Barrage of images on Japan cruise

Subscriber G.L. (Hal) Merow mailed to ITN a copy of the following letter, which he sent to Cruise West, regarding a 13-night/14-day “Japan Unveiled” cruise taken aboard the “Spirit of Oceanus,” March 18-31, 2006. Without the airfare but including an overnight in Tokyo and another in Kobe, the cruise-tour cost $4,476 per person. In all, 13 ports in Japan and one in Korea were visited.

We had the pleasure of sailing on the Spirit of Oceanus in March ’06 and did not have time to fill in the guest survey while on board. However, after more than 100 cruises over the last 21 years, we know that, after waiting and then looking back, things get better instead of worse.

The ship is a real dream. The cabins are extremely spacious, well furnished and nicely appointed (though dated). Our cabin, the second-least expensive, could have used a major cleaning. I do not fault our excellent room stewardess. She was very friendly and helpful in every way and, in our opinion, overworked!

The lounge area is very comfortable and perfect for this kind of a cruise, and Teddy (Theadoro) won everyone’s heart with his constant attention and charming banter.

The auditorium is certainly very comfortable for lectures and slide shows, etc., but on this cruise most of the time it sat empty.

Everything about the dining room was very nice except the quality of the food. We were very disappointed with its lack of flavor and variety. We felt that, for the cost of the cruise, the food was not even as good as that on most of the megaships we have sailed on recently. It was definitely not up to the standards of high-end cruising. The service from the maître d’ and the waiters was excellent, but they cannot turn a dull dish into something wonderful.

The only other down side to the dining room is the lack of seating for everyone at once. On two occasions we were not able to eat dinner until nearly 9 o’clock since we did not get to the dining room until it was full and, as luck would have it, everyone was having a leisurely dinner. We did enjoy the food in the Bistro, even though, again, some better fare from the buffet would have been more enjoyable.

Our introduction to Cruise West in Japan was Andy Compton, and he is an excellent representative. You’re very fortunate to have someone of his caliber on your staff. Jennifer and Melissa, your cruise staff on board, were both wonderful in assisting the passengers.

Our comments on the cruise itself deal mainly with the itinerary. The most pointed thing I can say is there was just too much jammed into too little time. Every day we saw at least two temples or shrines along with other artifacts, and we were on the go for eight to 10 hours without stopping. It got to be too much. The major reason we have taken only one tour previously is that we like to do things at a more comfortable pace.

In Japan, where, in contrast to what I had anticipated, there is very limited culture and limited variety in architectural heritage, you should allow for a little more down time so each passenger can regroup and digest what he has encountered. The ship could sit in port, giving passengers a choice of doing something on their own or sitting on the ship. There was just too much togetherness with the other passengers — on and off buses, etc. It was not until after the cruise, when we were looking at our pictures, that we could honestly say, ‘We saw some really wonderful things.’

At the time, I was very disappointed with the tour escorts who were on board throughout the cruise and accompanied passengers in three buses on shore excursions. In retrospect, however, I believe these three Japanese women did a very good job with what they had to offer.

We dreamed of finally doing “Japan in depth,” and when this cruise came along it looked perfect. We came away from Japan with a feeling that the Japanese are very reserved, totally uncontroversial and aloof people; it seemed they would do anything to avoid offending someone.

We feel that on this cruise we received what the country had to offer.

We thank you and your staff for another travel experience.

G.L. MEROW & ROBERT
PLANK, Venice, FL

ITN sent another copy of the above letter to Cruise West and was sent a copy of their reply to Mr. Merow, as seen below. Included in their cover letter was the statement, “We have also added more guest speakers to our fall itinerary to help our guests understand more about the culture we are visiting. . .”

Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to write about your recent cruise aboard the Spirit of Oceanus. I appreciate your constructive comments and will be sure to pass your letter on to others in our management team so that they may be aware of the valuable insights you provide.

I’m glad to learn that overall we provided a good experience. I’m sorry that certain areas, such as the food, were not up to expectations. We will be sure to work on improving these areas.

I came back from the first cruise, just before yours, with very similar impressions about having too much activity and not enough “down time.” We found that toward the end of the cruise several guests were staying aboard as they were just plain getting worn out. While this cruise concept is certainly more relaxing than trying to see these sights by land, I agree that it could be done in a more relaxing, paced manner.

Ironically, in proving the point that we can’t please everybody, we have had others saying just the opposite, that they want more presentations and more time seeing the sights! Frankly, I don’t know how we could squeeze more into the itinerary.

We are looking to make adjustments in future itineraries to provide more cruising time through the Inland Sea and reduce the number of ports of call. These decisions are greatly impacted by the feedback from our guests, such as what you have provided. Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts.

RICHARD G. WEST, Chairman and Managing Director, Cruise West, 2301 Fifth Ave., Ste. 401, Seattle, WA 98