arsesta

20 minutes ago, monkey@cruise said:

The FREE shuttle buses are run by Port Authority because Itsukaichi Wharf is an industrial area. From cruise terminal to JR Itsukaichi station is 1.5 mi distance (10 min ride). The ship will post the last return shuttle time.

 

Check your cruise itinerary, exit immigration at last port before South Korea and entrance immigration and customs  at first port after South Korea. For example, if your cruise itinerary is Hiroshima -> South Korea -> Hakodate, then your exit immigration is at Hiroshima and entrance immigration at Hakodate. In general, aboard time for non tender port is 30 minutes before sailing; 60 minutes for tender port.

 

Most Hiroshima stores close at 8:00pm, and public transport (tram and train) from city center to Itsukaichi Station takes an hour. If you miss the ship and your next port is Hakodate, will be an expensive 12 hours Shinkansen ride to catch your ship.🙂
 

Super helpful. thank you so much! We will have a toddler with us so likely we won't stay out too late. From my recollection (this is pre-COVID), Hiroshima restaurants and bars were pretty lively in the evenings. We are excited to experience it again now with the rest of the family. 

Really appreciate your DIY instructions in this thread! 

On 5/8/2024 at 7:58 PM, monkey@cruise said:

Japan's Three Most Scenic Places: Miyajima (Shrine Island), Amanohashidate (Heaven Bridge) and Matsushima (Pine Island).  https://nihonsankei.jp/eng/

 

The most popular item in Miyajima is the oyster curry bread (500 yen), which contains two whole large oysters. "Hiroshima Curry bread Laboratory Miyajima Main Store"

 

Oyster lovers, try the Oyster set meal in Kakiya or Oyster okonomiyaki in SAKURAMARU.

Travelling from JR Itsukaichi Station (Shuttle drop off) to Miyajima on public transportation is easy and inexpensive:
- From Itsukaichi Station, take San-yo Line (For Iwakuni or Ono-Ura) to Miyajimaguchi Station, every 15 min, fare ¥200, 4 stops, 12 min.
- Walk 5-8 min to Miyajimaguchi Ferry Terminal, take JR West Miyajima Ferry or Matsudai Kisen Ferry to Miyajima, fare ¥200 + tourist tax ¥100, 10 min crossing time. 15 min walking time from ferry terminal to Itsukushima Jinja.

 

From Miyajima to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum:
1. Expensive high speed ferry from Miyajima to Atomic Bomb Dome pier, 45 min time,  fare ¥2400-2800
2. Travel back to Miyajimaguchi Station, take San-yo Line (for Hiroshima, Shiraichi or Itozaki) to Yokogawa Station, every 15 min, fare ¥330, 7 stops, 22 min.
The train station is connected to Yokogawa tram  Station.  Ride Hiroshima Dentetsu No.7 (For Hiroshimako) every 15 min, fare ¥220, 15 min , 9 stops get off at Fukuromachi tram station and walk 8 min to the Museum.

 

@monkey@cruise Thanks for sharing this info! 😀 We are heading there in June. Is there a fee to ride the shuttle from cruise port to JR Itsukaichi station? Do they offer a shuttle back from JR station to the port as well? 

It seems like it does take a bit of time to get out of the Hiroshima cruise terminal due to immigrations/customs from the other posts. Was there a specific time you were expected back at the ship before it departed? Ours is supposed to be docked from 1-10 pm. Would getting back to the ship by 9 pm be ok? 

Hi! My family and I will be travelling on the Celebrity Millennium departing Yokohama next summer. Will have 2 adults, 2 seniors, 1 toddler. Our plan is to arrive in Yokohama the morning of embarkation (after a few days in Tokyo) and see the Cup Noodle museum in Yokohama. Is it feasible to drop off our luggage at the cruise terminal, check all of us in and then walk off the boat for a few hours to check out the museum? We don't have to be on the cruise until 530 pm. The museum is only a mile away from the cruise port. I know it's cutting it close but wonder if this is possible to do it this way. Thank you! 

My family and I are currently on the Danube with Viking right now. We started in Budapest on Saturday and heading to Nuremberg. Original ship was Egil but was switched to Gullveig (got an email a week prior to sailing about change). Was told last night that another ship (not sure if it’s a river cruise?) hit one of the locks down the river so we have to pack our bags and swap ships in Passau (on Wed) going back on our original ship Egil! Director says it will probably take another 2 weeks to fix and it sounds like it was the one that was damaged and just fixed in June. Water level has been fine for the last few days but the mosquitos have been fierce. I was out on the deck for 10 mins last night and got 7 bites (we were sailing too, not docked) with more mosquitos latching on. They are huge too. Bring bug spray if you plan on evening walks on the track! 

If you don't have a beverage package, can you still get the smoothies for free in Blu?

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Thanks for your suggestion. I appreciated what you wrote about Greek wine in another post. Any idea if it's impossible to get around to the wineries on Santorini via public bus?

Santorini is the only place you mentioned know pin for their first class Greek wines. We did a private wine tour in June with Iliana from Santorini Wine Trails and it was terrific. I'm the first place we went to the top three producers wineries -- not the blue wine cooperative Santos where many group tours go. Secondly Iliana is an oenologist so your are not just being escorted from winery to winery and fed stock information from guides who wouldn't know a VinSanto from Santa Claus. If this is a special occasion make it a special tour. And finally we went to lunch at an untoursity cafe in the south part of the island and enjoyed many local dishes (including two of my favorites -- fava bean purée and the tiny intense sun dried tomatoes. One of the things that makes winery tours so interesting in Santorini is you get to see their unique vinticulture (the vines are grown in basket shapes low to the ground ) and understand the reason for it (the windy conditions).

 

 

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I want to surprise DH with a wine tour on one of the Greek islands on our upcoming Med cruise (in October) which is also our honeymoon. I am having a hard time picking which island to do this on. We don't have any tours booked yet on any of these islands. We're not wine snobs, but we do enjoy a nice glass of wine from time to time. We're not very familiar with Greek wine (mostly drink California) but we are open to new experiences and learning! I want to book either a group or private tour so we can sample some local wine, maybe buy a bottle or two, enjoy the wineries, and take it easy. Which island would you pick? And if you have a tour company that you'd recommend, please chime in!

At this time, our only plan for Santorini is to visit Oia, Rhodes to visit Old Town and Jewish quarter, and Mykonos to see Delos on our own, but these plans are flexible since we're DIY.

Thanks!

Great ideas for the corkscrew. Thanks!

Any idea if we have to pack our own corkscrew or will they provide this for us as well?

This may sound like an odd question to ask, but what do folks usually wear when they go to the Persian Garden on S class ships? Most photos show people in robes lying on the beds but the robe will be really uncomfortable in the sauna/steam room! It's coed so I am assuming it's not clothing optional so bathing suits then? I'm staying in AQ room for the first time and wonder if I can just walk from my room to PG in my robe (one flight up and down the hall).

Hi OP!

Can you share your experience with this tour? We're hoping to do this in October (staying in Rome for 3 days post-cruise). Does the tour only let you go in the underground section, or does it take you all over PLUS the underground/restricted parts also? Do people do this tour typically do a regular tour plus the underground tour?

Thanks!

Just a quick question

 

Having purchased tickets for the Colosseum Underground tour, we have vouchers which must be shown to the ticket office to pick up our tickets...no other option given

Is there a "special" line to redeem these vouchers for tickets or must we wait in the general ticket line?

Thanks

Joe

Wow thanks so much for all this info. The bubbly may be rubbish but it's still "Free" and I intend to mix it with my morning OJ for a homemade mimosa. :) Looking forward to it!

Hi all! Will be getting on the Reflection in about a month for a Eastern med cruise. Excited about Aqua class room and was looking forward to that complimentary bottle of bubbly in our room. Just checked Celebrity website today but this was taken out of the room description. Anyone in Aqua class rooms recently that can report back? Is that gone too in addition to the bottles of water??? What else have they cut out? Thanks!

How accurate would you say that website is? I did a search for my Celebrity Reflection cruise in the same port in October. Celebrity website says it's docked from morning until 6pm, but this website says 2pm-9pm. Which should I trust?? :confused:

Oh bummer. That's what we figure but wanted to hear from folks who have been there to see if it's actually do-able. Our second choice is to do a Godfather tour in Taormina which will include a stop at the greek theatre. Thanks!

Hi all!

DH and I will be at Messina port on the Celebrity Reflection in October. He's a history buff and would love to see the ruins in Syracuse. It's our first time in Sicily, and we would like to know if this will be feasible with a private taxi or tour group. We know from reading on here and google map that it takes at least 1.5-2 hours each way to reach there. We dock at 10 am in Messina and leave at 7 pm. Will this give us enough time to see the sights, or will it be too hectic/risky that we will miss the cruise? Celebrity does not offer their own tour to Syracuse so we will need to get a private company.

I welcome all suggestions/ advice / opinions. If not Syracuse, then which other historical sites would be worthwhile to see on that side of Sicily?

Thank yoU!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say thank you for all of your feedback and suggestions. After much deliberation, we have decided to skip Florence altogether (just was too hectic to bounce around cities, especially after a transpacific and then a transatlantic flight!). We will stay in Venice for 3 nights, then Rome in 2 nights, and will go straight to the Port from Rome the morning of our cruise. We found a day trip to Tuscany from Rome which we will do before the cruise, and then we will have 3 more days to enjoy Rome post-cruise. This feels better for us and gives us a little more time to enjoy as opposed to travel on trains and rush through everything. Thanks again everyone!

Hi folks!

Would appreciate some advice on our itinerary for honeymoon in September. Arrive in Venice on 9/25 and board Celebrity Reflection at Civitavecchia on 9/30. We will have time after cruise to visit Rome.

Question is related to the days before cruise. Original plan is to do 2 nights in Venice, 3 nights in Florence with a day tour to Tuscany. Given that we love food, wine, and local culture, we are now thinking of skipping Florence completely and spend the 3 days in Tuscany visiting vineyards, farmers market, eating our way through this part of the country. We're in our mid/late 30's and want to savor the Italian experience (backpacking/whirlwind travel days are behind us). We will have plenty time to do museums in Rome so I am not devastated about skipping Florence. We are not strong drivers, and we prefer public transport, but I heard going through southern Tuscany by bus/train is hard.

Which itinerary do you recommend:

3 days in Florence with one of the days on a guided tour in Tuscany

vs.

No Florence, all 3 days in Tuscany, with a ca rental and DIY tour

vs.

3 day guide tour in Tuscany

Obviously we want to keep cost reasonable but this is also our honeymoon so willing to splurge on a guided tour. Which company do you recommend?

Thank you!

I love the Mickey Boot Camp idea!!! I'm a New Yorker and walk quite fast; my husband always complains that it's like a power walking work out for him (he grew up in Hawaii so they really take it easy here). Haha.

beaveh -- I love your "It's a honeymoon after all not a military campaign." My brother-in-law used to call the trips my sister planned to Orlando (aka Land of Mickey) as "Mickey Boot Camp" - as she would have their time planned from 6:00 AM - Midnight w/out a minute to chill :) arsesta - have a Fabulous Honeymoon!!!

Thank you so much for mentioning Tarquinia. I had no idea about the tombs near there and I mentioned it to my husband. He's quite excited to see these ruins the morning of the cruise (we're history nerds) so we won't feel like we're missing a day or anything in our whirlwind tour but still take it easy enough staying at the port or nearby the night before.

A few years ago, before leaving on the Reflection, we stayed in a lovely B & B in Tarquinia. It is only about a 15 minute short drive from the cruise ship terminal. It is a medieval walled city that great for exploring with its Etruscan museum and many ruins. Also has an abundance of very good restaurants. I can't remember but I think it was about 20 euros from the B & B to where you get the terminal shuttle.

Wow!!!! You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for the advice and alternate suggestions. I would LOVE to rent a car in Italy except DH and I both hate driving and can't imagine ourselves navigating the chaotic roads in Italy. I think we will most likely stick with trains, and getting to the port the night before seems to be the best bet. I had no idea there were things to do in or nearby the town so now I don't feel like it's "wasting" a night there. It wouldn't hurt to have a more low key day after 2 days of flying and 4 days of sightseeing. I know we have a hectic itinerary but we really don't know when we will be able to fly to Europe again (it is literally half way around the world for us! And the flight was so $$$.)

Thank you so much again!

Aloha everyone!

My husband and I are a couple in our 30's who will be traveling from Oahu to Europe for our honeymoon in September. We are both savvy independent travelers, having done Europe, US, and Asia solo or with family, almost never with tour groups. However, we are Celebrity and cruise newbies, so there is a lot for us to learn (very grateful to the forum and Rick Steve's cruise guide book).

We have a planning dilemma and would love your advice! We will be on the 10-day Italy & Greek Isles cruise on the Reflection leaving from Rome on 9/30. Our dilemma is if we should:

a) take an early train on the day of cruise from Florence to Civitavecchia

OR

b) leave Florence late afternoon on 9/29 and stay overnight in Civitavecchia?

I know the general recommendation is to get to Rome or near the port the night before the cruise to reduce the likelihood of missing the cruise. I'm aware that the port is about 90 minutes from Rome Termini station, and the train between Rome and Florence is about 1 hr 45 mins.

The reason for this dilemma is b/c we want to maximize our time pre-cruise in Venice, Florence, and Tuscany (we have only 4 days). There is nothing in Civitavecchia that we want to see, and we ideally don't want to stay in Rome for one night pre-cruise since we will have 3 days post-cruise to enjoy Rome.

However, I also worry that we will miss the cruise b/c we will not have sufficient time on the day of the cruise (a Friday) to travel from Florence to Rome, then Rome to Civitavecchia. We plan to rely on public transportation and will not use a private shuttle or taxi to minimize on costs. Total travel time on train is about 4 hours, and if I factor in buying tickets, getting lost in Station Termini, travel time from Civitavecchia train station to the actual port, I estimate that this will be a 6-hr adventure. Therefore, if we can catch an 8 AM train leaving Florence, the latest estimated time we get to Port is 2 PM. Is that accurate? Per Celebrity website, the cruise leaves at 5 PM, but I am not sure if we arrive at 4:30 or 4:45 pm, will they still let us on (our plan is to get there well before 4 but you never know with public transit)? We do not need to get on the ship as soon as it is ready for us, but we also don't want to cut it too close that it leaves w/o us!

Have folks done this before and made it on time for departure? What are other obstacles that I am not aware of, other than the possibility of strikes? I have never been to Italy before, and the last time DH was in Rome, his family planned everything.

Any advice/tips would be GREATLY appreciated!!!! I posted this question on here as opposed to the Italy forum b/c I would like to hear how other Celebrity cruisers have handled this, since there may be unique checking in and boarding procedures that I am not aware of that are unique to Celebrity.

Thank you!

Hi! I was wondering if there is a policy for transferring from one TA to another? I reserved mine via Priceline a few weeks ago with some perks but another cruise company TA is offering better perks. Do people typically do this? Or usually it's done from Celebrity to a TA to gain more perks? Thanks!! (First time cruiser here)