# Japan Timeshares



## Judy

Has anyone stayed in a timeshare in Japan?  I'm looking for a place to spend a week or so to recover from jetlag before starting a cruise. I don't speak or read Japanese.


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## Jimster

*Japan*

First of all I will start with the most important fact.  I have not stayed in a TS in Japan.  I have looked into staying there and talked with a couple of people about it.   Since you havent gotten any responses I thought I'd put in $.02.  

My understanding is that most of the TS are fairly isolated in the countryside.  I suspect they would be somewhat difficult to get to if you don't know Japanese.  Also most of the TS are on the other three islands from where Toyko is located.  

OTOH hotels are expensive but there are some chain hotels that would be available on points if you have them.  That would probably be a good use of points.


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## VacationForever

If you don't speak Japanese, staying at a timeshare is going to be a pretty secluded experience.  I used to travel alone to various countries for work but the most terrifying one was in Japan.  I took a taxi (silly me - I later found out that there was a bus that I could have taken) from Tokyo to the next city over and it was an unnerving experience.  The ride took 1.5 hrs and cost about $200, and the worst part was that the taxi driver was super friendly but was speaking to me in Japanese the whole way.  We travelled through open fields and I thought he was taking me some place to dump my body.  

My suggestion is stick to staying in a hotel in Tokyo or where ever you will be taking the cruise from.


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## Judy

sptung said:


> If you don't speak Japanese, staying at a timeshare is going to be a pretty secluded experience.  I used to travel alone to various countries for work but the most terrifying one was in Japan.  I took a taxi (silly me - I later found out that there was a bus that I could have taken) from Tokyo to the next city over and it was an unnerving experience.  The ride took 1.5 hrs and cost about $200, and the worst part was that the taxi driver was super friendly but was speaking to me in Japanese the whole way.  We travelled through open fields and I thought he was taking me some place to dump my body.
> 
> My suggestion is stick to staying in a hotel in Tokyo or where ever you will be taking the cruise from.



I don't speak or read Japanese, but still would like to spend enough time in Japan to recover from jet lag (flying from the US East Coast) before the cruise.  The ship sails from Yokohama.  I realize that traveling from Narita or Osaka airport to Kyoto will be challenging, but I don't think much more so than getting to Yokohama.  The easiest way of course would be to take Princess  transportation from the airport to the ship, but what fun would that be


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## VacationForever

What about booking a short guided tour?


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## Judy

sptung said:


> What about booking a short guided tour?



That might solve the logistics and language problems. But since the time in Tokyo is 13 hours later than on the East Coast of the US, I'd probably sleep through the whole thing or worse.


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## nightnurse613

I don't know much about you but, if you are looking for a place to "flop" you might try one of Japan's hostels-some of them have single rooms.  Obviously the better ones are booked well in advance but the price is pretty good (not timeshare quality)-but many of the hotels have small rooms too (space is at a premium in Tokyo). The Oak is one of the recommended ones. My experience is you will probably meet others who share a love of travel and frequently speak English (which is not at all uncommon in Japan). Close by transportation (again, no idea where your departure port is).  Good luck and enjoy lots of noodles!!


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## FL Guy

Most Japanese people can understand spoken or written English as it is a required course in their schools.  However, because speaking English and structuring conversational sentences is a different skill than comprehension of hearing it spoken or seeing it written.  Unless they are very familiar with English, most Japanese will not attempt to speak it.  I was in Japan for a week at the Tokyo Disney Resort in 2012.  I did not have any trouble getting people to understand what I was trying to communicate.  I just spoke slowly so they could understand and interpret my words.  Granted, the Tokyo Disney Resort area would likely be more "western-ized" than other areas, but I did spend one day in Tokyo itself and did not have a problem there.  I did discover a wonderful service available in Tokyo where they have free volunteer tour guides that will show you whatever sights you wish.  We spent about 9 hours with a very pleasant retired man showing us around the city.


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## Passepartout

Judy, cruise critic roll calls are your friend. We are also taking a cruise next spring that originates in Yokohama. There are already 7 pages of roll calls on it. There is bus, train, and taxi between Narita and Yokohama. We have already booked a 'limo bus', said to be cheaper, faster and more convenient, and no schlepping bags through 2 train stations. We have also booked 2 nights in a 4* hotel in Yokohama. I wondered if it would be too industrial, but reviews and pix put me at ease.

Jim


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## Judy

Passepartout said:


> Judy, cruise critic roll calls are your friend. We are also taking a cruise next spring that originates in Yokohama. There are already 7 pages of roll calls on it.


Good idea.  I've participated in cruisecritic roll calls for other cruises.  So far there isn't one for any of the 3 b2b we're taking in July:  Diamond Princess July 8, 17, and 26.  There seem to be a lot of unsold cabins at this point, so maybe there aren't enough cruisecritic members booked yet to make up a roll call. 

On the other hand, maybe Princess will reduce fares


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## Passepartout

Well, somebody has to start the Roll Call on each cruise leg. It might as well be you. Other people will probably chime in with ideas on excursions, cabin suggestions, and you might meet someone who would be fun to pal around with- or avoid- depending on how it works out.

We have never had difficulty filling up a cruise critic meet-n-greet on any Celebrity cruise, but maybe Celebrity cruisers are just more talkative. You never know. 

Jim


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## shoegal

*Japan*

Hello,

first and foremost, I have no idea of timeshare resorts in Japan however I would not be scared of not speaking the language.  Probably the resort (if you find one) can even arrange for airport pick up?

Another option I love (other than hotels) is airbnb.com, I realize this is a timeshare forum and if I am not allowed to post such links here please delete...  Then again, personally I LOVE to browse the above mentioned site and have stayed at several private rentals. Sometimes I go on a virtual airbnb world trip and cannot get enough by looking at all the nice apartments and houses. But maybe that's just weird me. 

I have been to Japan (more than ten years ago) and absolutely loved it. I went to Disneyland Tokyo one day (by myself) and my most vivid memory from my whole Japan experience was sitting on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and the guide kept on making fun of me in front of the whole boat group - in JAPANESE and of course I could not understand a thing but people were laughing tears. I find this funny now but what a weird situation that was... 

Greetings


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## travel maniac

Judy said:


> Has anyone stayed in a timeshare in Japan?  I'm looking for a place to spend a week or so to recover from jetlag before starting a cruise. I don't speak or read Japanese.



When we went to Japan in 2009, we bought our rail passes from a Japanese travel agency.  We requested the travel agent to translate some of the common terms on a piece of paper.  The first line would show an English statement and the next line would show a Japanese translation.  This helped us in communicating with the people while we were there.  We still had to rely a lot on sign language but it was fun.  Japanese people spoke a lot better English than we spoke Japanese!

We tried some very basic Japanese (excuse me - sumi ma sen, hello - Konichi Wa, thank you - arrigato gozai mas) and that seemed to help a lot.

You will generally not have to worry about language much while in cities.


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## LLW

Judy said:


> I don't speak or read Japanese, but still would like to spend enough time in Japan to recover from jet lag (flying from the US East Coast) before the cruise.  The ship sails from Yokohama.  *I realize that traveling from Narita or Osaka airport to Kyoto will be challenging*, but I don't think much more so than getting to Yokohama.  The easiest way of course would be to take Princess  transportation from the airport to the ship, but what fun would that be



We don't speak any Japanese but went from the Osaka Airport to the Hyatt in Kyoto one time, and found it very easy. There is a high-speed train which you can take from the Airport, the complete schedule of which is on the Internet (I just googled it), down to the last second. And it was very punctual. From the train station in Kyoto it was just a short taxi ride to the Hyatt. 

In Kyoto we met up with a Japanese friend and took public transportation everywhere with him. But I think it would have been very easy to find the information on the Internet - I had seen parts of it when doing my research.

When we were on our own we sometimes took short taxi rides in between train rides. Most of the taxi drivers don't speak much English. We also found that even the Information desk person at the airport didn't speak much English. But this was about 6 years ago.

The point I get is to do your homework before you leave for the trip (which you are doing ), and be prepared with some travel directions/destinations written in Japanese for you. It is very doable.

We bought a Japanese rail pass for Americans - there is a Japanese travel agency in each big city from which you can buy it. You cannot get it inside Japan. I think we got a 7-day one and just two or three train rides made it cost effective. The travel agency can also give you info on parts of Japan where you will be travelling.

There is a Worldmark owner on wmowners.com who travels to timeshares in Japan all the time through RCI. This is his latest post that I can find that has Japan in it:
http://www.wmowners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=293520#p293520

He last visited WMO recently. You may want to pm via WMO - I don't see an email option for him. I believe you may already be registered on WMO?


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## Judy

LLW,  I have been researching Japan Rail Passes.  One of the agents I was considering purchasing a voucher from is japan-experience.com/japan-rail-pass.  They offer (at extra cost) "JRP Assistance".  Is this the agency you used?  If so, was their Assistance worth buying?  
I never thought of asking on wmowners.com.  I'll click over there and see if I can contact the Worldmark owner you recommended.  
Thank you.


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## LLW

Judy said:


> LLW,  I have been researching Japan Rail Passes.  One of the agents I was considering purchasing a voucher from is japan-experience.com/japan-rail-pass.  They offer (at extra cost) "JRP Assistance".  Is this the agency you used?  If so, was their Assistance worth buying?
> I never thought of asking on wmowners.com.  I'll click over there and see if I can contact the Worldmark owner you recommended.
> Thank you.



No, the agency I bought from was located in downtown Seattle, and I just went there to buy. 

The "Assistance" program is new (I had to look it up from your description), I think, and wasn't in existence when we went. I think I would have used it a couple of times in about 6 days. So it depends on how long you will be in Japan, and whether, personally, the peace of mind plus the answers are worth the $15 to you. Note they are only accessible from 7 am to 10 pm (and would have been unavailable to us when we first arrived at Kyoto, not that we needed it then).


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## Beaglemom3

I am fairly fluent in Japanese (X-DH was sansei and I consult for a Japanese mega pharma). When I'm in the larger Japanese cities and ports, I rarely use it as most every can speak some passable (or fluent )English. If they can't, they will get someone who does. The smaller cities are more of a challenge, so be prepared and bring a phrase book where you can point to simple questions. Learning the polite phrases ahead of time is a big plus as in any country.

When I travel there, my expenses are paid for, so it's not like personal travel where I watch the nickels. Often times I have a driver or shared limo. Very common there.


As for timeshares, I am not aware of any near large cities with points of interest. I'd stick to branded hotels for the first time visitor on their way to a ship. JMHO. Kyoto is great, but 5+ hours away by bullet train.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2016.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018.html http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2028_transportation.html http://www.hyperdia.com/

Day trips from Tokyo: http://www.veltra.com/en/asia/japan/tokyo/a/100357  and http://www.veltra.com/en/asia/japan/tokyo/ctg/160617:tours/


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## zora

I know this is an older thread but the cruise is not until next summer, so if you haven't booked anything yet you might want to look at Tokyo apartments. You can get an "accommodation" for less than a week. tokyoapartments.jp  When we stayed at a Tokyo apt in roppongi (minato area), during the day there was usually someone at the front desk that spoke English.  
And one night we ordered pizza, we asked the person at the front desk about pizza, she had a picture menu w/ a coupon. We pointed to the one we wanted and she called to put in the order.


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