The Pros and Cons of Touring Japan on a Cruise

Perhaps, a controversial topic as people will have quite strong opinions on this. But this is my blog, so you’ll get my perspective on it, ha! I think all forms of travel have their own set of pros and cons, and a cruise around Japan is no different. My family and I have cruised with Celebrity Cruises before and opted to go with them to Japan. Before I go any further, please note this is not a sponsored blog. This will also be a longer than normal blog as I’d rather get i t all down on one blog rather than write multiple blog on the same topic (I say that now).

We embarked on the “12 Nights Best of Japan” cruise on the 31st of August 2024. The starting and ending points for this cruise was Yokohama (or for those less familiar with the cities in Japan, this is about 20miles southwest from Tokyo). I’ll be the first to admit that, Japan is a country best explored by foot. Believe me when I say, all of the blisters on your feet will tell a painful yet happy story. However, my group consisted of myself and my ageing parents that have issues with long stretches of walking. Saying mobility issues almost sounds cruel, so I won’t say that. So for us, the cruise worked well.

The best pro about a cruise is that it is an all inclusive holiday. Your accommodation, food, and transport from one city to the other is covered and paid for. Yes, it does mean you don’t always get to experience local modes of transport such as trains or bullet trains in the case of Japan, but you can always opt to do this through the shore excursions or by yourself. When guiding yourself through the different cities of Japan, as first timers, the cruise is a perfect way to eliminate the stress that comes with having to haul your luggage around and understand and navigate a complex train system.

I also feel a cruise eliminates the restlessness that comes with travelling from one city to the next. You may have opted to fly or catch the train, and you need to arrive at the airport or station relatively early. You need to find some things to do to keep busy and kill time till you board. Where as on a cruise, you could literally chill at the pool, watch a show, sleep, eat or have a coffee and enjoy the views whilst your vessel takes you from point A to point B. This for me (and my travel anxiety) worked really well. As I get older, I find my anxiety levels, when it comes to travel are significantly higher, despite having travelled all my life. Is that normal? Have you experienced this?

The shore excursions provide the perfect debate for a pro and con. Let’s look at the pros first. Whilst it may cost you slightly more than what it would have, had you had done it yourself, yet again, your from the ship to your destinations are covered and you don’t have to worry about figuring it out. This is a blessing if you’re travelling to Japan in the summer (or rather hotter) months. However, it does mean that your time at these places are cut short. Sometimes all you really have is an hour to spend at these tourist spots. Whilst I was planning on writing this blog, I really wanted to jot down my thoughts on this. On the one hand, yes it does feel rushed and ticking check boxes of the key spots to visit. But on the other hand, even if you had longer what would you really do with that time? Pace out your sightseeing time at the spot? Maybe rest your feet whilst you grab a bite to eat. Realistically, when you do this yourself, it feels longer mostly because you’re out and about finding your way, navigating a map and trying to figure out how to get to point B and C and D. But doing it via a shore excursion eliminates the time it would take you to travel by yourself. If you are still cynical about it, Celebrity Millennium, is docked overnight at Kobe, and Osaka. You are more than welcome to go explore on your own without having to sign up for an excursion. From my perspective, in hindsight, the shore excursions worked well. because even the locals admitted that August/September (2024) had been hotter than usual. I also think I experienced heat stroke, the day we explored Nagasaki. It was 33degrees of pure heat that day with very little shade. I did not do well.

Next up, is a con, which really doesn’t have an easy fix - the food. Believe it or not, food for me on this cruise was a con. This was my second cruise, and the first post COVID. I recall our experience with the food was much different on our Alaskan cruise than it was on this one. There are two free for all dining planes - Oceanview Cafe which is a buffet style restaurant; and Metropolitan which is an a la carte order from the menu dining and in general is a bit more formal. Oceanview Cafe is where had breakfast everyday. I would say about 95% of the time, it was the same everyday with subtle changes here and there. Lunch and dinner were similar. Where am I going with this? Well, following on from the previous point, as you don’t necessarily get a lot of time at different tourist spots, you don’t always get to try the authentic cruising of the country you are visiting. To be fair, Celebrity Millennium, often included special items in their menus, that are authentic to Japan. But compared to what you would be eating, if you were exploring on your own, this would be nothing. I guess the silver lining is that if you did try the local cuisine and it didn’t suit you or you just didn’t like it as much as you thought you would, you have reliable and comfort food available at your doorstep.

Continuing on from the above, as the food was very similar every day, eating seemed like a chore. I’m not sure how else to explain this. We only really had two speciality restaurants to choose from, and their menu doesn’t change either. They sometimes do special cuisine nights, but nothing beyond that. Slowly and steadily, you lose interest and don’t feel like you’ve eaten as it’s pretty much the same food every day.

Coming up next, is a big pro for me - a full serviced gym. In 2024, rather towards the end of 2023, I made my health my number one priority. I started going on regular walks, did strength training three times a week, maintained a calorie deficit diet, you get the idea. The thought of a holiday made me panic because there’s not much control that I have over food. I can’t cook it in the way I’ve been managing my diet. How can I stick to my calorie deficit? I learned to control what I can. I many not be able to adhere to my usual calorie intake, which would mean extra effort once I got back to New Zealand, but I could combat some of that. I went to the gym and did a full session as I would, had I had been in New Zealand. So that means, cardio, push and pull, and core. I even did hour long workouts, not by choice, it’s just that the time passed as such. There’s also a walking track if you’re not really a gym person. Last but not least, you can always do some laps in the pool. As this itinerary isn’t really child friendly, or so I’ve heard from other people (I’m not a mother myself unless you count my German Shepherd from Temu), our cruise barely had any kids, and as such the pools were never heavily busy.

Speaking of the itinerary not being child friendly, to me this was a pro. It meant there were no screaming tantrums any time. This could however be a con for you if you have kids and are trying to plan something around them. There are some things spread out on the curise ship catered to keep kids busy such as camp at sea, but again, I couldn’t tell you too much about it. What I will say is, if you are travelling with kids whether it be on a cruise or otherwise, avoid August/September months. One reason being July/August are typhoon months, and the second being it’s extremely hot and humid and if adults are struggling, I can’t imagine the kids would have a good time.

I’m not sure how to categorise the pro and con on this one, so I’ll just write it. You can tell me in the comments what you think. What I want to talk about is the length of the cruise. When I did the Alaskan cruise, it was 7-days long. As I disembarked that cruise, I felt a sense of sadness as I thought I just had not had enough yet and there was more to explore. Alaska is also a very beautiful state, that I didn’t want the holiday to end. After that cruise came to an end, I knew that whenever I go on a cruise next, it had to be longer. This was 12 nights and 13 days. Part of me felt like it still wasn’t long enough. TikTok was overflowing with videos about the 9-month world cruise which basically had all influencers on it. To be fair, I thought 9-months was extreme, but I just wanted something longer than 7-days. I met a kiwi couple from Wellington, who travelled on the same flight as us, and were also going on a cruise. Their itinerary involved a couple of stops in Japan and then sailing to Australia which was going to be a whopping 29-day cruise. I met another retired English couple, who now call New Zealand home as their kids and their families are settled in Auckland, who booked back to back cruises in Japan. Their son and his family were going to join them on the second cruise. This couple enjoy their retirement by cruising around the world. They have got cruises booked in as far out as 2026, now that’s called planning!

I do want to acknowledge how hard the staff on cruise ships work. It’s no secret that they work 11-12 hour shifts each day, 7-days a week, and don’t get to see their families much. There are some rumours out there of mistreatment of ship workers on some cruise lines, but I don’t know how true it is. I hope there is not a lot of truth to it and despite the long and strenuous hours they put in, they ensure you have the best vacation ever. I mean if you ask me, if you’re told every single day to have a great day and are wished good morning, afternoon, or evening, and people doing everything to make you smile, you can’t really have a bad holiday. Don’t worry cruises mostly have those who are grumpy at everything covered too.

If you made it to the end, thank you. This was a longer than normal blog. If you’ve been on a cruise before, what do you think of this list?

Until next time,

MiliG

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The Pros and Cons of Touring Japan on a Cruise

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