17 Nights Circle Japan & Southern Islands Cruise

Princess back to her old self.

Having had a couple of post covid dud cruises with RC and P&O Aust I was nervous about a 22 day from Yokohama to Sydney. Yay! It was so good. The food was excellent. The dining rooms ran smoothly. The shows were great and our cabin steward was the best! I’ve been on 25 cruises and he was exceptional, quick thorough and unobtrusive such a professional. We did a couple of shore tours in Alotau PNG and in Taiwan. They were ok but high priced. In Manila we just got a guy with a car to show us around Manila. 3 hours and he helped my disabled husband up stairs and pick the easiest routes for him. What a sweetie. 2500 pesos. Bargain for the service we received. The Princess plus package was great and we met heaps of nice people. Good work Princess. Off to Antarctica in Jan on Emerald.

Hokkaido - North Japan

Fantastic cruise, the food, the entertainment, the route, the weather, etc. This is a Japanese cruise with 60% of the guest Japanese. The others tend to be USA, Australia, Canada, other Asian countries, etc. Like all Japanese weather, it was a bit damp at times, but also sunny and warm. Kushiro was the only place needing a light jacket. The food was also a mix of standard Princess and local Japanese. Miso soup and rice at every meal, along with many other Japanese dishes. The Entertainment was very good, 3 nights of Princess singers and dancers, a magician - kind of slow, Stevie Wonder impersonator - who goes too far with the blind and physical attributes, just do Stevie Wonder. Extremely talented cruise staff, they keep you busy. The Hokkaido stops were small to medium cities, with local markets ( fish being the prime mover ). If you love Sashimi then Kushiro is your place. There are parks and Museums all around the local area. I would recommend this trip to anyone.

Sailing Japan in style

The cruise was fabulous. The cabin was very well appointed and the steward kept it looking great. Service was always with a smile and everyone was friendly and helpful. We mainly ate into the Horizon Court and were very happy with the excellent selection available for every meal. We ate a couple of times at the more formal included dining rooms and service was very good and the meals lovely. There was always plenty of activities and you could join in with as few or many as you liked. There was always plenty of quality entertainment so you were never at a loss for, something to do. In fact you had to choose as it was impossible to do everything. For what they offered I thought the shore excursions were very expensive. At some locations it was cheaper to go by taxi and do your own thing. The few I did were good but too expensive. I would have done more if the cost was more reasonable. Thankfully at every port there was port side information and it was easy to get maps and more so that you could do your own thing. We used the roll calls on Cruise Critic and linked up with other travellers from around the world. We were able to coordinate and arrange a few private tours which was great and considerably cheaper and more flexible than the ship excursions. I recommend anyone sailing to join up to the Roll Call for your particular cruise. The medallions were great for easy access to your cabin. And downloading the app made it easy to locate family members or others you have shared details with. You could also use it to find your way around the ship, book dining times and more. With a full ship, embarkation and disembarkation was a bit slow but extremely well organised. We had a wonderful time and would happy sail on Diamond Princess again.