However, I was a bit stuck with the itinerary from Shimabara to Kumamoto. I know from the Forum that there will be car ferry that transit between this two town and I have been to its website. However I am confuse with its pricing.

http://www.kumamotoferry.co.jp/03oceaninfo/

BTW.. I do not understand Japanese, I used some simple English translator to help me with the web page.

I hope someone could help me to breakdown the cost.
Firstly, I would like to know if the freight cost of the car include passenger?
If I were to freight my rented car over, on top of the car freight cost, do I still need to pay for each passenger?

Next, for two rented car and 9 passenger would be more worthwhile for me to drop off my car at Shimabara (if there are drop off point) and after cross the straits, sign up a new car at the near by car rental shop ?

Are there any other more cost effective alternative to reach Kumamoto from Shimabara with my rented car?

Frankly speaking we would not like to miss out Sasebo, Huis Ten Bosch and Nagasaki to take the direct route to Kumamoto...

Firstly, I would like to know if the freight cost of the car include passenger?

The cost includes the cost for the driver, but not additional passengers.

Next, for two rented car and 9 passenger would be more worthwhile for me to drop off my car at Shimabara (if there are drop off point) and after cross the straits, sign up a new car at the near by car rental shop ?

The additional cost of bringing two cars onto the ferry would be around 9,000 yen depending on the size of your cars. This is likely to be cheaper than the additional drop off charges which would apply when renting a second set of cars cars. So, I recommend to bring your cars onto the ferry.

Are there any other more cost effective alternative to reach Kumamoto from Shimabara with my rented car?

It seem that it is cheaper to travel by kyusho as compare to kumamotoferry. Is there any hidden cost in Kyusho than kumamoto?

I believe the reason for Kyusho being cheaper is that they have the slower boats. Their boats take 60 minutes for the crossing, while Kumamoto Ferry's boats take only 30 minutes. Note that depending on the ferry departure, the cost difference is only about 100 yen in some cases, but can be 500 yen or more in other cases.

Thanks for all your postings in this forum. very helpful to me over the last few years as i travelled for vacation frequently.

One question which i cannot find a satisfactory answer anywhere is the route between Kumamoto and Nagasaki:

I have rented a car and will leave Kumamoto City (after seeing the castle) around 2pm, what is the best way to travel to Nagasaki?

Route A - Driving from Kumoto to Nagasaki City via highway. Kindly advise how long it will take me via highway and whether there are any highway tolls.

Route B - Take the car ferry from Kumoto to Shimabara (30 mins?) and then drive from Shimabara to Nagasaki (1.5 hours?).

By expressway, the journey would take about 2.5 hours and cost around 4600 yen in expressway tolls.

So, time and price wise, I think the difference is relatively small.

Personally, I feel that the ferry part introduces a small factor of uncertainty and excitement that does not exist with the expressway option.

So, I think it comes down to a personal preference.