BruceMuzz

Note that the Japanese Yen is currently trading in the ¥156 / US 1$ range. Most of the experts are predicting ¥161 / Dollar.

Most costs and prices in Japan have not been adjusted to the new rates.

Japan has become quite a bargain destination.
 

8 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

It may be possible that the driver is an Uber and is taking a blind passenger, or it's a teen taking a blind grandmother.

And it is also possible that Windstar will send these ice hull ships to Alaska, where there are many icebergs floating around.

In my book, meatloaf is just one step above cat food.

Better to go without than eat such plebian food.

On 4/12/2024 at 9:42 AM, ridethetide said:

Did I miss something? Did WS state that they will not be doing polar itineraries? Why buy ships that are rated for ice if you don't need that function?

Did you know that EVERY Drive-through ATM in America has complete instructions in braille?

Why buy braille ATMs for people driving cars, when they don’t need that function?

Yesterday I flew Barcelona - Doha - Tokyo on 2 different Emirates A380-800s in Business Class. 19 hours in the air.

Great food, outstanding service. Great seats.

Slept most of the way. Almost sorry the flight ended so soon.

Had a great sleep back on the ground last night, and just woke up a few minutes ago feeling great.

On 4/20/2024 at 12:39 AM, BeasleysMom66 said:

 

I made that mistake on my first cruise ever.  I was on the Equinox with Celebrity and I knew I was reaching my limit on my credit card so I went down on the last night and paid in cash and got a zero balance receipt.  Next morning I go to disembark and get the loud warning bell that I am denied leaving because I have a balance.  WHAT????  It was SO humiliating.  I had to go back to the "front desk" and asked them to explain why I was denied leaving.  They told me I had a balance and I asked for the folio.  When she printed it it was identical to the zero balance sheet from the night before.  I asked how much cash was needed to pay zero?  The purser looked at me sheepishly and offered no apology.  I was finally cleared to leave.  

 

That said on the next cruise with 2 friends from the first (all in separate cabins/reservations) one of us always had a money problem.  After Friend 1 and I left the ship we passed Friend 2 leaning on a pillar with a cruise employee standing there.  We didn't pay much attention at first but asked if she wanted to share a cab to the airport with us.  She said no she had some "business" to take care of.  As we waited to get our luggage we were talking about what could be wrong and another passenger said they had heard her talking to the employees and she had a balance she couldn't pay.  We lost touch with her and I don't know how it was handled but she was off the ship but an employee was standing there next to her for what purpose I don't know.  My guess is they had her sign a promissory note before she could claim her luggage and go home.

Your credit card issue happened because the ship transmits the credit card charges in a “batch” at the end of the cruise. The bank that issued the card initially approved the charge as standard procedure. Then they realized the card was overdrawn and sent a message to the cruise line that the charge was not approved. This happens quite often on the mass market cruise lines.

On mass market ships, an average of 10% of passengers cannot pay their bill at the end of the cruise. That is why the cruise lines want a card imprint at the beginning. They place a credit hold on your card so that they can be sure to receive at least the bulk of what you owe.

On 3/23/2024 at 4:39 PM, Seamus6 said:

The quality of food will continue to decline yet the masses will continue to wolf it down.

There may be some automation mostly as a gimmick but since foreign labor will probably continue to remain cheap, I doubt it will affect cruising much.  if US laws mandate minimum wages even for foreign workers all the cruise lines will just move to other countries where laws are more favorable.

The cruise lines already moved to other countries for that very reason.

If by “travel card” you are talking about the pre-paid smart cards for subways, trains, buses, taxis, ferries, and convenience stores, it is far easier to buy a travel card. If you are carrying cash and do not mind dealing with vending machines every time you go somewhere, that’s OK too.

There are plenty taxis available just outside the cruise terminal in Kushiro.

How are your Japanese language skills?

Taxi drivers will speak very little English.

If you do your homework and print out maps in Japanese, print out - from Google Translate - Japanese requests to go to certain locations ( and back again) you can make it work.

On 4/12/2024 at 2:42 AM, ridethetide said:

Did I miss something? Did WS state that they will not be doing polar itineraries? Why buy ships that are rated for ice if you don't need that function?

Star Legend was re-built with an ice hull when it started as Royal Viking Queen with Royal Viking Line.

1. Fly Business or First Class

2. Do not fly a US Flag airline

3. Choose your airplane carefully. A380 is best

4. Choose your seat carefully. Forward and away from toilets and galleys.

5. Adjust your body clock a few days in advance with diet and sleep changes.

6. Lay off the free champagne during the flight

9 hours ago, Mary229 said:

If there is a wholesale change in Visas the cruise ship will generally skip the port.  We had this happen during 2022 right after the startup after the lockdowns.  Both Gibraltar and Monaco changed the rules so those ports were skipped. Luckily we were able to replace both with other destinations 

Where did you get the idea about what “cruise ships generally do”?

For the 34 ships on 13 different cruise lines, I have had to clear on over 1,500 voyages, during the past 47 years, we have not “generally done that”. 
Which cruise lines have you been working for?

On 4/4/2024 at 6:43 PM, ontheweb said:

I just don't understand why anyone who had the necessary documentation to board would give you a hassle. All it does is delay his boarding and everyone in the line behind him.

It also strokes his sense of entitlement. This is a very strong issue in North America today.

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Actually as we are in the so called information age, it is easier than ever to know the rules.

 

And since San Diego and San Francisco are both in the US, the same federal laws are going to apply. I don't know where you can get they can be different.

The fact that you don’t know why 2 different US Ports enforce US Fede

Imperial Hotel in Hibiya or Palace Hotel in Otemachi

There is an easier and faster way to go from Nihon-Odori Station in Yokohama to Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

Stay on the Minatomirai line until Shibuya Station. If you study the Minatomirai schedule, plan to take the Express. The cost is the same. Nihon-Odori to Shibuya Station takes 29 minutes on the Express. There, it is a very short walk to the Ginza Line. Take the Ginza Line to Ginza Station. From Ginza Station, Imperial Hotel is a 10 minute walk or a 5 minute Taxi ride.

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

With almost 30 yrs in Command and others as a member of fire parties from my Cadet to Chief Officer days, my experience is significantly different.

 

I recall a few issues resulting from the Baked Alaska parades, but no reportable injuries that were required to be entered in the log book. However, back in the 70's and 80's we experienced numerous, often minor fires, that were caused by careless smokers. Weekly fires, in the hotel areas, were not that uncommon on some cruises. Most were quickly extinguished with local equipment. However, I have also dealt with at least 2 bed fires resulting from smoking and those are extremely challenging to extinguish, and the occupants of said beds would not agree serious injuries are extremely rare.

 

The potential for fire is still present, but on modern tonnage the frequency and even the severity is significantly reduced to to improved structural fire protection, improvement in materials which must meet enhanced Flag/Class type approvals, improved fixed and portable fire-fighting equipment and even improvements in crew training/communications.

 

High fog systems are a huge enhancement, especially in machinery spaces. I have seen reports of fuel flashes being knocked down and extinguished in seconds, with no damage. Twenty to thirty years ago, it would have required shutting down the space and dumping CO2, with millions in damage and the potential for fire team injuries. Improvements in materials has also significantly assisted. The last few fires I experienced, in hotel areas, had no active flames. Only smouldering and lots of smoke, which is how the products performed at the type approval tests I observed.

 

Many years ago, members of the fire teams experienced burns, as the protective equipment can lead to steam burns, if not donned correctly, or it moves during use. Again, based on my experience, I can't agree with your statement that shipboard fires almost never result in serious injury, especially back in the times when flaming baked alaska parades were common.

 

Even with the technology improvements, engine room, galley and cargo fires still cause the total loss of some vessels, with the increased potential for a variety of crew injuries. Accepting some injuries have happened during baked alaska parades, I have never experienced the sounding of the crew alerts, suiting up fire parties and certainly not the total loss of a vessel. 

Back in 2006, the Star Princess fire resulted in 1 fatality and about 10 pax with smoke inhalation. Even the recent Carnival funnel fire resulted in 2 crew smoke inhalation injuries. A few months ago, I also recall reading of a fire aboard a small US cruise ship in the PNW that resulted in a crew member being hospitalised due to burns. Only a few days ago HAL lost 2 crew members, not through fire, but release of steam into a machinery space.

 

You may not have experienced many fire related injuries to your hotel crew, but rest assured, unfortunately fire related injuries still happen, as is reported by P&I Club summaries.

For the first half of your 30-year career, there were far more smokers than we see today. It is only logical that there were more smoking related fires at that time. In recent years the reduced number of smokers has resulted in reduced instances of smoking-related fires.

For the second half of your 30-year career, most cruise lines had stopped the traditional Baked Alaska Parades, and instead used safer means of generating the “sparkle”. By that point in time, most propane burners had also been banned for cooking in Guest Areas, and most table-side cooking had been moved back to the galleys. What little public area cooking was done primarily on induction equipment, removing open flames and unnecessary high heat.These developments significantly reduced hotel-related fire events onboard ships.

Yes, many fires still occur today on passenger ships; primarily in galleys, laundries, incinerators, and engine spaces.

But to answer the original question, many of the Public Area fires we experienced in “the good old days” no longer happen due to increased restrictions on Baked Alaska Parades and tableside cooking, and decreasing numbers of smokers, along with further restrictions on where one can smoke on ships today.

On 3/26/2024 at 5:53 PM, the simpsons said:

BuzzMuzz, what is your citation for 'countless people seriously burned'?  In decades of baked alaska, crepes suzette, cherries jubilee, smoking on board, et.al., how many fires have there been on cruise ships due to these practices?

For the past 47 years I have managed cruise ship hotels. During that time period I have personally witnessed / been involved with around 50 cases where passengers and/or crew suffered serious burns from Baked Alaska parades, tableside cooking, etc. I could probably find another 50 “old timers” with similar numbers. We might come up with 2500 or so cases where there were serious injuries over the past 50 years. This is not “countless numbers”, but it is a significant number of injuries that should not have occurred and could be prevented.

Fires started by careless smokers happen far less often. Serious injuries from those careless smokers are even more rare.

The great majority of ship fires occur in the trash incinerator, the laundry, the galley, and the engine room. These fires almost never result in serious injury.

If I were a cruise company lawyer, I would most likely focus on fire events that cause personal injury and lead to costly lawsuits.

Those would be the Baked Alaska and tableside cooking events.

It is always a good idea to learn the correct name of a place you plan to visit.

On 3/8/2024 at 11:56 PM, Ombud said:

That would be perfect @ROCruiser. Is that a cruise line shuttle or a port shuttle or does it depend on the cruise line?

It depends on the cruise line

Generally no. If you want independent tours in Japan, you must arrange them in advance of arrival.

Unfortunately JR wants cash only for the tickets. You must buy them when in Japan.

Take a taxi from Daikoku into Yokohama.

You can store your bag in a locker at any train station, or leave it with the Bell Desk at any hotel.

Do your Yokohama Tour.

Pick up your bag and catch a shuttle or taxi to Haneda.

IF your ship arrives in Yokohama on time that morning, and

IF Immigration is fast that morning, and

IF you take a taxi quickly from the Cruise Terminal to Haneda Airport,

you most likely will not have any problem checking in for your flight.

On 1/2/2024 at 10:19 AM, gam888 said:

Our cruise ends in Yokohama in the morning, our flight does not depart till 7pm. So we need to be at the Haneda airport by 4pm. We did a debark tour with the cruise ship last time, they took us to visit the Meiji shine and the Sensoji Temple before dropping us off at the airport. We don't really want to repeat the same debark tour this time. We would like to know if there are any private transfer companies who would pick us up at the cruise terminal when we leave the ship in the morning, take us to Tokyo or other spots in Yokohama for a tour of maybe 5 hours, and drop us off at the Haneda airport in late afternoon. Another plan is if we can lock our luggage up in the cruise terminal in Yokohama after we check out of the ship, do some sightseeing in Yokohama, and then find some form of transfer to the Haneda airport in the afternoon. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you in advance.

If the lockers at Osanbashi are full (highly unlikely) you could take a 10 minute taxi ride to any one of a dozen hotels in the area and leave the bags with the Bell Desk - or go to Yokohama Station and use the lockers there.

Most of those hotels - and Yokohama Station - offer frequent inexpensive transfers to Haneda Airport.