Best of Japan - Pre cruise package stay

[shudach]

I love this forum.  I always get such great advice.  I just booked today on the Best of Japan - 12 day on Millennium for 9/24/24.  I noticed that they do offer a 2 night pre cruise city stay.  I was wondering if anyone did a Celebrity stay in Tokyo?  Was it worth it?  About how much and does it include excursions and dinner?  Any other information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[jelayne]

We did a pre cruise stay a few years ago and it did not include dinner or an excursion.  The price was at least 2x more than if we had booked a hotel and a transfer on our own.

 

[shudach]

thanks.  I was afraid of that.  When I called the excursion desk today, she said that they didn't have anything yet for Sept. 24, but said it may cost $2-3,000 per person.  Which I thought is crazy for 2 nights!!

[jelayne]

You can look at Tours By Locals and arrange a couple of tours for you stay, probably including a transfer to the ship and get some free advice on a hotel for less than the price you were given.

[shudach]

That's a great idea.  I did that when we went to Sydney, and it worked out great. 

[Boatharbour]

The precruise packages are overpriced. We booked our own hotel in Tokyo and used Tours by Locals and Viator for excursions, Check your roll call too. Ours was a very active one and we were able to arrange transfers to the ship with other passengers. Fabulous cruise.

[D. B.]

Book your own hotels.

we did it that way Pre cruise this last April and stay outside is downtown Tokyo.

the Metro system is so good you can get anywhere fast.

lots of day trips available with online offerings.

We loved our 6 days exploring Japan Pre-cruise!

[smtcan]

Book your own pre cruise stay.  We found Tokyo very easy to navigate on our own using public transport.  Cruise line pre and post stays never seem to represent good value because they are priced per person while hotels are priced per room.  Be prepared for very small rooms in Japanese hotels, and I am not referring to capsule hotels.  TripAdvisor gives room sizes as well as hotel names in local language, very handy to print and show to taxi drivers.

[sanger727]

We did a 2 or 3 day stay in Tokyo on our own ahead of a group tour. There are plenty of hotel rooms and options to book local tours on your own. We also got a Japan guidebook and got around our own using the subway system there. It's a little intimidating at first, but its easy to use.