We wanted to visit Japan and had not been on a cruise before so we decided to take the plunge. We joined the ship in Shanghai. No problems with entering China. note. Get the name of your hotel or your destination written in chinese characters before you arrive. A lot of people speak English but not many can read it! You will need a photocopy of your passport. This was not very clear at the check in desk. Boarding and settling in was trouble free. The ship was clean and comfortable and the staff were all extremely helpful. As we had not been on a cruise before we carefully read the literature sent with the tickets. It said there would be formal dining nights and other nights the dress code was jackets and ties for men. This was not the case. Formal dining was what you would expect however the dress for other nights was more relaxed. With limited space for luggage this meant some clothes were brought which we did not need. The dining experience was otherwise excellent. The ship was well equipped and the visits ( 4 in a 7 day cruise ) were spot on. We used the organised trips and they proved value for money. After Shanhai we had a day at sea before entering Kogishima, this was a last minute change to the itinery but was a good substitute. We then visited Kobe and we had a full day which included a visit to Osaka and a Japanese lunch. ( Excellent ). Then on to Fukuoka before heading for Busan, South Korea. We arrived there on the 60th anniversary of North Korea invading the south. Interesting contrast to Japan. We then had a day at sea before returning to Shanghai. The whole experience was amazing. Perhaps a long way to go for our first cruise but it has inspired us to consider further cruising. This cruise was not part of a package we booked everything independently on line. Jetline handled the cruise booking and we flew with Qatar Airways .No problems with either. After arrival in Shanhai we travelled by train to Beijing spent a few days there before flying home. If anyone would like some tips on the non cruise parts of the holiday we would be happy to help. All in all a most enjoyable cruise.