Voyager, Hong Kong to Beijing March 2017

We just returned from Hong Kong to Beijing cruise on the Voyager. We had options of pre-cruise Hong Kong tour or post-cruise Beijing. Since we have visited Beijing in the past we did Hong Kong for three days. The hotel was the Kowloon Shangri La and it was beautiful! The service was outstanding. The tours were very good (we had seen some of the HK sights but that was OK) and our tour guide Rosita was awesome. The Voyager looks beautiful after dry dock. I like the gray and blue in the cabins. All the areas looked very nice. We reconnected with many familiar faces and they are like family. The service everywhere was superb. Food was very, very good in all restaurants. I didn't see the issues we saw in Explorer because there weren't enough tables for two in Compass Rose. Every night we ate at CR we had our favorite waiter, Albert. The shows put on by the Regent group were excellent. The CR was Margret and she was awesome. This was our first time cruising with her. The tours were OK. I don't think we needed two days in Xian and would had preferred one day and more time in Shanghai. Food at Chartreuse and Prime 7 was excellent. Compass Rose offered a few dishes from Chartreuse, Prime 7 and Pacific Rim at lunch. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and feel the crew went out of its way to please passengers. I always saw smiling faces. Crew Capers was wonderful as always. Captain Daniel Green is a great captain and it was nice to cruise with him again. Frank has always been a great General Manager. The only downside was Chinese Customs. However, anyone who's traveled in China knows how they are. We loved the cruise and will be back this October.

Forevertravel

Forever travel, thanks for sharing you outstanding Voyager Asia cruise experience with us. We got off the Voyager when you go on and the outstanding service you describe above is precisely the same service we received. We booked the Mariner Shanghai to Tokyo while on board, did you book while on board?

The one evening we had dinner with Margaret we surprised her with a cake that said "Best CD".

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Thanks for posting your review, love to read about people's experiences good or bad. So glad you had a great cruise overall.

I am curious about your comment about 2 days in Xian being too many. From which port did you go to Xian overnight. It is in the middle of China and i am surprised you would get there off a cruise. When we did the Beijing to Bangkok cruise a few years ago we went to Xian for a day before starting the 3 day pre-cruise tour and wished we had more than 1 day there. A visit to the Terracotta warriors there is still one of our most memorable.

I certainly understand wanting more than 1 day in Shanghai. On that same trip we were supposed to have a couple of days there and ended up with only 1. Fortunately we had the chance to stop in Shanghai again on a different cruise.

So glad to hear that Voyager is in great shape. Would love to be going back on her but our next cruises are on Navigator and Explorer all because of itinerary.

1982CruzStar, my mistake I meant Xiamen. We went from Hong Kong to Xiamen and spent two days there. We got into Shanghai at 3pm and departed the next day. We only had one and a half day in Shanghai. I was with you on Beijing to Bangkok cruise in 2013. As you may recall at that time we didn't have two full days in Shanghai either. I recall you went to Xian before Beijing to see the Terracota Warriors. We considered doing this year but it would had been too much. We did the Hong Kong precruise this time. In 2013 we did the Beijing precruise. I'm glad to hear you're back cruising with Regent.

Wes, we cruised with Margaret for the first time and found her delightful. We had drinks with her one night and she's wonderful.

How nice you surprised her with a cake. We booked South America on the Explorer February 2019 while onboard. We'll be back on The Voyager this October for Rome to Dubai cruise.

Forevertravel.

If I am remembering correctly, the amount of time you can spend in Shanghai is dependent on when the ship can sail in and out which is totally dependent on the tides. That may be the reason for the short time there. I believe this has been brought up before. Too bad they can't shorten the time in Xiamen and lengthen that in shanghai, but it may not work.

1982CruzStar, my mistake I meant Xiamen. We went from Hong Kong to Xiamen and spent two days there. We got into Shanghai at 3pm and departed the next day. We only had one and a half day in Shanghai. I was with you on Beijing to Bangkok cruise in 2013. As you may recall at that time we didn't have two full days in Shanghai either. I recall you went to Xian before Beijing to see the Terracota Warriors. We considered doing this year but it would had been too much. We did the Hong Kong precruise this time. In 2013 we did the Beijing precruise. I'm glad to hear you're back cruising with Regent.

 

We booked South America on the Explorer February 2019 while onboard. We'll be back on The Voyager this October for Rome to Dubai cruise.

 

Forevertravel.

I had forgotten you were on the same cruise. At least on the last one we missed our stop at Xiamen so you didn't get a total of 3 days at a port that needs no more than 1. We are glad to be back on Regent or at least hopefully we will back on Regent in September. My DH has a medical situation that may force us to cancel but we are hopefully we will make it. Have another super cruise this fall.

To Margaret; congrats on Clemson victory over Bama. Pooman