Osaka
We embarked in Osaka, Japan. We arrived a few days early and stayed at the Osaka Hyatt. This hotel is very easy to get to from the airport by taking the airport limousine bus. This bus has many routes and stops at many major hotels so investigate it if you plan on doing your own airport transportation. This bus also went straight to the Tempozan Harbor Village (where the Pacific Princess was docked) for 1,300 yen pp which was much less than Princess was charging for the same transfer.
We spent 2 days 'commuting' to Kyoto. We would take the subway to Osaka station in the morning and then take a rail train to Kyoto. It was a bit of a trip but not unreasonable. On the first day we took the Johnnie Hillwalker tour. This tour meets outside Kyoto station at 10 am and costs 2,000 yen pp. It is a walking tour that goes through the Southeastern portion of the city and is more of a 'backdoor' tour. We saw a number of small shrines and traditional craftsmens' workshops, as well as some temples, a Shinto cemetery and a traditional Japanese pastry shop. Johnnie gave us some great insight into Japanese religious and cultural traditions and introduced us to the 'everyday man's' life in Kyoto.
In contrast, the next day we had signed up for a tour run by JTB ($135 pp paid for before we left the US). This tour met us in Osaka and took us to Kyoto where we boarded a bus. The bus took us to major sights (such as the Golden Pavillion, the Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace. Then lunch was provided (decent, buffet style with a good amount of choice) and we boarded the bus for an afternoon tour that went to more temples and shrines. Everything we saw was interesting and different.
I am glad we took tours in Kyoto because many of the major sites have few tours (usually none in English) and all of the popular sites were awash in tourists (many of them Japanese schoolchildren from around the country). It would have been difficult to navigate on our own.
At night on these days we walked around the various shopping/nightlife districts in Osaka (Amerika Mura being the most outrageous). This was fun but really only needs to be done once (unless you are a serious clubber).
The third day was embarkation day. We spent the morning at Osaka Castle. Although this is a recreation, it is beautifully done and really looks like the castle surely did in its glory days. The surrounding park is nice and worth a walk. Inside the castle is a somewhat bland museum, but it is worth the entrance fee to go to the observation desk on the top floor where you have a terrific 360 degree view of Osaka. After this we headed to the Pacific Princess.
Our first port was supposed to be Hiroshima, Japan, but a typhoon hit just as we were scheduled to leave Osaka, so we delayed our departure until it had passed. This was just enough to cause us to miss our half-day stop at Hiroshima. So we pressed on and went straight to Shanghai, China. We did not get off at this port because between the outrageous cost of the visa and the shore excursions we didn't think it was worth it. We did however enjoy the approach in the morning. For 2 hours before you reach Shanghai the narrow waterway is filled with hundreds of boats of all sizes. Being on a cruise ship was like being on a whale watching all of the smaller fish swimming around you. Very entertaining! Being on ship in port we took advantage of the free time and got discounted spa treatments and did laundry.
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