ncl excursions japan

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All Ashore! — Cruise Excursions in Japan

Traveling to Japan by cruise is quickly becoming one of the more popular ways to experience this diverse destination with cruise lines from all over the world now docking in Japanese ports. Seeing more of the country, from the wild northern peaks of Hokkaido to the tropical beaches of Okinawa has never been easier with convenient access from ports to tourist highlights and must-see attractions. Check out this list for inspiration on planning the perfect excursion when going ashore in Japan. For this and more information, be sure to email us at [email protected] for a copy of our “Cruise Japan: A Destination Guide”.

Otaru is a quaint port town steeped in history from its days as a major herring fishing center. Nostalgic warehouses still line the picturesque canal district which is a few minutes’ walk from the cruise port. Take a further jaunt to the famous Nikka Whisky Distillery, located in Yoichi city about 12 miles west of Otaru, to find out what makes Japanese Whisky some of the best in the world.

Access Information from Otaru Port:

• City Center: 5 minutes by taxi or 15-minute walk
• Nearest Public Transit: Otaru Station (JR Hakodate Main Line) 5 minutes by taxi or 15-minute walk

Aomori City is located on the northern most portion of Japan’s main island. Annual festivals and beautiful natural scenery make Aomori an exciting port of call. The Nebuta Masturi Festival, a mainstay of summer, has giant paper lantern floats taking over the city. Hirosaki Castle is a must-see destination located about 1 hour from the cruise port.

Access Information from Aomori Port:

• Nearest Public Transit: Aomori Station (various lines) 5 minutes by taxi or 15-minute walk

Nagoya is an oft overlooked hub of Japan. Located between Tokyo and Osaka, the city boasts many interesting destinations such as the Toyota Automobile Museum and Nagoya Castle Park complete with Samurai Greeters. Try some of the local favorite dishes like grilled chicken wings or fried pork cutlets covered in a miso sauce. As a hub, Nagoya is also a jumping off point to see other great destinations in Japan.

Access Information from Nagoya Port:

• City Center: 20 minutes by taxi or 26 minutes by public transit
• Nearest Public Transit: Nagoyako Station (Meiko Subway Line) 2 minutes by taxi or 5-minute walk

Beppu, located on the eastern coast of Kyushu, is one of the most famous hot springs in Japan and by far the largest. Beppu is divided into eight hot spring areas. A sightseeing highlight is the “Tour of Hell,” a path in the Kannawa area. This tour is comprised of eight spectacular hot springs in a variety of colors to dazzle the eye. So, do like the locals and relax your travel weary body at any of the hot springs.

Access Information from Beppu Port:

• 10 minutes by taxi or 20 minutes by public transit
• Nearest Public Transit: Beppu Daigaku Station (Nippou Main Line) 5 minutes by taxi or 15-minute walk

Ishigaki Island is located about 260 miles southwest of Naha on the main island of Okinawa. This island is covered with mountains rising 1700 feet above sea level, the highest in Okinawa. Plunge underwater at Shiraho, famous for its array of colorful coral covering the bottom below the translucent waters. Take in the pristine waters of Kabira Bay, which is said to have the bluest ocean in all of Okinawa. Black pearl cultivation thrives in this area, making them a wonderful choice for souvenirs.

Access Information from Ishigaki Port:

• Nearest Public Transit: Ishigaki Bus Terminal 3 minutes by taxi or 5 - 10-minute walk

For more complete port information in Japan, please visit: http://www.mlit.go.jp/kankocho/cruise/

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Nagoya, Japan

Nagoya was founded as a castle town, and today is Japan's fourth-largest city. Visit the Inuyama Castle, the oldest castle in Japan, and Atsuta Jingu Shrine, one of the emperor's Three Sacred Treasures. Spend the afternoon at Public Aquarium or the Museum Meiji Mura, an amazing open-air architectural museum.

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Various Choices of Otaru Shore Excursions, Day Trips & Tours from Cruise Port

Was formerly the trading hub of Hokkaido, Otaru was the center of commerce between its homeland with Russia and China. Nowadays, even though its economic development has been a slowdown, foreign culture still marks a bold point in Otaru’ lifestyle. Especially, the city attracts with instagramable spots including Western-style buildings of stone and brick lining up by a picturesque canal. In fact, there is not such a place like Otaru in Japan, uniquely impressive with an exotic old-fashioned atmosphere. So, Otaru shore excursions are full of wonderful experiences and picturesque landmarks that worth your visit.

• Otaru Canal – the most famous sightseeing spot. Spend time hopping on a small boat along this fantastic canal
• Nishin Goten – the former Herring Fishery Manson
• Mt. Tengu Ropeway – provides a spectacular panoramic view overlooking to the ocean
• Sakaimachi-dori Shopping Street – enjoy both your gourmet and shopping time
• Otaru Sake Brewery – taste the famous traditional Japanese wine

We have a variety of Otaru shore excursions for cruise passengers to choose their favorite one. In case you would like to change the itinerary, please contact us here. Then, you will get a reply for your tailor-made toursfrom Otaru port within 24 hours. For more tours in other ports, visit Japan Shore Excursions .

Otaru City Sightseeing

Within only 5 hours, this Otaru shore excursion allow you to fully experience this wonderful harbor city by offering interesting schedule including visit three of the most popular sightseeing spots in the city – Otaru Music Box Museum, Otaru Canal, Herring Mansion (Nishi Goten).

The Best of Otaru

This Otaru Shore Excursion grants you a chance to discover this small yet alluring harbor city with preserved canal area, interesting herring mansions, and typical luscious sake awaiting.

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12 Night Asia - Japan (Tok/Tok)

Norwegian Cruise Line pioneered freestyle cruising with a variety of specialty dining restaurants, entertainment and onboard activities, including go-kart racing!

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Tokyo is a dazzling city where you might be overwhelmed at first by its modernity but will find lots of interesting subcultures in its various neighborhoods.

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Tokyo, Japan , Hakodate, Japan , Kanazawa, Japan , Busan (Kyongju), South Korea , Nagasaki, Japan , Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan , Kochi, Japan , Osaka (Kyoto and Nara), Japan , Shimizu, Japan

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Departure dates: oct 2024 - oct 2024.

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Shore Excursion Details

Geisha district tour, kanazawa, japan.

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• 5 hrs Estimate Duration

Visit Kanazawa’s historical entertainment district to watch a traditional geisha performance and browse a public market that has been continuously operating for more than 300 years. As you walk through Higashi Chaya, the guide will describe how the district once supported a huge number of teahouses where geishas performed the classical Japanese arts of singing, dancing and playing musical instruments. Most of those teahouses have been converted into restaurants, but the geisha tradition lives on as you will discover at the Enyukai Hall cultural complex. There, rigorously trained geisha – also known as geiko in Kanazawa – will show off their legendary skills and invite you to join in fun party games. It will be an experience that harkens back to the heyday of geishas. Meandering through the Omicho Market will also reflect a former time period as it opened in 1721. Omicho remains the city’s largest and liveliest market with nearly 200 shops, many of them offering tastings.

• Follow a guide through a historical district full of teahouses where geishas once performed. • Watch an authentic geisha performance at a cultural complex. • Converse with the geishas, play entertaining party games and make a souvenir paper fan. • Browse a vibrant city market that has been open continuously since 1721.

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• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing. • Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.

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Scenic & City Tours

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• 3 Challenging

• Norwegian Cruise Line

NCL Shore Excursions

By YVRteacher , July 17, 2022 in Norwegian Cruise Line

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What are some of your favourite and least favourite NCL shore excursions?

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Taishartrueblood

Where are you referring to? NCL sails all over the world. 

Just starting a conversation.

actually,based on their costs, and the specific port, i'd rather get off the ship and hire a cab or just walk around, shop and/or take pictures.   the costs of some of these excursions are oftentimes outrageous. we've hired a cab in naples, rome, florence, marseiles, tenerife, and ive walked around cozumel, grand cayman, juneau etc. 

the most interesting ones, have been to pompeii,ephesus, and tulum, but i'm into seeing ancient ruins, and i anticipate i will take the ncl excursion for the seine river cruise in paris 

i had to add this as you asked for least favorite. im a vietnam vet, and a couple of years back we were on the ncl star. one of the ports was saigon (even though its ho chi minh city) it will always be saigon to me. anyway, one of the shore excursions was to cu chi. i served there with the 25th infantry back in 1969-1970, and i wanted to show my wife and grandson where i was for a year.

important to note the tour guide was 42, this was 2016, and the war ended in 1975. he kept talking about the"american war" and how they could forgive but not forget. my 1st thought was what exactly was the "american war". at the end of the tour there was a 20 minute film kind of like a newsreel, but to me it seemed like a propaganda film for the viet cong. even m grandson walked out after 5 minutes. he was 17 at the time

well he wasnt even born when the war ended, so there was nothing for him to forget, and after pouring billions of dollars into the country how dare he say they wouldnt forgive. my point is as a vet, i couldnt have been more offended by this piece of s**t.

when we got back to the ship, i immediately went to the shore excursion desk, told them about this tour guide and calmly indicated that if i had a .45 with me, i probably would have blown his head off. and im a very peaceful person. sometimes, some people just rub you the wrong way

this was my worst shore excursion by far, and its probably the only one i can really b**ch about and we've been sailing with ncl since 2010

Wow!   How did they respond at the Shore Excursion desk?

they were very glad and relieved that i wasnt carrying.  lol.

I hope you got your money back!

i wasnt even concerned about that, although we did get 50% back,and i didnt even ask for it. 

as an aside, one of the points on this particular excursion was a shooting range. you could shoot anything from an m16, a 50 caliber machine gun, even an ak47.

remember, my grandson at the time was 17. also note prior to being drafted in1968, i had never fired any type of weapon, after discharge in1970, to date i have never fired or lifted any type of weapon. i bought my grandson a clip, got him the m16, told him to put it on single shot, as automatic would have gone trough the clip instantly, and told him to go to town. this was a complete firing range. after he was done, i told him this was the one and only time in his life i was going to let him fire a weapon.

got  a great shot of him holding an m16 next to hid cheek

Sailing12Away

This one was a big hit in Florence. You got to check off the leaning tower of Pisa from your bucket list, then spend the afternoon eating and drinking until your belly was full.  Pisa & a Taste of Tuscany

This was by far one of the best we did in Alaska. You got insanely close to the glacier, we saw so much wildlife I took nearly 1000 photos, and we got margarita's made from fresh ice fished out of the water.  Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer

This one stunk - don't do it. We literally drove in circles for half the tour and had no time on our own beyond a 10min bathroom break.  Monumental Lisbon

However, this one was really good. We just wish it was longer. Our guide was great, lots of hidden gems he took us to, custom tailored to what we wanted to see and where we wanted to go, it was a great short trip.  Oporto by Tuk Tuk

BirdTravels

2 hours ago, YVRteacher said: What are some of your favourite and least favourite NCL shore excursions?

I would second that the best tour is the Tracy Arm Glacier Explorer. Depending on the day, you'll get up close and personal with some of the Alaskan Natives,,, before having the closest encounter with the glacier (while the ship hangs back)

And our second favorite was Neets Bay Ber Watch

And Glacier Point Wilderness Safari

Least favorite:  City tour of Cartagena on the "Party Bus".  It was just loud and obnoxious.

Favorite:  tough to pick just one, but it was probably the river tour of St. Petersburg.

BklynBorn47

7 hours ago, complawyer said: one of the shore excursions was to cu chi. i served there with the 25th infantry back in 1969-1970, and i wanted to show my wife and grandson where i was for a yea

Thank you for posting.  My husband was with the 168th Eng and 984th Land Clearing Engineers (Cu Chi, Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh) Sept 69-Aug70.  He won't travel there at all.  

My least favorite of all time was in Alicante, Spain in May - about 6 hours to Murcia.  One hour on a bus each way through uninteresting countryside to an OK city with a cathedral.  Should have explored the citadel in Alicante instead.  

Least favourite, the hotel beach day in Puerto Plata that we didn’t go on…we were in the Haven on the Encore, and the concierge wouldn’t let us book it, basically said (without actually saying it straight out) it was terrible and the place was a dump.   🙂   We loved the mudbug excursion we booked there instead.

I guess we’ve been lucky, we enjoyed the vast majority of the excursions we’ve booked over the years.  There’s been a few that we maybe wouldn’t do a second time, but I can’t remember any where we actually had to complain about it to the shore excursions folks afterwards.

15 hours ago, BirdTravels said: I would second that the best tour is the Tracy Arm Glacier Explorer. Depending on the day, you'll get up close and personal with some of the Alaskan Natives,,, before having the closest encounter with the glacier (while the ship hangs back)       And our second favorite was Neets Bay Ber Watch   And Glacier Point Wilderness Safari    

Those were great excursions @BirdTravels ! May I ask what timeframe you made them? We did a northbound the 1st half of June in 2018 but the bears were mostly absent except fora DIY visit we did on a small plane …and saw 1 bear at quite a distance (Ranger said they were all gorging themselves on clams when he arrived so were sleeping it off - natch)

genealogyfan

On an Alaska Cruise, we really enjoyed the "In Alaska's Wildest Kitchen" at Icy Straight Point. A local woman showed us how to cook different recipes with local seafood. Being that Icy Straight Point is such a small place, you couldn't get a similar excursion with a private company and was worth it. I highly recommend it.

https://www.ncl.com/shore-excursions/ICY_01/In-Alaska-s-Wildest-Kitchen

Worst excursion - whale watching in Madeira on Epic during this past December’s TA. They added the excursion while we were en route from Spain. We saw nothing cut the water. The distant coastline and very few (unidentified) birds. Oh Kay. That can happen since were not at SeaWorld. But what made it worse excursion  - the operator had “money back guarantee if no whales were sighted” plastered all over their shop where we were deposited by NCL. Afterwards I asked them about the guarantee and they said I’d get it back from the cruise line. Checked with NCL excursion desk and they seemed as if they never heard of that but would check. Never happened. I’d have been happy with a voucher for future use since I’ll definitely return to Madeira.

My best cruise excursions have been DIY and with MSC.  

Still waiting for an NCL excursion to really deliver that “wow”  moment. Usually too overpriced and too many people like the 2 buses we experienced to Jerez for a mass sherry tasting  or the 3 buses for a wine tasting & Florence walking tour (only way to get off the bus & into Florence last year) 

9 hours ago, bookbabe said: Least favourite, the hotel beach day in Puerto Plata that we didn’t go on…we were in the Haven on the Encore, and the concierge wouldn’t let us book it, basically said (without actually saying it straight out) it was terrible and the place was a dump.   🙂   We loved the mudbug excursion we booked there instead.   I guess we’ve been lucky, we enjoyed the vast majority of the excursions we’ve booked over the years.  There’s been a few that we maybe wouldn’t do a second time, but I can’t remember any where we actually had to complain about it to the shore excursions folks afterwards.

Would you mind sharing the name of the hotel? I was looking at one for our November cruise, to the the “All inclusive Day Pass by Emotions” in Puerto plata. Anyone have any experience with this all inclusive beach hotel… through NCL?

1 hour ago, cafevita said: Would you mind sharing the name of the hotel? I was looking at one for our November cruise, to the the “All inclusive Day Pass by Emotions” in Puerto plata. Anyone have any experience with this all inclusive beach hotel… through NCL?

That one wasn’t offered on our trip.  We had planned to do the Lifestyles Resort one, but that was cancelled because it was over the Xmas holidays, so we were going to book Coconut Cove instead.  It’s the Coconut Cove that our concierge warned us off of.

ChiefMateJRK

Besides being a cruiser, I'm also a railfan, so the White Pass and Yukon in Skagway will always be near the top of my list.  Fantastic scenery.  A lot of great Hawaii excursions as well.

6 hours ago, ColdCruise said: Those were great excursions @BirdTravels ! May I ask what timeframe you made them? We did a northbound the 1st half of June in 2018 but the bears were mostly absent except fora DIY visit we did on a small plane …and saw 1 bear at quite a distance (Ranger said they were all gorging themselves on clams when he arrived so were sleeping it off - natch)

The first few photos of whale and the golden colored bear were from a cruise on the Bliss in early June pre-pandemic. On that same cruise, we ran into a few more bears during shore excursions. We were sailing at the same time (early June) this year and did not see any bear.  

The bear chowing down at Neets Bay was on a Mid-/Late- August cruise when the salmon were running. Along with the adventure hike up to the face of the glacier. 

We have two faves

"Good time girls and ghosts" in Skagway last Aug. A "Madam" is your walking tour guide. It was funny, entertaining and educational.

Our two days in St. Petersburg Aug 2019. The Russian tour company was fabulous, early entry to everything. Canal cruise, Catherines Palace, Ride on the subway, lunch, Cathedral of Spilled blood and the list goes on. Same guide and driver for both days.

On 7/16/2022 at 11:49 PM, Sailing12Away said: This was by far one of the best we did in Alaska. You got insanely close to the glacier, we saw so much wildlife I took nearly 1000 photos, and we got margarita's made from fresh ice fished out of the water.  Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer

I second the Tracy Arm excursion as the best I've ever been on.  Hands down the best.  And the funny thing is, probably the best non NCL excursion I ever did was the whale watch (Alaska Humpback Adventures) we did the morning of the Tracy Arm excursion.  It was a busy day, we were pretty beat, but, absolutely best day we've had at a cruise port.  

On 7/17/2022 at 5:59 AM, The Shrike said: Favorite:  tough to pick just one, but it was probably the river tour of St. Petersburg.

We were planning on summer 2021 to do a cruise that included St Petersburg.  Then Covid messed up all the scheduling and so we were looking at summer 2023.  And now we can't go there anymore.  Hopefully that situation resolves itself soon.

On 7/16/2022 at 10:58 PM, complawyer said: i had to add this as you asked for least favorite. im a vietnam vet, and a couple of years back we were on the ncl star. one of the ports was saigon (even though its ho chi minh city) it will always be saigon to me. anyway, one of the shore excursions was to cu chi. i served there with the 25th infantry back in 1969-1970, and i wanted to show my wife and grandson where i was for a year.   important to note the tour guide was 42, this was 2016, and the war ended in 1975. he kept talking about the"american war" and how they could forgive but not forget. my 1st thought was what exactly was the "american war". at the end of the tour there was a 20 minute film kind of like a newsreel, but to me it seemed like a propaganda film for the viet cong. even m grandson walked out after 5 minutes. he was 17 at the time   well he wasnt even born when the war ended, so there was nothing for him to forget, and after pouring billions of dollars into the country how dare he say they wouldnt forgive. my point is as a vet, i couldnt have been more offended by this piece of s**t.   when we got back to the ship, i immediately went to the shore excursion desk, told them about this tour guide and calmly indicated that if i had a .45 with me, i probably would have blown his head off. and im a very peaceful person. sometimes, some people just rub you the wrong way   this was my worst shore excursion by far, and its probably the only one i can really b**ch about and we've been sailing with ncl since 2010

Thanks for sharing.  Having not served I can only imagine your state of mind. 

Your story did remind me of my father, a WWII Marine in the Pacific.  He had a really, really bad time dealing with going out to the Arizona Memorial and seeing all the Japanese tourists there too.  It really bothered him.  He knew it wasn't their fault, but, it still really bothered him.

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