Japan Intensive - do tell

[roberts2005]

17 minutes ago, aminca said:

Thank you for the confirmation. AZ reservations confirmed this morning, that the correct terminal is Yokohama, not Tokyo International. I appreciate the clarification and confirmation. Thanks again. Alan...              PS..Do you know what time the on site COVID testing clinic starts at the terminal? 

Your post is confusing.

 

where did Azamara say the Quest is docking?   The previous posts say otherwise.

[aminca]

5 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Your post is confusing.

 

where did Azamara say the Quest is docking?   The previous posts say otherwise.

 

5 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

Your post is confusing.

 

where did Azamara say the Quest is docking?   The previous posts say otherwise.

I was told this morning by an AZ phone rep, that the correct terminal is Yokohama International Passenger Terminal, not Tokyo International Cruise Terminal. Sorry for any confusion. Alan

[Drebay]

All I can say is we left from Tokyo International Cruise Terminal on Sunday and there’s a boat full of passengers on this cruise who expect to overnight at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal again. The calendar for the terminal also lists both remaining Quest departures from Tokyo as from the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal. 
 

AZ phone Customer Service certainly leaves something to be desired. 

[nonrev1]

 We are on the 3rd and we are at Tokyo International.  I just double checked cruise mapper and it shows we arrive back at Tokyo International on the 17th and disembark on the 18th.  

[aminca]

10 minutes ago, Drebay said:

All I can say is we left from Tokyo International Cruise Terminal on Sunday and there’s a boat full of passengers on this cruise who expect to overnight at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal again. The calendar for the terminal also lists both remaining Quest departures from Tokyo as from the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal. 
 

AZ phone Customer Service certainly leaves something to be desired. 

Thank you. I really appreciate the first hand confirmation. It's very helpful. 

 

10 minutes ago, nonrev1 said:

 We are on the 3rd and we are at Tokyo International.  I just double checked cruise mapper and it shows we arrive back at Tokyo International on the 17th and disembark on the 18th.  

 

[aminca]

12 minutes ago, nonrev1 said:

 We are on the 3rd and we are at Tokyo International.  I just double checked cruise mapper and it shows we arrive back at Tokyo International on the 17th and disembark on the 18th.  

Thank you for the confirmation, as well. Great feedback. Much appreciated. 

[aminca]

42 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Yokohama?  Or Tokyo?  See above.  Currently Quest docks at Tokyo, not Yokohama.  When is your sailing?

And COVID testing starts when your scheduled arrival time is.

We sail on April 18th. Our check in time is 2:00 - 2:30 pm. 

[Roel94]

Japan Coast Guard made all guests and crew have a drill at first port of call.we had a 15 minute warning so not a surprise drill. The captain told us Abd said if you were leaving at 10 am ..go now,they closed gangway and we all went to our stations.

 

Now people can go about their dayl

 

 

everyone who is Asian wearing masks so when out and about I have mine on. There is still Covid out there.

 

there is no talk on board about switching ports at end of cruise. Hope not.

also no talk on shuttles.will try to find out.

 

 

 

 

[fruitmachine]

8 hours ago, nonrev1 said:

 We are on the 3rd and we are at Tokyo International.  I just double checked cruise mapper and it shows we arrive back at Tokyo International on the 17th and disembark on the 18th.  

NEVER rely on Cruisemapper as anything other than an indication.

 

They have no more insight than anyone else outside the cruise line concerned and their port agents etc.

[Drebay]

I’ll try and provide some info from our port calls that I would have found useful in our planning. Let me know what to add going forward:
 

Aomori, Japan

 

Overall:  Charming small city that I didn’t think was going to be anything special. Pleasantly surprised.  Beautiful scenery with a “mountains meet the sea” vibe.  Can’t stress how lovely and welcoming all locals were (see below - our arrival was an “event” which meant we were constantly being thanked for visiting). 

 

Arrival: First foreign cruise ship in over 3 years. Essentially band, dancers and mascots on arrival (husband and cousin interviewed on TV upon disembarkation). Think this may be the norm for many stops on this cruise. Don’t know that it will be for future cruises.

 

Access: No shuttle needed as you essentially dock a 10 minute walk to downtown and the tourist center.  Many taxis waiting for disembarking passengers.  Tourist loop bus available from tourist center (although was a disaster for us as very small and very crowded, vowed never again).  Used taxis after that. 
 

Ship excursion: didn’t use.

 

Sites we did: (I) Jomon Archeological Site (UNESCO World Heritage) - interesting pre-industrial village dig and recreation self-guided with small museum and film (we spent 1hr total). Would have been better with a guide - tours in Japanese only. (II) A-Factory - restored wharf warehouse, hipster feel, all things Aomori (which means everything Apple), great cider tastings, small artisanal food vendors, souvenirs. (III) Nebuta Museum - “Must do” think Japan does Mardi Gras floats, impressive, fun and photogenic. (IV) Aomori Tourism Center - worth a visit for overall souvenir shopping plus amazing apple pastries (we didn’t go up to the 15th floor observation deck). 

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Drebay said:

I’ll try and provide some info from our port calls that I would have found useful in our planning. Let me know what to add going forward:
 

Aomori, Japan

 

Overall:  Charming small city that I didn’t think was going to be anything special. Pleasantly surprised.  Beautiful scenery with a “mountains meet the sea” vibe.  Can’t stress how lovely and welcoming all locals were (see below - our arrival was an “event” which meant we were constantly being thanked for visiting). 

 

Arrival: First foreign cruise ship in over 3 years. Essentially band, dancers and mascots on arrival (husband and cousin interviewed on TV upon disembarkation). Think this may be the norm for many stops on this cruise. Don’t know that it will be for future cruises.

 

Access: No shuttle needed as you essentially dock a 10 minute walk to downtown and the tourist center.  Many taxis waiting for disembarking passengers.  Tourist loop bus available from tourist center (although was a disaster for us as very small and very crowded, vowed never again).  Used taxis after that. 
 

Ship excursion: didn’t use.

 

Sites we did: (I) Jomon Archeological Site (UNESCO World Heritage) - interesting pre-industrial village dig and recreation self-guided with small museum and film (we spent 1hr total). Would have been better with a guide - tours in Japanese only. (II) A-Factory - restored wharf warehouse, hipster feel, all things Aomori (which means everything Apple), great cider tastings, small artisanal food vendors, souvenirs. (III) Nebuta Museum - “Must do” think Japan does Mardi Gras floats, impressive, fun and photogenic. (IV) Aomori Tourism Center - worth a visit for overall souvenir shopping plus amazing apple pastries (we didn’t go up to the 15th floor observation deck). 

Fabulous information thank you so much

[nonrev1]

Thank you so much.  I am looking forward to hearing about Akita tomorrow.  I think there is a shuttle from the ship to the train station?  If so, what time is the first shuttle?  
Thank you again.  

[Drebay]

Akita, Japan

 

Overall: Cant say much about Akita as we hightailed it out of town right away to Kakunodate - which we thought was a charming small town with fascinating Samurai history. Although we were there too early this season, it’s clear this town will be stunning for the Apr3 sailing - with hundreds of weeping Cherry trees. Although chatting with a local florist on the street she said even that may be too early and she expected first bud to be Apr 15/16. 

 

Arrival/Departure: First foreign cruise ship in over 3 years again. Slightly smaller reception but again there were mascots, drummers (at arrival and departure), husband was interviewed by tv crews and print reporters and on departure they had another performance and even fireworks!  We’re getting spoiled. 

 

Access: Shuttle provided to Akita Eki (train station). First one at 8:30, last one from town 4:30. We didn’t use it and took cabs instead (20min to station). No cabs waiting so we had the tourism people call us a few. 
 

Ship excursion: didn’t use.

 

Sites we did: we went to Ishiguro and Aoyagi houses (each fascinating) as well as the Craft/Cultural museum, did a little shopping and had a delicious local Udon / Okonomiyaki lunch. Arrived at 10:00 (9;12 Shinkansen out of Akita) and left on the 14:21 back. Thought that was the perfect amount of time to see what we wanted to see.  We spent most of the day as a small group of 6, had to share the first house with the Azamara excursion (which made it very crowded and glad we had done it on our own) for less than $100 pp which was probably half of the excursion cost. 

[Drebay]

Niigata, Japan

 

Overall:  Another small city that we kind of dismissed in advance but we’re surprisingly charmed by. Definitely see the Saito Villa!

 

Arrival:  Three days ago I had never really had so effusive a greeting for a cruise ship as the last two ports, but somehow it was still a disappointment when there was no band this morning (but there were mascots!).  What there was, was a crowd of tourism people (including little stalls under a tent) to greet and provide information.  As it was Quest’s inaugural call on Niigata, there was (apparently) a traditional plaque ceremony at 11am and we received a drum send off at sail away. 

 

Access: Shuttle to Niigata Eki starting at 8:30 with last return at 16:00. Train station about 30 min. Dock (as in Akita) industrial and located a distance from town. Again, no taxis waiting but the tourism people called a few for us within 10-15 min. 
 

Ship excursion: didn’t use.

 

Sites we did: (I) Honcho Ichiban market - Japanese shopping arcade that a combo fish and produce market and also has an Itoh Department Store that has incredible grocery ‘ produce section (the strawberries looked like they were a photograph using a color filter they were so vivid). If you go, make sure to explore the stalls “outside” the west side of the market!  (II) Hakusan Park & Shrine - beautiful Japanese gardens and nice shrine (we saw a Shinto priest blessing a new car). (III) Saito Villa - wonderful example of a Meiji era villa (it had glass in the windows) with stunning gardens. Our ‘must see’ in Niigata. Can’t describe how charming the docents were, who are all volunteers, and they laid on English speaking ones because the Quest was in town.

[Drebay]

(IV) Sake brewery and tasting. For me, interesting tour and discussion of the process. Otherwise I’m not much of a sake fan so the tasting did nothing more than reinforce that LOL. Best I’ve ever had certainly, but just not my taste. 

[nonrev1]

Thank you so much for all of the great information. We are planning to get of Akita too, so I was curious about getting to the train station.  Did you find it easy to take the Shinkansen?  
 

[Heartfelttraveler]

We are booked for April 2024 and I am following this string for information and ideas.

[Heartfelttraveler]

Question for those that are traveling now or very soon from the USA.

What airline did you fly?

What was your route?

Did you arrive prior to embarkation date?

I usually purchase my airfare the first month they go on sale.  For me that is coming up in the next few months.  We will fly to Tokyo and home from Singapore.  (Maybe home from Thailand.)

[D. B.]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:18 AM, uktog said:

Fabulous information thank you so much

Yes! we will be on the April 3rd. sailing.

[nonrev1]

Thank you so much for the information.  

we are flying United.  Connecting in Chicago to Haneda.  We will arrive the day before.  The first day is a sea day so it will definitely be a catch up on sleep / time zone change day. 

[nonrev1]

I also have another question. What time did they open up for Check in when you boarded the ship? Some are saying that suite guests  can check in at 1:30 and others are saying that check-in did not open up until 230. Do you know?

[uktog]

1 hour ago, nonrev1 said:

I also have another question. What time did they open up for Check in when you boarded the ship? Some are saying that suite guests  can check in at 1:30 and others are saying that check-in did not open up until 230. Do you know?

Post 205 the thread about the website makes Azamaras position clear (1330 for suites) HOWEVER there is no guarantee that’s when it actually happens with some port authorities. They do make last minute changes. If it was me I’d split the difference and aim to get there for 1400

[nonrev1]

Thank you that is why I am asking them specifically what happened the day they boarded.  Our last cruise said suites at 1:30 but we were only able to get a 2:30 check in time.  Turns out Barcelona did not open to anyone until 2:30. I was only able to get 2:30 this time also……so I don’t want to split the difference if I can check in at 1:30 and have to take a Covid test.  I would rather not get stuck in the mess of testing last week.  
thanks

[Drebay]

On 3/24/2023 at 9:55 PM, nonrev1 said:

I also have another question. What time did they open up for Check in when you boarded the ship? Some are saying that suite guests  can check in at 1:30 and others are saying that check-in did not open up until 230. Do you know?

We are in suites and our earliest available checkin was at 14:00 on Mar19 in Tokyo. We arrived at the terminal about 2:00 and were on board @ ~14:30. Suites (and all cabins) were available when we boarded. Two bags already at the cabin, the other 2 came about an hour later. 

[Drebay]

Sakaiminato, Japan

 

Overall:  Didn’t spend anytime in town as we went to Matsue - the castle and river boat excursion were interesting and much fun.

 

Arrival:  Fairly low key compared to recent ports, but sail away saw a fun performance from a junior high swing band that used enthusiasm to overcome any lacking skills!

 

Access: Shuttle (didn’t use) starting at 8:30 with last departure from town at 16:00. 15min to Sakaiminato Station. 
 

Ship excursion: Matsue castle and Moat Cruise. Fun!  Castle is 5 floors with VERY steep stairs (be forewarned) where you have to remove your shoes (and carry them in a plastic bag, making the stairs even more challenging. Also, there are stairs and some fairly steep hills up to the castle. Believe the rating as strenuous). Wouldn’t rave about the guide. She was fine and we really used the excursion simply as the most convenient way to get to Matsue. Moat cruise was fun for our group. Some people didn’t like it as it required sitting on the floor (although the traditional Japanese Kotatsu heater - was welcome). Also, the boats go under 4 very low bridges where they winch down the roof and passengers have to huddle down.  Those that didn’t enjoy it seemed to be those that were unaware in advance. We thought it was fun and hilarious (especially watching all of us try and get up again afterwards). We had a wonderful pilot, who sang traditional folk songs at various points.