Japan Cruise on Westerdam - 04/14/19 - Live(ish) report

[bennybear]

We had a blast!   Thanks to Oliver for the impromptu dining tour last evening!  Safe travels!  

 

As we are staying a few days more we took a train to see the wisteria at Ashikaga Flower Park.  We are glad we have worked up to Tokyo!  Especially since it Is the start of golden week!  

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by bennybear

[bennybear]

Hank.  We found the food and service to be very good in the main dining room.   We loved Canaletto.   We tried the sel de mer in the pinnacle and I was underwhelmed.  Though the branding one of our party had was outstanding.   We went for Easter brunch and found again the food and service disappointing.  An extra 25$ each for brunch and no dessert?  Water never refilled.  Very poor service compared to our usual table.  

The local entertainment was outstanding,  we missed the others as we had pretty busy touring days so cannot comment other than that.  

 

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by bennybear

[jojoshumate]

Hi Miaminice—thank you again for taking us with you—photos were amazing!  Quick question—do you speak Japanese?  It appeared that you all did some independent sightseeing on your own—is it easy to navigate?  Can you get by with English?  Thanks in advance and safe travels home!!

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, jojoshumate said:

Hi Miaminice—thank you again for taking us with you—photos were amazing!  Quick question—do you speak Japanese?  It appeared that you all did some independent sightseeing on your own—is it easy to navigate?  Can you get by with English?  Thanks in advance and safe travels home!!

 

Thank you!

 

No, besides a few friendly phrases I do not speak Japanese. We find Japan very welcoming and organized and therefore easy to navigate. At every port there are people handing out maps and giving information. The maps are in English and show train, tram or bus information. There are also a few very good tourist websites with easy to follow tips.

I printed some things and it turned out we didn’t need the prints because everything was easy to find.

 

Once you get the basics of how to use the trains and subways it becomes very easy. Signs in the stations are also in English. The thing that can be a bit overwhelming is the size of some stations (e.g. in Tokyo).

 

Even if you have trouble at some point, you will find the Japanese extremely eager to help. Their friendliness and respectful ways are also why we fell in love with this country.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Miaminice

[Miaminice]

Japan Cruise 2019 - Day 16 - The End

In the morning we took the train and monorail to Haneda Airport. We had time to spare and had not had breakfast yet, so we looked at the upper level of the terminal and found the restaurants and shops designed like a Japanese Village - nice!

 

 

 

A Ramen place caught our attention and you know by now what’s about to come. We had a last Ramen in Japan. 

 

 

 

In one of the sweets shops we bought a „Tokyo Banana“ for dessert before heading to our gate.

 

 

 

The flight back to Frankfurt took a bit over 11 hours and by now we are already back home.

 

Thank you for following along on our trip to beautiful Japan - a place well worth visiting. I sure hope we were able to convey that it was a beautiful cruise. Not just for the country but also because of the great people we met along the way. Again Birgit and I enjoyed Japan immensely - so much that we are already looking into another Japan cruise for 2021.

 

If you are interested in more photos and places of Japan please look at the more extensive travelogue of our previous Japan cruise.

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

Arigatou gozaimashita and Sayonara!

 

Oliver

 

 

 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

On 4/29/2019 at 8:49 AM, bennybear said:

We had a blast!   Thanks to Oliver for the impromptu dining tour last evening!  Safe travels!  

 

As we are staying a few days more we took a train to see the wisteria at Ashikaga Flower Park.  We are glad we have worked up to Tokyo!  Especially since it Is the start of golden week!  

 

 

Beautiful pictures.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Miaminice

 

Enjoyed your reports and pictures.

 

Nice that the airport had lovely restaurants.

[kiwicruisers51]

20 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Japan Cruise 2019 - Day 16 - The End

In the morning we took the train and monorail to Haneda Airport. We had time to spare and had not had breakfast yet, so we looked at the upper level of the terminal and found the restaurants and shops designed like a Japanese Village - nice!

 

 

 

A Ramen place caught our attention and you know by now what’s about to come. We had a last Ramen in Japan. 

 

 

 

In one of the sweets shops we bought a „Tokyo Banana“ for dessert before heading to our gate.

 

 

 

The flight back to Frankfurt took a bit over 11 hours and by now we are already back home.

 

Thank you for following along on our trip to beautiful Japan - a place well worth visiting. I sure hope we were able to convey that it was a beautiful cruise. Not just for the country but also because of the great people we met along the way. Again Birgit and I enjoyed Japan immensely - so much that we are already looking into another Japan cruise for 2021.

 

If you are interested in more photos and places of Japan please look at the more extensive travelogue of our previous Japan cruise.

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

Arigatou gozaimashita and Sayonara!

 

Oliver

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing information.  So helpful.  I bet you are now ready to plan your next trip already, or maybe that is already done. Thanks and regards Sue

[Aloha 1]

Thank you for your wonderful report! We will be in Hakodate next month. Do you recall the name of the ramen restaurant you went to there? 

 

[Miaminice]

On 5/9/2019 at 1:20 AM, Aloha 1 said:

Thank you for your wonderful report! We will be in Hakodate next month. Do you recall the name of the ramen restaurant you went to there? 

 

 

Sure, it was Ajisai... right across from the tower entrance.

[Hlitner]

Many thanks for all the posts and photos.   Looking forward to our cruise from Tokyo, next April :).  

 

Hank

[Copper10-8]

Thanks a bunch for your great blog and pics! Enjoyed it!

[momilani]

Great recap of a fabulous cruise!  We were on the same one, but took different shore excursions here and there.  Such amazing weather for the majority of the cruise - Mt Fuji with my morning coffee was spectacular.  Even with the blustery weather at Hirosaki Castle, the cherry blossoms were fantastic!

[cruisequeen4ever]

Beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing!

[Tracyi]

Thank you so much for your wonderful report and photos 🙂