bluebell sparkle

Yes, everyone on board is apparently very pleased with the way it's been handled. It's hard to imagine how future cruises can now go ahead given they have just been denied entry to so many ports. 

I know people currently on board and they have missed several ports. They are allowed back in Singapore as planned and will be getting 500 euro on board credit plus 1600 towards a future cruise. No sign of any illness on board. 

Thanks all, hopefully it will go ahead, it's one place we really want to see and this may be the only chance we get to do it. It's two hours each way by public transport so no chance of us doing it ourselves. Will investigate a private tour, unlikely though as we have our luggage.

There is no way to predict the answer to your question. What is the excursion? Is it something you can do on your own? Yokohama is an easy port city to visit on your own.

It's from kobe to nara, as we would have our luggage, and the distance it doesn't seem too easy to do on our own, and its the only opportunity on our trip to see nara, we would be very disappointed if it was cancelled.

Our cruise leaves in 3 weeks and we have booked a disembarktion day tour, but when I look at it online it says it needs a minimum of 40 people to go ahead and there are still 20 spaces left. How likely is it that the excursion will fill up? It's a Japanese cruise.

Looks amazing, I'm so excited for our Japan trip! One question, we intend on doing our own thing at the ports, how do you know if there will be a shuttle bus into the town's and do you need to reserve?

Looking forward to reading all about your trip, we are spending our honeymoon in Japan, a week in Tokyo and Kyoto and a week on the diamond in May 2018, so looking forward to reading all about it!

Anyone at all?

Hi all, if anyone has been on the diamond princess, can you tell me if sake and shochu is available and if so, how is it served, what measure and is it available in all bars?

Thanks for a brilliant report! We are also doing a bit of a tour of Japan before our cruise. I have a question about public transport, particularly in Kyoto and Tokyo, we also plan to diy our sightseeing, and want to know do you pay each fare as you go or can you get a day ticket? The Jr pass is no good to us, so we won't be getting one.

Do they serve any sake and other Japanese beers in the bars?

We took the ship's hot springs tour. at Beppu. Very interesting. At Kagoshima, we went to the Samurai houses. Busan doesn't offer a lot but the fish market is a hoot to go to or you could go to the huge Lotte mall ( about a 20 minute cab ride from the boat. There will be a money exchange trailer set up on the dock at Busan to exchange your currency for Korean Won. We did a day trip to Hiroshima before the cruise and it was absolutely fascinating that just a few blocks from Ground Zero there is now a high fashion district with stores from Gucci, Ferragamo,etc. Whatever you do, when the opportunity presents to sample local food, do it!

Hi! Three years ago we went on the Diamond for three Japan cruises. We did go to the Izumi Japanese spa onboard and it was delightful. The attendants explained the procedure, handed you a towel and slippers, and off you went to the locker room to undress. Naturally men on one side and women on another in separate 'spa' facilities.

 

There was a shower area where you sat on a wooden stool and scrubbed up well (soap, shampoo, etc. provided). You then proceeded to the baths - there were two of varying degrees of hot. One had jets like a jacuzzi and I think the other did not. There was a wet-steam room that was scented with eucalyptus, and a dry sauna. I recall a cool rain shower, as well as a waterfall-like shower that hit you in-between the shoulders. I believe you had 1.5 hours to enjoy the experience and bounce around all about what was inside. We did this in the evening and at night slept very well!

 

I think it's worthwhile to check out whilst onboard Diamond Princess.

 

Cheers.

We cruised to the north which also had a stop in Korsakov Russia so sorry I can't help you as we did not hit any of those ports.

 

We did not see the robot show but I have seen in on TV on Anthony Boudains No reservations and its unique to say the least. Its like Blue Man Group on steroids, a lot of steroids. If we ever go back I won't miss it.

 

https://www.viator.com/Tokyo-attractions/Robot-Restaurant-tours-tickets/d334-a22115

 

Also not everyone likes baseball but i do and we saw a game at Jingu stadium and it was amazing. Its like a Saturday afternoon college football game. You can just feel the electricity in the air so if you like baseball don't miss one in Japan.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1066457-d1847875-Reviews-Jingu_Baseball_Stadium-Shinjuku_Tokyo_Tokyo_Prefecture_Kanto.html

I just booked the same 7-night cruise in Japan for May next year.

 

Sip and Sail is not available for us here in Singapore AND the all-inclusive beverage package is also missing from the beverage option list. The 5 beers for price of 4 packages are all still available as are the non-alchohol packages.

 

So either this all-inclusive package is uniquely excluded for this cruise or there is a website glitch.

.

 

We found the Japanese to be some of the most polite people we have ever met and Japan to be very clean. If you are stopping in Hakodate I can provide a link to a goodwill assn. that has guides at very reasonable prices.

This is so helpful! We are booked on a southern islands cruise next May for our honeymoon as part of a tour of Japan, so it's great to hear all of this! I know we will be very much in the minority, both age and nationality, but we booked the cruise to see japan, not just to cruise. I hope there is plenty of opportunities to eat lots of Japanese food and get involved in Japanese culture.

I've been told the all inclusive drinks package is not available on my cruise, 7 night Japanese, is this normal?

You can't add it yourself online. You need to call Princess if you booked with them or your travel agent if you booked with one.

No, it's a 7 day Japanese cruise.

I just got my confirmation of booking email from princess (very excited!) and noticed among all the on board options you can buy, the all inclusive drinks package is missing. The soft drink and beer packages are there, just curious as to why the all inclusive package isn't there?

Apparently there is a £1 deposit offer for tomorrow (Wednesday 21 June) and tomorrow only. Saw it on the Princess UK Twitter feed. I think that's as exciting as it gets. Both my partner and I have tweeted Princess separately about Sip and Sail and the likelihood of something similar in the U.K. and have had no response so we are taking that as a no!

Is there likely to be any offers for summer/ Autumn 2018 cruises for UK customers? I see the sip and sail promotion is north America only. Hoping to book a Japanese cruise for May 2018 and feeling a bit left out!

Not U.S. but North American. Here are the residency restrictions direct from Princess website: "Offer is available to residents of the 50 United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Bermuda and the District of Columbia who are 21 years of age or older and receive this offer.

Is this only for American customers? The website won't let me access the promotion.