February 17, 2019 China, Japan & South Korea Almost Live Thread

[ksmaxey]

I am hoping to blog the cruise and experience given HAL's new internet plans. 

 

https://kevinmaxey.wordpress.com/

 

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day, we are finishing up the last things at work for both of us and packing for our first cruise in Asia.  Janice had a particularly busy week so we ended up packing later in the evening but with our flight not until 3:45 we won’t be rushing in the morning. 

 

We will board a Delta flight in Detroit direct to Shanghai on Friday afternoon.  We arrive Saturday evening, spend the night in the Doubletree Shanghai and board on Sunday, February 17^th.

  

 

[Sir PMP]

Enjoy your cruise!

[ski ww]

looks like an interesting itinerary, enjoy your cruise. Bon Voyage.

[kazu]

Looking forward to your posts.

 

Have a great cruise 😄 

[cat shepard]

Bon Voyage. I will be following.

[VMax1700]

Have a great cruise!  Really looking forward to your reports.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Looking forward to your blog.

 

Have a safe flight.

 

Bon Voyage!!

[ksmaxey]

The day began with my usual wake up at 4:21 AM.  I spent the morning finishing some items up.  Janice got up and began cleaning the house and washing the sheets.  We have a dog sitter staying with Branka and between the beast and the alarm system we have no fear of letting folks know that we are traveling.   There is something wonderful about coming home to clean sheets!

 

I hit the gym early to get my 11K steps in.  Since I be sitting for 15 hours I figured I  needed to move or else I would be even more uncomfortable

 

We left our house for the hour drive about 11 AM.  We left our car with at our parking service, Valet Connections and caught a shuttle to DTW.  After getting our bags checked and our Chinese visa’s verified we had a very quick run through TSA with Pre-Check.  (Though Janice discovered her number was random for a pat down search.)

 

Once through we relaxed in the Delta Sky Club while awaiting our boarding time.  It is a definite perk of my credit card with quick space, comfortable chairs, fast internet and food and beverages.  Boarding is to begin at 2:50 for our 3:45 departure and we are 1 gate away from our gate.

For our direct flight to Shanghai we will be flying on a newer Airbus A350

 

Thanks to a great travel agent, we scored a great price on Premium Select  seats for this 14:45 hour flight to Shanghai.  They are not comparable to business class, but should be much more comfortable.  This will be the longest flight either of us

 

 

The flight will take the shortest route which is over the North Pole and not direct as a 2d map would indicate.  When we land it will be Saturday evening in China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ksmaxey]

I am having trouble with the pictures, but they all appear on the blog above.

 

Saturday, February 17, 2019  Shanghai

Our Flight quickly became Saturday as we began adjusting to our new time zone 13 hours ahead of EST.  We really appreciated the service from the Delta crew and the Premium Select Seats in the A350 were notably better than other flights.  The plane is quieter and the addition of the food rest and additional recline made a huge difference.  A perk is that the food is actually served on dishes rather than disposable containers.

Here is a picture of the first meal – It was from the Chinese menu and included pork belly, brisket
Mid flight there was a small slice of pizza and a double chocolate ice cream bar.  About an hour and a half before landing a final meal was offered with the choice of a more traditional american breakfast or a chinese breakfast.  I chose the chinese breakfast:

 

The flight left on time and arrived about 45 minutes early.  It took about a hour to taxi to terminal 1, go through immigration, pick up our bags and exit through Customs.  We then walked to the Maglev terminal and purchased tickets for the ride to the city center and by showing our boarding passes the tickets were 40 Yuan each which is about 6.50 USD.  We had to go through security screening and 10 minutes later we were on our way.  Here is stock photo in daylight of the train

 

 

Our train reached a maximum speed of 301 KM/hour which is less than the train can go, but a great 185 MPH.

 

We then caught a cab for a 10 minute ride for 20 Yuan to our hotel – Doubletree Shanghai.  Here we discovered that our Hilton Status awarded us a free upgrade to a suite.  Since we’ll be here only slightly more than 12 hours there isn’t much advantage, but it is certainly nicer than the hotels we have stayed at previous cruise in Europe.

 

 

After quickly checking in, we headed to our room and crashed shortly after.

A few pictures of our suite at the Doubletree

 

 

[Lido deck main]

Following, we were on Westerdam for 28 days last October.  Have a great trip. 

[cat shepard]

Great pics! Did those headrests bend to conform to your neck & head?

[ksmaxey]

3 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Great pics! Did those headrests bend to conform to your neck & head?

yes, but I preferred my inflatable cloth covered neck pillow.  My wife just used the head rests.   There is a platform for your feet and when the legs are lifted up like a recliner you can also extend it longer. 

I will say the controls for the seat are all lousy.  They are all on the inside of the seat arm rest and while sitting you can't really read what does what.

[cat shepard]

Just as long as you don’t hit the Eject button.

Edited February 17, 2019 by cat shepard
Major typo.

[Iamthesea]

LOL!!!

 

Following along.  Thank you for posting.

I noticed a large window in your hotel bathroom.  Was there a curtain or shade? 

[bennybear]

Enjoying tagging along.  Alas I can’t see the pictures!  

[Iamthesea]

Did you try his Blog?  https://kevinmaxey.wordpress.com/

[ksmaxey]

Sunday, February 17, 2019  Embarkation - Shanghai, China

Sunday, February 17, 2019

 

The hotel room was completely fantastic, but sadly that did not guarantee sleep.  I slept about 3 hours on the flight and probably slept 3 hours last night.  I think the inability to exercise and the change in time zones too their toll.  So if I wasn’t sleeping I could watch a special on the 15^th anniversary of Facebook while organizing some of our photos.  Having a separate bedroom means that Janice could continue to sleep and I enjoyed some tea with the tea pot located in the room.

 

At 6 AM I woke Janice up.  (She agreed to that time before bed wanting to both adjust physically to the new time zone, but also so we could go to the gym in the hotel before breakfast.)  The gym was well equipped but located in the other tower so we had to go to the first floor, treck to the other building where we checked in and then take the elevator up to the work out space.  After exercising we cleaned up and went to breakfast.  It was included in the room rate and was more of Sunday brunch than a typical hotel breakfast.  They had all manners of American, European and Asian foods.

 

I had the spicy pork noodle soup and some dumplings

 

After breakfast we packed and then had the hotel verify our port address in Mandarin and summon a taxi.  It was a fast 45 minute drive to the port and by fast I mean that the drive drove fast.  After a very confusing entrance to the port and circling around we were dropped off at the opposite terminal to where the MS Westerdam was docked.  There were signs and people welcoming us but there were no luggage porters and there were steps to the entrance.  Our cab driver insisted on 100Y over the fare for tolls and I relented because it was only 18 USD and wasn’t worth it. 

 

Once inside we checked our luggage at a table and received a card that said were were group three and then directed to sit in an aisle marked group 3.  We arrived at 10:30 and there was only 1 other couple present.  Around 11 a few others arrived and by 11:30 there were 100 guests.  HAL began offering cookies and lemonade.  At 12:15 the priority guests were gathered and walked off.  Ten minutes later we were taken outside to board buses to be driven to our terminal.  There it was an opportunity to check in an que for immigration and boarding.  It was the least organized process we have ever had with HAL.  When we got the front of the line we were asked where our copies of our passports were.  We didn’t know we needed them and so were sent to a copier station.  Finally we then got to check in, but the person did not know what they were doing and it took 15 minutes to check in to then que in another line.  After about 20 minutes we were invited to go through security, go through a health screening for temperature have our bags rescanned by customs and then an immigration interview.  The ship then collected our passports and we began a very long walk to the ship.  It wasn’t until you got to the gangway itself that there were HAL staff with wheelchairs.  We are very mobile but noted that it would have been very hard to board here for those needing wheelchair assistance. 

 

After boarding we headed to our cabin – a SS 8043 and dropped our jackets and back packs and then headed to the main dining room for lunch.  We were the first and made reservations for several dinners, pinnacle lunches and then were seated.  Service was good and it was the typical embarkation lunch with one opting for the brie burger and the other the steak focaccia sandwich.

We then headed to the spa to sign up for the thermal suites and then sought to buy the EBP.   We chose this option because we tend to enjoy different wine at dinner and thi. s allows a much better variety.  The server seemed to not know how to ring up the purchase and didn’t even know how many days our cruise was.  When then had to have our ship cards reprinted.  (Will remember next time that this might be the advantage of pre-buying.)  This meant returning to the spa for the thermal sticker on the new card.  We then headed to our cabin to unpack before heading to the mariner reception only to return for last suitcase to be unpacked.  I only slept about 3 hours so I took an hour nap before venturing out before dinner.  It is very clear that there were many guests still not on board.  We don’t leave until Monday at 6 so I believe that many are arriving today.

 

We headed to the main dining room for dinner at 5:45.   We both had the chicken pho for starters and then one had the shrimp diablo and the other Pork Katsu

 

We skipped dessert and headed back to the cabin where I crashed and slept 9.5 hours.  The hotel bed was good but the quiet of the cabin and the great mattress and pillows made for a great night of sleep. 

 

[ksmaxey]

4 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

LOL!!!

 

Following along.  Thank you for posting.

I noticed a large window in your hotel bathroom.  Was there a curtain or shade? 

Yes!  A large electric powered shade 

[ksmaxey]

3 hours ago, bennybear said:

Enjoying tagging along.  Alas I can’t see the pictures!  

Sorry it is really hard to add the pictures on CC.  The blog let’s me embed the pictures in an email and hit send.  With the limited internet I had to limit the pictures there

[bennybear]

No worries!  I found your blog!  Thank you!  Enjoying your posts and pictures! 

[Betty in Cozumel]

Am enjoying your blog.  We sail the Westerdam on March 3 for 14 nights from Shanghai to Hong Kong.  I am curious about the "bus ride" to your terminal.  We are staying at a hotel about 1km from the port and was thinking of going over early but it looks like you did that and it's not worth it.

[ksmaxey]

17 hours ago, Betty in Cozumel said:

Am enjoying your blog.  We sail the Westerdam on March 3 for 14 nights from Shanghai to Hong Kong.  I am curious about the "bus ride" to your terminal.  We are staying at a hotel about 1km from the port and was thinking of going over early but it looks like you did that and it's not worth it.

 

We were told that our embarkation was going better than last time.  The hold up is the port officials.  It seems most passengers knew this and didn't arrive until after 1 PM. 

[ksmaxey]

This is posted with pictures on my blog

Monday, February 18, 2019  Shanghai and Sail Away

 

The day began early as after 9.5 hours of sleep I awoke rested and began working on the pictures from Sunday and posting that blog.  I headed to the Lido and was able to get coffee at 5:00 to fuel my work and the smell was so good and strong that it woke Janice up.  At 5:55 we headed to the gym to get our steps in before the day really got started and discovered there was quite a line.  When the gym wasn’t open by 6:10 a passenger found someone from crew in the Lido and after a call was made at 6:15 a fitness center staff with serious bed head and not in “uniform” appeared and opened the doors.  He didn’t get a warm reception from all those irritated by the delay.   On our last cruise they had sadly changed the gym opening time to 7 AM which was really hard if you had any excursions.  We often just walked the promenade deck at 6 which didn’t please the crew who were cleaning.  I was told the change had been fleet wide and it was printed in the orange booklet in the stateroom which seemed to support that.  We encouraged many to complain in their post cruise survey.  I don’t know if the change is fleet wide but I am happy to report that the gym is open on the Westerdam at 6 AM.

 

At 7 we returned to our cabin to shower and prepare for the day.  At 7:30 we headed to the main dining room for breakfast before our Food and Wine Magazine sponsored excursion: Shanghai Eats.  There were 23 of us with an English speaking guide who headed into the city to visit markets and stop for bites of food.  Since the ship had collected our passports we had to use one of the photo copies provided at embarkation.  One had been stamped by immigration and we could use that to leave and board the ship.  Sadly no one was told that only 1 was stamped and that one was the one that was needed and many were sent scurrying back to their cabins by the EXC staff saying they couldn’t leave the ship without the stamped copy.  This may have been our best excursion with HAL ever.  It was very interesting and the group was mobile enough that we could keep a reasonable pace. 

 

It took about an hour to make our way through Shanghai traffic.  It was the first day back to normal after the Chinese New Year and traffic was very heavy. (It made traffic in SoCal seem light.)  After beginning a walking tour we visited a food market that had meat, vegetables, seafood, tea and even live eels.

 

Our next stop was a market for merchandise (no pictures) and then a market for pets.  Before you ask, no these were not going to be eaten.  There were birds, turtles, kittens, guinea pigs, hamsters and crickets.  A long tradition is cricket fighting and there were huge crickets that buyers would carefully agitate with straw to decide if they were fierce enough to win when fighting other crickets.  There are wagers placed and it might be similar to ***** fighting in the US or Central America.

 

Our next stop was for sticky rice and warm bean milk.  The rice was filled with veggies and fried shrimp and was good.  The soy milk was not bad but I wouldn’t seek it out.

 

Our next tour was through the old French section and then to a modern mall for steamed buns, tea, and rice wine.

 

We also saw the largest Starbucks in the world that opened last year.  In Shanghai there is over 600 Starbucks locations.  You’ll notice that there are many American restaurants here including Shake Shack and Wolfgang Pucks.

 

We then visited the Muslim section and tasted a lamb kebab seasoned with cumin and cooked outside over charcoal.

 

Our last stop was at restaurant where free thinkers and journalists used to meet.  They had quotes all over from Jefferson and other Western leaders.  Prior to the communist revolution it was the heart of the free press.  Here we could have a chocolate brownie, passion fruit cheese cake or a crème’ brule.  We also had a choice of three different cocktails and none were worth writing home about.

 

When we began the tour we were told we would likely miss the muster drill, but it was a short 30 minute drive back to the ship and the good 15 minute walk through security, health screening, customs screening, a long walk back the gangway for immigration and finally ship’s security.  We enjoyed the walk, but I felt for some of the older passengers because I think it could have made any excursion a moderate activity level.  We arrived back to our suite just as they began the first level alarm and within 30 minutes we had gone to the third level, gathered in the cold rain under the lifeboats and were released.  Rather than fighting the crowds going back upstairs, we went down and enjoyed a glass of wine before a light dinner at 5:45.  During dinner there were several announcements seeking passengers and before we finished we had cast the lines and began our journey to our first stop.

 

After dinner we spent some time in the thermal suite before DW went to see the magician and we met to listen to the BB Kings group.  I will reserve final judgment, but if the first night is any indication, the music was marginally Motown and was only fair.  It doesn’t help that I am not a fan of country music and that is definitely not a Motown sound.  Since this is our favorite daily event aboard we are hoping it will get better.  Toward the end of the first set we found ourselves having trouble keeping our eyes open and headed back to our cabin to crash. 

 

 

 

[Betty in Cozumel]

11 minutes ago, ksmaxey said:

 

We were told that our embarkation was going better than last time.  The hold up is the port officials.  It seems most passengers knew this and didn't arrive until after 1 PM. 

 

Thanks.  I guess we'll try and sleep in and head over about 1pm.  Still want to eat lunch on the ship before heading out to do some sightseeing.

[Betty in Cozumel]

17 minutes ago, ksmaxey said:

ince the ship had collected our passports we had to use one of the photo copies provided at embarkation.  One had been stamped by immigration and we could use that to leave and board the ship.  Sadly no one was told that only 1 was stamped and that one was the one that was needed and many were sent scurrying back to their cabins by the EXC staff saying they couldn’t leave the ship without the stamped copy. 

 

Good tip to know that we are supposed to take the photocopy of our passport that was stamped.  Thanks for leading the way for the rest of us soon to follow.