princess cruises return to Japan in 23'

[charlie murphy]

hello all 

my family is looking at  a cruise for June / July of 23 around japan with princess, I am wondering the likelihood of the cruise happening. When we first began to research the cruise i did not notice that there were no cruises in japan until march. I am not sure is this is standard for the season or because of cruise restrictions. i guess that would be the first question. why the march start date?

I thought well,  maybe to start a thread if one does not exist to map and monitor changes to the landscape of cruising in June / july of 23 in Japan, some place those of use who are watching this area can share what we find.  I see a plan to return to cruising Japan  in March of 23 on the princess sites. It looks like there may be some cruise lines with Japanese ports of call currently I am not sure. Any information that could be shared would be appreciated. Going to japan to cruise will be new to us and feeling a little unsure about whether the cruise will actually happen feels like the new norm.  also ports are in S. Korea and Taiwan as well so I would imagine those countries would have to open as well.  thank you to the CC nation in advance for the deep knowledge I know you all share.  

[USN59-79]

We expect to cruise around Japan beginning in March, 2023 aboard the Holland America ship Westerdam and return to Seattle when it repositions in May.  It looks like it will happen as Japan is just starting to relax their covid travel restrictions.

[charlie murphy]

thanks for the encouragement.   It is hard to get an accurate read of the situation from what i have read online. I can not really find information on the climate now in Japan, Taiwan or South Korea toward cruise lines and passengers they bring. I think that i read that cruises that depart from japan need a foreign port like usa itineraries so our trip also depends on those two ports. I remember at some point looking at an Alaska cruise post pandemic and the snfu was the foreign port ( Canada ) not being available. We are scheduling on the Diamond princess and I wonder how that plays into the equation given her history in Asia. 

[floridatravelersforlife]

We are on the Nautica sailing around Japan Mar 2023.  I have a very specific plan on whether or not we will sail.  Penalties for us start Nov 21st.  If all the players are not in synch, we are out - Japan and Korea allowing cruise ships,  as well, other Asian countries on the earlier itineraries opening  up.   

 

If there is no resolution by Nov 1, I plan to ask my TA to request either waiver of penalties for the first round or delay penalties to Dec.   A no answer means no sail for us. The alternative is to buy refundable Air and lodging, but that is super expensive.  

 

 

[BruceMuzz]

Nobody really knows yet when international cruising will resume in Japan.

Land-based tourism to Japan just resumed this week.

Already there is a lot of local drama with American tourists refusing to wear masks.

This is very offensive to the Japanese, and may result in the door closing again.

 

For any foreign cruise ships to be allowed into Japan, at least one other nearby Asian country must also be open to them (to comply with cabotage laws). It appears that South Korea may be first, and Taiwan Second. We still do not know when that may happen.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Those arrogant tourists will spoil it for the rest of us.  Japan is sensitized to the Princess covid cruise that caused havoc when the Covid pandemic began.   I understand their concern.  Things don't look good for our March cruise.

[charlie murphy]

what is the feeling on returning tourist $ back into the economy in Japan? My only frame of reference is the devastating affect the loss of the cruise ship traffic had on the Alaska ports economy and how alaska worked very hard to return cruise ships to port.  From the TA the line is that "Oh Japan is very eager to have the cruise lines return to operations" ... " the Japanese tourism trade really needs things to get back to the way they were, they really count on the the tourists during the cherry blossoms". is that accurate?  

[Bgwest]

4 hours ago, floridatravelersforlife said:

Things don't look good for our March cruise.

Respectfully disagree. Vehemently. 

[USN59-79]

Things are looking up.  My wife is from Taiwan so she watches a lot of news from Taiwan on YouTube.  It was announced that as of today Taiwan is open to foreign tourists.  That is important as ships sailing from Japan need to stop at a foreign port as @BruceMuzzreported yesterday.

[BruceMuzz]

On 10/14/2022 at 2:24 AM, charlie murphy said:

what is the feeling on returning tourist $ back into the economy in Japan? My only frame of reference is the devastating affect the loss of the cruise ship traffic had on the Alaska ports economy and how alaska worked very hard to return cruise ships to port.  From the TA the line is that "Oh Japan is very eager to have the cruise lines return to operations" ... " the Japanese tourism trade really needs things to get back to the way they were, they really count on the the tourists during the cherry blossoms". is that accurate?  

The Japanese Government is very anxious to get those tourism revenues back up. But the Japanese public are not so inclined. Unlike Americans, Japanese are more concerned about the actual conditions than they are about making a profit.

A good example is the previous Olympics Games (before COVID). Typically, the Olympics are a potential gold mine for Tourism-related businesses. But in Japan, the best Restaurants, Bars, Shops, and Attractions closed for the Olympics. Their owners and operators did not want to risk the embarrassment of confronting foreigners who were not sensitive to Japanese manners and customs.

Even during the recent COVID Olympics in Japan, the Government developed a nationwide campaign to politely tell Americans that it was extremely rude in Japan to: 

1. Walk, eat, and drink at the same time in public.

2. Talk loudly on the trains and subways

3. Eat and drink on trains and subways

4. Leave trash on trains, subways, and in public

5. Talk on a mobile telephone while on a train or subway, or while eating in a restaurant

6. Try to use a public Spa (Onsen) or swimming pool if you have tattoos or piercings

 

The campaign failed miserably, causing the Japanese public to be even more reluctant to re-welcome tourists to Japan.

[cr8tiv1]

Thank you for starting this thread.  I was looking in the wrong place until I did a google search.  

 

Hawaii was also very late in opening up passenger ships back to the islands.  Much later than air arrivals.  I can see all the concerns of the Japanese population.  I did not know they had something similar to the PVSA.  Interesting.  

[BruceMuzz]

7 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Thank you for starting this thread.  I was looking in the wrong place until I did a google search.  

 

Hawaii was also very late in opening up passenger ships back to the islands.  Much later than air arrivals.  I can see all the concerns of the Japanese population.  I did not know they had something similar to the PVSA.  Interesting.  

Currently there are 91 countries, representing 80% of the world’s coastlines, that have some form of cabotage laws.

[charlie murphy]

As we all get closer,  I am sure that we will be more active in looking for info on the return to cruising for Japan an surrounding areas. BruceMuzz thankyou for you insight and i hope that with all of us seeking information we can share what we learn with other with the same questions. I look forward to this thread not being needed, let hope for sooner rather than later. 

[charlie murphy]

Brucemuzz posted in another thread that South Korea was opening to cruise traffic. Thanks brucemuzz I do not know how to give you credit or acknowledge your post any other way so this is the best my limited knowledge / ability can do. This is great news for next year! If this is starting in November by spring next year even with a very soft open cruise travel may be in some form may be back. One of our ports is in South Korea. the other is in Taiwan.  

[charlie murphy]

I am sure you may have seen this by now but if you have not, like me then here we go. this is some good news! I have not read the whole article. 

 

https://www.travelandleisure.com/japan-cruise-ships-return-6830107

[terry&mike]

DH and I, along with a group of our friends, were on the Diamond Princess in January 2020.  We sailed  an amazing 2 week itinerary that started in Singapore and visited 3 ports in Vietnam, 2 days in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and several stops in Japan. It was such a fabulous trip. We also spent some time in Bali pre-cruise, as it's a short flight from Singapore. 

 

We debarked in Tokyo on January 20, 2020. The sailing after ours was due to sail the reverse itinerary from Tokyo to Singapore, but we all know how that played out, with the ship sitting in the Yokohama Harbor for several weeks in quarantine. We were all thankful we chose the earlier sailing, for sure.

 

DH and I are excited to return to Asia in a couple of weeks for a 5 week trip. We'll go by land first to Thailand, a return visit to Vietnam to spend more time there (Vietnam was everyone's favorite from the cruise), and then sail a river cruise down the Mekong through Cambodia and more Vietnam. 

 

Our return flights from Ho Chi Minh City connect through Haneda in Tokyo, and when I first booked the plane tickets back in March 2022 there was a rule in place that we could not layover more than 12 hours in Tokyo and that we had to stay airside. This rule was lifted a couple months later, and now there are no restrictions on our connection through Tokyo. 

 

Wishing you all fabulous travels in Asia - enjoy!