HAL Westerdam Cruise Shore Excursion Itineraries in Japan

Excellent experience with Shore Excursions Asia

We used Shore Excursions Asia for 3 tours with our Holland America Circle Japan cruise. Lara was our contact and it all went so smoothly. Her communication was excellent and we were all so happy with our tours of Kyoto, Hiroshima and Gokoyama. Small groups with wonderful English speaking, kind guides and drivers. Waiting at the port for us all with signs and getting back to the ship in plenty of time was managed perfectly.

Lara added more people to our group of 4. Payment was easy. We saw so much that we would have missed as the ship tours were booked out and more expensive. I would not hesitate to use this company again. Thank you Lara

A perfect tour of Nagasaki

We used Japan Shore Excursions to book a tour of Nagasaki during a cruise stop in Sasebo. Lara from Shore Excursions was incredibly responsive and put together a tour that met all of our needs. She even found another four people from the cruise to create a group of six that brought down the costs for all of us. Throughout the months leading up to the tour she kept in contact and was extremely clear about the process to meet the guide and provided multiple contact details to ensure that there would be no problems on the tour day.

As she indicated, our wonderful guide Moe was standing outside the cruise terminal, sign in hand to meet us and quickly escorted us to a very clean van with a lovely driver who greeted us warmly. What a guide Moe was - her background as the granddaughter of a Nagasaki bombing survivor brought even more meaning to a very impactful place. She took the time to show us sites around the Peace memorial and grounds that we would have missed if merely walking ourselves.

Given the beautiful weather and cherry blossom season, she later wisely suggested a change to the itinerary which allowed us to see Glover Garden in perfect conditions. Moe and Lara ensured that we will use Shore Excursions Asia for all of our future tour needs.

Amazing Service and Flexibility

We recently toured Japan on a cruise but do not like to do excursions with busloads of people. Lara was our amazing agent and planned individual guides and drivers for us in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.

The guides just could not have been nicer, spoke good English, and the drivers were extremely competent while driving impeccable and comfortable vans.
Lara went so far as to recommend a hotel in Kyoto instead of driving all the way back to the ship, for another trip to Osaka the next day. We were able to change the pickup/drop off places on the fly with Lara working closely with us on all changes.

Both of our outstanding guides took us to local restaurants that they recommended, and we gladly bought them lunch for the experience of enjoying real local food and not touristy places.

After every tour Lara checked in with me to make sure everything was going well. Having been in the service industry for 40 years, I cannot stress enough the level of superior service Lara and her company provide. If their prices seem high, just remember you get what you pay for.

Exceptional, reliable tours with Japan Shore Excursions

We toured Asia in Jan/Feb and did several tours with Shore Excursions Asia. They did not disappoint! Every tour was managed extremely well. We worked with Lara, who helped us plan and followed thru on all the details. This is our second year of doing tours with them, and we plan to do more next year.

Japan Shore Excursions -excellent arrangements and experience.

Lara was amazing. She paid close attention to what we were interested in and created great private shore excursions. Everthing went smoothly and efficiently. Each guide was terrific, entertaining and knowledgeable and we accomplished everything we expected and more.

Wonderful shore excursion in Kyoto with Lara's Group!

We were very delighted about the service provided by Lara Nguyen and our Kyoto Highlights Tour. Our guide Chiyomi was very charming, spoke a very good English and provided us with very much interesting information. The booking procedure was easy and reponse times from Lara always very short! We can only recommend Japan Shore Excursions.