Silver Moon: 26-Night Expedition

Yokohama is Japan's primary ocean cruise hub and the second-largest city in the country, about 30 kilometers south of central Tokyo. Although Tokyo is far more famous, its central harbor has no suitable cruise terminal for large ships.

Kobe is a port city of about 1.5 million people on the southern coast of Honshu, wedged between the Rokko Mountains and Osaka Bay.

Tokyo is one of the world's great cities, a metropolis of nearly 14 million people (37 million in the greater metro area) that layers cutting-edge technology, ancient temples, obsessive food culture, and distinctive neighborhood personalities into a dense, efficient urban landscape. The Tokyo cruise port is primarily at Harumi Passenger Ship Terminal or the newer Tokyo International Cruise Terminal in the waterfront area, both on Tokyo Bay with the city skyline in the background.

Sitka sits on the outer coast of Baranof Island, facing the open Pacific rather than the protected Inside Passage. This gives it a different character from other Alaska cruise ports: more exposed, more wild, with ocean swells and offshore islands visible from town.

Ketchikan cruise port is the first major stop on most Alaska Inside Passage itineraries coming up from Seattle or Vancouver. The town sits on Revillagigedo Island in Alaska's southernmost panhandle, wedged between the ocean and steep forested mountains.

Vancouver cruise port is the main gateway to Alaska, and nearly every Alaska cruise that runs the full Inside Passage route starts or ends here. The terminal is at Canada Place, a distinctive sail-shaped building right on the downtown waterfront.