Diamond Princess Mar 30, 2012 16 day Beiging to Singapore

[CHELSEADOG]

Would like to stay in Beiging 2 days before cruise leaves. Somewhere near Tian. Square, Forbidden City and Great Wall....about 200.00 a night. Any suggestions???? Has anyone taken this cruise?? Would appreciate any tips or hints. Any tours exceptionally good?????

[Turtles06]

Would like to stay in Beiging 2 days before cruise leaves. Somewhere near Tian. Square, Forbidden City and Great Wall....about 200.00 a night. Any suggestions???? Has anyone taken this cruise?? Would appreciate any tips or hints. Any tours exceptionally good?????

 

Well, you can stay in a hotel near Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City, *or* you can stay in a hotel near a section of the Great Wall, but you can't do both, as the Great Wall is not located in downtown Beijing. Rather, there are several sections of the Wall that are close enough to be visited when you are in Beijing (e.g, 90-120 minute drive). Most tour groups get taken to the Wall at Badaling (which is one of the closest sections), but I would recommend you look into visiting the Wall at Mutianyu, which is a bit further from the city and less crowded.

 

In May, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Beijing, which is literally a ten minute walk from Tiananmen Square, and very convenient to the subway. You can't beat the location. It's a beautiful hotel with a fantastic grotto pool. According to their website, for the dates you are looking at, you should be able to get a room for around what you want to pay. Also, call the main Hyatt number and ask about special rates for groups like AARP (if you qualify), as these aren't always on the hotel sites.

 

Although Beijing is very do-able on your own, given your limited time, I would suggest getting a private guide. They are inexpensive (by western standards), and having a guide will enable you to get around much faster and maximize what you can see in your limited time. Also, the guide will be able to get you a driver to take you out to the Wall.

 

In the event this is helpful to you, the link below will take you to my little summary of our three days in Beijing, along with the contact info for our wonderful guide. (Also, if you search in this forum, you'll find names of some other recommended guides.)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=29264391&postcount=4680

 

We really enjoyed Beijing; it is a fascinating city. I wish it weren't half a world away.

 

Happy to answer other questions. I hope you have a great trip!

 

PS: I assume you know that Beijing is inland, and that it's a good distance from Beijing to your departure port, but given the title of this thread I just wanted to add that. :-)

[maryann ns]

Yes, I hope you know that you will need to take most of your embarkation day to get to the port.

 

While in Beijing in March we stayed in a courtyard house in a hutong, very close to the Forbidden City. We chose Sitting on City Walls, but there are many others which you can research on Trip Advisor.

 

This gave us a chance to get a feel for the rapidly disappearing way of living for people in Beijing. In addition we paid less than $100 for a comfortable room.

[Turtles06]

While in Beijing in March we stayed in a courtyard house in a hutong, very close to the Forbidden City. We chose Sitting on City Walls, but there are many others which you can research on Trip Advisor.

 

This gave us a chance to get a feel for the rapidly disappearing way of living for people in Beijing.

 

Sounds very interesting. Did you get a "real" hutong experience ---having to use the shared public restrooms out on the street? ;)

[bcnvcanada]

Like the posters above, there are many great hotels in Beijing. I would suggest that you check out on trip advisor, also map the hotel for locations. It helps to be near a subway station. Also, you will find it is better to get a guide to take you around, pick you up at the aiport and transfer you to the ship. Though it is possible to do so on your own, it is so much easier. We did the Diamond this fall Singapore to Beijing and stayed on in China seven extra days. We loved it so much we will be joining you on the March 30 cruise and will be doing the return back up. If you like to do things on your own, several ports are very easy. Busan, the city has a free shuttle to the downtown area. The famous seafood market and local stalls of market and food. Also subway nearby. They had a bank branch at the port in a trailer so was easy to exchange money. Nagasaki, money exchange at the dock, tram nearby, to all the major areas. 500 yen for a one day pass. Both cities give out maps. Shanghai, Free shuttle to the silk store, you would need a taxi from here. Good tour is Jade Budha, Tower, and Yu Gardens by Princess. The ship docks about 90 minutes from downtown. Hong Kong, again about 20 minute ride to a hotel very near the Star Ferry. With Metro and buses easy to do own your own. Map out the sites you want to see. Nha Trang, check on your roll call. Princess roll call diamond and date. I know that there is a private tour doing this area. It was great. I know that he is working on filling a second bus. I believe the cost is about 60.00usd. This was the best tour of the cruise. We saw so much and learned so much. We got out into the countryside. HCM, again it is a long way into the city from the port. Some on roll call are doing private tours, Princess offers HCM on your own. With a good map and taxis, it is easy to get around. The city is about 90 minutes over questionable roads. Bangkok. Princess has a tour, Grand Palace, Jade Budha, Gold Budha, reclining Budha form 99 usd. Again, it is about 90 minutes from port to city. There may be someone on the roll call who has a private tour going. Singapore, easy to do on your own. Great metro., bus system. It is a small city, state. Hope to see you on the cruise,

[Iluvcruising2]

Yeah, you could pretty much do Singapore on your own.

[maryann ns]

Did you get a "real" hutong experience ---having to use the shared public restrooms out on the street?

 

That would be going a bit too far for me! We walked by the public toilets on the way to our place where we had a private room with our own facilities. However it was interesting being in the hutong. There was a wonderful park/playground at the entrance with adult exercise equipment, ping pong tables, and lots of men playing mahjong.