Cruises around Japan

[stevenr597]

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. 

[FlorenceItaly]

Enjoy this live review.  Here is the link.

 

[CruiserBruce]

Also, if you search back, there was also a great "Live from" thread for last year's cruise.

[bennybear]

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. 

[Dutchman48]

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. 

[asebastian]

Agreed +1, we loved our Westerdam cruise around Japan (14 days, part of our 3 back-to-back 56-day Asian cruise).

[dodo bird]

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.

[ghstudio]

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.

 

[Hlitner]

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

[cruiser man 60]

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 .