“LIVE FROM” 2019 Oceania Insignia World Cruise, Jan. 11-July 11

[Senior Citizen]

Although the Chinese block Google, Facebook, etc., you can bypass that block if you are using certain VPNs.  

[bob brown]

Looks like our luck, weatherwise ran out...

we are currently at anchor at the pilot station in fog, waiting for the Shanghai harbormaster to reopen the port.

Captain said he will update us when that happens...

[Senior Citizen]

They often have fog issues.  Keeping my fingers crossed that the port is opened soon.

[bob brown]

Captain just announced port has reopened..

eta pilot station 2200, and alongside dock at 0530.🙂👍

[tvmovielover]

Mura, Your post about the Viking River China cruise brings back my memories of our Viking China cruise in 2007-all those great hotels because China was getting ready for the Olympics.  We had to walk as far as we could because my brother-in-law who had heart bypass surgery early in the year made it quite far up the harder side!  I wonder if they had an easier way then-it was not mentioned.  And aah those breakfasts were great!  That is Viking's best river cruise.

 

Still enjoying all the posts from this ATW cruise, keep them coming!

[bob brown]

They modified our original program due to the delay, and added some additional activities.

Amy entertained us in the Horizon Lounge with a “diva dive in” cabaret performance during happy hour...😎

[Go-Bucks!]

Bob and others....first, thank you SO much for explaining what's up!

 

We arrived back in Shanghai tonight (after 3 days in Beijing) at 11:00pm and found...NO SHIP!! Our Mandarin-only speaking driver didn't know what to do so he called our guide (for tomorrow) and they talked with the port guard who said the ship wasn't going to dock until tomorrow at 0500.  Well, what to do at 11:30pm??!  Luckily the guide found a hotel that had only 3 rooms left!  Exactly what we needed!  God is so good and faithful in uncertain times. So here we are...ready for bed in a Shanghai hotel instead of our cabin.

 

What made it worse is that none of the 6 of us had our cell phones on and our emails are blocked...but one in our group took her phone off airplane mode and found a voicemail from Oceania...but it just said the ship was delayed (no reason) and would arrive at midnight. But the port was totally abandoned and certainly didn't look like it was expecting a ship in 30 minutes! 

 

Sure hope the ship makes it in tomorrow or we'll have to find our own way to Hong Kong...

 

PLEASE, BOB....keep posting any and all updates because Cruise Critic is the ONLY site we can get on Chinese internet to know what's going on with the ship. Thanks a million!

 

P.S. Bob, you would have loved to have been on our trip from Beijing to Shanghai tonight...it was on the bullet train! Very quiet and smooth; took 4.5 hrs. We had lovely first class seats and a clean bathroom.  🙂

Edited April 9, 2019 by Go-Bucks!

[brownblonde]

5 hours ago, tvmovielover said:

Mura, Your post about the Viking River China cruise brings back my memories of our Viking China cruise in 2007-all those great hotels because China was getting ready for the Olympics.  We had to walk as far as we could because my brother-in-law who had heart bypass surgery early in the year made it quite far up the harder side!  I wonder if they had an easier way then-it was not mentioned.  And aah those breakfasts were great!  That is Viking's best river cruise.

 

Still enjoying all the posts from this ATW cruise, keep them coming!

 

3 hours ago, bob brown said:

They modified our original program due to the delay, and added some additional activities.

Amy entertained us in the Horizon Lounge with a “diva dive in” cabaret performance during happy hour...😎

Yes we did Viking in 2006 it was fantastic except for the long air ride round trip Philadelphia. Boat ride was great as well as the land portion. Loved the lazy Susan foods and always knew when watermelon was put on it the meal was over👍

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, Go-Bucks! said:

Sure hope the ship makes it in tomorrow or we'll have to find our own way to Hong Kong...

 

PLEASE, BOB....keep posting any and all updates because Cruise Critic is the ONLY site we can get on Chinese internet to know what's going on with the ship. Thanks a million!

 

It is now 3:20am in Shanghai.

On Marinetraffic Insignia is inside the river and proceeding at 10kts. 

[CamCruiser]

Go-Bucks!, what an amazing adventure you are having. A lifetime of memories and great stories to tell. We are enjoying following along with you. 

[Go-Bucks!]

17 hours ago, CamCruiser said:

Go-Bucks!, what an amazing adventure you are having. A lifetime of memories and great stories to tell. We are enjoying following along with you. 

 

Yes, it truly is!

[decafnights]

7 minutes ago, Go-Bucks! said:

Go-Bucks!, what an amazing adventure you are having. A lifetime of memories and great stories to tell. We are enjoying following along with you. 

 

Lisa, we board in May and thanks to you, Bob, and others, I feel like I "know" some of you.  I am enjoying seeing pictures of where I have been as well as places I hope to go. Thanks for all your effort and for providing lots of good information. Gail

[bob brown]

Alongside, Shanghai.🙂

[bob brown]

Tried posting photos, but I keep getting error message: “upload failed, contact us(?) for assistance “...

[Edgewater601]

I have a tour scheduled for a party of 6 on June 17 while in Bordeaux. It is to the St. Emilion/Pomerol region with wine tastings and a tour of the medieval town of St. Emilion.  The guide I have selected is very highly rated on trip advisor.

 

Unfortunately two of my passengers have had to cancel and I am trying to find replacements for them.  If you are interested, please e-mail me as soon as possible at luvourdogs at earthlink dot net.  We would love to have you join us.  It will be a fun day.

 

Thank you,

Connie

[Go-Bucks!]

On 4/9/2019 at 2:26 PM, bob brown said:

Tried posting photos, but I keep getting error message: “upload failed, contact us(?) for assistance “...

 

Has happened to me all day too. Something is preventing me from attaching pictures.

[mkcurran]

1 hour ago, Go-Bucks! said:

 

Has happened to me all day too. Something is preventing me from attaching pictures.

Hopefully it gets fixed soon. I'm missing all of the beautiful pictures.

[bob brown]

Tried again, failed again...anyone know what the problem is?

🤔

[Edgewater601]

Test Pilot Ryan, I have sent you an e-mail and I am not getting a response from you.  Please read and advise!

 

Thank you,

Connie

[buggins0402]

4 hours ago, bob brown said:

Tried again, failed again...anyone know what the problem is?

🤔

I went to the help section and it appears that someone on a HAL long cruise is having a similar problem.

 

 

[bob brown]

Internet just came back, was down since early AM...

[Go-Bucks!]

Shanghai: Long Hua temple, Chinatown, Yuyuan garden and bazaar, Temple of City God, Xintiandi area, Cantonese lunch, Flower & Bird market, financial district with skyscrapers. 

 

Our guide asked a random person to take a group photo of us....he turned out to be a TV news producer from Mexico with his production team....after taking our picture for us, they took their own of us and made a video of us saying "Hello, Mexico" in Mandarin! We really had a crowd around us!

 

Took the bullet train to Shanghai...4.5 hrs. The train station was a zoo but the train car was quiet and comfortable. 

 

Our ship balcony faced downtown Shanghai and we got a 4 hr long light and boat show for free! Beautiful!

 

 

[Not landlubbers]

Fabulous! Brings back wonderful memories of our adventure in China! Thank you!

 

[palakika]

Go-Bucks...Thanks for posting the lovely pics.  Glad you got the internet back.  Maybe mysterious forces a foot!  You cruisers are really having a fabulous trip and we are enjoying traveling along!

[bob brown]

Finally....it’s uploading photos again.

That was Amy doing a “Dive In Diva”  cabaret performance for us in Horizon Lounge during happy hour....an added event due to our delay reaching Shanghai.