Sapphire Princess SE Asia

[babsjoy]

Would you happen to have Thuyronald's email address? The Nagasaki tour you describe is exactly what we'd like and perhaps our Oct. 26 CC group can arrange for it. Thanks. Babs

[babsjoy]

Do you have email address of guide for Shanghai or other ports? I'd prefer using a reliable guide instead of the Princess bus tours. Thanks. Babs

[Spikesgirl]

While we spend a little extra, I like the security of knowing we'll be back in time, especially since we didn't speak any of the languages (except

Japanese).

 

Charlie

[golferdude63]

Charlie, thank you for the info. We go from Beijing to Bangkok. I hope our hotel is nice - it was listed in Frommer's as being the no. 1 choice...now I'

m not sure what that means!! (Holiday Inn Central Plaza)We are booked at the LeMeridian Athene, or something like that in Bangkok Sounds like a lot of action in Beijing and I never met a store that I didn't like so I'm sure the shopping will be overwhelming. Should I save most of my shopping for Bangkok? Sorry ifdr you already answeered all of this. I'm new to c.c. and can't ever find my way back to where I wrote my questions. What is the deal - does everyone list all their cruises when they sign off? Thank you for your help.

Mona

[Bestbubba]

so much wonderful info on this board - Charlie you really are a star! We are on the Sapphire Beijing to Bangkok 26 Oct, we have a roll call if anyone is interested http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=191336

 

Sue

[Spikesgirl]

When we started looking at this cruise, some very kind people allowed me to pester them to death with all my questions and I swore that I would be the same way. There just doesn't seem to be a lot of info on this cruise, which is a shame because it rates as our best overall...well, the DH still loves Tahiti, so he's neck-and-neck on this. Any other questions or if you just want to talk to someone, e mail me at ckirby@deltacollege.edu. I'd love to hear from you after the trip as well.

 

Sail Safe,

 

Charlie

[kaisatsu]

If you like bargain shopping, you might try the Silk Market while you're in Beijing. It's just east of Tiananmen and actually just a block or so farther east than the downtown Friendship Store. (It's actually right at the north side of the Yong An Li subway stop on the Line 1.) It's famed for the first few floors of fake designer clothes and bags, but on the upper floors is a nice variety of silk products, jewelry, and trinkets. There are some upper-scale jewelry shops on the top floor, but I haven't ventured up there too often. The Friendship Store is nice and it does come with huge peace of mind, since I believe it's government regulated, but the prices usually shock me! For more typical crafts and souvenirs, I haven't noticed too much difference from the better quality products at the markets.

 

We've been living in Beijing, and I love shopping for gifts and trinkets at the markets, because I really enjoy a bargain! However, bargaining here is unlike anything I've experienced in the Caribbean or in India. They start at ridiculous prices, and in the end, you can easily get things for unbelievably low prices.

 

Since the starting prices (and the "posted" prices) at the popular markets are so outrageous, you really have to come up with your own price and just aim for that, no matter where they start. I've found that the best way to come up with a reasonable figure is to imagine a clearance price that I would be thrilled with back home. That's usually a pretty good target!

 

The other thing is to completely ignore the sales pitch. Faking or pirating tags and labels is its own industry in China, so whenever you're not sure about something, assume it's fake, synthetic, etc. One of my favorite memories was buying a cotton sweater last fall and in justifying her price, the stall girl eagerly showed me the "100% cashmere" label sewn inside. I just laughed, and she smiled and shrugged, giving me an "I had to try!" look.

 

The one exception to the "assume it's fake" rule is pearls. After seeing the sheer number of pearls sold for next-to-nothing at the markets (especially the Hongqiao Pearl Market, where there are huge bags filled with them), it's hard to believe they're real. But for every string of perfectly-round, perfectly-matched pearls in a jewelry shop, there are huge numbers of others that didn't make the cut. I've actually found that some of the other shapes are just as nice, if not more so, given the price. A single teardrop-shaped pearl on a lariat necklace can be had for as little as $2, and round pearls with one flat side make gorgeous pendants and earrings!

 

 

Anyhow, I could probably go on for ages, so I'll stop! But if anyone has questions about Beijing, of course I'll answer what I can! (My email here is chinameg@gmail.com) We're on the Sapphire from Beijing to Singapore in November, and I appreciate all the information about the other ports, so I'm more than happy to contribute what I know!

 

-Meg

[Spikesgirl]

I would have loved to have connected with you prior to our trip. We so enjoyed our time in Beijing and came back with a strong sense of 'people are people' than ever before. My favorite Beijing story was when a young lady tried to convinvce us that we should go with her so that we could see her very talented sister's artwork and then fund her way through art school. Riiiggghhht... Still it's those times that you look back upon and chuckle, along with when my DH and our guide went on a quest for Gatoraid (we had a member of the tour group become dehydrated). would be be opposed to changing a couple of emails? I'd love to just reminisce with you at ckirby@deltacollege.edu.

 

Charlie

[Mapu]

How available are t-shirts and pins? Where is the best (least expensive) place to purchase?

[Spikesgirl]

There are licensed stores all over Beijing - we picked our stuff up when we visited the Great Wall. There are also street vendors selling caps and other things, not so much tee shirts though. Make sure you check the shirts for sizes as they run really small there. Didn't see any shops at the airport though, which sort of surprised me.

 

Charlie

[kaisatsu]

The cheapest place to buy Olympic memorabilia is from vendors selling it on blankets along the street. Unfortunately, you never know where they'll be! The last few times I've been near Tiananmen, there have been people outside the subway station selling hats. I wouldn't be surprised to find a few people selling Olympics merchandise around some of the other big tourist attractions.

 

The most common thing you'll see is merchandise featuring the "Friendlies," the five mascots. Everyone in China seems to be in love with them, so you always see them on keychains, stuffed animals, etc.

[kaisatsu]

PS - There really isn't tipping in China. Around some of the tourist-heavy places (the airport, some major markets, etc), taxi drivers sometimes ask for it, but you should in no way feel pressured to give one. And even in nice restaurants, it's not the norm. If you use a credit card, especially in a hotel restaurant, it will often have a line to add a gratuity. Feel free to ignore it unless you really want to give something. We usually reserve tipping for extra service (i.e. the taxi driver who got us to the airport in record time during the holiday rush). Also, at most restaurants, rather than having a single waitress, more than one waitress work an area and all help take care of the various tables.

 

Basically, if you really want to tip, you can. But as strange as it feels sometimes, you don't have to. and no one (except a few greedy taxi drivers) will think anything about it.

[kaisatsu]

Olympic Merchandise: How available are t-shirts and pins? Where is the best (least expensive) place to purchase?

 

FYI -

I just heard that there's an official Olympics store in the Oriental Plaza

mall. Oriental Plaza is pretty centrally located: at the south end of Wangfujing (on the east side at ChangAnJie). The mall stretches from the Wangfujing stop to the DongDan stop on the subway Line 1.

[Mapu]

We just returned from Beijing after the October 14 sailing of the Sapphire Princess and land tour that included a Yangtze River cruise. Unofficial Olympic merchandise is everywhere with varying quality.

For those flying from Beijing back home don't worry about overweight luggage (if you are flying NWA). They even checked a third piece for each of us at no extra charge. I think (in Beijing) they are operating with "old" parameters. Do not pack any size liquids or gels in carry on luggage. Even 3 ounce size items in zip lock bags were taken.

[KLLund]

On Air Canada It cost us almost $150 to take home that last piece of luggage .. Glad you made it back safely gail

[Mapu]

On Air Canada It cost us almost $150 to take home that last piece of luggage .. Glad you made it back safely gail

 

I guess we were lucky. At least 2 of our four bags were overweight. They didn't weigh them but did put "heavy" tags on them. The fact that they also checked our carry on bags made it easier to get around the airport in Tokyo. I wonder if any other airlines (other than Northwest) ignored overweight baggage. That could be useful info for people returning from Beijing.

So when do you stop waking up at 4:30 AM?