Sinorama Gold 8

Before we went on this trip in November, I have tried searching for information about the Sinorama Gold 8 sailings on Yangtze River, China. There were not that much on cruisecritic. Now that we have completed our tour and the 5-day cruise, I have posted a trip report on my blog for anyone who may be interested here where we boarded the boat in Chongqing. Gold 8 is a great ship and we enjoyed the five days on board even though the weather was not the best.

Very nice blog and interesting to see the same place at a different time of the day and in a different season.

Thank you, Floridiana, for the kind words. :)

Thank you ROcruiser, I have just started reading your blog. We are thinking of using this company for our trip to China. Would appreciate any advice or thoughts from your experiences.

Thank you ROcruiser, I have just started reading your blog. We are thinking of using this company for our trip to China. Would appreciate any advice or thoughts from your experiences.

Thank you for reading!

Not sure if you have reached the last day of our trip report of our Sinorama tour yet. I made a few comments about Sinorama tour there.

We have done a few tours in China, including the $99 ones (excluding airfare). I have to say that we enjoyed our Sinorama tour very much. As long as you know what to expect you will find that it's well worth the money you are paying for. I am actually waiting for another good Sinorama sale, hopefully soon!

Thanks again ROcruiser, just read your last blog entry. Seems you were satisfied with the company. We may go in May.

Thanks again ROcruiser, just read your last blog entry. Seems you were satisfied with the company. We may go in May.

May could be a better month to go. We had many rainy and misty days in November. Have a nice trip!

Thank you for the blog post and the pictures! We are going in June with two children. It was hard to find information and your blog is excellent!!! Thank you for taking the time to write and take pictures to document your experience. It gave me a good idea of what to expect. :)

Thank you for the blog post and the pictures! We are going in June with two children. It was hard to find information and your blog is excellent!!! Thank you for taking the time to write and take pictures to document your experience. It gave me a good idea of what to expect. :)

Thank you and you are most welcome! It's fun to blog about our trips, it's like going on the trip all over again. My hope is that someone will find something useful that can help make their future trip a little easier after reading the blog. If you have any questions that I did not touch on, just let me know and I will try my best to answer them. Which cities will you be visiting?

*I think I mentioned this somewhere on the blog. I suggest women to wear leggings which makes going to the squatting public toilets a little easier, if you understand what I mean. Also, bring a tiny bottle of soap, like those body wash from the hotels, and toilet paper when going to the washrooms. They usually do not provide soap, toilet paper or paper towel in the public washrooms.

Have a wonderful trip!

The info on, and photos of, the Gold 8 mentioned here has been very helpful. We are booked on a 12 day package with Sinorama out of Canada that includes a 4 day Yangtze cruise on the "Gold 8". We will be boarding May 1st out of Chongqing. The cruise includes an excursion at Shibaozhai, a small boat excursion through the Three Gorges, Gorge Wu and Gorge Qutang, and an excursion to the Three Gorges Dam through a 5-stage ship lock. We will be disembarking at Jingzhou on the 5th, tour it, then transfer to Wuhan for our return home to the Dallas area. Has anyone done this itinerary on the "Gold 8"? It would be fantastic, too, hearing from anyone who may be booked on or considering this cruise.

Thank you very much. I enjoyed your review and I am looking forward to our 12 day tour with Sinorama in November.

Thank you and you are most welcome! It's fun to blog about our trips, it's like going on the trip all over again. My hope is that someone will find something useful that can help make their future trip a little easier after reading the blog. If you have any questions that I did not touch on, just let me know and I will try my best to answer them. Which cities will you be visiting?

 

*I think I mentioned this somewhere on the blog. I suggest women to wear leggings which makes going to the squatting public toilets a little easier, if you understand what I mean. Also, bring a tiny bottle of soap, like those body wash from the hotels, and toilet paper when going to the washrooms. They usually do not provide soap, toilet paper or paper towel in the public washrooms.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

I love the leggings idea! I went to Japan a couple of years ago, so I know what you mean. I am hoping my kids don't fall in! :0 We are going to Beijing – Chongqing – Yangtze River – Jingzhou – Wuhan – Suzhou - Wuzhen - Shanghai. We added on Hong Kong and a couple of other places. Since I am taking kids I am hoping they actually have water in the small pool on the cruise and we are taking board games to keep them occupied. Your blog has been great for planning!

Thank you very much. I enjoyed your review and I am looking forward to our 12 day tour with Sinorama in November.

You are welcome and have a wonderful trip!

I love the leggings idea! I went to Japan a couple of years ago, so I know what you mean. I am hoping my kids don't fall in! :0 We are going to Beijing – Chongqing – Yangtze River – Jingzhou – Wuhan – Suzhou - Wuzhen - Shanghai. We added on Hong Kong and a couple of other places. Since I am taking kids I am hoping they actually have water in the small pool on the cruise and we are taking board games to keep them occupied. Your blog has been great for planning!

Probably a good idea to prepare your kids about the toilets. Some public toilets may have handicapped stalls and you may wait in line for that particular one.

The pool on board the Gold 8 has extra charge, not sure how much it is though.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for the great and informative blog.

Thanks for the great and informative blog.

You are welcome, thank you for reading!:)

Hi RO,

I am planning on reading your blog. Booked 15 day China/Thailand w 7 d ext in phuket with sinorama. Wife always wanted to go on a cruise, but gets motion sick so have never done an ocean one. Figured the river one would be like biking w training wheels. lol..

One thing I can't really get an answer to, is Sinorama charges 150pp for tips,15ppforporter. I read somewhere that there is 50usdpp ship tip that must be paid in cash on arrival.

Since you were on the gold 8 recently hopefully you can enlighten us. (combined 25 wedding aniv/dghtrgraduation trip).

Thank you in advance and looking forward to reading your blog...so much info out there, so little time.

Before we went on this trip in November, I have tried searching for information about the Sinorama Gold 8 sailings on Yangtze River, China. There were not that much on cruisecritic. Now that we have completed our tour and the 5-day cruise, I have posted a trip report on my blog for anyone who may be interested here where we boarded the boat in Chongqing. Gold 8 is a great ship and we enjoyed the five days on board even though the weather was not the best.

Hi RO,

I am planning on reading your blog. Booked 15 day China/Thailand w 7 d ext in phuket with sinorama. Wife always wanted to go on a cruise, but gets motion sick so have never done an ocean one. Figured the river one would be like biking w training wheels. lol..

 

One thing I can't really get an answer to, is Sinorama charges 150pp for tips,15ppforporter. I read somewhere that there is 50usdpp ship tip that must be paid in cash on arrival.

 

Since you were on the gold 8 recently hopefully you can enlighten us. (combined 25 wedding aniv/dghtrgraduation trip).

 

Thank you in advance and looking forward to reading your blog...so much info out there, so little time.

Sorry it took so long to respond to your question. We were on a cruise to SE Asia and just got back March 4. Jet lag had taken over us in the last couple of days!

If I remember correctly, we paid Sinorama the tips for the guides, drivers, porters, and ship gratuity. They took care of everything and we did not have to pay anything while on board the Gold 8. I thought it was great that we did not have to deal with all that. When we did the final account on the last day on the ship, we did not have to pay anything (we did not purchase drinks, etc. while on board.)

Have a wonderful trip! :)

Thx. I've booked the Emperor suite for us, and deluxe for kids, at a much higher rate because the trip is for a special occasion. Photos look impressive. I did read your blog and it was most informative.

I think the specs listed for the Emperor suite are wrong tho, the room may be 135 sq m, but I don't think our balcony is 185 sq m...prob meant 18 sq m. Another site lists it as having 2 qn beds so I'm not sure why we couldn't book triple occ without having to pay a single supplement. Oh well, just going to bring a friend for the kid since the single supplement is ~1000.00 with the Phuket add on.

Off to Saint Lucia tomorrow while we wait till 2017 for China/Thailand.

Thx. I've booked the Emperor suite for us, and deluxe for kids, at a much higher rate because the trip is for a special occasion. Photos look impressive. I did read your blog and it was most informative.

 

I think the specs listed for the Emperor suite are wrong tho, the room may be 135 sq m, but I don't think our balcony is 185 sq m...prob meant 18 sq m. Another site lists it as having 2 qn beds so I'm not sure why we couldn't book triple occ without having to pay a single supplement. Oh well, just going to bring a friend for the kid since the single supplement is ~1000.00 with the Phuket add on.

 

Off to Saint Lucia tomorrow while we wait till 2017 for China/Thailand.

With the big size suite that you have, I question why you couldn't book three people in there? Did Sinorama tell you that? We upgraded our cabin just one category, and it wasn't even a suite, just so that we could have a 3rd person in there. My son was not sure if he wanted to join us when we booked. That was what Sinorama told our TA that we could add a 3rd bed if needed be if we upgrade to the next category. He ended up not going. I am sure bringing a friend along would be more fun though.

Hi RO,

I am planning on reading your blog. Booked 15 day China/Thailand w 7 d ext in phuket with sinorama. QUOTE]

 

 

 

Hi dj,

We are going on the China/Thailand trip as well. When is your trip?....ours is April 11, 2017.

Before we went on this trip in November, I have tried searching for information about the Sinorama Gold 8 sailings on Yangtze River, China. There were not that much on cruisecritic. Now that we have completed our tour and the 5-day cruise, I have posted a trip report on my blog for anyone who may be interested here where we boarded the boat in Chongqing. Gold 8 is a great ship and we enjoyed the five days on board even though the weather was not the best.

Hello ROCruiser, Thank you for posting your blog. There truly is very little on CC about Sinorama Gold 8, so your information is very much appreciated.

Hello ROCruiser, Thank you for posting your blog. There truly is very little on CC about Sinorama Gold 8, so your information is very much appreciated.

You are most welcome and thank you for reading! Have a fun and enjoyable trip in 2017.

So, it's official, we are travelling with Sinorama to China on October 8. What should we expect as far as the weather is concerned? Any ideas on what to pack for that time of year would be much appreciated.

So, it's official, we are travelling with Sinorama to China on October 8. What should we expect as far as the weather is concerned? Any ideas on what to pack for that time of year would be much appreciated.

Enjoy your trip! October can be anything weather wise. I'd say layer. I don't bring thick sweaters or sweats any more on trips, they take up too much space. A packable jacket would be good, and maybe a thin waterproof jacket that can be worn over the packable if it is colder or just by itself if it rains.

Thank you ROcruiser, I'm wondering if I should pack shorts or just long pants.