40th Birthday - Japan China bucket list help

[Stokeducky]

Hi everyone 😃

 

I wanted to ask for a little advice or stories from anyone who has done a Japan China (Taiwan) cruise on celebrity?

 

I have done a few cruises all with celebrity but my husband and I are both 40next year and our bucket list is Japan and Hong Kong .  

 

Has as anyone done an Asia cruise, any hints tips, did you enjoy it?

 

The ship is the Millennium- has anyone sailed on the Millennium?  I have only sailed in Solstice class ships so wondered if we’d be disappointed?  Open to any other advice regarding cruise lines but like that celebrity include drinks packages. 

 

many thanks in advance for your help - excited but not where to start!

 

 

Thanks from a very warm UK 🇬🇧  😊

[CJcruzer]

We were on Celebrity Millennium for Japan, Taiwan cruise in 2015, and really enjoyed it,  

 

Our friends who were on that sailing with us cruise Celebrity more than we do (we usually cruise HAL, but have been on Celebrity 3 times, once on Solstice class.

 

Our friends wanted  to return to Japan on a cruise and add more time on land pre-cruise.   (We had done 11 days land on our own before the cruise,) They were skeptical of Millennium as it has gotten some bum reviews.  They returned from their April sailing, and said the ship was really nice, it must have had a recent drydock, and decor was more open and fresh,

 

We have been back to Japan on cruise (2017), along with transpacific crossing on Holland America and are returning again to Japan, some new ports in 2020.

 

Hope this helps.

[smtcan]

We were on Millennium in March, just after the refit.  The ship was in excellent condition and we had a most enjoyable cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong.

 

In 2017 we did a Transpacific from Vancouver to Tokyo also on Millennium.  This included some ports in Japan and we stayed for almost two weeks post cruise, travelling to Kyoto, Nara, Hakone and Tokyo by train.  We found it surprisingly easy to travel independently in Japan, signage on trains and buses is in several languages including English.

 

 

[tdk1938]

I’ve sailed on Millennium this April a month after she came out of her Dry Dock.  I also sailed on Solstices class ship (Silhouette) in January 2018. Millennium is very nice and fresh but I can’t compare with Solstice class ship.  Millennium doesn’t have library and The Hideaway that we enjoyed on Silhouette.

 

I’ve visited few ports in Japan and 2 ports in South Korea.  I can be more helpful if I know the ports that you are visiting in Japan and time of the year that you plan to visit. I’m sure she will call Shimizu. On clear day you can see Mt Fuji from Shimizu port, but unfortunately, we couldn’t see it because of low cloud. I like to visit the castles while we’re in japan. We visited Himeji city and Himeji Castle when we’re at Kobe. We took the train from Kobe to Himeji. Osaka Castle and Kochi Castle are very nice also.

 

I’ve taken land vacation in Taipei, Taiwan.  Most cruise ships usually dock at Keelung City north of Taipei.  You can go to Taipei city or visit some interesting places near Keelung. Or you can visit Onsen (Hot spring) in Beitou.  Some facilities there allow bathing suit (not like in Japan) at their facilities.  So, you need to check it an advance if you want to visit Onsen.  I can help you more on Taipei/Taiwan if you're interested.

[Miaminice]

We have cruised Southeast Asia on Constellation, Japan on Millennium, Taiwan and China on Millennium, Japan on HAL Westerdam and we are booked on Millennium for Vietnam and Thailand plus Vietnam and Japan on Ovation... so you can tell we enjoy Asia.

 

Japan is our favorite and China (Beijing) was also very interesting. M class is the perfect size for these cruises and Millennium was just refurbished. 

 

You can read more about Japan in our travelogue... unfortunately I never found the time to write about the other cruises. https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

I did post daily recaps on the cruise with HAL, though:

 

 

[Stokeducky]

Wow thanks everyone for the very kind information xx apologise late reply.  I will use this weekend to digest the information so I’m sure I’ll be pestering you all again asking for help & advice 

 

many thanks again 

 

[DaBook]

On 7/24/2019 at 6:38 PM, tdk1938 said:

 

I’ve taken land vacation in Taipei, Taiwan.  Most cruise ships usually dock at Keelung City north of Taipei.  You can go to Taipei city or visit some interesting places near Keelung. .  I can help you more on Taipei/Taiwan if you're interested.

Yes Please - I wold love some advice... Going in May 2020 - One Day in port  7AM to 6 PM   - We are a group of 5 English-speaking adults – 60 to 86 years old and in good health.  you can email me at  2021trip at  google mail      THANK YOU!!

[hubofhockey]

I love Celebrity's M Class ships. They are small enough to be able to do much better itineraries than S Class ships and still have the best things about what makes Celebrity a great cruise line.