vero1974

On 12/25/2022 at 11:06 AM, villauk said:

 

Which did you decide on? We’re looking at the same two itineraries and are debating between the two 🙂.

We booked the July 26, including the northern ports 😃 Did you decide already?

7 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Not sure that "industrial" is an issue (anywhere) since tourism areas are generally not industrial.  I was stationed at Misawa Air Force Base which was less than an hour drive from Aomori.  We used to head over towards Aomori to get he ferry over to Hokkaido (they docked at Hakodate) as, in those days, they did not have a tunnel or any kind of direct connection.  The trains, cars, and people all used the ferry (about a 4 hour ride across the strait).  We always thought of Hakodate as the place we got off the ferry to grab the train up to Sapporo.  There is actually a pretty decent National Park in the Aomori area (Lake Towada) where we used to do a lot of camping.  

 

Just an old thought, but in my day it took us about 12 hours on a very uncomfortable train to get from Northern Japan to Tokyo.  They had no high-speed trains and flying was not a good option.  I do think that one of the highlights of Japan is the winter ice festival in Sapporo, but this happens around February.  If you can imagine the Tournament of Roses Parade with the floats all being carved out of ice, you would be picturing what we would see at the ice festival.

 

Hank

I understand. We were hoping that these 2 north ports would give us a different view, get to know another part of Japan. But not so sure now 🤔 We are traveling with our 14y old son so we can only do a longer trip like this in summer holiday so not possible to see the snow/ice…. 
anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

Veronique 

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I would opt for the 2nd itinerary.  Why?  Aomori and Hakodate would be among my least favorite ports which probably goes back to when I lived up in Aomori Prefecture for 2 years.  Ironically, we are on a cruise this coming Spring that happens to go to those ports.

 

Hank

Thanks for your reply. Is the Aomori/Hakodate area greener/less industrial than the more southern part of Japan? So hard to decide…. 

Booking our first trip to Japan on the Celebrity Millennium. Trying to decide between these 2 itineraries. First picture is July 2, 2024, second one is July 26. Any advice on the difference in ports? Thanks! 

Following… we are booked on the april 2 sailing and did not find more info besides the united cruise message. Doesn’t look good but I don’t understand why they would cancel 3 months in advance?! A lot can change in 3 months…