En Route with Hank in Japan and the Westerdam

[bennybear]

Always interesting to read different opinions.   We stayed in Hiroshima the first two nights of our visit.   We enjoyed the most beautiful gardens,  a visit to the beautiful island of Miyajima,  had a thought provoking visit to the peace park where we met a survivor, and enjoyed the most amazing Okonomiyaki that Hiroshima is famous for.   We would go back in a heartbeat.  I agree it is too far to go for a day,  day trips never do a place justice. 
We also like to use the word sumimasen,  as it is one of those all purpose words like Bitte,  it can mean excuse me, please….  As well as a few others.  
 

[CNSJ]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

For us it is not a problem.  We have two large cases plus 2 packed carry-ons.  During our pre-cruise time (only 11 days in Japan) we have plenty of clothes.  The truth is that one can get along with jeans for quite a while without laundry and we have plenty of tops.  Once on the Westerdam, we get unlimited laundry because of our Mariner status.  So, when we board next week, we will certainly be sending out a load of wash.  Back in the days before we got free laundry, we would simply pay for bags on HAL (and most other lines).  DW and I do not like to spend our travel (play) time doing laundry and are happy to pay to have it done.  

 

I should add, that if we did need to do laundry, our Kyoto hotel (where we are staying for 6 nights) will take care of laundry (it only takes about 1 day).  

Which hotel are you staying at in Kyoto?

Appreciate all your posts.

[Ottawa traveller]

We have tulips and cherry blossoms in Yokohama!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

4 hours ago, bennybear said:

Always interesting to read different opinions.   We stayed in Hiroshima the first two nights of our visit.   We enjoyed the most beautiful gardens,  a visit to the beautiful island of Miyajima,  had a thought provoking visit to the peace park where we met a survivor, and enjoyed the most amazing Okonomiyaki that Hiroshima is famous for.   We would go back in a heartbeat.  I agree it is too far to go for a day,  day trips never do a place justice. 
We also like to use the word sumimasen,  as it is one of those all purpose words like Bitte,  it can mean excuse me, please….  As well as a few others.  
 

When we return in March 2025, we are definitely returning to Miyajima. Loved that island and the deer.

[Hlitner]

13 hours ago, CNSJ said:

Which hotel are you staying at in Kyoto?

Appreciate all your posts.

We are at the Intergate Kyoto Shinjo Shimachi.  It is well located for our purposes and there are few Western guests at this property (which we also find desirable).  

[Hlitner]

Loved the pix from Yokohama (where we are heading tomorrow).  Today, in Kyoto, we had a chilly misty Saturday which is also around the start of the sakura or Cherry Blossom time here.  We spent a good part of our day at the Kyomizu Temple complex.  This is an expansive area which has a temple/shrine, many related buildings, and lots of walking paths.  It also is one of the better places to go, here in Kyoto, to see cherry blossoms and today did not disappoint. The area was packed with tourists (mostly Japanese) enjoying their first unrestricted (from COVID) sakura since 2019.  Many of the trees are now in full bloom (others will need another week) and DW and I spent hours admiring the grounds, trees, temple, etc.  

 

Tomorrow morning, we leave Kyoto for the 2 1/2 hour bullet train to Yokohama for our last evening before boarding the "Westy."  Yesterday we got two more e-mails (one from HAL and another from out cruise agent) telling us (for about the 8th time) that we need to do a self-test before going to the port (no testing at the port).  Funny thing about HAL is that they continue to remind us about COVID testing on a regular basis but have stubbornly refused to respond to many requests (clearly noted on Roll Call blogs) for information related to the K-ETA (needed to visit Korea which is a port on our cruise).  IMHO, HAL should be "strung up" for the stone walling on the Korea ETA issue.  Before leaving the USA, I finally called HAL and managed to get a message to their "Documents" department who promised to get back to me within 24 hours.  We never did get a response (and apparently it has been the same anyone else (on various Roll Calls) asking the simple question, "Do we need to get our own K-ETA or is this handled by HAL?"

 

Hank

 

 

 

 

[alanstarr]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 We never did get a response (and apparently it has been the same anyone else (on various Roll Calls) asking the simple question, "Do we need to get our own K-ETA or is this handled by HAL?"

 

 

 

 

 

Having just visited South Korea the past couple days on the Westerdam, I can tell there was never any mention of K-ETA, nor was it required or asked for in any way upon entering Korea. (Unless HAL took care of it all behind the scenes?) I still don't regret doing it beforehand, just in case...

 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, alanstarr said:

 

Having just visited South Korea the past couple days on the Westerdam, I can tell there was never any mention of K-ETA, nor was it required or asked for in any way upon entering Korea. (Unless HAL took care of it all behind the scenes?) I still don't regret doing it beforehand, just in case...

 

Like you, we took care of it just in case.  The cost (about $15 for the two of us) was not an issue but the refusal of HAL to tell us what was required was bush league.  In fact, on that call to HAL we were first told we would need to get it on our own, a few seconds later were told that HAL would take care of it, and finally told that they were not sure and the Documents Department would send us an e-mail within the day.  Three different answers on one phone call is a bit strange, even for HAL.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

58 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Like you, we took care of it just in case.  The cost (about $15 for the two of us) was not an issue but the refusal of HAL to tell us what was required was bush league.  In fact, on that call to HAL we were first told we would need to get it on our own, a few seconds later were told that HAL would take care of it, and finally told that they were not sure and the Documents Department would send us an e-mail within the day.  Three different answers on one phone call is a bit strange, even for HAL.

I have to admit this is not a good look for HAL with not being able to respond to this.  In the past and those that traveled recently it is my understanding that the ship acquires this for you, one of the reasons they will request your passport to be turned in. HAL has done this enough they should have answers. I beleive they do know on the ship but somehow the information does not trickle over to Seattle and agents. There should be a email blast like the numerous covid testing to explain. I will say my previous two Japan cruises were both Princess and we were told they  would do this for us and we would turn in our passports for them to give South Korea officials. The Diamond Princess has done this weekly for years and both times we did this in 2017 and 2019 the ship acted like it was never done before and it not as organized as it could be.My guess is that the port changes up what they want done each time but who knows. Both times we were going to Busan. My next cruise we have 4 ports in So Korea so will be interesting how they handle it. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Like you, we took care of it just in case.  The cost (about $15 for the two of us) was not an issue but the refusal of HAL to tell us what was required was bush league.  In fact, on that call to HAL we were first told we would need to get it on our own, a few seconds later were told that HAL would take care of it, and finally told that they were not sure and the Documents Department would send us an e-mail within the day.  Three different answers on one phone call is a bit strange, even for HAL.

With 3 different answers, one of them had to be right. It is the same principle as throwing everything against the wall and something will stick. 🤣

[cruisemom42]

On 3/24/2023 at 12:21 PM, bennybear said:

Always interesting to read different opinions.   We stayed in Hiroshima the first two nights of our visit.   We enjoyed the most beautiful gardens,  a visit to the beautiful island of Miyajima,  had a thought provoking visit to the peace park where we met a survivor, and enjoyed the most amazing Okonomiyaki that Hiroshima is famous for.   We would go back in a heartbeat.  I agree it is too far to go for a day,  day trips never do a place justice. 

 

Bennybear, I will have to agree with you that my son and I thought our visit to Hiroshima (enroute to Miyajima) was a day well spent when we were in Japan about 12 years ago.

 

I will admit that we did not read every placard in the museum, but the overwhelming impression we got was not one of either blame or victimization but rather the sadness and devastation of war. I would caution that some of the exhibits and personal letters/mementos could be very disturbing to younger children but my son (age 17 when we went) was a good age to appreciate the significance.

 

We also tried the Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki -- what a plateful!  

 

We stayed a night on Miyajima at a very traditional onsen ryokan, where we enjoyed a kaiseki dinner. (Well, I say enjoyed but I think the food was well above DS's comfort level at the time!). If anyone is considering Hiroshima on a trip or pre-cruise visit I would strongly urge you to consider making it a two-day experience and adding Miyajima.

 

[Hlitner]

I love that many of us can have a civilized discussion (here on CC) and sometimes disagree (it is rare that Cruisemom and I disagree on these boards).  Speaking of Okonomiyaki, DW and I dined at a decent teppanyaki restaurant, last evening, here in Kyoto.  We ordered a set meal that included A5 Wagyu steak and Okonomiyaki (ours was topped with thin slices of port (with the skin)).  I enjoyed the dish while DW was not overly fond of the "pancake."   As to the A5 beef, well I think we can agree that we set ourselves up for a major disappointment when we get steak in the Pinnacle.

 

This morning (it is now about 10am) we completed our COVID self-tests and uploaded the results to Verifly (HAL urges folks to use Verifly).  While we are not fans of Verifly, we are more than willing to go along with HAL's plan/advice.  We had our Verifly approvals within 15 minutes so have now gone through all the pre-cruise "hoops" that, in theory, should make embarkation relatively pain free.

 

I pointed out, in a post on one of the Roll Calls, that meeting all the "wants" of HAL and the Japanese government requires a working Smartphone and some knowledge in how to use the device to complete apps and upload both pictures and copies of important documents.   Traveling without a Smartphone is still possible, but has become increasingly difficult and can create a lot of problems.

 

Hank

 

 

[cruisemom42]

Don't expect good weather in Yokohama. It is raining all day today (with thunderstorms in the pm)!

 

View from my hotel, the Hotel New Grand. This is the hotel where MacArthur and his staff stayed after Japan's surrender in WWII:

 

 

 

If you look closely you can see folks strolling with umbrellas down near the "Yokohama" sign. (The hotel overlooks Yamashita Park and the bay....)

 

 

[Hlitner]

6 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Don't expect good weather in Yokohama. It is raining all day today (with thunderstorms in the pm)!

 

View from my hotel, the Hotel New Grand. This is the hotel where MacArthur and his staff stayed after Japan's surrender in WWII:

 

 

 

If you look closely you can see folks strolling with umbrellas down near the "Yokohama" sign. (The hotel overlooks Yamashita Park and the bay....)

 

 

Also raining here in Kyoto as we get ready to head for the train station and Yokohama.  We came prepared for the usual spring rain, but would prefer nice sunny skies.  The rain does make life a bit more difficult,  For us it means using taxis where, in good weather, we might have used public transit.

 

Hank

[Alphen]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Also raining here in Kyoto as we get ready to head for the train station and Yokohama.  We came prepared for the usual spring rain, but would prefer nice sunny skies.  The rain does make life a bit more difficult,  For us it means using taxis where, in good weather, we might have used public transit.

 

Hank

Following with great interest, especially your travels before cruise. Do I understand correctly that sometimes you have sent your large luggage ahead to the next hotel with a Japanese service?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Alphen said:

Following with great interest, especially your travels before cruise. Do I understand correctly that sometimes you have sent your large luggage ahead to the next hotel with a Japanese service?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Re the large luggage, we did send it ahead to our Kyoto hotel (from Tokyo).  But since we are only in our Yokohama hotel for one night, with little margin for error, we opted to drag our luggage along with us on the trains from Kyoto to Yokohama.  As a long time (over 50 years) very independent traveler, we have learned to carefully play the odds and have a Plan B, C, etc.  The desk clerk at our Tokyo hotel told us that the luggage shipping service (which is excellent) is not perfect and they will sometimes have luggage arrive 1 or even 2 days late.  It does not happen often, but in our case, it was not worth the risk.  

 

Today we did take the Hakari (bullet train) to Shin-Yokohama where we changed to the local JR Yokohama line to get into town.  The weather was awful with rain, high wind gusts, cold, and truly miserable.  We waited in a taxi queue (under cover) at the train station and finally got a taxi to take us to our hotel.  Our room is on the 63rd floor of the Royal Park Hotel (a real luxury hotel) and we are finally in a very large room (by western standards) with a fantastic view.  Our hotel is part of a huge city within a city complex so we can walk from our hotel into the Landmark shopping mall where there are some reasonably priced restaurants if one does not want to spend $250+ for a meal in this hotel. Given the horrible weather, we will not go outside until tomorrow morning when we grab a taxi over to the port.  At check-in, the very nice desk clerk ask us if we wanted to add breakfast to our account.  The idea of paying $35 per person for breakfast just rubs us the wrong way (we have previously mentioned this in another post), especially when we can easily walk to a Starbucks (in the connected shopping mall).  I do look forward to my eggs benedict onboard the "Westy" which, so far, does not involve any add-on fee :).

 

As frequent cruisers, we have learned to treasure that magic time when we are checked-in our pre-cruise hotel (close to the port) with all of our baggage and our health.  We have now reached that wonderful time when one can just think about a 42 day cruise with none of the anxiety that happens in travel mode.  The only feeling that is better is when one walks up the gangplank for embarkation.

 

This is my last post as an independent land traveler in Japan, and we now look forward to the cruise.  A majority of our ports will be DIY although we do have 3 private tours (done through the CC Roll Call boards) along with a few HAL Excursions needed to use our HIA credit.  We have yet to use all of our HIA credits, because we are wait listed on one of our desired excursions.  See you all on the ship 🙂

 

Hank

P.S,  One amusing tidbit.  From our 63rd floor hotel room we can see into a few other rooms (because of the angle of the building).  DW noticed a Japanese man wearing a mask while in his room!  While we have noticed some Japanese letting go of the masking thing, a big majority (especially in the  Greater Tokyo area continue to wear masks everywhere!  You can even find some folks sitting off by themselves in a restaurant (with nobody within 20 feet) wearing a mask and pulling it down every time they sip a drink or put food in their mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[shippmates]

I enjoyed your posting and your trip sounded amazing.  I am just now getting to travel in Europe so hope to be able to visit some of your cities.  Thanks for a neighbor in the New Cumberland/Mechanicsburg area.  Enjoy your cruise.

 

[GeezerCouple]

4 hours ago, Alphen said:

Following with great interest, especially your travels before cruise. Do I understand correctly that sometimes you have sent your large luggage ahead to the next hotel with a Japanese service?

 

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

A few years ago, we spent about 2 weeks in Japan, including some major cities, and also some relatively off the beaten track.

 

In all but one case, our large bags were sent ahead, the evening before, so we just kept and used our carry-on, and then brought that with us.

The one place where we didn't do that was for the two nights we spent at a Buddhist Monastery.  So we had the large bags sent to the *next* place, and just used our overnights for the stay.

 

The service (forgetting its name) has a logo that includes a cat carrying a kitten by the scruff of its neck, and we had glimpses of those small trucks almost everywhere if we bothered to look and notice.

 

SO convenient!

The only other place I remember having that luxury without special arrangements was when we took the scenice (Oh SO scenic!) train from Oslo to Bergen.  Our bags were waiting for us in the hotel in Bergen.  Nice.

 

GC

[anniegb]

41 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

A few years ago, we spent about 2 weeks in Japan, including some major cities, and also some relatively off the beaten track.

 

In all but one case, our large bags were sent ahead, the evening before, so we just kept and used our carry-on, and then brought that with us.

The one place where we didn't do that was for the two nights we spent at a Buddhist Monastery.  So we had the large bags sent to the *next* place, and just used our overnights for the stay.

 

The service (forgetting its name) has a logo that includes a cat carrying a kitten by the scruff of its neck, and we had glimpses of those small trucks almost everywhere if we bothered to look and notice.

 

SO convenient!

The only other place I remember having that luxury without special arrangements was when we took the scenice (Oh SO scenic!) train from Oslo to Bergen.  Our bags were waiting for us in the hotel in Bergen.  Nice.

 

GC

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

 

Takuhaibin service - 100% recommend.

 

 

[Sir PMP]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Re the large luggage, we did send it ahead to our Kyoto hotel (from Tokyo).  But since we are only in our Yokohama hotel for one night, with little margin for error, we opted to drag our luggage along with us on the trains from Kyoto to Yokohama.  As a long time (over 50 years) very independent traveler, we have learned to carefully play the odds and have a Plan B, C, etc.  The desk clerk at our Tokyo hotel told us that the luggage shipping service (which is excellent) is not perfect and they will sometimes have luggage arrive 1 or even 2 days late.  It does not happen often, but in our case, it was not worth the risk.  

 

Today we did take the Hakari (bullet train) to Shin-Yokohama where we changed to the local JR Yokohama line to get into town.  The weather was awful with rain, high wind gusts, cold, and truly miserable.  We waited in a taxi queue (under cover) at the train station and finally got a taxi to take us to our hotel.  Our room is on the 63rd floor of the Royal Park Hotel (a real luxury hotel) and we are finally in a very large room (by western standards) with a fantastic view.  Our hotel is part of a huge city within a city complex so we can walk from our hotel into the Landmark shopping mall where there are some reasonably priced restaurants if one does not want to spend $250+ for a meal in this hotel. Given the horrible weather, we will not go outside until tomorrow morning when we grab a taxi over to the port.  At check-in, the very nice desk clerk ask us if we wanted to add breakfast to our account.  The idea of paying $35 per person for breakfast just rubs us the wrong way (we have previously mentioned this in another post), especially when we can easily walk to a Starbucks (in the connected shopping mall).  I do look forward to my eggs benedict onboard the "Westy" which, so far, does not involve any add-on fee :).

 

As frequent cruisers, we have learned to treasure that magic time when we are checked-in our pre-cruise hotel (close to the port) with all of our baggage and our health.  We have now reached that wonderful time when one can just think about a 42 day cruise with none of the anxiety that happens in travel mode.  The only feeling that is better is when one walks up the gangplank for embarkation.

 

This is my last post as an independent land traveler in Japan, and we now look forward to the cruise.  A majority of our ports will be DIY although we do have 3 private tours (done through the CC Roll Call boards) along with a few HAL Excursions needed to use our HIA credit.  We have yet to use all of our HIA credits, because we are wait listed on one of our desired excursions.  See you all on the ship 🙂

 

Hank

P.S,  One amusing tidbit.  From our 63rd floor hotel room we can see into a few other rooms (because of the angle of the building).  DW noticed a Japanese man wearing a mask while in his room!  While we have noticed some Japanese letting go of the masking thing, a big majority (especially in the  Greater Tokyo area continue to wear masks everywhere!  You can even find some folks sitting off by themselves in a restaurant (with nobody within 20 feet) wearing a mask and pulling it down every time they sip a drink or put food in their mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been in there, there is an elevator to the top with great views of the ocean. You can see the embarkation pier. There is a large sailboat in front of the hotel.

[ontheweb]

Hank, is this an entire cruise or is at segments of a world cruise? What are some of the ports you and your Mrs. are especially looking forward to?

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Hank, is this an entire cruise or is at segments of a world cruise? What are some of the ports you and your Mrs. are especially looking forward to?

The world cruise is on the zuiderdam so I’ll go out on a limb to say it’s not that 😛.

[Sir PMP]

9 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Hank, is this an entire cruise or is at segments of a world cruise? What are some of the ports you and your Mrs. are especially looking forward to?

It's the Westerdam, doing Yokohama 28 days to Seattle  and Alaska from then on.

[Hlitner]

13 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Hank, is this an entire cruise or is at segments of a world cruise? What are some of the ports you and your Mrs. are especially looking forward to?

Not a world cruise.  The Westerdam is simply doing a series of Asian cruises that primarily focuses on Japan (along with some Korean and Taiwanese ports).  The series of cruises ends in April when the ship does a 14 day repositioning cruise from Yokohama across the northern pacific to Alaska and than down to Seattle.  Most of the sailings are 14 days with many passengers having strung together various combinations of back to backs.

 

For us, we looked forward to the entire trip.  In some ways I favored our pre-cruise 11 day trip where we split our time between Tokyo and Kyoto.  As to the cruise, I do look forward to going up to northern Japan (i.e. Aomori, Hakodate, etc) which is the part of Japan where I lived (for two years) when in the Air Force.  But the ship moves all around Japan which gives passengers a tremendous opportunity to vary their port days.  I think many passengers will find the two days in Osaka a highlight since it gives them access to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka.  With the turn around days being in Yokohama, it also gives us all easy access to Tokyo, Mt Fuji, and other places in the very populated region of Japan.

 

I should mention that this is a cruise that has essentially been postponed for 3 years.  Many of us were booked on a similar cruise in the spring of 2020 that was cancelled because of COVID.  The same thing happened to 2021 and 2022, and many of us kept rolling over our bookings to the following year.  

 

Hank

[loveapug]

Hoping you will continue to report on your trip! We are considering a 28 day cruise to Japan in 2025 (twice around the island)  on HAL and your reporting is extremely helpful in trying to think about planning, pre and post cruise travel, and your independent and HAL shore excursions.  We have not had much opportunity to try Japanese food and are also enjoying the reports about what to eat in each locale. Thank you.