DIY tips for Shimizu and Okinawa, Japan?

In October we will be in Shimizu (near Mt. Fuji) and also in Okinawa....from 7:00 AM to 3:00 Pm each and would prefer to do these ports on our own, as we have lots of excursions booked for our other stops. Any suggestions please?

did you ever get any ideas for those 2 ports doing on your own. We are interested in the same info. Thanks

I'll post since no one else has posted. We stopped at these ports last year on the Celebrity Millennium - probably your same cruise.

Not really a lot to do in these two ports. To give you some ideas use the Japan Guide website for local attractions and self transportation.

Shimizu http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6354.html

Here we got a day pass on the local (non JR) rail/bus line (1,200 yen for train and bus) and visited Sumpu Castle and took the bus up to Nihondaira and the ropeway for a nice view over the port and Mt. Fuji. Kunozan Toshogu Shrine is also there. It cleared up in the afternoon and we got a good look at Mt. Fuji as we left the port.

Okinawa http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7101.html

We walked from the Naha port to the commercial area. Not much there. We stopped at an interesting Fukushuen Chinese Garden along the way. Entry was free.

Okinawa was pretty much flattened during World War II so what you see there is either new construction, a re-construction or a memorial. Difficult to get to many areas in the short time we had in port - from 7am to 3pm.

This cruise in 2014 was originally scheduled for Kagoshima (an interesting town) but was replaced with Okinawa (an uninteresting town IMO). What this did was get us into Taipei at 1pm instead of the original 8am which did eat into the time in Taiwan.

If you are on this cruise and go to Taipei (Keelung City), if you do not have a tour booked, there will be taxis outside that can be booked for around 3,300 NTD for a full day or about $110 USD. There is a currency exchange office where the taxis line up. The taxi fits four people easily. They have some larger taxis for six people at a higher price. The salesperson will have pictures of all the various places the taxi will take you. This will be important since the driver will most likely not speak English. That is the main downside to these tours. It helps to have a Chinese speaker along. On the first afternoon and into the evening we went to several attractions in the Northeast. The second full day we went along the Northern Coastline. Many others took a full day to go into Taipei. The driver was very nice and stopped at many scenic/photo op sites. He also bought us all water and some fireworks to shoot off the first evening.

I'll post since no one else has posted. We stopped at these ports last year on the Celebrity Millennium - probably your same cruise.

 

Not really a lot to do in these two ports. To give you some ideas use the Japan Guide website for local attractions and self transportation.

 

Shimizu http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6354.html

 

Here we got a day pass on the local (non JR) rail/bus line (1,200 yen for train and bus) and visited Sumpu Castle and took the bus up to Nihondaira and the ropeway for a nice view over the port and Mt. Fuji. Kunozan Toshogu Shrine is also there. It cleared up in the afternoon and we got a good look at Mt. Fuji as we left the port.

 

Okinawa http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7101.html

 

We walked from the Naha port to the commercial area. Not much there. We stopped at an interesting Fukushuen Chinese Garden along the way. Entry was free.

 

Okinawa was pretty much flattened during World War II so what you see there is either new construction, a re-construction or a memorial. Difficult to get to many areas in the short time we had in port - from 7am to 3pm.

 

This cruise in 2014 was originally scheduled for Kagoshima (an interesting town) but was replaced with Okinawa (an uninteresting town IMO). What this did was get us into Taipei at 1pm instead of the original 8am which did eat into the time in Taiwan.

 

If you are on this cruise and go to Taipei (Keelung City), if you do not have a tour booked, there will be taxis outside that can be booked for around 3,300 NTD for a full day or about $110 USD. There is a currency exchange office where the taxis line up. The taxi fits four people easily. They have some larger taxis for six people at a higher price. The salesperson will have pictures of all the various places the taxi will take you. This will be important since the driver will most likely not speak English. That is the main downside to these tours. It helps to have a Chinese speaker along. On the first afternoon and into the evening we went to several attractions in the Northeast. The second full day we went along the Northern Coastline. Many others took a full day to go into Taipei. The driver was very nice and stopped at many scenic/photo op sites. He also bought us all water and some fireworks to shoot off the first evening.

Thank you for posting this...and for the website links. Still not sure what we'll do, but this is helpful.

Yes, it is the same cruise on the Millenium. We have private tours with cc groups lined up for Taiwan, so we'll be OK there.

Thanks again.....

When we left the port of Shimizu there was a band playing and fireworks. It was a very nice send off.

Also the post office was on the dock so you could mail post cards if that is something you do. Our grandchildren love to get mail and pictures are the best of course.