Best of Japan - Millennium 5/2 - 5/15

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

You are being treated like Royalty.    We have had none of the Bon Bon's .... we get tiny Cadberry square even on Chic nights.

 

 The service has been amazing.  I do miss having a butler though.  Fortunately Cafe al Bacio is an only down one floor but it is in the middle of the ship. 

 

 I am most please with the availability of my favorite rum, Ron Zacapa 23, on this cruise.  i have seen it at ever bar I have looked at.  What ever the supply issues of 2022 - 2023 were they seem to have been overcome. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yum... Do love those.  My preference has been filled on Solstice.  Al Bacio has the ones without the Meringue and the little chocolate ball.

 

After posting this i later went by Cafe al Bacio and saw a whole tray full of them, all with the Meringue on top of them.  My solution has been to remove the Meringue use a fork to scrape the lemon filling off the bottom of it, set it aside and then eat the good part.  

 

We are making our approach to Kobe, where we are expect to dock at 0800.  We have a muster time of 0900 in the Theater on Deck 4 for our Kyoto Fushimi Inari Tanisha and Temples tour.  I just hope my legs and knees are up to all the steps we will be doing after an 105 minute bus ride.  Having studied quite a bit about the feudal history of Japan I completely understand why castles and temples are at the top of hills/mountains but that does not make the climb any easier on this else bones.  

 

 

[DaKahuna]

My wife only wanted a banana for her breakfast so instead of waiting for Luminae to open I went up to the Oceanview Cafe.  There appeared to be a very nice selection of food and it looked appealing.  Just for the sake of comparison, I picked up a plate of two Eggs Benedict, without the sauce, the same as I always order them.   It was nice to be able to tell the person making my plate I wanted double ham.  

 

 I found was that the English muffin was not toasted, but I am sure if I wanted to I could have ordered my muffin toasted as there was a cook preparing toast in the same place.  I found that the food cooled a lot faster than I expected but it was still very tasty.  

 

I also had some of the cornbeef hash and bacon.  Both were good.  

 

The Oceanview Cafe was a little crowded but not horrible and there was plenty of seats available.  Since it was crowded and i did not want to impede the flow of traffic I did not take pictures.  Since we do not have a shore excursion planned for tomorrow, I’ll see if I can make my way up to OVC again and take some pictures after the gangway opens and the crowds thin out.  We do plan to go ashore tomorrow but more at our own pace as we will be in Osaka the 5th and 6th, and our shore excursion is on the 6th. 

 

 

[rinshin]

On 4/28/2024 at 4:38 AM, DaKahuna said:

 

 We are both really looking forward to this cruise. 

 It will be my first time back to Japan since 1990 and my wife's first time since 2019.  Expect lots of picture of food !! 

 

Wow, since 1990?  That is almost a quarter century ago.  My husband goes with me almost every year since retiring.  Enjoy your trip.  We did Japan with another couple through Azamara in 2015.  That was a great cruise. 

[rinshin]

On 4/29/2024 at 5:23 AM, DaKahuna said:

 

Greetings from the InterContinental Yokohama Grand Hotel. 

 

We arrived at Dulles for our departure around 0945 on Sunday.  Due to having to use her passport which scans as her maiden name and not her married name, her KTN was not associated with her ticket so no TSA Pre.  This only added 10 minutes or so time as the airport was not busy at all.  

 

After clearning TSA we caught the train to C-Gates and proceeded directly to the Polaris Lounge.  This is our first time flying Polaris Business on an International flight, our other Polaris Business have been to/from Hawaii which does not give you lounge access.  

 

 We had a little over an hour in the lounge and took advantage of the buffet and I gave me recipe for a rum old fashioned to the bartender.  He said this was the first time he had ever made an old fashion with rum.  He did make one change - instead of sugar water, he used maple syrup.  He put very little in and the drink did not turn out overly sweet as I had initially feared.  

 

 

 

 We had the smoothest boarding I have encounter on a United flight in years.  Very few needing additional time, no children under two — under a dozen Global Services and 1K.  We were quickly in our seats and having a welcome sparkling wine.   

 

 Then things came to an abrupt halt.  Our 1235 departure was delayed 3 times and we ended up taking off around 1330.  Once airborne it turned out to be a long but comfortable flight.  

 

 After dinner service, I had the beef with barbecue sauce, with a a glass of champagne to go with the shirmp appetizer, and a glass of Pinot noir to go with the beef.  

 

 

For dessert, I had everbody’s favorite ice cream Sunday - with chocolate, nuts, and Bailey’s.  It was delicious. 

 

 

I watched two movies starting before, during and after dinner and then layed the seat back  and had a nice 5-hour nap.

 

They served half of a grilled cheese sandwich and soup, I passed on the soup but liked the grilled cheese.  

 

 About an hour and a half before arrival they served breakfast, sorry no photo’s.  It was okay — I had the egg dish with a sausage and potato’s. Nothing to write home about.  I have to say, I have joined the ranks of those who think the food is okay but believe it should be better in First Class/Business Class, especially on long intercontinental flights. 

From Dulles to Japan, if you ever get the chance to do business class through ANA or JAL, I recommend it.  Your wife would love the Japanese meals.  I normally order Japanese meals and my husband, western which looks terrific too. Also great personable service always.  We could not fly ANA or JAL on our upcoming flight to Europe so will be going on United Polaris.  

[Pushka]

Thanks to all the contributors on this cruise. It's so good to get everyone's different experiences, plus it makes for double the reading. We are on this cruise in April 2025 with just a slight tweaking in the order of ports but otherwise the same ones. We've only been on Solstice ships and nothing since Covid. 

[DaKahuna]

35 minutes ago, rinshin said:

From Dulles to Japan, if you ever get the chance to do business class through ANA or JAL, I recommend it.

 

The last time my wife came over she flew ANA.  She could not say enough about how better the food was on the ANA flight vs what we had on United, although she did like the lay flat seats in United Polaris Business. 

 

[DaKahuna]

22 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Thanks to all the contributors on this cruise. It's so good to get everyone's different experiences, plus it makes for double the reading.

 

 I quite agree with is why I also ask my fellow CC members who are cruising with us to share the comments, pictures, observations, experiences, etc..  Not everyone see everything the same way and the more observations that are provided the better those that follow can learn from them. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

The service has been amazing.  I do miss having a butler though.  Fortunately Cafe al Bacio is an only down one floor but it is in the middle of the ship. 

 

I don't usually ask our butler to get me coffee.... Our current room is on 11 and only 2 decks up to al Bacio Segundo.   Much faster than 5 in the morning.

 

Having said that -- in the morning they have a second coffee station at the Gelato for drinks only -- but in the display case they have some almond croissants and muffins.....shhh..

[rinshin]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

The last time my wife came over she flew ANA.  She could not say enough about how better the food was on the ANA flight vs what we had on United, although she did like the lay flat seats in United Polaris Business. 

 

Glad she liked it. It makes flying almost effortless for my husband. Good food, all the beer he wants to drink, watch 2-3 movies and go to sleep laying flat.  Unfortunately, no amount of pampering on flights is going to make me fall asleep. Usually white knuckle time for me. 

[debfed65]

On 4/29/2024 at 11:03 AM, soccermommy said:

We were on Millennium in October doing the Best of Southern Japan, and it was, hands down, the best and most memorable cruise we have taken on Celebrity. We were in Concierge, and we found the food much improved with the new menus. I don’t remember any particular problems with staffing or service, in fact, the service was stellar.
I am excited to follow your posts, because it will bring back great memories of our time in Japan. We’d go back to Japan again, all we have to do is survive the trip from Boston.

 

On 4/29/2024 at 11:35 AM, txtechmk said:

This is one of our favorite cruises.  We did this last October.  I would definitely go to Japan again.

 

Yes, that walk at the airport is LONG!!

 

Enjoy your cruise.  I'll be following along.

 

Thank you DaKahuna for posting this live review, I am enjoying following along.  We are onboard Millennium this October 6-29 for the Best of Japan followed by Northeast Asia.  I know you have helped me by answering some other other questions I have posted on CC previously on other boards 😊

 

With that being said, I am hoping soccermommy &/or txtechmk could give me some insight regarding the weather in October?  Any info from anyone for travelling in October would be appreciated!

 

Thanks...Debbie 

[jbcallender]

On 5/2/2024 at 3:36 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 I had already decided to skip dessert but asked our waiter about it when he brought our coffee and was informed it was available every night.  Guess what’s for dessert tonight? 

 

I will be sure and post pictures so all you old time cruisers can be jealous! 

 

We just loved Luminae on Millie!  Maitre d' was Fernando.  Service and food was excellent.

[txtechmk]

5 minutes ago, debfed65 said:

 

 

Thank you DaKahuna for posting this live review, I am enjoying following along.  We are onboard Millennium this October 6-29 for the Best of Japan followed by Northeast Asia.  I know you have helped me by answering some other other questions I have posted on CC previously on other boards 😊

 

With that being said, I am hoping soccermommy &/or txtechmk could give me some insight regarding the weather in October?  Any info from anyone for travelling in October would be appreciated!

 

Thanks...Debbie 

Regarding the weather in Japan in October:  In Tokyo and other "northern cities", it was pleasant.  I did wear jeans, knit tops with a hoodie or lightweight jacket.  Our particular cruise went south to Okinawa, Jeju Island, South Korea, Kyoto, and others.  It was warm enough for shorts during the day while on a tour.  You may have to wait until closer to your cruise and check the weather forecast.  We lucked out, but your cruise could be cooler. 

[jbcallender]

We were in 6104 in August which is a suite in the"bumpout" amidships.  We felt we received excellent value for the cost and additional amenities. We so enjoyed it and Millie and the staff, although it was the week prior to the butler changes and felt there was a let down in that regard.  We recently did a cruise on Regal Princess in a suite and there was almost no recognition of being a suite guest. 

[rinshin]

18 minutes ago, debfed65 said:

 

 

Thank you DaKahuna for posting this live review, I am enjoying following along.  We are onboard Millennium this October 6-29 for the Best of Japan followed by Northeast Asia.  I know you have helped me by answering some other other questions I have posted on CC previously on other boards 😊

 

With that being said, I am hoping soccermommy &/or txtechmk could give me some insight regarding the weather in October?  Any info from anyone for travelling in October would be appreciated!

 

Thanks...Debbie 

Weather in October will be very good as long as no typhoons decide to make its presence known.  You will be missing the fall color though. I now avoid cherry blossom season due to all the tourists flocking there.   It gets very crowded in spring.  

[soccermommy]

26 minutes ago, debfed65 said:

 

 

Thank you DaKahuna for posting this live review, I am enjoying following along.  We are onboard Millennium this October 6-29 for the Best of Japan followed by Northeast Asia.  I know you have helped me by answering some other other questions I have posted on CC previously on other boards 😊

 

With that being said, I am hoping soccermommy &/or txtechmk could give me some insight regarding the weather in October?  Any info from anyone for travelling in October would be appreciated!

 

Thanks...Debbie 

We had thought, and had read the weather in October was much like we have in New England…warm-ish  days and cool nights. Well, we had hot days and warm nights in Tokyo, and warm to hot days in various ports. I would take layers, a good rain jacket, and really good walking shoes. Most of the time on the ship, tees are fine, but it could get chilly. So, layers.

If, hopefully when, we go back, I would take a couple more lightweight tops, and maybe shorts for the ship.

You will be so astonished and excited to be in Japan, the weather won’t bother you much!

[debfed65]

10 minutes ago, txtechmk said:

Regarding the weather in Japan in October:  In Tokyo and other "northern cities", it was pleasant.  I did wear jeans, knit tops with a hoodie or lightweight jacket.  Our particular cruise went south to Okinawa, Jeju Island, South Korea, Kyoto, and others.  It was warm enough for shorts during the day while on a tour.  You may have to wait until closer to your cruise and check the weather forecast.  We lucked out, but your cruise could be cooler. 

 

2 minutes ago, rinshin said:

Weather in October will be very good as long as no typhoons decide to make its presence known.  You will be missing the fall color though. I now avoid cherry blossom season due to all the tourists flocking there.   It gets very crowded in spring.  

 

 

6 minutes ago, soccermommy said:

We had thought, and had read the weather in October was much like we have in New England…warm-ish  days and cool nights. Well, we had hot days and warm nights in Tokyo, and warm to hot days in various ports. I would take layers, a good rain jacket, and really good walking shoes. Most of the time on the ship, tees are fine, but it could get chilly. So, layers.If, hopefully when, we go back, I would take a couple more lightweight tops, and maybe shorts for the ship.

You will be so astonished and excited to be in Japan, the weather won’t bother you much!

txtechmk & soccermommy - thank you for all the details.  Sounds like we will need to pack a little bit of everything but I am happy to hear you both had great weather. Japan is definately a bucket list destination for us and we are looking forward to it!  I love reading these live reviews with all the information & pictures about the ports.  

 

Again, thank you to DakKahuna for posting this live. 

 

rinshin - I live north of Toronto and our fall colours in Canada are pretty spectacular 🍁 ...although I am sure it would have been unique to see it Japan. 

[rinshin]

9 hours ago, debfed65 said:

 

 

 

txtechmk & soccermommy - thank you for all the details.  Sounds like we will need to pack a little bit of everything but I am happy to hear you both had great weather. Japan is definately a bucket list destination for us and we are looking forward to it!  I love reading these live reviews with all the information & pictures about the ports.  

 

Again, thank you to DakKahuna for posting this live. 

 

rinshin - I live north of Toronto and our fall colours in Canada are pretty spectacular 🍁 ...although I am sure it would have been unique to see it Japan. 

If ever in Japan in mid to late September, visit Nikko via direct train from Tokyo even as a day trip. Incredible colors.  
 

We have done fall colors on a cruise from Boston into Quebec City in the fall many years ago, and it was very pretty.  We want to do that again. 

Edited May 4 by rinshin

[DaKahuna]

On 5/4/2024 at 9:04 AM, Jim_Iain said:

I don't usually ask our butler to get me coffee.... Our current room is on 11 and only 2 decks up to al Bacio Segundo.   Much faster than 5 in the morning.

 

  5 am is usually much too early for me.   Today is the first day that I’ve slept past 0430.  I was completely worn out from putting in 12,000 steps yesterday — half of which were up hill/stairs. 

 

 

23 hours ago, jbcallender said:

We just loved Luminae on Millie!  Maitre d' was Fernando.  Service and food was excellent.

 

Fernando was out Maitre’d on our Panama Canal transit cruise last year on Millennium and he is also our Maitre’d on this cruse.  Apparently he and two assistant waiters all took vacation after the Panama Canal trip and came back in November.  He’s a great guy and well know for his flashy clothes. 

 

12 hours ago, rinshin said:

If ever in Japan in mid to late September, visit Nikko via direct train from Tokyo even as a day trip. Incredible colors.  

 

 This is great advise.  My experience has been that Japan is a lot like the eastern seaboard of the US.  The fall colors are spectacular especially in the mountainous regions.  Personally, the most spectacular fall colors I have experienced in Japan was when one of my wife’s cousins and I took a weekend trip in fall to Oze National Park.  The only way in and out was to hike.  There was no road in or out.  Provisions for the people and businesses were brought in by a cable car system and no passengers were allowed to ride with the goods.  It’s an amazing site that you hear very little about. 

 

 

[scorfman]

Trip day 4, Cruise day 3

 

Still waking up a bit earlier than I would like, but my wife is an early riser normally so she’s in her element. I love when she comes back from her morning walk and workout so cheery, singing, and beautiful.

 

After enjoying the “Ultimate Platter” at the Tuscan Grille Elite member breakfast we exited through the terminal and found the Eki Stamp for the port. We then hopped on the free Celebrity-provided shuttle bus for a short 10 minute ride to the Motomachi shopping street. The shuttle runs every 5 minutes all day long. Wow what a shopping street. Had to be close to a mile long and completely covered. We were there prior to most things opening so we just walked for a looong time and noted interesting stores to check out on the way back. At 11:00 the flood gates opened and the street came alive! On the side streets the local Chinatown was a madhouse of food lovers and queues for street vendors. We browsed our way back but didn’t buy anything except a cheap bucket hat at the Daiso for $1.50.

 

 

We headed back to the ship to catch the tour bus for the “Kyoto day and night with dinner” Celebrity tour. On boarding the bus we met our guide Yuki who kept us entertained and informed on the 1.5 hour drive to Kyoto. About an hour into the drive, the tour stopped at a rest area for a bathroom and snack break. As you would expect, there were clean facilities, tons of vending machines, a shop with snacks and stuff, and garbage cans. After 10 minutes we were back on the road.

 

Soon we arrived at Kinkaku-Ji temple. Yuki quickly had our tickets in hand and in we went. It was quite crowded since it is Golden Week, but not overwhelming and there were plenty of opportunities for pictures and great views. It was 80 degrees or so, but not humid and very comfortable. To manage the holiday crowd it was set up in a one-way loop. Near the end we found the place to get our goshuin, and we picked up both of them they had for sale (cash only as always). It was far too busy for them to hand-make them on the spot so they gave us pages to paste into our goshuincho later.

 

 

After roughly an hour we were back on the bus headed for our next stop, Marumasu Nishimuraya workshop. After a quick lesson, we chose our patterns and designs to try the Kyo Yuzen method of painting our blank handkerchief. Pretty fun, even for a non-artist like me.

 

 

After that experience, we headed to Shozan Resort for dinner and a Maiko show. The Shabu Shabu meal was really nice and had a large variety of things to eat. Interestingly the genuine wasabi was very flavorful but not very spicy as we had expected. About mid meal the Maiko made her appearance along with her older sister accompanying her on shamisen. After a traditional dance we all had an opportunity for photographs, followed by a question and answer period. They were both very gracious and gave great answers to our many questions.

 

After the show we had ample time to browse the resort’s gift shop which was full of unique and quality items. We picked up a few gifts here to bring home.

 

We were then on the bus bound for the ship. We made another brief stop at a rest area and arrived about an hour earlier than scheduled. The feared heavy holiday traffic didn’t materialize in either direction.

 

Back on the ship we grabbed a snack and some ice cream, then settled in for the night.

 

We can recommend the tour overall and the opportunity to watch and meet a Maiko shouldn’t be missed.

[elaine5]

Just back from Yokohama stay last week. We flew delta HND-LAX, spent the night at Westin LAX and flew to east coat next day. I’d do that again. Good break up of flight. It was 2 tickets, but less than HND-IAD on FF miles.
One suggestion, if you can swap hotels, I’d recommend Sheraton Yokohama vs. Westin. We swapped hotels after reading a review that Sheraton was in prime location. We passed the Westin on our can ride from port. I agree. Sheraton is next to train station, excellent shopping, and easy direct buses to both airports (and also Disney if yoi have time for a quick visit-tickets are $50-70 dollars). Nice executive/elite lounge serves decent breakfast/light dinner/open bar. 

Edited May 5 by elaine5

[DaKahuna]

You might have noticed my absence yesterday — well, we arrived at 0800 and docked in Kobe.  Our shore excursion meet up time was 0900 in the Main Theater and our bus left only two minutes late at 0917.  We visited three sites, two temples and one shrine.  It is interesting that Buddhist sites are called temples while the Shinto sites are called shrines. 

 

I have over 200 pictures that I took so I am going to just ‘cherry pick’ a few for each site. 

 

We did not return until after 1900 and quickly dropped our stuff off in the room and went to dinner.  After dinner my DW was very tired so she decided to take a long hot shower and then went to bed.  

 

For dinner my wife had the crispy kale salad 

 

And I had the classic Caesar salad from the MDR

 

 

We both chose the Cod Basquaise for our entree

 

 

and our waiter gifted us with the veal cannelloni to share -  This was better than the cod, and I am not saying the cod was bad just that this was better … 

 

 

I had a a Pinot noir to go with my meal.

 

 

I went down to the Retreat Lounge and had a long conversation with Clifford, the bartender about food and drink.  He makes a very good Sidecar so I had one of those and headed to the Martini Bar for my first martini of the cruise, not counting the sidecars I have had.  I had a cucumber martini, made with Hendricks gin, and nursed that while talking with a few fellow passengers.  The effects of a very long day and 12,000 steps caught up with me so I went back to the room.  

 

 

Edited May 5 by DaKahuna

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, elaine5 said:

One suggestion, if you can swap hotels, I’d recommend Sheraton Yokohama vs. Westin.

 

Thank you for the recommendation.  We made the reservation at the Westin using Marriott points but I’ll talk with my wife and see if she wants to do that. 

[DaKahuna]

@scorfman Wonderful post and pictures, thank you for sharing.  Our tour guide yesterday was saying they were doing another of the same tour you did today, but from Osaka instead of Kobe but we passed. 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Yesterday was a very full day as I alluded to earlier. Now I am going to try and catch up. 

 

We visited three locations yesterday.  I am going to do a separate post for each so it’s not quite as confusing. 

 

As @scorfman said it is about and hour and a half or more of a bus ride from Kobe to Kyoto.  We also made a short stop for calls of nature and to purchase drinks from vending machines if people wanted to.  

 

Our fist stop was at the Ryoanji Temple, a World Heritage site famous for the rock garden.  The rock garden consist of a white gravel field with 15 rocks please in a 5-3-2-2-3 pattern.  The history of why the rocks were placed with way they were was lost in a fire many years ago and no one is quite sure as to the origina.  The interesting face is that there is no location from which one can view all 15 stones without moving.  

 

Here are a few of the pictures I took of

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a miniature of the rock garden 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Our next stope was at a restaurant for the included  clunch.  The lunch was a “traditional Japanese style lunch” according to the tour description.  It was very good and consisted, as you can see of a number of small items including a clear soup, rice, sashimi, pickled vegetables, tempura, etc..