Asia Cruises

The holiday was fine but in a few respects, lacked attention to detail. The least satisfactory component was the lack of coordination related to the travel plan and the pre and post activities. APT claimed that they provided detailed options to clients for both but none of this information made its way to us. APT staff said that if clients booked direct they got all details but clients who booked via second parties missed out because agents fail to pass on information. The truth might be different? We ...read more thought the trip overall was excellent but multiple journey APT clients seemed to be grumbling that the execution of arrangements fell short of previous experiences. Some are hard to please! One real deficiency is that there was no meet and greet activity on arrival in Tokyo. We arrived at the hotel and found one other couple wandering around. We didn't see an APT representative until next day. On departure we were scheduled to leave the ship at 9 am but not fly out until 11.45pm. Last minute changes were made by APT, at additional cost, but we still reached the airport almost 8 hours before fly time and five hours before luggage could be handed over. Once on the ship we were well catered for and most daily plans seemed appropriate. We saw rather too many temples and gardens. With a little thought the program could be enhanced. For example, the staple Japanese food is rice. It would be possible to visit a rice farm and hear about production, transport and marketing of this important crop. We just drove past farms like they didn't play any role in society. Further, several major car manufacturing plants were observed being Mazda and Toyota. Many on the trip would have loved an opportunity to see a robotic car production line. Japan is a great manufacturing country and they have enormous price in their products. Surely more diversity is possible? A lasting impression will be the friendly welcomes provided by locals in all of the small ports visited. Their efforts were remarkable. The brief visit to South Korea was no different.

Great holiday but sadly with a few hiccups. Arrived on an early flight into Tokyo booked by APT picked up by rep and taken to our hotel to find that us as well as many others on the tour could not get into our rooms until mid afternoon (after 2pm) which left many weary travellers longing for a shower and rest to hang around the hotel. Similar problem at the end of the tour when a lot of us had been booked on late night flights after disembarking in the early morning but APT did, on realizing ...read more the problem, organize a morning tour with an afternoon drop off at the airport, at an extra cost, which filled in a few hours but still a long wait for our 11.30pm flight home! The tour itself was very enjoyable with great inclusions and a good group. Unfortunately we both came down towards the end of the trip with a very aggressive respiratory infection which laid us up for over a week which is why I am late sending in this feedback.

I like small ship travelling as you get to interact with all the fellow passengers. I have been to Japan several times and have experienced much of its beauty and culture, but on this trip I did do some things that were new for me. I found this trip was a great mix of things to do with a friend who I was introducing to this part of the world, culture and people. One thing that could be improved would be more tasting of the authentic Japanese food which is just great, healthy and a work of art ...read more also. Thank you for the effort that was put into this trip.

Fascinating country and people. Comfortable ship with a good crowd of passengers. Excellent crew. The cruise was well organised, combining the ship's cruise director and her deputy with the three botanical guides. However once we left the ship on the final day, with only the botanical guides to lead us, the trip fell apart to some degree. The shore excursions were a little disappointing as the Japanese guides tended to be hesitant, not fluent in English and often there was a tension between the ...read more Japanese guide, our botanical guide and the cruise director or deputy on the bus. Who was in charge? Attention to detail and special events - demonstrations / treats etc were appreciated. The welcome to port and farewell from port events were especially memorable. Would recommend Botanica to friends even though they may only have a passing interest in gardens as there were lots of other sights included in the cruise.