BUSAN – When Ms Li, a school teacher from Shanghai, booked a cruise holiday for herself in August 2025, the itinerary had included ports of call at the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and South Korea’s Jeju island. 

But by the time she embarked on her trip on the Chinese cruise ship Adora Magic City on Feb 4, the itinerary had been changed twice and no longer featured port calls in Japan.