China & Yangtze Tour Recommendations

[Mysteryreader]

We're thinking about doing a tour of China including a Yangtze R. cruise in Oct 2008. We'd be interested in comments pro and/or con about the different tour companies that do this itinerary. We've gathered some brochures, but it's hard to know which we should be considering. None of the TA's we've talked to have done China themselves.

 

TIA.

 

M/R

[Spikesgirl]

We did a land tour with Princess (post cruise) and it was absolutely fabulous. Our guide met us at the ship and was with us every step of the way, including the Yangtze cruise - Princess used Victoria for the river part. The company for the land tour was CITA or CITS (the info is packed away in the bedroom and my DH is napping).

 

If you'd like, drop me an email at charliekirby@comcast.net and I will be happy to share my Asian travel journal with you.

 

Cheers!

 

Charlie

[greatam]

And you can book everything yourself, with just the help of a Chinese travel agency (China Highlights is VERY good) to make arrangements to pick you up at the Chongqing airport and pick you up when you disembark the ship. No need to be shuttled around on a full blown tour-I planned everything myself the first time I went to China and used China Highlights for transport/pick up at different cities only. One of the highlights in Chonqing is the pandas at the zoo and also the tigers. Also, the world's largest WalMart is in Chongqing. That is something that is not on the average organized tour, but our pickup driver took us there and also drove us all over Chongqing looking for a Mickey D's. We finally settled for KFC (we were Chinese fooded out).

 

Two things to consider-how many days do you want to be on the River??? And do you want to get off in Yiching and take the LOOOOONG bus ride to Wuhan or take the cruise all the way to Wuhan????

 

I have taken two Yangtze cruises-one on Victoria which I booked myself through their NY office. The first, which I think was the best, was on Regal Cruises, Princess Jeanie (booked it through China Highlights, but you can book it online now). Not as fancy and upscale as the Victoria ships, but much more "Chinesey". The Captain spoke almost NO English and the Captain's cocktail party was a hoot. It was a lot more fun and the additional river trip to Wuhan was MUCH better than the bus ride from Yichang to Wuhan on Victoria. We got to see much more of the workings of the dam the first trip. The second trip, on Victoria, was driven to the VERY touristy dam site museum. The Regal trip, we actually got to go into the back side of the dam, over the hill from the museum.

 

The cabins are pretty darn small on both ships. Regal offered an upgrade to a suite on boarding for $650.00. It was well worth it-the extra room alone, but the little extras.

 

You really don't need a guide or organized trip for China. A good guidebook, someone to pick you up from the airports, and decent hotels with concierge service are all you really need to have a spectacular trip. Enjoy!!!!

[smeyer418]

there are tons. Try http://www.vwtours.com It will give you some idea of the prices and the ships. We were on the MS President a couple of years ago it was fine. Larger rooms than some cruises I have been on with a balcony(so my wife could smoke)....I respectfully disagree with Greatam. I think a good guide makes a world of difference. English as he points out about the ship captain is not universal(although it is required in grade school)....

[greatam]

I respectfully disagree with Greatam. I think a good guide makes a world of difference. English as he points out about the ship captain is not universal(although it is required in grade school)....

 

The Captain tried very hard, but his English was VERY limited. But other than the cocktail party, I don't think there was any interaction with the Captain. Most of the people we had interaction with on both ships-shore excursion director, front desk/purser's office, beauty shop, bar tenders spoke at least passable English, most spoke very good English.

 

When I post that you don't need a guide and in response to the OP's question about "tour company", all I can visualize is one of those escorted bus tours where everyone gets on and off at the same time and place and you get to follow around one of the tour guides with the little flags much like you did in grade school. NOT for me and certainly NOT needed in China.

 

As you posted, English is taught in grade school. And there are many more English speakers than you would think. So a bus tour/pre packaged organized tour (yuck) is NOT needed in China. You can certainly arrange a private guide through the hotel concierge or a China travel agency to explain some of the inner workings of the Forbidden City and maybe the Summer Palace. But that would be for the day only, NOT a completely organized, packaged tour with tour escort/guide.

 

On the Yangtze Cruise itself, the shore excursions to the lesser Gorges are fully narrated by people from the ship. And Fengdu and most of the hanging coffins and stuff like that is pretty well gone, due to the rising water level. They have moved some of the more special stuff, but those shore excursions are also escorted by ship personnel, who speak very good English.

 

I have been to China 5 times since that first trip in October 2005 (mostly business). I do it all on my own, with some booking help from China Highlights. I always use them or a hotel to make arrangements to pick me up from various airports. And I have used them to book things which are notoriously difficult to book (Lhasa being one and the Wolong Panda reserve overnights in the mountains). Other than that, I am a firm believer in getting out in the streets, mingling with the locals, and finding all those little gems that no tour company every goes to.

[ronbarb]

Have you looked into Odyssey Tours? My DH and I are booked on the China, Yangtze River, Tibet tour for Oct 2008. We usually don't like organized tours, especially with large groups. This is one of the reasons we're doing Odyssey. The tour groups are from 12-24 people only.

We're really hoping we enjoy this company, because their brochure is filled with wonderful itineraries thruout the world.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

[smeyer418]

The Captain tried very hard, but his English was VERY limited. But other than the cocktail party, I don't think there was any interaction with the Captain. Most of the people we had interaction with on both ships-shore excursion director, front desk/purser's office, beauty shop, bar tenders spoke at least passable English, most spoke very good English.

 

When I post that you don't need a guide and in response to the OP's question about "tour company", all I can visualize is one of those escorted bus tours where everyone gets on and off at the same time and place and you get to follow around one of the tour guides with the little flags much like you did in grade school. NOT for me and certainly NOT needed in China.

 

As you posted, English is taught in grade school. And there are many more English speakers than you would think. So a bus tour/pre packaged organized tour (yuck) is NOT needed in China. You can certainly arrange a private guide through the hotel concierge or a China travel agency to explain some of the inner workings of the Forbidden City and maybe the Summer Palace. But that would be for the day only, NOT a completely organized, packaged tour with tour escort/guide.

 

On the Yangtze Cruise itself, the shore excursions to the lesser Gorges are fully narrated by people from the ship. And Fengdu and most of the hanging coffins and stuff like that is pretty well gone, due to the rising water level. They have moved some of the more special stuff, but those shore excursions are also escorted by ship personnel, who speak very good English.

 

I have been to China 5 times since that first trip in October 2005 (mostly business). I do it all on my own, with some booking help from China Highlights. I always use them or a hotel to make arrangements to pick me up from various airports. And I have used them to book things which are notoriously difficult to book (Lhasa being one and the Wolong Panda reserve overnights in the mountains). Other than that, I am a firm believer in getting out in the streets, mingling with the locals, and finding all those little gems that no tour company every goes to.

 

I was with a smallish tour about 15 people. That is large enough for me. We went off on our own many times and are the adventurous type(the Meyers are shopping again). If I was going back for business I would probably do it as you do it but a smallish tour is better for me. Its true everyone does go to the same place and you probably will too the first time. In Wuhan we were on our own for a few hours...and I think I mentioned it before it was the one place we were asked not to take pictures...at the McDonalds. We ran into people from OK teaching English at the Industrial school in Wuhan who helped with the ordering....but it still ain't Kansas....

[travelsfun]

Have you checked in to Viking Tours? I had a very good experience with Viking in China last June. They offer several different itineraries, depending on how much time you have to spend. The guides were wonderful and spoke excellent English. We were broken up into groups of about 26 and stayed with the same guide the entire time. The trip was very well organized and I would highly recommend Viking in China.

[travelsfun]

There is a whole board on Cruise Critic devoted to Viking Tours in China. You can find it by looking under "Other Cruise Lines" here. There is wealth of information on that board.

[Mysteryreader]

Have you looked into Odyssey Tours? My DH and I are booked on the China, Yangtze River, Tibet tour for Oct 2008. We usually don't like organized tours, especially with large groups. This is one of the reasons we're doing Odyssey. The tour groups are from 12-24 people only.

We're really hoping we enjoy this company, because their brochure is filled with wonderful itineraries thruout the world.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

 

Ronbarb, which tour? which date? Odyssey and Viking are the two tour cos that look the best to us at this point. And yes, Oct 2008 is when we're going.

We saw an article in our local newspaper about tourism in China. There are country-wide vacation periods in China. With the increase in the Chinese economy, there are masses of Chinese doing the sightseeing thing. The first wk in Oct is one of those wks so we're thinking the middle of the mo.

 

M/R

[ronbarb]

Hi Mysteryreader,

 

Our tour starts Oct 30. It's 19 days, including Tibet.

According to Odyssey, we already have 8 people signed up.

If you'd like more information, please email us at bburc@sbcglobal.net.

Maybe you'd like to join us!

Barbara and Ron

[sprinkles]

Greatam,

 

Thanks for posting. We are doing a 19 day trip with China Focus Travel in September. I just saw this morning that they have changed our cruise on the Yangtze from 4 nights on President Cruises to 5 nights with Regal Cruises (making the trip a 19 day trip instead of 18 days). Your reviews have been the ONLY ones I've been able to find anywhere on the internet of Regal. Did you see any of the regular rooms on Regal? I don't like that they don't show a picture on their website or even a diagram of the room. If you did see them, just how miserable are they? I was planning on getting a balcony room on the President cruise, what extra niceties did you get in your suite on Regal? Thanks.

 

Tammy

[DDawson]

This is just my opinion and your milage may vary. When I first started planning our China trip in 2005, friends wanted to do a regular cruise (HAL, Princess) that included Hong Kong. I had heard about Viking and there was no way I was going to go to China without including the Yangtze. I was not interested in Hong Kong. Well, it was not until the fall of 2007 that we finally made the trip. It did include the Yangtze (on the Yangtze Pearl) and I was glad it was included. However, it was marginal. This area is just not the same since the water has gotten so high.

 

If I were planning this trip for 2008 or later and it was my first time, I would not include the Yangtze. I would use the time for other places. We did a 21 day trip with Intrepid travel (small group, 12 max) and had a wonderful time. We have done a lot of traveling and I can say this was the best trip we have ever done. Absolutely go to China!!! October and November were great months (after the first 10 days in October), with very nice weather. But first spend a lot of time doing research so you end up with the type of trip YOU want to do. As I said, at the beginning I was not interested in Hong Kong. After a LOT of research and due to the availablitly of frequent flyer seats, we ended up spending 5 days pre-trip in Hong Kong. It was great.

 

We loved Intrepid because it did not include any shopping stops. It hit the highlights and then allowed plenty of free time. With this free time you could shop, see every last temple in the country or spend time with the people in every day ways (markets, parks, tea houses). Again, I think it boils down to research. Then once you are better informed about what is available, you can make the right decision for yourself. Cruise Critic has a lot of great info in the Viking China thread that was previously mentioned. There are other sites that give equally great info about land based trips as well - such as TripAdvisor.

 

Good luck with your planning.

[greatam]

Greatam,

 

Thanks for posting. We are doing a 19 day trip with China Focus Travel in September. I just saw this morning that they have changed our cruise on the Yangtze from 4 nights on President Cruises to 5 nights with Regal Cruises (making the trip a 19 day trip instead of 18 days). Your reviews have been the ONLY ones I've been able to find anywhere on the internet of Regal. Did you see any of the regular rooms on Regal? I don't like that they don't show a picture on their website or even a diagram of the room. If you did see them, just how miserable are they? I was planning on getting a balcony room on the President cruise, what extra niceties did you get in your suite on Regal? Thanks.

 

Tammy

 

Yes, we had booked a "regular" cabin. Probably 130 sq feet. IIRC, twin beds, across from each other. Small refrig, never did look at the bathroom, closet space was minimal. When they escorted us to the cabin was when they offered the upgrade. We took it IMMEDIATELY. The suite (there are only 10 on the ship,I believe-top deck ) was two rooms + bath. Bedroom had King bed, LR had TV, LOTS of closet space, refrig, full size wet bar including lots of bar ware, LOTS of plug ins, great wrap around couch with HUGE windows behind it. Very European bathroom, including bidet (DH is still trying to figure out why they had two toilets in the bath). There are no balconies on the ship.

 

IF there would not have been the upgrade, it would have been OK, but just barely. We would have spent even more time in the bar (where the big windows are or outside on the deck. But it was really pleasant being able to sit in the suite and REALLY look out the windows. We were actually offered the suite when we booked, but IIRC, it was $550pp extra, so I passed. $650 for the two of us was a good deal. But there again, IF the suites had been sold out, we would have taken our regular cabin. You may want to inquire about the upgrade before you board the ship.

 

This description is pretty darn accurate.

 

http://www.193km.cn/cruise/Regal/Regal_Cruises1.asp

 

And here are pictures and a deck plan. Suites are on Deck 5.

 

http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/yangtzecruise/regal_china_cruises/pictures.htm

 

Hope that answers some of your questions. I have to go board a plane. Happy New Year.

[sprinkles]

Thanks for posting the pictures Greatam, I really appreciate it. It doesn't look too bad - (we've been in similar sized cabins before). I'm sure we could make do. If it were just us, I'd probably go for an upgrade if offered, but there will be other family members going and it would probably be in bad taste if we did it. Have a great trip, happy new year!!!

 

Tammy

[globalvhc]

VICTORIA CRUISES attempted to BLATANTLY rip me off on its YANG TSE cruise. After clearly quoting a rate (which I confirmed TWICE) in yuan, when I arrived for the sailing and started to pay they changed the rate to DOLLARS, effectively taking their rate to well over $800 A DAY!!! They caused great distress as I had already checked out of my hotel and rebooked flights, but the cruise director and management clearly didn't care. I ended up getting another cruise line sailing the same night, but had to report this attempt of highway robbery AND UTTER DISREGARD FOR HONESTY AND DECENCY---THEY DON'T DESERVE YOUR BOOKING AND SHOULD BE ASHAMED---BEWARE OF VICTORIA CRUISES!!!!

[Wandering Writer]

As a compromise and to fit my comfort level, we booked with Princess and took the 8/9day pre-cruise that offered the Yangtze River 3 day cruise. We got to Xian, Wuhan, and Beijing as well. I have a review of it on my website with some pictures. It was a great time.

 

The Timid Tourist Takes on China

 

As the pre-cruise information said, "take along your sense of adventure."

 

Karen

[Wandering Writer]

My website is http://www.karenrobbins.com . You can click on New Posting to get to the China page. Don't know why it won't work the other way. Back to the "drawing board."

 

Karen