godfreyb

It's just a horrible experience fighting your way through the narrow and crowded alleyways to get to the cable car entrance and then having to stand in single file along the walkway in the sun for an hour to get near the cable car entrance. Never again!

It's not all by subway! You have to take the Yokohama subway to get to the commuter station to get the train to Tokyo (30 minutes) and then use the Tokyo subway. Sounds complicated but it isn't. Have cash for tickets and then be aware that the Japanese stand in line behind each other as they gather, they let people off the trains first before they get on. I can't remember the stations we went to, but people are very helpful. We can't wait to go back to Japan.

We travelled during Golden Week and didn't notice any shutdowns (but we were only there for the first two days). If you are booking your own hotels, do it early, because I thought that booking 4 months ahead would be OK, but the rate had doubled from what was showing 6 months ahead.

We did a private tour of Tokyo when our ship docked at Yokohama, which involved going on public transportation. it was very enlightening to see how the system works, because the guide explains it all, such that when we stayed in Tokyo for a few days ten days later, we went all over the place on the subway by ourselves. One thing to note, some of the transfers require long walks!

Japan is just wonderful and worth the extra sea days.

I intend to keep up the battle, but here in the US the astonished looks you get when pointing out what afternoon tea is and what high tea is, mean the battle is going to be endless!

As my original comment was mentioned here, I would mention that it was the Lido restaurant that was the problem with the restriction on the number of regular items in favor of Japanese specialties, coupled with the earlier dining times in the Grills designed for Japanese passengers, which meant that when returning from a half day tour, it was too late to have lunch in the Grills dining rooms, and one had to repair to the Lido, where the reduced items, plus the early changeover to afternoon tea (in preparation, but not yet available on the buffet), meant that it was impossible to get a sandwich (for example), the other buffet items were very tired looking at that point. It is not that I don't want to try Japanese food, it's just that when returning from a half day tour, one just wants a quick bite and then a nap! The Grills menus did not seem to be affected by any particular catering to Japanese cruisers.

I queried these daily pre-authorizations with the Grills concierge. She gave me an interesting response. They do it daily, instead of waiting until the end of the cruise because cards can expire before the end of the cruise, or be cancelled by the passenger, in which case Cunard is left out to dry..........it reminds me of the occasion on our last cruise in Grills when my breakfast was served with just one egg - I asked 'what sort of boarding house are you running here?'

Another factor is that Cunard can change your flights without directly informing you. I had been trying to book a fare to Singapore on Singapore Airlines from SW Florida, but I could not do it on Singapore Air website. Cunard could book it at an attractive Premium Economy fare. Great, I thought and booked it. A month or two later, I looked at our cruise booking on the Cunard website and noticed a tab 'My flights'. Checking it, I saw that we had been rebooked on three United flights (instead of two, one being direct from EWR to Singapore) and NOT in Premium Economy. My TA got involved and we cancelled the entire flight booking. The problem was caused by the booking being done by Cunard on the United Airlines system, which when the timing of the initial connecting flight changed, automatically rebooked us on United flights (United and Singapore Airlines both belong to the Star Alliance group). If I hadn't checked I would never have known! That's why I won't use cruise air bookings now.

As I recall, Cunard had shuttle service at all the Japan stops. I was impressed with that at the time, even though we were on tours at most of the places.

As I recall, the increased vigilance started after a number of passengers booked regular cabins, then boarded with mobility chairs, and left them in the corridor outside the cabin, blocking the hallways. I myself witnessed several chairs being left like this on one cruise.

I gave up on the toast and asked for a toasted bagel every day - it isn't a bagel, but it is better than the toast, i.e. it gives you something to chew on!

That was our experience on the QE in April this year. Where formerly a request for an off-menu item was handled, now raising the question was met with a rebuff by the Maitre'd. A different experience in PG from years gone by - and don't get me started on the two vegetarian out of five main course options offered every day - that really reduced the choices available for regular eaters.

Not in PG, but the Lido was all ready to go by 3 p.m. Initially, as we arrived too late for lunch in PG on a half day tour, we thought that we would just substitute tea at 3 p.m. instead, but all those carbs didn't work for us. As an aside, the lack of atmosphere when they serve tea in PG instead of the Grills Lounge is not an encouragement to go!

I am assuming that these changes also take out the QE's month-long round April-May Japan sailings? That seems odd as they have put a lot of effort into this exercise. Also, because the out of the way ports in Japan were quite interesting.