Viking Ocean - Japan excursion questions

My wife and I have cruised on ocean cruises quite a bit and just got off our first Viking river cruise (Danube) and really enjoyed it. I am planning a cruise to Japan (possibly China / Korea) for early 2020. I really like the itinerary for Viking Far East Horizons as well as a Celebrity itinerary. The Viking is quite a bit more money - so I am trying to figure total cost considering included excursions on Viking, drinks, etc.

While on our Danube river cruise we pretty much only did the included excursions and then went on our own in the afternoons at each port. That worked well in the towns and cities right on the Danube. My concern is that in Japan, that strategy may not work as well - unless the ship docks close to the town center, etc. I am afraid we might not want to use the included excursions if they are short, instead opt for the pay excursions. As an example, we would want to take the trip to Kyoto and I am sure that would be an expensive excursion.

Can anyone comment on the other ports, is it possible to use the included excursions and then explore on your own, or do you end up with a pay excursion at each stop?

Thanks.

Viking has yet to call in Japan or South Korea. These are new itineraries and won't sail until 2019.

You can view what the included tour is for each port of call and the optionals they are thinking about offering on the Viking website (however, prices are not included here). Go to the itinerary you are interested in. Click on the itinerary tab and then scroll down to where it says Day-By-Day. Pick a city and click anywhere in the band. This will take you to a city specific page and there you will see the shore excursions. One will be marked "Included."

At most ports, Viking provides shuttle buses from the ship to a point in town more convenient for touring on your own.

Further to Peregrina's information on finding what tours may be offered, with a little research you can determine which berth the ship will use, to know proximity to town.

I start with this website - https://www.whatsinport.com/ Select the country, then a port. It advises where cruise ships normally dock. I also check their cruise calendar, which provides a rough indication of what other ships may be in port. I am currently conducting this exercise for our 2020 WC, but closer to departure I will confirm by checking the cruise schedule of all ports that post this information.

Reading reports from past cruisers, we have learned that the early times for included excursions frequently sell out first. Your cabin category dictates the number of days before departure that tour bookings open, so you may or may out be able to book the early departures. We are in a DV4 and if the earliest included are already booked, we plan to complete an extra excursion or free time in the AM, followed by the latest available included.

Thanks for the ideas, I will look into this further....