從香港出發的三代家庭遊輪假期 -> 沖繩（那霸和宮古島）以及無需簽證即可帶您的家傭前往日本的唯一方式
(Scroll down for English!) 公共假期我們要去哪裡？
毫無疑問，無論是計劃在國內還是出國旅行，這都是每個父母都關心的問題。下一個問題：
我們應該搭飛機嗎？
有兩種類型的度假者：第一種是在公眾假期期間搭乘飛機，第二種是在公眾假期期間盡量避免搭飛機（我認識的很多人都是這樣）。我們屬於第一種。撇開金錢和人群不談，原因如下：
1. 對於多代同堂的假期（祖父母、阿姨、父母、孩子），最好在每個人都有空的時候去。
2.對於工作狂（我爸爸和妹妹）來說，他們公眾假期期間的日程安排比較清閒。
3. 對於假期窮人（蕃薯爸爸和媽媽），我們不想太快度過假期。我們像人們省錢一樣省著假期放（可惜累積假期沒有利息！）。
4. 我們不想讓 大蕃薯缺課。不是因為我們關心他的學業，而是因為他上的是全日制學校，這是高品質的日托服務。我們覺得如果他逃學，我們的錢就花得冤枉了！
當我提到九月份的遊輪假期時，家裡的每個人都非常興奮，因為我們在第一次遊輪期間獲得了很棒的體驗（也許我會在以後的帖子中寫到這一點！）不幸的是，我們剛剛將大蕃薯的護照寄到了英國用於續訂。爺爺奶奶對這個假期建議感到非常興奮，他甚至建議我們其他人先預訂！幸好大蕃薯的護照十月就寄回來了，婆婆便趕緊去永安旅遊訂票。
說到護照，乘坐遊輪前往日本的一個意想不到的好處是不需要簽證，即使是家傭也是如此！(no visa is required, even for helpers!)
這次航行在聖誕節期間（12 月 24 日至 29 日）持續了 6 天。下次航行(The next sailing)是在四月和五月，但行程相同。
在西元前B.C.（Before Child! 在有孩子之前），我已經去過沖繩本島好幾次了。有些父母想帶孩子們參觀他們去過的所有好地方，但我不想。對我來說，度假的吸引力在於體驗新事物。就我個人而言，對我來說賣點是它停在宮古島。這是一張地圖供參考：
我和爸爸一起去過石垣島和竹富島…去另一個島嶼真是太令人興奮了，尤其是一個無法搭飛機到達的島嶼！
現在是問答環節（來自朋友）：
船很大嗎？人很多嗎？
是的，是的（但是，我沒有任何比較，因為我只乘坐過一次遊輪。所有遊輪不是都感覺很大嗎？考慮到極其合理的價格，即我計算出我們的遊輪費用約為和同一時期的機票價格一樣，人多也就不足為奇了，這個要看個人喜好了。
如果您想避開人群，我建議您預訂 The Palace，它看起來像是船上的 VIP 區域（10 層甲板）。它甚至還有自己的游泳池（第 5 頁和第 8 頁）。( a VIP section within the ship (Deck 10). It even has its own pool (p.5 & 8).)
我們做了什麼活動？
傳統上，大多數人透過郵輪業者預訂旅遊，以確保最大的效率和便利性。然而，我覺得由於我們有8個人（像沙丁魚一樣擠在2個房間裡），所以不是很抵（我想不出英文中“抵”的確切翻譯……也許很好……也許這說明瞭如何中國文化就是對用錢比較精明！ ），更不用說我不喜歡和我的孩子一起坐長途汽車（去水族館單程1.5小時）。我們遇到了 小姨 的同事，他預訂了參觀水族館的行程，後來抱怨他們幾乎沒有時間參觀水族館（「這裡有魚，那裡有魚，時間夠了！我們走吧！」Iz 開玩笑說）。我們的靠泊被推遲了（所以我們在船上吃了午餐），我想他也提到了交通堵塞的問題。
我們並沒有感到任何觀光的壓力，因為我們所有人（除了家傭和孩子）都曾經去過沖繩本島。我在網路上搜尋了沖繩遊輪指南，並認為天氣非常好，適合在鎮上散步。我不記得在那之前曾花一個下午在沖繩本島散步過！
沖繩本島
第一站：波上海灘 Naminoue Beach
大蕃薯的評論：“水太髒了，不是藍色的！”
（蕃薯媽媽：我的天哪，我的孩子已經習慣了經常看香港的海域，他對什麼是乾淨的海洋的概念完全扭曲了！）
回頭看照片，我才注意到孩子們在做什麼……顯然在沙上留下手印很有趣！孩子們可能可以在海灘上度過一整天，但我們決定繼續前進...
第二站：國際通
導遊說從海灘步行到第一牧誌公設市場總共需要35 分鐘，我們決定下午5 點去那裡吃晚餐（孩子們的安排！）實際上，我們花了大約2 個小時，因為我們花了大約2 個小時。濕了褲子…！
第三站：第一牧會公設市場
我們選擇了海鮮（包括一些我們從未見過的和龍蝦 - >生魚片和粥）以及和牛，
我們用海葡萄讓 小蕃薯開心
然後我們就坐計程車趕回遊輪了！
如果您還未到過那霸，這裡是當地版本local version.。
宮古島
這有點冒險。島上很安靜，我們四處閒逛，尋找附近適合孩子吃午餐的地方。在谷歌地圖的幫助下，我們找到了一家酒店，並在他們的餐廳吃了蛋包飯、咖哩飯和漢堡牛排。
非常幸運的是，後來我走進接待處，請他們幫我們預訂 2 輛計程車。經過長時間的來回努力，試圖克服語言障礙，我們終於達成了共識（僅供參考，沖繩遊輪指南第 11 頁涉及宮古島）.. 出租車出發了
宮古島海洋公園
水下觀察設施…我們在海底，而不必被淋濕！觀看海上發生的事情真是太神奇了…
然後，我們穿過伊良部大橋（日本最長的大橋）返回
連接島嶼的島嶼）。我們捕捉到了一點日落和藍色的大海。計程車司機放著爵士樂或古典音樂（取決於您乘坐的車），營造了整個島嶼的輕鬆氛圍
最後，我們叫計程車把我們送到了主要街道，在那裡我們找到了一家專門提供當地美食的餐廳吃晚餐。
Multigenerational family cruise holiday from HK -> Okinawa (Naha and Miyakojima) & the ONLY way to take your helper to Japan without a visa
Where shall we go on public holidays?
Doubtless, this is in the back of every parents’ mind, whether planning days out locally or abroad. The next question:
Should we fly?
There are 2 types of holiday makers: The 1st fly during public holidays and the 2nd try to avoid flying during then (which is a lot of people I know). We belong to the 1st type. Money and crowds aside, here is why:
1. For multigenerational holidays (grandparents, aunt, parents, kids), it is easiest time-wise to go when everybody is most likely to be free.
2. For workaholics (my dad and sis), there are less likely to be bookings in their schedule during public holidays.
3. For leave-poor people (Baba and me), we don’t want to spend our vacation days too quickly. We save them like people save money (too bad there’s no interest on accumulated leave!).
4. We don’t want R to miss school. Not because we’re concerned about academics, but because he goes to full-day school, which is high quality day care. We feel like we’re not getting our money’s worth if he skips school!
When I mentioned the cruise in September, everyone in the family was very excited, as we had a great experience during our 1st cruise (perhaps I will write about that in a future post!) Unfortunately, we’d just sent R’s passport to UK for renewal. Grannypapa was so excited at the prospect that he even suggested booking the rest of us 1st! Luckily, R’s passport arrived in October & Grannymama rushed to Wing On to book.
Speaking of passports, 1 unexpected benefit of going on cruise to Japan, is that no visa is required, even for helpers!
The cruise was 6 days over Christmas, 24-29 December. The next sailing is in April and May, but the itinerary is the same.
B.C. (Before Children), I’d been to Okinawa Main Island quite a few times. Some parents want to show their children all the nice places they’ve been to, but not me. For me, the attraction of going on holiday is experiencing something new. So personally, the selling point for me was that it stopped at Miyakojima. Here is a map for reference:
Baba and I had been to Ishigaki and Taketomi B.C… How exciting to tick of another island, especially 1 inaccessible by flight!
Now for Q&A (from a friend) :
Was the ship big? Were there many people?
Yes and yes (but also, I don’t have any comparison, since I’ve only been on 1 cruise ship. Don’t all cruise ships feel massive? Given the exceedingly reasonable rates i.e. I calculated the cost of our cruise was around the same price as air tickets only during the same period, no surprise there were many people. Whether this matters, depends on personal preference.
If you want to avoid the crowds, I suggest booking The Palace, which looks like a VIP section within the ship (Deck 10). It even has its own pool (p.5 & 8).
What did we do?
Traditionally, most people book tours with the cruise operator, to ensure maximum efficiency and convenience. However, I felt that since there were 8 of us (packed nicely into 2 rooms like sardines), it wasn’t very抵 (I can’t think of the exact translation of 抵 in English… perhaps good deal… maybe this illustrates how money savvy Chinese culture is!), not to mention I did not fancy spending a long car ride with my toddler (1.5 hours each way to the aquarium). We bumped into Iz’s colleague who booked a tour to the aquarium and later complained that they barely had any time to see the aquarium (“Fish here, fish there, finished! Let’s go!” Iz joked). Our berthing was delayed (so we had lunch on the ship) and I think he mentioned traffic jams.
We didn’t feel any pressure to sightsee, since all of us (except for helper and kids) had been to Okinawa Main island before. I found an Okinawa cruise guide from an online search and decided it was really nice weather to walk around town. I don’t remember ever spending an afternoon walking around Okinawa Main island before then!
Okinawa Main island
1st stop: Naminoue Beach
R’s comment: “The water is so dirty, it’s not blue!”
(Me: OMG my child has been used to looking at HK seas so often that his concept of what is a clean sea is completely skewed!!)
Looking back at the photos, I’ve only just noticed what the kids were doing… Apparently making handprints in the sand is fascinating! The kids probably could’ve spent all day at the beach, but we decided to move on….
2nd stop: Kokusai-dori Street
The guide says that it takes total 35 mins to walk from the beach to First Makishi Public Market, which we’d decided to go for dinner at 5pm (kids schedule!) In reality, it took us around 2 hours, as we spent a lot of time shopping at Kokusai-dori Street for the kids (new shoes for X as our helper left his on the ship, looking for socks and trousers for R as he got his socks wet in the sea and wet his pants when he fell asleep…! Grannypapa buying an anniversary present for grannymama on their anniversary day, boxing day)… Lots of excuses to meander in the department store and various other shops selling Okinawan style clothes!
3rd stop: First Makishi Public Market
We chose seafood (including some we’d never seen and a lobster -> sashimi and congee) and wagyu beef,
We kept X entertained with sea grapes
Then we rushed back by taxi to the cruise ship!
If you can’t make it to Naha yet, here’s the local version.
Miyakojima
This was a bit of an adventure. The island was quiet and we wandered around looking for a kids-friendly place to lunch nearby. With the help of google map, we found a hotel and had omurice, curry rice and hamburger steak at their restaurant.
The very fortunate part was that I wandered into the reception afterwards and asked them to help us book 2 taxis. After some protracted back and forth, trying to overcome the language barrier, we managed to all be on the same page (FYI the Okinawa cruise guide p.11 covers Miyakojima).. the taxis set off for
Miyakojima Marine Park
An underwater observation facility… We were under the sea, without having to get wet! Was quite amazing to watch what goes on in the sea….
Then, we crossed Irabu Bridge and back (Japan’s Longest Bridge
Island Connecting the Islands). We caught a bit of sunset and blue sea. The taxi drivers were had either jazz or classical music on (depending which car you were in), which contributed to the whole chill island atmosphere
Finally, we asked the taxis to drop us at the main street, where we found a restaurant specializing in local food for dinner.
