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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.)

15 hours ago, Minesinger66 said:

Looks like Neguri is the closest metro stop to the port

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.

19 hours ago, worldtraveller said:

Does the Regal have Starlink?

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.

17 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

Shibuya in 24 minutes

OP mentioned Ginza specifically, so.

4 hours ago, gam888 said:

how do we get into Tokyo the next day for a visit?

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. 

1 hour ago, katmu said:

The monorail will take you from Haneda to Tokyo station without having to transfer.

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. 

18 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

the app

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.

On 5/14/2023 at 7:16 AM, Steelers0854 said:

Pro Tip: buy your tickets in advance.

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?

This may be off topic slightly, but I started wondering why tipping is considered an insult in Japan. 

In certain situations, Japan does have a custom to give money to show appreciation. "心付け-kokorozuke" and "おひねり-ohineri", for example, are form of tip/gratuity. More formal form of "謝礼-sharei" is very common although this is a bit different from regular tipping. 

"Keep the change" type of tipping is often given to taxi drivers. This taxi driver explains how tipping is greatly appreciated and, in certain cases, should be tipped.

Doing some research, I see that the English Wiki page does say an insult, but the Japanese Wiki page says giving money without enclosing it in an envelope is considered an insult, but not necessarily the act of tipping itself. This video says so as well.

(no need to use an envelope for tipping a taxi driver, though)

I've tipped a taxi driver before in Japan when he helped me with my luggage. Just enough for a drink from the vending machine, but he seemed appreciative.

I do agree with previous posters in regards to tipping is not necessary in Japan and do not mean to object to them whatsoever. 

Just FYI from a different angle.

There should be shuttle buses, which take you to Belfast visitor center. HOHO is a minute walk from there. HOHO bus site is here. 

When I went there last April, I used my card (Amex) for almost all of the store purchases. Maybe not at mom-and-pop kind stores, though.
For trains, specifically speaking of JR lines, ticket machines do not accept foreign issued credit cards. You must use cash or purchase at the ticket counter. 

3 hours ago, source said:

Could you please explain what 10% requirement?

In order for international cruises to be reopened in Japan, Japan International Cruise Committee established a set guideline regarding Covid-19. In the guideline it mentions that when infected cases reach 10% of crew and passengers, the sailing may be terminated.
However, Japan's government recently announced that it is going to downgrade the severity classification of Covid-19 likely in April. In that case, said guideline will most likely be revised or even eliminated. Just my guess.

13 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

You're going to spend about 4 hours on, or waiting on, public transport.

Whilst Edinburgh can be visited on the schedule you have (though you'll only scratch the surface), I think trying to fit in anything in Glasgow, other than taking in the streetscape between the stations, is a bit too much.

Thank you for your advice. Certainly it would be nice to have more time to spend there.

I'm piggybacking on this thread for a couple of questions if I may please. I'm planning to do our own to visit Edinburgh from Greenock cruise port. The ship's schedule there is 7 a.m. till 6 p.m. My plan is to catch a train in Greenock to Glasgow Central, walk to Queen Street to catch another train to Edinburgh. Do some sightseeing including hopefully Edinburgh Castle tour. Return to Glasgow, look around the city a little bit before returning to Greenock.

Is this comfortably doable in 8ish hours?

I'm thinking it all depends on how quickly we can get off the ship...

I'm opting out of the cruise provided tour to Edinburgh since I'd like to also see some Glasgow.

Any advice is appreciated.

The Japanese government is considering changing how to handle Covid-19. This subject has been discussed some time now, but it does appear more realistic this time around. Since Japan's fiscal year ends in March, I hope the protocol gets relaxed come April, and Japan International Cruise Committee gets right on the subject. 🤞

News Article here

On 12/5/2022 at 12:04 PM, Pumpkin Travels said:

Hi, we are from the United States and will be traveling to Japan on a cruise next year. We wanted to see if anyone has any experience with cell phone service on land in Japan. We are arriving several days early to adjust to the time change and will need to use our cell phones to get around and for other things.

 

Does anyone have any experience with their cell phones over there?  Thanks.

On 12/5/2022 at 6:44 PM, floridatravelersforlife said:

 

Any experience with wifi calling on the cell?

When I went there this year, I bought a data sim card from Amazon. I used it at places with no Wifi. Before I went there I did switch my phone from physical sim to e-sim, so I didn't have to keep switching sim cards. 
I hear Google fi works well (no extra charge). I also heard T-Mobile works well. With T-Mobile, no additional charge for data usage (extra charge for calling via cell service) is my understanding.
I use Google Pixel.

Wifi calling worked fairly well also in my view. Of course you have to have Wifi to use it, though. It was very helpful when I needed to receive authorization code via text. Every so often, however, I had to flip back to AT&T since my phone wasn't receiving some texts although I had to be careful not actually using roaming cell service as they'd charge me $10 a day.