How far ahead can you book a cruise? (Japan/Asia)

[zitsky]

My husband was interested in a Japan cruise (probably Aqua class or Sky Suite).  Boy do those fill up quickly!  (Probably because it's close to cherry blossom time, Mar/Apr.)  Hardly any rooms left on a '23 cruise.  When would *2024* cruises be available for booking?

 

I'll try to interest him in a Thailand/Vietnam cruise instead.

[Ken the cruiser]

We’ve always found X puts new itineraries out around the Nov/Dec time frame. 

[cruisestitch]

There was a lot of pent-up demand after two years of cancellations.

[zitsky]

12 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

There was a lot of pent-up demand after two years of cancellations.

 

Yes true, but in Europe and other parts of Asia there is still availability. Japan not so much.

[cruisemom42]

The Japan cherry-blossom cruises tend to be very popular. The season is brief!

[cruisestitch]

24 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Yes true, but in Europe and other parts of Asia there is still availability. Japan not so much.

 

There are dozens of cruises in Europe and quite a few in Asia. Only one or two in Japan every season.There are dozens of cruises in Europe and quite a few in Asia. Only one or two in Japan every season.

[hawkesbaynz]

There are a few with availability in March/April 2023. Not sure about the suites but Aqua limited. However I imagine that you will be upgrade at a later date as opportunities for Aqua no doubt avail.

[Boatharbour]

15 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

The Japan cherry-blossom cruises tend to be very popular. The season is brief!

As beautiful as the cherry blossom is, the autumn foliage is just as beautiful. We travelled to Japan in November 2019 and were dazzled by the vivid and intense colours of the trees and shrubs. You may find it easier to book a cruise then, unless your heart is set on seeing the cherry blossom. 

[Miaminice]

17 hours ago, zitsky said:

My husband was interested in a Japan cruise (probably Aqua class or Sky Suite).  Boy do those fill up quickly!  (Probably because it's close to cherry blossom time, Mar/Apr.)  Hardly any rooms left on a '23 cruise.  When would *2024* cruises be available for booking?

 

I'll try to interest him in a Thailand/Vietnam cruise instead.

 

We have done a few SE-Asia cruises and Japan cruises in each season.
Asia in general is fabulous and you can´t go wrong with either. 
Personally we absolutelly fell in love with Japan though. Booked another one for 2023.

We did the Cherry Blossom cruise with HAL - due to the big difference in price.

 

Here are reviews of both:

 

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

 

Japan on HAL:

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

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, Boatharbour said:

As beautiful as the cherry blossom is, the autumn foliage is just as beautiful. We travelled to Japan in November 2019 and were dazzled by the vivid and intense colours of the trees and shrubs. You may find it easier to book a cruise then, unless your heart is set on seeing the cherry blossom. 

 

Isn't November during typhoon season?

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, Miaminice said:

 

We have done a few SE-Asia cruises and Japan cruises in each season.
Asia in general is fabulous and you can´t go wrong with either. 
Personally we absolutelly fell in love with Japan though. Booked another one for 2023.

We did the Cherry Blossom cruise with HAL - due to the big difference in price.

 

Here are reviews of both:

 

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

 

Japan on HAL:

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

 

Nice review.  What kind of cabin on HAL?  Balcony? 

 

I'd like to find something like Aqua class.

Edited June 29, 2021 by zitsky

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, Miaminice said:

Personally we absolutelly fell in love with Japan though. Booked another one for 2023.

We did the Cherry Blossom cruise with HAL - due to the big difference in price.

 

I compared a lot of itineraries and booked HAL's (for Japan/cherry blossoms cruise) due to what was, to me, a superior itinerary. If you book early, prices are good but they do go up as inventory sells. 

 

As a side note, that cruise was to have been April 2020. Well....we know how that worked out. Silver lining, I guess, is that I just recently rebooked it for 2023 and this time I am doing a BTB with different itinerary so that it covers quite a bit of Japan, north and south. I've been twice to Japan on land trips; this time it's for the cherry blossoms and to see new (coastal) areas.

[mahdnc]

21 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

The Japan cherry-blossom cruises tend to be very popular. The season is brief!

 

Actually the cherry blossom season at any one location is brief, but for Japan as a whole the season starts typically in mid-March (southern Japan) and goes to late Apr/early May (northern Japan).  Here was this year's forecast: link

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I compared a lot of itineraries and booked HAL's (for Japan/cherry blossoms cruise) due to what was, to me, a superior itinerary. If you book early, prices are good but they do go up as inventory sells. 

 

 

Same here. When we sailed on HAL the itinerary was better and much more focused on Japan as on Celebrity. And we wanted that focus. Now Celebrity offer similar itineraries. 

At the time the price on HAL was about 50% of the price for a comparable stateroom on Millennium, so it was a no brainer.
.
The quaility on HAL was good. The cruise was fantastic. However, the ship played more of a role of transportation. A nice one though. HAL would be a second choice for future cruises. Bottom line we prefer Celebrity, because we prefer the ship layout and vibe.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Miaminice

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

Nice review.  What kind of cabin on HAL?  Balcony? 

 

I'd like to find something like Aqua class.

 

It was a regular balcony stateroom on HAL.

On Celebrity we also sail on AQ (with the exception of E class). There´s no comparable stateroom on HAL. You´d need to go Suite - and that´s also not the same as on Celebrity.

Don´t get me wrong. HAL was good and the cruise fabulous. That´s what matered.
We´d do it again if circumstances were the same. But our first choice would certainly be Celebrity.

 

The one we booked for 2023 will be with Celebrity again ( Southern Japan). 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

Actually the cherry blossom season at any one location is brief, but for Japan as a whole the season starts typically in mid-March (southern Japan) and goes to late Apr/early May (northern Japan).  Here was this year's forecast: link

 

True. But in the scheme of a year-long schedule of cruising, it would be, at most, maybe two 10 to 14-day cruises before the season is effectively over...

 

One thing I liked about the HAL itinerary I had booked in 2020 is that it went to the southerly ports first, then headed north -- which makes sense if you want to follow the progression of the blossoms.

[mahdnc]

8 hours ago, Boatharbour said:

As beautiful as the cherry blossom is, the autumn foliage is just as beautiful. We travelled to Japan in November 2019 and were dazzled by the vivid and intense colours of the trees and shrubs. You may find it easier to book a cruise then, unless your heart is set on seeing the cherry blossom. 

 

The Japanese call it "Red Leaf" season--and for good reason!

 

Kyoto, Nov 2019

Edited June 29, 2021 by mahdnc

[Boatharbour]

10 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

Isn't November during typhoon season?

I think typhoon season in Japan is May to October. The weather was cool, but definitely no typhoons. 
If Celebrity repeats the itinerary we had, I would highly recommend it.

Japan - Shanghai- Taiwan- Hong Kong.

Here are some of those autumn colours. 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, Boatharbour said:

I think typhoon season in Japan is May to October. The weather was cool, but definitely no typhoons. 
If Celebrity repeats the itinerary we had, I would highly recommend it.

Japan - Shanghai- Taiwan- Hong Kong.

Here are some of those autumn colours. 

 

@Boatharbour what was the name of your cruise?  I don't see it.

[Boatharbour]

48 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

@Boatharbour what was the name of your cruise?  I don't see it.

Been and gone. It was November 2019 on Millenium. 

[zitsky]

10 minutes ago, Boatharbour said:

Been and gone. It was November 2019 on Millenium. 

 

How was Taiwan?  Taipei? 

[Boatharbour]

38 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

How was Taiwan?  Taipei? 

Definitely worth seeing although we only saw a small portion of the country.  The ship visited Taipei and Kaohsiung. We could easily have spent a few more days in Taipei alone. We booked a private tour and had a wonderful guide who knew we were pushed for time. He showed us the “highlights of the highlights”. What I found particularly interesting were the historical links between Japan, China and Taiwan - the three countries on the ship’s itinerary. I hope Celebrity repeats in the future. 

[sergel02]

Thailand and Vietnam seems great too. Japan, especially during Sakura season, would still be my first pick though, and they usually stop in Busan or Jeju in Korea which is beautiful too.

 

One thing to think about is that Japan is pretty fun to explore on land as well, so you don’t have to take a ship there.