Japan Intensive Live -Take 2

[uktog]

Hiroshima

 

Onboard today was White Night. I’ve posted more about it on Anyone onboard. It was ok, not the spectacle of the past and the band whilst we were eating was far too loud. Conversations were impossible which spoils the night. 
 

The Cruise director had made it very clear in the night before conversations, and also in the insider that white was not an absolute requirement and they wanted everyone to come. It was lovely that those who had not brought white, and there were quite a lot of them, and those with only had a small item of white felt able to come. There were guests in all white, but probably due to the luggage restrictions when you are away for nearly 3 weeks less than on other trips. 

 

For those doing Hiroshima on their own, there was a ship shuttle that left guests near the Peace Park, so it was possible to do that on your own. Yesterday, there were no long queues to enter the museum, though I believe on other days there are, and our guide said yesterday it was quite unusual.

 

Shore Excursion 

 

We opted to be driven around again, and had the nine hour excursion, which went to both the sites in Hiroshima, and Miyajima 

 

We visited Hiroshima first, walking from the peace dome

through the park, stopping at memorials,

 

 

 

and then having an hour in the peace museum  which gives you just enough time to walk through the main exhibits so if your interest is more extensive, you probably are going to have to do this on your own. What struck us was the absolute silence as everybody walked through the museum exhibits, and how very few people even felt able to take photos or previously we saw no one take selfies anywhere in the park

 

It was a very powerful display, and it had hidden none of the truth which could of course upset others. 
 

Our trip went to Hiroshima first and the island second- you had no way of knowing what your bus would do. Psychologically that worked better for me though those who went island first had a higher tide and water surrounding the shrine. It’s the luck of the draw. 

 

We drove to lunch, which was on a seafront hotel, from which you could just see the Tori gates on the island in the distance. Lunch was a Japanese Bento experience which we really enjoyed.

It was clearly advertised it would be a Japanese lunch and those who who not happy with the lunch - Yes there were some - need to learn to read the guidance before booking.

 

After, we headed to the island on a 10 minute ferry and then then we were walked by the guide all the way round to the shrine,

 

and of course the gates outside it

meeting the local deer regularly on the way.  

After the shrine, we were given over an hour to make our way back to the ferry which allowed you to either to go and visit other little shines

or rivers

 

on the island or to wander through the shopping street  which were fascinating with the different snacks that were being sold anything from rather unusual ice creams to deep fried oysters

We arrived back at the ship exactly 8 hours later - Japanese timing of excursions is very precise and where able to get ready quickly ask white night was starting at six

 

It was an extensive 16000 step day,  we did feel we had experienced some contrasting activities between the horror of war and peace of temples

[Bloodaxe]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:18 PM, Anchor Light said:

Yes, he's amazing. It should be noted that he was trained by the 'old guard' who unfortunately have moved on.

 

Totally agree, Many years ago he actually told us how much he had learned from Philip his mentor.

Edited April 13 by Bloodaxe

[Anchor Light]

5 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Totally agree, Many years ago he actually told us how much he had learned from Philip his mentor.

Yes, that was evident.  When I mentioned "trained by", I was thinking more along the lines of in the Azamara culture but uktog makes valid points as well.

[uktog]

Takimatsu

 

We had a beautiful morning sailing the Inland Japan Sea under the key bridges (some before dawn)

and passing islands

arriving to a warm welcome at lunch time

 

. Takimatsu is a lovely port as you can see from this balcony shot 

and many enjoyed visiting the bonsai gardens nearby. 
 

In planning our excursions I wanted us to enjoy a range of experiences so we went to a Noodle School followed by a visit to Kotohira temple. Ok it said strenuous we’ve been cracking strenuous but this was something else

 

The noodle school is in Kagawaken about an hour from the port. Two highly energetic (and loud) ladies shout directions in Japanese. It was a bit chaotic because they interrupt the guides interpretation so no one really knew what they were doing but it was fun. 

A key part of the process was placing the dough in poly bags and stamping on it !

 

After we had to cook and eat our efforts!

The little town was so lovely non touristy

would have been a better trip if we had longer there. 
 

The temple was challenging. After 200 steps and reaching this pretty temple we gave up. 

 

 

 

These final 150 stairs up and up beat us. 
 

Those who made said it wasn’t that special but maybe we are all temples out. We’ve all given feedback - noodle school plus time in the town would be a far better experience. Indeed only 9/17 even got on the bus to go to the temple. 
 

We got back at 1835 (which messed up some dinner reservations) to a beautiful Sunset snapped from the gangway. 

We enjoyed our trip but feel it needs reworked before we would recommend it 

[uktog]

Kobe Day 1

It’s hard with an overnight to know how much to try to do. Kyoto is a 90 minute drive (or 40 minute Shinkansen) from the port. 
We did the 10 hour tour to Arashiysma, the Golden Pavillion and Fushima Inari shrine (10000 tori gates though you only go through 1000). It goes by bus each way and was the only way we could find to see these three places. I wish Azamara had charged more, used the Shinkansen and allowed a little more time at each spot. 
The problem was in each spot we stopped nearly half the time was spent walking from parking lots to the actual site. 

It was a Sunday so super crowded though we were ok with that - some weren’t 
As is often our challenge we were on the bus with the less competent guide. Ours was incapable of giving clear instructions on where/when to meet - thank goodness our bus had a ships escort!!

 

Anyway despite the guiding chaos we achieved our aim of seeing the three amazing sites

 

The bamboo forest 

 

 

The Golden Pavilion 

 

The tori gates 

 

 

And shrines 

[anniegb]

Very impressed that you managed to see all 3 sites in a 10 hour shorex.

With my experience of the Kyoto local rail network and the Shikansen system, that would have been very difficult to achieve going by rail.

Japanese guides should come with an advance notice, their walking speed is very fast.

[uktog]

Kobe Day 2

 

This was a half day in port. Again shuttles were provided downtown but many people either stayed onboard or went a short stroll around the harbour area. 
And then there were those with no sense and decided to max out sightseeing and head on the Best of Osaka tour which left at 0745. Well you’re possibly only here once etc!  We were on one of the four buses of early rising lunatics 😃

 

Our first stop was at Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka. This is a shrine part of which dates back nearly 2000 years and has 2 million worshippers every year particularly at the New Year time.  

Sailors and those associated with the sea including ship builders come here and companies make offerings for which flags are placed each month to offer their prayers to the gods for safe passage and prosperity in the coming period. 

The shrine is incredibly tranquil after the busyness of the previous day and we were very lucky to be on a bus with an excellent guide  - she was a former school teacher and she told us that she would be checking our understanding of places to meet and times as she would her school class. It really worked very well. She was also a fount of fantastic knowledge.

 

 

 

One hint that nearly caught people out later at the castle the guide did make it clear what tree we were to meet and on the way in that seemed obvious but on the way back there were an awful lot of similar looking trees. So suggest a quick pic of the immediate surroundings might calm nerves! 
 

After enjoying time at the shrine on our own in the peace after thr  initial introduction to all the main parts we headed off to Osaka Castle

This is of course we entered the parking lot as usual 15 to 20 minutes walking from the castle and encountered the crowds though not as bad as the previous day they were still extensive.  
 

The castle is a restoration of an original castle as always they managed to burn down the previous versions as we have frequently discovered throughout Japan  

 

The most significant artefacts are on two floors where you can’t take photos but what is great for pictures is the view from the top of the castle over the Osaka area but it is an 8 storey climb. 

 

The second type of cherry blossoms are coming to bloom and they made for some lovely photo opportunities

 

We returned to the ship just before sailing traffic was really bad, but of course it was no problem. The ship would wait.  
 

The barbecue was in full swing when we got back very crowded and very noisy. The band was far too loud and unfortunately completely drowned out the beautiful brass band that had come to play to send us off. That was a very much a fail by Azamara.  
 

We had a leisurely afternoon the loyalty event which was very well attended and a pleasant evening.  We really enjoyed the evening evening entertainment creweoke which featured members of the crew performing really well one lady in particular should be given a slot in the Den in my view. 

[crzrr]

Thanks for your reviews.  Was the wonderful lady singer named Rumbi?  She is fabulous!

[uktog]

17 minutes ago, crzrr said:

Thanks for your reviews.  Was the wonderful lady singer named Rumbi?  She is fabulous!

She’s the hostess in the Speciality restaurant if that’s who you’re thinking of 

[crzrr]

29 minutes ago, uktog said:

She’s the hostess in the Speciality restaurant if that’s who you’re thinking of 

Yes, that's Rumbi!  So nice and what a beautiful voice.

[takemewithyou]

@uktog Have you run into Sheldon the Sommelier? 
I have not seen him since 2017 on Journey to NZ.  
I had heard he was still Azamara…….have you run across him on Journey?

[uktog]

30 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

@uktog Have you run into Sheldon the Sommelier? 
I have not seen him since 2017 on Journey to NZ.  
I had heard he was still Azamara…….have you run across him on Journey?

Sadly no. Manoj seems to be the lead sommelier just now

[takemewithyou]

7 minutes ago, uktog said:

Sadly no. Manoj seems to be the lead sommelier just now

I think he is still around.  Our paths don’t seem to cross!  I think he was possibly on Pursuit for awhile, but not last June when I was there.

Thanks for your response.

[uktog]

Shimizu was an interesting little town again an opportunity to see a real Japanese fishing town. 

Many made attempts to try and see Mount Fuji on ships excursions, but it was clear from sailing in today that it was not going to be the iconic picture day. I know the Cruise before I did have the iconic picture day, but then they had a lot more bad weather elsewhere than we had and it’s the price to pay for the many good days we’ve had.  
 

We had identified that there was a simple little ferry that cruises around the port with a 40 minute cruise costing ¥1500 but we even abandoned that idea when the clouds rolled down Fuji almost as soon as we arrived,
 

Instead, we took the shuttle which dropped you off at the main station and walked over the walkway to the fish market -again the helpful locals made sure we were pointing in the right direction and as always the station overpass was absolutely immaculate.

 

I think it’s going to be a real culture shock when we get home and start seeing litter and graffiti.  I can’t really explain how clean you have to experience it to it. Two weeks in and we’ve never seen one piece. 
 

The market had so many different little restaurants serving fresh fish and it was clear that local people stopped for a snack whenever they wished  

Some of the restaurants had terminals that you ordered your seat and the food was brought to you

 

The stall holders were so welcoming though spoke little English so google translate was a must.

 

We did get the opportunity to try the local delicacy Sakura prawns which are so small so sweet and so fresh you do not even cook them  

 

We had an afternoon on the ship and also  enjoyed a quiet evening  

They experimented with the timings on the ship moving the ABBA night to 2015 in the Cabaret lounge but unfortunately most of us were not out of dinner until later so could not enjoy it. It was over by 9 o’clock it was not the disco but the band and again many had to leave the cabaret  because the band were too loud so not a huge success in our view.  
 

The Assistant CD was doing her show in the living room at 9:30 but we were so tired we decided to have an early night and be ready to enjoy Tokyo again.

 

Unfortunately more and more people are coughing on board. It is certainly not an allergic reaction. It’s a deep rattling mucus chesty cough and those who have it are showing no regard for others - very rarely even wearing a mask to give some protection to others.  It’s obvious who has got it and I do feel a little bit more should be being done directing these people to distance themselves and protect others and one critical direction should be to avoid travelling on the shuttle bus or shore excursions.  I don’t think Azamara has done enough to limit the spread of these chest infections onboard.We saw crew working in state rooms and also in food service area with the same hacking cough which  really surprised us. 

[anniegb]

Many thanks for all your reports.

Litter is rare as it is culturally unacceptable to eat food on local transport and in public streets. 

May I enquire what was your favourite port of call?

[uktog]

Azamara provided a shuttle bus to Ginza 6 shopping mall every 30 minutes which worked extremely well for those who wish to explore Tokyo independently.

Port authorities also provided a shuttle to the nearby area, including one that toured a range of parks locally. 

I just love the quirkiness of little things that have fascinated me in Japan, including the very small fire snf police stations at Ginza

 

and the range of unusual products for sale in shops

Today we disembark for two days, independent travelling before going home  It has been a really good cruise showing what Azamara does best destination immersion. 

 

Having been on quest only a month previously the inconsistency of standards between the two ships was remarkable. Something that the officers we spoke with were well aware off -  Journey food wise was far better than Quest and although where a few trainees who needed further guidance, the general level of service was also much higher.  
 

The hotel director Ryzard is returning to Quest mid contract in May having been over to support the Japan programme and he himself has identified how far ahead journey was from quest.   In conversation in relation to the food side of the operations he was quick to highlight how good the executive chef Dhani is and the significance difference his hands on the approach to overseeing the galley makes

 

It’s a very positive experience for us, but until we see consistency, we still have a little bit nervous about the future. Yes we saw small cutbacks, some more annoying than others but most of all we now feel without new ships and space layouts that work for today’s passengers Azamara are going to face more and more challenges. That said they nail destination immersion something they should really focus on 

[uktog]

7 hours ago, anniegb said:

Many thanks for all your reports.

Litter is rare as it is culturally unacceptable to eat food on local transport and in public streets. 

May I enquire what was your favourite port of call?

It’s so hard to say. They were all so different in their own way. And some like Kanazawa got extra points because they had the best blossom, Niigata had the sweetest pier staff and was quieter. Hiroshima was  busy but thought provoking Kobe/Kyoto was very hectic but three iconic sights. I just can’t pick 

[takemewithyou]

Thanks for all your reports.

[Grandma Cruising]

Thank you for your great posts.

[uktog]

We are now in The Intercontinental Strings. A lovely hotel right by Shinigawa station which has the fast line to HND the Shinkansen and excellent local connections eg 12 minutes to Shibuya Crossing for less than £1

It’s the same rating as the New Otani that Azamara used for the pre cruise extension, its room rates on Expedia are lower than the Otani but this is a far better more personal experience. Azamara sometimes uses here. I think our pre cruise would have been 100 times better if they had for us 

Weve just braved the crossing and some back streets and didn’t get lost! 

We did however resist buying outfits for our sons new kittens. We’ve seen dogs dressed up but never cats!

 

Edited April 18 by uktog

[uktog]

Unfortunately we have the curse of Azamara IT.  Our surveys have arrived - neither survey will allow us to progress beyond Page 1 on any device.

We had many positive things we wished to say and in particular there were four excellent staff members (two on first contracts) we wanted to highlight.

After so many positives and green shoots of recovery onboard they go back to the old ways! 

[Jay19]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Unfortunately we have the curse of Azamara IT.  Our surveys have arrived - neither survey will allow us to progress beyond Page 1 on any device.

We had many positive things we wished to say and in particular there were four excellent staff members (two on first contracts) we wanted to highlight.

After so many positives and green shoots of recovery onboard they go back to the old ways! 

Sorry to hear that.  We got our survey for the same cruise and were able to complete it with no problems.  We had a wonderful time, thought the ship, crew and itinerary were all great.  We did some different tours to you, so if you don’t mind I thought I would add some notes about them when we get home just to give a few more perspectives of other options for some ports.

[uktog]

21 minutes ago, Jay19 said:

Sorry to hear that.  We got our survey for the same cruise and were able to complete it with no problems.  We had a wonderful time, thought the ship, crew and itinerary were all great.  We did some different tours to you, so if you don’t mind I thought I would add some notes about them when we get home just to give a few more perspectives of other options for some ports.

That would be an excellent idea. Create a go to source for next years guests. I so want to do the survey so much was 10/10

Our experience has exceeded expectations both ashore and onboard though the latter was from quite a low base! 

[nonrev1]

It was so nice to see your cruise reviews and pictures.  We were on the same cruise last year (also posted along the way.  Your pictures and highlights brought back some great memories.  

[excitedofharpenden]

On 4/16/2024 at 2:12 AM, takemewithyou said:

@uktog Have you run into Sheldon the Sommelier? 
I have not seen him since 2017 on Journey to NZ.  
I had heard he was still Azamara…….have you run across him on Journey?

I saw Sheldon on Quest last Autumn. He's a great guy!

 

Phil 

Edited April 19 by excitedofharpenden