BruceMuzz

On 2/8/2024 at 10:15 AM, lorif said:

Hi All,

We have a port stop scheduled which looks like docking at Ishinomaki for Sendai (like LeHavre for Paris).  When I look at free port schedule sites, our ship does not show at Ishinomaki, but at Sendai.  I like to book private excursions, but don't feel confident as to where we will dock.

Does anyone have any experience with this?  Any other suggestions on where to check?  NCL call centre is not usually terribly helpful. 

Thanks!

The solution is very simple. Very few cruise ships dock at Sendai. Any private tour operator could easily learn - and would know - where your ship will be docked. Let the tour operator work it out.

A few things he did not mention:

It is quite a hike from the ship to the train station.

The Yurikamome line primarily takes you to a baseball stadium downtown and the cruise terminal in Odaiba.

It is best to go to the end of the line in downtown Tokyo, and then find transportation from there.

Osanbashi Terminal is quite close.

Daikoku Terminal is quite far.

There are 2 cruise terminals in Yokohama:

Osanbashi Terminal on the Yokohama waterfront, and Daikoku on an island in Yokohama Bay. Which is yours?

2 hours ago, Mar1987 said:

The 2 main ones are Tokyo Haneda and Osaka. It depends where you will end up your cruise.

The THREE main ones are Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, and Osaka KIX airports.

If your cruise ends at one of the 6 Tokyo Area Cruise Terminals, Tokyo Haneda is closer to all of them.

If your cruise ends at Kobe, you will be at either Naka Terminal or Kobe Terminal. The nearest large International Airport will be KIX Osaka.

If your cruise ends at Osaka, it will most likely be at Tempozan Terminal. KIX Osaka Airport will also be your best choice. 

6 hours ago, John Bull said:

 

Absolutely, Bruce. Crew on-board (understandably) know far more than head-office staff on matters like this, ship-issued visas, passports, inoculation requirements, etc etc.

Problem is, other arrangements - hotels, ferries, flights etc - can't be left until then, at least not without excessive late-booking grief & costs.

I've often wondered - is there any way to get the answer from the ship in advance ?

 

JB 🙂

Yes, there is.

If you can find the email address or telephone number of the ship, you can contact them directly.

If you canot find those contact numbers, you must go through the Head Office and they can make the request to the ship for you. 

Whenever you contact a cruise line Head Office to get an answer on issues like this, the Head Office then emails the ship and has the Purser contact the local Agent to get a definitive answer to the question.

That is what you can do. It is even easier to speak personally to the ship's Purser once you get onboard. He can usually get an answer for you within one day.

It may be helpful for you to know that in most cases, your cabin keycard is your temporary visa to visit the country the ship has called at. The moment that your ship is out of the country's territorial waters, your temporary visa is cancelled. If you are no longer onboard the ship when that happens, you instantly become an illegal alien.

It is very important that you notify the ship when you board, that you plan to disembark early. This allows time for the ship and the Agent to arrange proper visa procedures to keep everyting legal.

It would be helpful if you told us which airline(s) you are flying, which Japanese city you are passing through, and which airports you will be using.

Tokyo has Narita and Haneda airports, each with three terminals. These are some of the best and most efficient airports in the world. If your flights are connecting in the same terminal, you may need only an hour or so between flights. If you are commuting between terminals, it could take much longer. If you must commute between the two airports, it will take you far longer.

If you are flying through KIX Airport in Osaka, nearly the same story.

Generally you can trust the airlines to know how long it will take you to make a connecting flight. They do not want pax missing connections and stuck in airports, needing yet another flight. When you book your flights, they can advisse you on the approximate connecting times.

17 hours ago, Brookhaven_90 said:

Hello & thanks for all of your helpful advice. I’m relatively new to this site, so apologies if you’ve discussed this before. We are spending a couple of days in Tokyo ahead of our cruise and I’ve booked a hotel in Ueno, partly because it appears straightforward to get to from Narita airport and partly because of Sakura viewing in Ueno park. We would also like to spend some time visiting key places in central Tokyo. Is Ueno too far out? Is the area somewhere you’d recommend for first time visitors? (It’s not too late to change!) Lastly, would a taxi from there to Tokyo cruise terminal be relatively easy? Many thanks.

 

Ueno is very nice - but really out of the way.

Ueno is home to the Ueno Zoo and Museums, Sensoji Temple, and Kappabashi (Restaurant City). The Zoo and Museums are nice, Sensoji Temple is too touristy,  and Kappabashi is really interesting if you are in the Restaurant Business.

If you stay in central Tokyo, the long subway or train trip to get up there once is OK. But if you stay in Ueno, the daily train and subway trips to get downtown would waste a lot of your time.

As for the taxi ride to the Tokyo Cruise Terminal, there are 6 Cruise Terminals that are called "Tokyo Cruise Terminal". Ueno is very far from all of them.

You first should check which cruise terminal you will go to: Harumi, Hinode, Oi, Tokyo International Cruise Terminal, Osanbashi, or Daikoku.

It will most likely be one of the last three listed.

Then you can plan on a hotel that is relatively close. 

Rome2Rio website is your friend.

Type in the starting and ending locations.

Rome2Rio will give you every option, with times and prices.

1 hour ago, Beachy57 said:

In March we are going to Japan but need help with transfers please.

 

We fly in to Narita airport then off to Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. 2 days later need to get from the hotel to Osanbashi Cruise port in Yokohama. After the cruise need to get from the Cruise to Narita airport for a 3pm flight.

I have heard about the limousine bus, but am confused where we would get it at the end of the cruise. Please help!

From Keio Plaza Hotel, you need to get to Shinjuku Station - just a few streets away - to catch the Narita Express train to Yokohama Station. Then, Yokohama Station to Osanbashi Terminal is a 10 minute taxi ride.

After your cruise:

The Limousine Bus picks people up at all the major hotels and train stations in Yokohama.

You could probably walk from Osanbashi Cruise Terminal in Yokohama to one of the Hotels across the street.

Or you could take a taxi to one of the hotels, or to Yokohama Station, to catch the bus to Narita.

Or you could take the Narita Express Train from Yokohama Station to Narita Airport. 

4 hours ago, petlady7 said:

Hi , have read on FB that train tickets from Osaka to Kyoto have to be booked in advance and reserved and it is not possible to buy them at the station , has anybody been recently to know either way please or does anybody know the website to book them , ninjarail has a really bad review score so don't want to use them , thanks

You were mis-informed.

If seats are available - and they usually are - you can purchase the tickets in the Station.

When you plan to do something like this, you really need to tell the cruise line.

They, in turn, will inform the Ship's agent and local Immigration to ensure that it is allowed and legal.

11 hours ago, ruimin said:

Thanks, I appreciate the help, do you know roughly how much it cost?

ruimin

If you go to the Rome2Rio website and enter starting and ending locations, it will give you every possible travel option, as well as travel time and cost.

6 hours ago, ruimin said:

Hi, we are leaving on a cruise from Daikoku Terminal in April, and our hotel is near Yokohama train Station (besides taking taxi to the Daikoku Terminal) can you recommend any other ways of getting to the terminal? Thank you so very much.

ruimin

You could take a combination of buses and subway trains, with a bit of walking. But its really not worth the effort.

Just take a taxi.

On 2/17/2024 at 2:36 AM, Gwendy said:

Google approximate taxi fare and also transfer companies. Some years ago we booked a transfer from airport to Yokohama, can’t remember name of company but it was the cheapest one of a few.  Still,very expensive, but remember it is nearly 50 km.

Not quite correct.

The distance from Haneda Airport to the Northern edge of Yokohama is 16 km.

The distance from Haneda Airport to Central Yokohama is 20 km.

The distance from Haneda Airport to the Southern edge of Yokohama is 29 km.

10 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

Ask your hotel concierge, or front desk?

 

GC

This is the best and easiest way to do it.

Seabourn has been on a long, slow trip to mediocrity since they were purchased by Carnival.

Hanoi is a better bet for what you want.

If you visit the Silk Market and Shops in downtown Hanoi, you can be measured in the morning, have a fitting in your hotel room after lunch, and receive the final garments at your hotel in the evening.

All for a very attractive price.

All passengers are liable to be rejected, who, upon examination, are found to be lunatic, idiot, deaf, dumb, blind, maimed, or infirm, or above the age of 60 years;

- White Star Line Passage Contract, 1892

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

When I was a lad my drink of choice was milk.Many apartment buildings had vending machines in the lobby where one could by a quart for a quarter.

Len,

The Mass Market Cruise Lines really, really need to get you back onboard.

Many cruisers do not entirely understand the workings of Immigration for Cruise Ships.

In many countries, your cabin key is your temporary visitor visa to legally visit the country.

That temporary visa is valid only so long as your ship remains in the territorial waters of that country.

If the ship leaves you behind for any reason, and departs the territorial waters of that country, your temporary visa expires. Unless you have arranged another visitor / tourist visa, you suddenly become an illegal alien. 

On 9/9/2017 at 7:04 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

When a ship is in port it is open for disembarking and reboarding 24 hours a day. You can come and go as you wish - and stay in a hotel if desired. As mentioned, you just need to be back on board typically 30 minutes prior to the ship's departure time the next day.

This is not always the case.

Some ships and some cruise lines do not do this.

Some countries do not allow this.

It is always a good idea to inform the ship that you plan to be ashore all night.

That way, they can inform the port agent and ship security if anything goes wrong.

On my ship in Southeast Asia, if you stayed ashore all night without informing us, we would have the police searching for you.

I just Googled the Cruise Ship Port schedule for Tianjin, the port of Beijing.

In the next 2 months ships from HAL, RCCL, Seabourn, Silversea, Oceania, Hapag-Lloyd, and Phoenix-Reisen will call there. This is the "off season" for North China. In Spring, Summer, and Fall there will be many more ships going to Beijing.

There are no cruises including Phoenix, Arizona either.

Beijing and Phoenix are both far away from the sea.

If you want to cruise to Phoenix, you will have to look for a cruise to Baja California, San Diego, or L.A.

If you want to cruise to Beijing, you will have to look for a cruise to Tianjin or Xingang.

There are many cruises that stop in all 5 of those places.