En Route with Hank in Japan and the Westerdam

[cruisemom42]

By the way, the weather has been less than great so far on this cruise. Rainy, gray, and windy. The ship’s been rockin’ the last couple of nights and not with entertainment, lol. In fact, one performer (violinist) cancelled his performance due to seasickness, and last night the Step One dance performance was replaced with Cantare as they felt the ship was moving too much for the dancers.

 

it rained nearly all day yesterday in Aburatsu (Miyazaki) and the same is expected today in Kochi. Luckily we return to Kochi on the next cruise - it’s the only repeated port. So I may take the $25 shuttle into town and just mooch around. Or, if it keeps looking like it does now, I may just stay on board….

[Beejay4016]

15 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I'd be excited by all the trivia, and DW would be ecstatic about the ballroom dance hour. There was nothing like that on our last HAL cruise! I wonder how she as a (retired) art teacher would feel about adult coloring.

 

And BTW, I do not know how much longer I can remain patient in this lotus position waiting for you to contact Hank. 😉😉

I'm with you - too much trivia is never enough. 🙂

[Hlitner]

Greetings my CC friends.  Cruisemom recently posted about the weather, and she is sometimes the master of understatement.  Today the weather is BLOODY AWFUL.  We are docked in Kochi (on the Japanese island of Shikoku) where it has poured most of the day, been foggy, a bit windy, damp, etc.  Yesterday was only slightly better.  In fact, since DW and I arrived in Japan on March 16, we have only had two sunny (near perfect days) with the remainder being generally overcast and/or rainy.  

 

This brings me to a favorite personal topic which is the life of an independent traveler.  We are on this ship for 6 weeks and have more than 20 ports.  Couples that favor full day cruise excursions can easily spend over $10,000 on excursions during this cruise!  Some of those folks will have spent about $1000 dollars, in the past 2 days, on excursions in wet, nasty weather.  What about the independent cruiser?  I suspect many of the altered their plans :).  Yesterday, DW and I decided not to bother getting off the ship since that particular port, Aburatsu, was among our least favorite of the cruise.  The nearby town of Miyazaki was not a place with much to see/do (especially on a dreary day) and visiting a nearby temple/shrine was not high on our own list of things to do.  So we had a delightful day aboard the ship where we have run out of such staples such as Diet Coke (Coke Light), Coke Zero, Perrier, ordinary Black Tea, etc. etc.  

 

Today, with 100% of rain most of the day, many chose to join us aboard!  There are a lof of passengers who are doing back-to-back cruises and today's port is visited on 3 straight cruises (all of 14 days duration).  DW and I actually got dressed (jeans, sneakers, etc.) to go off the ship (we wanted to visit a local Castle and adjacent grounds), but when we reached the gangplank, it was pouring!  Being independent folks, we simply turned around, got a drink (Bloody Mary for me and mimosa for DW) and grabbed our trusty Kindles for a relaxing day at the all weather pool.  Those couples who paid about $500 for the all-day tour or over $300 for a half day tour (excursions in Japan are quite expensive) hopefully made the best of their experience.  We did not have a rainy-day plan for Kochi so decided to wait until we return next week (the weather looks more promising) to visit the nearby Kochi Castle (which involves an expansive outdoor park and views).

 

I mentioned the expense of excursions, and Japan cruises generally mean lots of quite expensive options.  For cruisers on a serious budget, it can be well worth one's time to do your pre-cruise homework, find places you can DIY, and also consider joining with others (via the CC Roll Call boards) for private tours.  A $500 excursion day (for two) can often become a $200 day (plus or minus) with a little planning and the use of public transit, taxis, and walking (for the mobile folks).  There are also those times when independent travelers can implement rainy day plans (especially in larger cities).  

 

Bar talk (when we love to socialize and chat with fellow passengers and bar staff) has lately involved much discussion about shortages aboard this ship!  While some HAL fans will excuse just about anything, my tolerance for multiple shortages on such short voyages (these are 14 day cruises in civilized ports) is less forgiving!  There is absolutely no excuse for running out of things like basic black tea or diet coke!  These items can easily be procured locally and the Westerdam is designed for longer voyages with adequate storage!  Speaking of bars, the only bar snack we have seen on this ship are peanuts!  HAL can do better.  We generally head for a bar/lounge at 6, and the lack of entertainment/music and hors d-oeuvres is somewhat sad.  Yes, I do keep harping on the entertainment issue (what on earth does the Entertainment Director even do on this vessel). 

 

We met a couple who loves to dance, and they no place to go (pre dinner) to dance.  There is actually a "Ballroom Dancing HOUR" in the Rolling Stone Lounge, but it is from 7-8 which is when these folks (and most onboard) are already at dinner.  That Rolling Stone Lounge (which does have a dance floor) is empty/quiet most of the day!  It would not kill HAL to at least play dance music from 5-8!  But I guess it is too much work to have them turn on a computer to pump out pre-recorded music!  Heaven forbid they actually had a small band (remember those days?) that could do some pre-dinner dance sets.  The Crow's Nest was also a place where one USED to find some pre-dinner music (and even some dancing).  Now, I find myself trekking up to deck 10 forward (the current version of the Crows Nest) to get a decent cappuccino (from the excellent and friendly Crow's Nest Cafe staff).   That space could be so much more!  Jan Swartz certainly is familiar with the International Cafe concept on Princess which could be a model for what might be done to that part of the ship.  Seabourn also uses that space (Observation Bar) wisely with an active bar, small buffet for continental breakfast, early evening snacks, etc.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[oakridger]

I have posted in the past about the ships running out of so many common items.  It happened to me also on several cruises from Ft. Lauderdale.  So, does Florida really have a shortage of Diet Coke, strawberries, pickled beets for salads, Bud Light and strawberry purée for my Margaritas?  On 7 and 10 day cruises?    I really don't get it.  Some of this bad inventory planning goes back to my 2012 cruises too.

Sheesh!!!

 

~Nancy

Edited April 6, 2023 by oakridger

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, Beejay4016 said:

I'm with you - too much trivia is never enough. 🙂

We were once on a cruise (not HAL) on which after the first trivia contest that I won, they decided that trivia should be a team event, the men against the women. We, the men, won all 4, and the assistant cruise director said that that had never happened before, one side winning them all. On our plane back we noticed a woman and her son in front of us who had been on our ship. The youngster looked at me and said, "you're the trivia guy!".

 

It's one of the things that I really enjoy about cruises, we can each do our own thing trivia for me and swimming laps for DW, and still get to spend a lot of quality time together.

[betsey]

Sorry to hear about the weather in Kochi. I've been there twice. My favorite thing to do there is to go the Hiromi Market and get some Bonito Tataki cooked over rice straw. We were on the March 13 sailing, and the dish was just as delicious as I remembered it.  

 

I agree, there's no excuse for running out of the sodas and teas in Japan. One of the staff could just go into town and find a vending machine nearby......

[stan vermeers]

Hello Hank,

Questions:

We are on Westerdam Japan next April. We were on Voyage of the Vikings 5 years ago.

Does Westerdam have a port lecturer?  The lady on VoV was wonderful.  We also had 2 other speakers on interesting things .  We also really enjoyed Barry from Boston. A large group of us really enjoyed nitely.  

I would hope the same would be on this Japan cruise.  (The one reason besides itinerary that we booked HAL.)

We were on the Koningsdam in Nov.  Our first cruise after pandemic.  It was a cheap Mexico one, which we had done many times prior.  That cruise was ok but not great...very slow service in dining room, alot of other small stuff, but just ok.

Hope Japan will be better.

Our favorite line is Oceania, but we cruise now on itinerary.

Linda/Stan Vermeers

[bennybear]

43 minutes ago, betsey said:

Sorry to hear about the weather in Kochi. I've been there twice. My favorite thing to do there is to go the Hiromi Market and get some Bonito Tataki cooked over rice straw. We were on the March 13 sailing, and the dish was just as delicious as I remembered it.  

 

I agree, there's no excuse for running out of the sodas and teas in Japan. One of the staff could just go into town and find a vending machine nearby......

Was just thinking of this interesting tuna, and the wonderful scent.  They also had great soups in that market and the castle is lovely.   We also found some beautiful vintage silk kimonos for a very reasonable price.  
 

Sorry  to hear how rainy it is.   We agree there is no need for an excursion in Kochi.  And a lot of the markets were undercover.   HAL provided a shuttle to town when we were there.  
 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by bennybear

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hank and cruisemom, I am totally enjoying your commentary on the cruise and cruise ports. I have to admit that for each new port that I knew we had been to on previous cruises I look at my pictures of that day. I feel so bad you had bad weather for Miyazaki/ Aburatsu. Miyazaki was one of my favorite ports. We had a beautiful fall day in October 2017.

 

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, stan vermeers said:

 

We are on Westerdam Japan next April. We were on Voyage of the Vikings 5 years ago.

Does Westerdam have a port lecturer?  The lady on VoV was wonderful.  

 

The port info is provided only via pre-recorded prepared lectures with slides shown on your TV on demand. Each one is about 15-20 minutes depending on the port. On the plus side, they do provide some DIY info and maps to give an idea of the locations and distances to key sites (more so than many lines). They do tend to focus on sites covered on their tours of course. And the pronunciations of the reader are often atrocious (read by various members of their excursions staff).

 

One key tip is to make use of the excellent quality of help available at the local Japanese info points at the ports. These dedicated and helpful personnel will spend time to help figure out routes, bus fares/passes and more. They are truly invaluable.

 

If, on the other hand, you use port lectures to decide on excursions, this would be nearly impossible on this cruise where the vast majority of offered excursions were sold out weeks before sailing.

 

There is one lecturer onboard who provides some background on Japan and Taiwan; not terribly engaging except for a bit of entertaining commentary on Japanese customs…

[JohnCA]

Since the ship doesn't seem to be providing much destination advice, you may find these links useful.

 

Standard guide to Japan: http://www.japan-guide.com

 

JNTO pdf brochures: https://www.japan.travel/brochures/eng/index.php

 

Japanese cruise ports: https://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/cruise/
and https://www.whatsinport.com/Japan.html
 

[stan vermeers]

Thank you cruise mom and John.

I was hoping we would have in person port ideas.  

On VoV the auditorium was full.

Sorry to see an impersonal way now.

Linda

[Ottawa traveller]

The problem on this cruise is the lack of sea days. There were only three near the beginning. Usually these type of lectures are on sea days and not port days. Shore excursions is available in the evenings for you to ask questions. 

[cruisemom42]

Even though the ship was fully cleared yesterday in Osaka, and we overnighted there, the Japanese authorities decided to hold up anyone from leaving the ship this morning until additional paperwork was completed. Since we have a short day in Osaka (departure at 4:00 pm), there were a number of early tours today, both ship and private. We all had to cool our heels until at 8:30 am they finally declared we were good to go. 
 

The captain made several announcements that this was most unexpected and didn’t sound very happy about it. He made it clear that they could not delay departure.

 

Today I’m on a private tour with other CCers to sites in Osaka including Osaka castle, Shinsekai area (the neon retro area) Shitennogi temple, a market and more — although the “more” may have to be canceled to ensure we are back on time.

 

And who should we run into at the temple but Hank and his wife, doing their own thing. 😄. That said, our guide is extremely good and is getting us around quite nicely!

 

[USN59-79]

We have been on the Westerdam since 27 March.  A lot of small changes since we got off in Cambodia 3 years ago.  Really appreciate Hank’s blog.  Today is the first sunny day since we boarded.  Since we have been in this area so many times we do things .  In Hualien Sara got a perm and I a haircut.  Bought a jar of mixed nuts at Costco in Taipei.  Happy to share with you, Hank.  Caught a miserable cold somewhere.  Found that the pharmacists in drugstores here can recommend drugs if you tell them your symptoms.  I think the Japanese medicine is working.  We bought some sashimi in an Osaka supermarket and are bringing it back for lunch. It comes with wasabi and soya and chopsticks.  We are in 8097 for a few more days and then move to deck 4.

Ray 

 

[Hlitner]

On 4/7/2023 at 2:07 AM, stan vermeers said:

Hello Hank,

Questions:

We are on Westerdam Japan next April. We were on Voyage of the Vikings 5 years ago.

Does Westerdam have a port lecturer?  The lady on VoV was wonderful.  We also had 2 other speakers on interesting things .  We also really enjoyed Barry from Boston. A large group of us really enjoyed nitely.  

I would hope the same would be on this Japan cruise.  (The one reason besides itinerary that we booked HAL.)

We were on the Koningsdam in Nov.  Our first cruise after pandemic.  It was a cheap Mexico one, which we had done many times prior.  That cruise was ok but not great...very slow service in dining room, alot of other small stuff, but just ok.

Hope Japan will be better.

Our favorite line is Oceania, but we cruise now on itinerary.

Linda/Stan Vermeers

There is one lecturer (I believe he is a Dentist) who has presented a few lectures on Japan, but not sure he would be considered a Port lecturer like in the good ole days of HAL when they had onboard port experts.  
 

There is no piano bar entertainer onboard and the Piano near the Deck

Atrium remains unused.  The quiet in the Pinnacle Bar, Ocean Bar, and Crows

Nest is truly deafening (and very sad).  They do have the duel pianos in the bar adjacent to the casino who do their 3 sets on most evenings.  I would listen to Barry from Boston on many nights (he would often work from about 8-11:30).

The current onboard duo are OK, but not in the same league as Barry.  My favorite later night music, on this cruise, comes from the talented Rolling Stones Lounge Band.

 

The MDR is what I would call mass market cruise line average, but we have generally had excellent service.  For those in a hurry, they are better off in the Lido where they can cram down their meals in McDonalds time frames.  The Lido usually has the exact same menus as the MDR plus additional offerings.

 

 In our more than 500 HAL days, we have never had dinner in the Lido since we prefer sit down dining to cafeterias.  Given the situation with HAL entertainment, our best entertainment is often the shared tables in the MDR.  As always, we have met many nice/fun folks on this cruise.

 

Hank

 

[Florida_gal_50]

I marvel at how some people love to eat breakfast in the cafeteria then complain how busy it is.  There is a cure for that. Eating in the mdr is just so civilized when available.

[cruisemom42]

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

even though the ship was fully cleared yesterday in Osaka, and we overnighted there, the Japanese authorities decided to hold up anyone from leaving the ship this morning until additional paperwork was completed. Since we have a short day in Osaka (departure at 4:00 pm), there were a number of early tours today, both ship and private. We all had to cool our heels until at 8:30 am they finally declared we were good to go.

A further update on this. Just before sailaway, the captain shared more details about this morning. Apparently the authorities decided to require a more detailed check of Covid cases on board including a review of all relevant tests and paperwork to fulfill the Japanese requirements. They did not show up until 8am to carry out their review (!)

 

In the end they were satisfied. The captain proudly reported, tangential to this process, that we currently only have 3 confirmed Covid cases onboard at this time.

[Hlitner]

We just completed two days in Osaka, which is a wonderful port because of its relatively close location to many major tourist towns (besides Osaka) including Kyoto, Nara, and even Hiroshima (a more distant day trip).  Our first day again had us in awful weather with lots of rain.  Those with cruise line excursions and private tours were forced to "tough it out" in lousy circumstances.  Most of the major Japanese tourist sites involve some outside touring and the conditions could not have been much more awful :(.  But today, a cold front cleared out the rain (we actually had a few hours of sun and blue sky) so it was a darn shame that the Japanese authorities held up the tours this morning.  The Captain made it clear he could not extend our port time because of the distance to our next port (complicated by our power issues with one Azipod).

 

But for we more independent folks, adjustments are the name of the game.  Yesterday morning, when we saw the miserable weather, DW and I decided to simply walk about 5 minutes to the world-class Aquarium.  Before leaving the ship we went online and bought our timed entrance tickets (avoids the queues) and really enjoyed the large facility.  We later walked back to the ship for lunch.  With the continuing rain, we decided to head over to a popular shopping, food, and club district called Dotonbori.  We had to walk (through the rain) about 3 blocks to the nearest subway and used our SUICA Cards (which we purchased when we first entered the country 3 weeks ago) to use the two subways necessary to get us to our destination.  We walked through some shopping/eating arcades (covered) and had some fun exploring a bit of the local culture.  This excursion cost us about $8 (for two) for the local subways.

 

This morning, once the ship was finally cleared, we decided to take advantage of the dry conditions.  We headed back to the subway and went about 20 minutes to the stop for Osaka Castle.  About a 10 min stroll from the subway station got us to the castle park and it was well worth the trek.  We paid our small entrance fee, went inside the famous castle, took the elevator up to the 5th floor (as high as you can go with the elevator) and walked to the top 8th floor.  We enjoyed the fabulous views (you can see all of Osaka) and slowly worked our way down the various floors while enjoying the museum/historical displays.  Back outside we spent a little time enjoying the adjacent grounds before returning the nearby subway stop. 

 

From there we got on a different subway line and went over the station nearest Shittenoji Temple (another major site in Osaka) where it was only a short walk (less than 10 minutes) to the popular site.  We spent some time at the Temple complex, enjoying both the outside and inside of quite a few of the different buildings.  Finally, it was back to the subway and the ship (for a late lunch).  A truly perfect day touring the two major sites of Osaka, and the cost was less than $25 (for two).  The cost of the cruise line excursion that went to those same two sites was about $100 per person.  I want to again stress that mentioning prices is intended to let folks know their options.  We keep hearing complaints (onboard) about the price of the cruise line excursions, and we would stress that folks get to make their choices when cruising/traveling.

 

During our subway journey back to the port we debated taking a detour to one of the decent "foodie" parts of town, but decided we did not want to deal with the anxiety of cutting things too close on getting back to the ship when we had an early 4pm departure.  Part of independent port days is knowing when to be a bit conservative and not push the time issue.  And I was really craving a "Dive In"  Hot Dog loaded with cheese and jalapeno peppers!  There are just some times when a decent "dog" beats a bowl of soba :).

 

This evening we had our 3rd "Dressy Night" of this 2 week segment and the menu was OK (not awe inspiring) with a tenderloin-shrimp main, duck breast, or sea trout.  If one wants a lobster night in the MDR it is available for $20 (any night).  We saw a nearby table enjoying the lobster tails, they were quite large (said to be 12 ounces), but also appeared to be a bit tough.  To my untrained eye the tails served in the MDR seemed to look about the same as the tails served in the Pinnacle ($39 + a $20 add-on).  We went into the MDR about 7:30 and shared an interesting table with another couple (5* Mariners) who were very well traveled.  A lot of good table talk about travel and cruising and our tablemates were not the first folks we have met who expressed some disappointment with the overall HAL product.  Their feeling is that HAL would be happy to be rid of we 4-5* folks and replace us with younger cruisers who spend more money onboard.  We got some interesting travel tips from this couple and it was another delightful dinner.  They were the first American couple we met at dinner, since boarding the cruise, with everyone else being Aussies, Brits or Canadians.  

 

Tonight, the main show featured the return of an entertaining magician (the best guest entertainer we have had on this cruise) followed by the Orange Party (in the Rolling Stones Lounge).  That Orange Party drew a nice crowd (we just looked-in for a few minutes) and it was great to see so many awake after 10pm.

 

I should also mention that my breakfasts in the Lido have been pretty decent. We have seldom waited long in queues (perhaps it is because we are a bit contrarian when it comes to dining times) and I have had excellent omelets, eggs made to order, very good banana pancakes (made to order), etc.  We did hear one complaint this morning ("the ship is out of pineapple").  I also miss the days on the Prinsendam where they had real maple syrup!  There is apparently fresh squeezed OJ on the ship ($4.50 + 18%) but I have yet to see it or have any clue where to even find the stuff.  I might go looking for the fresh OJ some morning when I am a bit bored 🙂

 

Hank

[slidergirl]

 Hank - I'm enjoying your commentary.  I'm also reading Cynthia's accounts, so I feel like I'm along with both of you!  The trip sounds like you might need to step up the onshore activity so you don't stay awake long enough to notice there's nothing going on 😉

 

I do take exception to your comment about people eating dinner in the buffet.  I'll be doing that in 22 days on the Eurodam.  I like to be able to get a nice entree-size salad for my dinner and I'm not into table chatter.  I'm not in and out like a Mickey D's, either.   Just sayin'

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

A further update on this. Just before sailaway, the captain shared more details about this morning. Apparently the authorities decided to require a more detailed check of Covid cases on board including a review of all relevant tests and paperwork to fulfill the Japanese requirements. They did not show up until 8am to carry out their review (!)

 

In the end they were satisfied. The captain proudly reported, tangential to this process, that we currently only have 3 confirmed Covid cases onboard at this time.

As long as none of the 3 Covid cases are you, Hank, or Hank's wife, we are ok with that number.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

 Hank - I'm enjoying your commentary.  I'm also reading Cynthia's accounts, so I feel like I'm along with both of you!  The trip sounds like you might need to step up the onshore activity so you don't stay awake long enough to notice there's nothing going on 😉

 

I do take exception to your comment about people eating dinner in the buffet.  I'll be doing that in 22 days on the Eurodam.  I like to be able to get a nice entree-size salad for my dinner and I'm not into table chatter.  I'm not in and out like a Mickey D's, either.   Just sayin'

My DW like you would just as soon eat at the buffet. She says she would rather make her own salad with exactly how much of each ingredient she wants. She also has said several times that she gets tired of people waiting on her.

[tamadig2001]

Hank, I wasn't aware of your travelogue until JohnCA posted about it in the April 10 - May 7 roll call. It has made for interesting reading and provided great insight into what cruising with HAL is like these days. We are 4-Star Mariners and have been loyal to HAL all this time but could not help but notice the cutbacks that have been happening in recent years. What keeps us coming back is the wonderful staff and the attractive itineraries. I will withhold my judgment until our next cruise this October, which is also a Yokohama round trip. I am with you 100% about the freedom and flexibility of independent travel, not to mention the dollars saved. In fact, I believe that having to do prior research would give you a better understanding of the places you travel to. 

 

So kudos to you Hank, and keep the commentaries coming. You have found a fan in me!

 

Monica

[Essiesmom]

23 minutes ago, tamadig2001 said:

Hank, I wasn't aware of your travelogue until JohnCA posted about it in the April 10 - May 7 roll call. It has made for interesting reading and provided great insight into what cruising with HAL is like these days. We are 4-Star Mariners and have been loyal to HAL all this time but could not help but notice the cutbacks that have been happening in recent years. What keeps us coming back is the wonderful staff and the attractive itineraries. I will withhold my judgment until our next cruise this October, which is also a Yokohama round trip. I am with you 100% about the freedom and flexibility of independent travel, not to mention the dollars saved. In fact, I believe that having to do prior research would give you a better understanding of the places you travel to. 

 

So kudos to you Hank, and keep the commentaries coming. You have found a fan in me!

 

Monica

Monica, you might not be aware that the font you are using is nearly unreadable on mobile devices.  It appears as a fine cursive script in light print and has to be enlarged to be read.  If I was. It on my full iPad, I would have passed it over.  EM

[tamadig2001]

47 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Monica, you might not be aware that the font you are using is nearly unreadable on mobile devices.  It appears as a fine cursive script in light print and has to be enlarged to be read.  If I was. It on my full iPad, I would have passed it over.  EM

 

Sorry, I really didn't know my font was hard to read on a cell phone as I use my computer to send messages most of the time. So here it is again in the default font. Hope you'll find it easier to read.

 

Hank, I wasn't aware of your travelogue until JohnCA posted about it in the April 10 - May 7 roll call. It has made for interesting reading and provided great insight into what cruising with HAL is like these days. We are 4-Star Mariners and have been loyal to HAL all this time but could not help but notice the cutbacks that have been happening in recent years. What keeps us coming back is the wonderful staff and the attractive itineraries. I will withhold my judgment until our next cruise this October, which is also a Yokohama round trip. I am with you 100% about the freedom and flexibility of independent travel, not to mention the dollars saved. In fact, I believe that having to do prior research would give you a better understanding of the places you travel to. 

 

So kudos to you Hank, and keep the commentaries coming. You have found a fan in me!

 

Monica