New/different COVID boarding requirements for boarding Explorer in Tokyo, March/April(?) 2023

[Portolan]

1 hour ago, Techno123 said:

Hi Portolan - we're not cruising until later this year but wondered, if you could do me a favour (if you are able). Regent will put us Brits up in a hotel even if we are only in the lowly F1 suites rather than concierge and above because of the distance we need to travel 😂. However, as no hotel is currently showing on my Regent account we're not sure if we will go to the same hotel as everyone else (the Tokyo Hilton) or whether they have a shipping container dockside where they will put us overnight 😜😜. If you happen to get into conversation with any Brits doing a 'forced' overnight could you please find out where they stayed? Much appreciated and thank you.

Will do if, as is probably likely, we meet any on-board.

[Portolan]

1 hour ago, mrstanley said:

Portolan:

 

I assume all the passengers not staying at the Hilton Hotel will be showing their self tests at embarking the cruise.

 

Please keep updates!

Certainly has to be the case since the on-site test option only appeared in a handout here at the Hilton for.  Never mentioned in any of the emails from Regent.

[labonnevie]

Portolan, appreciate all your posts.
Have you found any nice restaurants close to the Hilton for lunch or dinner?

Seems like a miss for the pre-cruise program to not have at least some dinners. 
Any reports on the pre-cruise excursions and embarkation tomorrow would be of great interest. 
Happy cruising!

[Gilly]

2 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Have you found any nice restaurants close to the Hilton for lunch or dinner?

A tip for finding a place for dinner in Japan, where it can be tricky to identify a decent place easily:  All department stores have a floor - sometimes two - at the top where there are likely to be a good range of mid-range places to eat.  Proper restaurants, not food courts.  Most will have plastic models of the dishes on show, so even if there is no English menu (and you don't have google translate on hand) you can make a good stab at finding something you like the look of.  Prices in these places are reasonable and it's rather easier and a calmer, more relaxed process than finding somewhere at street level.  In Shinjuku, near the Hilton, there are several such stores, eg Odakyu, whose website states "Check out the 12th to 14th floors of the main building, where you can find Manhattan Hills, a space with Japanese, Chinese, and western-style restaurants. "   Have a look here for some idea.

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, Gilly said:

A tip for finding a place for dinner in Japan, where it can be tricky to identify a decent place easily:  All department stores have a floor - sometimes two - at the top where there are likely to be a good range of mid-range places to eat.  Proper restaurants, not food courts. 

Thanks for that useful tip, Gilly, which may be of use during our post-cruise, starting tomorrow.

Very sad that this cruise is coming to an end 🙁, with a cloudy/rainy day in Shimizu today ☔. We leave Explorer when she arrives in Tokyo tomorrow morning.

 

5 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Seems like a miss for the pre-cruise program to not have at least some dinners.

For our 3 day post cruise we opted to upgrade to the “Tokyo & Hakone” itinerary, which seems to be more interesting & includes lunch & dinner on 2 out of the 3 days. 
For us it seemed to offer a better experience & better value than the included “Vibrant Tokyo”.
Will try to report back after we have completed the tour.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by flossie009

[Gilly]

@flossie009 I am so envious of your time in Japan right now as you know how much we love the country and the people!  I hope you find it as enchanting as we do, that all your post cruise adventures go according to plan and that decompressing from the sybaritic time on board is eased by the exhilarating experiences to come 🙂 

[papaflamingo]

On 3/10/2023 at 7:34 PM, sabreline said:

You obviously have not faced this issue anywhere! Believe me, having " insurance that will cover Covid cancellations" is a VERY VERY  minor part of the problem. How about being 5000 miles from home and told that you should leave your husband in quarantine and go home while you  are still negative because you almost surely will turn positive. It was a terrible, horrendous experience. If this policy is not changed by by June, when our final payment for our Japan cruise is due, we will sadly....VERY sadly....have to cancel. I don't EVER want to be faced with that decision again!

Sorry this happened to you, but your assumption that I haven't faced at least the potential of being a long way from home and getting quarantined is absurd.  I am fully prepared, when I travel, to accept the potential consequences of MY choices.  I have travel insurance for the very fact that at my age I could be quarantined or hospitalized for a number of illnesses, not just Covid.  

As to "change in policy," exactly WHAT change by anyone would prevent your husband from contracting Covid and being quarantined?  

As for being "5000 mile from home and told you should leave" seems like simply a suggestion to prevent you from contracting Covid and extending the quarantine.  Were you required by law to leave?  If not, then simply stay.  We had friends who got off a cruise last year and when they did the mandatory test to come home the husband tested positive.  They entered quarantine and after a couple of days the wife tested positive so they had to quarantine until she was negative, extending the quarantine for a few more days.  That is simply travel during this time in history.  No one said it wouldn't be a "horrendous experience," but that's a risk you fully accept if you choose to cruise in foreign countries.  

Again, what "change in policy" will work to prevent this from happening?  

[makai 7]

13 hours ago, flossie009 said:

For our 3 day post cruise we opted to upgrade to the “Tokyo & Hakone” itinerary, which seems to be more interesting & includes lunch & dinner on 2 out of the 3 days. 
For us it seemed to offer a better experience & better value than the included “Vibrant Tokyo”.

We are also doing this upgraded post cruise tour in April - looking forward to hearing about your experiences, and thanks in advance!

[Portolan]

I promised an update about boarding, so as I sit in the Pool Grill awaiting my ritual Ahi tuna teak sandwich:

 

We arrived at the cruise terminal at 1PM as the lead bus of 6 doing the Vibrant Tokyo pre-cruise tour.  1st stop was filling out a pretty standard health form ("have you had...") and filling out another form for our 2 + 1 vaccination dates.  Past an immigration officer who checked passports, then directly on-board to a counter in Compass Rose where we produced our boarding passes, passports and the previously mentioned record of vaccinations.  We received our room keys at 1:27 with the word that suites were accessible at 1:30.  That's it,  Notice the lack of a check of testing results.  I asked and they said they didn't need them!  So, for those that insisted that this was a Japanese government mandate, I guess you have to believe that Regent is flaunting those "regulations.". I imagine that those who opted to do the testing at the hotel that was offered late in the game are wondering why they spent $65/pp.  Judging from the thin stack of test results we saw being passed out at the hotel, that may have been 20 or so.

[Portolan]

On 3/11/2023 at 6:11 PM, Portolan said:

Finally, and totally unrelated to the whole testing issue:  you may have discovered that Japan uses US standard two-blade electrical plugs (100v, but that won't bother modern power supplies).  But, at least at the Hilton, all sockets were just the two-blades with no ability to use a grounded US 3 prong plug.  If you have, for instance, a 3 prong plug like on many laptop power cords, you'll need a "cheater" plug adapter to allow use in the 2-blade sockets.

Slight correction: at the desk there is one "anything" socket which will take a US grounded plug, European plugs and British plugs.  So that's where you can use you laptop if it had a 3-prong plug.

[Portolan]

And another thing:  I had a bit of a panic attack this morning before boarding because at breakfast some folks were talking about the difficulties they had getting a South Korean Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) required even for visa-exempt countries (US and pretty much all of the Western World).  And that seemed to be the message on all the obvious Korean government sites that I could find.  I thought that surely Regent would have told us of such a requirement.  After quite a bit of surfing I found that cruise ships are specifically exempt from this requirement when making port calls.  And I verified this once on-board.  So, don't panic .

[papaflamingo]

5 hours ago, Portolan said:

So, for those that insisted that this was a Japanese government mandate, I guess you have to believe that Regent is flaunting those "regulations.".

Or...gee.... the Japanese govt. changed the regulations.  😏

[mrstanley]

Portolan:

Thanks for your excellent update!!!

Regent should know what’s going on regarding Covid testing and inform passengers with the correct information.

Were there any passengers who tested positive when doing the test at the hotel provided by Regent and denied boarding?

 

Someone in management at Regent needs to know that tests were not required at boarding!

[flossie009]

On 3/11/2023 at 2:57 PM, flossie009 said:

In Japan masks are required in the Cruise Terminal, other enclosed spaces and on buses. 

I understand that government regulations changed yesterday March 13, such that the wearing of masks is no longer mandatory only advisory.

 

[Portolan]

11 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Or...gee.... the Japanese govt. changed the regulations.  😏

 

Those regulations that you could never produce evidence of?

 

Regent was conducting the on-site testing the day before.

 

You'd (or at least I would) expect that when explicitly asked about why test results weren't checked, they would have mentioned that the non-existent requirement had changed?

[Portolan]

flossie009

Posted 9 hours ago

• #139  

  On 3/11/2023 at 2:57 PM, flossie009 said:

In Japan masks are required in the Cruise Terminal, other enclosed spaces and on buses. 

I understand that government regulations changed yesterday March 13, such that the wearing of masks is no longer mandatory only advisory.

 

That is correct.  Noticeable reduction in the number of Japanese we saw indoors and out yesterday wearing masks.  No doubt there will still be many who continue to wear masks since that was the norm prior to COVID.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Portolan

[Portolan]

10 hours ago, mrstanley said:

.Were there any passengers who tested positive when doing the test at the hotel provided by Regent and denied boarding?

 

When they distributed the results of the on-site testing to the handful who took those tests, they did say that they were all negative.

[papaflamingo]

12 hours ago, Portolan said:

 

Those regulations that you could never produce evidence of?

 

Regent was conducting the on-site testing the day before.

 

You'd (or at least I would) expect that when explicitly asked about why test results weren't checked, they would have mentioned that the non-existent requirement had changed?

Yeah...you're right... other than cruise lines saying their testing policy is "in accordance to local regulations," and at least one cruise line stating the policy in Japan is due to govt. regs., I can't actually produce the regulation....  I also am unwilling to spend time scouring all regulations since the only "regulation" needed is the policy of the cruise line.  Why they do it is irrelevant if I want to cruise on the line.

But guess what YOU never produced..... a reason other than regulatory YOU think Regent and the other cruise lines began requiring tests ONLY for sailings from Japan. .  Now's YOUR chance....let's hear it.  

If you truly choose to believe that a cruise line...ANY cruise line.... would randomly pick Japan to institute mandatory testing when they are struggling to recover from Covid losses, have instituted a no test policy worldwide, and state on their website that testing will be in accordance to local regulations, just to harass their passengers,  then go ahead and believe that.  Is THAT what you believe? 😏

 

[seaknots]

seems like all 6 pages of this topic was a typhoon in a tea bowl 🙄

 

 

[labonnevie]

Portolan, hope the cruise has started well, we are following you with interest. 
Any comments on the pre-cruise program?

Frankly, it doesn’t look too special, hoping we might be pleasantly surprised. 
Any suggestions for eating lunches or dinners near the Hilton?

How was the hotel? Understand it’s very busy, hard to get elevators down, etc.

Look forward to hearing about the ports and tours you take. 
Thanks and bon voyage!

[Portolan]

1 hour ago, labonnevie said:

Portolan, hope the cruise has started well, we are following you with interest. 
Any comments on the pre-cruise program?

Frankly, it doesn’t look too special, hoping we might be pleasantly surprised. 
Any suggestions for eating lunches or dinners near the Hilton?

How was the hotel? Understand it’s very busy, hard to get elevators down, etc.

Look forward to hearing about the ports and tours you take. 
Thanks and bon voyage!

Things are off to a good start.  After 4 days of overcast skies and one of those quite rainy in Tokyo, the sun came out as we boarded...a good omen.  The pre-cruise program was OK and provided some time to (start to) get over jet lag.  The hotel was nice with nicely furnished rooms, but as you'd heard, big and busy.  We ate in the hotel which has quite a spectrum of restaurants.  We liked Dynasty, the Chinese themed venue.  The other nights we weren't very hungry and had drinks and light meals in 2 of the bars: Zatta which we enjoyed and St. Georges which was supposed to be an English pub (it wasn't).  Both had live music in the evening.  As others have noted, there are restaurants in Shinjuku, but they aren't very obvious from the street, so plan in advance and don't wander around expecting to come across one you'd like.

 

In Nagoya yesterday and appearing likely for the rest of the cruise we had our original passports examined thoroughly and matched to our ship card both getting off and reboarding.  They also searched bags going ashore, presumably for food.  Both the need to be carrying original passports and no food ashore were stressed by the ship in advance.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Portolan

[bk travels]

It was so nice to see the sun yesterday and it was quite warm!  Our experience was a little different leaving the ship. We moved quickly thru the passport check. They did compare face to passport and looked at key card. Then we passed two customs agents who were smiling, greeting people, and holding signs that said Plants. Getting back on board, we waved passports and key cards and just kept moving. 
Weather today looks beautiful again!

[bk travels]

We are doing the post-cruise extension. For those curious about the overnight before embarking -  we stayed at the Keio Plaza.  It’s a large, modern hotel not far from the Hilton. Comfortable, clean, and lovely. Breakfast was excellent. Regent had everything very well organized. 

[flossie009]

On 3/15/2023 at 7:28 AM, Portolan said:

flossie009

Posted 9 hours ago

• #139  

  On 3/11/2023 at 2:57 PM, flossie009 said:

In Japan masks are required in the Cruise Terminal, other enclosed spaces and on buses. 

I understand that government regulations changed yesterday March 13, such that the wearing of masks is no longer mandatory only advisory.

 

That is correct.  Noticeable reduction in the number of Japanese we saw indoors and out yesterday wearing masks.  No doubt there will still be many who continue to wear masks since that was the norm prior to COVID.

We are at the Hilton in Odawara (fabulous resort hotel).

All hotel staff are still wearing masks together with the majority of Japanese guests …………….. except in the hot springs, where a ‘birthday suit’ was the order of the day 😉

 

[labonnevie]

Please keep us informed about your cruise as you have time. 
Weather, tours, pluses and minuses, anything really that you feel is worth mentioning. 
Thanks to all onboard.