aussierangers

I'm pretty sure it's the Aeon shopping mall, which is still quite a distance from the town centre and train stations, but I believe there are local buses from there. We're also skipping the castle and have decided to explore Yatsushiro, which has enough things to do to fill in the day, and will give us a less touristy experience, and a feel for a small regional town. As we are staying on in Japan after the cruise, we figure that we will see Osaka and Himeji Castles, and my DH has a Castle Limit which we will probably reach with those two 🙂

Thanks ART, everything you say about Japan backs up what we've read, and we are really looking forward to experiencing it for ourselves. Our plan is much like yours - 3 days prior to the cruise in Singapore, then the cruise, then 10 days in Japan, mostly based in Osaka, which seems like a good place from which to take day trips to Hiroshima, Kyoto and Himeji. Then we throw ourselves into the Tokyo frenzy for the last few days. The port information has been so reassuring and helpful, and I'm glad to hear that you've found Japan such a safe and orderly place, but with a culture so different from ours. I'm so pleased you did this blog.☺️ Safe journey home

Thank you so much Bonsai for keeping us so well informed. Do you mind if I ask one last question - when you went back to Nha Trang, were there still problems with the tenders? Or did they get people off the ship quicker? We are still deciding what to do at this port. Thanks again and safe travels home!

That should be the case, the Hong Kong media was full of articles about the fiasco after your port call, and the government responded really quickly. The two cruises following yours had all sorts of free bus options, and was giving taxi drivers incentives to be at the port. Apparently all the queues disappeared and it all went really smoothly.

Yes me too, I went to bed last night feeling much more relaxed about those ports, and now really looking forward to exploring Yatsushiro instead of potentially just staying on the ship. Fingers crossed now that they get Nha Trang sorted out.

Yes please keep up the posts! Especially now that you're going to Kumamoto and Kagoshima, which are two of the ports on our cruise in September. I will be very interested to hear about what there was to see and do in both ports, how difficult it was to get off the ship, and into the towns (as both are quite a distance from the cruise terminals), and whether RC provided shuttles etc (although I guess the late changes mean they might not have time to arrange much for you). And I love your photos.

Lots of interesting news articles in various HK media about the transport issues you guys experienced at the cruise terminal. Apparently they held several meetings, and have now organised several free shuttle bus routes, and made the 22R public bus route free too. Also taxi drivers are being given incentive payments to do cruise pickups. Sounds like it is working, with no queues today.

Was the rest of the Solarium unrestricted access (apart from under 16s of course)? It looks like somewhere I'd be spending plenty of time, being a sun-loving Aussie from Melbourne, who is desperately looking forward to some warmth, but who isnt a suite guest.

Thank you for those gorgeous photos, I had Nan Lin on my HK to-do list, it is now on my HK must-do list.

Handy to know about the buses. I'd heard there was a free shuttle, so now we know not to expect them, and which bus to take instead (and to have some HKD on hand)

Would love to know if you can see the light show from the cruise terminal. Looking forward to hearing about the overnight visit - its the main reason we chose RC for this cruise.

So I'm wondering how people managed who had pre-booked excursions, that were several hours late for them. Did the operators wait, or did people just miss out and blow their money? I'm concerned because we wont have any mobile data for Vietnam (not planning on buying an internet package for this cruise). Ah, the joys of cruising ... Were there lots of taxis at the port? Maybe thats a better option.

Yikes, hope they get the tendering sorted before our Sept 19 cruise, we booked an independent tour for this port which is supposed to start at 8.30. Normally I avoid booking shore excursions in tender ports, but the things we want to see in Nha Trang are a long way apart so a tour seemed sensible here. Thanks for all the info, its been really useful so please keep it coming!