Gilded Pagoda – Hakodate, Busan & Kanazawa

About this cruise

This one leaves Tokyo on June 27, 2027 and spends 10 nights visiting Hakodate, Sakata, Kanazawa, Busan, Nagasaki and Kagoshima at a pace where every day has something going on but there's always time to just sit and watch the water too. There's a stretch of back-to-back port days, so those days are busy, but the sea days around them give you time to recharge. Karaoke bars, hot springs, and temples draped in moss. East Asia does culture and chaos in equal measure. Most ports give you about 9 hours, so you can do more than just tick off the main sights. As for the ship itself, There are 14 restaurants on Sapphire Princess, so you'd need to double up a few evenings to try them all in 10 nights. 10 nights is long enough to build a routine on board: favourite restaurant, favourite deck chair, favourite people. It starts to feel like a floating village. It's peak season, so the weather is at its best and the ship will be full. That's part of the fun. If you've been thinking about a cruise, this 10-night sailing is a strong place to start.