Japan is a very clean, very quiet, polite populace, interesting country to visit. Not sure if you need to visit 14 cities. Would have preferred more information about their economy, how the automobile and electronics industries became so dominant and more about their daily lives. 53 days was a bit too long. Cut back on the number of cities to 9 or 10 and shorten the cruise
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Excellent food, terrific servers, fantastic desserts. Especially enjoyed frequent Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice), Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Kroepoek (Shrimp Chips).
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Japanese Characters and Flowing Art Strokes, Military Meet-ups, Tech Sessions focusing on smart phone apps & security
Entertainment
5 out of 5
World Stage Singers and Dancers did a great job. Australian Country Singer was super, Bernardo (aka Bernie the Tech Guy) was a fantastic singer, Karlijn the Dutch Cruise & Entertainment Director was wonderful
Children's Programs
No kids, Probably were no kids on this Holland America cruise where average age was 80+.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Wonderful service, waiter Arta and Assistant Deyvie quickly got to know our preferences, Room Stewards Francis and Ivan learned our eating schedule and tidied up our cabin, which we kept pretty much picked up anyway, when we were having breakfast or dinner. Ship's Front Desk folks were particularly helpful and courteous.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
ms Westerdam is a max 2,000 passenger, 20 year old ship, is well-maintained and had 1,650 passengers on this 53-day cruise. The deck of our balcony cabin collected ponded rain water next to our cabin door rather than draining away from the door and into a drain.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Supposed to be a Signature Suite but issues with the balcony drainage, shower too hot, air conditioning not cool enough were nagging problems.
Ship tip
Book a Balcony / Veranda and don't pay for a Signature Suite.
Victoria, BC is the Capital of the Province of British Columbia. Been there dozens of times but still learned things about Canadians that I did not know and had a terrific, fun tour guide.
Because the ship got underway in the evening, most of the scenic part of cruising the inside passage was done at night. They did not announce when we would pass through the narrow Seymour Passage nor could we really see anything as we passed between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland since it was dark.
Dutch Harbor was a really remote fishing village with little to do except visit the church and the Safeway store. The Shuttle service was poorly organized by the local visitor's bureau.
Interesting port city on the northern island of Hokkaido. Tour included wetlands and a mountain top observatory where we got our first exposure to Japanese people, vending machines, etc. Tour guide hard to understand with heavy Japanese accent and inflections. The Japanese Customs & Immigration check-in was a nuisance.
Overnight visit. Long all-day tour to Tokyo. Hot 92 F so it was not a comfortable day. Stops at Shinto Shrine were too long. Lots of waiting to get back on air conditioned bus. The Tokyo Tower that looks like the Eiffel Tower was surrounded by tall buildings and the bus did not really get close. The bus did not really get close to the Emperor's Palace and being so hot and at the end of a long day it was not an enjoyable stop. Did learn that Nissan is based in Yokohama.
The Kochi port folks had a person with a large mask/head in a Japanese costume. Our tour included a Paper-making experience at a well known paper company.
Site of the first Atomic Bomb dropped on Japan. Saw the skeleton of one of the buildings that survived the blast. Still too hot, 90 F, to really enjoy places and cultures of Japan.
Yes the ship cruised through this rather wide open Strait. Strait does not have an S at the end. Our visit to Fukuoka was cancelled because of the timing of tides, currents and "Daylight Only" requirement for transiting Kanmon Strait.
There were differences in these large port cities but they seem to blur as we try to recall. Ishigaki was a small island very close to Taiwan. Almost did not go here because of a typhoon
The battle of Okinawa was World War II's bloodiest. Naha today is a large modern city with a Monorail and other aspects. Took a tour, visited the Fish Market, etc. The Japanese Customs & Immigration check-out was a poorly organized, difficult long lines, long walk, marathon (seemed like 26.2 miles) through the cruise terminal, up and down stairs, waiting for people with limited mobility, faceless bureaucrats to process you and then go through the same marathon route to get back to the ship. Seriously, the Customs people should deal with people with mobility issues separately. Either on the ship or in the terminal.
We did not take a Holland America tour. Took the "Hoppa-On, Hoppa-Off" small bus around Hilo, visited Queen Liliuokalani Park, King Kamehameha Statue and Big Island Candy.
Wow!!! That is awesome about your cruise and the itineraries. I've never been to Asia. HAL does a lot of wonderful itineraries. Sorry your cabin has problems.
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