DW and I are in our mid 50's who enjoy cruising. While nothing is ever perfect and pristine, especially if one chooses to focus on negativity, we are generally take things in stride as we feel blessed in the fact that we can enjoy the luxury of cruising. Now onto our cruise. We arrived in Tokyo 3 days before embarkation and had a marvellous time. Japanese people are so wonderful, very polite and helpful. Tokyo is very clean and with a fantastic transportation system that is easy to use and inexpensive. We stayed at the Grand Central Hotel, which is very well located, about a 10 minute walk to Kanda Station on the Ginza Line. Room was very small, but that is typical for most Japanese hotels, especially if you are on a budget.

On embarkation day, we took the train to Yokohama and arrived in plenty of time with very little effort (we only had two large pieces of luggage to drag around). Embarkation was delayed to 12pm due to the late arrival of Millie, but once it started we got onboard fairly quickly and were enjoying lunch in the Oceanview buffet by 12:30. Ports of call were fantastic, with the exception of Shanghai. Aside from Visa issues with visiting Shanghai and a late docking due to the port being closed due to high winds from a passing typhoon, the port is quite far from the Bund and other tourist attractions. Also, some taxi drivers were very dishonest, we were literally taken for a ride. We shared a taxi with another couple for a ride to the Bund, which should cost $85CNY, but the driver took the outer ring road and by the time we got to the Bund the meter was at $280CNY! We later learned that we were not the only victims, as there were at least a dozen other passengers who were victimized. So be careful when travelling in Shanghai.

The entertainment on board was quite good, we enjoyed the shows and were appreciative of the efforts of the Celebrity dancers and singers. We had dinner in the MDR and the food was very good, as was the service. Kudos to our waiter Sanjaya, his assistant Supana, our sommelier Miroslav and drink waiter Prince. All were very good and attentive to our needs. Disembarkation was a challenge for most people at the new Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong. Beautiful terminal, but very poor taxi service, fortunately we booked our taxis in advance. Read more