China and Japan cruise?

[dr alaok]

:confused:I'm in the beginning stages of planning for a 2019 trip. Our main priority is going to China. My first thought was doing a land tour, then I thought maybe a river cruise and after more thought I am thinking maybe an ocean cruise would be best. Additionally I got to thinking maybe it would be a good time to include Japan.

 

I've tried researching this but can't seem to find any good info on which companies would serve me best. Before talking to my travel agent I would like to narrow things down a bit.

 

Anyone out there that has done both China and Japan either as land, river cruise or ocean cruise, or anyone else that could provide some direction to my problem?

 

Thanks.

[Floridiana]

China: A land trip is best. Ours included a 3 day Yangtze river cruise and a day cruise on the Li River.

We also did an ocean cruise from Hongkong to Osaka with Shanghai (excellent!), Xiamen (soso), Dalian (ok because we got to visit a family), Tianjin (port for Beijing). I would not do this again. Except for Hong Kong and Shanghai, the other ports are les interesting than most parts of inland China. Beijing is far from the port.

 

Japan: On the same ocean cruise we continued to Japan. With its extensive coast line, Japan is a good candidate to visit with a cruise ship. We added a 2 week land trip to our ocean cruise. Both were good. We will return to Japan by ship and on land trip.

 

Japan and China are completely different countries, much more different than western European countries are from each other. Our 4 week land trip in China was with Chinafocus, excellent small tour groups organizer. Our group had 8 US members. The ocean cruise was with Ponant. The Japan landtrip was with UniqueJapan, another excellent small tour company. We were 14 from Canada, the US, Ireland and Argentina.

 

On the landtrips, we used a bus rented by the organizer and 2 trains in China. In Japan, we also used a rented bus and additional public transportation together with our Japanese tour leader. I can recommend both companies fully and will use UniqeJapan again on our next landtrip.

 

Ponant is a small luxurious cruise company with a marketing focus on France and Australia. They often have unique itineraries. In the meantime, there are more cruise ships going around Japan. We'll use a Holland America ship next with 8 Japanese ports and in 2019, we'll be on an Azamara ship in Japanese waters. You can also look at Princess and several luxury lines with a focus on Japan. If we were younger, I would probably only do the landtrips.

[diane.in.ny]

Land for China. Absolutely.

 

We used Viking River cruises, taking the longest trip they offered at the time. If memory serves me correctly, we had a week on the land and 8 nights on the river.

[JMorris271]

We took a 13 day land cruise in China with Viking and loved it. This also include 4 nights in nicer hotels in Beijing, Xian and Shanghi.

In 2019 we are booked with Viking again on an ocean cruise leaving from Tokyo with 5 port calls in Japan and ending in Hong Kong. This will also have one stop in South Korea.

Come on 2019!

[Pudgesmom]

Land without a doubt for China. The Yangtzee River is really not as interesting as many other parts of the country. Many tour groups already owned the boats after the dam was finished and continued to cruise it due to investment in assets. Look for a land tour that does not include the river.

 

I agree Japan is doable by sea cruise.

[new_cruiser]

China is big with lots to see. We did a 3-week trip with Intrepid Travel - they do small group trips and it was a great trip.

 

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[Hlitner]

We have done a few cruises to China (including a River cruise on the Yangtze) and also cruised to Japan. China is a huge country with many of its highlights located far from cruise ports. We think the best way to visit China is on an extended land trip although its possible to combine a cruise with a pre or post cruise land vacation.

 

As to Japan, there are now some excellent cruise itineraries that include many Japanese ports. Both Princess and HAL routinely have interesting Far Eastern itineraries so you might want to look at these lines. For example, HAL's Westerdam does an April 2020 cruise that calls at 14 ports in Japan.

 

Hank

[dr alaok]

Thanks to everyone for your comments.

 

Looks as if we will not include Japan into our itinerary next year as China has enough to see. Also will do China by land as I have found most people recommend the land tours. We have also narrowed it down to April or May 2019.

 

Anyway I do have one question regarding bathrooms in China. I have read elsewhere that bathrooms in China are horrible. I'm hoping that bathrooms being horrible is an exaggeration but could someone comment on the state of the bathrooms in hotel's and public restrooms.

 

Thanks.

[Shorex]

Absolutely depends upon where you are. We have stayed in very nice hotels with large, elegant marble bathrooms. However, out in the country you may encounter a hole in the concrete where you place your feet and "arrange" yourself. Provide your own tp. Bathrooms in airports and some other places will typically have two or three "western" stalls. Experiencing the culture as it is, is the reason you go to China, right?

[Floridiana]

All throughout the 4 weeks in China, we had hotels with western bathrooms, ranging from very fancy to serviceable in the 'outback' like you get in lower cost American motels. Public restrooms and those in restaurants were 'hole in the ground' ranging from very clean to 'do I really have to go'? They have a porcelain basin with a foot rest. More often than not, the public western toilet was labeled handicapped and used as storage space for cleaning supplies.

 

Always bring your own toilet paper when you are out and about. Also bring WetOnes antibacterial wipes for your hands, they are better than gel because they are small towelettes.

 

If you can't handle the 'hole in the ground' approach, many parts of the world are not accessible to you.