Have you gone on a Celebrity China cruise?

[oaktownboy]

My dear wife wants to treat me to a cruise that includes China for my 70th. I have been following a discussion on the RCCL board describing a cruiser's experiences on the Mariner of the Seas. After reading her stories about Chinese passengers pushing, shoving and cutting in line, spitting on the floor, and essentially not following the rules, I've decided that maybe RCCL may not be our cup of tea (pardon the pun). Although I am usually very mellow and easy going, I just will not tolerate rude behavior and do not wish to start an international incident. And to boot, I'm Chinese American and a Vietnam vet who served in Asia, where I thoroughly enjoyed the culture/people. So my question is are their any Celebrity cruisers who have gone on an itinerary that included China? Were the vast majority of passengers from China? Did the cruise originate or end in China? Could you please describe your experiences on the cruise and offer any hints about the cruise? Thanks in advance.

[chefcaw]

We are doing a land tour before we join friends that are on the Hong Kong to Shanghai. Post your email in the form of yourname at provider dot com. I will respond when we return in late May.

 

Chris

[gek]

Our Japan/Sth Korea/China cruise last year had a great mix of passengers. There were a few Chinese speakers on board but they were definitely in the minority. Quite an eclectic mix which included some reasonable size groups from South America and Eastern Europe.

 

Our cruise went from Yokohama to Shanghai. In China I noticed Costa and RCCL were heavily promoting cruises to the locals so these would be the ships to avoid if you didn't want to be surrounded by Chinese residents.

Edited April 9, 2015 by gek

[Aloha 1]

Did Hong Kong to Shanghai last April on the Millie. A fantastic cruise with a few but not many Chinese. In general we found the mainland Chinese extremely curious and excited to meet us

(caucasians) . They clamored for pictures with us in Beijing and Shanghai. The cruise was an eye opener and destroyed any pre conceived notions I had about "Communist" China. They're more capitalist than we are! Our route took us from HK to Taipei, Nagasaki, Japan, Busan, Korea, Jeju Island, Korea, Beijing (where we overnighted for 2 nights in the city) and Shanghai. It was a great cruise. Happy to provide any additional information at your request.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Aloha 1

[rahrah50]

I did a Viling River Cruise in China and loved it!!!! Several days in Beijing then to Xian, then to Choung quin to board the river boat. 5 days on the Yangtze River then flew from Wuhan to Shanhai. No issues at all with the Chinese or other passengers. Fabulous guide who spoke perfect English and made the trip so enjoyable. A different experience than ocean cruising but another idea...

[gek]

The Chinese people are great. Very friendly and I always felt comfortable there.

 

I think the main problem that foreigners have with Chinese people is that they are not good at queuing. If you give them clear guidelines and the queue is properly defined then they will do it quietly and patiently but in situations like disembarking from a cruise ship or lining up at a buffet chaos will often reign. In a country of 1.4 billion people you quickly learn that standing back and waiting your turn is not always wise.

[harz99]

My dear wife wants to treat me to a cruise that includes China for my 70th. I have been following a discussion on the RCCL board describing a cruiser's experiences on the Mariner of the Seas. After reading her stories about Chinese passengers pushing, shoving and cutting in line, spitting on the floor, and essentially not following the rules, I've decided that maybe RCCL may not be our cup of tea (pardon the pun). Although I am usually very mellow and easy going, I just will not tolerate rude behavior and do not wish to start an international incident. And to boot, I'm Chinese American and a Vietnam vet who served in Asia, where I thoroughly enjoyed the culture/people. So my question is are their any Celebrity cruisers who have gone on an itinerary that included China? Were the vast majority of passengers from China? Did the cruise originate or end in China? Could you please describe your experiences on the cruise and offer any hints about the cruise? Thanks in advance.

 

If your wish would be to see China I would recommend a land tour rather than a cruise. On the other hand if you simply want a cruise that enables you to visit China and the main sites around Beijing than you should be okay on Millennium, however my advise would be to book the Celebrity 3day shore excursion (not advice I normally give!) to ensure you're off ship asap at Tianjin and maximise time. Also, if you don't speak Mandarin you will struggle diy ashore as most Chinese don't speak English.

[ghstudio]

Our experience differs from some others...we've been to china twice for multiple weeks.

 

I find it difficult to believe that folks were clamoring for pictures with Americans..We've spent time in Shanghai and Beijing (as well as other places) and never had this happen, even once. The exception is if you go to "English corner" in any city where the young Chinese go to practice speaking and hearing real English once or twice a week. If you haven't done this, it's really fun (our hotel in Chengdu (szechuan/pandas) was directly across from the park where they were doing this one night).

 

If you are ever lost in China, find someone under the age of 14....English is now a required language in schools now and the kids really do understand English although their English speech is not all that good due to lack of practice.

 

Our guides have always spoken perfect English complete with idioms and slang...so good, in fact, that in Xian (terra cotta warriors), someone came up to our guide and asked where she had gone to college in the US....her response: "I've never been outside of China"

 

I do agree that the Chinese are not the best queuers in the world...but have you tried to get on a subway in Tokyo...etc. Some countries are much better at this skill...eg the UK where folks seem to queue up to cross a street (just joking....we've lived there though and at times this isn't far from the truth).

 

I definitely agree that if you want to see mainland china...do it on land, not on a cruise. Perhaps find a cruise that leaves or ends in shanghai and spend a week (or more) before/after seeing a bit of china. Take day tours or get a local private guide (our choice...and highly recommended).

[bogofman]

eg the UK where folks seem to queue up to cross a street (just joking....we've lived there though and at times this isn't far from the truth).

 

QUOTE]

 

No queuing in UK, we can cross any road where and when we like:)

 

maybe you are thinking of the pelican crossing (traffic light crossing) if the light is red and you want to cross, its difficult to avoid a queue

 

that must be the same in any country

[chemmo]

I agree with others, to China justice you do need a land tour. We have cruised in and out of HK but not on Celebrity. High proportion of Chinese to European. Some were eager to socialise with us and talk about cultural differences, the economic challenges...others, like on all cruises preferred to keep to themselves.

 

The biggest difference we found was after dinner. The bars were almost empty but the casino was really full.

 

If you are unsure about committing yourself to a full tour at present a cruise will give you a 'taster'.

 

Enjoy

[slogam]

Just my 2 cents worth of input regarding China Cruising.

 

I am Singaporean Chinese in my seventies, cruising quite a bite within Asia.

 

Rccl, Princess and Costa have cruises originated and ended in Chinese Ports.

All these cruises are mainly aimed for the Chinese tour groups and companies incentive tours. Most if not all of these passengers are first time cruiser and have no idea of the "cruise culture" we all expected.

The cruise lines know the problems of this China passengers' culture/behaviours which are troubling for Western passengers.

For this reason, Princess and Costa never market their China turn around cruises to foreign passengers. Only RCCL does and this is where the problem lies and reflected badly on Rccl.

 

Celebrity only have reposition cruises to / from China ports.

Hardly any Chinese tour group nor incentive tour on these cruises.

the ambience is more international. same applied to Rccl and Princess reposition cruises.

 

All the above mentioned cruise lines also have Singapore turn around cruises for South East Asian ports. Majority of the passengers on these cruise are Singaporean and Australian. Singaporean like to holiday in big family group,

especially during school holiday season. We can be very noisy and congregate at one spot but we are quite good with queuing and wait for our turn. there are always some exception of cause.

[uktog]

Just my 2 cents worth of input regarding China Cruising.

 

I am Singaporean Chinese in my seventies, cruising quite a bite within Asia.

 

Rccl, Princess and Costa have cruises originated and ended in Chinese Ports.

All these cruises are mainly aimed for the Chinese tour groups and companies incentive tours. Most if not all of these passengers are first time cruiser and have no idea of the "cruise culture" we all expected.

The cruise lines know the problems of this China passengers' culture/behaviours which are troubling for Western passengers.

For this reason, Princess and Costa never market their China turn around cruises to foreign passengers. Only RCCL does and this is where the problem lies and reflected badly on Rccl.

 

Celebrity only have reposition cruises to / from China ports.

Hardly any Chinese tour group nor incentive tour on these cruises.

the ambience is more international. same applied to Rccl and Princess reposition cruises.

 

All the above mentioned cruise lines also have Singapore turn around cruises for South East Asian ports. Majority of the passengers on these cruise are Singaporean and Australian. Singaporean like to holiday in big family group,

especially during school holiday season. We can be very noisy and congregate at one spot but we are quite good with queuing and wait for our turn. there are always some exception of cause.

 

Spot on, as one who spends most of her working year in China you are 100% correct particularly in relation to the group scenario. So my advice to anyone is know the cruise's target market. With RCI homeporting ships in China, I would be particularly cautious of these trips.

 

Whilst there are some challenging comments in the review that sparked a lot of the debate, I have to say I 100% recognise the passenger type being referred to , I encounter them and that behaviour on a daily basis.

 

If however you go on an organised land tour or river boat cruise, you should be able to avoid this behaviour to a much greater extent

[Host Hattie]

I find it difficult to believe that folks were clamoring for pictures with Americans..We've spent time in Shanghai and Beijing (as well as other places) and never had this happen, even once.

 

I've only spent about 10 days in China on a land tour and I had this happen almost everywhere, not because I'm British but because I'm blonde.

Sometimes people would ask me directly but a few times I only realised what was happening when someone (or a whole family) sat or stood very close to me and a camera or phone appeared !

Edited April 9, 2015 by Host Hattie

[uktog]

I've only spent about 10 days in China on a land tour and I had this happen almost everywhere, not because I'm British but because I'm blonde.

Sometimes people would ask me directly but a few times I only realised what was happening when someone (or a whole family) sat or stood very close to me and a camera or phone appeared !

 

Yes, happens all the time, blonde is bad but red hair is even worse as my colleague knows and young and completely bald is the worst as the boss knows!

[smtcan]

Our experience differs from some others...we've been to china twice for multiple weeks.

 

I find it difficult to believe that folks were clamoring for pictures with Americans..We've spent time in Shanghai and Beijing (as well as other places) and never had this happen, even once.

 

We were in China last year on a three week land tour. I was asked many times to pose for photos with (usually) young people. Others in our group were not asked and eventually I inquired why I was chosen. The answer was because of my white hair. Really white hair is unusual in China so I was a novelty!

 

We had planned a cruise to include China, but when we added the cost of visiting all the inland places we wanted to see, we cancelled the cruise and booked a land tour with four days on the Yangze instead.

 

We found the Chinese people to be friendly and we saw much less spitting than we did on an earlier stay in Shanghai. We were told that the Olympic Games in Beijing had led to a lot of publicity about how unacceptable Westerners found this practice.

 

Sheila

[TMLAalum]

We sailed the Millennium last April. Most pax were from the US or AUs it seemed to me. Prior to boarding her in Hong Kong we spent 4 nights there at the Salisbury "Y" with a harborview room. We explored the city on our own via foot, Star ferry, taxi and subway.

 

The ship overnighted in Tianjin for 2 nights and we spent that time on a private tour with Catherine Lu seeing the sights of Beijing with 20 roll call members. It was a jam-packed 3 days but at a price of $375 US per person we had all meals, sights (except for the Acrobat Show) and lodging at the Park Plaza included. Fabulous!

 

When we disembarked in Shanghai we had a private tour set up for us and sis/bro-in-law for 9 nights in China. We went to Xian, Guilin, Yangshao and back to Shanghai. Also included was a 3 night Yangtze River cruise on the President #7 where we were among the very few non-Chinese.

 

Never did I experience pushing, shoving, etc. We were often asked to have our photos taken with the Chinese, especially by the younger generation. By the same token we asked to take photos of several adorable Chinese children. Our Chinese guides were all well-educated and we learned much about the China from them.

 

Combining our cruise, which included ports in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea and 5 sea days, with our fully-inclusive land tour provided for much-needed chill time given our hectic schedule.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to travel to China

[ghstudio]

I've only spent about 10 days in China on a land tour and I had this happen almost everywhere, not because I'm British but because I'm blonde.

 

Aha....next time I'm going to dye my hair grey :) Thanks for the clarification...

[shorefolks]

We took a Millennium cruise Yokohama-Shanghai last fall, and I would echo the previous positive comments. While there were a fair number of Chinese (not Chinese-Americans) on board, the grosser misbehaviors, e.g., spitting, were not in evidence. What was annoying, however, was the air of seeming entitlement with which a variety of Orientals (not only Chinese) would brush ahead of people waiting courteously. This was on the ship. On the streets, this was far less the case. We also encountered only two incidents of Chinese striking up conversations with us, both times in Shanghai and both times quite friendly. One of those times we had to work at politely declining an invitation for extended interactions that would have interfered with planned touring. The other time it was with two friendly, young girls who giggled that I looked like "Christmas Father" (Santa Claus), not inaccurately I guess.

 

In Beijing we used Catherine Lu and were quite pleased. We had a private car pick us up in Tianjin and return us to the ship two days later. Our young Chinese guide spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable. She also took us to two included lunches that were excellent. In Shanghai, we DIYed it, using taxis which were quite inexpensive.

 

In retrospect, I wish that we had added a land tour, but time did not allow it. If you can manage it, I would strongly suggest reserving a tour. There is so much more to see.