Internet in China...

[corpkid]

I've been looking at the list of sites that are blocked in China (extensive) and a few are pretty important to me (particularly Gmail). That said, if I'm on the ship's satellite wi-fi, will these sites be blocked while in China? Thanks!

[azevedan]

I've been looking at the list of sites that are blocked in China (extensive) and a few are pretty important to me (particularly Gmail). That said, if I'm on the ship's satellite wi-fi, will these sites be blocked while in China? Thanks!

 

I can't answer your specific question (will the ship's wifi work), but I will advise you to turn off mobile data on all devices when actually out and about in China. We did a 2-week land trip in April, and I went cold turkey except for text updates from my house/pet sitter.

[Mura]

We did a Viking cruise to China in 2008 so our experience may not be relevant, but we had no problem with internet access on board the riverboat.

 

Also what may not be relevant is that I don't use gmail. I had no trouble back then accessing Time Warner.

 

Mura

[corpkid]

I can't answer your specific question (will the ship's wifi work), but I will advise you to turn off mobile data on all devices when actually out and about in China. We did a 2-week land trip in April, and I went cold turkey except for text updates from my house/pet sitter.

 

Thanks - I plan to only use my phone for maps/GPS while onshore. I've actually set up & tested a proxy for my laptop so I can get to gmail while we are staying in a Beijing hotel for 4 nights prior to the cruise. I manage my freelance side-job of IT support though a gmail account so I can't really "totally disconnect" for a month...

 

One question - why do you advise to shut off all mobile data in China?

[azevedan]

One question - why do you advise to shut off all mobile data in China?

 

Because I do not trust that spyware wouldn't end up on any device linked to ANY Chinese server.

[corpkid]

Because I do not trust that spyware wouldn't end up on any device linked to ANY Chinese server.

 

I hear that. I've done some research and I will be using the VPN to connect to the US and then use the internet from there, even if on the ship's wifi. $8 for a month, so not bad at all. I certainly won't connect to any wi-fi hotspots off the ship :eek:. I'll use my VPN over the cellular network ONLY. I'll probably wipe and restore my phone with a backup I took before departing when I get home anyways just to be safe (taking pictures off of course)...

 

Thanks again.

[Floridiana]

Thanks - I plan to only use my phone for maps/GPS while onshore.

 

I checked google maps for Beijing and noticed that the locations were not accurately displayed. The hotel website showed a different and, as we later saw, accurate picture of the hotel's surroundings. Google street view showed a different intersection. I read that this phenomenon is created on purpose by the Chinese authorities. Better verify your hotel's location and cross check their website with your map.

 

This was in May 2014 before gmail was blocked.

[corpkid]

I checked google maps for Beijing and noticed that the locations were not accurately displayed. The hotel website showed a different and, as we later saw, accurate picture of the hotel's surroundings. Google street view showed a different intersection. I read that this phenomenon is created on purpose by the Chinese authorities. Better verify your hotel's location and cross check their website with your map.

 

This was in May 2014 before gmail was blocked.

 

I think it's only got worse based on my reading... It's blamed on the density of buildings in the cities... It is also a crime to use GPS in China unless you are permitted based on my readings. I can't imagine how this works, but I'm sure it's not very enforceable.

 

I've been using offline maps on my phone for a while before AT&T had decent roaming packages. The latest one, HERE seems pretty good thus far... You need some decent storage space on your phone to download the maps & data.

[willidc]

I've been looking at the list of sites that are blocked in China (extensive) and a few are pretty important to me (particularly Gmail). That said, if I'm on the ship's satellite wi-fi, will these sites be blocked while in China? Thanks!

 

I did not look up your itinerary, but we were on Nautica in Feb/Mar of 2014. You are in for something truly special! The Nautica seems to have her own special flair (even though we have been on 4 of the 5 Oceania ships).

 

Anyway, we went Hong Kong to Beijing (Tianjin) which may be the reverse of your sailing. Hotels in both Hong Kong and Beijing provided excellent service and I was able to use my emails in the hotels. China seemed to be making up the rules as we went along when we were sailing, and the crew was emphatic that there was little that could be done about service variability. We had ship's service in Shanghai and it was great. While sailing the waters, there were times we were supposedly far enough out in the waters to have service, but we were not granted service till much later.

 

China internet could have been better, but Japan was a complete blockout for us when we were on the ship and in port. So, it was cold turkey for a three day period for us even if we were not ready :(. I believe Taiwan and South Korea had good service on ship. We are retired, so only used service for social rather than professional needs and got on simply when we could without making a whole lot of note. Sorry we cannot provide more detail.

 

I believe we were on the Baltic cruise with you (Marina) in August/September 2013 and if you enjoyed that one, for sure you will have a great experience with Nautica and her magnificent Far East itinerary.

 

Good luck and enjoy!.

Edited August 13, 2015 by willidc

[Floridiana]

We got internet in China in May 2014, lots of blocked newspapers such as the NY Times, but the Orlando Sentinel was accessible. I think my husband didn't even try access in March 2015. The hotels in Japan provided excellent access after the cruise.

[corpkid]

I did not look up your itinerary, but we were on Nautica in Feb/Mar of 2014. You are in for something truly special! The Nautica seems to have her own special flair (even though we have been on 4 of the 5 Oceania ships).

 

 

 

Anyway, we went Hong Kong to Beijing (Tianjin) which may be the reverse of your sailing. Hotels in both Hong Kong and Beijing provided excellent service and I was able to use my emails in the hotels. China seemed to be making up the rules as we went along when we were sailing, and the crew was emphatic that there was little that could be done about service variability. We had ship's service in Shanghai and it was great. While sailing the waters, there were times we were supposedly far enough out in the waters to have service, but we were not granted service till much later.

 

 

 

China internet could have been better, but Japan was a complete blockout for us when we were on the ship and in port. So, it was cold turkey for a three day period for us even if we were not ready :(. I believe Taiwan and South Korea had good service on ship. We are retired, so only used service for social rather than professional needs and got on simply when we could without making a whole lot of note. Sorry we cannot provide more detail.

 

 

 

I believe we were on the Baltic cruise with you (Marina) in August/September 2013 and if you enjoyed that one, for sure you will have a great experience with Nautica and her magnificent Far East itinerary.

 

 

 

Good luck and enjoy!.

 

 

I think we were on the same cruise! That was a fantastic one. So as weather goes for this Beijing - Hong Kong... Looks like it may be cold? We arrive in Beijing on Feb 29 and end up in Hong Kong toward the end of March... Winter jackets and gloves? Thanks!

[MVPinBoynton]

We were on the Nautica in March for our Beijing to Tokyo cruise. We spent 4 days pre-cruise in Beijing. Since we use T-Moble for our mobile phones, we had free international data. I had no problems getting our email over the phones or on the hotel WiFi. I did have some issues with Google maps. The Apple maps worked OK.

 

The biggest problem for most people on the cruise was that when in Japan, the ship WiFi wasn't allowed to be turned on while within about 10 miles of land. Needless to say, there were a lot of jealous people watching me using the internet through T-Mobile.