Hi from the Pacific Princess

Hi Group,

I am posting this from the Pacific Princess internet "cafe" as we cruise southeast from Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand. The internet service is painfully slow, but it does work. Since we only boarded about yesterday, I am only giving you some first impressions. The ship is small and beautiful and relatively untouched from its R3 days. For those that love the large glitzy Grand Princess type of ship, you probably would not enjoy this vessel. Its more sedate than other Princess ships, and you will not find tons of activities like on many larger ships. This is a great ship for those of us who enjoy curling up with a good book in a deck chair, and not being annoyed with constant annoucements. In fact, the library is one of the best I have seen and stocked with more books than you would normally find on the largest ships. About an hour ago they had horse races on deck (its a beautiful day) but they had to cancel after two races due to lack of interest. Go figure! Well, its back to the comfy of my deck chair. I will try to check back on this thread and answer any questions from future Pacific Princess cruisers. By the way... 20 passengers missed the ship in Bangkok! The Captain acutally waited a couple of extra hours, but finally left without those 20 souls. We do not know the full tale,.,, but the moral of the story is that if you are going to travel 10,000 miles to catch a ship, do not wait until the last day.

Hank

Hi Hank,

Thanks for posting! Did you stay pre-cruise in Bangkok? Where? How did you like it? Which pier did the ship use and how did you get to the port? Appreciate any tidbits you can provide. Thanks

:D Hank - Thanks you for taking the time to post - I'm so anxious for news about the ship and your cruise - We will be on July 25 ....

yes, I agree - if you are flying so far (especially if you are doing your own air) it's best to come in a day or so early. Did the passengers get on at the next Port? - Did they have Princess Air? or on their own?? On our Regal trip last Marcn - a group also missed the ship in Bangkok (Laem Chbang) They were on Princess Air - Princess treated them well - hotel and tours in Bankgok - and "ride" to the next Port to embark. - they had a great time and were all well acquainted by the time they reached the ship. Since it was a 30 day cruise - it wasn't a big deal.

I'm glad the library is a good one - I won't drag books for reading ! Hapyy sailing!! Renee (aka GotToCruise)

We are docked in Kuantan today (actually about 20 miles from the town) and the weather continues to be hot, but very good. It turns out that 18 or those 20 missing passengers actually did make the ship at the last moment in Bangkok (guess rumors are not always accurate). Two passengers did miss the ship, but we saw them waiting on the pier when we pulled into Kuantan this morning. The problem was that the cruise line changed the embarkation port in Bangkok from the original port (about 2 1/2 hours from town) to a port on the outskirts of Bangkok (about an hour drive). Those passengers went to the wrong port. I will not even wager a guess as to which port they will use in the future, so if anyone is getting on in Bangkok you might to check directly with Princess. We did a 3 day pre-cruise and stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel (we had been there on a previous trip). We used the Princess package because it was about the same price as doing it on our own. We were probably lucky, because if we had booked on our own we might have also gone to the wrong port. We were never notified about the port change,, but the Princess transfers did go the right port. Will post more another day.

Hank

I just got home yesterday (long story, I'll post in detail soon) but I hope you are enjoying the ship!

I had no idea they changed the Bangkok port. Of course we had the operational overnight so Princess was transferring us. It seemed pretty efficient at the port in terms of disembarcation!

I don't think you got a chance to read my Kuantan report (see your 6/27 thread) before you left. What did you think of it?

Good to see you are back home safe and sound! Doesn't it make you want to "kiss the ground" after seeing some other parts of the world? Looking forward to your detailed (more) post. Thanks again for sharing...I almost finished with my packing - have not heard (lately) from any other passengers on my cruise - but, I have booked private tours for myself and DH. :D

Interesting to hear Princess changed the Port of Embarkation - I think it's a good thing - Laem Chabang was so far from Bangkok...

What private tours did you book? It is so good to get feed back from others on this destination. I have tried without luck to find anyone going on Nov. 1 sailing from Beijing. Interested in everything and anything that you are willing to share.....

Carol

Toronto

Carol - I'm on the July 25 sailing of the Pacific Princess - Our itinerary is entirely different than the usual Ports of Call- I have booked private tours (so far) in Honaira (Guadacanal), Guam, Rabual, Saipan....If you want any info. on those Ports - I'll be glad to post...:D

Welcome home Helen! I guess its now up to us to carry on the cruise critic tradition on-board. We did see your post on Kuantan. It had been our plan to simply use this as a beach day, and we decided to skip the "tour" hassle (we usually hate tours) and go on our own. We grabbed a taxi to the Hyatt Regency (about 20 min ride) and paid about $8 for day-use rights. This got us towels, a locker, and use of their pool area (its gorgeous) and of course the adjacent public beach. It was nice to get off the ship for the day, and there was a pleasent sea breeze at the hotel as opposed to it being very hot in the sheltered pool area of the ship. We really enjoyed the restful day at the Hyatt and it gave us a little energy to run around Singapore today. This ship reminds of the way the cruising used to be when you actually get to know your shipmates and some of the staff. The overall pace is much more laid back compared to the large ships and we are very pleased. We have an excellent cabin steward and the staff in the dining room is up to old Princess standards. After a day at sea, we will be docking at Saigon and than Nha Trang. We will take the cruise shuttle to Saigon and than "do our own thing." We have been to this city on a previous trip, and still haven't decided how we will spend our day other than grabbing a good lunch. For Nha Trang, we will again go off on our own and probably spend some beach time on the famous town beach. As of this point, we think we might be able to avoid taking any tour on the entire crusie. Of course once we get to China. we will be in the hands of Princess Tours for about 8 days.

Hank

Sounds great Hank! Did you pre-arrange for the taxi and day pass with the Hyatt? Did you lunch there? How expensive is the city?

You're plans sounds interesting, and definitely adventurous! Thanks for keeping us informed.

Enjoy

Hi Smiles,

No, we did not pre-arrange. We had e-mailed the Hyatt a few weeks ago and they told us the price of day passes (about $8 US) but did not require any reservation. There were plenty of taxis at the Kuantan pier, and the taxi "starter" took our money ($20 round trip) and issued us a chit and assigned us a taxi. The driver was very nice and spoke pretty good English. When we arrived at the Hyatt one of their staff took us to their healthclub where they took are day-pass fee (no problem using a credit card) and assigned us lockers. For lunch, we walked over to their outdoor restaurant and enjoyed some good Malaysian food (they had a pretty decent menu with plenty of American things like club sandwiches). Lunch cost us about $28 dollars and was excellent. Our taxi picked us up at our pre-arranged 3pm time, and took us right back to the bottom of the gangplank. We never went into town... as we didn't really plan on shopping at this port. Other passengers told us that town was nothing great...and the tours were pretty boring. Princess did have a shuttle bus that would take you to a beach (about 45 min each way) for $8 per person. We did not hear anything about that excursion from other passengers.

Today we are cruising in the South China Sea towards Vung Tau. Yes, I said Vung Tau.. not the previously planned port of Phu My. The Captain annouced last evening that the Vietnamise had no room for us in our scheduled port so they changed ports. This means that Saigon is almost 3 1/2 hours each way from the ship and they must also do a difficult tender operation into the port. We cancelled our scheduled independent tour to Saigon and plan to grab a taxi into Vung Tao on our own. Since we have already been to Saigon, we can't justify 7 hours of bus travel for about 4- 4 1/2 hours in Saigon.

Hank

Sorry, your port was changed. Vang Tau is the scheduled port for the cruise which we are considering. I thought the hydrofoil went to Saigon in just 1.5 hours from that port. Anyway, enjoy your stay in Vang Tau and please keep us abreast of your impressions.

Enjoy!

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that they changed the port on you! That is so annoying, especially when you are trying to do things on your own. I agree about 7 hours in a bus though. That's why we didn't do the tunnels tour in Vietnam (although it was something I really wanted to see). However I should say that the Saigon tour we took was awesome, but we had never been before.

We talked to some people who took the Princess shuttle to the beach in Kuantan. Apparently the beach was being dredged and there was almost no space where you could walk out on it. Everyone who took the shuttle bus was disappointed.

The morning of disembarcation we were looking at our shipboard charges and we saw that they had refunded us $54 ($27 each) from our Kuantan tour. I am presuming that this was the amount related to lunch since there were so many complaints about the restaurant.

Glad you are having such a good time Hank! What do you think of Scott William Archer? Tee hee hee......

Scott William Archer! ARGH! Last night I actually fell asleep during the Paris show so was spared having to listen to much of his singing. Actually he is not the worst we have seen (he is the lead singer in the on-board entertainment group) but the entertainment is not great..but also not awful. We skipped all the tours to Saigon and simply grabbed a taxi into Vung Tau. We had a pleasent few hours exploring this coastal town and met a local Brit ex-pat who steered us to a friendly bar owned by another Englishman (married to a Vietnamise). We than hired a taxi + interpreter for $15 and got a tour of the town and its few sites. Our interpreter than took us to his own home and showed us around. It was about the the size of a small apartment, but had running water, was very clean, and had beautiful ceramic tile floors. Those that took the tours to Saigon all seemed pleased, but were exhausted form their long day. Today we were in Nha Trang and Kathy and I simply went to a wonderful beach place where we had very nice chairs, a hand-made thatched umbrella, 4 beers, and lunch for a total of $11. We than took a taxi back to the ship (about 2 miles) for $4 which was half the price charged for the Princess shuttles. The weather was gorgeous and it was a perfect day. Now, we are at sea on our way to Hong Kong (about 670 miles).

Hank

Where/how did you find the intrepretor? Did you eat at the bar? How was the food? You are quite the adventurer. Enjoy!

Can you tell me if you purchased your Vietnam Visa on board and what was the cost?

Hi to All,

Today is a day at sea as we are transiting from Vietnam northeast to Hong Kong. The weather is very very hot today (90 degrees at 9 am) and we have a following wind so it actually was too hot on deck! Smiles, we really didn't find the interpreter in Vung Tau as much as he found us! We were simply walking the streets of town and being constantly approached by various folks wanting to sell things, give us tours on the back of motorbikes, etc etc. When we walking by this very new taxi, the "interpreter" asked if we wanted a tour. We instinctively liked this guy and negotiated a 2 hour tour. There really is not much to see in the Vung Tau area, so that was more than enough time. "Calexand," we did nothing regarding the Vietnam visas. That is automatically handled on-board by Princess and the charge is supposed to appear on our account. There was no paperwork for us,, and I think it costs $10 per person. The Vietnamise officials were on board and they validated our "landing cards" (given out by the cabin stewards) as we left ths ship in each of the Vietnam ports. We did have to fill out entry and departure forms for China (for our upcoming Shanghai port) as well as a Chinese Health form. There is also another form that we need to complete for our port stop in Nagasaki. A WARNING TO ANYONE GOING TO CHINA (except for Hong Kong). You must make sure you get your chinese visa before you leave home.. and if you are stopping in 2 ports they MUST be double entry visas. We heard that one of our fellow passengers only got a single entry Visa and now they have a real problem. I suspect they will not be allowed off the ship in Shanghai and will have to save their one entry for when the cruise ends near Beijing. Last night we had French Dinner (now renamed Continental Dinner) and it was the best meal of the cruise. They had escargot, frogs legs, rack of lamb, duck a l'orange.. etc. It was so hard to decide that I "forced" myself to eat two entrees (the duck and lamb).

Hank

Thanks Hank for the update on the China Visa. We were told by CTS Canada that we only required a single entry visa. I'm thankful that the question of Visa came up, it would be horrible to go all that way and not be able to get off the ship. Now I will make sure that we have the proper documents.

I appreciate that you and Helen have taken the time to post all the details of your trips.

Carol

Toronto

I don't think I could stand the very hot weather--glad you can. Even more pleased that you have the energy to keep us updated on your cruise. I must admit, it does sound wonderful. Enjoy!

PS. did you get vietnamese visa before cruise?

Hi Hank - Enjoying your posts --and getting So, so ready for my cruise ... - I think there is one more in- between "yours and ours" ...Is the ship holding up?? No more loss of power or other situations?? No running out of diet coke????? Hope that we'll hear about the next cruise (July 13 ) too. I'm going to go over my luggage again and try to take some things OUT --- (2) suitcases weighs 65 lbs. ea. - too close for comfort...I really don't want to take an extra ---just (1) 26" expandable each and (1) roll-on - that's my goal... RU using the free laudry and dry cleaning service?? Is it good to your clothes? Always worry that my stuff will be ruined by the ship's laundry.... Keep in touch - we are listening!!@ Thanks, Renee

Smiles you do not have to get the Vietnam visa before you go. The Vietnamese take care of all of it when you dock and you are charged $10 pp to your stateroom account automatically. If only the Chinese were so efficient!

Hank when you talked about the French dinner you forgot to mention chocolate hazlenut souffle with vanilla sauce... the best souffle of all! :)

Helen, would you believe I am getting "soufleed out!" I will try to keep this thread alive for future Asian cruisers. Today we docked in Hong Kong (about 1 1/2 hours early) at the absolutely perfect docking place adjacent to Harbor Center. This is right next door to the Star Ferry and in the best part of Kowloon. We spent the day ashore with another couple from our table and since we were all familiar with this city we decided to skip all the touristy things such as taking the ride up to Victoria Peak. The 4 of us had a wonderful Chinese dim sum lunch at a restaurant across the street from the Shangra-La Hotel and than took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island where we grabbed a taxi to the Stanley Market. This is still one of the best shopping areas for those who like street markets where you can buy true bargains. As an example, I bought two Greg Norman golf shirts (they do look real) for a total of $13. There were lots of silk bargains for the ladies as well as a good selection of evening gowns and purses. For those that want to shop in the higher priced stores, Hong Kong is still a paradise although prices in the good stores are pretty close to USA prices.

Hank

Hank my husband asked me a good question today. You said that on your cruise people needed a 'double entry' visa for China since you went to Shanghai and Beijing. Was a double entry visa required for Vietnam as well or did you just get inspected (and pay the $10) once?

Hi

What 30 day cruise did you do? We are leaving on a 30 day one from Rome and end in Bangkok. We start in Rome, through Egypt and India. It's on the Royal Princess. Was it the same one? If it is. I will have many more questions.

Thanks.

Hi Helen (and everyone else) from Shanghai,

Our cruise continues (now day 11 out of 16) quite smoothly. As previously reported by Helen, the port clearance procedures in China are a bit "much." It normally takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours for Chinese officials to clear the ship in any port. They always require a current "health declaration form" and sometimes take temperatures of the passengers and crew. From our perspective, this has been a great cruise and we have made many new friends. The major negative is the ships' entertainment which is close to awful. The major exception is in the piano bar where Kemble holds court every evening to a loyal clientele (including my wife and me) and is quite entertaining. Unfortunately, he will be leaving the ship on the 25th and we have no idea what future cruisers will get as a replacement. Other than one night (out of 11) when we had a good Australian cabaret singer, there has really been nothing in the showroom worthy of our time. We had 2 nights of a banjo player (thats all he does) and 2 nights with a so-so magician/comedian. Activities on-board are minimal,,, and this is primarily a cruise for those that like to relax during days at sea (this is great for us).

Helen, regarding Vietnam I belive it was a one-time $10 Visa fee. They issued us a special Vietnam embarkation pass which had room to be stamped in every port of the country. We just kept that card after the first port, had it re-validated at the 2nd port and turned it in before we left that 2nd port.

Hank

Hank