"LIVE" - Ovation of the Seas (April 9-26, 2018), Bill & Marie's slow boat to China

[mugtech]

OK, sorry but this is the time I rant for a while about what was not a particularly enjoyable day. Lucky for you, this is online so you can scroll past if if you like.

 

I will take a little responsibility for the lousy day but I lay primary responsibility on royal Caribbean. Months ago I set up a private tour for four of us in Seoul. The tour was about 9 hours and extensive but it was that long as it could take 2 hours each way to get to Seoul so it was really just a 5 hour tour. At the beginning of the cruise the ship informed us that Korea would be requiring face to face immigration and we were assigned a group that would not get us off the ship until somewhere between noon and 1 pm. So that meant with transit time our tour would only be an hour or two.

 

Because of this information last week we cancelled our private tour (so we could get our deposit back) and the four of us elected to book a ship's tour Grand Tour of Seoul - English Guide - IH17. This was my mistake, I should have stayed with the private tour and just pushed for an early immigration time

 

This is the tour description:

 

Spend the day taking in the highlights of Seoul. Pass the presidential offices, known as the Blue House. Visit the 14th-century Gyeongbok Palace, home of the National Folk Museum, which features thousands of pieces related to Korean life, culture, clothing and cuisine. Enjoy a typical Korean restaurant lunch. Then look for traditional and modern works of art along Insadong Street.

 

Highlights:

• Gyeongbok Palace: Built in the 14th century, this grand palace served as the royal residence until 1592.

• National Folk Museum: See 4,300-plus items from prehistoric age to modern times, all related to the Korean life and culture.

• Insadong Street: Also known as Mary’s Alley, browse for treasures such as delicate porcelain pieces, hand-pressed papers, antiques and more.

 

What was appealing was we would be off the ship by 10 -10:30. So as I said we cancelled our private tour. Well a few days later they announced to us if we had a private tour we would have the opportunity to be with immigration as early as 8:45. Gee thanks for telling us now after we already cancelled. To rub salt in the wound at 10 am when we were with immigration they made the announcement that anyone could now go to immigration. But the scare tactic of waiting till 1pm had us on a ship tour.

 

When we got on the bus we now found out that Gyeongbok Palace and the National Folk Museum are closed every Tuesday, something the Royal should know as it is that way every Tuesday. So a lesser palace (Deoksugung) was substituted and the Folk Museum was out. And it just got better from there (sarcasm on full).

 

As we were leaving Incheon the guide announced our first stop would be in Seoul for lunch at a buffet restaurant which made sense as it would be around noon when we arrived in Seoul. However some of the passengers now revolted stating they had just eaten (not my problem) and they wanted to go shopping, They coerced others into agreeing so the guide decided we would go shopping for about an hour then to lunch.

 

So off we headed to Insadong Street for an hour of shopping which turned into more like an hour and a half. We then spend most of an hour driving in circles as the driver tried to get us close to the restaurant. Not succeeding we all got out and walk 10 minutes to the restaurant. A place that was on the fourth floor with a broken escalator and one small elevator.

 

After lunch and a walk back to the bus we headed to Deoksugung Palace which was the high point of the day. On the way there a group of women from New Jersey began whining they did not get to do enough shopping and we needed to do more. So the guide cut our stay at the palace to 40 minutes. Some of us complained that the tour was not suppose to be just shopping and the most vocal of the Jersey girls actually started yelling, that she paid for going shopping and if we did not like it we could just stay on the bus. Really?

 

So we went to the palace and explored for a while, even were lucky enough to see what I think was a changing of the guard ceremony.

 

Then it was back on the bus and off to another shopping area. Sorry but this place mostly had stuff you could buy in Walmart (and cheaper there too). After that it was back on the bus and the long drive back to Incheon. We left the ship at 10:30 am, arrived back around 7:30 pm and spent 40 minutes getting culturally enriched.

 

Rant over, on to the pictures,

Funny thing, when we did Hawaii with NCL there was 3 times people complained, all were proud to be from New Jersey.

[PCWalton1]

 

Getting close to the end of the cruise. If you are not bored stick around for a few more days. We will be in Beijing until Saturday morning and I managed to figure out how to get a VPN on my netbook and phone so I should still be able to post. Fun is not over yet, :D

[suesnake2002]

Thank you bill, can't wait!!

 

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[Sarah1974]

Thank you for a fab trip report - can't wait to hear about China.

 

Sorry about your awful trip experience. I would not have been at all happy with that. The guide should have stuck with the tour and schedule they were paid to give but I guess they felt pressured by the "shopping" group.

 

Enjoy the rest of your holiday

[bluetiger59]

Bill

 

Sorry about your tour problems in Seoul. It sounds like one of those unfortunate situations that we can sometimes get into through no fault of our own like the time I took this girl to a New Years Eve party while in High School. At the party this guy shows up with two of his friends and tells me that I'm with his girl friend. It was not good Bill. You didn't ask for your tour mix up and I didn't ask for this. We just keep pressing on. Some day you will be able to laugh about the Jersey Girls.

 

What a fabulous review you are doing. Looking forward to China.

 

Paul

[darthvadrouw]

I stopped by Shore Excursions and tried to explain to the young lady that two of the three sites were closed. She stated they posted updates on the TV and I should have seen them.

 

So it was my fault for not checking for updates? Not surprised by the response.

 

I pressed it saying we should get more than 40 minutes for a cultural stop in a 9 hour tour. Also mentioned the broken escalator and the driving in circles to find more shopping places so she said we will get some refund. Wait and see.

 

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Maybe try and contact Corporate. I had booked a post cruise shore excursion with Royal after my recent cruise on Allure, the tour missed some landmarks that were in the tour description and that I was looking forward to see. After calling Royal they refunded me completely. Now this was for a post cruise excursion and they were willing to look into it, it might be different for a 'normal' shore excursion, but I would give it a try anyway.

[travelgoddess1]

 

Getting close to the end of the cruise. If you are not bored stick around for a few more days. We will be in Beijing until Saturday morning and I managed to figure out how to get a VPN on my netbook and phone so I should still be able to post. Fun is not over yet, :D

 

I can't wait -- glad you are continuing the blog in China!

[TimeToGetNauti]

I started reading your review before my cruise. Since then I have gone and come back from my cruise. And you are still on your cruise. I just got all caught up. I am thoroughly enjoying all the cultural information and pictures you have shared. I would love to do this itinerary with someone who had an adventurous stomach as your posts are making me hungry but I wouldn't have the slightest idea what to order. Also,don't judge all of us from NJ as those you ran into. Some of us are really nice. :) Continue enjoying your vacation.

[dani negreanu]

Still here - following and enjoying :D

[PCWalton1]

Thank you everyone for the kind words. Don't worry, I know a lot of nice people from New Jersey. Onwards to China. We are in port and enjoying one last breakfast in Windjammer.

 

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[PCWalton1]

Welcome to sunny (I think) Tianjin.

 

 

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[suzyluvs2cruise]

Welcome to sunny (I think) Tianjin.

 

 

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On to the next great adventure! See you and Marie in Beijing.

 

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[PCWalton1]

Sitting in the Music Hall with the 7:30, 8:00 and 8:30 groups. The just announced they are stopping the process due to congestion at immigration but hoping to start again in 15 minutes.

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

Well we are off the ship and in our hotel in Beijing. Immigration was slightly delayed but we got to our guide around 10 AM so I am not complaining.

 

The drive to Beijing was long but uneventful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air filter in the car. Yes the air is pretty bad.

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

Once we got to Beijing it was time for lunch. Maggie our guide took us to a place that she calls Chinese fast food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

We then went on a tour of the Temple of Heaven.

 

The*Temple of Heaven* is an imperial complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central*Beijing. The complex was visited by the*Emperors*of the*Ming*and*Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to*Heaven*for good harvest. It has been regarded as a*Taoist*temple,*although Chinese*heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, predates Taoism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

 

 

 

 

Marie says Maggie is her long lost sister.

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

This tree is 600 years old and is supposed to bring health and happiness. That is why they are holding out their hands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

This final temple was where the emperor would go to pray for the crops. He would go three times a year, spring, fall and winter. The winter visit was to say thank you for the harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

We saw a lot of retired folk playing cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

We then went to a tea house where we tried six different teas. Marie bought a big tin of jasmine tea and a fruit tea good iced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

We're checked into our hotel, Sunworld Beijing. We rested a couple hours then walked down Wangfujing Street, a 700 year old commercial district and very busy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[PCWalton1]

 

 

 

 

 

We wandered down a side street that had various restaurants. We ended up at this one because the guy in the blue shirt was yelling for us to come in. At least I think he was cause he didn't speak a word of English

 

 

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