Live(ish) Millennium Japan 19th Aug review

[villauk]

I haven’t commented much on the food because there are endless posts of the menus and we all have different tastes. However, we’ve lucked out obtaining the same waitstaff most evenings (only missed one night) and they have been amazing. I only mentioned once about having extra steamed vegetables on our table and they have brought a selection every evening. 
 

[villauk]

Second Sea Day

 

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about our first experience at the Elite breakfast. We gave our order and waited and waited. The order was wrong when it did arrive, and after we’d finished they eventually brought our teas and coffees. We don’t mind waiting in the least if everything arrives as ordered, and it’s not as though there is a wide selection to choose from. We were virtually leaving when my DH’s juice arrived! The Captain’s Club Concierge came across to ask us if everything had been okay. We explained that the food was fine, but not all the items had arrived. My DF had said at the start of the visit that she thought the waitress perhaps needed to write down the order as there were a few of us and that’s what we said to the CC representative. She took our cabin numbers but we never heard anything from her. It’s not impacted our enjoyment and we just put it down to experience and move on.

 

We have used Cafe Al Bacio most days, which has been fantastic. Love the new addition of the small sandwiches 👍. As it was a sea day, we also had lunch in the MDR. One of the boys said that his friend hadn’t been able to get a seat in the Oceanview as it was full to bursting - it appeared to have been a good choice to eat lunch in the MDR 😉.

 

Participating in the music quizzes and trivia has been fun. We do it to entertain ourselves, not win - good job really 😂.

 

 

Chic night has been the first time when I haven’t seen at least 50% of people dining in the MDR in shorts. I’m not making any comments either way, but I thought I’d report back as some pax like to know what to expect on particular sailings. As well as the shorts, there has been an array of baseball caps, and even backpacks at dinner 🤷‍♀️. Whatever floats your boat 😉.

A few views from our SV’s:

 

[villauk]

39 minutes ago, villauk said:

A beautiful railway from Hiroshima:

 

 

 

That should have said ‘sailaway’, not railway 🤦‍♀️! 

[villauk]

Nagasaki

 

I had booked a 4-hour tour with Nagasaki Walks to visit the Peace Park, Atomic Bomb Museum and Glover Gardens. Yesterday, we had received paperwork from X explaining the Japanese mandatory requirements for immigration. We were off and onshore before 10am, so we wouldn’t go through the checks until we returned from our tour.

 

 

 

We were due to meet our guide outside the cruise terminal by the three statues. He was there and waiting like all the guides from the private tours we have taken in Japan 👍. 
 

The queue for the tram was long, but Hidemi managed to get us on and he decided to take us to the museum first. There is a change of tram and all the stops are translated into English onboard.

 

History was his passion and he explained lots about Nagasaki before we’d even arrived at the museum. You’ll find that there will be queues at all the sights/attractions. Even the X tour goes on the trams.

 

We discovered much about what happened on 9th August 1945 - it’s definitely a sobering experience.

 

Inside the museum:

 

 

 

 

As I stated previously, I don’t reveal too much information about the actual tours as I think most pax want to ask their own questions and discover the sights for themselves.

 

After nearly two hours, we made our way out to the Peace Park. It wasn’t as large as we expected, however, there are several statues from countries all over the world.

 

 

 

 

 

The heat was still intense but a few degrees cooler today. Our tour continued to a shrine and Catholic Church; we had a mini tour back near the ship too as we’d already used our 4-hour allocation of his time. Since the gardens were outside, we decided to stay around the port area and try a few local delicacies instead 😉. Glover Gardens will be on our next visit to Nagasaki (in the spring or autumn next time 😉).

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, we’d had a great few hours - back to the ship we went to pass through immigration. It was an absolute breeze; we just had to show our passport a couple of times and then we were back on the ship - 5 minutes at the most.

 

We did catch the show tonight: Andrew Lee Magician. My younger DS enjoys magic performances as he knows a few tricks himself (he used to perform them at the talent competitions on X when he was much younger ☺️). The theatre wasn’t full at the 9pm showing. In fact, we’ve noticed that by 10pm, most of the ship is very quiet. Oh, and just to prove me wrong, I’d say that only 10% were wearing shorts tonight in the MDR 😉.
 

 

[monkey@cruise]

I hope Typhoon Shanshan won't affect your ship schedule to Kagoshima. Expecting nasty rain storms in Osaka and Tokyo area till 1st September.

[little britain]

On 8/17/2024 at 10:46 PM, villauk said:

 

Just like the buses: nothing for ages and then they all come together 😁. Welcome aboard 😉. I think I’m being a little optimistic when I stated ‘live(ish)’, so be prepared for sporadic posts 🤣. 

Yeah! Settling down for an enjoyable read!! We don’t go till next March but am a compulsive over planner too! 

We also use indirect flights so we can travel in business. For Japan we are going from LHR via ZRH on 🇨🇭 Swiss. Two people in business class for the same price as one on BA direct!! I’ll take that for the inconvenience of 90 mins layover in ZRH changing planes to save over £5000!! 

 

I digress. Back to reading 📖…

[hcat]

This is one of the best CC reviews!.

You have shared great photos and  comments and such a nice family vibe!

Just perfect!

[LindaD22]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:00 AM, villauk said:

 

Off to Gion and Geisha Town. You can’t take photos of the girls - we did see a few - but Koichi snook in a photo outside one of their houses. The information from Koichi was invaluable to our experience; he told us about being a taxi driver and returning the maiko, trainee girls, to their abodes. It takes four years to become a geiko.

I can’t recommend Koichi enough. We know that we’d have missed out on so many experiences throughout the day without him. 

 

 

Thank you for the tip on Tours by Locals and especially Koichi in Osaka. Do you generally bring a small gift for your guide, as he presented one to you? Not sure of the local tradition for such things in Japan. 

[villauk]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

Yeah! Settling down for an enjoyable read!! We don’t go till next March but am a compulsive over planner too! 

We also use indirect flights so we can travel in business. For Japan we are going from LHR via ZRH on 🇨🇭 Swiss. Two people in business class for the same price as one on BA direct!! I’ll take that for the inconvenience of 90 mins layover in ZRH changing planes to save over £5000!! 

 

I digress. Back to reading 📖…

 

Exactly. Were willing to do the same if it means we can travel in business and our savings are times seven 😲!

[villauk]

4 hours ago, hcat said:

This is one of the best CC reviews!.

You have shared great photos and  comments and such a nice family vibe!

Just perfect!

Thank you for your kind words 💕.

[villauk]

3 hours ago, LindaD22 said:

Thank you for the tip on Tours by Locals and especially Koichi in Osaka. Do you generally bring a small gift for your guide, as he presented one to you? Not sure of the local tradition for such things in Japan. 

 

We actually said that’s what we would do next time.

[villauk]

7 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

I hope Typhoon Shanshan won't affect your ship schedule to Kagoshima. Expecting nasty rain storms in Osaka and Tokyo area till 1st September.

 

Indeed it has! The captain informed us this morning that our itinerary is changing. At this stage, we are now having extra sea days and a visit to Hakadote in the north.

[villauk]

8 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

I hope Typhoon Shanshan won't affect your ship schedule to Kagoshima. Expecting nasty rain storms in Osaka and Tokyo area till 1st September.

 

Revised itinerary (X have got the dates incorrect though 🤦‍♀️😂. We dock on Sat 31st, not Sun. It’s because they have 22nd Aug down as a Thurs and Fri 😂):

 

 

 

Funnily enough, we’d got ship tours booked for our last two ports to use our OBC, so I haven’t got to contact any private tour operators to rearrange 👍. We need to investigate what to do in Hakodate now 😉.

[DaKahuna]

13 minutes ago, villauk said:

We need to investigate what to do in Hakodate now 😉.

 

 Do not know if this is helpful, but here is the port information we received for our May visit to Hakodate 

 

 

 

 

 

 There is some good information in my live review,  linked below on pages 10 - 12. Look at the post by @monkey@cruise on page 11 for an excellent DIY tour of Hakodate.

 

 

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

Indeed it has! The captain informed us this morning that our itinerary is changing. At this stage, we are now having extra sea days and a visit to Hakadote in the north.

You then clear immigration in Hakodate, your terminal is right at city center, 5 min to the train station, can purchase a tram day pass from the tourist info center inside the station.  So you give up Kagoshima and Shimizu port.

[monkey@cruise]

46 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

Revised itinerary (X have got the dates incorrect though 🤦‍♀️😂. We dock on Sat 31st, not Sun. It’s because they have 22nd Aug down as a Thurs and Fri 😂😞

 

Someone drank too much sake 😁.

[monkey@cruise]

Hakodate City Map:

 

https://www.hakodate.travel/en/wp-content/themes/hakodate-city-multi/assets/images/information/brochure/pdf/guide_map_en.pdf

 

 

[villauk]

32 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Do not know if this is helpful, but here is the port information we received for our May visit to Hakodate 

 

 

 

 

 

 There is some good information in my live review,  linked below on pages 10 - 12. Look at the post by @monkey@cruise on page 11 for an excellent DIY tour of Hakodate.

 

 

 

Thank you, most kind 👍. I will take a look.

[villauk]

9 minutes ago, monkey@cruise said:

You then clear immigration in Hakodate, your terminal is right at city center, 5 min to the train station, can purchase a tram day pass from the tourist info center inside the station.  So you give up Kagoshima and Shimizu port.

 

2 minutes ago, monkey@cruise said:

Hakodate City Map:

 

https://www.hakodate.travel/en/wp-content/themes/hakodate-city-multi/assets/images/information/brochure/pdf/guide_map_en.pdf

 

 

 

@monkey@cruise Thank you for your help. We’ll take a look at @DaKahuna information and look at your map to decide what to do in Hakodate. I presume there will be long lines going through immigration now.

[monkey@cruise]

Just now, villauk said:

 

 

@monkey@cruise Thank you for your help. We’ll take a look at @DaKahuna information and look at your map to decide what to do in Hakodate. I presume there will be long lines going through immigration now.

You will assign the clearance timeslot, priority will be shore excursion passengers, then confirmed private tours, suite and aqua class passengers, etc... From cruise terminal is 1 mile to Red brick warehouses, Mount Hakodate is further distance, Goryokaku Park  is 25 min by trams,

[Miaminice]

4 hours ago, villauk said:

We need to investigate what to do in Hakodate now 😉.

Maybe this helps…

http://www.travelandcruise.net/travellove_en/Our-Trips/HAL-Westerdam-Japan-01/HAL-Westerdam-Japan---Hakodate/hal-westerdam-japan---hakodate.html

 

In hindsight I have to say that you can skip the monkeys 🐒 

Have fun!

[monkey@cruise]

Celebrity Millennium will dock at Wakamatsu Wharf Quay (built in 2022) to clear immigration. Any port information prior to COVID is outdated. Since your port time is noon - 7pm, have early lunch onboard. After immigration, you still have several hours to explore the city. 

 

[villauk]

1 hour ago, monkey@cruise said:

Celebrity Millennium will dock at Wakamatsu Wharf Quay (built in 2022) to clear immigration. Any port information prior to COVID is outdated. Since your port time is noon - 7pm, have early lunch onboard. After immigration, you still have several hours to explore the city. 

 

 

Thanks for this; I think we will do just that and follow some suggestions from @Miaminice ‘s review of his time in Hakodate 👍.

[villauk]

Jeju Island

 

After an early announcement by the Captain (7am) stating that our itinerary was changing, we went to breakfast to contemplate how it impacted our last few days onboard. Ironically, I had only booked two ship tours and those were the cancelled ports - reimbursement of the OBC used was credited to our accounts. I’d reserved those tours during the Black Friday Sale, so I knew that whatever replacements were found, there was no way the tours would be the same sort of deal that I’d initially had.

 

We left a little later, 10.15am, than most pax because we only had a couple of places we wanted to visit on Jeju Island. First was the ‘dragon rock’ and afterwards we wanted to experience the local fish/indoor market. 
 

We went through immigration in a matter of minutes. All good - we then proceeded to the port shuttle, which dropped us off at the shopping centre. The ride is only about 10 minutes and it stops in the centre of the city. Underground, to the right of the drop-off point, you’ll see the escalator which takes you to the shopping mall. We headed left, towards the coast. Our eldest son had been given a list of a few places to visit from his university friend, so we promised to take some photos of our day in Jeju.

Where the shuttle bus drops you off.

 

The walk was approximately 20 minutes and the bus staff had allowed us to take a photo of their map to follow 👍. It was really easy 😉. Around the dragon rock were a few souvenir shops and cafes; there is also a very clean toilet 🚻🚾.

We could see the dragon if we squinted significantly 😂.

 

 

 

Walking back towards our drop-off point, we made our way through the underground shopping mall and exited at door no.2. This led us to the entrance of the local market; the fish side is very busy and wet underfoot.

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t say that I’m over-enamoured with our first visit to Jeju. My DS compared it to some of the unpopular old seaside towns in the UK. Perhaps it wasn’t what we were expecting. I will add that it felt totally different to Japan. 

Edited August 27 by villauk

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

Jeju Island

I can’t say that I’m over-enamoured with our first visit to Jeju. My DS compared it to some of the unpopular old seaside towns in the UK. Perhaps it wasn’t what we were expecting. I will add that it felt totally different to Japan. 

 

Funny you would write that... we always felt the same on Japan cruises. The stops in between were nice but we missed Japan 🙂 Especially when we once called on Vladivostok, Russia...

Having said that, Jeju has some pretty nice spots as well. The Lava tubes are impressive, the Seongsan Ilchulbong aka Sunrise Peak is pretty and offers a nice hike, the Stone Park is interesting etc.

On our last time on Jeju we also skipped the above mentioned spots and also just spent time at the market, had some nice street food snacks there and actually walked back to port to get some exercise to walk off the snacks.