Guide · The ships

Inside the Hakone pirate ship, deck by deck

Name: Hakone pirate ship on Lake Ashi: the full crossing
Uploaded: 2023-03-14
Duration: 10 min
Description: Hakone pirate ship on Lake Ashi: the full crossing. Virtual Backpack on YouTube

Three ships in pirate costume sail Lake Ashi, each with a different hull, interior and special cabin. Here is what is inside the Hakone pirate ship you board, what the first-class cabin adds and what it costs.

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Editorial team, hakonesightseeingcruise.comUpdated October 22, 2026read in 6 minutes41 sources

The matching tour Mt. Fuji, Lake Ashi cruise and bullet train day 4.4 (5,293 reviews) 10 hoursLake Ashi cruise ticket includedBullet train back to Tokyo from$153per person Check availabilityFree to cancel until 24 hours before the start

In short

01The fleet: Queen Ashinoko, Royal II and Victory.¹
02Biggest: Royal II, capacity 565 passengers.²
03Newest: Queen Ashinoko, in service since April 2019.³
04Special cabin: 800 yen extra one way on the Togendai legs.⁴
05On board: Drinks and snacks, toilets, no restaurant.⁵ ⁶

Three ships in pirate costume

The Hakone Sightseeing Cruise runs three ships of different designs: Queen Ashinoko, Royal II and Victory.⁷ ¹ They look like galleons, and Odakyu Hakone says the gorgeous interiors are modeled after British and French military ships.⁸ Inside the Hakone pirate ship you find 3D art and pirate objects aimed at children and adults alike.⁹

All three are about 29 m long and 10.00 m wide, and all three are barrier-free, with toilets including accessible ones and a wheelchair to borrow at each port.³ ¹⁰ ¹¹ ⁶ You cannot choose your ship on a normal ticket: whichever one sails your route at your time is the one you board. If a particular ship matters to you, watch the pier as the boats come in and wait for the next sailing; the crossings are short, and the decks of every ship look out on the same lake.

The ships are built for a calm lake. Odakyu Hakone says Lake Ashi is calm and the ships are large, so there is almost no rocking, and the whole ship is non-smoking.¹² ¹³ Pets cannot board the cruise.¹⁴

The fleet over time

When each ship arrived and changed

March 2007

Victory enters service

Black and orange hull, 534 places.¹⁰ ¹⁵
March 2013

Royal II enters service

The largest capacity, 565 places.²
April 2019

Queen Ashinoko arrives

Gold hull and a wooden classic interior.³ ¹⁶
April 2025

Victory's cabin remodeled

British style with new counter seats.¹⁷ ¹⁸
July 2026

Royal II renewed

Announced on the special cabin page.¹⁹

Queen Ashinoko, the gold ship

Queen Ashinoko of the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise is the newest of the three. It entered service on 25 April 2019, is rated at 318 gross tons and carries up to 541 passengers, 87 of them in the special cabin.³

You recognize it by its gold hull, bright against the blue-green water, and by a classic interior with wood from floor to ceiling.¹⁶ The operator describes a richly decorated cabin in which colors, shapes and materials are freely combined.¹⁶ Its open decks sit high above the water, with railings at the bow that frame the lake and, on a clear day, the mountain beyond it.

Practical details are the same as on the others. Queen Ashinoko cruises at 10.5 knots, with a top speed of 11.7, and has one lift for 10 people and 3 toilets.²⁰ It has 325 seats for its 541 places, so on a full sailing not everyone gets a seat, and the open decks are where the views are anyway.²¹

Passengers

Capacity of each ship

passengers

Total capacity from the operator's specification of each ship, special cabin included.¹⁰ ³ ²

Specifications

The ships side by side

Ship	In service	Capacity	Special cabin	Gross tons
Queen Ashinoko ship	April 2019	541	87	318
Royal II ship	March 2013	565	111	315
Victory ship	March 2007	534	91	282

From Odakyu Hakone's ship pages; all three are about 29 m long and 10.00 m wide.³ ² ¹⁰

The fleet

Queen, Royal or Victory

The newest

Queen Ashinoko

Gold hull, wooden interior

Since: April 2019
Capacity: 541
Special cabin: 87

See the cruise day

The largest

Royal II

Trick art inside

Since: March 2013
Capacity: 565
Special cabin: 111

See the cruise day

British cabin

Victory

Black and orange hull

Since: March 2007
Capacity: 534
Special cabin: 91

See the cruise day

Decision helper

Normal cabin or special cabin?

Decide on the day, at the port window

I travel on a busy holiday I want photos without crowds I have the Hakone Free Pass I am on a weekday budget I travel with small children

Special cabin

A separate boarding line and boarding first.²²

Special cabin

It is less crowded than the regular cabin.²³

Normal cabin, or pay a little

The pass covers the normal cabin; the cabin is discounted.²⁴ ²⁵

Normal cabin

The upper decks give the same lake and mountain views.²⁶

Normal cabin first

Trick art and pirate objects keep the crossing lively.⁹ ²⁷

The gorgeous interior of the ship is modeled after British and French military ships.

Odakyu Hakone (Hakone Navi)Source 8

Royal II and its trick art

Royal II is the largest of the fleet by capacity. It entered service on 20 March 2013, is rated at 315 gross tons and can carry 565 passengers, 111 of them in the special cabin.² It has 306 seats.²¹

Its interior is the most playful. The ship has trick art inside, painted so that you can take puzzling photos, and the pirate decorations continue throughout.²⁷ ⁹

Royal II was renewed in July 2026, according to the operator's special cabin page, so expect a fresher cabin than older photos show.¹⁹ Its special cabin, like the others, looks out from the front of the ship.²⁸ If you are traveling with children, it is the ship to hope for: the trick art turns a short crossing into a game of finding the next picture.

Checklist

On board

Before boarding

Cabin upgrade bought at the port
Boarding opens shortly before departure
Wheelchair to borrow at each port

During the crossing

Upper deck for the open view
Cash or card for the cafe
Left side for the torii from Togendai

Price calculator

Days with a cruise ticket

Compare tours and the pass that cover a crossing

Coach and bullet train dayCruise ticket includedfrom $153 Hakone pass, 2 daysNormal cabin, unlimitedfrom $46 Longer coach dayBoat cruisefrom $128 Shinjuku bus dayAn hour on the lakefrom $82

People 2

Total from$306

per participant from $153

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Each total multiplies a listing's lowest GetYourGuide price by the number of travelers and converts it at today's ECB rate; the booking page shows the binding figure for your date.

Video

Hakone pirate ship on Lake Ashi: the full crossing

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The Hakone pirate ship Victory

The Hakone pirate ship Victory is the oldest of the current fleet, in service since 20 March 2007, at 282 gross tons and a capacity of 534, with 91 places in the special cabin.¹⁰ Its black and orange hull recalls a British sailing ship of old.¹⁵

Its deluxe cabin was remodeled and unveiled on 26 April 2025.¹⁷ Odakyu Hakone's editors describe a black-and-white checkerboard tile floor and Chesterfield-style sofas, and the cabin now has sofa seats, counter seats facing the windows and booth seats for groups.²⁹ ³⁰ The second-floor special cabin added counter seats that a single traveler can use.¹⁸

The onboard cafe at the entrance was redesigned as a bar counter. Odakyu Hakone's editors list draft beer at 770 yen, Odawara Craft Cola at 550 yen and the ship's own coffee at 540 yen, tax included.³¹ Deluxe cabin tickets also open a dedicated outdoor deck.³²

The special cabin: price, rules and perks

Every ship has a special cabin, used for a surcharge on top of the normal fare. On the legs to and from Togendai it costs 800 yen extra for adults and 400 yen for children; between Hakone-machi-ko and Moto-Hakone-ko it is 240 yen and 120 yen.⁴ On a return ticket the cabin adds 1,480 yen for adults and 740 yen for children.³³ These are the operator's fares as read on 22 October 2026.⁴

Tickets are sold only on the day at the window of the port where you board; there are no reservations and no seat numbers.³⁴ ³⁵ Special cabin passengers have their own boarding line and board first, receive an original wristband and find a water server and a cabin attendant on board.²² ³⁶ Because the cabin cannot be booked ahead and its ticket sales are limited, arrive at the port a little early on busy days if you want a place in it.²⁸

With the Hakone Free Pass you ride the normal cabin as often as you like, but the special cabin costs extra each time, at a discounted price for pass holders.²⁴ ²⁵ On the Victory that discount is 100 yen for adults and 50 yen for children.³⁷

Is first class worth it?

The main argument is space. Odakyu Hakone describes the deluxe cabin as less crowded than the regular cabin, which makes it easier to take photographs from different angles.²³ Its limited ticket sales keep the numbers down, and the view from the front of the ship is the best on board.²⁸

On a quiet weekday the normal decks are spacious enough, and the money is better spent on lunch. On a holiday with full sailings, the priority boarding, and on the Victory its separate deck, make a real difference for a group that wants to stay together.²² ³²

If you are on a tour, the cruise ticket covers the normal cabin. The coach day this site is built around lists a ticket for the Lake Ashi cruise among its inclusions, from $153; an upgrade, where available, is bought at the port.³⁴

Food, drink and facilities on board

There is no restaurant on any ship; drinks and snacks are sold on board.⁵ At Moto-Hakone Port a new cafe stand, Pirate's Galley, has opened among the port's pirate-themed touches.³⁸

Each ship has toilets, including accessible ones, and all three ships are barrier-free.⁶ ¹¹ There is no nursing space on board, but Hakone-machi-ko and Togendai-ko have nursing rooms.³⁹

Boarding opens about 5 to 10 minutes before departure.⁴⁰ Head straight for the upper deck if you want the open air, or for the windows on the left if you sail from Togendai and want Kuzuryu Shrine and the torii in view.⁴¹ If you want both views, cross once each way: the run north toward Togendai and the run south toward the shrine bay feel different enough to justify a return ticket.³³

Your Hakone day