Just Back from Japan on Riviera: A Few Thoughts

[cjwags]

We just returned yesterday from 12 days in Japan on Riviera.  We fell in love with Japan and will absolutely return someday!

 

Background:

Active couple (58 and 59), well traveled both on land and at sea, second O cruise, other cruises on X, HAL, RCCL, first trip to Asia, love good food and better wine. My comments are simply our impressions and I respect that others will have contrasting input. 

 

Overall a very good cruise.  There were outstanding moments and disappointing moments, but we have come to expect as such. No cruise line does everything exactly right.  I am sure some folks will focus more on the disappointments, but not me.  I am just grateful to have been on a cruise in a spectacular country.

 

Embarkation:

Arrived at 1:15.  We were on board by 2:00 or so.  Luggage was in our cabin by 3:00.  One bag was missing but showed up about an hour later.  (There was a bit of prompting by DH.) 

 

Food:

We ate in main dining room four times.  Two were good, one was medium, and one was not good at all.  We were able to get extra specialty dining reservations because we were willing to eat late, if needed.  This resulted in a total of seven specialty dining experiences.  Jacques was very good on two occasions with standouts being the pork chop and the dover sole.  Red Ginger was good on two occasions.  We were advised by wait staff to avoid a couple of dishes due to less than great beef supply, so we had other dishes that were good.  It wasn't stellar, but no real complaints. Two nights in Toscana were very good, if the right dish was ordered.  Stick with the chef's special pasta and the lasagne and you can not go wrong.  They were excellent.  Our companions ordered a couple of dishes that were disappointing.  The artichoke appetizer was fantastic on the first night, and inedible the second.  Our night in Polo Grill was very disappointing.  The sommelier was rude and even "corrected" our pronunciation of a wine.  (BTW, we were correct, he was not!)  The prime rib was good, but two of the sides were terrible.  We then waited 25 minutes for desert and never had our wine glasses refilled.  By far worst night ever on O and one of the worst on any cruise.  I spoke to management about it and learned I was not the first to voice concerns.  Waves was always good.  Terrace Cafe felt crowded since the back patio was not open most days due to weather.  We really missed this option, as it was a favorite of ours last summer.  Overall, I think O struggles more with consistency than quality of food.  

 

Tours:

Typically we prefer private tours over ship tours.  Because we had included excursions and shipboard credit we did more ship tours than usual. This proved to be a mixed bag for us, as we aren't good at "following the lollipop".  Tour guides were all enthusiastic, polite and accommodating.  They did their best with timing, crowds, etc.  The ship tours are just too regimented for us, as we like to be independent and explore.   We often had to rush through sites in order to get to the next one.  We would have preferred longer times in less sites.  There was also a great deal of driving time as sites are pretty spread out.  In the future, we will use our shore excursion credit on the more expensive and involved tours and do the rest on our own.  The days we booked with private guides were by far our favorites.  The ports visited were all great, with the exception of Busan.  It was a bit jarring and loud after so many serene days in Japan! We were in port with Silversea on one day and their tour followed us to each and every place.  Exact same excursion.  Same for a day in port with Regent.

 

Ship:

The Riviera is a very pretty ship.  I fell in love with the decor on the Vista, and it took  while for the Riviera to grow on me. Some aspects of the decor on  Riviera is just not my style.  However, that is completely personal taste. I recognize others will prefer Riviera. Our B3 cabin (7108) was fine, but we didn't love the position of the closet. It was a bit cramped by the side of the bed.  The color scheme is quite nice after the refurb.  Bathroom is a good size and maximizes space. Our extended balcony would be a great perk in good weather.  Lots of rain and cold on our trip so we didn't get much use of it.  Also, it is less than private, so if that is an issue, the huge size might not make up for it.  Also, someone was smoking on their balcony not far from us everyday so it reeked of cigarette smoke.  We spoke with management and they sent security on two occasions to try and identify who was smoking.  O was responsive to this concern. 

 

Oceania Overall:

While I know there are other options out there, we will return to O in 2025 for another cruise on the Vista.  The itinerary is very good in Norway and the value is better than what we can find elsewhere.  We were booked on a Silversea cruise in June of 2025, and were notified last week that it has been cancelled.  We tried to switch to another SS voyage, but the prices have gone up so much, that we can not justify it.  A very similar cruise to Norway on SS is more than twice the price on O.  I know they can't be compared, but I can not see paying twice the price.  I can take another whole vacation for that amount!  

 

We were on the younger side of the passengers on this voyage but I think that has more to do with location and time of year.  This is not a problem for us at all and enjoy meeting those passengers who are older than us! 🙂

 

Plenty of folks will complain about the 2+ hour immigration waits for Japan - Korea, so I will not go into it.  Not all of it was Oceania's fault.  We just waited patiently and met great folks in front of us in line.  Some passengers were belligerent and ranting.  Never makes the situation better.  Staff recognized how they could have course corrected but did not anticipate the string of unexpected location changes, delays and technical difficulty on the part of Japanese immigration officials, otherwise they would have chosen a more appropriate handling of the process. 

 

Will we only travel on O? No.  Will we try other lines? Yes.  Will we return when voyage is a good deal and a good itinerary? Yes.  Already booked for 2025.

 

Feel free to ask questions.  I will do my best to share our experience if it helps others!

 

 

[sunnies]

Thank you for your excellent review. We have booked this itinerary on Riviera for next year. Regarding the Oceania tours, are there any you would recommend? We will be booking some Oceania and some private. 

[ynottravel?]

Thank you for your excellent review!  We will be first timers on the Riviera this summer so I really appreciate your dining reviews.  

[PelicanLvr]

Thank you for the very informative & balanced review.

 

Would appreciate your thoughts on a cruise vs. land tour of Japan.  Did the cruise allow you to experience the culture sufficiently?

 

Thanks (in advance) for your thoughts and insight.

 

PL

[cjwags]

9 hours ago, sunnies said:

Thank you for your excellent review. We have booked this itinerary on Riviera for next year. Regarding the Oceania tours, are there any you would recommend? We will be booking some Oceania and some private. 

We had an EXCELLENT experience with Pinpoint tours in Kyoto and Nara.  Best two days of our entire voyage.  Lito was our guide and made it wonderful. Another highlight was a private guide booked with Tours by Locals in Nagoya.  Mikari was our guide and she was great.

 

As for ship tours, we really enjoyed the day in Kagoshima with a ferry out to the volcano and then a visit to the gardens.  The day in Nagasaki to Arita for pottery was a bust for us.  While we did not really enjoy Busan, the tour of the fish market there was interesting.  We did our own thing in Beppu and loved the Monkey Park!  Esy to get there with a taxi.  We then did a rivate onsen at the Intercontinetal HOtel.  That turned out to be a lovely day.  

[cjwags]

44 minutes ago, PelicanLvr said:

Thank you for the very informative & balanced review.

 

Would appreciate your thoughts on a cruise vs. land tour of Japan.  Did the cruise allow you to experience the culture sufficiently?

 

Thanks (in advance) for your thoughts and insight.

 

PL

I would highly recommend a combination of land and cruise.  The cruise allowed us to see parts of japan that would have been impossible by simply land due to logistics.  We did three days in Tokyo first and could have done four.  We wanted mre time in Kyoto/Nara so I would add that to the trip as well if possible.  We felt the cruise was the perfect introduction to Japan and we will travel there again for sure!

[WESTEAST]

Thank you for your post. We were onboard this cruise as well and share many of your comments and have included our feedback below. We have cruised with Oceania many years.

 

Had read that using Visit Japan Web to pre-register would save time upon arrival to Japan. We had our QR codes however, the process at Haneda Terminal 2 was awful. We still had to line up three times to repeat the same process: present QR code, scan passport, fingerprinting, photos, etc.

 

We were part of the 3 day Oceania land package which includes transfer from Airport to Hotel - Oceania driver was at the wrong terminal in Haneda and thankfully a driver for Regent at our Terminal assisted us.

 

Our embarkment in Yokohama was chaotic: marched all passengers into an outdoor kiosk to sit where we waited in the cold with no priority to stateroom category. People were angry. Being part of the three day land package at the Tokyo Hilton and hence, there were many buses arriving at the port at the same time which may have contributed to the problem. However, no Oceania rep was present. Notified our Concierge and he indicated that Oceania should have done a better job in assisting passengers and they are looking at how they can improve.

 

As you referenced, leaving Japan to Busan, South Korea and the return process was very poor. Both exit and entry required face-to-face with Immigration and Customs. Exit was shorter but still involved a long queue then sitting in Riviera lounge. However the re-entry was the worst wherein we stood for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the Japanese authorities to arrive, set-up and then try to resolve their technical issues (passport scan, fingerprinting, photo etc. repeated both times). Crowds were vocal and overall an unpleasant experience. Oceania acknowledged the issue and we received a note from the Executive Concierge with truffles in our stateroom. 

 

Our dining experiences were all positive and we enjoyed excellent food and service throughout our cruise.  The only critique would be that the savoury lamb chops in Red Ginger were not up to past standard.  Last negative re dining is a sore point for many on this board: Oceania’s "resort or country club casual” is a stretch as jeans (even sweatshirts) persist in Speciality restaurants, etc.

 

We took a mixture of Oceania excursions and a few on our own.  Favourites:
- Two sightings of Mt Fuji: from observation level of Tokyo Government Building and from beach in pine groves near Shimizu.
- Impressive Golden Pavilion in Kyoto and Osaka Palace - just stunning.
- Somber visits to Nagaski and Hiroshima with excellent museums and memorials.
- Samurai houses were interesting and the Museum to Kamanzi Pilots in Kagoshima was thought provoking.
- Fish market in Busan, South Korea was amazing.
- Beautiful cherry blossoms near Shimizu port.

 

In summary, it was a great cruise. Most Japanese ports, had a welcoming group of singers, flag waving and in Kobe during sail away an entertaining drum show. People were friendly, polite and all cities were exceptionally clean.  Also, must mention that Japan has the best toilets!

 

p.s. many passengers had mobility issues though continue to travel which was difficult as this cruise was port intensive with multiple sites required long walks, steep stairs, etc. Unfortunately, three occurrences of older passengers falling or collapsing and one was very serious - sadly, we heard that the lady may have not survived but never received confirmation. 

 

 

[ronrick1943]

Question:  If you arrive in Tokyo via the ship and you over night on the ship before debarkation, do you clear Japanese immigration the dy you arrive--and can you get off the ship early the day of debarkation?

Thank you ahead...and great reviews........

Edited April 3 by ronrick1943

[WESTEAST]

58 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

Question:  If you arrive in Tokyo via the ship and you over night on the ship before debarkation, do you clear Japanese immigration the dy you arrive--and can you get off the ship early the day of debarkation?

Thank you ahead...and great reviews........

Yes, it will be on the day you arrive at your final port in Japan.  Only Customs and it was easy - we only had to pass through Customs Office at Yokohama pier terminal, show passport and hand in our yellow Customs Forms. This was done after we had picked up our luggage. Oceania provided the yellow Customs Form in our stateroom a few days prior and advised that luggage searches may be conducted by hand during disembarkation however, we saw no passengers being stopped for any searches. Regarding disembarking early, you will have to check with the Purser but on other O cruises, we indicated on our disembarkation form, checked with the Purser's office (Reception) and were told what Deck to arrive at and time. We had our luggage with us and exited quickly - approximately 12 other passengers were doing the same. On this cruise, we had an Oceania transfer to the airport and followed the time/luggage location per the colour coded luggage tag process.

Edited April 3 by WESTEAST

[cjwags]

2 hours ago, WESTEAST said:

Thank you for your post. We were onboard this cruise as well and share many of your comments and have included our feedback below. We have cruised with Oceania many years.

 

Had read that using Visit Japan Web to pre-register would save time upon arrival to Japan. We had our QR codes however, the process at Haneda Terminal 2 was awful. We still had to line up three times to repeat the same process: present QR code, scan passport, fingerprinting, photos, etc.

 

We were part of the 3 day Oceania land package which includes transfer from Airport to Hotel - Oceania driver was at the wrong terminal in Haneda and thankfully a driver for Regent at our Terminal assisted us.

 

Our embarkment in Yokohama was chaotic: marched all passengers into an outdoor kiosk to sit where we waited in the cold with no priority to stateroom category. People were angry. Being part of the three day land package at the Tokyo Hilton and hence, there were many buses arriving at the port at the same time which may have contributed to the problem. However, no Oceania rep was present. Notified our Concierge and he indicated that Oceania should have done a better job in assisting passengers and they are looking at how they can improve.

 

As you referenced, leaving Japan to Busan, South Korea and the return process was very poor. Both exit and entry required face-to-face with Immigration and Customs. Exit was shorter but still involved a long queue then sitting in Riviera lounge. However the re-entry was the worst wherein we stood for 2 1/2 hours waiting for the Japanese authorities to arrive, set-up and then try to resolve their technical issues (passport scan, fingerprinting, photo etc. repeated both times). Crowds were vocal and overall an unpleasant experience. Oceania acknowledged the issue and we received a note from the Executive Concierge with truffles in our stateroom. 

 

Our dining experiences were all positive and we enjoyed excellent food and service throughout our cruise.  The only critique would be that the savoury lamb chops in Red Ginger were not up to past standard.  Last negative re dining is a sore point for many on this board: Oceania’s "resort or country club casual” is a stretch as jeans (even sweatshirts) persist in Speciality restaurants, etc.

 

We took a mixture of Oceania excursions and a few on our own.  Favourites:
- Two sightings of Mt Fuji: from observation level of Tokyo Government Building and from beach in pine groves near Shimizu.
- Impressive Golden Pavilion in Kyoto and Osaka Palace - just stunning.
- Somber visits to Nagaski and Hiroshima with excellent museums and memorials.
- Samurai houses were interesting and the Museum to Kamanzi Pilots in Kagoshima was thought provoking.
- Fish market in Busan, South Korea was amazing.
- Beautiful cherry blossoms near Shimizu port.

 

In summary, it was a great cruise. Most Japanese ports, had a welcoming group of singers, flag waving and in Kobe during sail away an entertaining drum show. People were friendly, polite and all cities were exceptionally clean.  Also, must mention that Japan has the best toilets!

 

p.s. many passengers had mobility issues though continue to travel which was difficult as this cruise was port intensive with multiple sites required long walks, steep stairs, etc. Unfortunately, three occurrences of older passengers falling or collapsing and one was very serious - sadly, we heard that the lady may have not survived but never received confirmation. 

 

 

Thanks for adding your feedback. I would agree with many of your points! We loved the welcome/send off in the ports. We also enjoyed the fish market in Busan. Really a sight to behold. Still my favorites were the monkeys in Beppu and the deer in Nara. Can you tell I am an animal lover? Favorite temple and shrine was in Nara. Favorite garden was in Kagoshima. 
 

We flew into Narita and the visit Japan QR Code worked great. We were through immigration and customs within 20 minutes. Our friends flew into Haneda and had the same bad experience as you. 
 

We also witnessed the mobility issues. We heard that a woman on the precruise passed away. So very sad. We also saw one woman being taken off the ship by ambulance. 
 

Here’s to many more great vacations!

[ronrick1943]

58 minutes ago, WESTEAST said:

Yes, it will be on the day you arrive at your final port in Japan.  Only Customs and it was easy - we only had to pass through Customs Office at Yokohama pier terminal, show passport and hand in our yellow Customs Forms. This was done after we had picked up our luggage. Oceania provided the yellow Customs Form in our stateroom a few days prior and advised that luggage searches may be conducted by hand during disembarkation however, we saw no passengers being stopped for any searches. Regarding disembarking early, you will have to check with the Purser but on other O cruises, we indicated on our disembarkation form, checked with the Purser's office (Reception) and were told what Deck to arrive at and time. We had our luggage with us and exited quickly - approximately 12 other passengers were doing the same. On this cruise, we had an Oceania transfer to the airport and followed the time/luggage location per the colour coded luggage tag process.

Thanks, We are deciding wither to take an early 10:30AM flight from HND or later 5:30PM flight from NRT.  

[cjwags]

We just did a 6:30 pm flight from Narita.  We used an O transfer.  Not sure I would do that again.  We were off the ship at 9:30 am.  Arrived at Narita at 11:20 am.  Could not check our bags in until 3:30 pm.  That was a long stretch with luggage.  We made the best of it as there is good food and some shopping.  I would do it differently next time.  Either Haneda or hire a private guide/car for the day.  Oceania offered an excursion but it was a bus tour of Tokyo to sights we had already seen.  I will say flying Singapore Air direct to Los Angeles  made the trek to Narita much more bearable.

[pinotlover]

I likewise touched on the long walks to get to sites and the very steep stairs in a companion thread. Our current cruise is a bit unorthodox. We likewise have a larger than normal contingency of mobility impaired passengers along with 226 Go Next group, many of which are in their 30-50s on their first O cruise. When sharing the same tour conflicts happens.

[PhD-iva]

22 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

I likewise touched on the long walks to get to sites and the very steep stairs in a companion thread. Our current cruise is a bit unorthodox. We likewise have a larger than normal contingency of mobility impaired passengers along with 226 Go Next group, many of which are in their 30-50s on their first O cruise. When sharing the same tour conflicts happens.

What is a “Go Next” group?

[ORV]

52 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

What is a “Go Next” group?

They are a large travel consortium that primarily books Alumni groups. On most cruises I've been on where they have groups they will generally have a table set up with representatives. They have group tours, parties etc. 

[Jack1]

On 4/2/2024 at 9:49 PM, sunnies said:

Thank you for your excellent review. We have booked this itinerary on Riviera for next year. Regarding the Oceania tours, are there any you would recommend? We will be booking some Oceania and some private. 

Hi M

The 4 Pandaw cruisers are doing Riveriera March 10, 2025 Singapore to Tokyo.  When is your cruise? 

F

[sunnies]

29 minutes ago, Jack1 said:

Hi M

The 4 Pandaw cruisers are doing Riveriera March 10, 2025 Singapore to Tokyo.  When is your cruise? 

F

We embark in Tokyo on April 1 so sadly will miss you. We will spend 2 nights in Tokyo pre cruise so perhaps our Pandaw group could have a reunion. 

[SophieM]

16 hours ago, sunnies said:

We embark in Tokyo on April 1 so sadly will miss you. We will spend 2 nights in Tokyo pre cruise so perhaps our Pandaw group could have a reunion. 

We’re not a member of the Pandaw group, but we’ll be on this cruise, too!

[Jack1]

On 4/4/2024 at 9:20 PM, sunnies said:

We embark in Tokyo on April 1 so sadly will miss you. We will spend 2 nights in Tokyo pre cruise so perhaps our Pandaw group could have a reunion. 

That would be nice.. we can firm things up later!

[Jack1]

7 hours ago, SophieM said:

We’re not a member of the Pandaw group, but we’ll be on this cruise, too!

Hope you enjoy your cruise..

We met sunnies on a pandaw cruise few years back and really enjoyed traveling with her.  

[sunnies]

9 hours ago, SophieM said:

We’re not a member of the Pandaw group, but we’ll be on this cruise, too!

Look forward to meeting you. A great itinerary. 

[Rainbow3fe]

On 4/2/2024 at 11:32 PM, cjwags said:

We just returned yesterday from 12 days in Japan on Riviera.  We fell in love with Japan and will absolutely return someday!

 

Background:

Active couple (58 and 59), well traveled both on land and at sea, second O cruise, other cruises on X, HAL, RCCL, first trip to Asia, love good food and better wine. My comments are simply our impressions and I respect that others will have contrasting input. 

 

Overall a very good cruise.  There were outstanding moments and disappointing moments, but we have come to expect as such. No cruise line does everything exactly right.  I am sure some folks will focus more on the disappointments, but not me.  I am just grateful to have been on a cruise in a spectacular country.

 

Embarkation:

Arrived at 1:15.  We were on board by 2:00 or so.  Luggage was in our cabin by 3:00.  One bag was missing but showed up about an hour later.  (There was a bit of prompting by DH.) 

 

Food:

We ate in main dining room four times.  Two were good, one was medium, and one was not good at all.  We were able to get extra specialty dining reservations because we were willing to eat late, if needed.  This resulted in a total of seven specialty dining experiences.  Jacques was very good on two occasions with standouts being the pork chop and the dover sole.  Red Ginger was good on two occasions.  We were advised by wait staff to avoid a couple of dishes due to less than great beef supply, so we had other dishes that were good.  It wasn't stellar, but no real complaints. Two nights in Toscana were very good, if the right dish was ordered.  Stick with the chef's special pasta and the lasagne and you can not go wrong.  They were excellent.  Our companions ordered a couple of dishes that were disappointing.  The artichoke appetizer was fantastic on the first night, and inedible the second.  Our night in Polo Grill was very disappointing.  The sommelier was rude and even "corrected" our pronunciation of a wine.  (BTW, we were correct, he was not!)  The prime rib was good, but two of the sides were terrible.  We then waited 25 minutes for desert and never had our wine glasses refilled.  By far worst night ever on O and one of the worst on any cruise.  I spoke to management about it and learned I was not the first to voice concerns.  Waves was always good.  Terrace Cafe felt crowded since the back patio was not open most days due to weather.  We really missed this option, as it was a favorite of ours last summer.  Overall, I think O struggles more with consistency than quality of food.  

 

Tours:

Typically we prefer private tours over ship tours.  Because we had included excursions and shipboard credit we did more ship tours than usual. This proved to be a mixed bag for us, as we aren't good at "following the lollipop".  Tour guides were all enthusiastic, polite and accommodating.  They did their best with timing, crowds, etc.  The ship tours are just too regimented for us, as we like to be independent and explore.   We often had to rush through sites in order to get to the next one.  We would have preferred longer times in less sites.  There was also a great deal of driving time as sites are pretty spread out.  In the future, we will use our shore excursion credit on the more expensive and involved tours and do the rest on our own.  The days we booked with private guides were by far our favorites.  The ports visited were all great, with the exception of Busan.  It was a bit jarring and loud after so many serene days in Japan! We were in port with Silversea on one day and their tour followed us to each and every place.  Exact same excursion.  Same for a day in port with Regent.

 

Ship:

The Riviera is a very pretty ship.  I fell in love with the decor on the Vista, and it took  while for the Riviera to grow on me. Some aspects of the decor on  Riviera is just not my style.  However, that is completely personal taste. I recognize others will prefer Riviera. Our B3 cabin (7108) was fine, but we didn't love the position of the closet. It was a bit cramped by the side of the bed.  The color scheme is quite nice after the refurb.  Bathroom is a good size and maximizes space. Our extended balcony would be a great perk in good weather.  Lots of rain and cold on our trip so we didn't get much use of it.  Also, it is less than private, so if that is an issue, the huge size might not make up for it.  Also, someone was smoking on their balcony not far from us everyday so it reeked of cigarette smoke.  We spoke with management and they sent security on two occasions to try and identify who was smoking.  O was responsive to this concern. 

 

Oceania Overall:

While I know there are other options out there, we will return to O in 2025 for another cruise on the Vista.  The itinerary is very good in Norway and the value is better than what we can find elsewhere.  We were booked on a Silversea cruise in June of 2025, and were notified last week that it has been cancelled.  We tried to switch to another SS voyage, but the prices have gone up so much, that we can not justify it.  A very similar cruise to Norway on SS is more than twice the price on O.  I know they can't be compared, but I can not see paying twice the price.  I can take another whole vacation for that amount!  

 

We were on the younger side of the passengers on this voyage but I think that has more to do with location and time of year.  This is not a problem for us at all and enjoy meeting those passengers who are older than us! 🙂

 

Plenty of folks will complain about the 2+ hour immigration waits for Japan - Korea, so I will not go into it.  Not all of it was Oceania's fault.  We just waited patiently and met great folks in front of us in line.  Some passengers were belligerent and ranting.  Never makes the situation better.  Staff recognized how they could have course corrected but did not anticipate the string of unexpected location changes, delays and technical difficulty on the part of Japanese immigration officials, otherwise they would have chosen a more appropriate handling of the process. 

 

Will we only travel on O? No.  Will we try other lines? Yes.  Will we return when voyage is a good deal and a good itinerary? Yes.  Already booked for 2025.

 

Feel free to ask questions.  I will do my best to share our experience if it helps 

Hi,

    We are on this itinerary next April.  Please let me know which ports you took private excursions and how I can contact those guides. Which cities did you go on the O tours? Were they worthwhile even though the guides rushed you through the sights? It's so difficult to plan a trip to a place where we have no idea how to proceed without guidance from people who have been there.

   I appreciate your help.

Thanks,Felice 😎

[cjwags]

8 minutes ago, Rainbow3fe said:

Hi,

    We are on this itinerary next April.  Please let me know which ports you took private excursions and how I can contact those guides. Which cities did you go on the O tours? Were they worthwhile even though the guides rushed you through the sights? It's so difficult to plan a trip to a place where we have no idea how to proceed without guidance from people who have been there.

   I appreciate your help.

Thanks,Felice 😎

We did a private guide in Tokyo through Go With Guide.  Her name is Kahoko K.  In Nagoya we did a private guide, Mikari, through Tours by Locals.  In Kyoto and Nara we did private tours with Pinpoint Traveler.  Our guide was Lito.  All of these experiences were fantastic and far superior to O excursions. We just did our own thing in Beppu (monkey park and private onsen).  Beppu was very easy to navigate with taxis or buses.  In all the other ports we did O excursions.  The day in Nagasaki up to Arita and then the peace park was our least favorite.  Way too much driving. The O excursions were all well done and well organized.  No real complaints.  We just really prefer private guides.  With Simply More we did not want to "waste" our excursion credit so we did more ship tours than usual.  We will rethink that for our next O cruise in 2025.  regardless of what you decide, you will have a fantastic time.  Japan is amazing!

[Rainbow3fe]

1 minute ago, cjwags said:

We did a private guide in Tokyo through Go With Guide.  Her name is Kahoko K.  In Nagoya we did a private guide, Mikari, through Tours by Locals.  In Kyoto and Nara we did private tours with Pinpoint Traveler.  Our guide was Lito.  All of these experiences were fantastic and far superior to O excursions. We just did our own thing in Beppu (monkey park and private onsen).  Beppu was very easy to navigate with taxis or buses.  In all the other ports we did O excursions.  The day in Nagasaki up to Arita and then the peace park was our least favorite.  Way too much driving. The O excursions were all well done and well organized.  No real complaints.  We just really prefer private guides.  With Simply More we did not want to "waste" our excursion credit so we did more ship tours than usual.  We will rethink that for our next O cruise in 2025.  regardless of what you decide, you will have a fantastic time.  Japan is amazing!

Hi,

    Thanks for the quick reply and the wonderful information.  We will check out those guides.

      This will be our 11th O cruise but only our 2nd SM. We just booked 3 ship excursions because we wanted to use the credits.  We have plenty of flexibility to book private tours with 7 more places to visit. 

     We had already decided that a drive to the Peace Park wasn't going to be on our agenda. 

    We heard the tour by ferry from Hiroshima to the island of Miyajima is wonderful.  We felt that if we did it on our own, we might have travel delays so we booked that with O for peace of mind.

    We cannot wait to explore Japan. So happy to hear that it's awesome. 

Regards 

Felice 😎

[macaroni]

How early of a flight out of Haneda could we take….hoping 11 am?