Diamond in Japan - Questions for those who cruised there last year

[knippsel]

We've always wanted to see Japan, and have booked on the Diamond next September b2b2b. Looking over the note we received when we booked, which mentioned differences in the offerings on the ship when she is in Japan, we had some questions. We hope someone who cruised there last year can give us a clearer idea of what the cruises are like.

 

How do they handle the onboard activities? Will there be talks which teach us non-Japanese guests about Japan and Japanese customs? Things like: some Japanese language? How (and when) to wear a kimono (many layers, I'm told)? Key elements of Japanese art and architecture?

Since there will be many Japanese guests, too, will the lectures and port talks be in both English and Japanese? Or do they have a separate set of talks, with different subjects for each group?

Do they have Japanese entertainers on board? Musicians? Bi-lingual trivia? Maybe show some of the wonderful old Samurai films?

Of course, we will do our "homework" as much as possible beforehand, but it has always important on other cruises for us to have that supplemented by good shipboard talks, and "destination themed" entertainment - like the Hawaiian cultural programs on the Hawaii cruises.

 

Did you find you could get to know some of your Japanese fellow-cruisers?

 

And one last question, for now: Did Princess maintain their non-smoking policy, and did the passengers abide by it?

 

If you cruised to Japan last year - did you enjoy it?

 

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Pam in CA]

First, the way the Diamond will be sailing in Japan will be very different from last year. No one has cruised on her as she will be in the Japanese market as she's being updated now.

 

The ship is being modified in a number of ways, including a sushi restaurant. I've taken Princess cruises with dual languages onboard and it was pretty confusing because everything, from the CD's message to the Officer of the Watch's Noon report had to be repeated in Spanish. I assume they'll do the same on the Diamond in Japanese. The CD will plan activities of interest to the Japanese in addition to the usual Trivia, bingo, etc.

 

I know that the Sapphire has had a number of Japanese staff onboard for the last three months. The shops on both the Sapphire and Diamond are being modified and they'll sell only a but of jewelry. Instead, there will be high end watches ($5,000-10,000 range) and perfumes.

 

I was on the Diamond last May from Beijing to Whittier. There were a lot of Japanese onboard but they were organized by their own tour director and had their own daytime activities and port tours. There was little intermingling. Don't know if it'll be the same on the Diamond this year. There was the same smoking policy.

Edited March 18, 2014 by Pam in CA

[sayaguru]

I will be on her in a few weeks. I'll post some comments when I return (end April).

[MKEcruiser]

We were on the Sun Princess last year in Japan.

Here are some of the things we experienced:

 

There were Enrichment Lectures with Geoffrey Gray on sea days in the morning. Topics were things like life in Japan and such. They were in English as those who attended were mainly nonJapanese. Would you spend your vacation listening to a Life in America talk?:rolleyes:

Also port talks in the morning in English.

Also Japanese Class - The Basics one morning.

 

Announcements were always in English, then sometimes redone in Japanese and one other language (am guessing that depends on specific population of each cruise).

 

We learned more about the things you mention (language, kimono...) during the excursions. The most popular one or two excursions actually had 2 offerings- one in English and the same tour but in Japanese. We did have Japanese passengers on our English tours and the leader would repeat important instructions to them in Japanese.

 

There was one cultural performance on board the first day. Traditional Shamisen performer. One of the things that impressed us was the welcome and send off at each port. No matter the time, there was a local group of performers. Sometimes a band, often a group of school children in uniform. They would sing and / or play. One day we left 2 hours late and that high school swing band played on the dock in the sun the entire time and waved bye til we were out of sight! There were often large groups of people at the docks just waving good bye-even in the rain!

 

Trivia was only in English. MUTS showed a lot of musical concerts. Movies at night were current US run films in English. There were a few Japanese films with English subtitles, usually first offering of the morning.

TV's in cabins ran assorted Japanese documentaries in English.

 

We did not have much conversation with Japanese cruisers, especially since we had separate excursions. Not sure if a person spoke English. We smiled a lot and answered if spoken to first.

 

Smoking policy was the same and was followed by all.

 

We really enjoyed the dinners. Each night there was the usual offerings we have had on other cruises. But they also had a true Japanese offering each night in all the categories (app, main, etc). Very different and really good way to try it- just ordered something else if we didn't care for it.;)

Family says it was their fav cruise as far as food!

 

Enjoy it?..... LOVED IT:D

Most of my family have it in their top 3 favourites.

 

Again, just my experiences and opinions from a different ship/sailing.

Still have my Patters if you want me to look up anything.

You will have a wonderful time!

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks Knippsel for starting this thread.

 

Big thanks to MKEcruiser for such a comprehensive reply.

 

We are doing the B2B2B in September too and we are really excited about it now! Think we are going to really enjoy it.

 

I have a couple of other questions,

 

When we are on turnaround day will we be able to get off early, i.e. before all those who are going home?

 

Was there much ballroom dancing during the cruise? We have been on other cruises where the Japanese seem to be up dancing a lot so we would like to join in with that if possible.

 

Thanks again, everyone:)

[Alaskanb]

When I visited Japan knowing a few basic phrases was really helpful. It made the Japanese that we interacted with very pleased. Lots of websites offer this. My most often used term was sumimasen --meaning pardon/excuse me. http://www.fodors.com/language/japanese/basic-phrases/

Some basic greetings are good too http://www.fodors.com/language/japanese/greetings/

[MKEcruiser]

Thanks Knippsel for starting this thread.

 

Big thanks to MKEcruiser for such a comprehensive reply.

 

We are doing the B2B2B in September too and we are really excited about it now! Think we are going to really enjoy it.

 

I have a couple of other questions,

 

When we are on turnaround day will we be able to get off early, i.e. before all those who are going home?

 

Was there much ballroom dancing during the cruise? We have been on other cruises where the Japanese seem to be up dancing a lot so we would like to join in with that if possible.

 

Thanks again, everyone:)

 

Yes- lots of dancing.

 

I have never done a B2B so can't help with the turnaround question.

DH never gets that much time off :(

 

From reading threads, I understand you most likely will have to take care of some business like closing out old cruise card, activating new one etc.

 

Princess may want to do this with the whole B2B group and assign you a time - which looks like it is typically after other passengers disembark.

 

You should get all necessary info in your cabin. For now, might want to search threads:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1867551

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=34136150

 

Or start a new thread for most current info.

Maybe just ask B2B question as I don't think the specific "Japan" topic is getting much traffic.

[Desert Cruisers]

We were on the Sun Princess in Japan/Taiwan/Korea/Russia last June/July. Here's a few thoughts:

 

The activities offered varied depending upon the percentage of Japanese on board. On two of the sailings, 75% of passengers were Japanese. On the 3rd cruise, less than 50% were Japanese. Trivia is a foreign concept to the Japanese so don't expect it if most passengers are Japanese.

 

Movies were offered in both English and Japanese on an alternating schedule.

 

We did not have general enrichment lectures covering culture, dress, language, etc. Geoffrey Grey was not on our sailings and we were on for 30 days. Heather (can't remember her last name) was a bilingual port lecturer. Her lectures were in both English and Japanese. She was excellent and had great info for those of us who explored independently.

 

A Korean language class was offered as well as English for Japanese speakers (which was really fascinating).

 

In addition to a Japanese dinner offering and a sushi restaurant, we had Japanese breakfast offerings, a noodle bar at lunch, and wonderful green tea ice cream.

 

Regarding entertainment, there was a lot of music. There were Japanese cultural offerings, some of which (e.g., a traditional storyteller) were in Japanese only.

 

Regarding the shops, there were more brand names and better offerings than traditionally available on Princess ships. I bought a Coach bag at a good price.

 

As another poster stated, the local folks at the ports were wonderful. Lots of tourist info and, in some ports, free local walking tours.

 

Will try to check this thread if you have any questions.

[MKEcruiser]

I try to learn a few words in the native language but I have been known to say "No" in Italian while in Germany and "excuse me" in German while in Greece.

Wish I were making a funny but it happens to be true:o

 

So..

Whenever I travel to a foreign country I make flash cards with words/phrases that I may need - especially in an emergency.

 

One side has the English word and sometimes the phonetic pronunciation of the word in the other language (in case I have time and try to speak).

 

The other side has the word written in the foreign language.

 

 

If I find myself in a pickle, I flash the card.

Ones that I have actually used -

 

" Toilet" - saved my life in China!

"Does anyone speak English"

"How much does this cost?":rolleyes:

 

A great tip given to me is to take the "Business card" at the desk if you do a pre or post stay.

If you take a taxi from the hotel, have the desk clerk write your destination in the native language on the back. Then you can show the Taxi driver where you want to go.

More importantly, you can show the business card side to anyone and hopefully get you back!

 

This worked especially well in China and Japan, where not as many speak fluent English as in Europe.

[Alaskanb]

So..

Whenever I travel to a foreign country I make flash cards with words/phrases that I may need - especially in an emergency.

 

One side has the English word and sometimes the phonetic pronunciation of the word in the other language (in case I have time and try to speak).

 

The other side has the word written in the foreign language.

 

 

If I find myself in a pickle, I flash the card.

Ones that I have actually used -

 

" Toilet" - saved my life in China!

"Does anyone speak English"

"How much does this cost?":rolleyes:

 

A great tip given to me is to take the "Business card" at the desk if you do a pre or post stay.

If you take a taxi from the hotel, have the desk clerk write your destination in the native language on the back. Then you can show the Taxi driver where you want to go.

More importantly, you can show the business card side to anyone and hopefully get you back!

 

This worked especially well in China and Japan, where not as many speak fluent English as in Europe.

Great idea --could have used those in Japan when I was out and about on my own.

[Pam in CA]

FYI, for a Western-style toilet in China, ask for the handicapped toilet. Almost always, it has a seat rather than stand-up. And bring TP with you as it's handed out one square at a time. Always take advantage of any restroom break whether you need it or not.

 

The sailaway from Yokohama was one of the most spectacular sailaways I've ever experienced. The cruise terminal is amazing and beautiful.

[Alaskanb]

To add to the TP conversation --also take a cotton hankie or bandana with you to wipe your hands after washing. The range of toilets in Japan is amazing…..

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks to lots of you for adding additional tips for us first timers to Japan.

 

I am expecting the Japanese loos (toilets) to be a lot better than the Chinese ones. Having been to China I know how "exciting" a trip to the toilet can be.

 

I have emailed Princess direct to ask about disembarkation times for B2B pax, but they said they couldn't give definite times as there may be some customs procedures to go through before anyone gets off and this could cause a delay.

 

Looking forward to trying out the Japanese food on board, I love green tea ice cream so I will definitely be having that. What were the Japanese breakfast options, please?

 

Thanks again everyone :)

[Kristal Blade]

I noticed that Desert Cruisers mentioned being in Russia on their cruise. Was that the day in Korsakov?

 

If so could you please give me some info about going ashore there? I have read conflicting things about the need for visas. Princess says we need to be on an excursion to be allowed ashore, but I have read that this is one part of Russia where you can visit for 72 hours without the need of a visa.

 

Whatever the visa question we know we will want to go ashore, but what is there to do there?

 

Thanks again, in anticipation..... ;)

[Desert Cruisers]

Unless things are changing for the 2014 sailings, it will be the same procedure as on other Princess itineraries. The night before the end of a cruise, you will receive new cruise cards, in-transit cards, and instructions. If you must go through Passport Control, it will be noted. If you are planning to stay onboard and not get off, there will be a meeting time and place to get processed off and then back on the ship. If you are going off to do things, you can leave any time after the start of disembarkation but can't get back on until after embarkation starts.

[Desert Cruisers]

As of Summer 2013, American passport holders needed a visa if not going on a Princess tour. In fact, I think that you might not be able to get off unless you are on a Princess tour but I'm not sure about this.

 

Korsakov - a tender port - came after a long trip for us so, upon the advice of Princess crew who were Russian, we decided to stay on board. Most people who got off did so to say that they had been there. There were two tours - one to the local town and one to a larger town. When we looked at the shore excursions, nothing was exciting.