I chose this cruise because a good friend of mine read about it in her alumni magazine and it was a tour organized for alums (although hardly the only ones on the ship). The intinerary - 10 days around Japan to different ports (with one stop in Busan, South Korea) was great.

I selected a package that included airfare, and multiple changes were made to my flight schedule. Several of us ended up in Japan so early we had several hours to kill before we were allowed on the ship (and they kept us in a rather spartan waiting area on uncomfortable seats) and then it was perhaps another 2 hours from when we were allowed on the ship until we could go to our rooms. I spent the time in a lovely library the ship has. Disembarkation ran very smoothly, but again since they had arranged my flights I ended up having to spend approximately 7-8 killing time in the Tokyo airport (and after the long week, I was exhausted and did NOT feel like paying for a taxi or car service into Toyko proper and spending time and worrying about having to get back from my flight). Obviously, like most airports, you don't just walk out of the airport and there's things to do right there. But that was a LOT of time to kill.

The ship itself was lovely - I have described it to friends as a floating country club with many country-club types on board. Its certainly not Carnival or Disney in that sense. Very, very few children on this cruise. Read more