What is the fastest way to disembark the Westerdam in Hong Kong?

[Betty in Cozumel]

We are sailing the Westerdam arriving in Hong Kong at 8am on Saturday March 14th.  What is the fastest way off the ship? 

 

My husband will have an appointment at Immigration in Wan Chai to update his HK ID card.  The office hours are 9am - 11:30am.  He cannot make the appointment until 24 working days before the 14th so we don't know the exact time yet.  This is our only shot on this trip as I booked our return flight home on the Sunday.

 

I am thinking it is if we choose to carry our own suitcase off.  Grab a cab and head straight over to HK Island.

 

Do you agree?  If not, what is the better way?

 

Thanks

Betty

[2bout2c]

Did you check roll call?  I believe we will be at New terminal on Hong Kong island not kowloon.

 

[SilvertoGold]

Do expedited disembarkation (carry off your own luggage).  The new terminal is a long haul through, but this will get you off first and out to the taxis as fast as possible.

 

Good luck!

[Storylady]

Definitely do expedited and go off as soon as the ship is cleared. There weren’t a ton of taxis so you need to get off early to get one or r make prior arrangements for a taxi.

Edited November 1, 2019 by Storylady

[Copper10-8]

Expedited is by far the fastest (carrying your own luggage) as they are the first group called off once the ship is cleared by the local authorities. The Ocean Terminal is attached to the Harbour City shopping mall while the other (2nd) one is the former Kai Tak International Airport/turned cruise terminal

[USN59-79]

The Westerdam will dock at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (sometimes called the new cruise terminal) which is in Kowloon, not Hong Kong Island.  You will be able to get a taxi when you exit the lower level of the terminal.  There is also a tourist information booth there if you need help explaining to the driver exactly where in WanChai you are going.  

[Donald]

Betty never said she was going from Ocean Terminal in Kowloon.

She said she planned to take a taxi from the Terminal (that would be Kai Tak Terminal - in Kowloon) to Hong Kong Island.

That is - indeed - the fastest way to get to Wan Chai.

[USN59-79]

8 hours ago, Donald said:

Betty never said she was going from Ocean Terminal in Kowloon.

She said she planned to take a taxi from the Terminal (that would be Kai Tak Terminal - in Kowloon) to Hong Kong Island.

That is - indeed - the fastest way to get to Wan Chai.

Donald,

I was concerned that 2bout2c statement "New Terminal on Hong Kong island..." might confuse someone as to the location of the KaiTak terminal.  If the OP's DH is renewing his residency card for Hong Kong, obviously he knows his way around.

Ray

[HamOp]

Well, the very fastest way off the ship is (With credit to Copper10-8, for posting the link in an earlier thread) this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=xc6dvsqnvmY

 

But I wouldn't try it.

[Storylady]

15 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

The Westerdam will dock at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (sometimes called the new cruise terminal) which is in Kowloon, not Hong Kong Island.  You will be able to get a taxi when you exit the lower level of the terminal.  There is also a tourist information booth there if you need help explaining to the driver exactly where in WanChai you are going.  

But they need to go early. There was only one taxi waiting outside when we exited. There was another couple waiting, but luckily for us they had ordered a taxi. 
 

it is an extremely long walk through Kai-Tak, but there were people there to point us in the right direction. After that experience, we decided never to book a flight before 1 PM. Otherwise you can’t get HAL transportation yo the airport.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Storylady

[Betty in Cozumel]

On 11/1/2019 at 4:11 PM, 2bout2c said:

Did you check roll call?  I believe we will be at New terminal on Hong Kong island not kowloon.

 

 

Yes thanks.  I know that as we did this very same cruise in March 2019 and are familiar with the new cruise terminal.

[Betty in Cozumel]

16 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

The Westerdam will dock at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (sometimes called the new cruise terminal) which is in Kowloon, not Hong Kong Island.  You will be able to get a taxi when you exit the lower level of the terminal.  There is also a tourist information booth there if you need help explaining to the driver exactly where in WanChai you are going.  

 

Thanks but my husband is from Hong Kong and I've been there about 14x so we are very familiar with the city.  Also we did the same cruise this year and are familiar with the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.

[Betty in Cozumel]

3 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

If the OP's DH is renewing his residency card for Hong Kong, obviously he knows his way around.

 

Yes you are absolutely correct.  Plus I've been to HK 14x myself so even though I do not speak or read Chinese; I know my way around very well.

[Betty in Cozumel]

1 hour ago, Storylady said:

But they need to go early. There was only one taxi waiting outside when we exited. There was another couple waiting, but luckily for us they had ordered a taxi. 

 

Interesting that you mention that.  We planned on taking a taxi on our March 2019 cruise that ended in HK but the ship's port lecturer said that there would be only a few taxis for the hundreds of people.  They put the fear of God into everyone (us included) so we ended up paying $35/person for a transfer to a major MTR (subway) stop.

[Betty in Cozumel]

Thanks everyone who confirmed that I was correct in thinking that expedited disembarkation (carry off your own luggage) was the fastest way to go.

 

I will try and book that with Customer Services at the beginning of the cruise to confirm we get it.

 

Betty

[Storylady]

31 minutes ago, Betty in Cozumel said:

 

Interesting that you mention that.  We planned on taking a taxi on our March 2019 cruise that ended in HK but the ship's port lecturer said that there would be only a few taxis for the hundreds of people.  They put the fear of God into everyone (us included) so we ended up paying $35/person for a transfer to a major MTR (subway) stop.

They did that to us also. And at the time we left, they were right. There was only one taxi. We left as soon as the ship was cleared as we had four suitcases and two carryons. As I remember there isn’t an MTR subway within walking distance of Kai-Tak. In the future, we are going to make sure our cruise doesn’t end in HK.

[USN59-79]

41 minutes ago, Betty in Cozumel said:

 

Interesting that you mention that.  We planned on taking a taxi on our March 2019 cruise that ended in HK but the ship's port lecturer said that there would be only a few taxis for the hundreds of people.  They put the fear of God into everyone (us included) so we ended up paying $35/person for a transfer to a major MTR (subway) stop.

We have been there a few times, including last year.  One thing the ship usually doesn't mention is that there are two free shuttle buses to nearby malls.  We always take the one to the Plaza Hollywood Mall for two reasons:  It has good shopping and a supermarket with a good wine selection on the top floor.  Also, it is just above the Diamond Hill MTR station.  We will be there next month on the Westerdam and still have our Octopus cards for the MTR.  Incidentally, there is usually a 15 or 20 minute line for the free shuttle, both in the terminal and at the mall for the return.

[Betty in Cozumel]

46 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

We have been there a few times, including last year.  One thing the ship usually doesn't mention is that there are two free shuttle buses to nearby malls.  We always take the one to the Plaza Hollywood Mall for two reasons:  It has good shopping and a supermarket with a good wine selection on the top floor.  Also, it is just above the Diamond Hill MTR station.  We will be there next month on the Westerdam and still have our Octopus cards for the MTR.  Incidentally, there is usually a 15 or 20 minute line for the free shuttle, both in the terminal and at the busmall for the return.

 

My understanding is that you cannot take the free buses to the MTR with luggage.  I'm not sure about taking the regular bus No. #5.  I know you can't on the little green mini-buses but would think you can on the full size #5.

[USN59-79]

4 hours ago, Betty in Cozumel said:

 

My understanding is that you cannot take the free buses to the MTR with luggage.  I'm not sure about taking the regular bus No. #5.  I know you can't on the little green mini-buses but would think you can on the full size #5.

That is probably correct.  I have seen them load wheel chairs in their baggage area, though.  I believe the little green mini-buses are mainly for the people who work at the terminal.  Don't know about a full size city bus coming by there.  In your case, a taxi makes more sense.  Just as you exit the terminal, there is a tourist assistance area, with very helpful people.  If there are no taxis at the time, I am sure that they could call one for you.  We had them help us get a cab with our luggage to take us to the airport in Shiamen, as it was easier to fly from there to Seattle than from the airport in Hong Kong.

[USN59-79]

Correction:  The airport is in Shenzen.  

Ray

[Betty in Cozumel]

1 hour ago, USN59-79 said:

Correction:  The airport is in Shenzen.  

Ray

Glad to see it was not Xiamen as that is really really far from Hong Kong.

[Betty in Cozumel]

12 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

I believe the little green mini-buses are mainly for the people who work at the terminal.  Don't know about a full size city bus coming by there.

 

The green mini-buses are for anyone but they go to an MTR station that is north of the port.  We use the full size #5 bus which goes to 2 MTR stations that are closer for heading towards HK island which is where we usually stay.  We used them when we sailed from HK last year as we had an overnight before sailing.  I've had my current Octopus card for about 5 years now.  We always have it as we travel to HK about once a year.

[USN59-79]

1 hour ago, Betty in Cozumel said:

Glad to see it was not Xiamen as that is really really far from Hong Kong.

Right, that is the next stop for the Westerdam next month from Hong Kong.  I guess I was thinking of Xiamen Air Lines which had been the least expensive way for us to get from Seattle to Asia the last few years.  Unfortunately, they no longer fly from Seattle.