From Pottery Streets to Sacred Shrines | Naha Cruise Port Highlights
So, day 10 of our Trans-Pacific cruise found us in our first port stop. So, finally seeing land. Not that I’ve been bored at all, but anyway, finally seeing land and Naha in Okinawa in Japan. So, I’m going to show you around what we did in Naha. So, Naha is the capital of Okinawa, which is in the southern part of Japan. So, we had to go through passport control, which took quite a long time. So we were called off deck by deck. We were deck six. So we were the last deck to be called off. So the first people off were those that had shore excursions and you can see the shore excursion buses. We didn’t get off until after 12:00. There is an ATM in the terminal when you get off. So you can get money there or you can just get money um at many ATMs. So all the stores like 7-Elevens and Family Marts all have ATMs. So, you need to get some cash. So, make sure you do visit an ATM if you don’t already have the cash. So, from the port, we just walked up into town. So, we stopped off in a supermarket to begin with. I took actually a lot of footage. I will do a video on all the different things that you can get in the Japanese supermarkets cuz I seem to be spending a lot of time in there. But yeah, we got some sashimi and I got these strange cheese things that were there was all these different types of little cheeses and there was like a lot of savory ones like salami flavored and stuff. I got a lemon cheesecake one. It’s really quite interesting. As well as your usual supermarket food, there was a lot of stuff that you could buy to eat. So, a lot of sushi and chicken. So, you can actually eat quite well just from the supermarkets if you were on a budget in Japan. The cash registers did have an English option and were pretty easy to follow along the instructions with. 8001 yen. Select payment type. Insert cash. Please select one of the buttons on the screen. One of the things I love is there’s all these little vending machines along the side of the road. So, you can get a drink wherever you are, but there was also this photo booth one, which I thought was very Japanese and very cute. So, from here, we wandered up into town. One thing I will note is that the ground was quite uneven in a lot of places. So do be careful with that. So we wandered up to the shopping areas. So the main shopping areas are the Kokasai Dory and there’s also Highway Dory and the Makishi markets. So we wandered up and around through those areas, grabbed some food. So there were a lot of stores selling local wares and souvenirs. Uh there was even a McDonald’s and we had taco rice. So taco rice is a famous local dish and it is worth having. I liked these t-shirts. I thought they were very funny. From the markets, we wandered up to the suboa pottery area. So the famous Okinawa pottery is the Shisa lions. So you’ll see them all over the place. There’s like two lion heads. So they one has an open mouth and one a closed mouth. And they will adorn like all the buildings and that. So they ward off evil. The Saboa area is just off from the other main shopping areas. And there are a number of uh pottery stores, some of them owned, you know, familyowned for generations. So, this is a great place to pick up some souvenirs. There are a lot of chopstick holders and the little sheets of lions that you can get. Just in case you’re interested, thought I’d pop in and show you what was available in the McDonald’s. I didn’t have any, so I don’t know if it was any good. We then got in a taxi and went up to Shuha Shrine. So, you can get there via public transport by bus or by the Montreal, but because we got off the ship so late and we wanted to do so much, we decided it would be worth getting a taxi up and back. So, Shirou Castle was the center of the Rayu Kingdom for about 450 years. It was originally built in the 1300s and it’s been destroyed by fire and rebuilt number of times. and it was actually destroyed in a big fire in 2019, but it’s still worth a visit. So, it’s an amazing walled castle. You can view the outer area for free, so you can just wander around, check out the sites. It’s amazing views. There are a lot of steps, so if you do have mobility issues, this maybe isn’t the one for you. because there are no accessible options to get around it. But the views from the top are absolutely amazing. And then if you choose to, you can now pay an entrance fee to go and have a look at some of the restoration work. So this first bit where you can see them restoring the statues from the front, this is free to visit, but if you go past here, it’s 400 yen to buy a ticket and that obviously goes towards helping the restoration work. And it’s quite interesting. You get to go in. There are also more amazing views, but you go into a couple of viewing areas where they’re working on the roof and you can see the work that they’re doing. There are videos showing what they’re doing and also some artifacts on display that are of interest. So, if you want to support, it’s only 400 yen. So, I think that was quite worthwhile doing. So I think even with the fire damage and not really be able to see the castle, I think Shira Castle is worth a visit. There’s interesting things like wells and caves and of course the views were just magnificent. From there we walked out towards these buildings that I’d seen that I was really interested in. So this is out towards the arts university. One thing I will say there are cats everywhere if you like cats. Anyway, so we walked around through the arts university and checked out the buildings there. And it was around here that we spotted our very first cherry blossoms of the trip. So there was only a few, but that was still enough to make us quite excited. We then caught another taxi down to back near the port to Namanui Shrine. So, Neanui shrine last rebuilt in the 1950s to the ’90s after it was destroyed in the battle of Okinawa, but it stands in a sacred spot where shrines have stood for hundreds of years. And it’s above the only swimming beach in the city. So, it was very wet by this point. So, we didn’t stay long and we also had to get back to the ship because we didn’t have a lot of time. One big tip I will say is make sure you’ve got written down in Japanese where you want to go and you show it to the driver. That makes things so much easier. So yeah, we only had a few minutes to look around this shrine. It was very interesting, but I say it was raining quite a bit and we had to be back on board. It’s only about a 10-minute walk back to the ship. So after we checked it out, we headed back to the ship. And that was the end of our day in Naha. So we then had another sea day before our next stop in Hiroshima. So I will do a video on that one. So make sure you like and subscribe to check that out. So I have a whole lot of videos from the Trans Pacific cruise as well as other cruising and travel videos for you to watch. I am also just about to go to China, so that should be an interesting trip as well. Here we are leaving the [Music] port. See you next time. Thanks for watching.
Discover Naha, Okinawa | Carnival Luminosa Japan Port Stop Highlights
Join me as we explore Naha, the vibrant capital of Okinawa, during our Carnival Luminosa transpacific cruise! This video captures a day packed with local colour, traditional culture, and hidden gems — all within easy reach of the port.
We wander through the lively streets of Kokusai Dori and Heiwa Dori, discover the charm of Makishi Market, and stroll down the beautiful Tsuboya Pottery Street — a haven for handmade ceramics and local artistry. You’ll also spot the iconic Okinawan shisa statues — guardians with open and closed mouths — and see why everything in Naha, from the cars to the storefronts, feels delightfully compact.
I dive into local flavours too, with a stop for some delicious taco rice — a must-try! Then we head to the historic Shurijo Castle, once the heart of the Ryukyu Kingdom and still captivating despite ongoing restoration. We finish with a peaceful moment at Naminoue Shrine, a sacred coastal site overlooking Naha’s only beach.
Need travel tips, must-see spots, or just curious about what makes Naha so special? Watch to find out! 🌺🏯🛳️
#CarnivalLuminosa #OkinawaJapan #CruisePort
2 Comments
Schools
Stunning views. It's way easier for sure having your destination written down for the driver. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy your cruise travel 💖