Disembarkation Tour Hong Kong

[Reina del Mar]

Has anyone recently disembarked a cruise in Hong Kong, please ?

 

Our Emirates flight isn't till late afternoon and wondering if there might be a tour.

Read about checking luggage in at cruise port and exploring but would prefer some sort of tour where luggage comes with us. 

 

Any experience of this anyone, please?

 

Many thanks.

[Reina del Mar]

Anyone?

 

Thank.

[Expat Cruise]

You would need to book the Princess on Ship Tour, but your luggage does not stay with you. Or you could book a private car & driver, and have the luggage stay with you but that would not be cheap.  Or you could use the airport express MRT and check at the station. Airport Express- Kowloon Station. Your fourth choice rent a hotel room and put yourself in the room until you leave. I spend a lot of time in Hong Kong and what you want to do is not easy or low costs. 

 

[Philob]

How late in the afternoon is your flight?  After you get off the ship and go through immigration, how much time will you actually have?

 

Airlines recommend checking-in 2-3 hours before departure.  It's about a 40 minute drive (no traffic) to the airport from the Kowloon area.   Using the MTR Airport Express will get you to the airport in about 25 minutes and you can check-in with most airlines at its Hong Kong or Kowloon Stations, but you'll need an Airport Express ticket to do this.  

 

At HKG you'll go through immigration and security screening before getting to the airside of the terminal. 

[mking8288]

This is what we/I would do - disembark from the ship as early as you can, if you wish to go some sightseeing, very easy to do it on your own once your luggage are checked thru to your departing flight in-town & get your boarding passes issued.  Emirates, like most int'l airlines - I am pretty sure - participate in same day in-town check in & ticketing, your checked bags will be thru to the airport & transferred securely onto your flight - keep a personal/day bag with all your essentials, medications as you won't see the other bags until your destination airport. 

 

Join the taxi queue with luggage, go to the Kowloon Airport Express Station - fares w. tips should be under/about $120 HKD ($16 USD or $14 Euro) - free porter services are available.   You can buy your special/single-use/one-way w. limited-all day Octopus AE fare card (ask/talk to the "MTR" station staff, English is spoken - ask them for the best fare card to buy/use for your limited time there.  Or, go to the HK MTR website to look it up - it's complicated & info scattered, not as user-friendly as I think it can be. 

 

HK is relatively small, compact and the major/popular spots for first time visitors/tourists are mostly in the Tsim Sha Tsui/Kowloon area & across the Victoria Harbo(u)r via the inexpensive Star Ferry - the Airport Express train station on the HK island side is a 5 minutes walk from the SF pier.  Kowloon's AE station is in the West TST/Kowloon area near Jordan Road, reclaimed landfills that was once the YMT typoon harbour.  

 

From the Kowloon AE Station, there are free shuttle routes to the area hotels, including the TST area, one of the stop is near the Peninsula, Kowloon & YMCA hotels - where you can walk 2 blocks over to the waterfront promenade facing the harbour, the old railway Clock Tower, Star Ferry, etc.  Just be mindful of your time - probably not enough to go up to the Victoria Peak or do the Peak Tram, but enough to do a nice dim sum lunch.  

 

HK airport is very efficient, with in-town check in completed, plan to take the 25 to 30 minutes AE train ride to the airport at 90 minutes to 2 hours before scheduled departure, that's more than enough time to go thru exit immigration/border control, customs & airport security, then, ride the APM out to the terminal gates - it could be a long concourse walk.  Taxis are cheap & plentiful, always make sure the meter is working & being charged with the correct rate/schedule - in local currency/HKD only.  Additionally, MTR and AE stations, as well as the AE trains are all Wi-Fi equipped, free - use it to check/get update on your flight status & updated offline Google Maps. 

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Emirates, like most int'l airlines - I am pretty sure - participate in same day in-town check in & ticketing ...

 

Yes, Emirates does in-town check-in, although FWIW it's same-day check-in only: see http://www.mtr.com.hk/archive/en/services/itci.pdf (and also http://www.mtr.com.hk/en/customer/services/complom_checkin.html).

 

I'm not sure that any airlines can do ticketing at the Airport Express stations. In any event, the vast majority of passengers have no need of ticketing services because all they need to do is to check-in, collect their boarding passes and drop their bags.

[robbyd]

Check out all the activities around the cruise terminal. If your going to the Kai Tak Cruise terminal there's a Rooftop garden and located close to downtown. Just a thought, put your bags in a locker and just explore the area.

 

Rob

[sailco]

We did a debark tour with Celebrity a week before Christmas 2018. We rode the Peak Tram, stopped at Aberdeen and had time to browse at the Stanley Markets. Along the way we saw the beaches and elite areas of Repulse Bay. It was a very well organised and very thorough tour if Hong Kong Island and one of the best debark tours we've ever taken.

[Reina del Mar]

13 hours ago, sailco said:

We did a debark tour with Celebrity a week before Christmas 2018. We rode the Peak Tram, stopped at Aberdeen and had time to browse at the Stanley Markets. Along the way we saw the beaches and elite areas of Repulse Bay. It was a very well organised and very thorough tour if Hong Kong Island and one of the best debark tours we've ever taken.

 

Thanks...although we have visited Hong Kong  previously, we find it too hectic..so a tour would be good.

 

Do you recall what you did with your suitcases please ?

 

many thanks.

[sailco]

11 hours ago, Reina del Mar said:

 

Thanks...although we have visited Hong Kong  previously, we find it too hectic..so a tour would be good.

 

Do you recall what you did with your suitcases please ?

 

many thanks.

Suitcases and wheeled carry on luggage is always stored securely under the bus. You can also leave backpacks etc on the bus at the stops because the driver will stay with the locked bus just like a regular shore excursion. We often choose to do a ship's debark tour because we can have a bit of a look around knowing our luggage is secure and we won't have hours to hang around an airport or hotel lobby.

[Reina del Mar]

10 hours ago, sailco said:

Suitcases and wheeled carry on luggage is always stored securely under the bus. You can also leave backpacks etc on the bus at the stops because the driver will stay with the locked bus just like a regular shore excursion. We often choose to do a ship's debark tour because we can have a bit of a look around knowing our luggage is secure and we won't have hours to hang around an airport or hotel lobby.

 

10 hours ago, sailco said:

 

This is exactly what we would like to do.

Have done when arriving Fort Lauderdale for a late Miami flight.

 

But..

Please do you know if it is available with Princess when disembarking in Hong Kong ?

Nothing showing on shore excursions/ disembarkation tours on Personaliser..and only few weeks till travel.

 

Many thanks.

Edited February 23, 2019 by Reina del Mar

[sailco]

19 minutes ago, Reina del Mar said:

 

This is exactly what we would like to do.

Have done when arriving Fort Lauderdale for a late Miami flight.

 

But..

Please do you know if it is available with Princess when disembarking in Hong Kong ?

Nothing showing on shore excursions/ disembarkation tours on Personaliser..and only few weeks till travel.

 

Many thanks.

It seems unusual that nothing is showing on the website. I'd phone Princess and ask. We've sailed with Princess a lot and they always offer a debark to both city hotels and the airport. Hope it works out for you. Have a great cruise.

Edited February 23, 2019 by sailco

[Reina del Mar]

Thanks. I don't find Princess very forthcoming with information. Some agents know lots others, well.......

I suppose there might be a disembarkation tour offered once we get on board.

Not useful for forward planning but we saw this in Buenos Aires.

 

Thanks again.