Ship's Shuttle Buses in Asia

[Miss Jolly]

When cruising through Europe for 2 months with HAL last year, we often found that it was more cost and time effective for our family of 4 to hire a taxi from the port into town than it was to pay and wait for HAL's shuttle buses.

We are booked on Diamond Princess for next year's cruise from Bangkok to Beijing :D including stops at Singapore, Vung Tau (for Ho Chi Minh Cuty), Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Keelung (for Taipei), Okinawa, Shanghai and Nagasaki. I would appreciate any information and tips re travelling into the cities please. (We again will have our family of 4 which includes two teens)

Thank you.

Jennie

[montelco]

When cruising through Europe for 2 months with HAL last year, we often found that it was more cost and time effective for our family of 4 to hire a taxi from the port into town than it was to pay and wait for HAL's shuttle buses.

We are booked on Diamond Princess for next year's cruise from Bangkok to Beijing :D including stops at Singapore, Vung Tau (for Ho Chi Minh Cuty), Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Keelung (for Taipei), Okinawa, Shanghai and Nagasaki. I would appreciate any information and tips re travelling into the cities please. (We again will have our family of 4 which includes two teens)

Thank you.

Jennie

 

This is my second try at replying. For some reason the system is very slow and it lost my first one (I think).

 

Princess organises free shuttle buses into Hong Kong and Singapore from the wharfs. From there you can walk or use the underground subway system in both cities to get to places. they are very user friendly and cheap.

 

You can walk down to a bus in Nagasaki and see the sights from there. Our cruise missed stopping ther because of a problem, worse luck, but all my reading confirms the ease of visiting Nagasaki by walking or buses.

 

We did tours in Vung Tau and Nha Trang which were great. The tour guides filled you in on a lot of culture that you would miss if you just went by taxi. There may be private tours that you could organise for 4 people. Other people may be able to give you advice on these. Our guides were lovely and we remembered to get on the pink bus in Nha Trang. a beautiful place.

 

In Keelung we took a tour but you could easily catch a train to Taipei. We took a tour and went with it as far as Chiang Kai Shek's memorial and from there we decided to miss Taipei 101 and made our own way back to the ship by train. People at the railway station were very helpful.

 

In Okinawa you could organise a taxi easily since it is not far from the city. Very touristy. Reminded us of the Gold Coast here at home.

 

It really depends on what experiences you want with your shore time. Enjoy!

[Miss Jolly]

Thank you Montelco for your help. By the way, my father in law lives in Buderim.

Jennie

[trooper 1]

(Edited) "...I would appreciate any information and tips re travelling into the cities please. Thank you. Jennie

 

We highly recommend The Old Bangkok Inn (www.oldbangkokinn.com). A very small "old world" hotel with outstanding friendliness and customer service. You can get cheaper rooms in Bangkok but without the atmosphere. We also recommend and pre-booked tours with Viator (www.viator.com). The tours we took were "Bangkok's Grand Palace Complex and Wat Kaew," and "Bangkok's temples Tour Including the Reclining Budda at Wat Po. The Old Bangkok Inn is near both of these sites, so less traffic and more time on site. In Beijing we used the Hilton Hotel. Pricey and probably more so this year with the Olympics. We are always available at bobann53@comcast.net in Spokane, Washington, USA.

[montelco]

When cruising through Europe for 2 months with HAL last year, we often found that it was more cost and time effective for our family of 4 to hire a taxi from the port into town than it was to pay and wait for HAL's shuttle buses.

We are booked on Diamond Princess for next year's cruise from Bangkok to Beijing :D including stops at Singapore, Vung Tau (for Ho Chi Minh Cuty), Nha Trang, Hong Kong, Keelung (for Taipei), Okinawa, Shanghai and Nagasaki. I would appreciate any information and tips re travelling into the cities please. (We again will have our family of 4 which includes two teens)

Thank you.

Jennie

What a small world! We stayed at the Harmony Hotel in Beijing which is just near the Beijing Railway station and subways. A great and inexpensive hotel with a shop just across the road where you can buy bottled water and a restaurant in the hutong behind which serves Peking Duck at a very reasonable price. Very close to the post office and Maccas if you want if fix of Western food. We had breakfasts there because the other places usually don't open until much later. We caught the subway to Wangfujung Street and from there it is easy to get to Tiannamen Square and the Forbidden City. Subways are obviously crowded but quite manageable. Silk Market is a place to go shopping if you love bargaining. If we go again ,and we would like to, we would definitely stay at the Harmony.They have a money exchange in the lobby which was so convenient! Best place to visit the wall on your own tour is Mutianyu with breathtaking views and not as crowded. We organised our tours in Beijing through Octopus Travel on line. Have a great time!!

[realproperty]

The Diamond is a very big ship and too big for regular ports so it docks in container ports. Problem is tha they are restricted areas so cabs and private guides may have trouble getting in to pick you up at the boat. This was particularly the case in Shanghai, Vung Tau, and Hong Kong if I remember correctly. We had our guides meet us in town instead of at the boat. Check with your guides as to where to meet you since they may not be able to have access to the port. Nagasaki is no problem, Keelung is a 35 minute ride to Taipei, Okinawa is a yawn, Vung Tau is 3 hours by bus to Saigon, and both Vung Tau and Nha Trang are tender ports and very slow.

[Miss Jolly]

Thanks everyone for your information. It is very helpful.

Jennie

[kaisatsu]

From our experience a few year's ago on the Sapphire (Diamond's sister), Princess had a free shuttle into the nearest town at each port that wasn't easy to walk.

 

Singapore - shuttle from container port to cruise terminal. This was our disembarkation port, and the ship was going into dry dock.

 

Vung Tau - No tender for us, but we actually docked at a flour factory (?!) in the middle of nowhere. There was a free shuttle into Vung Tau, and an "on-your-own" excursion option around $60 to take a bus to Saigon. Some friends hired a taxi to get to/from Saigon and had a heck of a time finding their way back and got stuck in the mud on the tidal flats near the ship! Be sure to get good directions!

 

Nha Trang - tender port and free shuttle from the pier to the city market

 

Hong Kong - container port and free shuttle to the cruise terminal. FYI - the line for the very last shuttles back was really long!

 

Keelung, Okinawa - N/A

 

Shanghai - free shuttle to a tourist-trap shop near the People's Square

 

Nagasaki - no shuttle, but an easy walk off the pier into town

[100+]

Realproperty, how did you get into town to meet your guides?