Y21

I just remembered this post. If the concern is making calls in some emergency situations, apparently phone calls from guest service is complimentary. Just FYI

Sorry for repeated posts. I found an article explaining Wi-Fi calling in case this clarifies any confusion. I've used Wi-Fi calling from a ship and it worked great. What is WiFi Calling?

I'm in the US and use Skype to make international calls (or any country combinations as long as Skype supports). Skype will let you know the rate and also let you know the number you are calling to is covered by your Skype plan. Your party does not have to have Skype since it can call regular landlines or most cell numbers. (I use Skype to make international calls because my Microsoft 365 subscription includes free 60min/month.)

We'll be visiting there in Oct also and planning to do our own. Our plan is to take the metro from Gobela station (similar distance to Neguri) to Abando and stop at the tourism office to purchase a 24hr BB card (10€). The card covers metros, trams, buses as well as funiculars. The Metro website does say a single ticket is 1.90€ (2 zones). BB cards are only available at one of two tourism offices in Bilbao, but it will still be less to cover our plan.

A month or two ago I saw here someone on the Regal posted a speed test showing Starlink, so I believe it does. I think it was one of live/review threads.

This was with HAL, at Yokohama this year, but I brought back freshly baked bread, Baumkuchen, and other packaged food items with no issue. I actually embarked with a half suitcase full of all sorts of Japanese packaged food items to bring back home already anyway.

@sultan_sfo Thank you for your reply and the details. That helps.

Sorry OP for piggybacking on this subject, but I have a similar, but separate question if I may. I'll be on B2B (but brought the entire duration as one) later this year. The latter half is TA back to the US. On the turnaround day in Southampton, do we need to go through a sort of "immigration check" to make sure you are eligible to visit the US or will that be done on the initial embarkation day? If anyone, perhaps someone who is not a US citizen, has this information, please let me know.

I shipped our luggage via Yamato Transport and picked them up at the Yamato office that mentioned above when we cruised on HAL in April this year. They will hold arrived items for 7 days. Please note that this particular office is closed on weekends. If it's the weekend, you should be able to forward them to the convenience store next to it, Daily Yamazaki, as they are marked as pickup location on Yamato's website. Here's the link to their website in case you have not yet checked. As far as I know Osanbashi terminal does not provide this type of service.

If you have not yet tried, you may want to contact local tourism offices for some advice. I've emailed some questions to both offices respectively, and they were very responsive and helpful. Here're the links to their websites in case you want to contact: Getxo and Bilbao We'll be in the area in mid Oct and are planning to get around the city by metro/trams with their 24-hr pass.

OP mentioned Ginza specifically, so.

From the hotel mentioned, the closest station is Minato Mirai, but you need to transfer at Yokohama station. I would take a taxi (about 5 min) to go directly to Yokohama station. About 30min train ride to stations near Ginza area. IMO it's better to take the Tokaido line (or Yokosuka line) and get off at Shimbashi station rather than the Keihin-Tohoku line which is a commuter line. It's about 0.5 mile to the center of Ginza area.

Sorry, but the monorail ends at Hamamatsucho station. You need to switch to one of JR line trains to get to Tokyo station there. If you do not have a ticket for JR line already, you need to go one floor down to buy a ticket, come back up to catch JR trains. With that said, you can take Keikyu line's Airport Express trains that go to Keisei Takasago, and get off at Higashi-Ginza station (no transfer). Or, take the monorail, switch to JR's Yamanote line at Hamamatsucho station, and get off at Yurakucho station. Be sure to exit from Ginza side of Yurakucho station, though. Either way, it was 20-30 minutes line to buy either train ticket at Haneda Airport when I was there in April this year.

Ah, ok. I'll make sure to have the app ready. (Yes, I was asking about train to Glasgow.) Thank you for the insightful information! Greatly appreciated.

I appreciate all the useful information you are providing here. Very helpful. To purchase train tickets online, I have to pick a specific time. Would you say getting off the ship as soon as it docks is possible/not a problem?