MSC Cruise - Ishigaki, Keelung (Taipei) and Miyako

[RonanandAlex]

Hey! I have had a look online but there does not seem much "Cruise" info around the above cruise ports of call. 

 

Ishigaki - Any recommendations on what you have done or would do? Possibly looking at renting a car. 

 

Keelung - Due to the distance to taipei, I am going to book into a Cruise tour if they do them. 

 

Miyako - Any recommendations on what you have done or would do? Possibly looking at renting a car.

 

Plus any recommendations for Okinawa we have a few days there before the cruise! 

 

Thanks for any help!

[Yehootu]

On 6/25/2024 at 6:25 AM, RonanandAlex said:

Hey! I have had a look online but there does not seem much "Cruise" info around the above cruise ports of call. 

 

Ishigaki - Any recommendations on what you have done or would do? Possibly looking at renting a car. 

 

Keelung - Due to the distance to taipei, I am going to book into a Cruise tour if they do them. 

 

Miyako - Any recommendations on what you have done or would do? Possibly looking at renting a car.

 

Plus any recommendations for Okinawa we have a few days there before the cruise! 

 

Thanks for any help!

We will be on a different cruise, but in Keelung we will be going to Jiufen by taxi or bus. Check Trip Advisor for more info on these Asian ports.

[ccheng6401]

Have you returned? I am taking the exact same cruise in Dec. I booked a rental car in Miyako but not sure what to do in Ishigaki. What did you end up doing in Ishigaki?

[edinburgher]

On 6/25/2024 at 2:25 PM, RonanandAlex said:

Keelung - Due to the distance to taipei, I am going to book into a Cruise tour if they do them. 

I can only comment on Keelung.  We went by local train to Taipei and it was easy to do.  We could see the train station from our docking location and it took only a few minutes to walk to it. Bought our return tickets and boarded the next train.  From memory they ran around every 30 minutes or so and journey time was (I think) more than 30 minutes but less than an hour.

I expect you could find that info online.

 

Once in Taipei we used a mix of public transport and walking to visit the sights of interest to us before returning to Keelung by train.

 

Before arriving there we had to carefully plan our time in the city and how to travel between our chosen sights as we had no local language knowledge!😁but having done that, once there we had no issues at all and everything went to plan. We included the Longshan Temple, the National Palace Museum and the Memorial Hall, and enjoyed strolling the routes between sights, looking at shops, traffic etc. Some on our ROLL CALL arranged a private tour, something you mght want to consider, and for a private tour, it was very reasonably priced, but we didn't have an interest in some of the sights they would visit and decided to DIY. There is an MRT station just outside the temple and as that was the last sight on our agenda weused that to return to the the station for Keelung trains.

 

The only concern we had was our train tickes. At  Keelung train station we had asked for 2 return tickets and had been given 2 tickets. This was good, but when we calculated the price we paid, it was so incredibly low that we doubted they were for two persons with a return for each.  We thought we maybe had either two one way tickets or had one return for one person so we stressed a little about them being inspected but nobody checked..The cost really was incredibly low,  so low that we really didn't believe it could be accurate.

[monkey@cruise]

Keelung to Taipei train runs every 20 min, travel time 44min, fare is TWD $41  (US $1.30)

Ticket vending machines support English language.
From Taipei train station (TRA), take south exit to Taipei metro station, purchase a metro unlimited ride day pass for TWD $150 (US 4.70), station staffs understand English. Most station and tourist area signages and maps are in Chinese and English. 

 

 

 

[edinburgher]

16 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

are is TWD $41  (US $1.30)

Ticket vending machines support English language.

Thank you for adding that info.

$1-30pp each way!!!

Now members reading this will understand why we doubted the validity of our tickets  for two adults return to Taipei. At that time we probably paid less that $5 for the two of us, although we did not have the advantage of ticket vending machines, instead having to buy them from a person at a ticket window and that meant communication.😉

 

It was nonetheless easy to do as we did and I would encourage others to consider doing the same or similar. It only requires some pre trip research/homework.

 

In Taipei in addition to the sights mentioned above, we also spent almost an hour in the biggest souvenir shop we ever saw anywhere in the world.  We came across it by chance when walking past not long after exiting Taipei train station,  and went in as the storefront indicated it was something to do with the Government Cultural Dept.  It was on at least 3 levels, perhaps four or more and sold everything from cheap and cheerful mass produced,  to hand crafted, to high end luxury items.

Edited August 18 by edinburgher

[Arubamoose]

On 8/17/2024 at 1:39 PM, monkey@cruise said:

Keelung to Taipei train runs every 20 min, travel time 44min, fare is TWD $41  (US $1.30)

Ticket vending machines support English language.
From Taipei train station (TRA), take south exit to Taipei metro station, purchase a metro unlimited ride day pass for TWD $150 (US 4.70), station staffs understand English. Most station and tourist area signages and maps are in Chinese and English. 

 

 

 

Again - Monkey@cruise - you are a font of info!!  Thanks!

 

Question???  Do the ticket machines take credit cards or do you need Taiwan currency?

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, Arubamoose said:

 

Again - Monkey@cruise - you are a font of info!!  Thanks!

 

Question???  Do the ticket machines take credit cards or do you need Taiwan currency?

Any non-reserved tickets (for any train going today only) is cash-only.  Ticket machine have English and take cash only. For non-reserved tickets, you’ll notice there’s no time on the ticket. That’s because it can be used for any local train to that destination on the day you purchased it.

 

[ccheng6401]

On 8/18/2024 at 2:47 AM, edinburgher said:

Thank you for adding that info.

$1-30pp each way!!!

Now members reading this will understand why we doubted the validity of our tickets  for two adults return to Taipei. At that time we probably paid less that $5 for the two of us, although we did not have the advantage of ticket vending machines, instead having to buy them from a person at a ticket window and that meant communication.😉

 

It was nonetheless easy to do as we did and I would encourage others to consider doing the same or similar. It only requires some pre trip research/homework.

 

In Taipei in addition to the sights mentioned above, we also spent almost an hour in the biggest souvenir shop we ever saw anywhere in the world.  We came across it by chance when walking past not long after exiting Taipei train station,  and went in as the storefront indicated it was something to do with the Government Cultural Dept.  It was on at least 3 levels, perhaps four or more and sold everything from cheap and cheerful mass produced,  to hand crafted, to high end luxury items.

Keelung is not that far from Taipei so most of the trains in between are commuter trains and they stop at every station no matter large or small. The commuter trains take about 45min and the cost is NTD41(1.28USD) for adult and NTD21(USD0.66) for senior (65+). 

 

You don't have to ride all the way to Taipei Main Station. You can get off early at Nangang to board Blueline (station BL22) or Songshan to board Greenline (Station G19) to connect to the Taipei Metro system (called MRT) if it saves you time. Your train ticket will even be cheaper because you get off early. However, the train is actually cheaper than MRT but both are very affordable. You don't really need to consider your transportation costs just plan for what makes sense to you. See the MRT map.

https://www.metro.taipei/cp.aspx?n=91974F2B13D997F1

 

Due to the bad traffic, Uber or taxi probably won't get you to where you want to be faster in Taipei. 

Station G10/R08  Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (Exit#1) and Nanmen Traditional Market (Exit #2)

Station R03 - Taipei 101 building

Staiton BL10 - Longshan Temple

Station BL13 - Shando Temple

 

The majority of the stations are connect to large department stores or shopping malls. Taipei Main Station is a combinaiton of 3 rail systems including highspeed rail, regular rail, and MRT.  The station itself is also a large mall.  

Edited August 19 by ccheng6401

[edinburgher]

17 hours ago, ccheng6401 said:

You don't have to ride all the way to Taipei Main Station. You can get off early at Nangang to board Blueline (station BL22) or Songshan to board Greenline (Station G19) to connect to the Taipei Metro system (called MRT) if it saves you time. Your train ticket will even be cheaper because you get off early. However, the train is actually cheaper than MRT but both are very affordable. You don't really need to consider your transportation costs just plan for what makes sense to you. See the MRT map.

https://www.metro.taipei/cp.aspx?n=91974F2B13D997F1

Thank you for all of this info.  Although it is most unlikely we ourselves will visit a second time, hopefully others on a first visit (such as OP RonanandAlex) will be encouraged to give independent sightseeing a try as it went better than we had expected due to us having done our homework before leaving home, but you have made it even easier for them.😀

[monkey@cruise]

21 hours ago, ccheng6401 said:

Keelung is not that far from Taipei so most of the trains in between are commuter trains and they stop at every station no matter large or small. The commuter trains take about 45min and the cost is NTD41(1.28USD) for adult and NTD21(USD0.66) for senior (65+). 

 

You don't have to ride all the way to Taipei Main Station. You can get off early at Nangang to board Blueline (station BL22) or Songshan to board Greenline (Station G19) to connect to the Taipei Metro system (called MRT) if it saves you time. Your train ticket will even be cheaper because you get off early. However, the train is actually cheaper than MRT but both are very affordable. You don't really need to consider your transportation costs just plan for what makes sense to you. See the MRT map.

https://www.metro.taipei/cp.aspx?n=91974F2B13D997F1

 

Due to the bad traffic, Uber or taxi probably won't get you to where you want to be faster in Taipei. 

Station G10/R08  Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (Exit#1) and Nanmen Traditional Market (Exit #2)

Station R03 - Taipei 101 building

Staiton BL10 - Longshan Temple

Station BL13 - Shando Temple

 

The majority of the stations are connect to large department stores or shopping malls. Taipei Main Station is a combinaiton of 3 rail systems including highspeed rail, regular rail, and MRT.  The station itself is also a large mall.  

Foreign seniors who have reached the age of 65 and hold a ROC (Taiwan) Resident Certificate can enjoy the senior discount. 

Train has less stops, If going to Longshan temple, only 5 min, 2 metro stops from Taipei Main, but 25 min, 12 metro stops from Nangang.

If you plan to visit Xinyi District and Songshan District, make sense getting off at Nangang and Songshan and save TWD $13 train fare.

Edited August 20 by monkey@cruise