Back from Japan

[bazzaw]

Just back a few days ago from Japan - a week in Tokyo plus a 10 day Cunard QE cruise. Had a good time (first time Japan - 5th time QE) - Japan is certainly a challenging hard work destination. It could be less so at some added cost. ABSOLUTELY convinced now that Balcony cabins are a waste of money. If anybody has any specific questions regarding a possible future cruise to Japan please ask. Personally I would probably not do another cruise around Japan for a number of reasons - mostly including port locations, and necessity to do ship tours.  We managed to see the Cherry blossoms. 

[MicCanberra]

Great that you saw the cherry blossoms.

Can you please elaborate on the balcony issue?

[icat2000]

Yes please share more on balcony issue as I'm looking at Cunard as possible cruise at Xmas if they cruise fares settle down 🙂 

 

Why was Japan hard to cruise? Was it the language barrier?

[MicCanberra]

We have found Japan easy but expensive to tour.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We loved our cruises around/from Japan last year. However we did book excursions through the cruise lines (Princess and Regent Seven Seas). Apart from one Princess excursion (Nagasaki) they were are very good and reasonable value for money. We had balcony cabins on both cruises. In some ports where our cabin overlooked the wharf it was great to go out on the balcony to watch the locals entertaining us as the ship prepared for departure.

 

We had a couple of days in Yokohama before the first cruise but were too tired to really enjoy them. We also had two days between cruises which we spend in Tokyo, happily bouncing around the Metro system. 

[bazzaw]

56 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Can you please elaborate on the balcony issue?

Much depends on where and when. Balconies are commonly too cold or too hot, too wet or too windy 🙂 An outside cabin down low and centre (Deck 1 on QE) is ideal. Also makes your front door just a short walk when everybody else is trying to get home after the show 🙂

[bazzaw]

54 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

Yes please share more on balcony issue as I'm looking at Cunard as possible cruise at Xmas if they cruise fares settle down 🙂 

 

Why was Japan hard to cruise? Was it the language barrier?

I guess I was more referring to when you are ashore - especially before and after the cruise. But those difficulties can be solved with money. Seems that most Japanese ports are very "industrial" so you have to get well away form the port to see anything. Cunard did provide shuttles to the main railway station in every port we visited - but we still had to walk fair distances to the sights. eg 12 klms in Kanazawa , 10 Klms in Nagasaki and six klms in  Akita. We did a shore tour in Busan which was a good but long day and which cost us $500 AUD - these USD cruises are expensive for tours and drinks. 

[MicCanberra]

Fair enough, we like balcony cabins but some itineraries do not warrant the extra expense. Like you said, if you cannot use the balcony, it is a waste.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, bazzaw said:

I guess I was more referring to when you are ashore - especially before and after the cruise. But those difficulties can be solved with money. Seems that most Japanese ports are very "industrial" so you have to get well away form the port to see anything. Cunard did provide shuttles to the main railway station in every port we visited - but we still had to walk fair distances to the sights. eg 12 klms in Kanazawa , 10 Klms in Nagasaki and six klms in  Akita. We did a shore tour in Busan which was a good but long day and which cost us $500 AUD - these USD cruises are expensive for tours and drinks. 

Yes, any shore excursions in Japan are expensive whether private or via the ship, however Japan is relatively easy to get around so the shuttles are handy.

[austromyrtus]

5 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Just back a few days ago from Japan - a week in Tokyo plus a 10 day Cunard QE cruise. Had a good time (first time Japan - 5th time QE) - Japan is certainly a challenging hard work destination. It could be less so at some added cost. ABSOLUTELY convinced now that Balcony cabins are a waste of money. If anybody has any specific questions regarding a possible future cruise to Japan please ask. Personally I would probably not do another cruise around Japan for a number of reasons - mostly including port locations, and necessity to do ship tours.  We managed to see the Cherry blossoms. 

just to give another perspective, we really enjoyed several cruises around japan on the diamond princess (admittedly pre-covid when cruises were cheaper) and we did not go on any excursions. perhaps it was helped by princess providing information & advice for travellers wanting to do their own thing. we always paid for the reasonably priced shuttles from the port and then went off on our own on local transport.

 

for example in kanazawa they have a very reasonalbly priced day bus pass for 800yen which allows you to get off and on at the main sites without excessive walking. buses go every 15 minutes. we found similar options at other ports. 

http://www.hokutetsu.co.jp/en/en_round

[bazzaw]

5 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes, any shore excursions in Japan are expensive whether private or via the ship, however Japan is relatively easy to get around so the shuttles are handy.

Yes - the shuttles at least got us away from the ports - as an example, the Kanazawa railway station (where the shuttle busses took us) is a sight to behold in itself - but the World famous Castle park and adjoining Kenroken gardens are 10Klms on foot after that . 

[austromyrtus]

21 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

Yes - the shuttles at least got us away from the ports - as an example, the Kanazawa railway station (where the shuttle busses took us) is a sight to behold in itself - but the World famous Castle park and adjoining Kenroken gardens are 10Klms on foot after that . 

no need to walk from kanazawa station at all - just a short bus ride on the 800yen circle bus which leaves from kanazawa station & allows you to get off and on at: kenrokuen gardens; castle park; ninja house (great fun); geisha area & more. we went to all of these in one day using the bus. very enjoyable & low-cost day. 

http://www.hokutetsu.co.jp/en/en_round

[Aussieflyer]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cherry blossom cruise. We have never cruised Japan but have visited many times and have always found it a very easy place to navigate. We use a rail pass and I have all the details sorted/printed  before we leave home and just go in to JR on the first morning and have all the seat reservations done. We also stay close to the stations in most places so it is easy to get around. 

 

Cruising may be an issue with ports that are in the more industrial areas - though a shuttle into the centre of the main towns should help. There are some great websites with tourist information which I always check out before we leave so I know what to see and how to get around. 

 

Japan is not a particularly cheap place to visit but we love it - and the exchange rate is pretty good at the moment - would love to go back but we have a bit on our plate at the moment.

 

We are all different - when travelling with DH I wouldn't dare to suggest anything without a balcony. 😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

Once in Osaka we managed to get from the port to the nearest railway station (just a short walk down the road), travel on two lines to get to the shinkansen station, travel down to Himeji where we spent a few hours sightseeing, then got ourselves back to the ship. It was all very easy, although we did get a bit lost in the shinkansen station for a short while. There were people at the first station who spoke English and helped us work out where we would have to change trains.

[MicCanberra]

I think research is key to know where to go and how to get there and back from wherever the shuttle may take you. Or use cabs

[Hogbay]

Carnival had shuttle bus to transport hub each port  don't do any ship tours had no problems and was cheap using local transport. 

[colourbird]

We have a Japan cruise coming up in 699 days (but who is counting?) and have a balcony as we only do balcony cabins and haven't had any bad experiences with them (except on Celebrity Edge where the infinite balcony window was locked a couple of times.

 

We haven't worked out tours yet, but for a previous cancelled cruise we had purchased non-ship tours for each city.

 

I hadn't thought about walking around, but if we are dropped off at stations, a 10km walk is only 2 hours each way so probably worth doing as we'd experience a lot of Japan along the way.

[ilikeanswers]

I only land tripped Japan but my experience of Japanese cities was their public transport was extensive. We barely had to walk between sites because there was always some transport that could take you there. Also I would add Google maps was incredibly accurate in Japan. It guided us to the exact transport we needed to take, which platform it departed from along with what times they depart. 

 

Asian cities over all are more spread out than European cities where all the attractions usually are clustered in one area so you tend to have to research local transport options if you want to visit more than one site. 

[PoppyVelvet]

We haven’t cruised Japan or anywhere yet but I’ve been there three times, most recently in March this year. We find it very easy to get around and the exchange rate is pretty good right now. I look forward to combining our love of Japan with cruising in future. 

[Javelin123]

This is all great information. Thanks for posting. I am looking at a Japan cruise next year, so all this is taken on board.

[Cruisegroover]

I'm currently on Royal Princess enroute to Osaka. It's my 2nd cruise around Japan and prepared for this by watching numerous you tube videos. Certainly will be back though probably on a land based trip.

 

I kept some paperwork re transfers from the port etc which I post when I get home.

[Down-Unders]

On 4/15/2024 at 8:32 AM, bazzaw said:

Just back a few days ago from Japan - a week in Tokyo plus a 10 day Cunard QE cruise. Had a good time (first time Japan - 5th time QE) - Japan is certainly a challenging hard work destination. It could be less so at some added cost. ABSOLUTELY convinced now that Balcony cabins are a waste of money. If anybody has any specific questions regarding a possible future cruise to Japan please ask. Personally I would probably not do another cruise around Japan for a number of reasons - mostly including port locations, and necessity to do ship tours.  We managed to see the Cherry blossoms. 

Sir you did not do your home work, on the Queen Elizabeth are Japanese Hosts who speak English all you have to do is to ask them to write out where you want to go.Just completed 19 nights and when we arrived in Nagasaki the ship lets you off beside the train and bus and as we had been before we knew how to navigate. First time PRE  COVID had everything written in Japanese where we wanted to go to, as for AKITA one of the best days ever bus drops you off in the center and thanks to our Japanese hosts everything written in Japanese for one of the best times,beautiful park for CB, Japanese tea ceremony, Akita dogs and the food stalls on a beautiful sunny day. As far as a balcony goes I will not start an argument with you and by the way you did not mention how great a rate you got with your currency. 

[bazzaw]

40 minutes ago, Down-Unders said:

Sir you did not do your home work, on the Queen Elizabeth are Japanese Hosts who speak English all you have to do is to ask them to write out where you want to go.Just completed 19 nights and when we arrived in Nagasaki the ship lets you off beside the train and bus and as we had been before we knew how to navigate. First time PRE  COVID had everything written in Japanese where we wanted to go to, as for AKITA one of the best days ever bus drops you off in the center and thanks to our Japanese hosts everything written in Japanese for one of the best times,beautiful park for CB, Japanese tea ceremony, Akita dogs and the food stalls on a beautiful sunny day. As far as a balcony goes I will not start an argument with you and by the way you did not mention how great a rate you got with your currency. 

Didn't know and still dont know anything about Japanese hosts onboard QE in March this year. 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

I've been to Japan a number of times on land trips, train trips and ships. In the cities its easy to get around because they have the romanised English written underneath station names so easy to navigate.

Whether you have Japanese hosts or not on a ship, the locals will always help. When I've been a bit lost I have had people look things up on their phone, walk me a number of times to the place I wanted to go and once when I really went the wrong way, a couple drove me back to the main station. Japan is one of my favourite places to visit and look forward to going again in Sep on the Diamond.

There would also be short clips on the Internet how to use various machines and so on.

[MicCanberra]

Japan can be overwhelming but with a little research and knowledge pre trip, it isn't too bad to navigate around.