Ports of call, Japan

[Summer Holliday]

Hi, new member here.

 

As Ive said elsewhere, we are due to visit Japan on Diamond Princess in April.  The ship tours seem very dull.

 

i wonder if anyone has experience of booking their own tours ahead of time, especially in Tokyo and Yokohama?  

 

Thank you. 

[sippican]

We have booked our April Japan tours through Triple Lights - which was recommended here on CC. 

https://triplelights.com/

It is a bit unique in that you browse the destinations and guides, then choose your own. Altough we have not yet been, the planning communoication has been exceptional, and the guides very responsive - willing to custom tailor our day.

[TGBarbie]

We were on the Celebrity Millennium in October and I booked thru Triple Lights as well. Be sure and read the reviews on guides before contacting them. I found I had to be persistent in getting all the details and costs for the tours, ie entrance fees, transportation and often the guides transportation to meet us. We often used public transportation which was fine if you had a guide that really knew their way around. I booked 6 ports thru TL and  all but one of our guides was great. I kept our group small 6-12 max and in one port our guide invited the 6 of us to his home for a very special lunch, one of the highlights of our trip. 

 

Whatever you do, you'll have a wonderful time. The country is the cleanest we've ever been in and the people are the countries greatest asset.

[Summer Holliday]

Thank you very much!

[KYteach]

On our 2018 cruise from Tokyo to Anchorage, we booked several excursions with Tours by Locals

. All were great.

[Summer Holliday]

Thank you...Tours with Locals sound good. Really helpful.

[Tara Jane]

Although I havent used this company as it is quite new I can highly recommend the owner.

Heather was the cruise port specialist on Diamond Princess when we cruised Japan on 2 cruises a few years ago.

We were disappointed to see she was not on our Japanese cruise last year but enjoyed chatting to her at Yokohama when boarding the ship.

https://*****.com/privateguide/

Heather knows all there is to know about Japan and is a beautiful person.   She is always eager to share her knowledge of Japan without any obligation.'

 

Edit - for some reason the website has been blocked whereas other tour companies like tours by locals and triple lights are permitted.  No idea why.

If you google cruise port navigation Japan hopefully you will find Heather Hopkins Clements and her cruise guide service.

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Tara Jane

[Tara Jane]

Ooops Clement not Clements

[waggie]

Tara Jane - thank you so much for the link - what an interesting site!!!!

I would welcome any ideas and advice on which ports are simple for independent travel and which need a guide.The cruise is port intensive, so we will want a few more local, easygoing days.

If you prefer to email me directly - waggie1951atgmaildotcom

I am sure the roll call will liven up soon. I am going to sign up for a Connections gathering now.

Waggie

[Tara Jane]

Hi Waggi I will email you now.

[Northern Aurora]

My husband and I spent five days post cruise last fall in Tokyo.  We also used Triple Lights.  We worked with the same guide to spend two of the five days touring the city.  We used Yuki and were extremely pleased with his specialized custom tour for the two of us.  

[jkgourmet]

On 1/10/2019 at 5:18 AM, waggie said:

Tara Jane - thank you so much for the link - what an interesting site!!!!

I would welcome any ideas and advice on which ports are simple for independent travel and which need a guide.The cruise is port intensive, so we will want a few more local, easygoing days.

If you prefer to email me directly - waggie1951atgmaildotcom

I am sure the roll call will liven up soon. I am going to sign up for a Connections gathering now.

Waggie

Tara Jane, we are looking for similar information and would appreciate your advice.   4872929 at gmail.com

We're on the April 13 Millennium departure, with a few days before the cruise in Tokyo.

 

PS  Your link to Heather looks funky, but it works.  👍

[Tara Jane]

will email you now, sorry been busy sending info to waggie.  will have a look at your itineray as it may be similar ports.

[waggie]

5 hours ago, Tara Jane said:

will email you now, sorry been busy sending info to waggie.  will have a look at your itineray as it may be similar ports.

And wonderful information it was!😁

Thank you so much Tara Jane

[tsutt35]

We did Tokyo to Vancouver last year and had several stops in Japan as well as South Korea. We did the majority of ports on our own and saw quite a lot. I blogged about the cruise if you are interested. The blogs show as the last one first (Alaska to Vancouver) so you would need to scroll down to see the ports in Japan. Our stops were Muroran, Hakodate, Osaka, Shimizu, Sakaiminato. Hope it is of some help. It was an awesome cruise by the way.

 

https://tanyastravelblog.wordpress.com/category/cruises/2018-golden-princess-muroran-hakodate-osaka-shimizu-sakaiminato-tokyo-hakone-busan-juneau-ketchikan-skagway-whittier-glacier-bay/