Samurai Coastline – Kanazawa, Hakodate & Shimizu

About this cruise

Clear the calendar from October 18, 2026. This one's 11 nights from Incheon, and the route visits Sakaiminato (Matsue), Kanazawa and Akita, with additional stops along the Japan, Korea, China & Taiwan. By the time you're a week in, you'll have completely stopped checking your phone. You get off in Tokyo, which is a good excuse to tack on a few days on land. The itinerary clusters several port calls together. Fast-paced for a few days, then the sea days hit and you can catch your breath. Tokyo's neon at one port, Kyoto's temples at the next. You cover centuries in a few days. You get around 10 hours in each port, which is enough for an excursion, lunch, and some wandering around on your own. When you're not ashore, There are 13 restaurants on Norwegian Jade, so you'd need to double up a few evenings to try them all in 11 nights. One of the underrated parts of a longer cruise: you actually get to know people. The couple from dinner, the group at trivia, the bartender who remembers your drink. An October sailing dodges the peak crowds while the weather is still cooperating. Well timed. 11 nights of not thinking about anything except where to eat next. That's the pitch.