Please......Bring back the Cherry Blossom cruise Sydney Return

[Rosee]

Hi fellow cruisers,

 

I would be interested to hear how many other Aussie cruisers would like to see Princess bring back their previous Cherry Blossom cruise from Sydney to Japan and return during Feb-March.

With Sun and Diamond Princess being based in Japan for a large chunk of the year, it means a long flight home if one takes a one way cruise from Sydney to see Japan. Cruising back to Sydney is a much better option!

Also, I would love to hear of any past experiences on this Cherry Blossom cruise......maybe they might also help to encourage the Princess 'Powers-that-be' to re-introduce that cruise itinerary.

Look forward to hearing any views on this idea ,

Rosee

[bazshirl2]

Yes- we would. Have never visited Japan and disinclined to do a cruise based in Japan given the heavy orientation towards the local market.

 

We would find a cruise to Japan primarily catering for the western market more appealing. Barry :)

[OzKiwiJJ]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. We'd be very tempted.

[KarateMan]

If they do it on a ship like the Golden Princess I would be all for it. I have tried many Princess ships and was just on the Golden for 31 nights around South America. It is definitely one ship I can sail on for a long voyage. I have also been on the Sun and Dawn Princess and would not choose them for a long voyage at all. I would only do them for short voyages.

 

Speaking of Golden Princess coming here I hope that Princess are inventive with the cruises it is scheduled to do and that they go out of their way to plan something spectacular.

[Aussie FF]

Count me in:D

 

Aussie Frequent Floaters

Edited May 1, 2014 by Aussie FF

[rkmw]

i heard a whisper they may bring it back but wont be in march-april so it could be september.....if its true i'm not sure but we may find out when the new itinerary comes out

[bongaree]

We did this cruise and it visited Vietnam and so it ticked a few boxes for us. It was a great itinerary .

[Kiwi Kruzer]

We did this cruise and it visited Vietnam and so it ticked a few boxes for us. It was a great itinerary .

 

..but did you actually see any "Blossom" ?:D

I heard they were still going to do the cruise but rename it as people complained that they did not see any blossoms.:rolleyes:

 

We have done SE Asia but have not been further north than Hong Kong and the Phillipines.

Would love to do a cruise up to Japan, in their summer, and it would be even better if it went up through the WW II islands.

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

i heard a whisper they may bring it back but wont be in march-april so it could be september.....if its true i'm not sure but we may find out when the new itinerary comes out

 

Wouldn't be cherry blossom time then though :(

Edited May 1, 2014 by OzKiwiJJ

[Kiwi_cruiser]

With Sun and Diamond Princess being based in Japan for a large chunk of the year, it means a long flight home if one takes a one way cruise from Sydney to see Japan.

 

From 2015 Sun Princess wont be in Japan, see: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2026636

[MicCanberra]

I liked the itinerary but the price (when I looked a couple of years ago) had me jumping at alternate cruise itineraries, which I had then booked. Too many places, not enough time or money.:D

[awesome girl]

We did the Cherry Blossom cruise in2010 on Sun Princess, it was the best

cruise we have ever done wasn't too long for us either. We were fortunate

to see lots of blossom. We would definitely do it again if it was available.:D:D

[Rosee]

I was not overly concerned about seeing the 'cherry blossoms', when I posted this question, although no doubt they are very beautiful and characteristic of Japan. I only referred to the Sydney-Japan return cruise by its former name, "Cherry Blossom" for reasons of familiarity with the itinerary.

 

Japan in Autumn would be, I imagine, just as scenic with colourful maple trees et al.

It is the itinerary as well as the scenery that I look for in a cruise.

 

Do hope you are correct Kiwi Kruzer with that rumour!

 

Any others who may have done this cruise previously, have any comments to add, either good or not so good ?

 

Rosee

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yes, they are beautiful and such a Japanese icon.

 

I was initially very disappointed some years ago when I tagged along on one of hubby's business trips to Japan, which we extended into a short holiday. We travelled in May, just a bit too late for the blossom in Tokyo. We would miss them :(. However we did a day trip to Nikko and as part of that trip we went up a steep mountain for lunch. Due to the altitude, spring had not advanced as much as it had at sea level, and there were cherry blossoms everywhere. I was so thrilled, it just added that extra bit of magic to our trip. :D

Edited May 1, 2014 by OzKiwiJJ

[Denisel]

Hi fellow cruisers,

 

I would be interested to hear how many other Aussie cruisers would like to see Princess bring back their previous Cherry Blossom cruise from Sydney to Japan and return during Feb-March.

With Sun and Diamond Princess being based in Japan for a large chunk of the year, it means a long flight home if one takes a one way cruise from Sydney to see Japan. Cruising back to Sydney is a much better option!

Also, I would love to hear of any past experiences on this Cherry Blossom cruise......maybe they might also help to encourage the Princess 'Powers-that-be' to re-introduce that cruise itinerary.

Look forward to hearing any views on this idea ,

Rosee

I would love for this itinerary to come back too. We were booked on the Cherry Blossom on the Sun Princess in 2011 but unfortunately the tsunami hit Japan then and our ship was redirected to a couple of ports in China. They were great ports and I got to see The Forbidden City etc, but had been looking forward to seeing Japan. I have seen other cruises advertised around Japan but as someone else pointed out, you have to fly there and back and that would add to the cost. Hopefully Princess will bring back the Cherry Blossom Cruise soon.

[bongaree]

When we did this cruise we went to Brunei, Vietnam, Sabah, Three ports in China, and of course Japan, Korea, Guam, New Guinea and sailed around Iwo Jima. I think there were some other ports. It was the best itinerary we have ever sailed in 26 cruises.

 

Cheers, Janet

 

Ps We didn't,t see any blossoms but it was just called the cherry blossom cruise to identify the itinerary.

[MicCanberra]

When we did this cruise we went to Brunei, Vietnam, Sabah, Three ports in China, and of course Japan, Korea, Guam, New Guinea and sailed around Iwo Jima. I think there were some other ports. It was the best itinerary we have ever sailed in 26 cruises.

 

Cheers, Janet

 

Ps We didn't,t see any blossoms but it was just called the cherry blossom cruise to identify the itinerary.

 

Sounds like a fantastic cruise blossoms or not.:D

[BuzzBuzzen]

I just received a new brochure from Princess quoting 42 night China, Japan round trip from Sydney on Sun Princess 29 April 2015. Ask an you will receive, apparently , cheers Buzz.

[Rosee]

Yes that's great news ! Let's hope it proves popular with a lot of cruisers to keep it going for a good few years at least.

 

We'll be there, if not next year, then 2016 for sure !

 

Only problem this year is, by mid to end of May, when the ship reaches Japan, the cherry blossoms will be long gone.

 

Now there is always the autumn colours to see, much later in the year. Not sure what the sea conditions would be by then though.

 

Nevertheless, the ports and the itinerary itself, speak heaps for themselves, with or without the colours. They are only the 'icing on the cake' !

 

Well done Princess !

 

Rosee

[OzKiwiJJ]

Do a day trip to Nikko that includes lunch up the nearby mountain and, like me, you may be lucky enough to see the cherry blossoms.

Edited May 13, 2014 by OzKiwiJJ

[happysnapper]

DH & I did this cruise some years ago, just as the GFC hit. Originally targeting the US hence the WW11 areas in the Pacific which were visited. The Yanks dipped out, probably because of the GFC and The Dawn ended up being full of Australians... many were veterans from the Korean war returning for the 1st time since the war. Fantastic cruise with great ports, including those mentioned in previous posts. The unforgettable ones were the site of the atomic bomb drop and an erupting volcano in PNG. It took the crew 2 days to clean the ash off the white ship. Its a bucket list cruise.

[grum2014]

yep theyhave this cruise listed but calledjust China & Japan.

the same ports as the old cherry blossom cruise

 

not sure what months from memory it was early in 2015????

[Mobi Cruiser]

When spoken by the Japanese the 'Cherry Blossom' comes out slightly different to how it is written. We did this cruise with P&O on Pacific Sun departing Sydney on March 8th and getting back on April 19th. The cruise was basically the same as what Sun Princess will do in April 2015 with a couple of port changes. Ours was 42 nights Sydney-Airlie Beach-Darwin-Brunei-Sabah-Hong Kong-Busan-Hiroshima-Osaka-Yokohama-Iwo Jima (scenic cruising)-Saipan-Guam-Chuuk-Rabaul-Brisbane-Sydney.

Great cruise on a good ship with great crew and passengers. This was before P&O started to go down the scrape, chisel and gouge road. It was the recommencement of cruise itinerary that had been overlooked for a lot of years, probably back to the Fairstar era. They even gave every passenger high quality cruise map as a gift and a letter of thanks for participating in this new experience for P&O.

There was some worries we may miss the blossoming because we may arrive too early in their spring and when they do come is out is variable due to weather conditions, all was OK though and it was quite spectacular in Osaka.

We paid nearly $7K each for an outside cabin then so the price is still pretty reasonable on a better ship and an immensely better cruise line. Do it and you won't regret it.

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

We did the cherry blossom cruise a few years back on the Sun Princess ex Sydney and the tsunami prevented us from getting to japan. It still turned out to be one of my favorites with additional stops in China instead.

I am certainly for bringing this cruise back and would book tomorrow if it was.

[rkmw]

We did the cherry blossom cruise a few years back on the Sun Princess ex Sydney and the tsunami prevented us from getting to japan. It still turned out to be one of my favorites with additional stops in China instead.

I am certainly for bringing this cruise back and would book tomorrow if it was.

 

its been on the website for quite awhile and it goes from Brisbane 27th april 2015 doing a 42 night cruise