Rare stevenr597 Posted Friday at 07:31 PM #1 Share Posted Friday at 07:31 PM My wife and I are thinking about booking a cruise around Japan. We have noted that two ships, Westerdam and Diamond Princess will be cruising in that general area. Any ideas or comments about which ship they believe would offer a better experience. Both ships are fairly old, but have been updated. Thanks for comments and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorenceItaly Posted Friday at 07:33 PM #2 Share Posted Friday at 07:33 PM Enjoy this live review. Here is the link. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted Friday at 07:52 PM #3 Share Posted Friday at 07:52 PM Also, if you search back, there was also a great "Live from" thread for last year's cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybear Posted Friday at 10:12 PM #4 Share Posted Friday at 10:12 PM I’d base it on itinerary and time of year, but I’m partial to the Westerdam as that’s what we did our circumnavigation on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman48 Posted Friday at 11:49 PM #5 Share Posted Friday at 11:49 PM 1 hour ago, bennybear said: I’d base it on itinerary and time of year, but I’m partial to the Westerdam as that’s what we did our circumnavigation on. Agree. Did the collector voyage this year and enjoyed the Westerdam. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asebastian Posted Saturday at 12:17 AM #6 Share Posted Saturday at 12:17 AM Agreed +1, we loved our Westerdam cruise around Japan (14 days, part of our 3 back-to-back 56-day Asian cruise). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodo bird Posted 12 hours ago #7 Share Posted 12 hours ago There is also writerondeck.com. She is currently on board of the Westerdam. I have been enjoying her many blogs for some time now on cruising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ghstudio Posted 12 hours ago #8 Share Posted 12 hours ago Strongly suggest the westerdam which we did this cruise on last year. Good food, good crew, good excursions. After 2 princess cruises last year, we no longer book princess. The food selection, preparation and seasoning is far better on HAL. Additionally several of the princess ships lack the equivalent of the crows nest where you can sit and enjoy a drink and watch the view from the front of the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted 8 hours ago #9 Share Posted 8 hours ago I think to be honest with the OP, if you come here to the HAL blog and ask the question most folks will suggest HAL. Go to the Princess blog and ask the question and most folks will say Princess :). That is just the nature of CC. I do think that, given the cost and time to get over to Asia, the main consideration when comparing the two ships (we have cruised on both) should be the itinerary. Since there are multiple cruises and itineraries, one might want to spend some time looking at the details such as how much time the ships are in each port. I would also suggest that anyone planning to cruise around Japan consider spending a few days or weeks in Japan (pre or post cruise) to enjoy some quality land time. I further suggest they try to spend some time in both the Tokyo area and Kyoto. One might also want to research the "Sakura" (cherry blossom time) and "Golden Week" (a very heavily traveled week that is best avoided...especially on land). We cruised in Japan, on the Westerdam, in 2023 and enjoyed the itinerary, In fact, we enjoyed our trip enough that we are returning next Spring for another cruise around Japan (on Seabourn). Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser man 60 Posted 3 hours ago #10 Share Posted 3 hours ago 4 hours ago, Hlitner said: I think to be honest with the OP, if you come here to the HAL blog and ask the question most folks will suggest HAL. Go to the Princess blog and ask the question and most folks will say Princess :). That is just the nature of CC. I do think that, given the cost and time to get over to Asia, the main consideration when comparing the two ships (we have cruised on both) should be the itinerary. Since there are multiple cruises and itineraries, one might want to spend some time looking at the details such as how much time the ships are in each port. I would also suggest that anyone planning to cruise around Japan consider spending a few days or weeks in Japan (pre or post cruise) to enjoy some quality land time. I further suggest they try to spend some time in both the Tokyo area and Kyoto. One might also want to research the "Sakura" (cherry blossom time) and "Golden Week" (a very heavily traveled week that is best avoided...especially on land). We cruised in Japan, on the Westerdam, in 2023 and enjoyed the itinerary, In fact, we enjoyed our trip enough that we are returning next Spring for another cruise around Japan (on Seabourn). Hank We’re on Noordam next April for 2 weeks, spending 4 full days in Tokyo, is there anything in particular you recommend to do in Tokyo? We would like to experience the bullet train but unsure where to go to on a day trip that’s not too far . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted 29 minutes ago #11 Share Posted 29 minutes ago 3 hours ago, cruiser man 60 said: We’re on Noordam next April for 2 weeks, spending 4 full days in Tokyo, is there anything in particular you recommend to do in Tokyo? We would like to experience the bullet train but unsure where to go to on a day trip that’s not too far . You would probably want to do the usual tourist things/sites such as the Emperors Palace (mostly a long outdoor walk), Ueno Park (an attractive area with multiple museums), and the usual shines/temples. We stayed in Shinjuku, and just walking around that neighborhood was fun. Most first-time visitors also head to the Ginza area (very busy with lots of shopping). DW and I also like visiting Kamakura, which is the home to some fantastic shrines, temples and gardens. As to the bullet train, there are many different lines that go all over the country. On our last trip we took the train down to Kyoto (where we spend 6 nights) and than back to Shin-Yokohama (to get to the port). But to be very honest, they are just fast trains (Europe has several comparable lines). If you really have your heart set on a short train ride, I think (not positive) that you can take a bullet train from Tokyo Station to Kamakura. Hank 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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