Everything "Far Eastern Horizons": Hong Kong to Tokyo

[Peregrina651]

6 hours ago, ColW55 said:

Omamori - you are definitely going to visit lots of temples during your time in Japan. Make sure you do some research and know about Omamori.  

https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2015/05/japanese-lucky-charms-the-guide-to-omamori/ 

 

Colin, thank you! I'm adding this link to my list. You are right; this is just the kind of small souvenir that I am always looking for.

 

Keep the little tidbits coming. They are great. Thank you.

[Pushka]

By some Covid quirk our booking was never cancelled last April. And we have now received advice that Viking has cancelled it. We will receive the 125 voucher or full refund. Sad times for all cruise lovers. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by Pushka

[ColW55]

Osaka – It was Golden Week when we were in Japan and also the time for the inauguration of Japan’s new Emperor. We didn’t do any of the Kyoto optional tours and started with the included tour. A lot of this tour involved looking at distant buildings from the moving bus but the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine was a great stop. It is the most important Shinto shrine in Osaka and many locals were out celebrating the crowning of the new Japanese Emperor. There are many shrines in the temple but one appeared much more important with a long queue waiting to pay respects and pray. We also did the Osaka Highlights tour to see the historic Osaka Castle (well the foundations and moat defences were historic but the Castle was rebuilt in the 50s using concrete and steel) and the Umeda Sky Building. The mid-air escalator between the two towers on level 35 and 39 was pretty spectacular and it was a fun stop but would I recommend it? Probably not, and if you have the chance do one of the Kyoto excursions. The Orion docked next to the Osaka Aquarium and amusement park and we were treated to a spectacular light show on the big Ferris Wheel as we pulled out of port. If you have time take a ride on the ferris wheel before you leave port.

[Pushka]

13 hours ago, ColW55 said:

Sadly the cruise has been cancelled so this info will likely be archived and lost. Maybe start a TR?

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Pushka

[Peregrina651]

Only one sailing of this itinerary has been cancelled as of today: April, 14, 2021. There are still six sailings over the next few years that are still on the schedule, including three of them this coming fall. This is still a viable source of information for future cruisers -- and a much better source of information because it pools not only the interest of those with upcoming bookings but also the expertise of those like ColW55 and LunaSeaRetreat who have done the itinerary before and who are willingly sharing what they have learned when they did this itinerary.

 

This is not a roll call so it should not grind to halt as soon as one sailing is cancelled  -- just as long as people continue to take an interest and continue to post new comments and information.

 

So, keep on posting! Keep on following the topic! Keep on sharing what you know and what you are learning as you prepare for your trip!

[ColW55]

We found out after leaving Hiroshima that a few passengers purchased a second hand kimono during their 'shopping time' in Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Japanese don't normally buy second hand clothes and the kimonos were very beautiful and cheap compared to the price of a new t-shirt. If you would like to buy a Japanese kimono make sure you ask your guide if they know of any 'used clothing' stores near where you will be shopping. 

[ColW55]

I forgot that I could add photos when I made my post about Nagasaki. The ship docked directly below Glover Gardens and it was a 200m walk to the tram stop. Transport is very simple and you really can't get lost as most locals are very keen to help as soon as you look at a map on your phone.

[Peregrina651]

Colin, if we could award stars to posts, yours are 5 star. Thank you!

[ColW55]

I think I will have to go back and spend a few nights in Nagasaki when life returns to normal. It was a beautiful city and very easy to explore. I have attached some photos of Glover Sky Road as we had no idea what it was and just guessed that it would be a way to the top of the hill. We were quite surprised to discover is an elevator, with white gloved attendant, that takes you from the bottom to the top of the hill. And it is free!! The Glover Gardens are very beautiful and you can take an English language guide when you pay your entrance fee. Definitely do this on your own rather than as a Viking excursion but make sure you catch a tram to the Glover Sky Road and take the elevator to the top of the hill. You pay the same entrance fee at the top as you do at the lower entrance and it is much easier to walk down through the gardens.

Forgot to add that there are nice toilets at the bottom on the Glover Sky Road elevator.

Edited December 10, 2020 by ColW55

[tenby50]

Hi, Loretta and Philip from Coolum Beach Sunshine Coast QLD Australia. We have booked this cruise for 18 April 2022 so hopefully we will get to cruise again. We had booked Mumbai to London last year but obviously it was cancelled.

We have been to Hong Kong a few times but never to Japan so very much looking forward to it. Have cruised with Viking before and they are fantastic.

Look forward to hearing from others prior to departure.

PEREGRINA651, you are doing a fantastic job gathering all this info and starting the roll call.

 

cheers Loretta and Philip

[Peregrina651]

Many thanks. I hope I got the thread off to a good start and I hope that those booked for the cruise will continue to share information and keep this thread growing and growing.

 

Sadly, our April, 2021 sailing was cancelled and we are unable to sail on any of the other dates currently available. I am so disappointed because I was so looking forward to seeing Japan. Maybe, eventually, we will find a date that works for us.

[MarkTapley]

17 hours ago, tenby50 said:

Hi, Loretta and Philip from Coolum Beach Sunshine Coast QLD Australia. We have booked this cruise for 18 April 2022 so hopefully we will get to cruise again. We had booked Mumbai to London last year but obviously it was cancelled.

We have been to Hong Kong a few times but never to Japan so very much looking forward to it. Have cruised with Viking before and they are fantastic.

Look forward to hearing from others prior to departure.

PEREGRINA651, you are doing a fantastic job gathering all this info and starting the roll call.

 

cheers Loretta and Philip

Hi Loretta and Philip,

 

Glad you will be on the 18 April 2022 cruise too!

 

Here is a link to the roll call thread for this cruise:

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Jerry

 

[bluegum]

Hi we are Denise and Anthony from Melbourne, Australia

We were originally due to sail on this cruise and the north west passage cruise to Vancouver tomorrow (14 April 2021). We realised mid way through last year that the cruise might be cancelled, so we rebooked for 18 aprill 2022  and were able to have the stateroom of our choice.

We are really looking forward to finally being able to sail on viking, not only from Honk Kong to Tokyo, but also on to Vancouver.

Cheers

Denise

[MarkTapley]

Hi Denise and Anthony,

 

Glad to meet others on these two cruises.  Please also stop by the two Roll Call threads on the Viking Orion page.  Not much activity yet, but hopefully it will pick up as we’re within a year of sailing.  Links to the roll calls below.

 

Jerry

 

 

[Peregrina651]

I don't even remember starting this thread in 2020 but now that I am booked for 2025🤞, I think maybe it is time to bring this informational thread back up to the top. Some of the information is stale after all these years, so maybe folks who have sailed post-pandemic will share their experiences, tell us about the tours they took, guides they used, sights they enjoyed or didn't enjoy, share travel hints with us, etc. etc.

 

This is not a roll for any sailing; for those you should go to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/768-viking-ocean-roll-calls/, and find your ship in the list and then look for your sail date.

 

While you are looking for your roll remember that Far Eastern Horizons is just one segment of the Aukland to Vancouver/Vancouver-Aukland repositioning cruise. You may find other roll calls that cover the time you will be on the ship and you should "follow" those as well, since you never know where you will find helpful information about your cruise, tour shares for your time on the ship and folks who will be sailing with you.

 

When I started this thread fours years ago, with plans to sail in 2021, I seeded the conversation with the following questions. I hope those of you who have sailed in 2023 will help answer questions for us.

 

1. •  Does anyone have the Dailies from their cruise that they are willing to share?
2. •  Does anyone have the tour prices. We know that prices will change by the time get there, but knowing the old prices helps with sticker shock.
3. •  Where did they park the ship in each port. This will change from sailing to sailing but it is nice to know what the possibilities are? Was it convenient?
4. •  Was there a shuttle available? Where did it take you?
5. •  Which Viking tours did you take? What was the highlight of the tour? Where you happy with your choice or in hindsight should you have made a different choice? 
6. •  Is there anything in the port that you regret not having done or would have done instead of what you did do?
7. •  What is the best piece of advice you have to share with us?

[CCWineLover]

10 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

I don't even remember starting this thread in 2020 but now that I am booked for 2025🤞, I think maybe it is time to bring this informational thread back up to the top. Some of the information is stale after all these years, so maybe folks who have sailed post-pandemic will share their experiences, tell us about the tours they took, guides they used, sights they enjoyed or didn't enjoy, share travel hints with us, etc. etc.

 

This is not a roll for any sailing; for those you should go to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/768-viking-ocean-roll-calls/, and find your ship in the list and then look for your sail date.

 

While you are looking for your roll remember that Far Eastern Horizons is just one segment of the Aukland to Vancouver/Vancouver-Aukland repositioning cruise. You may find other roll calls that cover the time you will be on the ship and you should "follow" those as well, since you never know where you will find helpful information about your cruise, tour shares for your time on the ship and folks who will be sailing with you.

 

When I started this thread fours years ago, with plans to sail in 2021, I seeded the conversation with the following questions. I hope those of you who have sailed in 2023 will help answer questions for us.

 

1. •  Does anyone have the Dailies from their cruise that they are willing to share?
2. •  Does anyone have the tour prices. We know that prices will change by the time get there, but knowing the old prices helps with sticker shock.
3. •  Where did they park the ship in each port. This will change from sailing to sailing but it is nice to know what the possibilities are? Was it convenient?
4. •  Was there a shuttle available? Where did it take you?
5. •  Which Viking tours did you take? What was the highlight of the tour? Where you happy with your choice or in hindsight should you have made a different choice? 
6. •  Is there anything in the port that you regret not having done or would have done instead of what you did do?
7. •  What is the best piece of advice you have to share with us?

Thanks for resurrecting this @Peregrina651 

We are booked on the October 2025 cruise, as our friends just completed this in Oct 2023 and had a fabulous time!

 

I'd add to the question list:

-Did anyone come to Tokyo early?  How many days? On your own?  Private Tours?  Where did you stay?

-Anyone stay late in Hong Kong?  same questions - days, DIY, Tours, Hotels ??

-Anyone do any private tours?  Have read that with just a DV, many excursions are sold out from Viking.

 

Thanks!

[Peregrina651]

I would like to think that the sell-out problem was the same problem that other cruises faced post pandemic of not enough guides and drivers back on the job.  Japan was among the last to open after the pandemic. Hopefully, this is less of a problem in 2024 and will be back to normal by 2025.

 

And hopefully we will hear from 2024 cruisers what they faced.

Edited March 16 by Peregrina651

[CCWineLover]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

I would like to think that the sell-out problem was the same problem that other cruises faced post pandemic of not enough guides and drivers back on the job.  Japan was among the last to open after the pandemic. Hopefully, this is less of a problem in 2024 and will be back to normal by 2025.

 

And hopefully we will hear from 2024 cruisers what they faced.

Let's hope so!  🙂

 

[OneSixtyToOne]

Here is a relevant posting in another thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/?do=findComment&comment=67098523

 

[Peregrina651]

17 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Here is a relevant posting in another thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/?do=findComment&comment=67098523

 

 

With permission of the author, @Clay Clayton, here is one of the posts (#2382):

 

I highly recommend trying to arrange “goodwill” guides in the Japanese ports. These are guides who in exchange for practicing their English tour you for free. You are expected to pay for their meal if you share one and for any admissions to museums or the like. When we did it in the before times, the maximum group size was 6.  We had a great guide in Tokyo and at the end of the day, it cost us each $8 but the best part was having someone with whom we had a real conversation about their life.  While the two of us were in Kyoto, we booked one for our day trip to Hiroshima. The cost there was higher as we didn’t have anyone to split it with and we requested to go to a specific restaurant.  Still was such a great day. Here is a link to where we requested ours:

https://www.japan.travel/en/plan/list-of-volunteer-guides/

[Cattom]

On 12/1/2020 at 8:24 PM, Peregrina651 said:

I wanted to learn more about Japan.

 

I'm enjoying this one because it isn't just a bunch of names and dates. It covers some history (enough to give an overview of the political development) but it also covers religion, language, literature, theater, art, etc. I'm only halfway through but wanted share my discovery.

Thanks as I like to read or watch about where we're traveling also.  I don't have Audible as we have such a great library system and can access every University library in our state (Colorado).  I was able to order it (audio) for free-just in case others might not have Audible.  

[Peregrina651]

Nice to know that it is no longer an Audible exclusive and thus available from other sources.   Libraries may also have the video versions available (not on Libby but from from another service whose name I can't remember).

[Peregrina651]

On 3/16/2024 at 5:21 PM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Here is a relevant posting in another thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/?do=findComment&comment=67098523

 

 

This is the second relevant post, written by @Lilyskittymom. I've edited to highlight the ports and "tour names". The author has promised to hang around to answer questions:

 

A little back story on our cruise.  We were originally booked for Hong Kong to Vancouver but had to shorten it to Tokyo when my husband started having medical problems and couldn't be gone that long.  We had quite a bit of money to spend on a cabin upgrade and excursions.

 

Since we could book our excursions earlier with the upgrade, we had no problem getting what we wanted and there was no need to look for outside tours.  But there were local guides meeting people who booked private tours at every port.  Clay's suggestion of goodwill guides is something we would have done if it had been necessary.

 

We did a combination of included and paid excursions and generally liked everything, with the exception of the included tour in Kagoshima, the "Kagoshima Scenic Ride".  It was a rainy day so the stop at the scenic overlook was soggy and the trip to the local museum was ok, but literally something you could find in any city, anywhere in the world.  A private tour would have been a better choice.

 

I'm not going to get into a lot of detail on the excursions because the descriptions were accurate.  Here's what we did.  Hong Kong - we flew into HK a day early, took the ferry across the harbor, and the tram to Victoria Peak, on our own. We enjoyed the views and the walk down one of the hiking trails.  The next day we took the Hong Kong Walking Tour, which was a nice representation of the city.  Afterwards, we wandered the area near the port, which is home to the largest shopping mall in HK.

 

In Taipei, we did the "Highlights of Taipei".  Since we didn't have a lot of time in port, this was a good tour for us. 

 

In Nagasaki we went on the "Atomic Bomb Museum and Park".  The museums in Nagasaki and Hiroshima are very different, and I'd recommend going to both of them if that's where your interest lies.  It was a very good tour.  The Glover Gardens are a short uphill walk from the ship and was definitely worth the visit.  In addition to the main house, and the gardens, there was a museum that had costumes and floats used for local festivals - very interesting.

 

In Beppu, we did the Steaming Sites of Beppu, which was very interesting.  If you'd like to go to an onsen, look for one close to the port - they're everywhere.  The Viking onsen tour is robbery. I wanted to go to an onsen, but would have had to go to one a bit further away because I have large visible tattoos.  Yes, there are tattoo friendly onsens in Beppu especially.  A Google search will find them.  Instead, we took the Viking shuttle bus (most ports had one) to the area near the train station.  From there, we wandered through shopping areas and stopped at some small neighborhood shrines and temples (Google maps is your friend).

 

"Ultimate Hiroshima" was wonderful, with its visit to their Atomic Bomb Museum and Park, and the trip to Miyajima Island.  The island was really worth going to - very quaint and lovely.  Again, the Atomic Bomb Museum is very different from Nagasaki's.  We were in port until noon the next day and went on a walk along the water the morning we left.

 

In Osaka, we were on "Sights of Kyoto", another wonderful all day tour.  Food on the all day tours was always very good and at local Japanese restaurants.  

 

Shimizu took us to "Highlights of Mt Fuji", another all day tour that took us to the 5th station of Mt Fuji, the furthest you can go by vehicle up the mountain.  Fuji-san wasn't visible when we pulled into port the evening prior, but we were treated to unobstructed views of the mountain the next day - a rare occurrence in April.

 

Tokyo had us docked at the port of Yokohama, and while the port area is very nice, it was a 1+ hour drive to Tokyo, so the "Tokyo Panorama tour" wasn't as good as it could have been because we spent 2.5 hours driving.  We did go back for "An Evening in Tokyo," which was very nice.  The views from the Skytree and the way the streets are lit up at night was amazing.  Viking guides were available to help people navigate the subway system, for anyone who wanted to head out on their own.  Hopefully you'll be docked in Tokyo itself, which would put you so much closer to the city.

 

Overall, this was a wonderful cruise and makes me want to go back to Japan.  We were warmly welcomed, and sent off, from the all the ports.  The port areas themselves are surrounded by parks and are well taken care of.  International ATMs can be found at 7-11 and Lawson. Perfectly safe; I got Yen there a couple of times. And the stores are everywhere especially near the ports.  If you don't know about the wonders of 7-11, Lawson and Family Mart, look it up before you go.  They're not the sad version of 7-11 we have in the US.  

 

 

Edited March 18 by Peregrina651

[SuperAmma]

I'm glad I found this thread.  My husband and I are booked on the Southeast Asian Horizons cruise 18/Apr/2025 - 16/May 2025. I was on the fence about going, but I'm more enthusiastic after reading this information.

Hopefully people will continue to add helpful information.

Thank you for the suggestions.

[Peregrina651]

Hope you will join the Far Eastern Horizons roll call for those dates. There are only a couple of us and we surely would enjoy the company.

  May 2, 2025 -- Far Eastern Horizons -- HK to Tokyo