Miaminice

Hi, Hiroshima wasn´t on this itinererary. The last time we have been to Hiroshima was quite a while ago - in 2017. I remember we took a train to Hiroshima Station from the port. So I don´t know if there will be a shuttle offered or not - sorry! Hiroshima was part of this cruise: https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

We have bee to Japan 3 times and already booked a fourth cruise for next year. Love Japan! BUT all the attractions involve walking a stairs !!! So I am nor sure about your handicap. The Geisha area is Gion and there are daily performances at the Gion Corner Theater. But yes, it is touristy 🤷🏻‍♂️ We do have some experience to contribute... and some travelogues for you as teasers. Japan Millennium 2023 https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ Japan Cherry Blossom Cruise HAL Westerdam 2019 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html Japan Millennium 2017 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

Taking a taxi was easy. Once you leave the pier there’s a taxi stand. At the stand there are English speaking helpers asking where you want to go. They will tell the driver. The taxi was JPY 3200 each way.

It sounds like another chapter in their “How to run the worst IT system ever” book. But honestly, why create a problem where there is none?!?! Shrug it off, do his check in later and go together.

Sure! But the dishes are not the whole picture 😉 It´s how and where they are served. And you can always get dishes from the MDR if they sound better. Like I said, we miss BLU every time we are in the big and hectic MDR. The exception is E class. The smaller MDRs are really nice. Not booking Aqua and having Blu on E class is OK for us.

Personally I would only speak of experiences I made myself and not of friend´s etc. For over 10 years we almost exclusively cruise in Aqua - because of Blu. On the rare exception cruise without Blu, we miss Blu a lot. We do like the menu but it´s not our main draw. The real benefit for us is the smaller dining room with a nicer ambiance. Not as loud, no rush and way more personal service. That´s why we book Aqua. And if we don´t like anything on the menu, we can still order from the MDR menu (on most ships).

don’t waste money on Concierge! Do Aqua! 👍

that‘s gone for so many years already that I didn’t even mention it 😁

Let‘s just mention the things not included anymore. Of course priority boarding is gone since they do the time slots. On our past two cruises the canapés where gone - fine with us. We always asked not to bring them. Besides that no changes. Water bottles still there.

Hi, just to correct the above. You can´t walk into town. That´s definitely to far! However, a shuttle is provided - by the port. Once you are in town, Kagoshima is easy to do DIY.

We have done 3 cruises to Japan so far. Needless to say we fell in love with Japan after the first cruise 🙂 Our most recent one was in October 2023 on Millennium. And when we came back, we were already looking for another one. So we booked #4 for May 2025. If you like, we have some travelogues for you as teasers. Japan Millennium 2023 https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ Japan Cherry Blossom Cruise HAL Westerdam 2019 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html Japan Millennium 2017 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

Doable but extremely tight - too tight for my taste.

@Cool Cowie sorry, I didn’t tag you in my answer above.

Yes - and the cruise and our experiences, especially because of the fabulous guides, was amazing!

Usually I book tours between a year to 6 months before. Since I look for people on the roll calls to join us, I like to be early.

Since there is no tender port, the delay is minimal - if there’s one at all. as soon as the ship is cleared, you are good to go. Sometimes a different exit as the booked tours but at the same time.

renovated means new carpets, furniture, curtains and such. They can’t rewire staterooms. Nowadays when a ship is built, the staterooms are fixed containers prepared off site by suppliers of the shipyards. They are then delivered with all wiring and pipes. The container is then placed into the hull and the wires and pipes are connected. So the wires are where they are. Some of the newer ships have bed lights with USB and some with a 110v outlet. there are plenty of outlets in the state room. I’m asking them to bring an extension cord which they are happy to do is really not a problem. To be honest, the moment I start worrying about where the outlets are to evaluate the overall pleasure of a cruise is the moment well stop cruising. Maybe you are better off cruising with HAL in the future. We did and we certainly prefer Celebrity. Granted, the placement of outlets was a factor we definitely missed in our decision process.

On Silhouette I“d recommend Murano and the Lawn Club Grille over Tuscan. On other ships where they are not available, Tuscan is okay.

We just booked our fourth cruise to Japan - on Millennium. Two of the previous cruises were on Millennium, one on HAL Westerdam. We wouldn’t do HAL again. Didn’t like the layout and we were pretty disappointed by the food. Our last cruise to Japan was in October 2023 on Millennium and we really enjoyed the refreshed ship. Yes, she’s still a M class ship - but they did a great job. She feels fresh and modern. Review can be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ For our fourth Japan cruise we were looking at different itineraries and looked into NCL and Princess. Further investigating the different ports of their itineraries soon brought us back to Millennium. Celebrity’s ports of call offer many different opportunities - even though we have been to all of them before more than once. Some of the smaller ports visited by NCL and Princess just don’t offer a lot - with some I’d even say nothing. So in a nutshell: even though we were open to alternatives we gladly chose Millennium again. And we also prefer E class or S class - but think M class is a perfect size for the Japan cruises.

Japan is always worth a visit and cruise 👍 Maybe our reviews help... Japan Millennium 2023 https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2970853-celebrity-millennium-japan-10242023-liveish-report/ Japan Cherry Blossom Cruise HAL Westerdam 2019 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html Japan Millennium 2017 https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

no, not a problem at all. We always do.

Yep! Which is why the comparison to Apex is irrelevant 🤷🏻 And the question was about Constellation.

Since the question was about Constellation, your dislike of Blu on Apex does not really relate to the topic and shouldn´t unsettle the OP. That being said, we enjoyed Blu on 4 cruises on Apex. We go for service and food and not for the view. When we go to dinner it´s dark anyway. The noise in Blu is relative - since it´s always more quiet than any MDR, I can live with it.

No, my experience is that E-Class has no fixed dining times... although still a part of their IT system.

Blu is our main reason to always book Aqua. Not because we think the food is that much better, but because we like the more personal service and less rushed ambiance. Especially breakfast is a treat. You can come to Blu any time you like and you can get your prefered service team if you let them know. IMHO Blu is much nicer than the MDR - especially the unrefurbished one of Constellation. As Aqua guests you can also dine at the MDR any time you want - but in the Select Dining section, not in the fixed seating part.