thehowlingroad

Lots of taxi drivers will congregate right outside the port terminal and all of them will be advertising some sort of tour or all-day transportation for a flat rate. Can't guarantee the quality of said tours, since we pre-arranged ours, but make sure to discuss the price before you get into the vehicle.

I've been doing LAX-HKG for 14 years; at its worst, it was a 16-hour flight. I also just came back from our Japan cruise, with a week-long stop in Hong Kong. Agree with lots of the advice above: fly an Asian carrier, first of all. They tend to have newer planes, roomier seats even in economy, and better service. Try to find an airline that uses Airbus. I was very disappointed by Cathay Pacific this time around (unusual for me, I loved their 2010-2019 product), and very impressed by Korean Air (which code-shares with Delta). I've also flown Xiamen Airlines, but wouldn't recommend it for going to HKG; the hassle of trying to do a transfer in China isn't worth it. Flying red-eyes will help as well; most of the West Coast flights will be red-eyes, as it'll get you to Asia around sunrise, and you'll be able to sleep overnight in a mostly-natural rhythm. I'm usually able to sleep 6-7 hours on one of these flights, in smaller chunks, if I can get a window seat. Many Korean Air flights will layover in Seoul, but that's still going to be a 12-14 hour flight to get there in the first place. Sometimes you can get a layover in Honolulu, but that requires flying an American brand.

The cabs we took in Hiroshima and Kochi were explicitly cash only-- the drivers would say "cash! cash!" and I would say "ok!" and that was that. In Kyoto, I had to ask for the card reader, it was not pre-installed into the cab. Greater-Tokyo cabs were more card-friendly; the reader is usually installed into the cab itself, and the Go app is always an option as well. In Nagasaki, I vaguely remember a card reader being available, but I paid that fare through the Go app because we were in an area where there were fewer cabs to hail on the street.

If you're referring to IC cards (Suica or Pasmo, if you're landing in Tokyo first), keep in mind that they can be used throughout the whole country, not just in Tokyo or Osaka or wherever you bought it. We did most of our ports DIY and it would've been the worst hassle to buy paper tickets every single time we needed them.

Agreed with all the previous posters. My mother uses a cane and we just came back from our cruise. She struggled in many places, although the locals were very kind and gave up their seats on public transit, allowed us to skip the queues or wait in a different area, etc. But none of that negated the sheer amount of stairs or steep inclines everywhere. A wheelchair would be impossible to use in many of the places we went to. The families or groups with wheelchair users that I did notice often were accompanied by private transportation (whether a hired taxi or other type of vehicle), a hired guide who was able to help them, or with the cruise ship's accessible tours. You may have luck contacting tour operators directly to see what they can do. Many are doing the best they can, but Japanese accessibility infrastructure is limited at best. You may also find this site helpful: https://www.accessible-japan.com/.

We stayed at the Dai-ichi Tokyo Hotel in Minato/Ginza with 3 adults in one room. It has a direct underground passage to Shimbashi station (which has direct trains to Yokohama), it's close to lots of restaurants/convenience stores, the rooms are huge by Japanese standards (moderate by American standards lol), and we really enjoyed our 4-night stay there. The Narita limousine bus also has a drop-off point at the hotel, which was a total bonus for us. As far as squeezing 3 people into a double occupancy room without anyone knowing, you won't be able to, as Japanese hotels ask for the passports of every guest upon check-in, not just the reservation holder. It will be very obvious to them what you're trying to do.

We just came back from Busan; we opted for a private tour (just the family and a licensed guide with his own car). There are sections of Busan that are doable on your own and attractions that are accessible via the subway network or walkable from the port (BIFF Square/International Market and Jagalchi Seafood Market come to mind), but some of the most popular attractions aren't, such as the Gamcheon Cultural Village and Haedong Yonggungsa (a Buddhist temple nestled on a cliffside facing the sea). My advice is to pinpoint what you want to see first and then research if those places are DIY-possible, or if it'll be less of a hassle to book a guide with transport for the day.

When you say "private tour," do you mean just for you and your travel companions, or do you mean "not through the ship?" If the latter, International Friends has several options: https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/shore-excursions-and-cruise-transfers.html#tour-tab2. We took the Salisbury/Stonehenge/Windsor tour in 2022 and thought it was great. IF also arranged for shuttle vans to take us directly to our London hotel after we finished the sightseeing part.

They also have direct transfers from the port to London, but I don't know whether they are cheaper/more expensive than other companies. We did the tour @phabric mentioned above in August 2022. Most of the tour (I think we had about 26 people total) was heading for Heathrow, so IF arranged private shuttles for the folks that were going into London and grouped us by neighborhood. Our shuttle was only 5 people (my family, and another couple) and it was a seamless process.

Take it from someone who’s been there 6+ times. Hong Kong is one of the easiest cities in Asia to navigate, as their subway system is speedy and has English signage and announcements. The Star Ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon is also a 15-min ride at most, and if you’re not feeling a boat ride, the subway also crosses the harbor. My advice is to not bother with the private tour, as it’ll likely be a walking/public transportation tour anyway. Make sure to get an Octopus card! Victoria Peak has a funicular railway that goes up/down the mountain and there is a public bus on the island side that takes you to the tram center, you’ll just have to cross the harbor, either on the ferry or on the subway. Your hotel is very close to Avenue of the Stars, which has great harbor views and is a popular evening walk for locals.

Used them in 2022, heading in the opposite direction (Southampton to London). Great experience! The majority of the bus was heading to Heathrow after our tour, so they booked 2 private transfers for the parties heading to London. The company handled everything, all I had to do was pay the fee and tell them what hotel we were staying at.

Yes, for a solo traveler it's perfectly reasonable! but we're a family of 3, so a cab for 3500Y seems more economical for us; that's only about $25 USD to Kochi Station, and our plan is to use the local tourist shuttle around town, and then take a shorter cab ride back from the Botanical Gardens at the end of the day.

$25/round trip/person?? YIKES. I can't help but feel like I could get a cab direct to Kochi Castle or Station for 3 people for less than $75 total...

Seconding the recommendation for a guide. I couldn't imagine trying to fit everything into a single day in the city. Are you going soon? This summer/fall? Next year? This will impact the crowd levels and how busy certain places will be at any given time. Tokyo sprawls over multiple neighborhoods and "wards," I believe there are 23 in all, and the tourist attractions aren't centralized in any one place. Tours By Locals, GoWithGuide, and Get Your Guide are all marketplaces where you'll be able to hire and compare tour guide services. Yes, a little expensive. But a good guide will be able to help you navigate the very busy public transportation systems, make specific reservations (like if you want to experience a tea ceremony), and customize an itinerary. The transportation is the most important piece; it's easy to lose 15-20 mins of your day at a time trying to navigate within a subway or train station. If you really do not want to hire a guide, then Senso-ji Temple, Meiji Jingu, and the Imperial Palace and Gardens are three recommendations I would make off the top of my head. Meiji Jingu is quite a ways away from Ginza, though. The Palace and Senso-ji are much closer, both to Ginza and to each other.

Are you docked in Shimizu? If so, I worked with Local Travel Partners before our port was changed and we had to cancel our excursion. I found them very easy to work with, from the initial booking request all the way to our cancellation, and they do have mini-van options for large groups. This was what we had booked: https://www.shizuoka-tour.com/shimizu-port-shore-excursions/mt_fuji_5hours/, but they also have multiple other options on their website.

This is the list I'm using: https://www.ncd.mhlw.go.jp/dl_data/keitai/list.pdf. It's from the Narcotics Control Department website. From what I understand, if your active ingredients are not on this list, then you don't need the Yunyu Kakunin-sho form for those medications, just make sure you're bringing less than a month's supply, and ideally, you could bring them in their original prescription bottles.

The “ideal” way really depends on how much luggage you’re bringing. We’re 3 people with 2 larger suitcases and a carry-on, plus the assorted personal items, so we will be taking a cab to the City Air Terminal to catch the limousine bus to Narita instead. It’s a pretty standard 50-person bus where your luggage goes under the bus and it’s a direct (bur longer) drive to Narita, about 90 minutes. If your flight isn’t until late afternoon/early evening, you have plenty of time for this. It’s about $24 USD a ticket. If you’re packing light (a carry-on + personal item, or just one larger suitcase and a personal item), then Narita Express from Yokohama Station is the way to go. $50 USD seems extremely expensive to me… I believe standard fare is around $30. But you would just tap your Pasmo or Suica card at the gate like you would for a subway ride.

We're staying at the Hyatt Regency in Yokohama next month. I picked up a good deal a few months ago, and got a triple room for just under $165 USD... with the exchange rate in USD's favor right now, it'll probably be even less than that at check-in. Right now, for the same time frame, I'm seeing a $220 rate. It's walking distance from our port, and only a few blocks from Chinatown, which we are very interested in seeing.

We will be there in March 2024, staying at the Hyatt Regency Yokohama the night before our departure. No cruise ship shuttle that I know of, but it is directly across the street from the port. Google Maps tells me it's a 7-min walk. If the walk isn't a feasible option, the hotel lobby will be able to help you get a taxi, and the fare shouldn't be that expensive for a 5-minute drive.

Hello! I'm the author of the March 28th-April 7th roll call board. We've had some discussions on the roll call, and a resource site is up and running, if you want to come and say hello! That is definitely the place to ask more specific questions about day tours and to get to know your fellow cruisers. The situation with the Japanese ports is that outside of the major cities, the tour companies have struggled with finding English-speaking guides/drivers. The ships book many of them for the ship-sponsored tours, which can cause a shortage of third-party tours. Another thing to be aware of is that many of the third-party guides use public transportation rather than a private vehicle. We've hired guides in Shimizu and for Kyoto for our family; in one, the tour company is helping us to book a chartered taxi for the whole length of the tour, and in the other, the guide will be taking us on public transit.

I figured we might get an answer (or not!) rather than talking ourselves in circles on the roll call board! 😂

This was super helpful, thank you!!

I'm having some odd problems with the search function, so apologies if this has been brought up recently. Has anyone been on a ship in Shimizu that has docked at the Okitsu Port rather than Hinode? A tour agency I'm working with has brought up that our ship, the Diamond Princess, is docking at Okitsu in April (which is a far more industrial port than Hinode) and we might experience problems trying to get taxis, as they're not typically allowed into the industrial areas. I'm looking at the possibility of having our tour guide drop us off at the S-Dream Plaza after our tour, and then getting ourselves back to Okitsu, but if the taxis aren't allowed to do drop-offs in the area, then I'm more concerned. Has anyone been in Shimizu lately that wants to share their experience? Especially if you docked at Okitsu... Has Princess (or other cruise lines!) offered shuttles out to town? Are the concerns about getting taxis totally overblown? Thanks!

We went last year on the Enchanted Princess. 3 ports in Norway, 4 in Iceland (no overnight in Reykjavik). It was a good mix for us, and I had looked at multiple other cruise lines during the planning process; Princess regularly does 4 stops in Iceland, instead of 2 or 3 with an overnight in Reykjavik like some of the other cruise lines. Whether or not that's a trade-off that's worth it to you is a personal preference; all our port stops were 10+ hours, so we felt it was still plenty of time to do the tours we wanted to do and walk around town. With the exceptions of Reykjavik and Akureyri, the other "typical" Icelandic port towns (Isafjordur, Grundarfjordur, Seydisfjordur) are really small.

We are booked on the Feb 2024 edition of this cruise on the Spirit. Thank you so much for what you've posted so far!