BruceMuzz

Easter holiday is not celebrated in Japan. No problem.

Currently in the USA, the FDA has ruled that a jar of Honey sold in the USA and Labeled "100% Pure Honey" need not contain any honey at all. Most honey sold in the USA does actually contain some or all honey - but it is no longer legally required. If you purchase a bottle of California Chardonnay in America, the law requires that it contain at least 75% California Chardonnay. The remaining 25% could be nearly any liquid, and does not have to be identified on the label. If the US food quality regulations are so lax, can you really expect to believe a Mexican Vanilla label that claims "No Coumadin" ?? If you find Mexican Vanilla extract that seems too cheap to be true - it probably is exactly that.

Kyoto originally translated as “Capital City”, as it was the Capital of Japan for a long time. There is really a lot to see there. Even though transportation from Kobe to Kyoto is quick and easy, it may be quite a challenge. Can you imaging a Japanese tourist telling you he wanted to visit Washington DC for 3 hours to see the sights?

Japan and South Korea have both opened in the past month to foreign tourists flying into their countries. Neither Government has yet said anything about allowing foreign flag Cruise Ships to enter their countries. There are still strong memories of Diamond Princess having so many problems in Japan at the start of the pandemic. It will probably take a bit longer.

Currently there are 91 countries, representing 80% of the world’s coastlines, that have some form of cabotage laws.

If you go online, you can find any number of so-called “organizations” that will certify any animal as a service animal - for just a few dollars.

The ADA specifically forbids a cruise line from asking what the service animal is supposed to do. There is a huge fine if something like this is reported.

There are several Caribbean and South Pacific Islands that do not allow Service Dogs to go ashore. Local authorities threaten to shoot any animal coming down the gangway. Some cruise lines going to those locations do not allow service animals onboard for those itineraries.

I really miss: Well dressed passengers Passengers with good manners Passengers who can actually afford to be on the cruise Passengers who shine their shoes more than once per year Passengers who speak more than English and English Louder

If you are a mass market passenger, it is hit or miss if t you need to present your card to show you have the package. The better, smaller, pricier ships all know your name / cabin number / package status and do not require you to show anything.

Daikoku Pier is actually a Cargo Pier that is rarely used by cruise ships - unless the regular Cruise Ship piers are already assigned to others. Princess may have a shuttle bus. But if they do not, there is a regular bus that caries local workers to the Pier - and back to Yokohama.

About 30 years ago I was working on an American Flag Steamship for a new Cruise Line in Hawaii. They hired a new Executive Chef from California. His menus were spectacular - and not too different from the Titanic Menus. After the first few weeks, our mostly American passengers were complaining bitterly about the food. They all asked why we weren’t serving any “normal food” to them. So we traded the passenger menus with the crew menus. The passengers all got pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries. They were thrilled. The crew ate pheasant, quail, venison, caviar. They were pretty happy.

Having previously lived in Singapore - better known as “Disneyland with the Death Penalty” - my best advice is try not to get arrested or fined for doing anything that is fun, relaxing, or enjoyable.

The Japanese Government is very anxious to get those tourism revenues back up. But the Japanese public are not so inclined. Unlike Americans, Japanese are more concerned about the actual conditions than they are about making a profit. A good example is the previous Olympics Games (before COVID). Typically, the Olympics are a potential gold mine for Tourism-related businesses. But in Japan, the best Restaurants, Bars, Shops, and Attractions closed for the Olympics. Their owners and operators did not want to risk the embarrassment of confronting foreigners who were not sensitive to Japanese manners and customs. Even during the recent COVID Olympics in Japan, the Government developed a nationwide campaign to politely tell Americans that it was extremely rude in Japan to: 1. Walk, eat, and drink at the same time in public. 2. Talk loudly on the trains and subways 3. Eat and drink on trains and subways 4. Leave trash on trains, subways, and in public 5. Talk on a mobile telephone while on a train or subway, or while eating in a restaurant 6. Try to use a public Spa (Onsen) or swimming pool if you have tattoos or piercings The campaign failed miserably, causing the Japanese public to be even more reluctant to re-welcome tourists to Japan.

Hank, Right again. Although Yokohama is a very nice city (technically it is the biggest city in Japan, since Tokyo Metro - at around 42 million people - is officially an Administrative District and not a city) it is very limited by Japanese Standards. It is possible to catch the Minato-Mirai Express subway train in Yokohama and arrive in Shibuya 29 minutes later. But that Express train does not run very often, depending on the day of the week and the time of day. You might have to wait over one hour to catch it, and save only12 minutes travel time. By the way, the Minato-Mirai Line now extends from Shibuya to Shinjuku San-Chome, but under a different name. You remain on the same train after reaching Shibuya Station from Yokohama.

It is an industry-wide thing. Plan ahead.

Bear in mind that there are over 3,500 different variations on food allergies / restrictions that a cruise ship can encounter on any given cruise. Some are very simple - like a food allergy. Others can be very complex - like Ovo-pescatarian-vegetarian-lactose intolerant. Please do not laugh. We get requests like this all the time. It gets more complex when there are as many as 20+ different food outlets on a big ship. Then to complicate it further, some people like to change their food allergies and restrictions from day to day, depending on what they see on the menu. It is very important to frequently repeat yourself - especially on a big ship - when you have serious food restrictions.

It is important to understand that there are different reasons for buying a drinks package. If you are a very heavy drinker, it may sometimes actually be a good deal - financially. More often it is a form of convenience, to avoid the perceived nickel and diming, check signing, etc. In the “good old days” of cruising, you had to pay for everything up front, whether or not you actually wanted or used it. This made cruising a bit more expensive and out of reach of the masses. Then the public demanded that the cruise lines only charge them for what they wanted. The cruise lines obliged, but then were accused of nickel and diming. Now the cruise lines are offering a hybrid solution. You can pre-pay for certain packages that include some/all of the things you want onboard. These are rarely bargains, but allow you to avoid paying for other things that you do not want to pay for.

You could buy a hot tub and stay at home.

It’s all about the sampling numbers that can give you a comprehensive view of the situation. You are in one country, looking at one travel agent, and a few cruise lines. I am looking at multiple countries, hundreds of travel agents, and dozens of cruise lines. Actual commissions can range from 3% to 20%.

No need. I have worked on the cruise ship end of cruising for 40+ years. Then I have been working on the agency side for the past 20 years. I know the numbers very well.

Nobody really knows yet when international cruising will resume in Japan. Land-based tourism to Japan just resumed this week. Already there is a lot of local drama with American tourists refusing to wear masks. This is very offensive to the Japanese, and may result in the door closing again. For any foreign cruise ships to be allowed into Japan, at least one other nearby Asian country must also be open to them (to comply with cabotage laws). It appears that South Korea may be first, and Taiwan Second. We still do not know when that may happen.

Narita Express train takes you from Narita Airport to Shinjuku Station for about $25 per person in 70 minutes. Shinjuku Station is 2 blocks from Tokyo Hilton. Free WI-FI onboard. Tokyo Monorail takes you from Haneda Airport to Hamamatsucho for about $3 per person in about 20 minutes. Hamamatsucho to Tokyo Hilton by taxi is about 15 minutes and costs about US$20. Free WI-FI onboard the monorail. Private car transfer from Narita is about US$150. Takes about 90 minutes. Private car transfer from Haneda is about US$100. Takes about 40 minutes.

The VERY LAST thing that cruise lines want to do is alienate travel agents. There are currently 10’s of thousands of travel agents in the USA alone. Every one of them desperately wants to sell you a cruise in order to get that easy 5%-10% commission from the cruise line. The cruise lines desperately want them to do just that. If they did not have all those “volunteer” employees, the cruise lines would be forced to hire thousands more agents and vastly enlarge their offices to accommodate all those employees. The salaries, benefits, taxes, and operating costs would add up to millions of dollars in overhead. The cruise lines just don’t want to go there. And you don’t want it either. All those costs would be passed on to the passengers in the form of higher fares.

When a foreign flag cruise ship enters the waters of your country (or a foreign flag airplane), a unique blend of local and international laws goes into effect. On some levels, Local Laws and / or Federal Laws take precedence; on other levels, International and/or Flag State Laws govern what they do. Sometimes there are grey and/or overlapping laws that confuse everyone. All the employees on a foreign flag ship - or airplane - that is inside the USA, have a special US Visa, called a C1-D, that allows them to work onboard their foreign flag vessel, as a non-US Citizen. They are not subject to US Labor or Tax Laws. They cannot legally work anywhere off their vessel. If they want to set foot off their vessel, they must carry a US I-95 Visa that allows foreign transport workers to briefly leave their vessel and briefly enter the USA (usually for a maximum of 24 hours) - but not for employment purposes. When they join the vessel in a US Port, they must go through US Immigration and customs, as they are officially leaving the USA and entering the country where their vessel is flagged. If they disembark their vessel in a US port, they must go through Immigration again, as they are officially leaving the country where the vessel is flagged and entering the USA. When they disembark their vessel in a US port, after going through US Immigration and customs, they are granted a 24 hour visitor visa that allows them time to get to the airport and fly back to their home country.