28 Day Southern Japan Collector Cruise - Has anyone taken this cruise?

[blmjcs]

Hello,

We are thinking about taking the 28 Day Southern Japan Collector Cruise in March of next year.  I was wondering if anyone has taken this cruise and what your thoughts were.  This will be our first time on HAL.  The ship will be the Westerdam.  Thanks! 

[silversneakers]

In today's political environment I don't think it will happen. IMO

[Hlitner]

You need to understand that the cruise has been cancelled the past 3 years!  We know because we were booked.  Will the cruise happen in 2023?  I doubt it and HAL will likely be the last folks on earth to admit it or notify those of us booked.  Many other cruise lines have already cancelled all their Spring 2023 cruises that had Japanese ports.  At this time there has been absolutely no reason to believe that Japan will reopen to independent tourists of any Western cruise ships by next March-April.

 

That being said, we do love the itinerary and the following repositioning cruise over to Seattle.  We do have a booking because HAL made it worth while to simply move over the booking from the previous year's cancelled cruise.  Our current thinking is we will likely cancel this cruise before final payment since we do not want to deal with HAL to get our money back if and when they cancel.

 

Hank

[crystalspin]

My favorite ship so far is the Zuiderdam (sister to Westerdam). We really enjoyed being on the Observation Deck behind the Crows Nest/Exploration Cafe!

 

This cruise is showing the $1pp deposit, so you won't have a lot tied up. It should also be bookable with promo Book Early & Save, code N1/U1, AND the $1pp deposit, according to today's HAL website.

 

But if you want to book a cruise that is apt to happen, it might not be this one. Hank has very valid observations not to mention his personal experience!

[rkacruiser]

I doubt this cruise will sail.  The Westerdam is a great ship, however.  

[Lido deck main]

We did 28 day Fall 2018 on the Westerdam to Japan and China.  Had a great trip.  Westerdam is a great ship.  So glad we went, however I wouldn’t go there now in that area even if offered a free cruise.  Due to current situations around the world we are sticking close to the equator and south of it for our next two long cruises.  We also have a Mediterranean booked.  We had a Baltic for this fall, that is no longer a Baltic cruise that we cancelled. 

[USN59-79]

We are booked on her from Yokohama back to Seattle for 42 days starting 27 March.  We like the ship and the itinerary and were actually booked on her for a similar itinerary in February, 2020 and ended up in Cambodia.  Will it happen?  No one knows, including HAL.  It really depends on whether Japan and a nearby country like Taiwan or South Korea open up to cruise ships by then.  We have until sometime in December to cancel before final payment, so we should have a better idea of what is happening in that area by then.

Ray