Trip Report--Diamond Princess Grand Japan July 17~Aug 3, 2015

Great blog and very informative. I certainly understand your comments re: Nagasaki. We were there last year and your thoughts mirrored ours exactly. If Japan is to truly move forward, it needs to fully acknowledge the causes of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings. Doing so does not diminish the sadness of these events but acknowledging the responsibility for their cause provides apology and honors those who died.

Great blog and very informative. I certainly understand your comments re: Nagasaki. We were there last year and your thoughts mirrored ours exactly. If Japan is to truly move forward, it needs to fully acknowledge the causes of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings. Doing so does not diminish the sadness of these events but acknowledging the responsibility for their cause provides apology and honors those who died.

Very well said, Aloha 1! I like to think of myself as a 'forgiven but not forgotten' person regarding this whole war. I actually came out of the museum feeling a little upset. Like what you've said, unless Japan acknowledge the CAUSES of the bombings instead of denying their responsibilities, things will not change, as we can see what the Abe's administration is doing now. Sorry to go political.

Thank you for the kind comments and thanks for reading!

We were lucky enough to be in Aomori the day before their Nebuta Festival. What an amazing day we had in port that day for our second visit!

Pre-Nebuta Festival, Aomori

Thank you ROCruiser. I enjoyed reading your blog, seeing the photos and glad that you wrote it despite your busy schedule.

Thank you ROCruiser. I enjoyed reading your blog, seeing the photos and glad that you wrote it despite your busy schedule.

You are most welcome. Thank you for reading! I had fun posting and writing about our trips. It's like revisiting the places all over again. I am finally done with the whole trip report including the land tour portion which was after the cruise. :)

We are going on this Round Hokkaido on 25 Sept 2016 your insights and info on your trip are much valuable to us.Counting the days...Thank you ROCruiser.

We are going on this Round Hokkaido on 25 Sept 2016 your insights and info on your trip are much valuable to us.Counting the days...Thank you ROCruiser.

Have a great cruise around Hokkaido! So envious of you. :) Thank you for reading!

ROCruiser,

If we don't do the Russian port of Karsakov and don't disembark from the ship, the next port Aomori, do we still has to queue for the Japanese immigration.If we do not have to stamp our passport at Aomori we might just skip the Karsakov tour.

Thank you.

Beautiful report, thanks.

ROCruiser,

 

If we don't do the Russian port of Karsakov and don't disembark from the ship, the next port Aomori, do we still has to queue for the Japanese immigration.If we do not have to stamp our passport at Aomori we might just skip the Karsakov tour.

Thank you.

Any passport inspection will apply to every passenger on the ship.

Thanks Caribill, it's going be a long queue on the Immigration. We had the same experience when we came in from Taiwan to Kagoshima on Diamond Princess, the immigration was damn long, got to wait for hours.

ROCruiser,

 

If we don't do the Russian port of Karsakov and don't disembark from the ship, the next port Aomori, do we still has to queue for the Japanese immigration.If we do not have to stamp our passport at Aomori we might just skip the Karsakov tour.

Thank you.

I believe everybody has to go through that dreadful line after Korsakov and before arriving Aomori whether you get off at Korsakov or not because we officially exited Japan when we left Kushiro. Our ship was delayed for two hours because some passengers failed to report and process their exit inspection before leaving Kushiro. The ship couldn't leave port without everyone was accounted for.

What happened in Kushiro here.

Beautiful report, thanks.

Thank you for reading!

Thank you for sharing your report.

Keith

Thank you for sharing your report.

 

Keith

You are most welcome, Keith!

We had a fabulous 17-day cruise on the Diamond in July which was one of the best cruises that we have done. I have gotten so much valuable information from everyone on the CC board before this cruise. Here is a trip report to repay you all.

I called it a trip report instead of a review because this also covers our pre and post cruise days on this trip which may or may not relate to the ship. I will try to answer any question you may have as much as I can. This is a work in progress with the first leg of our cruise (Hokkaido) done. I will continue with the rest of the report whenever I can.

Thank you all again for your help!

Thank you ROCruiser for this fabulous report you wrote a few years back. My husband and I will be doing the first leg of it in July 2018 and I found your information so helpful, especially taking a tour when in the Russian port as I am currently looking for tour operators privately, so very good to know we will need to take a princess tour in this port. Happy future travels to you and your family.

Thank you ROCruiser for this fabulous report you wrote a few years back. My husband and I will be doing the first leg of it in July 2018 and I found your information so helpful, especially taking a tour when in the Russian port as I am currently looking for tour operators privately, so very good to know we will need to take a princess tour in this port. Happy future travels to you and your family.

Thank you for reading. I almost forgot about this report. I am sure you will have a fabulous time visiting Japan. As for the Russian port, yes, it was a little expensive taking the Princess excursion, but worth every dollar, IMHO. I would totally regret not getting off the ship at a port that we may never go back in our life time.

We have a 20-day transpacific cruise coming up in May and will visit some of the same ports in Japan again. Can't wait! Enjoy your cruise in July!

Thanks I can’t hardly wait. :)

Tony

Thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful experiences on your blog. I really enjoy all the details. Very interesting and helpful.

Thank you so much for sharing all your wonderful experiences on your blog. I really enjoy all the details. Very interesting and helpful.

Thank you for reading and the kind words. Keeping the blog helps me to remember the things that had happened on the trip. It's like revisiting the places all over again for memory sake.