Boatharbour

I realise there are rules but still ask myself what actual benefit is there to this fragile environment for groups of tourists to go on shore? They’re not contributing to the economy. They’re not providing jobs for the locals. Each to their own, but I choose not do it.

Thank you for a frank and honest review. I’ve really enjoyed reading along. It reassures me that our decision not to sail with Celebrity to Antarctica was the right one for us. We’ve chosen another line which has four days cruising in Antarctica. Our Japan cruise on Millenium in late 2019 was one of the best cruises we’ve done. Great itinerary and not many sea days. We had a few days in Tokyo at the start and used mainly private tour companies for excursions. There were no tendered ports so no trouble getting off the ship.

When we looked at even the cheapest expedition cabins they were at least double the price of a “cruise by” trip. For many people this is the deciding factor. I also have mixed feelings about tourists landing on this pristine environment. Can nowhere be left untouched by tourism?

Thanks Ken. We are doing the Magdalena Island excursion as well so will see a variety of penguins and wildlife there. I must admit though that the sheer number of Kings at Volunteer Point must be amazing to see.

I noticed there were some King penguins in Ken’s photos at Bluff Point and then wondered if we would need to travel all the way to Volunteer Point to see them. But from your photo it looks as though there are far more at Volunteer Point ?

I have enjoyed following your trip so much. Thank you for taking the time to share. Could I ask if you know anyone onboard who took the Volunteer Point excursion instead of the Bluff Point one? I believe there are more king penguins at Volunteer Point but it involves at least two hours each way over rough terrain.

Our cancellation email said Equinox was being redeployed to the Caribbean for “exciting 7 day itineraries”. It turned out to be a good thing for us as with a little more research we realised that only two days in Antarctica would be chancing it with the weather. With so many sea days we then booked a 17 day Princess cruise rather than the 22 day Holland America.

January 2026? Was that a typo? Oops sorry it was January 2025 that was cancelled and it was on Equinox. We booked while on board the Apex in July last year. One month later we received an email stating the ship had been redeployed.

It’s a pity that Celebrity only spends two days cruising in Antarctica. There’s little time to double back or vary the route for the weather Princess and Holland America spend four days in the region. Not to say you couldn’t end up with four foggy days, but at least your chances of seeing something clearly are doubled. We were booked on the January 2026 Eclipse sailing until Celebrity cancelled it. Now we’re sailing with Princess in January 2025.

I really appreciate you taking the time to give an objective opinion of this tour. This was the most expensive one we’ve booked (at full price) but it sounded so good we thought what the heck. We even checked out external review sites. I’ll definitely look into this before we sail. Thanks again for a great review of this trip.

Yikes, we’ve booked this excursion in March! Given the $$$$ do you think it was worth it overall? We’ve been to Christchurch several times and chose this tour because it didn’t have a city tour. Glad I found you as I was enjoying your report over on the other board.

I’m very excited to be following this thread. We have booked for January 2025. There have been a few similar threads on the Holland America forum but it’s even better to read this one here. Have a wonderful trip!

We also used Tours by Locals and Triple Lights and had wonderful tours in Japan. We were fortunate to have an active roll call that organised many of the tours and also transfers.

We sailed on Apex in the Baltic last July and the buffet was excellent. We usually only eat there at breakfast and lunch. However the MDR’s were disappointing ( limited choices with few options that appealed) so often dined at the buffet in the evening.

Perhaps that’s enough of the sexist comments and images. We‘re in the 2020’s and this is not ok.

Sorry, but we found the tables for 2 on Apex too close for our comfort. We usually eat around 7.00pm and had little luck securing tables with a little more space. This was in July when the food in all 4 MDR’s was underwhelming. We ended up cancelling the remainder of our dining bookings and switched to several specialty restaurants and the buffet. The buffet was excellent much to our surprise

I was very happy with the way GF was handled on board. I did submit the special needs form before boarding. It was obviously noted because in every dining room the staff were aware I was GF without me telling them. After several weeks of land travel where I often struggled to find GF food, it was a relief to find GF options so easily. The only glitch was the night we ate at Fine Cut and there wasn’t a single GF dessert so I chose from the MDR menu instead.

We used the airport limousine transfer to our hotel Cerculean Towers. It was in a great location and the room was. Our roll call was very active and we organised many tours with fellow passengers using Triple Lights, Tours by locals and Viator including the transfer from Tokyo to the port.

We took a cruise from Japan in 2019 that also visited Taiwan, China and disembarked in Hong Kong. Absolutely fabulous trip. Living in Sydney the flight wasn’t too long and the difference in time zones was minimal. This year we took a Baltic cruise which was also very good, but if you’re travelling all that way I would combine it with something else. Either a b2b or land component as we did. The 24 trip home was tough. Out of the two, Japan wins hands down. We’ve travelled extensively and Japan was unlike anywhere we had ever been to before.

There must have been a problem with the handle as it locked/ jammed behind her. Not sure if it had been reported before but Celebrity were very quick to respond to our phone call.

Sure has. To our solo neighbour in an accessible SV cabin on the Apex in July. The poor woman had gone outside to watch the sunrise and the door slid shut and couldn’t be opened. Fortunately she had a robe on to keep warm. She called out several hours later after hearing us go out to our balcony. We had to ring down for someone to go into her cabin and open up the door.

Nothing to confess, although I have been known to sit outside in my nightie first thing in the morning. Not something I would do if the balcony was exposed. I also like the protection of a roof above me when you have passengers who think it’s funny to drop sugar sachets and drops of liquid on those below. Happened to us on Equinox on several days. Staff never did catch the culprits.

We’ve had several SV’s on mid level decks and were happy with the privacy. Agree with above poster about being seen if you stand near the railings but not a big deal at all. The only exception was when we were staying on a higher deck on the Equinox where the balcony was more exposed. We had several unpleasant experiences related to the bar / dining area above.

We did a Japan cruise on Millenium in late November 2019. Tokyo to Hong Kong. We loved the ship although we spent little time on our sunset verandah due to the cool weather. Our port days were busy ones so we were happy to have some sea days in the mix. There was always something to do on board if you felt like it. Most of our excursions were organised with people in our roll call. It was a fabulous trip and we would love to return to Japan.