Japan with Cunard

[Austcruiser84]

Hoping there may be some wisdom on the board with cruising Japan with Cunard.
 

I’m curious about the passenger demographics, kind of entertainment (similar to what I’m used to with Cunard or unique to region?), food (do love Japanese cuisine), quality of shore excursions (or best to organise myself? I have found shire excursions touch and go in quality) and the general experience and any advice people who have done such a cruise would have. 
 

Will be a first time in Japan! 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Austcruiser84

[godfreyb]

We were on the Singapore -Tokyo QE cruise and stayed on for the next round Japan cruise.  The changes were remarkable:

1. All new Japanese guests received flower arrangements in glass vases in their cabins - continuing cruisers got nothing.

2. All dining times were moved earlier by 30 minutes.

3. The buffet featured Japanese items every day, but no explanation as to what they were to the uninitiated.

4. Japanese speaking 'helpers' appeared in various parts of the ship, who somewhat resembled 'guards'!

5. Surprisingly, the dress code was relaxed for certain Japanese customers (jeans at dinner regularly appeared at dinner with no objection form the maitre'd in PG) which is surprising as most of the time the Japanese clients were well dressed

While we thoroughly enjoyed the round Japan part of our cruise, there was definitely a feeling that the continuing cruisers, of which there were quite a few, were second class cruisers on this leg.

[ClipperinSFO]

We too are regular TA Cunard passengers, experimenting next year with a QE 10 day cruise around Japan.  No idea what to expect in terms of dress code, food, vibe and fellow passengers.  I am assuming (hoping) there will be some nods to local culture and cuisine.

 

I have heard good things about the enrichment talks that focus on the ports and history of Japan - so eager for that high quality aspect of Cunard to be translated to a Japanese cruise.  

[alc13]

We did a circumnavigation cruise last spring on QE.  We didn't notice any difference in music, enrichment lectures (although these skewed towards gossipy entertainment and were less interesting than usual to me), or food (other than say, miso soup in the buffet) compared to the other Cunard cruises we've taken.  If we were treated differently from the Japanese guests, we weren't aware of it.  We tried shore excursions in a couple of ports and found them to be okay and possibly better than DIY; although the ports themselves were frankly not hugely interesting on our particular itinerary.  There was little in the way of Japanese culture or cuisine offered on board, including the enrichment lectures, sadly.  I'm sure you will all enjoy your cruises, even so.  It's a fascinating, beautiful country.

[ClipperinSFO]

Thanks for the encouraging insights @alc13.  What was the split of guest nationalities if you can remember?  

[alc13]

I didn't judge it at the time, but I think half or maybe the majority were from Japan.  Others were from Australia/New Zealand, USA, and elsewhere.  

[Austcruiser84]

20 hours ago, ClipperinSFO said:

We too are regular TA Cunard passengers, experimenting next year with a QE 10 day cruise around Japan.  No idea what to expect in terms of dress code, food, vibe and fellow passengers.  I am assuming (hoping) there will be some nods to local culture and cuisine.

 

I have heard good things about the enrichment talks that focus on the ports and history of Japan - so eager for that high quality aspect of Cunard to be translated to a Japanese cruise.  

Enrichment talks aligned with the country sounds great. Not that I expect Cunard to abandon its ways, though I do also hope for a few nods to Japanese cuisine. Worst case, I’ll get that ashore. 

[Austcruiser84]

21 hours ago, godfreyb said:

We were on the Singapore -Tokyo QE cruise and stayed on for the next round Japan cruise.  The changes were remarkable:

1. All new Japanese guests received flower arrangements in glass vases in their cabins - continuing cruisers got nothing.

2. All dining times were moved earlier by 30 minutes.

3. The buffet featured Japanese items every day, but no explanation as to what they were to the uninitiated.

4. Japanese speaking 'helpers' appeared in various parts of the ship, who somewhat resembled 'guards'!

5. Surprisingly, the dress code was relaxed for certain Japanese customers (jeans at dinner regularly appeared at dinner with no objection form the maitre'd in PG) which is surprising as most of the time the Japanese clients were well dressed

While we thoroughly enjoyed the round Japan part of our cruise, there was definitely a feeling that the continuing cruisers, of which there were quite a few, were second class cruisers on this leg.

I can live without the flower arrangement (as nice as that is 🙂). Sadly people don’t dress up anymore. I love it and will certainly bring my formal attire. Worst case, I’m better dressed than others. 
 

Curious what else made you feel second class (aside going PG rather than QG 😉)? 

[godfreyb]

It was the contrast between the first part of the cruise from Singapore to Yokahama and the sudden change for the Japan circumnavigation - it was clear that, unlike the first part of the cruise where all passengers were treated the same, on the second part, that there was a large group on board who were being given special treatment.  In particular, my wife and I are late diners and bringing forward the close of dinner service to 8:30 p.m., made us feel uncomfortable, even though I warned the maitre'd, that we would expect full service, even if we turned up at 8:29 p.m.

[exlondoner]

29 minutes ago, godfreyb said:

It was the contrast between the first part of the cruise from Singapore to Yokahama and the sudden change for the Japan circumnavigation - it was clear that, unlike the first part of the cruise where all passengers were treated the same, on the second part, that there was a large group on board who were being given special treatment.  In particular, my wife and I are late diners and bringing forward the close of dinner service to 8:30 p.m., made us feel uncomfortable, even though I warned the maitre'd, that we would expect full service, even if we turned up at 8:29 p.m.

I can see that putting it in that way may not necessarily have endeared you to them, but no doubt your phrasing was more anodyne. 🙂
 

You still don’t say, other than moving the time of dinner slightly, what the special treatment was.

[ClipperinSFO]

I am fully expecting the sartorial vibes/standards for a early an Spring cruise around Japan on QE to be different from our usual winter TA's on QM2, where there seems more reason to be more formally dressed every night almost.  Will seem slightly odd packing a dinner jacket for such a cruise, but here's hoping it it won't be out of place.

 

As an FYI we love the Cunard dress code, and are drawn to QM2 for that very reason, usually wearing some form of formal dress 5 out of the 7 nights, with the first and last nights excepted of course. As for a Japan cruise on QE it will probably just be in black tie the formal nights and jacket and tie (?) for the others.

 

 

[LittleFish1976]

On 11/5/2023 at 1:12 PM, Austcruiser84 said:

Hoping there may be some wisdom on the board with cruising Japan with Cunard.
 

I’m curious about the passenger demographics, kind of entertainment (similar to what I’m used to with Cunard or unique to region?), food (do love Japanese cuisine), quality of shore excursions (or best to organise myself? I have found shire excursions touch and go in quality) and the general experience and any advice people who have done such a cruise would have. 
 

Will be a first time in Japan! 

 

May I ask which voyage you're on? I'm sailing on Q415 and Q416 next year and would be happy to start a roll call where we can share research about the ports and the excursions Cunard will be offerring once they list them. From what I have seen so far, a few weeks ago, there were a lot of tours for Japanese speakers and possibly a few less for English speakers. It might be good to book early for them unless it seems clear that it's a port which you can discover for yourself. I've travelled once in Japan; the Japanese people are very welcoming and helpful but the language barrier is sometimes an issue. Good to read up beforehand as to local customs such as behaviour on public transport.

 

Perhaps we could even discuss this on the A/NZ board?

 

[rj59]

I think if you really love Japan and want to experience it well, you'd be better off with the varied itineraries on Diamond Princess, which is based in Japan and designed for the Japanese market.  So it visits things like the Nebuta Festival in August, which was one of my favorite memories when I lived there for 2 years. Instead of dealing with cultural resentments that seem to be apparent with traditional Cunard cruisers wanting others to conform to their standards, I think I'd rather be perhaps in the minority and adapt to the majority on a ship designed for Japan and that's likely to be majority Japanese. That means you're likely to get better food, better excursions (since it's their base), and more interesting cultural experiences, particularly tea drinking (just as on Cunard as an American I sat through a tea service and wondered what point of it was). 

[Victoria2]

rj59, I don't  know how extensive your travels with Cunard are, but 'cultural resentments' certainly don't figure in my travels or, I would imagine, the majority of  Cunard clients.

 

As for a Cunard afternoon tea, we don't bother but it gives great pleasure to many and that might well be 'the point'.

[alc13]

17 hours ago, ClipperinSFO said:

As for a Japan cruise on QE it will probably just be in black tie the formal nights and jacket and tie (?) for the others.

 

 

Perfect!  - including the tie.

[godfreyb]

On 11/6/2023 at 9:19 AM, exlondoner said:

I can see that putting it in that way may not necessarily have endeared you to them, but no doubt your phrasing was more anodyne. 🙂
 

You still don’t say, other than moving the time of dinner slightly, what the special treatment was.

As I recall, it was a number of things.  You diss my comment about moving the dining times, but it DOES make a difference when you close lunch in PG at 1:30 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. if you are returning from a half day tour, and then have to try to use the buffet, where half of it is now given over to Japanese food items.  (While my wife and I are happy to eat Japanese food, it was NOT what we wanted after returning from a half day tour) I also recall that some of the tours were Japanese speaking only, but when the tour desk realized how many non-Japanese speakers were booked for these tours, they first tried to dissuade us from going and then rushed to add English speaking guides.  

As for the person who made the comment about not needing the flower arrangements, if you had seen them you would have wanted one for your cabin!

[Victoria2]

the buffet, where half of it is now given over to Japanese food items. 

 

Oh yum. A whole holiday of Japanese styled foods.

Waitrose has become my second home due to their Japanese range of foods. Anything remotely Wagamama'ish would have me signed up in an instant.

Just shows how different we all are. 🙂

 

[exlondoner]

Yes, I can see the earlier finish to lunch is more inconvenient for those coming back from tours, but equally the earlier start is helpful for afternoon tours. So swings and roundabouts, I suppose. And similarly with an earlier breakfast enabling more people to avoid the Lido before tours. But this was presumably equally tiresome for all passengers, not just those who hadn’t recently boarded. As to the Japanese food in the Lido, by your own account there were lots of other items.

 

Isn’t it good they tried to get English speaking guides? So do you have an idea what proportion of the passengers were Japanese. Was it actually as many as half?

 

You had the dismal experience, compared to the first cruise and I am not dissing that, as you claim, though I’m not really sure what the word means, but to let it make you feel like second class citizens seems a real shame.

[alc13]

Diss -respecting.  

 

I'm also curious to hear @godfreyb's estimate of the proportion of Japanese passengers.  We were on the same cruise, I think.

[alc13]

On 11/5/2023 at 9:02 AM, godfreyb said:

All new Japanese guests received flower arrangements in glass vases in their cabins - continuing cruisers got nothing.

I've been wondering about this.  Could the flowers have been gifts from whoever booked their travel?  Did newly arriving non-Japanese passengers receive flowers?  

 

If the flowers were from Cunard, my guess is the additional cost was rolled into the fares.  

[D&N]

6 hours ago, godfreyb said:

As for the person who made the comment about not needing the flower arrangements, if you had seen them you would have wanted one for your cabin!

I know I'll be in the minority here, but I just think they are a waste of space. We never have any at home as the cats are likely to be too interested in them. I'm happy for them to remain in gardens or public areas. I'd probably place them under the bed to get them out of our way, along with the coffee machine and kettle that we don't use. We go to a lounge if we want tea, coffee or drinks.

[Austcruiser84]

On 11/7/2023 at 2:09 PM, rj59 said:

I think if you really love Japan and want to experience it well, you'd be better off with the varied itineraries on Diamond Princess, which is based in Japan and designed for the Japanese market.  So it visits things like the Nebuta Festival in August, which was one of my favorite memories when I lived there for 2 years. Instead of dealing with cultural resentments that seem to be apparent with traditional Cunard cruisers wanting others to conform to their standards, I think I'd rather be perhaps in the minority and adapt to the majority on a ship designed for Japan and that's likely to be majority Japanese. That means you're likely to get better food, better excursions (since it's their base), and more interesting cultural experiences, particularly tea drinking (just as on Cunard as an American I sat through a tea service and wondered what point of it was). 

Having sailed on the Diamond I don’t feel it fits my tastes. Yes, perhaps a more authentic Japanese experience (even having an onboard onsen) but the ship is not for me. Much prefer Cunard and looking forward to this trip, even if it means I must search for culture myself. 

[godfreyb]

22 hours ago, exlondoner said:

Yes, I can see the earlier finish to lunch is more inconvenient for those coming back from tours, but equally the earlier start is helpful for afternoon tours. So swings and roundabouts, I suppose. And similarly with an earlier breakfast enabling more people to avoid the Lido before tours. But this was presumably equally tiresome for all passengers, not just those who hadn’t recently boarded. As to the Japanese food in the Lido, by your own account there were lots of other items.

 

Isn’t it good they tried to get English speaking guides? So do you have an idea what proportion of the passengers were Japanese. Was it actually as many as half?

 

You had the dismal experience, compared to the first cruise and I am not dissing that, as you claim, though I’m not really sure what the word means, but to let it make you feel like second class citizens seems a real shame.

1. It was good that they managed to get English speaking guides - my point was the chaos generated by the tour office in not having them in the first place.

2. We are not going to agree on the change in dining room times.

3.I estimate that the Japanese clientele on this cruise to be 50+%

4. You seem to ignore my comment that we thoroughly enjoyed the round Japan part of the cruise, which we did.  My comments refer to some annoying changes that Cunard made that was generally felt by our travelling companions from the previous sector.  Perhaps my comments will make more sense if I point out, as many of the passengers who we bumped into on the round Japan sector who were on the previous sector did, that the 25 day cruise from Singapore to Tokyo and around Japan, was marketed to us as ONE cruise and not two cruises. Non-grills passengers seemed to be more annoyed as it appeared to affect dining arrangements (not sure which as we were in PG which, apart from changed dining times, was not affected).

5. The Lido did not have 'lots of other items'.  In fact, arriving at 2 p.m. you could see lots of empty serving dishes, some dried out meat roast, and the sandwich area being closed down in favor of setting up for afternoon tea.  After two visits like this, we opted for room service or the Pool Grill (and as it was not a sunny day, having to get the Maitre'd to get the short order cook out of his hiding place).  Not what you would call a 'luxury dining experience'.  And while we are on the subject, one of our travelling companions we met on board liked to have a late drink after the theatre in Cafe Corinthia, supposedly open to 11 p.m.  After finding it closed, they made inquiries and the manager was shocked to find out that the staff had just closed early - it was open to 11 p.m, every night after that.

The more you try to belittle my comments, the more you jog my memory.........

[exlondoner]

2 hours ago, godfreyb said:

1. It was good that they managed to get English speaking guides - my point was the chaos generated by the tour office in not having them in the first place.

2. We are not going to agree on the change in dining room times.

3.I estimate that the Japanese clientele on this cruise to be 50+%

4. You seem to ignore my comment that we thoroughly enjoyed the round Japan part of the cruise, which we did.  My comments refer to some annoying changes that Cunard made that was generally felt by our travelling companions from the previous sector.  Perhaps my comments will make more sense if I point out, as many of the passengers who we bumped into on the round Japan sector who were on the previous sector did, that the 25 day cruise from Singapore to Tokyo and around Japan, was marketed to us as ONE cruise and not two cruises. Non-grills passengers seemed to be more annoyed as it appeared to affect dining arrangements (not sure which as we were in PG which, apart from changed dining times, was not affected).

5. The Lido did not have 'lots of other items'.  In fact, arriving at 2 p.m. you could see lots of empty serving dishes, some dried out meat roast, and the sandwich area being closed down in favor of setting up for afternoon tea.  After two visits like this, we opted for room service or the Pool Grill (and as it was not a sunny day, having to get the Maitre'd to get the short order cook out of his hiding place).  Not what you would call a 'luxury dining experience'.  And while we are on the subject, one of our travelling companions we met on board liked to have a late drink after the theatre in Cafe Corinthia, supposedly open to 11 p.m.  After finding it closed, they made inquiries and the manager was shocked to find out that the staff had just closed early - it was open to 11 p.m, every night after that.

The more you try to belittle my comments, the more you jog my memory.........

 

It is clearly all a matter of perception, as with the meal times. I thought I was trying to be positive and even sympathetic, you felt I was belittling your comments.  Just out of interest did they also bring tea forward half an hour?

[godfreyb]

Not in PG, but the Lido was all ready to go by 3 p.m.  Initially, as we arrived too late for lunch in PG on a half day tour, we thought that we would just substitute tea at 3 p.m. instead, but all those carbs didn't work for us.  As an aside, the lack of atmosphere when they serve tea in PG instead of the Grills Lounge is not an encouragement to go!