The following will be an accounting our 2026 Minion Family Vacation to Asia. If you’ve not read the blog, you can do so here. Or if you want a small wrap up, you can check it out here. It can provide some context to the costs below! All prices will be in Canadian (or converted into Canadian when it shows up on my bill). And they’ll be broken down to a per person cost as best I can.
The Costs
All in all this whole trip cost (me individually) $5618.44 with a per day cost of $267.54 over 21 days. And it breaks down as follows:
| Transportation | $1353.18 |
| Accommodations | + $3906.45 + 35K Certificate |
| Food & Beverage | + $275.76 |
| Miscellaneous | + $83.05 |
| Total | = $5618.44 |
The Transportation ($1353.18)
In total, the transportation costs for this trip total $1353.18 with a point redemption. Transportation can be broken down into two main sections: Airfare and General Transportation which costs $1197.27 and $155.91 respectively.
The Flights ($1197.27)
There is only one flight booking for this trip. It’s a Japan Airlines economy class Between Vancouver – Narita / Hong Kong – Narita – Vancouver. In total my airfare cost $1197.27.
Getting around on the Land and Sea ($155.91)
My general transportation cost is $155.91. Most of these costs involve transportation within or between cities. With family some are shared A lot of this cost is movement within and between the different cities. You could make the case that a big portion of the transportation is the cruise between several cities. However, I will cover that cost under the accommodation section.
The following are all my ground and sea transportation costs for the trip:
- Narita Airport Express from Narita Airport to Yokohama ($39.15)
- IC Suica Refills for Japanese Transit ($30)
- Ride Share & Taxi Costs (Yokohama, Kochi, Fukuoka, Busan, Shanghai, Hong Kong) ($72.46)
- Shimizu Water Taxi ($14.30)
The Accommodations: ($3906.45)
Most or our accommodation costs are aboard the cruise ship which also includes meals. Past that I include all the hotels we stayed at before, after and during (Shanghai) the cruise. All of my accommodation costs in total come out to $3906.45 + Marriott 35K Certificate. Of note, we didn’t need to stay in Shanghai for the evening, and could have opted to return to the ship. However, we wanted to maximize our time in the city hence we doubled up on an evening of accomodation.
- 2 Nights Tokyu REI Yokohama ($146.21)
- 3 Nights The Park Lane Hong Kong, Autograph Collection ($274.78 + 35K Marriot Certificate)
- 1 Night Renaissance Shanghai Yu Garden ($73.54)
- 14 Nights aboard Holland America’s Westerdam ($3411.92)
Food and Beverage ($275.76)
Tracking food is especially difficult for this trip. Since we are a family, sharing and tracking food is difficult. Add in that Papa Minion paid for most things whilst we are in China makes it harder to hang onto receipts and track costs. I have done my best in reviewing receipts, credit card statements and estimating costs. There were several meals that are paid for by other family members and not trackable. Of course a majority of our food cost is also covered under the cruise fare, so those costs are built into the accommodation cost. I suggest taking this total with a grain of salt! In total my trackable expenses for meals and snacks throughout my trip amounted to $275.76
Miscellaneous Expenses ($83.05)
Below will be my miscellaneous expenses not covered above. It’s primarily activity entry fees and also includes data connectivity for Asia. In total these expenses add up to $83.05. The following are most of the trackable activity and miscellaneous expenses:
- Ubigi eSIM for Asia x 2 ($76.69)
- Kochi Castle Entrance ($3.36)
Totals
After adding everything up, we get a grand total of $5618.44. Averaging this out over 21 days, we get an average cost of $267.54 per day. If you’re still reading, I hope this post is helpful or interesting! I try to track my costs to see where I can try to bring my overall expenses down while enhancing the experiences! As this is a family trip, the costs did tick upwards a little since we wanted to make sure everyone was comfortable. Another note is, with more China travel in the future, making sure to appropriately track expenses will need need to be more intentional. If there is extra information you’d like to know, or have suggestions, please feel free to drop a comment below!