HELP: Princess Sapphire (Asis) - Shore Excursions

I have booked a trip for Nov 2, 2007 on Princess Sapphire Southeast Asia & China. From Beijing to Bankgok.

The ports are: Nagasaki & Okinawa, Japan; Shanghai & Hong Kong, China; Taipei, Taiwan; Nha Trang & Ho Chi Ming City (Vung Tau), Vietnam; Singapore.

There are so many shore excursions, which one should I take with the best value? Which port has "free" shuttle bus service? I have only a limited budget, if I don't take the shore excursions (VERY EXPENSIVE), is there anywhere I can shop or sightseeing within walking distance from the pier?

Which ports can you do on your own and which ones are better visited on a ship's shore excursion? Any help is grateful. Thanks

Howdy 229Don!

Welcome to Cruise Critic and the Need Help Using The Boards? Ask Here! Forum!

Thank you for your inquiry regarding many different topics. However, you have posted on the forum where members find the "How to ..." type of information for using Cruise Critic's software such as avatars, signatures, countdown clocks or tickers, attaching pictures, etc. It is not the place for your type of post and the information you seek is off topic here.

Per the Community Guidelines and to help you out, I am moving your thread to the Ports of Call - Asia Forum at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70 where it will be on topic. The new location for your thread is the best location for more of your fellow Cruise Critic members to see it and to be able to help you with the information you seek.

I suggest you might enjoy researching the following forum too:

Princess Cruises Forum at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197

Also, you will want to find the Roll Call for your ship and sail date. That's where you will get to know your fellow Cruise Critic members sailing with you. For Sapphire Princess - 11/2/07 - Beijing to Bangkok Roll Call, click here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=427210. Read through all the pages to get to know the others, then make a post introducing yourself. I feel sure your fellow Roll Call members will welcome you with replies and you can take your on-line relationship from there. Roll Calls are a great place to share information and tips about your cruise line, ship, ports of call, transportation, tours, etc. The Roll Call for your specific ship and sail date is the only place you can post share requests for cabins, tours, transportation, etc.

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Kat

We did a SE Asia cruise on the Pacific Princess, so our ports were a little different than yours, but I did post an extenisve review on the Pacific Princess site (7/06 cruise date) for Hong Kong, Shanghai, Saigon, Nha Trang, Singapore and Nagasaki. We did Princess excrusions in all of those ports except for Nha TRang, where we took the shuttle into the large open air market. In Hong Kong, we had an unexpected overnight stay and wehnt out walking that night and the next morning with two tablemates who grew up in Hong Kong. That was pretty neat and the bus and/or subway system was very easy to use.

In Hong Kong , we docked beside the White Star Ferry Terminal at a four story shopping mall., so shopping was merely a case of walking off the ship.

if you have any specific questions or want more details, you can contact me at charliekirby@comcast.net and I'll be happy to try and answer them

Cheers!

Charlie

:confused:

We did a SE Asia cruise on the Pacific Princess, so our ports were a little different than yours, but I did post an extenisve review on the Pacific Princess site (7/06 cruise date) for Hong Kong, Shanghai, Saigon, Nha Trang, Singapore and Nagasaki. We did Princess excrusions in all of those ports except for Nha TRang, where we took the shuttle into the large open air market. In Hong Kong, we had an unexpected overnight stay and wehnt out walking that night and the next morning with two tablemates who grew up in Hong Kong. That was pretty neat and the bus and/or subway system was very easy to use.

 

In Hong Kong , we docked beside the White Star Ferry Terminal at a four story shopping mall., so shopping was merely a case of walking off the ship.

 

if you have any specific questions or want more details, you can contact me at charliekirby@comcast.net and I'll be happy to try and answer them

 

Cheers!

 

Charlie

Sorry, at the top pf this screen, there is a tab for reviews. Select it, then scroll down to the Pacific Princess in the ship selection window. It will bring up the Pacific Princess page. Then select member reviews. All the cruises are listed by date - ours is 07/06.

Hope that helps!

Charlie

I did the Sapphire in November. the one down side (and it really was only the one! it is a wonderful trip) is the fact that the ship docks so far from the ports due to her size.

Nagakaski can be done on your own. it is the one port that you are docked in town. you can walk to the church and glover gardens plus there is a shopping area very close. if you do walk..there is a large shopping area very close that has a PAPA Bear place that makes the best fresh cream puffs! (I still dream about them) we also bought some fresh ice cream. (we went to the market...not to far from the ship and bought some pre cooked food and had a picnic at the park very close to the ship)

Singapore has a free shuttle bus that will take you to the duty free mall...you can walk from there to catch the hip hop (and off at tourist site) bus. one caution is they close (or stop running) for 3 hours around lunch time!

In sigiaon I would take a tour. it is 2 1/2 hours from the port. we did the sigiaon on your own. they took us to the Rex hotel and we toured from there. (we found someone who took us around for $10 for the whole day...they were in front of the Rex hotel)

NaTrang is a tender port....you could do this on your own (we did the country side tour...loved it)

If you have any more questions I would be more than happy to answer them for you. i love talking about this trp ....it was great!