Very easy to use underground trains , we visited the Mint museum , out of station cross river then walk beside the river you then arrive at the mint we just missed the cherry blossom here by a day but it was still good to see. Then back on underground to Osaka Castle very good day. Read Less

Osaka Visited Dotonbori mad shopping distrisct Kyoto Gion , geisha district and small wagyu beef restaurants and japanese sake and whisky bars Read Less

Only had 1/2 hour, then back on bus to go to "shop" not as advertised and paid for. Got to see barely anything at shrine. Not worth it at all Read Less

Osaka is great. Problem is, the ship gets in pretty late and by the time you go through immigration, daylight will be getting close to the end. Hint: Do a ship's tour at your first Japanese port, so you clear immigration quickly and early. After you go through it the first time, the next Japanese stops go much faster. Don't forget to bring a photo copy of your passport. You'll need it! Read Less

Large city, great train network, be aware underground stations are huge, with shopping malls, best advice yellow routes get you outside. Read Less

Toured independently and had a great time in Osaka. Read Less

The tour guide allocated to this excursion was terrible, could not understand much english and did not explain anything to the group. Read Less

Went on the train and wondered around for a while, didn’t get to see much but the train was clean, on time and cheap Read Less

Missed our tour due to immigration so we opted for aquarium it was ok Read Less

Visited Osaka castle, interesting, but crowded. The grounds were lovely, but unfortunately no cherry blossoms, too late . Read Less

Just took a pleasant walk around the town shops and stores, had lunch and back to ship. Very friendly locals who turned out in numbers, including a brass band to se the ship leave. Read Less

Osaka was quite pretty with great shops on the pier basically. Read Less

Visited Osaka castle and went on ferris wheel, great day out. Read Less

We had a very good private tour of Mino Pine Forest and the Marine Science Museum. At the Science Museum they study how fish swim and have built many mechanical fish models that you can see in operation. Then we took water taxi across the bay to get back to our ship. Read Less

we didnt travel right into Osaka on this day. there was a shopping mall right next to the ship, was excellent. there was also an aquarium, but alas as the queues were very long and our time in this port short we were unable to visit it. on the whole the Japanese people, very nice and obliging, especially trying to understand english and speak it back to us. Read Less

We took the subway &enjoyed the city on our own. Good food especially their signature dish of octopus in a delicious pastry. Read Less

Went to castle by taxi Read Less

The ship docks right near the largest ferris wheel in the world and also the building holds Leggoland and some markets. We decided to get a cab to Osaka Castle which was very interesting. The taxi ride was expensive but nothing near what it would have cost 4 adults paying for a ship tour. When we got back to the docks, we went into the local markets where we could buy quite a few different souvenirs from the norm. Once again, the shops don't open till 10.00am. Read Less

We stayed at Hotel Nikko for 4 days before boarding. Loved it. Took the bullet train to Kyoto. Read Less

Took a train to Osaka Castle, well worth it. The visitors bureau at the port had all the information you needed to get to Osaka or Kyoto. It was raining heavily that day and the captain elected to remain in port all night to avoid heavy seas. He said he made a good choice, glad he did. Read Less

This was the second visit to Osaka for my husband and I but on our first visit we spent the day at Universal Studios, so this was our first opportunity to explore the city. Unfortunately the weather was cold and wet, so we didn’t get to see as much as we had planned. The ship was scheduled to depart at 11pm but we were advised by the Captain that due to bad weather we would be staying overnight at Osaka and departing early the next morning. We disembarked and walked to the nearby train station, where we purchased one day travel passes from a machine, with the assistance of an English-speaking attendant. We caught a train to Osaka Castle and walked through the surrounding park, admiring the stunning cherry blossoms. We caught another train to Shinsaibashi and explored the famous covered shopping arcades, before wandering through some of the smaller side streets towards the Dotonbori Riverwalk. We bought tickets for a Tombori River Cruise but unfortunately the rain had well and truly set in by this time so it wasn’t as much fun as it could have been. We decided to head back to the ship after this as we were all soaked through despite our rain gear. We had a look around the Tempozan Marketplace when we arrived back at the pier, and picked up some small souvenirs although the prices were higher than we had seen elsewhere. We went back to the ship and dried ourselves off and had something to eat, then at around 5:30pm we disembarked again and walked over to the Kaiyukan Aquarium. It was a fantastic experience and I would rate it as the best aquarium I’ve ever visited, and a must-do if you are visiting Osaka. There are many different exhibits including the famous whale sharks, which I could have watched for hours. There is also a shallow pool where you can pat small sharks and stingrays which was a definite highlight. Read Less

RAINED all day, but stops were good, good lunch provided and excellent tour guides. Read Less

Got out of town on this day and went to Fushimi-Inari. Beautiful temple with quite the hike up the mountain. Street food before you got there and some beautiful sites. Read Less

Easy to take Metro to the. Astor and back. Read Less

Took train into Kyoto (50 minute ride) to check out Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine. During my trip, I visited ~7 different shrines, this one was the best and most intricate! Came back to Osaka and went to Osaka Castle. * I would NOT recommend Osaka Castle. There are so many more beautiful and better castles in Japan. This was highly tourist-y, everyone's compacted into 6 story building so there's slight shoving. Sunpu Castle Park in Shimizu is TEN TIMES BETTER!! Read Less