China cruises not included in deals

[newbie8]

I am considering a cruise out of Hong Kong but I notice that China cruises are excluded from promo's. Is this because it's a high demand area and that's why they don't need to run promo's to sell the cruises ?

 

I just can't decide whether to just book now or keep watching for any good deals/promo's.

 

Anyone that has cruised in Asia before, what is your experience on this ? TIA

[Biker19]

Assuming you are booking under US rules, you can book and then update your booking if a better deal comes along. Promos don't mean much - book at the price you are comfortable with, not some meaningless promo.

[enyaw]

Newbie8 -- China is NEVER on any of the sales. We waited and waited and decided to book. Only got the D+ balcony discount. Nothing else .. but we enjoyed the Quantum so much and being one of the few Americans onboard made it that much cooler!

 

Expect a VERY different style of cruise -- but all in all one of our favorites.

[Ashland]

Keep watching...On our 8 nighter Asia cruise on Mariner in 2015...after booking....at a point in time we ended up getting an "amazing" seniors discount....I would consider that a deal :)

[cruiserinsg]

In addition if you sailed the Quantum class ship, you would need to pay for the Ifly and Northstar when homeport in China.

[joandian]

There were last minute deals on our Shanghai to Singapore cruise last month. A couple we know booked a JR Suite for $1000 less than we paid. This is after final payment though and you might not want to leave booking that late.

[cdwh1902]

In addition if you sailed the Quantum class ship, you would need to pay for the Ifly and Northstar when homeport in China.

 

Fortunately, we don't have to pay for either in Australia - is free.

[The_Big_M]

Newbie8 -- China is NEVER on any of the sales. We waited and waited and decided to book. Only got the D+ balcony discount. Nothing else .. but we enjoyed the Quantum so much and being one of the few Americans onboard made it that much cooler!

 

Expect a VERY different style of cruise -- but all in all one of our favorites.

 

I was fortunate enough to get a special as well.

 

Agree with the above; it's quite different, but I enjoyed it too.

[awestover89]

Fortunately, we don't have to pay for either in Australia - is free.

 

Right, it's specifically for China cruises.

[direptor]

There were last minute deals on our Shanghai to Singapore cruise last month. A couple we know booked a JR Suite for $1000 less than we paid. This is after final payment though and you might not want to leave booking that late.

 

Sailings towards Singapore are usually changed to more 'international' and all the changes for China like no promotion, payment for ice shows etc etc do not exist on such sailings. They mainly applies only to sailings that sail and end in China ports.

[bertrande]

Sailings towards Singapore are usually changed to more 'international' and all the changes for China like no promotion, payment for ice shows etc etc do not exist on such sailings. They mainly applies only to sailings that sail and end in China ports.

 

Interesting. I do hope the Quantum sailings next March/April out of SG will be "international" and they do not charge for iFly and North Star :D

[direptor]

Interesting. I do hope the Quantum sailings next March/April out of SG will be "international" and they do not charge for iFly and North Star :D

 

Quantum? Do u mean Ovation?

 

I recently did a B2B on Voyager when it was sailing from HK to TW then HK to SG. On the 1st leg of the cruise, there was a $6 charge for the ice show but this charge was gone on the 2nd leg so more or less confirm cruises leaving China will stop having such charges.

 

All cruises out of SG does not charge for the stuff that they charge in China. Was on Quantum and Ovation before both sailing out of SG, 1 round trip and 1 to Shanghai and both did not charge for anything that they are charging when the ship is in china.

[bertrande]

Quantum? Do u mean Ovation?

 

I recently did a B2B on Voyager when it was sailing from HK to TW then HK to SG. On the 1st leg of the cruise, there was a $6 charge for the ice show but this charge was gone on the 2nd leg so more or less confirm cruises leaving China will stop having such charges.

 

All cruises out of SG does not charge for the stuff that they charge in China. Was on Quantum and Ovation before both sailing out of SG, 1 round trip and 1 to Shanghai and both did not charge for anything that they are charging when the ship is in china.

 

Oops yes I meant Ovation indeed! I'm a little miffed as it is that the mini season does not include the Royal Suites Class benefits (free internet etc) so complimentary access to the other items would go some way in soothing ruffled feathers.

[Joseph2017China]

I am considering a cruise out of Hong Kong but I notice that China cruises are excluded from promo's. Is this because it's a high demand area and that's why they don't need to run promo's to sell the cruises ?

 

I just can't decide whether to just book now or keep watching for any good deals/promo's.

 

Anyone that has cruised in Asia before, what is your experience on this ? TIA

 

I am doing a cruise out of Shanghai on Quantum in March and I booked a Spa JR suite guarantee. The price of a balcony is the same price I booked the spa Jr suite today. I would book now and watch the price. Anything changes call RCCL up. My price only went up, and not down so don't wait. Plus, remember, I am assuming you will need to fly. The price of airlines will also change and most likely go up as you approach. My tickets went up by nearly $200 since I bought them.

[Joseph2017China]

Newbie8 -- China is NEVER on any of the sales. We waited and waited and decided to book. Only got the D+ balcony discount. Nothing else .. but we enjoyed the Quantum so much and being one of the few Americans onboard made it that much cooler!

 

Expect a VERY different style of cruise -- but all in all one of our favorites.

 

3 days in Beijing, 2 days in Shanghai, than 5 days on Quantum. Looking forward to it, despite all the negative review of the culture differences. I bet they say the same about us!

[luvixtapa]

Newbie8 -- China is NEVER on any of the sales. We waited and waited and decided to book. Only got the D+ balcony discount. Nothing else .. but we enjoyed the Quantum so much and being one of the few Americans onboard made it that much cooler!

 

Expect a VERY different style of cruise -- but all in all one of our favorites.

 

Very different how? I have only been on Caribbean cruises and taken a cruise out of Singapore next year.

[joandian]

3 days in Beijing, 2 days in Shanghai, than 5 days on Quantum. Looking forward to it, despite all the negative review of the culture differences. I bet they say the same about us!

 

We did basically the same thing as you intend to do. 3 days Beijing, fast train to Shanghai, 2 nights Shanghai and then the 10 days cruise on Mariner to Singapore. Surprisingly there were very few Asians on board. The highest demographic were the UK, Germany, USA and Canada, Aussie and Kiwis and then Asians. This was advertised as a repositioning though and we were told onboard that most Chinese only do the cruises that return to the same cruise port eg - Shanghai to Shanghai.

 

Anyway, we love it.