bazzaw

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The sake museum in Kobe has a wonderful Yuzu sake. It goes really well with fish - we brought a bottle home with us last year.

I know that I am NOT an alcoholic - because I do not/will not drink Sake!! 

Just now, bazzaw said:

We had a friend in Quebec who brought out his ice wine stash when we visited - I had never even heard of it but I do now know it is created by the Gods!!! I also never knew what an "ice storm" was - it is certainly not what I imagined it to be.  

HINT - there is no storm and no ice falling from the sky! 

3 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

Late harvest and Ice Wine are actually 2 different things Mic. For Ice Wine the grapes are left on the vine and are literally frozen solid when they are picked in the dark (and cold) of night. Then they are crushed while still frozen and that is what makes it special. Even a cheap bottle of ice wine will set you back about $30.00 CDN for a half bottle and it goes up from there. Several of the wineries we have toured in the Okanagan have had late harvest wine and they all charge extra to taste it. The few that do ice wine charge even more for that, if they have a bottle open.

Sorry if I'm late off the mark I just started reading this thread.

We had a friend in Quebec who brought out his ice wine stash when we visited - I had never even heard of it but I do now know it is created by the Gods!!! I also never knew what an "ice storm" was - it is certainly not what I imagined it to be.  

7 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

 Ghibli 

I am old and I don't know what a Ghibli is!! But we saw this clock in our wanderings and saw that it played a few times per day so we came back at an appropriate time. I was more impressed by it's existence than by what it did. 🙂 But I have to admit that at my age, I am not easily impressed anymore.  What did impress me was that somebody paid for this installation for the public to see. We are both tight arsed and unimaginative in this country - if it doesn't produce a measurable positive  monetary outcome we don't want to know about  it!!!

3 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Absolutely, but also a HUGE difference in the cruise fare! You really can't compare a budget cruise line to Cunard. It's like comparing first class to bottom of the line economy on an aircraft.😂 Even with nickel and diming (and let's face it most cruise lines are doing it), P&O is probably the cheapest option out there. When we choose to sail with them we set the bar for our expectations fairly low and the experience is usually above our expectations - so far. 'Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances'.🙂

Just did a quick check re comparative prices - 10 nights on New Guinea cruise P&O FROM $1044  -- 10 nights Alaska cruise On QE FROM $1529. Certainly there is a 33% difference there and we would have flights to Canada for the Alaska cruise - but Americans and Brits would have flights to Brisbane for the NG cruise . No - $500 difference does not account for the different demographics!!!  

On 4/26/2024 at 11:51 AM, Gwendy said:

Might sound a bit harsh, but on our last 3 P&O cruises had to ask to have our table in dining room changed on at least one night on each cruise.  couldn’t hear above the yelling and insane screeching from well lubricated fellow diners.

 

Will continue to cruise with them, because they are cheap and we can drive to port, but the demographic is going downhill fast.

The demographic was my problem to on our Pacific Endeavour cruise - SOOOO different to the demographic on Cunard Queen Elizabeth around Japan. 

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Japanese hotel rooms are tiny, hardly room for a bed.

Not all - even the cheap APA brand have two sizes of rooms - around 11sqM and a DELUXE 22 sq m at twice the price :(

20 hours ago, frantic36 said:

@bazzaw  Our hotel is within walking distance of Tsukiji market

 

 

Our was also - what hotel are you in. I hope you have checked the room size ( which we didn't do but WILL in the future) - our was 11 square metres!!!!!! --smaller than an in side cabin on most ships  🙂 BTW - Tsukiji is pronounced Squidgee

8 hours ago, frantic36 said:

 

I am looking forward to Kobe beef though.😋

Better talk to your Bank Manager first though! 🙂  BTW - lots of it at the Outer Market in Tsukiji, Tokyo. 

40 minutes ago, Down-Unders said:

Sir you did not do your home work, on the Queen Elizabeth are Japanese Hosts who speak English all you have to do is to ask them to write out where you want to go.Just completed 19 nights and when we arrived in Nagasaki the ship lets you off beside the train and bus and as we had been before we knew how to navigate. First time PRE  COVID had everything written in Japanese where we wanted to go to, as for AKITA one of the best days ever bus drops you off in the center and thanks to our Japanese hosts everything written in Japanese for one of the best times,beautiful park for CB, Japanese tea ceremony, Akita dogs and the food stalls on a beautiful sunny day. As far as a balcony goes I will not start an argument with you and by the way you did not mention how great a rate you got with your currency. 

Didn't know and still dont know anything about Japanese hosts onboard QE in March this year. 

21 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

 

Getting to some platforms / lines at the linked Shimbashi / Shiodome stations was very confusing - we ended up going around in circles before discovering the line we wanted was actually at Shiodome, right next to our hotel. 

Finding the beginning of the Yurikamome line supposedly at Shimbashi for our trip to the Cruise Terminal - was difficult as it is actually outside that station and between it and the Shiodome station. Nothing actually even looks like a train station - mostly all above ground office highrise blocks  - all the action is below ground . Did you see this clock in that general area?

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I forgot my Suica card on for one outing last year so had to buy tickets. I'm sure you could choose the destination when buying the ticket so it charged the correct amount.

 

After research back here at home, I think you are right - you can do a search for your destination at the machine and the machine then tells you how much  - we were working by just looking at the huge underground network diagrams on the wall. (which are often in Japanese only) - everything becomes easy when you know how to 🙂

On 4/17/2024 at 9:11 AM, resordanis said:

Morning all,

For all of you that have been to Japan, can you see Mt Fuiji easily from this Port (subject to weather) or do I need a ships excursion. It is the last day afternoon of our cruise and as we have been to Japan before this is the only interest in this Port. If we can do something on our own for a short time it would be our choice. If we need the tour, so be it!

Thanks

Yes - you can see it clearly from this port - IF the weather allows you to. We could not see the mountain at all when we arrived and although the weather cleared during the day, we could see the mountain but I would not call it " clear" 

BTW - the reason that people find the underground a bit daunting can be exemplified by Shinjuku station - it has 36 platforms, caters for 4/5 million passengers each day and has 200 entries/edits to/from the station!!  🙂 

The Suica card can only be installed into an Apple Iphone - not Android phones. The ship shaped building is adjacent to the cruise terminal and is a Maritime Museum (wasn't open last month when we were there) . I know the London Underground well and have always enjoyed using it. BUT - that was using an Oyster card ( like a Suica card) and everything was in English. We didn't have a card in Tokyo, and much is in Japanese  so had to buy a paper ticket for every leg of the Tokyo Underground - the biggest problem with this was knowing how much to pay but have now come across a workaround that eliminates the requirement of knowing how much to put into the machine)  - basically you put in the minimum amount for any journey on that line - and the system will tell you how much you owe when you try to get out at the other end. 

5 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes, any shore excursions in Japan are expensive whether private or via the ship, however Japan is relatively easy to get around so the shuttles are handy.

Yes - the shuttles at least got us away from the ports - as an example, the Kanazawa railway station (where the shuttle busses took us) is a sight to behold in itself - but the World famous Castle park and adjoining Kenroken gardens are 10Klms on foot after that . 

54 minutes ago, icat2000 said:

Yes please share more on balcony issue as I'm looking at Cunard as possible cruise at Xmas if they cruise fares settle down 🙂 

 

Why was Japan hard to cruise? Was it the language barrier?

I guess I was more referring to when you are ashore - especially before and after the cruise. But those difficulties can be solved with money. Seems that most Japanese ports are very "industrial" so you have to get well away form the port to see anything. Cunard did provide shuttles to the main railway station in every port we visited - but we still had to walk fair distances to the sights. eg 12 klms in Kanazawa , 10 Klms in Nagasaki and six klms in  Akita. We did a shore tour in Busan which was a good but long day and which cost us $500 AUD - these USD cruises are expensive for tours and drinks. 

56 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Can you please elaborate on the balcony issue?

Much depends on where and when. Balconies are commonly too cold or too hot, too wet or too windy 🙂 An outside cabin down low and centre (Deck 1 on QE) is ideal. Also makes your front door just a short walk when everybody else is trying to get home after the show 🙂

Just back a few days ago from Japan - a week in Tokyo plus a 10 day Cunard QE cruise. Had a good time (first time Japan - 5th time QE) - Japan is certainly a challenging hard work destination. It could be less so at some added cost. ABSOLUTELY convinced now that Balcony cabins are a waste of money. If anybody has any specific questions regarding a possible future cruise to Japan please ask. Personally I would probably not do another cruise around Japan for a number of reasons - mostly including port locations, and necessity to do ship tours.  We managed to see the Cherry blossoms. 

On 3/16/2024 at 10:27 PM, PORT ROYAL said:

Totally agree.  No “Steerage Class” is a great idea.

But that apparently is where all the fun is at!

In Australia, tipping is not customary - and any price advertised must include taxes, etc. BUT - other cultures are different - and we all need to understand that the final Cunard price is not what we pay when we book 🙂 So we need to include these gratuities into the the total price we pay. BUT - it does not mean that I then have to additionally tip staff for doing their jobs. I cant really think of anything that a waiter or cabin attendant could do for me to warrant any kind of tip. Nobody has ever tipped me for simply doing my job well  - except somebody did once advise me to be nice to my wife!! 

Don't forget that you can watch the fabulous movie TANNA on SBS on demand. This ranks as one of my favourite movies of all time. How anybody could produce and direct such a big movie using only native tribal people who mostly had never even see an movie themselves is beyond me !! 🙂 https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/movie/tanna/1751931459619    The Vanuatuan version of Romeo and Juliet.

Yes - I think you are right. Our first 3 Queens they were all together for the Queens Jubilee - but the second one was just a back to back to back 🙂

I wouldn't be bothered with this one for a few reasons - 1. Three nights in Seattle!! Look up the Youtube video called "Seattle is dying" 2. We were really happy with our 5 nights in New York at the end of our Transatlantic on QM2 back in 2018 - but I wouldn't even think about staying in New York City today 3. Have already done the "Crossing" on QM2 

2 minutes ago, aussielil said:

Not that cheap, but interesting...

We have done the 3Queens cruises twice - 5 years apart . The first was for the celebration of the Queens Silver Jubilee.