seahappy08

The airport is at the NE corner of the island (country) and not near the sites to see. Have you considered finding a tour company that will keep you luggage in the van while you site see.

Yes have one in the pipeline but need other people to join it.

We are on different cruises that end in late flights home so need to know the best method to transport our luggage from the port to the airport? We understand we can pay to store our luggage at the airport? We would then need to go somewhere from the airport for the day, suggestions please?

I assume you know about the Shanghai Museum of Chinese Art. It's probably the best museum of its kind in China with good lighting and interesting architecture. Curators all over the world talk about the extra-ordinary bronze collection, but my favorite is room with the clothing of the Chinese minority people. I may be particularly enthusiastic because we had a guide who was a member of one of the minorities and she was telling fascinating stories about the symbolism of the clothes and her father's story as a victim of the Cultural Revolution. If you can get a guide who is a member of an ethnic minority, a visit to this museum will be a special experience.

 

There's another place in Shanghai that is most surprising and very fascinating. In the years early years of N**i rule, when simply kicking Jews out of the country (Germany and Austria, especially) was acceptable, Shanghai was one of the few destinations accepting Jews. This open door policy existed despite the fact that many Jews had been stripped of their citizenship and were traveling with no passport and no visa. Today, you can visit an interesting museum and the historic synagogue that tells the story of this period in history.

 

Even if the OP's trip already may have taken place, perhaps someone else will read about these atypical experiences in Shanghai and become interested.

Thanks for all this information it has really helped us. We have been to Singapore before but it will be our first and only port in China on a BTB cruise from Japan. I would like to visit a water town but not sure how long immigration will take. Think we may take a shuttle if there is one and go and see these buildings.

Visiting Rio during the Carnival is almost the "view from the Hell". Traffic is terrible (most streets in downtown and Copacabana/Ipanema are closed), the city is full of tourists (the prices are higher and services down its quality). I live in Rio and I was surprised when I found the newest city attraction (the "Museum of Tomorrow", in the cruise port area) CLOSED! There was 11 cruise ships calling Rio and the nearest touristic attraction was simply CLOSED! Believe in me, these strange things happens here in Brazil! I'm ashamed to be a carioca!

 

I think the best months to visit Rio are September and October (Spring). The weather isn't very hot (as in the Summer) but the sky is clear and blue! Unfortunately there's no cruises to Rio between late November and early April.

 

Fortunately the visitors will find the new tram system working after the Olympic Games. It will link the cruise port to some points of interest at Rio's downtown (such as the "Paço Imperial", the Theatro Municipal/city opera). Find more information at

http://www.cidadeolimpica.com.br/en/veiculo-leve-sobre-trilhos/

 

Best regards,

Dan

We have just come back from seeing the Rio Carnival on the Sunday night and we thought it was fantastic. We used a ship's tour and were in section 9 for safety. Yes it did thin out but we saw 3 Samba schools only as we had dos tours for the 3 days we were there. Book a good guide we saw so much and loved Rio, there is so much to see and do away from the crowds, you just have to be flexible.

On a BTB cruise spending just 1 day in China. I would like to visit a Water Town having been to Shanghai before, which is the best one to visit? Also, we arrive at 07.00hrs when most passengers will leave the cruise. We are re-boarding for our second part of the BTB and will sail at 20.00hrs. What was Immigration like for foot passengers and would we have time to visit a Water Town? Any recommendations for companies people have used? Sometimes immigration can be very slow as we will not have visited China before on that cruise.

That was a particularly cynical comment thank you.

 

Auckland is a great city and there is more than enough to keep you occupied for three days and more. Heres a quick list without me even thinking of it, I hope you find something that might interest you and keep you occupied.

 

waiheke Island, - the vineyards particulary

the many vineyards in West Auckland

Devonport,

The Museum, (particularly for the Maori exhibit and early NZ exhibit)

sightseeing from one of the many volcano reserves across the harbour

a trip on the harbour, cat , jets, fast boat,

rangitoto - a dormant volcano in the middle of the harbour and a reserve (stunning views)

one of the many good restaurants in Ponsonby

one of the many good restaurants on the waterfront,

one of the many good restaurants in the viaduct and new quarter

a walk through one of the many victorian beach/harbour suburbs

the motat museum

a drive to the waitakere mountain ranges ranges

a drive to the west coast surf beaches

antique shopping in parnell

a drive along to saint heliers - a fabulous beach suburb -great bars and restaurants

a sail on the harbour

a sail on the harbour in a americas cup boat

a fishing trip

a drive out into the country to "helensville - great restaurants bars and a old nz town

shopping - duty free and other wise in the central city

one of the many cycle trails being built through the city

one of the many walking trails through the city

Bungee jumping - sky tower or off the harbour bridge

the harbour bridge climb

 

Auckland's are a re great outdoors people, one in three has access to a boat. As kiwis we also have

a culture of lots of sport which may interest you, Victoria park is always full of cricketers or depending on the season rugby players.

 

and that list was without even thinking about it.

We spent 3 days post cruise and felt that still was not enough time. You could spend all day in the museum it was fantastic. We also had some great meals out.

Enjoy your cruise from Southampton!

We've been to Far North Queensland many times, but we always stay in Port Douglas. Thus, I have never been to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park, but here's a link to reviews on Trip Advisor by hundreds of people who have been there. Perhaps their reviews will help you decide if it's a place you'd like to visit.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1178649-d256519-Reviews-Tjapukai_Aboriginal_Cultural_Park-Caravonica_Cairns_Region_Queensland.html

 

Another option for the Cairns region is the train and/or Skyrail to Kuranda. I've done this twice and while I wasn't crazy about the train, the Skyrail is really cool. (I'd probably recommend taking the Skyrail both ways because it's cool and because of time constraints with the cruise.) Kuranda is a bit touristy, but there are some decent attractions and a market.

Yes we did that last time we went so wanted to try something different. We also stayed in Port Dorglas which we enjoyed.

We wanted to visit here but need to know what transport is best to use? Is it worth the visit? We have stayed in Port Douglas before but not sure what to do in Cains for the day? We will be in Yorkey's Knob on 13 Oct 2016.

Our ship arrives in port at 06.00hrs and it is our first port of call so we will have to go through immigration, an idea how long it will take so that we can book guides for tours?

Thanks, Lynda

We used Liz Cowley at http://www.realenglishtours.com a month ago. Excellent, and she'll tailor your tour to what you want.

We have booked her for our trip next January. Her husband Richard deals with the paperwork and is great.

We have been many times before so will tske the ship's shuttle into Rome. We would like to visit the Catacombs but any walking tours are at 2.30pm too late for us. Can we go in the morning by ourselves and how do we get there?

Lynda

We'll go to the Belfast one for sure. Might go to the Southampton one if trying to kill time. Thank you.

Belfast is very large and well worth a visit. It is more about the building of the Titanic. Southampton is small and very near the port, just up the hill from the train station. Southampton is more about the crew, many of whom came from Southampton. There is also a small museum in West End, just outside Southampton that has information about Captain Rostrum, who rescued many of the survivors.

The museums in Liverpool are very good as are the buildings on the water front.

Lynda

Looking to book a tour here. Any tips we have a whole day, what are the must see and we need a guide that speaks good English?

Our contract mobile phone is very expensive and we want to send texts. We will spend a few days in Singapore then go on to Australia and New Zealand. Would it be best to buy a cheap phone in Singapore or would it be better to buy at the airport in Australia. We need to phone when we arrive to confirm our transport? We would also like to text home to England. Thanks for any help.

Lynda

I arranged 2 6person tours through Zoom. Saigon and Hanoi. The vans were large but REALLY uncomfortable. The guides (who are freelance guides) were very nice and knowledgable but since they are young they had no info on how Viet Nam has changed since the American war...could not answer our questions. Be sure to go over the itinerary carefully. In Saigon the guide omited several sites on the tour for no apparent reason. In Hanoi we thought the Hanoi Hilton was on the tour but apparently it wasn't so we had to pay an extra $5per person on the spot. Mr. Zoom was nice but seemed only concerned about collecting our money. If I go back I will not book again with Zoom...probably try Smile

We have just returned from 3rd Feb cruise and had Mrs Thi of Smile arrange all our tours and overnight stays and it was first class. There was a party of 12 and she contacted us ever day to see if we were happy or needed to make any changes. We all had a great time with fantastic hotels.

Lynda:o

:)No stopping us now....however still time to cancel.Ha Ha We will start to look for hotels soon. Hope the Millenium has all their excursions posted soon.

 

Looks like if we don't do a ships excursion, we may need a Visa at least in Vietnam. We are also starting our journey in Beijing, so will need one for China too.

 

I heard it was 1.5 hr drive to Saigon from Phu My. Anyone know if that's true?

 

Boatsafloat

You will need a visa for Vietnam but you can buy it on board just take extra photos. It is more expensive if you have arranged an overnight and remember to ask for your passports back.