Japan Itinerary

[kinsetta]

We are looking to do a 15-18 day Japan cruise in spring 2021.  Some itineraries circumnavigate Japan and include the northern area.  Others only go south of Tokyo, although obviously able to stop in a greater variety of ports in that area.

 

What would be the advantages of one itinerary over the other?  If anyone has done both, which did you prefer?

 

We have been in Japan only briefly, once before, and liked it way better than we had anticipated.   This may be the only time we return to Japan, so want to make the most of it.

 

Thanks for all wisdom, experience and opinions offered

[hubofhockey]

I just looked at this.

 

You are going to pay a premium for doing a Japan itinerary in April because of Cherry Blossom season.

 

If you are going past mid month of April, the Tokyo South Tokyo itineraries will not allow for viewing of the wonderful viewing of the cherry blossoms.

 

I had booked two 2021 itineraries at the same.  (2) Azamara 15 Night Circle Japan April 26 to May 11 and (2) Oceania 10-day April 22 to May 2.

 

For the Oceania itinerary, the price was around $10,000 for a veranda cabin and Azamara, it was $13,000 for an Ocean view.  I had booked the Azamara cruise onboard an Azamara cruise this fall.  My plan was to only stick with Azamara IF the price came down.

 

So, last week, Azamara reduced its price by $2,000 and I started looking at the ports more closely.  I would miss cherry blossom season on the Oceania cruise, but Azamara goes north to Hakodate and Aomori, hitting them in peak season.  Azamara also has later time in ports.  Lastly, while both have overnights in Kobe (and Kyoto is the star port to us), Azamara's stop in Kobe is 8 am to 1:30 pm the next day and Oceania's is 12 pm one day to 6 pm the next day.  Chopping up two days makes it so that you can't do full days either day.  

 

Both cruise lines are comparable and the ships are nearly identical, with both being original Renaissance ships.  For work related reasons, we have to cruise later in April, but my choice was made easy.  I don't understand why Oceania does Tokyo south back to Tokyo then, but I'm very happy that Azamara reduced its price for the much better itinerary.

[bennybear]

We too fell in love withJapan.  We spent two weeks on our own and then did a circumnavigation in April. The cherry blossoms were stunning.  There has been a lot of recent discussion with photos so you may want to do  a search on this forum.

[Hlitner]

We are doing a Spring 2020 cruise that includes parts of both Northern and Southern Japan.  As to "advantages" it is entirely a personal preference issue.  I once lived in Northern Honshu (for 2 years) and enjoyed traveling throughout the country.  While the area from Tokyo south is certainly the most popular tourist area there are also many reasons to visit some ports (and regions) in Northern Honshu and Hokkaido.  

 

Just a personal piece of advice.  Both Tokyo and Kyoto have much to offer the visitor.   We would urge any cruiser to consider extending their trip to include a few nights (or more) in both of those places (they are connected by excellent trains).  One could easily spend a week (or more) in Kyoto and not have enough time to see even a small part of the various shrines and sites.  Our own plans include spending 4 nights in Tokyo and then training down to Kyoto for another 5 nights (I wish we had more time) before we use the trains to get ourselves up to the port at Yokohama to join our cruise.  The JR train system (the main railroad in Japan) offers various rail passes which can be helpful for doing an extended land trip.  

 

Hank

[ebslcc]

On 12/19/2019 at 11:28 AM, hubofhockey said:

I just looked at this.

 

You are going to pay a premium for doing a Japan itinerary in April because of Cherry Blossom season.

 

If you are going past mid month of April, the Tokyo South Tokyo itineraries will not allow for viewing of the wonderful viewing of the cherry blossoms.

 

I had booked two 2021 itineraries at the same.  (2) Azamara 15 Night Circle Japan April 26 to May 11 and (2) Oceania 10-day April 22 to May 2.

...

Good plan to do a cruise which covers both South and North to catch Cherry Blossom season!!!  

From "Live Japan" the current Cherry Blossom forecast for 2020:

"In the colder areas of Northern Japan, cherry blossom season typically occurs later than the rest of the country. Sakura in Aomori in the Tohoku Region are forecast to open on April 23.

The last cherry blossoms in Japan 2020 to open are expected to be in Hokkaido: Hakodate around April 30, Sapporo around May 6.

As a result, if you find yourself looking at the 2020 Japan cherry blossom forecast and are getting anxious, don't. The blooming beauties will wait for you just a little further north."

 

On 12/21/2019 at 5:04 AM, Hlitner said:

We are doing a Spring 2020 cruise that includes parts of both Northern and Southern Japan.  As to "advantages" it is entirely a personal preference issue.  I once lived in Northern Honshu (for 2 years) and enjoyed traveling throughout the country.  While the area from Tokyo south is certainly the most popular tourist area there are also many reasons to visit some ports (and regions) in Northern Honshu and Hokkaido.  

 

Just a personal piece of advice.  Both Tokyo and Kyoto have much to offer the visitor.   We would urge any cruiser to consider extending their trip to include a few nights (or more) in both of those places (they are connected by excellent trains).  One could easily spend a week (or more) in Kyoto and not have enough time to see even a small part of the various shrines and sites.  Our own plans include spending 4 nights in Tokyo and then training down to Kyoto for another 5 nights (I wish we had more time) before we use the trains to get ourselves up to the port at Yokohama to join our cruise.  The JR train system (the main railroad in Japan) offers various rail passes which can be helpful for doing an extended land trip.  

 

Hank

Excellent suggestion if time allows!!!  We stayed 3 nights in Tokyo pre-cruise and a pretty long day in Kyoto during our cruise.  We were barely scratching the surface what interests us to spend time on.  Another 4-5 nights for each of these cities would be very nice, traveling to more of the smaller cities would also be nice - especially during Cherry Blossom time!!!

 

Laurence

[bennybear]

Kyoto is magical and worth several days.  But we also loved many of the smaller places such as Hiroshima,  Himeji and Kinosaki Onsen.   It is great to get a little off the well trodden path.  Tokyo although a must can be a little overwhelming

[BruceMuzz]

Taking a “Big Picture” view of Japan.

In total it is about the same size as California, but with a population about 50% of the USA.

Climate zones range from mid-Alaska style in Hokkaido to Hawaii style in Okinawa.

For a small country with a very strong culture and language, that culture and language have amazing variations going from North to South.

The country has really advanced accessibility with incredible infrastructure, but at the same time foreigners often have difficulties getting through the culture and language in order to use that accessibility. Cruising Japan is one way to restore some of that access.

Bear in mind that nature has great importance in Japanese culture. While much of the “fun stuff” for foreign tourists is located in the Kanto and Kansai areas, the real Japan for those of us who live here is up North and down South.

After making the long trip to get to Japan - and especially if you may not ever return - it would be a shame to miss the most Japanese parts of Japan. Try to see the entire country if possible.

[bennybear]

Excellent advice Bruce!  We agree you have to get out from the major cities.  And even though we speak no Japanese we had no trouble using trains and public transit.  Many speak English and are more than willing to help.