Pushka

People we travel with want to cruise in 2026 in the Med. Frustrated with the wait we've now booked with a different cruise line. We will tack on a Celebrity cruise if the dates and ports work.

Early November.

What ridiculous nonsensical behaviour. From adults. They couldn't be bothered going to the effort of sorting things out themselves and then blame you? If it wasn't so nasty it would be funny. We are doing a week long land trip spending time in Tokyo and Kyoto after reading reviews such as yours and have organised a guided tour for two days in Kyoto. We have a couple of ship tours booked (Aomori as it's the first port after Busan and it's a National Public Holiday as well for Sakura) plus Shimizu. Plus a private tour guide for Hiroshima (Peace Park and Miyajiyama) as we need to learn as much as we can here.

Are US scripts even valid internationally? They wouldn't be accepted in Australia.

Sorry the quote didn't work properly. A totally random one. Just selected the first cruise that left Southampton next day. First the US site. No gratituties. Second the Au site. Gratuities included. USD $959 is AUS$1424. Price of the Oz cruise includes gratuities at $1382.. This is the line on our invoices: A service charge for your dining and stateroom attendant are included in your cruise fare. A service charge for additional onboard services purchased will be incurred and reflect on your Onboard Expense Account.

Not really higher price. I check on the US website and then the Aus and ours seem much much cheaper but there are of course different refund options etc.

Never had issues on QM2 which is a larger ship. It was rather nice to see those disembarking and know we didn't have to be the ones packing up.

Cruises booked in Australia on Celebrity for worldwide have tips included in the fare.

We booked in Aqua for a Japan cruise itinerary and on Deck 11. The price we booked is now the same price as for an inside cabin which are the only ones left for April 25. We've mostly booked Aqua and love Blu.

I'm hoping the cabins newly installed in Deck 11 don't have such issues.

Looking at Millenium schedule it seems it arrives into Singapore on 29 October and next cruise shows as November 23 departing Singapore. Possibly a refurb in Singapore.

Did the Kobe beef live up to your expectations? 😁

I just posted this on the other medications question as someone else had loaded up the more detailed explanation. It's a snip taken from it confirming the above.

That attached PDF also confirms that if short of time or have queries then you can email as per what I did above.

Yes. It will be an issue and suggest you email yakkan@mhlw.go.jp with full details then you will receive the email I pasted above, and a follow up email from them if needed.

You have to get into Japan. anyway this is the response I received back. For Those Who Sent an Inquiry Email About Bringing Medication: - We answer ONLY in case your medications NEED TO BE CERTIFIED by Kanto Shinetsu Regional Bureau in bringing. Our reply should be made within 3-4 working days. - NO PAPERWORK NOR CERTIFICATE is necessary for bringing up to 30-day supply of medication except for several types of injections, narcotics, illegal stimulants and so on into Japan. (ONE set of a CPAP machine MAY be brought as far as you use it for your personal use ONLY without this certificate in entering Japan. Please carry the doctor’s letter or prescription for the CPAP just in case in immigration.) - So, please CLARIFY YOUR AMOUNT (i.e., a period of supply; like ‘20 days’) of your medication and the arrival airport in the inquiry email and resubmit if you have not described these 2 points (the ‘amount’ and the ‘arrival airport’) in your inquiry email. (If the arrival airport is Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka or Naha Airport, Kinki Regional Bureau is in charge. Please contact ‘kiyakuji@mhlw.go.jp’) - Namely, We DON’T ANSWER to your inquiry when YOU NEED NOT TO OBTAIN the CERTIFICATE for your medication.

I sent an email to yakkan@mhlw.go.jp as I didn't know if my medications would be acceptable to bring in in the quantity and dosage I take. They are on the prohibited list. This is a Govt email address this is the email reply I received back: For Those Who Sent an Inquiry Email About Bringing Medication: - We answer ONLY in case your medications NEED TO BE CERTIFIED by Kanto Shinetsu Regional Bureau in bringing. Our reply should be made within 3-4 working days. - NO PAPERWORK NOR CERTIFICATE is necessary for bringing up to 30-day supply of medication except for several types of injections, narcotics, illegal stimulants and so on into Japan. (ONE set of a CPAP machine MAY be brought as far as you use it for your personal use ONLY without this certificate in entering Japan. Please carry the doctor’s letter or prescription for the CPAP just in case in immigration.) - So, please CLARIFY YOUR AMOUNT (i.e., a period of supply; like ‘20 days’) of your medication and the arrival airport in the inquiry email and resubmit if you have not described these 2 points (the ‘amount’ and the ‘arrival airport’) in your inquiry email. (If the arrival airport is Kansai, Chubu, Fukuoka or Naha Airport, Kinki Regional Bureau is in charge. Please contact ‘kiyakuji@mhlw.go.jp’) - Namely, We DON’T ANSWER to your inquiry when YOU NEED NOT TO OBTAIN the CERTIFICATE for your medication.

Thats a cookie thing in your browser. Need to clear cookies then it will be ok.

Im sorry to hear that. Hope it all works out for you. I'm thinking there are many in your situation.

I don't have the cancel button for an excursion I want to cancel. Also no email today confirming another one I've booked.

I think people also need to do their own research too. Thats what pre planning is all about. There are so many online resources that I think I know exactly what to expect. Both on the ship and onshore. Hopefully not the heat in April May although last year we toured the Middle East on a cruise (Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) and the temp was 40c most days and we did ok. I think it's the awful humidity. Thankyou for your Fab report.

Let me think about that. No! Covid is everywhere. Did you fly home? Get off at port? Really you have no idea where you catch Covid from these days. RSV on the other hand made me very ill for a month. But because it's not Covid it gets no traction.

They will simply post a FB message asking you to send them a PM. So divide and conquer tactic. And act 'surprised' that you were disappointed. They will not respond publically on FB.

Yes. I think it's our overnight in Kobe (we don't port in Osaka) and have planned our half day in Kobe (we don't arrive until 12 noon) accordingly.

I use the app called TripIt. It's also available via website. It allows you to forward on any travel bookings (flights, cruises, hotel bookings) to their email address, it then creates your dedicated Trip Plan with all the dates, addresses, ports stops with actual times at port, confirmation details etc pre populated. You can then click on that event and add further details like maps etc to correspond to that day. It also sends alerts for flight delays etc. You can share the plan with others so they can either just look, or they can get edit privileges too. It costs $79aud a year and have used it since 2019.