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Need help with Shanghai Hotels


dalibi
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Arriving one day prior to our Princess Cruise, should I book a hotel near airport? and use Princess transfers? or near port and take taxi?. Do any hotels have free transportion to port like in LA(sanpedro) or other U.S.. Cities? Looking for a reasonable hotel with English Speaking Clerks. Thanks.

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Arriving one day prior to our Princess Cruise, should I book a hotel near airport? and use Princess transfers? or near port and take taxi?. Do any hotels have free transportion to port like in LA(sanpedro) or other U.S.. Cities? Looking for a reasonable hotel with English Speaking Clerks. Thanks.

 

What time are you arriving, and do you want to have ease of seeing some sights and a large selection of food and/or shopping or do you just want a bed to sleep in?

 

My recommendation is Sofitel Shanghai Hyland. It is on Nanjing Road, and the door opens onto the pedestrian street. It is in easy walking distance to many small sights, including the Bund at night. The hotel will be someway between the airport and the ship unless the ship docks at the downtown pier, at Wusongkou Cruise terminal. If it docks at Baoshan, it is about a 1 hour taxi to the port with traffic. Cost is about ¥100 (roughly $15 but you must have Chinese currency.)

 

I don't know what you would consider reasonable, but I consider reasonable in a large city, where the hotel, is in the section of town, that I can walk in, more important than cost. Good news, is you should always be able to find a hotel less than $200. As far as English is concerned, you should be fine at any tourist hotel, but be prepared with language cards for taxi's etc. This is China, and English is not a primary language.

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Upon our initial arrival we are staying at a hotel near the airport because we are flying out to Xian the next morning for a pre-cruise tour.

FWIW, we found only one airport hotel that was worth considering, based on reviews, shuttle and proximity to the airport -Ramada Pudong Airport Shanghai (be aware, there are two Ramadas).

 

Upon our return to Shanghai, pre-cruise, we are staying at Les Suites Orient Bund. Great reviews, centrally located and good prices.

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Thanks for the responses, I would consider anything under 200.00 reasonable. Princess docks at Wusongkou Cruise terminal.

 

Does Princess actually dock here? I know that it says that on the port information, it also has No.1 Baoyang Road, Baoshan district, Shanghai China 201900, which shows as a different spot on Google maps. I am not sure what one to believe.

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Does Princess actually dock here? I know that it says that on the port information, it also has No.1 Baoyang Road, Baoshan district, Shanghai China 201900, which shows as a different spot on Google maps. I am not sure what one to believe.

 

I would go with what is posted by Princess for the location of the dock. Note that Google does not work well in China, because it is banned. So the mapping is not accurate most times. Try other mapping programs and you might get a different result.

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Here's a simplistic map of the greater Shanghai - Int'l Cruise Terminal north of city center/Bund, PVG Int'l Airport is southeast of city center & further away from the ICT.

http://www.tour-beijing.com/photos/map/shanghai_map_1.gif

 

The official/proper address for Wusongkou Cruise Terminal

is No.01 Baoyang Road, Baoshan District, Shanghai

It is about 24 to 25 km from city center, with numerous hotels for visitors and tourists, priced accordingly. Most, if not all, hotel front desk staff speak basic English or have someone available that do, when checking in and assistance is needed.

Taxi drivers, as a general rule, are not bilingual and speak little to no English. Always have the names of the airport, cruise terminal, hotel name & address, and restaurants, etc. written out in simplified Chinese language ... and/or use an off-line language translation app.

Wusongkou (ICT) has 2 berths, one can handle ships up to 100,000 tons and the main one for mega ships up to 200,000 tons.

There are 2 other ship terminals, one is close to ICT and the other one, the smallest - is further into the city, along the river and you can see it when smaller ships are docked there - from the Bund ... none of the newer, mid-sized cruise ships can sail up the river to dock in town.

Princess ships are docked at ICT, the last ship - Majestic Princess was there this August and the Coral Princess scheduled to visit on October 18th.

 

Many of the Google's content inside China can be accessed but are filtered and blocked, consider switching your default search "engine" to something else, i.e. "Bing" works better - but, just like "Yahoo" are also filtered (like being censored) - it is what it is. One of the main search engine used in China is "Baido" - not all websites in China have English content, some of them do, look for a button/click option at one of the 4 corners of the homepage to switch.

Edited by mking8288
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Additional visuals for OP:

 

This was taken on the Bund in Shanghai - 2 smaller cruise ships docked alongside the river, too shallow for newer & bigger cruise ships)

SDC10465.JPG?dl=0

 

This is view on the Bund facing many of the historic, century old building - mixed in are modern & upscale hotels, designer boutique & high-end shops ... a must see/do stop for photo ops.

SDC10463.JPG?dl=0

 

PVG airport is to its southeast and the Int'l Cruise Terminal for bigger ships (that's most of them calling on Shanghai) are to the north.

 

Once arrived into PVG, make a stop at an ATM or use the airport Currency Exchange to get local money (RMB) - then, taxi to your hotel (drivers speak little to no English, have the name of the hotel & address, phone # written out in simplified Chinese) - fares are metered in the taxi. Traffic can be heavy depending on time of day, etc. but should be under $200 RMB (6 to 1 conversion, roughly - about $30 to $35 USD, tipping is not required nor expected ... keep the loose change is fine)

 

Hotels generally all have good to excellent AYCE breakfast buffet, wide choice of traditional Chinese & western options like eggs, assorted meats, bread & pastries, juices, coffee & tea and even hot oatmeals - enjoy those first, then, taxi when ready to leave for the cruise terminal.

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Just got back from China and when in Shangai stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot.Very nice hotel(4 star) but not near the Bund. Easy to get to Bund by taxi($6) or by Subway(about $1). Must see the Bund by night. Short scenic river cruise is about $20.

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Just got back from China and when in Shangai stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot.Very nice hotel(4 star) but not near the Bund. Easy to get to Bund by taxi($6) or by Subway(about $1). Must see the Bund by night. Short scenic river cruise is about $20.

 

Thanks for that review. We'll be staying there after our cruise, since we can stay on points.

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We have stayed four times when in Shanghai at the Grand Central Hotel.....and will be staying there again in a few weeks. Just an amazing hotel and perfect location...steps from Nanjing Road, MRT and a quick 10 min or less walk to the Bund.

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