare (although not as high as you might have paid in the good old days), you will find that the food quality and service quality will be quite similar to what you would have experienced in the good old days. The volume and variety of food may not be as extensive as in those good old days, but in many ways the quality will be as good or better. On any cruise line today, the service staff earn about half as much (in adjusted dollars) as they were paid and tipped in the good old days. Considering that, the service on the better lines today will rival the service in the good old days. But you will not have as many staff taking care of you. If you choose to book one of the Walmart of the Seas Lines, you get what you pay for.

This depends entirely on your nationality and passport.

Google is your friend. I have never had to rent a pocket WIFI, as I live in Japan.

The Minato Mirai Station is part of the Minato Mirai Subway / Train Line. 4 times every hour a Minato Mirai Express Train stops at that station. If you take it, you will be in Shibuya in 24 minutes for less than 500 yen. Also 4 times every hour, a Limited Express Train stops at the same station. if you take that one, you will be in Shibuya in 32 minutes for less than 500 yen. In Shibuya, if you choose to remain on the same train, it continues to Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.

Dry Dock is the busiest time of the year for ship's crew. In most (not all) dry docks, the crew lives onboard - sometimes in their own cabins - sometimes in guest cabins. Many times the crew is required to move when the renovations affect crew areas. In extreme cases, crew are housed and fed in hotels or on accommodation ships located nearby. This is a very expensive option for the cruise line. Often, the hundreds or thousands of contractors who are renovating the ship are housed in passenger cabins and fed onboard. The crew is very busy cleaning up after them and feeding them. Galley staff keep cooking. Housekeeping Staff keep cleaning cabins and doing laundry. Waiters and barmen keep working in their areas. Reception Desk is open. Shops, Casino, Shorex are closed. Ship renovations create a great deal of debris and waste materials. Crew members are issued safety uniforms and equipment, and assigned to teams that remove all the debris from the ship. Ship renovations are also dangerous. Some crew are issued radios / ship telephones and stand fire watch or security duties. During renovations in the dry dock, the company attempts to maintain elevators, water, toilets, elevators, aircon, and electricity onboard. But the renovations often require some or all of these services to shut down for hours - or sometimes days. When aircon, toilets, and electricity stop working, a cruise ship gets very uncomfortable very quickly. The crew just has to work through it.

There are many trains and buses that can take you between Haneda Kuko and Tokyo Station. There are also many limousine buses that travel between Haneda Kuko and all the major hotels in Tokyo. Ginza is a great location (just next to Tokyo Station) with many great hotels. Ginza is also one of the most expensive areas to stay. Although with a bit of searching, you might find a cheaper business hotel with a vacancy. Note that Japanese Hotels are quite different from those in the West. Even the cheapest Japanese Hotel will be clean and quite nice. Also note that Tokyo is a really, really big city. In Central Tokyo, there seems to be a subway or train station on nearly every street corner. Public Transit is fantastic - and the least of your worries.

In Japan, cash is always best.

Depending on weather, sea conditions, and countless other variables, shore-based wireless signals typically reach out as far as the horizon - which is about 15 miles. Many Japan cruises spend a lot of time within that 15 mile range. When Japanese passengers sail on a ship around Japan, you can always see them at the outside rail with their mobile telephones. I do the same.