Help Please! Disembarking in Shanghai.

[YVRCanuck]

Looking for help from anyone that has disembarked in Shanghai when Shanghai has been the final destination for their cruise. We are planning to head straight to the Hongqiao Railway station from the port and catch a train to Beijing. So trying to figure out our timing as to what train/time we will be on.

 

Would like to know;

- what was the earliest time you were able to get off the ship after docking

 

- how long did it take to get through China customs

 

- can you carry off your own luggage

 

- where there lots of cabs available at the port

 

- would it be better/faster to catch the train from the port to the train station because of the heavy road traffic

 

- how long does it take to get to the train station from the port

 

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[TMLAalum]

Looking for help from anyone that has disembarked in Shanghai when Shanghai has been the final destination for their cruise. We are planning to head straight to the Hongqiao Railway station from the port and catch a train to Beijing. So trying to figure out our timing as to what train/time we will be on.

 

Would like to know;

- what was the earliest time you were able to get off the ship after docking

 

We self-disembarked and met our guide for our 9 day land tour of China at 9 am

 

- how long did it take to get through China customs

We'd previously gone through customs in Tianjin and I don't recall having to do so in Shanghai

 

- can you carry off your own luggage

Yes, via self-disembarkation

 

- where there lots of cabs available at the port

 

- would it be better/faster to catch the train from the port to the train station because of the heavy road traffic

 

- how long does it take to get to the train station from the port

 

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

I wish I could answer the rest of your questions, but as I said we had a tour guide awaiting us.

[Aloha 1]

We disembarked at Shanghai last April from the Millie. You can pick your acronym: FUBAR,SNAFU, etc. It was the most disorganized I've ever been on. No customs to go thru as we previously did that in Beijing but luggage unloading off the ship was at least an hour behind schedule. We also had a tour bus waiting for us and by the time our group had all gotten their bags, we were 2 hours past the original time we planned to leave for Shanghai. My advice, if you can, self disembark and carry your bags.

 

BTW, Shanghai is a wonderful city. Be a shame to miss it.

[YVRCanuck]

Thanks for the replies Aloha1 and TMLAalum.

 

Unfortunately the cruise to Shanghai is our last and only stop in China, so we will have to go through customs there. Didn't know if China would allow you to get off the ship carrying you own luggage, thought perhaps they might want to screen them first.

 

Our plan is to visit Beijing first, then train it back to Shanghai and stay there for a few days as our flight leaves from Shanghai.

 

Would love to hear any other comments or advice.

[TMLAalum]

If your entry into Shanghai as your 1st Chinese port is anything like our experience in Beijing, plan on taking a very late train (perhaps, you could save time by flying- we flew 3 different intra-China airlines and were pleasantly surprised by the experience)!

 

The Millennium was to dock at 7am but it was well after 9am before anyone could leave the ship as there was a delay with Chinese customs. Some members of our roll call weren't through the whole process until close to noon! I recall it taking about 45 minutes to clear customs once we left the ship!

[Desm]

If you plan on catching a train from Honquaio I'd suggest organising a transfer with a guide to assist at the station. We disembarked in Shanghai at Wusongku and were met by our guide, at the station it is very modern, huge and absolute chaos to a westerner.

My research told me that there was an english speaking person at one window but we saw none, even our chinese guide was a bit confused but she was also invaluable, buying us a ticket on the bullet train to Hangzhou and escorting us to the departure area. She was with chinahighlights.com and her name was Lussie Lu.

 

From our experience I wouldn't tackle the transfer independently unless you are energetic, have plenty of time and are used to dealing with the Chinese. This was our second time in Shanghai and it was originally my intention to get a cab and go from there, my wife was a bit uneasy so I agreed to organise a transfer which proved to be a good move.

 

An added complication is the chaos once you leave the ship, most transfers are not allowed onto the wharf which means you have to walk or take a small electric shuttle form the terminal to the carpark or port gate which isn't really a problem but we were pleased that our guide met us as we left the terminal and made the whole thing so much smoother.

 

I should add that this was a couple of years ago but I suspect that not much will have changed.

[gek]

We disembarked in Shanghai with a Celebrity transfer arranged last October. It was a mess, even without customs to endure. Self-disembarkation is a must if you are short for time but if you have to go through customs you are sure to be delayed.

 

With a bit of luck Celebrity will organise for Chinese customs officials to be on board before you arrive which should expedite things somewhat. If not I wouldn't count on being off before midday.

 

If you are disembarking in Baoshan I wouldn't recommend using the subway to get to Hongqiao. It would take at least 2 hours. Taxi or private transfer is your best option but even then you are looking at an hour.

[Pushka]

We waited around 90 minutes for customs clearance and that was just for a port stop.

[smtcan]

Traffic in Shanghai is dreadful, made worse by the constant construction going on everywhere. I would recommend getting a guide to take you from the ship to the station.

 

Internal flights are very good, we took several on our recent tour of China, but again I would recommend a guide to help you. We tend to be very independent travellers, using public transport wherever possible - a public bus from Valparaiso to Santiago when neither of us spoke a word of the language as an example, but trying to move around Shanghai with luggage and a deadline would be too challenging for me. When you have no time constraints it is quite easy to travel in China, as long as you have all you destinations written down in Chinese, but I would be really concerned about missing my connection in your circumstances.

 

Enjoy China, we certainly did.

 

Sheila

[sheeng]

Hi Sheila!

 

We fly to Shanghai next week for a month in China prior to our

Century cruise. Good to hear internal flights are very good.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Sheila.

[Aloha 1]

I agree with DESM's comments. Going thru Customs in China is a case of get in line and wait. As this is your last stop, you will have your bags with you when you go thru so I believe you can still carry off. Double check with guest services once on board. Definitely book a transfer and guide for disembarkation. Costs are reasonable and it's invaluable.

 

Once back in Shanghai, take a river cruise at night to see the lights. Enjoy the city and by all means, visit the "trade center" (genuine fake everything) a couple blocks from the JW Marriott.

You will probably be departing from PVG - Pudong Airport. Be aware it is about a 45 minute ride in moderate traffic and a lot longer during peak times. Plan your departure accordingly as you will pass thru 3 levels of security before getting to your gate. Have fun!

[YVRCanuck]

Thanks for the posts from everyone so far. You have all been a great help.

 

Still would appreciate any other comments from anyone that have experience with disembarking in Shanghai as their last stop and transporting by either train or cab into Shanghai.

[YVRCanuck]

Does anyone else have any experience with disembarking in Shanghai? Would love to hear how long it will take to travel from the port to the train station by taxi or train.

[gandolfcruiser]

Hi All,

 

I was on the Celebrity Millenium with arrival in Shanghai on Sept 29th. My understanding is that Princess had a ship in port that day, too. I'd love to hear their experience.

 

My cabin mate and i had full Visas because we were going to go on to Beijing. As part of the process China customs already had our full itenerary. The officials came on board in Busan on the evening of the 27th and began customs on the morning of the 28th. That is when Celebrity started paging and calling for flight documents.

 

I went down, stood in line for over 30 minutes and when I said I had a Visa she said I wouldn't need to give documents. She went and checked, apologized for having me come. This was repeated at about 2pm and 4pm and 9pm. When we went to our room for bed there was a message to come with documents. I did. Again, they apologized and did not take them.

 

At 2 am another call and a knock on our door. This time she took documents, copied and returned.

 

At 4am there was a message on our phone. They would require a face to face with customs. come to dining room on 4 at 10am. But we had to be out of room by 8am. We were supposed to have luggage pickup by 8:15 am to go on our Shanghai tour that day.

 

I went to passport pickup and my cabin mates passport was there, but not mine. We needed to stay together so I went to dining room and she joined me there after breakfast. It was 200 very upset customers in there. Many who had given their paper work several times. Many who had been woken up in the night as I had. Several who one was held and the other not.

 

The took early flight people first and before 10am .... but did not tell people arriving after that to go immediately if they were early flight people.

 

They cancelled people for airport transfer excursions .. and left them wondering how to get to the airport even without an excursion.

 

They next took the people with a flight any time that day.

 

They finally took all the rest. This just changed us from sitting in the diniing room to a mess of lines and were just a mob of people and Celebrity people having us all just stand there until China finally said they could send people again. Instead of doing the lines they just randomly started calling out passports. This left people with passports where one in the party was called but not the other so both had to keep waiting.

 

I don't not hold China solely responsible. If Celebrity had made 2 copies of documents needed on day 1 then they would already have had the documents with the passports and every time China asked for another copy they just could have made another copy instead of hounding us for copies multiple times a day. They could have done a much more organized job of the staging of those waiting to be called.

 

So, any Princess people? How was your disembarkation at Shanghai?

 

Conna

[Holly2]

Anyone do Celebrity's half day tour/ transfer? Have OBC would like to use.

 

Could we do a tour the next am 9-1 and make a 4 PM flight?