Just comeback from a 21day tour of Japan (Japan by Rail) with Wendy Wu - flew into Fakuaka and travelled to Sapporo stopping off at numerous key locations.
Very impressed with Japan - over riding view is that it is a very clean and safe country with numerous amazing sites and that the Japanese people are very welcoming and extremely polite.
We also were very surprised to find that Japan is not that expensive- it is on a par with the U.k. in somethings and cheaper in others - Food, restaurants and booze were generally very reasonable if not cheaper than the U.K. - Equally English is widely used in key areas (Signs, train announcements, etc.).
Observations on the Wendy Wu tour
The flights changed a few times and discussing things with WW to get simple things like Premium Economy or extra leg room seats seemed all too difficult - we eventually went Business class - The change (albeit late in the day) to Cathy Pacific was a positive in that we were now traveling BC the whole way there and back. However, do wonder whether we could have booked PE from day 1 with CP- we also with this change lost the extra day at the beginning - this would have given us time to acclimatise before starting the tour - we did get an extra day at the end in Sapporo but would have preferred the extra day at the front or middle.
You get to see a massive amount in the 3 weeks - it is full on and you do spend a long time on your feet so a reasonable level of mobility is essential- most times we only got to spend a limited amount of time in sites - there was little or no use of local guides -normally you were given an information leaflet in English and told to be back on the bus by a set time - the headset system was very cheap and on the 2/3 times it was used it was rubbish - lots of feedback/crackling and you needed to be standing next to the tour manager for it to work - it would have also been good to have time to ourselves in key areas - a chance to explore the culture, etc. of Japan ourselves- forgoing some of the experiences (fan making, etc. ) would have aided such change - From the getting to see Japan point of view, it was a good trip but be prepared to be very tired and it could be improved in many ways (Food, Guide, etc.) - We also found it odd that nothing was arranged for evenings (one or two events would have been good – Dinner on the ship in Tokyo Bay did not really count but was much appreciated) - We were very lucky with the weather (half a day’s rain) and a few other things (The snow monkeys were present in numbers and in the pool, the blossom was everywhere and spectacular, and Mount Fuji was clear of mist or clouds)
Our tour manager, although very pleasant, was not that impressive - she told us from day 1 that she had not done the tour before and asked for our forgiveness. - We spent a lot of time waiting around whilst she got tickets (money back apparently for the one no show) and identified where we should go which led to further limits on the time we had in each location (In her defence, we did collectively think 27 people for one tour guide and no days off was to say the least, inappropriate). Her English was good but her pronunciation on occasion made it very difficult to understand her and she repeated things numerous times and made mistakes that caused confusion, which got a bit thin after a while- she did improve a little over the tour but sadly never fully met our reasonable expectation.
It is important to mention that the key reason for many of the tour group members selecting WW, was the general positive review comment in relation to the quality of the WW guides.
The hotels were generally okay to good but not brilliant (the Grand Nikki in Tokyo was very good - however, we were all in Executive rooms, apparently an upgrade for some reason, I.e. this might not be the norm) The exception was the Vesta in Kanazawa (small room and bed-very hot - air con did not work effectively - no window and poor breakfast the latter being a common complaint). The mattresses were normally hard and the aircon a bit haphazard in terms of your ability to control it and/or whether it worked. However, they were all very clean and unlike the U.K. and Europe, they did provide tooth brushes, razors and many other things as standard -All had good showers and baths - the washing machine in Tokyo Stay hotels was also a positive on a 21 day tour with a baggage limitation.
Food
The food was a significant source of disappointment- breakfasts were generally poor and lunch and dinner very repetitive (set Bento Box for both) and often included walking -10-20 minutes to another hotel ? or to a restaurant to get a very mediocre/poor Bento Box based meal. There were a couple of good meals but with the bar being so low, I do wonder on reflection whether we had an over inflated view of these meals. Choice and more variation would have made a significant difference (We for example had sushi once when we made it and never really had Teriyaki or Hibachi/Teppanyaki). Another common issue was how what should have been hot food was tepid or cold - great mystery to the group-The fact that meals were nearly always on the table when we arrived may go a long way to explaining this. However, the fact that the breakfast buffets were generally cold would counter this view. -TGI Fridays and the Ocean buffet in Tokyo were examples of a change - However, we arrived at TGI Fridays (on time) to finds the meal on the table (bizarre) as a consequence the food was very cold and the staff did not seem to comprehend that this was wrong. The Ocean buffet the following night was very poor - limited choice and yet again food that should have been hot was cold (the latter was clearly a very cheap restaurant) - you are unlikely to starve but you might lose weight !! For what we paid, it did not to put it politely, represent good value for money.
Travel
The trains as expected were on time and clean. The coaches were equally good and fairly spacious - the seats in some of the older Bullet train and limited express trains were a tad tight for two reasonable size people!! - the swan song trip the transfer from the hotel to the Airport in Sapporo was interesting- We took 1.45hrs to go 43km because we were put on a very busy public airport shuttle that stopped everywhere - As there were 5 people on our particular flight, WW could and should, for what we paid, arranged a taxi or mini bus - Sapporo Airport was very quiet- The Royal Business Lounge was very poor in terms of food, beverage and service.
Organisation
The Tour organisation was such that although we never failed to get to a site, we had limited time in places. There was some flexibility shown but it was very limited. Sometimes we would go to the hotel for 4.30 - 5 when an extra hour or half hour at a site during the day would have been preferred. As it is a very long trip, a day potentially at the mid-point, to do as you please (rest or go out on your own) would have been good - there was a lot of time (especially in the beginning) waiting around whilst the guide got tickets, arranged refunds for no shows and established where we had to go.
Toilets - they deserve a positive mention in dispatches.
The public toilets were numerous and very clean and generally had what is described as a Western toilet (I.e. heated seat, etc.); ironic as you very rarely see these toilets in the West – On this subject and general cleanliness, we did feel that in comparison to the U.K. we were on a different planet.
To sum up you see a lot of Japan in a relatively short period of time and the hotels and travel arrangements are okay to good. However, had I known about the quality of the guide and food beforehand, I would not have gone with Wendy Wu. We paid, like other Tour Group members, £27k (7K was for business class-wish I had arranged my own flights - could have gone premium economy and Business for less). For the reasons outlined (quality of food and guide, etc.) we did not think that this holiday represented good value for money, especially when contrary to my expectation, Japan was not that expensive.
