BruceMuzz

There may be a few taxis available. Note that Daikoku Pier is primarily a cargo pier. There is a subway station there that can take you to Yokohama or to the Haneda Airport area. There are also city buses that shuttle the Cargo workers between Yokohama and the Cargo Pier.

While it is true that the Japanese Government is extremely strict about illegal drugs - and some legal ones as well - they are basically looking for drug traffickers. Unless you are carrying large quantities of opiates or other serious drugs, the Japanese really do not want to talk to you. In the nearly 40 years I have lived, worked, and travelled around Japan, I have never been asked for any documentation, and I have never heard of a tourist being asked for any documentation.

The US Military is required to be vaccinated, but they were caught bringing in un-vaccinated troops. They were also caught putting infected troops on commercial flights into and out of Japan. Everyone was surprised when Prime Minister Kishida agreed to open up the country to foreigners. He and his party have had a very difficult time with COVID and the economy. Opening up was his way of trying to turn things around. It has not worked out very well. National elections will probably be called in 2023. The election results might cause Japan to re-think allowing foreigners in during the COVID problems.

Since you paid for your passport, you probably believe that it belongs to you. It doesn’t. Nearly every passport on Earth has a message inside from the Government that issued it, informing you that the passport is the property of that Government - and that it must be surrendered to authorities when requested.

In japan we have a similar problem. The US Military is entering and leaving the country without being tested. There is NO way to be 100% sure who and where the sources of infection are. The biggest COVID outbreaks in Japan over the past 2 years have been on US Military Bases. The second-biggest COVID outbreaks in Japan over the past 2 years have been the Japanese Employees who work in the US Military bases, who then spread it to the surrounding towns. All of this suggests - but does not prove - that the US military is the primary source.

Stupid, you think. Yet very clever from the Art Auction Company’s point of view. Their customers are nearly all American. They store the “Art” in a cheap warehouse in the Florida Everglades. They never have to pay expensive international shipping charges to get the Art to the ships. They never have to deal with International Customs fees, paperwork, and delays. The purchasers even pay for the shipping and handling inside the USA.

Japan cancelled COVID testing of any kind when they opened up to the West a few months ago. So long as you have proof of vaccines received, and do not have symptoms, you can enter Japan. But the mass market cruise lines, who are nearly all experiencing high infection numbers onboard their ships, are worried about being kicked out of Japan. The Japanese Government has warned that any ship reporting 10%+ infection cases onboard must leave Japan immediately. The logistics of shifting a cruise from Japan to a nearby country are enormously difficult and expensive - especially if the ship has high COVID numbers. Pre-cruise testing will probably be required by all cruise lines boarding guests in Japan, in order to catch anyone hiding symptoms, or anyone about to exhibit them.

Even though there was no Presidential Election in 2022, there are very expensive reasons why the television channels on the ship are so limited. Although the ship has the equipment and technology to receive broadcasts out of the air, it is strictly illegal for them to show that programming to paying passengers. A satellite decoding license - that would allow legal onboard re-broadcasting of the channels - would be incredibly expensive for the cruise line. HAL would then pass those costs on to you in the form of steeply increased fares. We already know that many HAL passengers have serious allergies to steep fare hikes.

On the positive side, it also makes a portion of what the passenger pays adjustable as a means of rewarding and recognizing exceptional service.

Hard Ice Cream, i.e. Real Ice Cream is essentially a frozen egg custard or frozen Crème Anglaise, with flavorings added. Soft Ice Cream, better known as soft serve (because legally it is not ice cream) is made from powdered or concentrated milk, milk solids, sugar, corn syrup, chemical stabilizers, and artificial flavors.

If you think you are getting away with free “champagne” at an Art Auction, you are mistaken. That free “champagne” on most of the Carnival Corp ships costs the company less than US$2 per bottle. Chewing on the plastic cork from the bottle would be tastier and more satisfying.

Many cruise lines today are experiencing passengers contracting COVID and then hiding their symptoms with OTC Drugs while onboard. The unsuspecting Crew who clean their cabins and serve their food contract COVID from them and pass it to other crew. At the end of the cruise, the infected crew carry the illness to the next cruise and give it to the next group of passengers.

Rest assured that the Japanese Government has announced that foreign cruise ships have already been approved to visit Japan as early as this month. We do not expect to see many of those ships in Japan until the cruising season starts in March. You are also correct in that the huge influx of Western tourists these past 2 months has resulted in much higher COVID numbers in Japan. Although the Japanese wear masks religiously, and take extreme precautions, the foreign visitors are not so careful. Many refuse to wear masks, sanitize hands, and have their temperature taken. Your biggest concern might be the precautions that some cruise lines will be taking for sailing in Japan. The Japanese government has already announced that any foreign cruise ship experiencing 10%+ infection rate on any cruise will be forced to leave Japan. Many mass market cruises in other parts of the world are currently experiencing infection rates much higher than 10%. Some of the cruise line companies planning to visit Japan in the Spring will require negative PCR tests before boarding, masks worn onboard and ashore, and mid-cruise COVID testing onboard, in an attempt to avoid exceeding 10% and being kicked out of Japan. Having to move a Japan cruise to Taiwan or Korea would be a logistical, financial, and PR nightmare for the cruise companies.

Economics 101 Supply and Demand

There is a very popular Japanese Tour Company called “Green Tomato” that gets very high ratings and great comments for tours like the one you want. You can Google their website.

Rogue waves are one thing. Rouge waves are quite another thing.

I just Googled Rapid Antigen Test Yokohama and found hundreds of options. The closest one to the Cruise Terminal in Yokohama is at the website posted below. Covid Test Services at Minato Mirai Store in Kanagawa, Japan (furtherpass.com) This location is a 5-10 minute walk from the Osanbashi Cruise Terminal. They advertise English Speakers, a price of US$14, and results in 30 Minutes.

A passport is required if the cruise line requires it. You need to ask them.

Today’s Yomiuri Shimbun had a follow-up article about the resumption of foreign cruise ship visits to Japan. Nippon Maru will be the first cruise ship to depart Japan on an international cruise, on 15 December, 2022 Thus far there are a few scheduled cruise ship visits to Japan in February 2023 and many more in March. The precautions and regulations are still a bit unclear. Passengers are required to have a minimum 2 COVID Vaccines; Crew are required to have a minimum of 3 COVID Vaccines. No word yet on any testing required. Each ship will be required to have a number of cabins empty for isolation of positive cases. Positive cases MUST be quarantined onboard the ship. No word yet on positive cases staying in Japan - or leaving Japan. Each Japanese Port is developing it’s own set of rules about foreign visitors coming from Cruise Ships. Japan will require any ship with 10% or more infected to leave Japan immediately.

If you cruise in Europe, Asia, or South America, you most likely will not see many Spring Breakers - ever.

You almost have it correct. Tokyo To (東京都) is Tokyo City Prefecture is Tokyo (東京） 160-0023 is indeed the postal code. You will find that when you insert the postal code, most of the other required information populates automatically. On some websites, the hyphen in the postal code is not needed.

The BEST and LEAST STRESSFUL way is a limousine.

If you re-read my post, you will find that we are owned by a very large cruise operator. Very large cruise operators tend to make very large profits with many very large mass market cruise ships. Owning a small, elegant, very pricey (unprofitable) cruise line is just an affordable ego trip for a very wealthy mass market cruise line owner.

My company has been doing it this way for years, and rarely calls at US Ports. We survive because we are owned by a very large cruise operator that does not require us to make a profit.

Easy answer. I work for one of those lines. The company spent a great deal of time and money to re-negotiate all the employment contracts for the crew. Then they gave all the crew a big raise in salary. They instituted a no “tipping policy” onboard. They had to raise cruise fares substantially to cover the additional costs. Now we are having challenges filling the ships with paying passengers. Our competitors do not include tips in the fare, so they appear to be better bargains. We are also struggling to find crew. The crew is more comfortable with the old tipping system, and believe that they could make more money with tips. We are also experiencing problems with poor performers receiving the same salary as the top performers. Crew Morale is suffering.