1st time cruising in Japan-many questions! :)

[travellovers2]

Hello, we finally booked our first cruise in Asia on the Celebrity Millennium and are very excited with all the planning. Our cruise goes to ports in Japan/S.Korea. The cruise departs and returns to Yokohama, staying overnight in port on the return. We thought it would be best to fly in/out of Haneda. Is this the best option instead of Narita?

 

We arrive in Haneda on a Friday afternoon and the cruise leaves on Sunday so we thought about staying in Yokohama and taking a train to Tokyo to spend the entire day there on Saturday. Is this the best idea instead of staying in Tokyo?  What would be the best area to stay in Yokohama to have access to fast trains to Tokyo?

 

We will need to fly back on the last day of the cruise. How long is the drive from the Yokohama port to Haneda airport? We will need to be at the airport by 8:00am. Does anyone know if Celebrity offers transfers to Haneda airport post cruise? 

 

Thank you! Sharing your experiences will be of great help! 

[BruceMuzz]

You didn't tell us what time of year you are cruising Japan, but I can still give you answers to the questions above.

Yes, Haneda is a much better option than Narita. Both are great airports, but Narita is about one hour further away from Yokohama.

Staying in Yokohama or Tokyo is a toss-up. Both are easy with many great hotels. Since you are planning to spend only one day in Tokyo, perhaps staying in Yokohama will be easier.

There is a very nice monorail from Haneda to Hamamatsucho in Tokyo. Fast and inexpensive.

A shuttle bus from Haneda to a Yokohama Hotel is very easy and inexpensive.

There are many good hotels in the area of the Osanbashi Cruise Terminal.

Taking a train from Yokohama to Tokyo is also easy; about one hour in most cases. You can also catch the Minatomirai subway line Express Train that will get you from the Osanbashi Cruise Terminal neighborhood to Shibuya in 29 minutes or Shinjuku in 35 minutes.

From the Osanbashi Cruise Terminal - and many Yokohama Hotels - there are shuttles that will get you to Haneda in less than one hour. If you must be at Haneda by 08:00 on the final day of your cruise, you may have a very tight connection. There could be weather delays or Japanese Immigration / Customs might slow your exit from the ship.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I have cruised in and out of Japan twice in the last few years, most recently this past September. The information Bruce gave you is excellent but I highly suggest that first you call your Travel Agent or Celebrity and let them know you flight time and they can advise if this will work and if they offer Transfers. Just from my experience unless your ship is overnighting the night before you disembark in Yokohama there is no way you can get to the airport by 8. Fortunately Hanada is very close to Yokohama but while it is close traffic is always a huge concern as well as weather. Both times we disembarked  in Yokohama it was pouring rain, traffic was a nightmare the ship was not even cleared by 8 am let alone passengers getting off. I am not sure how far away your cruise is but I would definitely look at taking a much later flight. I found most flights out of Japan to the US left in the late afternoon.

[travellovers2]

Thank you for your responses. I appreciate it very much.

 

Our cruise is in April 2021. The itinerary says that it will stay in Yokohama overnight from Saturday to Sunday. So we are planning to book a flight back to the US on Sunday. I thought we could take a flight back in the morning, like we do in Europe, but I guess not. I just checked and all flights are in the afternoon. so we don't need to stress about the time we get off the ship on Sunday. Thank you for letting me know about the flights being in the afternoon.

 

Is the shuttle bus from Haneda to a Yokohama hotel something provided by the hotels or by the aiport? We would prefer to stay in Yokohama and not have to drags our suitcases to Tokyo and back to the cruise terminal in Yokohama. 

 

 

[Lou33]

The shuttle bus that we used is called the Limousine Bus.  We used it to go from Narita airport to Yokohama and it was definitely the way to go.  We bought tickets at the airport and it has express service to select hotels in Yokohama.    Usually the larger hotels.  Then you can take a short taxi ride from there.  It was very reasonably priced.  I believe that is the preferred transportation that most people use.  

 

We stayed in a nice boutique hotel in Yokohama called MyStays Yokohama Kannai.  It was a 3 minute walk to a major train station and a 3 minute taxi ride to the port.  They have great breakfast available and it may be included in the price.  It is very clean and the beds are comfortable.  The only downside is the rooms are very very small, the smallest we have ever seen.  But it was reasonably priced and perfect for what we were looking for.

 

There is actually a lot to do in Yokohama and walking distance from that hotel.  You can even walk to the port, just not with luggage.  

Edited December 6, 2019 by Lou33

[Miaminice]

You might find additional information in our travelogues about our two Japan cruises.

We loved both and already have a third booked 🙂

Japan on Millennium 

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

Japan on HAL Westerdam

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html
 

 

[tdk1938]

We cruise with X Millennium on April 2019 and we had very similar itinerary that you have.  If you have any questions about the ports, I can share my experience and tips.  We used Airport Limo to go to our hotel by Shin Yokohama Station from Haneda Airport.  The shuttle bus is private company and it cost less than $10 depends on your destination in Yokohama.  http://hnd-bus.com/airport/

We decided to stay near Shin Yokohama station because we stayed for 3 nights before cruise and wanted easy access to the station to visit the places the we wanted to go.

We booked our next cruise with Princess Cruises for this March and booked the hotel near the pier called Hotel Monterey Yokohama.  They have opened a new cruise terminal called Shinko pier and I’m not sure which pier we’ll be sailing from.

[travellovers2]

Thank you very much for sharing your links. I would definitely love to hear your recommendations about the ports. We like to do ship tours for the safety of having the ship wait for us, in case things happen. 

 

Do you have the link for airport limo?

 

Which ports can you do on your own? We also thought about going to Kyoto and staying overnight. Has anyone done this? 

 

Depart Tokyo Yokohama - Mt Fuji Shimizu - Osaka-overnight/Kyoto– Kochi  – Hiroshima – Beppu  – Busan  – Hakodate -  Aomori - Yokohama-overnight

Edited December 8, 2019 by travellovers2

[tdk1938]

This is the link for airport limo.      http://hnd-bus.com/airport/

 

We used ship tours in Shimizu (Mt Fuji and Lake Ashi), Kobe to visit (Kyoto) Fushimi Inari, two ports in South Korea and Aomori. Our ship docked at Kobe overnight instead of Osaka, we went to Jeju Island (S Korea) instead of Beppu. The rest of the ports are the same.  

 

We went to Himeji and visited Himeji Castle from Kobe first day on our own.  You could visit Nara or Osaka Castle and visit Dotombori in the evening for street food snacks/dinner if you want to do it your own on the first day.  If you want to visit Kyoto, go with ship tour to Kyoto on the second day. There were some discussions among our CC group members about staying overnight in Kyoto.  If you decide to stay overnight, book the hotel early because it’s during cherry blossom season and they will sell out fast.

 

Kochi port is an industrial port and they had shuttle bus took us to downtown area. We went to Kochi Castle on our own from the bus station and it’s easy pleasant 30 minutes’ walk from the bus stop.  On our way back, we stopped by at Hirome Market for lunch.  Their famous local cuisine called Tataki (flame broiled skip jack tuna) was delicious.

In Hiroshima we went to Itsukushima (Miyajima) island and took lots of pictures of the famous floating Torii gate.  Enjoy the street food there, can’t miss grilled oyster there. Then came back to Hiroshima station and took a bus to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

 

We had to go through their Immigration in Busan and Hakodate.  In Hakodate, there are shuttle buses from the port to Hakodate Station.  We walked to famous Hakodate morning market from the station for second breakfast and then walked to Gorokaku Tower. 

 

In Aomori we visited Hirosaki Castle with the ship tour. Cherry blossoms are full bloom when we’re there. They’re having Sakura Festival when we’re there and that was the high light of my trip.

[travellers42]

We have also been looking at a tour for our day in Tokyo. We did find one private one that looked good.

apparently the cruise doesn’t have a transfer to Haneda airport but we thought of arranging a taxi.

Maybe we  could do some of this togeather. The tour in Tokyo isa full day tour.

[travellovers2]

The limousine doesn't run often, so we would have to figure out what would be the best time after our arrival. We cannot book our flight yet, so we will decide as we get closer if to wait for the limousine or take a taxi. We're considering the Yokohama Sheraton Bay hotel since it's part of Marriott. It's right at the train station which will make it easy to take the train to Tokyo on Saturday. 

 

Thank you!

[travellers42]

Are you on the cruise Sept 11 Van- Tokyo? if so we have one full day before disembarking the ship. On this day we have a full day tour on the books.

We take a transfer to the Haneda airport the following morning

Interested ?

[travellovers2]

20 hours ago, travellers42 said:

Are you on the cruise Sept 11 Van- Tokyo? if so we have one full day before disembarking the ship. On this day we have a full day tour on the books.

We take a transfer to the Haneda airport the following morning

Interested ?

We're on the April 11 cruise.  We plan to visit Tokyo the two days before the cruise. We're considering leaving the ship the day it arrives and stay in a hotel in Yokohama so we can go to Osaka and Himeji Castle for the day then take a taxi to the airport the next day. This way we don't have to go back to the ship that night. Thank you for asking. :)

[Lou33]

On 12/7/2019 at 4:15 PM, travellovers2 said:

 

Which ports can you do on your own? We also thought about going to Kyoto and staying overnight. Has anyone done this? 

 

Depart Tokyo Yokohama - Mt Fuji Shimizu - Osaka-overnight/Kyoto– Kochi  – Hiroshima – Beppu  – Busan  – Hakodate -  Aomori - Yokohama-overnight

 

In Yokohama there is a lot to see and do right near the port.  In Hakodate we joined a free tour with the Goodwill Guides.  It was one of the highlights of our cruise, and it was free.  A local guide gives a very small group his perspective of the city. I involves a lot of walking and use of public transportation with the help of the guide.  You must use local currency.  We went to the fish market, tower, museum of northern people, an old fort, and his favorite lunch spot.  Did I mention that it is free!?  You do pay a few Yen here or there for expenses, but the guide is free.  They are happy to help show you their city.

https://hakodategoodwill.wixsite.com/hakodatesgg

[travellovers2]

How much did you take in Yens for the two weeks? Considering that we'll be on the cruise the majority of the time except we will stay at a hotel in Yokohama for the first two nights and maybe the last night. 

 

Are we able to disembark the day it arrives in Yokohama even tnought it's staying overnight? Has anyone done this?

[Miaminice]

On 12/8/2019 at 1:15 AM, travellovers2 said:

Which ports can you do on your own? We also thought about going to Kyoto and staying overnight. Has anyone done this? 

 

Depart Tokyo Yokohama - Mt Fuji Shimizu - Osaka-overnight/Kyoto– Kochi  – Hiroshima – Beppu  – Busan  – Hakodate -  Aomori - Yokohama-overnight

 

You can do all the ports on your own. And as someone who really dislikes the ship tours in big groups, I would strongly recommend doing them on your own with local guides. As you were able to see in our travelogues (links in previous post) we did all our tours with TripleLights.com or ToursbyLocals.com.

 

Tours by Locals offer a return to ship guarantee if that is important to you.

 

As to your question about Japanese Yen... In Japan you´ll find a 7eleven store at almost every corner. All of them offer safe international ATMs. Get Yen as you go. We have a credit card which does not charge any foreign currency fees and also refunds all ATM fees. Even if you have to pay the ATM fees, don´t worry about them. The 7eleven ATM fee is 108 JPY (apx. $1 US).

 

And yes, of course you are able to leave the ship on your overnight!

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Miaminice

[emmak8]

Travellovers2 : I am considering booking a van-tokyo cruise aug/sept 2021.  The more research I do, It is typhoon season. I love the itinerary and it's on Royal Princess. And It's the only time of the year for this cruise . Have you any encouraging thoughts being you've chosen to go in sept?

[hubofhockey]

On 12/7/2019 at 7:15 PM, travellovers2 said:

Which ports can you do on your own? We also thought about going to Kyoto and staying overnight. Has anyone done this? 

 

 

I started a thread on this and we will be staying overnight in Kyoto (specifically in Gion) because it's the best way to enjoy nightlife in the city.  We plan on going out to dinner and seeing a Maiko show that would end around 10 pm.  Our ship departs the next day at 1:30 pm from Kobe, so we'll have to figure out day 2 and do something first thing in the morning before taking a late morning train back.  

[travellovers2]

On 12/26/2019 at 5:57 AM, emmak8 said:

Travellovers2 : I am considering booking a van-tokyo cruise aug/sept 2021.  The more research I do, It is typhoon season. I love the itinerary and it's on Royal Princess. And It's the only time of the year for this cruise . Have you any encouraging thoughts being you've chosen to go in sept?

 

We are cruising on Celebrity in April 2021.

 

A few years ago, we were booked to go on a 14 days cruise around Japan in October and ended up canceling the night before our flight to Dallas-Tokyo because the cruise line let us know that there were 2 typhoons headed to Tokyo.  So we decided to try April this time.

[emmak8]

Well that definitely changes my aug/sept plans!!  I'll put this on hold until another time. I don't want to tangle with NATURE because NATURE always wins!!!

Thanks for posting.

[dougo in oz]

I'm researching things to do at various ports in Japan  (May 2020 - 5th - 10th) ... our ports are Osaka, Shimizu, Yokohama, Hakodate and Kushiro).

There's some great information on this thread - thanks very much to all the contributors - it's very helpful.

I'm aware there is a special week - "Golden Week" during our ports of call.  Do you think this will have a huge impact on getting around / public transport ?

Thank you

[Martin and Lindsey]

On 12/7/2019 at 1:23 PM, Miaminice said:

You might find additional information in our travelogues about our two Japan cruises.

We loved both and already have a third booked 🙂

Japan on Millennium 

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html

 

Japan on HAL Westerdam

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/Celebrity-Millennium-Japan/celebrity-millennium-japan.html
 

 

I have enjoyed reading from your first link about your trip on the Celebrity Millenium, but unfortunately the second link is the same as the first, so I am unable to read about your Japanese trip on the HAL Westerdam.  I am hoping that you will be able to share the correct link with me. 😊

[Miaminice]

Just now, Martin and Lindsey said:

I have enjoyed reading from your first link about your trip on the Celebrity Millenium, but unfortunately the second link is the same as the first, so I am unable to read about your Japanese trip on the HAL Westerdam.  I am hoping that you will be able to share the correct link with me. 😊

sorry about that! Here’s the correct link:

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html

 

[Martin and Lindsey]

2 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

sorry about that! Here’s the correct link:

https://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/hal-westerdam-japan-01.html

 

That was quick!  Fantastic!  thank you 😀

[Martin and Lindsey]

That is going to be very helpful, because your trip was in cherry blossom season, which is when we are going.