Bangkok, Shanghi, Nagasaki and Busan

[margord]

Does anyone have any recommendation on private tours to Bangkok, Shanghi, Nagasaki and Busan? We will be there the end of March into April.

 

Marilee

[Alessandrina]

While not a private tour, we did manage on our own in Nagasaki. We took the tram to the Atomic Bomb Museum, spent 2 hours there and headed to the Peace Park. Afterwards we strolled into Chinatown and then Dejima. I was out of steam at this point, but my husband, went up into Glover Garden, a 15 minute walk uphill from the ship - which was pleasant.

 

When you dock in Nagasaki, there will be a tourist information booth at the terminal. You can then find out info, get maps, and buy a tram pass (500 Yen or around $5 USD) for the day.

 

Be sure to try the famous cake in Nagasaki, called Castella. You can find it everywhere. There is even a cute cake plush toy!

[margord]

While not a private tour, we did manage on our own in Nagasaki. We took the tram to the Atomic Bomb Museum, spent 2 hours there and headed to the Peace Park. Afterwards we strolled into Chinatown and then Dejima. I was out of steam at this point, but my husband, went up into Glover Garden, a 15 minute walk uphill from the ship - which was pleasant.

 

When you dock in Nagasaki, there will be a tourist information booth at the terminal. You can then find out info, get maps, and buy a tram pass (500 Yen or around $5 USD) for the day.

 

Be sure to try the famous cake in Nagasaki, called Castella. You can find it everywhere. There is even a cute cake plush toy!

 

Thank you so much for the great information. I take it that it wasn't hard finding your way aorund. Does the ship dock right in the city? Were you able to easily follow maps and directions and get the right tram without being able to understand Japanese?

 

Marilee

[Alessandrina]

Yes, the ship docks right in the city.

 

At the cruise terminal, you'll find free WiFi (use it early if you need to as the crew and everyone else comes out later for that reason!), an information desk - where you can get maps, the tram pass, and info.

 

It wasn't too hard to navigate the city. With the map, the correct tram stop name, you'll not find it difficult. At the tram stop, there is an arrow to point you in the right direction of the Atomic Bomb Museum, in English, for example. From that stop, about a 10 minute walk to the museum. The hypocenter of the bomb is near the museum, and nearby, a short walk to the Peace Park.

 

From there you can catch a tram back.

 

We really enjoyed Nagasaki.

 

For Busan, South Korea, our ship (Diamond Princess) had a free shuttle running into the downtown, about a 25 minute ride. Can't help with tours as this was my shopping stop!

 

Cheers.

[Bowie MeMe]

Nagasaki for us was a ship's tour to the Atomic Museum which we left and came back to ship by cab because husband got very sick (Noro?). We managed well -- taxi appeared and took us to ship even though we spoke no English -- cab driver recognized the Princess symbol on our cruise card:D and we had some JPY from a daughter's business trip. Funny incidents there: We were approached by Jehovah Witnesses while sitting on the bench watching the Japanese school girls roll up their school uniform skirts to a high "tide" while the teachers were out buying tickets and the boys were pretending not to look. Just surreal. Diamond Princess is special in Nagasaki (built there) and we had a very special welcoming ceremony. Hope you get the same.

 

 

Do realize that without letters or signs you can decipher it is much harder to spot the place you are going and harder still to get back. IMHO.

 

In Bangkok, we had a lovely guide Phan from Wendy's Tours. Very well done tour to my specifications. Look up Bangkok tours and her web page will give you many ideas of what to see. We stayed at the Renissance and found it a very convenient place to stay. The JW Marriott seemed less well placed. Several places to eat (Breakfast at McDonald's next door) ATM on parking lot and the main transit line 1/2 block away made life easy and the guide could easily get in and out of the hectic traffic. Very calm and COOL place to stay. AC was heavenly COLD.

[margord]

Yes, the ship docks right in the city.

 

At the cruise terminal, you'll find free WiFi (use it early if you need to as the crew and everyone else comes out later for that reason!), an information desk - where you can get maps, the tram pass, and info.

 

It wasn't too hard to navigate the city. With the map, the correct tram stop name, you'll not find it difficult. At the tram stop, there is an arrow to point you in the right direction of the Atomic Bomb Museum, in English, for example. From that stop, about a 10 minute walk to the museum. The hypocenter of the bomb is near the museum, and nearby, a short walk to the Peace Park.

 

From there you can catch a tram back.

 

We really enjoyed Nagasaki.

 

For Busan, South Korea, our ship (Diamond Princess) had a free shuttle running into the downtown, about a 25 minute ride. Can't help with tours as this was my shopping stop!

 

Cheers.

 

Thanks for thisi adidtional information. How long was the tram ride? Did it take long on the tram from the dock to the city?

 

Also, thanks for the informaiton on the shuttle. As for shopping--I love shopping. Where did you shop and what did you buy? Is this a good place to shop?

 

Marilee

[margord]

Nagasaki for us was a ship's tour to the Atomic Museum which we left and came back to ship by cab because husband got very sick (Noro?). We managed well -- taxi appeared and took us to ship even though we spoke no English -- cab driver recognized the Princess symbol on our cruise card:D and we had some JPY from a daughter's business trip. Funny incidents there: We were approached by Jehovah Witnesses while sitting on the bench watching the Japanese school girls roll up their school uniform skirts to a high "tide" while the teachers were out buying tickets and the boys were pretending not to look. Just surreal. Diamond Princess is special in Nagasaki (built there) and we had a very special welcoming ceremony. Hope you get the same.

 

 

Do realize that without letters or signs you can decipher it is much harder to spot the place you are going and harder still to get back. IMHO.

 

In Bangkok, we had a lovely guide Phan from Wendy's Tours. Very well done tour to my specifications. Look up Bangkok tours and her web page will give you many ideas of what to see. We stayed at the Renissance and found it a very convenient place to stay. The JW Marriott seemed less well placed. Several places to eat (Breakfast at McDonald's next door) ATM on parking lot and the main transit line 1/2 block away made life easy and the guide could easily get in and out of the hectic traffic. Very calm and COOL place to stay. AC was heavenly COLD.

 

 

Thank you so much for this information. I am so sorry your husband got sick, that had to be horrible.

 

Thanks for sharing the story about the Japanese school girls. Very funny.

 

We will be on the Sapphire Princess so I don't think we will be treated to the special welcoming ceremony. Thank you so much for getting back to me.

 

Marilee

Edited August 8, 2014 by margord

[Alessandrina]

Marilee:

 

Nagasaki - from the dock to the cruise terminal is a 3 minute walk, and then to the tram stop is about a 5 minute walk. The tram ride to Atomic Bomb Museum took ~15-20 minutes. Always verify with a local who is waiting to make sure you are on the correct one! The tourist map also has all the important tourist tram stops by name and tram stop number.

 

In Busan, if you have the same drop off point on the shuttle (it was a hotel), there is plenty of shopping around on a street parallel and in general around that district. You'd be amazed at all the beauty/skincare shops! Seems the Koreans are really into it! So I bought heaps of these products from a few of the brands (face masks, creams, lotions, etc.). These stores open at 11 am.

 

I also went to a Cat Cafe'....cats lazing around where you can have a drink.

 

There is also a market area where you will see women selling all sorts of street food, and then an area of shops - touristy and clothing/purses/hats/shoes where you can bargain a bit. This market area was open when I got there at 9 am. Cash is king.

 

A big department store called Lotte is nearby. Several floors. Always check the food hall in the basement levels in S.Korea and Japan - good things there!

 

Keep in mind the sizes in both these countries. In general, they are small for clothes and shoes.

 

In Japan, I bought Kit Kats - they have different flavours such as, green tea, strawberry cheesecake, red bean. Cool! And Hello Kitty is everywhere. And cute stationery. And nice fans.

 

In each of these ports we received a nice send-off at sailaway.

 

Cheers.

[cdngrl]

We will be on the Sapphire Princess so I don't think we will be treated to the special welcoming ceremony.

 

Marilee

 

sapphire and diamond are sister ships, both built there. :)

[margord]

Marilee:

 

Nagasaki - from the dock to the cruise terminal is a 3 minute walk, and then to the tram stop is about a 5 minute walk. The tram ride to Atomic Bomb Museum took ~15-20 minutes. Always verify with a local who is waiting to make sure you are on the correct one! The tourist map also has all the important tourist tram stops by name and tram stop number.

 

In Busan, if you have the same drop off point on the shuttle (it was a hotel), there is plenty of shopping around on a street parallel and in general around that district. You'd be amazed at all the beauty/skincare shops! Seems the Koreans are really into it! So I bought heaps of these products from a few of the brands (face masks, creams, lotions, etc.). These stores open at 11 am.

 

I also went to a Cat Cafe'....cats lazing around where you can have a drink.

 

There is also a market area where you will see women selling all sorts of street food, and then an area of shops - touristy and clothing/purses/hats/shoes where you can bargain a bit. This market area was open when I got there at 9 am. Cash is king.

 

A big department store called Lotte is nearby. Several floors. Always check the food hall in the basement levels in S.Korea and Japan - good things there!

 

Keep in mind the sizes in both these countries. In general, they are small for clothes and shoes.

 

In Japan, I bought Kit Kats - they have different flavours such as, green tea, strawberry cheesecake, red bean. Cool! And Hello Kitty is everywhere. And cute stationery. And nice fans.

 

In each of these ports we received a nice send-off at sailaway.

 

Cheers.

 

Thank you so much for all these great ideas. I do appreciate.

 

Marilee

[Alessandrina]

^ You are welcome!!

[margord]

Marilee:

 

Nagasaki - from the dock to the cruise terminal is a 3 minute walk, and then to the tram stop is about a 5 minute walk. The tram ride to Atomic Bomb Museum took ~15-20 minutes. Always verify with a local who is waiting to make sure you are on the correct one! The tourist map also has all the important tourist tram stops by name and tram stop number.

 

In Busan, if you have the same drop off point on the shuttle (it was a hotel), there is plenty of shopping around on a street parallel and in general around that district. You'd be amazed at all the beauty/skincare shops! Seems the Koreans are really into it! So I bought heaps of these products from a few of the brands (face masks, creams, lotions, etc.). These stores open at 11 am.

 

I also went to a Cat Cafe'....cats lazing around where you can have a drink.

 

There is also a market area where you will see women selling all sorts of street food, and then an area of shops - touristy and clothing/purses/hats/shoes where you can bargain a bit. This market area was open when I got there at 9 am. Cash is king.

 

A big department store called Lotte is nearby. Several floors. Always check the food hall in the basement levels in S.Korea and Japan - good things there!

 

Keep in mind the sizes in both these countries. In general, they are small for clothes and shoes.

 

In Japan, I bought Kit Kats - they have different flavours such as, green tea, strawberry cheesecake, red bean. Cool! And Hello Kitty is everywhere. And cute stationery. And nice fans.

 

In each of these ports we received a nice send-off at sailaway.

 

Cheers.

 

One more question (at least for now), did you get the local money or did you use US dollars? I am asking because our tours we set up in Thailand and Vietnam both want US dollars on the day of the tour as payment.

[Alessandrina]

In Japan, only Yen is used and same with South Korea - Won.

 

Before we left, I ordered money at the bank.

In some places you can use credit cards.

 

Cheers.