Sinorama Gold 8 Yangtze River cruise & Imperial China Tour

[woody73]

We are booked on the Focus of China tour. I've read about the long days sightseeing.

 

In the morning, when we leave the hotel, I can see bringing things we may need at some places but not others -- such a jacket, hat, umbrella, backpack, or camera bag. Plus, during the day, we might purchase souvenirs.

 

Is it safe to leave things on the bus while out sightseeing, eating, or at stops like the silk factory? Will the bus be locked? Does the driver stay with the bus?

 

Also, I'm planning to bring a DSLR camera, some lenses, and accessories. While out sightseeing in China, would it be better to carry these in a shoulder bag or a backpack?

 

Thanks.

 

Woody

[DFLOORLADY]

Woody,

What date are you going?

[Ouoat]

The driver does stay with the bus or it is locked. We left things on the bus that we didn't need.

 

I think there is very little crime in China, we never felt threatened or worried about theft. They have huge cities with millions of people, but only have one homicide every 2 weeks on average.

 

My husband carried a backpack and I carried a shoulder bag. Neither one of us had any trouble.

[woody73]

 

The driver does stay with the bus or it is locked. We left things on the bus that we didn't need. . .

Thank you for the information. I read that we will have some very long days sightseeing, and this will help with having things we will need during the day.

 

Woody

[Motorcycle Gma]

We are leaving Tuesday for the 12 day tour. I want to thank Lambchop, Nanci and all of you for the helpful info. I read the entire 8 pages over the last week. Such great info!!

 

I'm still trying to decide whether to get Chinese money here at my Chase bank or just wait until we get there. Are the rates better in China or here? We're taking $200 in $20's each, DH & I. This is our first organized tour & like others, we grabbed it cuz of the price on TZ. Only regrets is our tour doesn't seem to include Terra Cotta or Summer Palace. I usually do all our planning & tours on our own, so this will be tough. I'm not a morning person, what time do we meet the bus usually??

 

We got our visas from mychinavisa dot com thru Houston. Very good company. Had them in less than a week. A little pricey, but better than driving to Houston. We got the 10 yr. for a $99 fee each plus fedex cost of $29 I think. A total of $500 for 2 including Visa fees.

 

I have a couple other questions. Anyone use any pools or hot tubs at hotels or boat? We usually like to relax after a day of touring. I know they cost money & you may have to wear bathing cap, LOL. Are they dirty, risky?? Should I skip the bathing suit?

 

Are there hair dryers in hotels & boat or should I bring my travel one? How many adapters did you guys use? I have iPads, iPhones (which will be off mostly), camera, hair appliances (2-3) and electric shaver. Should I buy a power bank/converter or just use several adapters?

 

One last question, I didn't see much about mosquitos, are they not an issue on the river? We're hoping for nice weather but that Typhoon just went through. I hope it's not in the areas we're visiting.

 

Thanks again for any answers. 4 more days to go!

[pcorzine]

Will be anxious to hear how your trip goes Motorcycle Gma. My wife and I are on the Nov 6 tour and anxiously looking forward to it, which we also got through TZ. We have traveled a fair amount but have never been to the east so this interesting. We were in DC visiting our daughter last week so got our visas via the embassy there. 360 which included the rush fee so that we could pick them up in two days.

Hope you have a great time and would love to hear about it.

 

 

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Edited September 16, 2016 by pcorzine

[nansi]

MotorcycleGma: If you are planning to get money at your bank, you might want to do it today, since some banks need a couple of "working" days to get it delivered to them. We did get about 100 Y but we could use any ATM affiliated with BankofAmerica (China Construction Bank) to withdraw in the local currency (without bank fees). See if Chase has an affiliate bank in China that you can use. Also, we paid with credit card whenever possible. You'll mostly need local currency for street shopping. The guides were very happy to take their tips in US dollars.

 

You won't need a power converter for your iPhones/iPads...they convert automatically, but you may need the plug adapter. Most of the hotels actually had both 110 and 220 outlets and I think the ship did also. There are hair dryers everywhere, so don't bother bringing one.

 

The hotels are all 5 star and the pools were very clean. No time to use them though: by the time you check in it's usually after 10pm, you're exhausted from the day, and you have a 6:30am wake-up call usually. My husband got to swim in one pool (brought his little cappie with him lol) on the last morning of the last hotel for about 15 minutes. The cruise ship had a pool but it was drained dry the entire time, and no hot tubs.

 

We went the first 2 weeks of Oct and there were no mosquitos at all. Could have left our repellent home. The daytime temps were wonderful...no humidity and mid to upper 70's. I wore capris the entire trip and my husband wore shorts. Chillier at night but a sweater or light jacket was just fine. We left everything on the bus that we didn't need for the moment, and never had a problem.

 

I'm not a morning person either and this was the hardest part of the journey for me. I need an hour to shower and do make-up, and then fit in breakfast before meeting at 8am (sometimes even earlier) for the bus. It was a relief to be on the cruise for 5 days and be able to sleep in!

 

Nancy

[Motorcycle Gma]

MotorcycleGma: If you are planning to get money at your bank, you might want to do it today, since some banks need a couple of "working" days to get it delivered to them. We did get about 100 Y but we could use any ATM affiliated with BankofAmerica (China Construction Bank) to withdraw in the local currency (without bank fees). See if Chase has an affiliate bank in China that you can use. Also, we paid with credit card whenever possible. You'll mostly need local currency for street shopping. The guides were very happy to take their tips in US dollars.

 

******

 

Nanci, you were right! Just called Big Chase in downtown Dallas & they don't carry Chinese currency, two days to order. It's too late for me. Ugh, I'm at disadvantage cuz I only have savings there & not sure the card will work. It didn't work in Italy. I have a credit union & they charge fees like crazy for debit card withdrawals, tho I think I can pay restaurants or stores with no fee. I might have to grab some at DFW or LAX.

 

*******

 

You won't need a power converter for your iPhones/iPads...they convert automatically, but you may need the plug adapter. Most of the hotels actually had both 110 and 220 outlets and I think the ship did also. There are hair dryers everywhere, so don't bother bringing one.

******

 

I'm still a little confused if they have 110 & 220, why would I need adapters? We have one set, but I'm thinking I'll order another just to be sure. Love my Amaz-n...

 

Thanks for the tips about weather, mosquitoes & pool. Hopefully, our schedule won't be as hectic. I'm totally regretting didn't do the 15 day like Lambchops. All that time to Get over there, should have stayed longer. When we signed up in March it was sort of grab it & did no research. So those that are thinking about it, know the 10 day with 2 day add on in Shanghai is good, but you're going to miss Terra Cotta soldiers, Summer Palace and the Pandas. I so wanted to have the panda experience.

 

Did you get to do the water tour to the place with monkeys or was October too late?

 

Thanks again!

[nansi]

I'm still a little confused if they have 110 & 220, why would I need adapters? We have one set, but I'm thinking I'll order another just to be sure. Love my Amaz-n...

 

A CONVERTER converts 220v to 110 v. An ADAPTER just adapts to the PLUG type that you'll need (but does NOT convert any voltage).

 

Did you get to do the water tour to the place with monkeys or was October too late?

 

Didn't get to do the monkeys...but we did see them from the river on the cruise. That was as close as we got to any monkeys. Didn't get the pandas either, since our ship was heading in the wrong direction. Only found this out after we had booked.

 

Have a GREAT TIME!!! :D

[lamchops]

We usually bring 2 adapters on trips as well as a power bar. The power bar has 3 sockets so 4 plugs total. Just a dollar store special.

You could bring a 5 socket bar but make sure it has a surge protector.

 

We brought some yuan and $200us but didn't use the us. If I remember correctly, the hotels and boat exchanged up to $100us. The cash is just for small street bargaining. Any thing that costs, use a credit card.

 

Have a great trip!

Edited September 17, 2016 by lamchops

[Motorcycle Gma]

I'm about 85% packed and read the Sinorama notes about luggage. They seem to want to insist you only bring one piece? Or there is a $70 charge? Who charges this, them or the air carrier?? We always take a carry on & We are on Air China who told me the carry on can only be 11pounds or 3 kilos. The 20" suitcase weighs 6 pounds empty!!. Mine weighs 15 pounds plus I have my large bag. We don't travel lightly, lol. If we are traveling United to LAX to Beijing, won't they check it straight thru?

 

Anyone have any experience with paying excess luggage fees? Thanks again.

[czarria55]

Hi, Motorcycle. Not sure when your Sinorama tour is - ours leaves Oct 1. We just got all out docs from Sinorama & the way I understand it, the one-suitcase limit is firm because of Chinese transportation limitations while we travel within China. I think the international carriers could care less, as long as you pay, but China is another story. They care - and control - everything. My best advice would be to CALL Sinorama to confirm whether or not you can bring more than your allotted luggage. Hope your trip is amazing!!

[sabu24]

We just got home today from: Charm of China + Yangtze River (Three Gorges) Cruise 12 Days (A) 2016

 

Jujuju2,

Thanks for your helpful hints. We are going on the (20) day Panorama Tour next March 11 (2017). What was the weather? I saw average of 45 degrees but I have seen posts saying not that cold. I appreciate your response.

Thanks

Fran

[DFLOORLADY]

My husband and I just returned this week from this tour and would like to share some information with you.

General Information:

We took 1500 yuan and spent it all between extra tips, drinks, snack and small souvenirs, I believe the hotel and ship will exchange currency but other than that there is no time to go to a ATM during the tour, just a note of warning someone on our tour lost their ATM card in the Beijing Airport ATM Machine. The ship and large souvenirs shop accepted credit cards.

Per our guide luggage had to be locked for the train and domestic air flight.

We took one convertor with adaptor and an adaptor which had a plug and USB port on it. No 110 available in any of the hotels or on the ship.

Luggage: We took only one check piece of luggage each weighting 44lbs going to China (this weight is important for the flight you take from Xian to Chongquing) and one carry on each weighting 11 lbs. going to China (however no one ever weighted the carry on piece).

Lunch and Dinner: Varied between buffet and family style, mostly all Chinese dishes – Except for breakfast all other meals were away from the hotel.

Keep in mind that you will spend considerable amount of time on the bus because of the traffic and distances between sights, the bus was very nice and in some cities there was water and beer for sale on the bus.

Hotels: Beijing West International Trade Hotel

Rooms: Spacious but could have used redecorating

Breakfast: Buffet with large selection of items

Tours: Fabulous sights however long days, you will need to be ready between 8:00 and 8:30 or earlier every morning and luggage out the by 6:30 the day you leave for Xian. High speed train ride was a great time to relax and recuperate.

Hotel: Xian – Grand Barony

Rooms: Spacious and very well appointed

Breakfast: Buffet very good with large selection of items

Tours: Fabulous sights however long days, you will need to be ready between 8:00 and 8:30 and on the day we flew to Chongquing we had to be ready at 5:40AM with luggage out the night before.

Yangtze River Cruise

Rooms: Nice size however could have used updating, ship itself was also in need of maintenance and updating.

Tours: By this time in the tour the slow pace was welcomed, some days only one excursion for a few hours than relax on the ship and enjoy the sights. Optional walking tour was offered The Tribe of Three Gorges (Water Village) for 290 yuan per person, we enjoyed this tour.

Holiday Inn Riverside Wuhan

Rooms: Spacious and very well appointed

Tour: Departed the ship around 8:30 am and spent time at the Jingzhou City Walls before going to an early lunch and then the 3 ½ hour bus ride to Wuhan.

The next morning we had to be ready at 5:20AM to go to the airport our guide came with us and stayed until we cleared security.

We were very impressed with our Tour Guide James he was very attentive to every detail, most of the local tour guides very knowledgeable and informative.

All in All we were very pleased with the tour and the value for the price.

Hope this information helps any of you going in the future – Have a great trip!!

[rerepunim]

Thank you for your info. Going on Nov 2 and was hoping someone would clarify the luggage requirements.✌️

Edited September 25, 2016 by rerepunim

[pcorzine]

Thanks for the great info. We leave Chicago Nov 4. Does anyone know if the ship has laundry services?

 

 

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[jill1349]

We were on the same tour with DFloorLady and agree with most of her comments. Regarding luggage there were many times when you had to personally take your luggage from the bus to the airport or to the train requiring you to navigate escalators and such. We took only a carry on size piece of luggage each and were glad that we did. But as far as I could tell no bags were weighed.

 

Yes there is laundry on the ship and it is very inexpensive and quick. For example a shirt or a pair of pants was about 3.00 US (unpressed). Was about a $1.50 more if you wanted it pressed.

 

Also be aware that hotels you stay in will not necessarily be the same as those listed when you booked. In our case all of the hotels were different and we did not know the hotel in Shanghai was going to be different until we pulled into the parking lot.

 

Wi-Fi in the hotels works very good. I paid $40 for an ATT international package and it worked very good on the ship. Many did pay for ship's Wi-Fi and I think it also worked fairly good.

 

Any other questions feel free to ask.

[DFLOORLADY]

Some information I forgot in the previous post:

You must drink bottled water, one bottle per person per day is left in your hotel room and cruise ship room.

Water, soda, beer and cocktails are for sale on the cruise, the first port had water, soda and beer for alot cheaper for example 4ltr of water is 60 Yuan on the ship and 20 Yuan on the dock just put your purchases in your backpack.

[rhodanien]

We've just booked the tour going Shanghai - Yangtze Cruise - Beijing that leaves on March 9th (2017). Many thanks to everyone that has contributed to this thread; it has been exceedingly informative, and has allayed a lot of the concerns that I had about doing a packaged tour.

[czarria55]

Hi all. We just returned (October 13) from our 12 day Focus on China tour with Sinorama. Just wanted to chime in on here & offer my services for anyone with specific questions going forward.

 

In general, all the info posted on this forum to date was not only extremely accurate, but very helpful. I'd really like to thank lamchops and nansi in particular for their help with details and my last-minute anxiety (Nancy, you were a life saver!!). Below are just a few highlights from my recent memory:

 

Regarding overall travel, Sinorama was good to us - we had great flight connections to/from Miami with no last-minutes changes that have plagued a few others. We were greeted by our guide in Beijing, but there was a rather significant delay (over an hour) before we actually left for our hotel. After almost 24 hours of being up, it was a little rough, but Mark (our wonderful guide) made the best of it. I will say for anyone planning future tours with Sinorama you need to know that going the first week of October does affect your plans due to the national holiday. We ended up in a hotel further out of town due to the holiday. THe hotel was lovely, but we had to leave earlier to get places, so had 6:30AM wake up calls the first few days. Also, there was no dinner option the first night except for a buffet at the hotel that was basically $30/person. At that point, we didn't care - we ate. Otherwise, the travel was great - we did a high speed train, an interior flight, the river cruise and of course, the buses - all were comfortable and everything went smoothly.

 

Others have mentioned the food - we did find it to be rather bland in general and there's really no time to venture out on your own. I would suggest if it's a huge deal to you that you take some familiar things like snack bars and such, just for comfort's sake more than anything. We certainly never went hungry and the food was not bad at all - just very monotonous and surprisingly bland. We doused everything in soy sauce & whatever other condiments we could find and we were fine.

 

As far as money, we took $1,000 US and brought back about $300 of that, but we do have a big family and bought a lot of souvenirs. We did use our credit card a couple of times for more expensive items (warning - cloisonné is VERY pricey at the factory, as is jade and pearls - we did buy a couple of things, but in general, retrospectively, we probably could've gotten things cheaper stateside, but hey - you're only there once probably, so what the heck).

 

The people in China are amazing - so friendly. Everywhere we went, people want to take pictures with us - and there were people everywhere due to the holiday. But everyone is very friendly, polite and in a sweet way, curious about westerners. Again, if you go the first week of October, expect CROWDS everywhere you go and Chinese have an odd sense of "personal space," so be aware that they are not being rude or pushy - it's just their way. They're happy for you to push your way forward in a crowded situation (i.e. Terra Cotta Warriors, etc.), and everyone just makes do.

 

Gee, there is so much and I don't feel like I've really touched on anything other than my overall surface memories. We had such a wonderful time - the hotels, as everyone has said, were first rate - no problems. The ship is lovely and extremely comfy, and again - I cannot say enough about the folks in China from Sinorama. We really all became such good friends in a very short time. We would go again and we would definitely consider Sinorama. I think we'd want to do a different itinerary just to see different things, but this trip could easily be repeated as far as I'm concerned and I think we'd still really enjoy it. Please let me know if anyone has any specific questions. You'll have a lovely time - those of you who have upcoming trips. Just relax and enjoy!!

Edited October 24, 2016 by czarria55
wasn't finished

[Hometheatremaven]

Thanks everyone for the great info. Just received our itinerary from Sinorma and it looks like 5 of the hotels have changed from what's on their website. But looking at the hotels on tripadvisor, most of the new ones seem just as good or better than on the website. Hope that's the case.

We start out in Beijing on 11/13, hope it's not too cold :)

[jill1349]

Hometheatremavin, we had same experience with our hotels. They were all different then originally stated. In our case we found that the hotels were all very nice and probably just as nice as the original hotels. But in most cases they were further away from the central city. Since the tour is very intensive and you are normally back to the hotel later in the day this may not be an issue.

 

In our case we went to Beijing two days before the door so the location of the new hotel was not as convenient for us to tour the city. Also in Xian we had hoped to be inside the walled city but were outside so we were not able to explore that area as we had hoped.

 

But all in all not that big of an issue because, as I said, most days there was not enough time to do much on our own.

[auntieshoes]

There is a promotion right now that makes this trip very affordable for us. However it is offered on both the Sinorama 3 and the Sinorama 8. It's a few hundred dollars more for the 8, but the dates are better for me on the 3.

 

Did anyone have to choose between these 2 boats? If so, do you know the differences?

 

I will call the agency later today but I can see that this forum has a lot of good information.

 

 

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[RussNJodi]

We are taking one of their tours in April, and when we booked, the Gold 3 wasn't even an option, so not sure there is a lot out there about it. In fact, all the reviews I've been able to find only mention the Gold 8. One review mentioned that the Sinorama folks consider the Gold 8 as the best of the ships they use, so take that for what it is worth. I will say from the Sinorama website, the only real differences I can find are that the Gold 3 is slightly older and has a more open atrium.

 

If you are still interested in the Gold 3, the Sinorama website actually has 360 degree images of all the rooms and common areas, but you have to hunt for it. (Can't find one for the Gold 8.) To get there, go to the US site, and click on the Panorama of China tour. Scroll down and you'll see a banner that says Gold Cruise Virtual Tour with an arrow. Click on that and it will take you to a deck plan of the Gold 3 with links for all the 360 shots available.

 

Hope this helps.

[auntieshoes]

Thanks for all of that information. I talked to the travel agent today and she told me that the 3 is one year older and slightly larger.

 

In the end it doesn't matter because they won't allow us to do an air travel deviation and stay a few extra days.

 

Well actually they will allow us to do it but we only get $200 credit towards the airfare and the airfare savings is really the benefit of booking through this promotional offer they have going on now.

 

 

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