Diamond Princess

As a Japanese tour guide arranged by Princess Cruises leads Peter Harrington and other English-speaking passengers into the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, which documents the horrors of the attack, he says it has been an eye-opening day. And he says he has Princess to thank for it.

"It can be daunting for a non-Japanese speaker to get around Japan," he says. "This ship has taken us to a lot of places I probably never would have gone to otherwise."

Call it a new way to visit Japan. After years of expansion across the Pacific, California-based Princess has become the first major international cruise line to offer an extended season of voyages around the country.

The 10-year-old Diamond Princess has a distinct Japanese flavor - the result of a massive makeover in drydock earlier this year. Among several new features are an extensive traditional Japanese bath area - a first for a cruise ship - as well as an à la carte sushi restaurant. Menus in its main restaurants and Horizon Court buffet feature Japanese items, such as miso soup and noodles, alongside Western fare.
 

The sailings also offer a relatively affordable way to tour a country known as one of the world's most expensive. Hotels in Japan can run several hundred dollars a night, and restaurants are famously pricey. Fares for nine-night Japan sailings on the Diamond Princess, by contrast, start at just [$1,309 per person - or about $145] a night for a room, meals and transportation around Japan combined.