Ok, so I have gotten some more information about Tattoos and how ABD views what I personally find to be an important part of planning a trip to Japan... (which is pretty dismissive of the whole thing). So now I am concerned as someone who has already deposited into this itinerary, that it was never planned to be inclusive for all.
My amazing TA has been in contact with my concerns for days now. She called Tuesday and is just now sending me a response as of today. Obviously anyone who read the Japan itinerary knows we spend 2 nights at a place called Hotel Associa Takayama Resort. There are many concerns I have with this place. One of the major ones being that the more research I did into it, the more complaints about how 'out of the way it is' aka once you are in for the day you are pretty much stuck there. Shuttle services if not sketchy are nonexistent and taking a taxi would be extremely expensive to even get back into civilization as they say. OK this on it's own I guess I was willing to suck it up. But let me put a little more context into this. Going back to what the itinerary states. On the days we stay at this Resort... Onsen Experience is listed both nights. And here is verbatim what is written about that. *Unwind and relax with an Onsen open-air bathing experience on the hotels rooftop which offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountain scenery.*
I don't know about the rest of you, but I choose to travel with
Adventures By Disney because I trust that they do the extra research that I may not have the time to do or hell even choose not to do, but in any case this is WHAT we PAY them to do. I did not know what was entailed with a traditional Onsen experience, only that it was listed on the itinerary and since I am a person that is willing to try new things (even those outside my comfort at times) I read it and said sure on itinerary awesome. So then I looked up what it was. And I'm sure most of you that have deposited and are going are now aware of what it is... but here's the problem. I had to look it up. There was no footnote underneath saying... here's what an Onsen Experience is. So in my opinion that's strike number 1. Strike number 2 is the way it is listed on the itinerary. It is listed in what looks like a group activity (which it is not obviously) There was no clear *On Your Own time do this... which they clearly state everywhere else that is on your own time* So getting back to the dismissive response my TA was given and then forwarded to me. Mind you it took 4-5 days to send back these 2 sentences I kid you not. "This activity is a hotel amenity and would be On your Own Time. The hotel currently does not allow guests with tattoos to enter the onsens, but could always change in the future." Strike 3 THEY KNEW this hotel did not allow tattoos and booked it anyways. What's worse, someone even mentioned on this forum earlier that there is a website that literally tells you tattoo friendly areas. So frankly to me this is all completely unacceptable. They didn't plan these trips overnight. They had to do extensive research. And this is such a horribly non-communicated subject that it is literally blowing my mind.
They also sent us bullet points of some 'alleged email' that they claim they send all the guests going on this ABD about Tatoos in general. Here is what they claimed will be sent (because I haven't gotten an email about any of this) "In Japan it is common to see signs saying 'No Tatoos' at Onsens 'hot springs' beaches, public pools, and gyms."
Would have been nice if this was ALL on the website, but hey they got all our deposits right.
Again I do research on my own, but this seems like pretty important things to know.
And here's my case in point. A friend of my patients was just in japan 4 days ago and got kicked out of tons of places due to a small military tattoo on his arm (wearing a t-shirt)… local stores, one of the shrines, some restaurants wouldn't serve them (so for all this oh hey don't worry it's getting better) not everywhere.
I guess this is more a Public Service Announcement too, but I for one feel they should be held accountable for this.
This should have been made known before anyone deposited into this trip period... if ABD knowingly chose to take us to a 'non-friendly accommodation'
Sorry for this rant, but with all this extra work I feel like I have now been doing which was the job we PAID in pre-deposit and PAY ABD to do, its super frustrating.
If anyone has gotten this email they claim to have sent us please let me know.