Nautica Impressions Bangkok-Beijing 2006

[Texas Jim]

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The following is information shared from Pam who took this cruise in 2006. She has generously shared it with us for information and planning.

Note from Pam

Jim, we have done this cruise in 2006 and would be happy to answer any questions. Best you contact me directly via email as I have limited time and don’t check cruise critic often.

I truly appreciate your offer and look forward to your experiences and recommendations.

As starter, what were your top three highlights from the 2006 Bangkok to Beijing cruise? And on the other end, top three disappointments?

We never, ever take a ship’s excursion. We hired drivers in every port, generally. It is less expensive, we spent our time as we wished and met some intriguing natives. Having said that, it took a great deal of investigation to accomplish that. I hired a Hanoi firm for all 5 days in Vietnam. http://neworienttour.com/ They met us in each port with a new car, driver and university grad guide. It cost us about $700 for 2 of us for 5 days, including the MekongRiver boats trips and a private 40-50 passenger boat cruise in Ha Long Bay.

We found that everyone reacted differently to the sights, so our views should be taken with a grain of salt. We loved Bangkok, stayed at the Peninsula, which is a must-do no matter what your budget. It is quite beyond belief. Doing a long boat cruise through what I remember are called the klongs (check all my verbage) – the canals on which people live, is quite interesting. The Thai people are gracious and lovely. The day you have after boarding the ship should/could be planned well. There is not that much of interest near the port. Some people stayed in Bangkok and boarded the day of sailing – not a bad idea. We went to Pattaya, the red light capital of the world, went shopping (waste of time) but had a very nice lunch at Cabbages and Condoms – you must read about the owner and the name of the resort. It is lovely on the beach and the food is very Thai, good and cheap. Maybe a day at the beach would be the best bet. There is a zoo in the area, which we didn’t get to. There are a couple of other sights but they escape my memory also.

Ko Samui is what it is. We chose to avoid the touristy stuff and just went to a lovely resort for lunch and beach time. My husband had a Thai massage, which was very well done.

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City is not what we expected and almost thought it a waste of time. If you want to see the Cu Chi tunnels, people did enjoy that. We spent one day going down to the Mekong River/Delta, which we loved. We went to Hoi An out of the second port and wished that we had had more time there. It is a beautiful small place with charm, history and very good prices in the shops. Note: we found that the best prices for anything was at the early part of the trip – Thailand and Vietnam. I would suggest all purchases be made in those countries unless there is something that is unique to a particular country.

Some people did an overnight to Hanoi. We did the first (short) day with a cruise in Ha Long Bay, a place that was special to me. It was fabulous. Hanoi is really the city to see in Vietnam. However, we were quite content to spend just one day there. Be sure to visit the AmericanWarMuseum. In Vietnam insist that the guide take you to an authentic place to eat. They tend to take you to all the tourism restaurants, which are not so great. Having said that, the ones in Saigon and Mekong Delta were very nice, even though touristy. The sights on the highway to Hanoi are worth the trip alone. How about water buffalos being transported on a motor bike? Several pigs tied together? Rice paddies with people working behind water buffalo….shrines to the deceased in the middle of the rice paddies.

 

Taipei is a city that most dislike. However, they have the largest collection of Chinese porcelain, etc. in the world. If you are a history buff, you might enjoy it. We chose to stay in the port city, hired a driver to take us to a national park along the coast, north of the city, which was just fabulous, and had lunch back on board. Then we walked the port city, which we found fascinating. Again I had done significant research on this and that made our day.

We felt that Shanghai has lost its charm. It is a huge, overgrown city with new everything. We did like the Shanghai museum, which has one of the nicest museum shops ever. The ship is docked in an area that has a great view of the city at night but really not within walking distance of much. NOTE: EVERYWHERE YOU GO IN ASIA, GET THE DIRECTIONS TO YOUR DESTINATION WRITTEN IN THE LANGUAGE OF THAT COUNTRY AS WELL AS THE ADDRESS OF THE SHIP TO RETURN. Trust me, you can run into significant trouble in some places if you are an independent traveler. There is also a wonderful little museum in the basement of the big round iconic building across the river. It does the history of Shanghai in life sized dioramas. We found it wonderful and informative. Food prices in Shanghai are high. We had a $7 cup of tea. However, not every place is that bad. All in all, we cannot understand what all the fuss is about Shanghai. It is another huge newly developed city. We prefer something that accurately reflects the culture and history of a country….just our view of things.

Both ports in Japan were amazing. Do your research and you can easily get around on trams. The people will help you even if they don’t speak a word of English. They are wonderful. The food is great and the sights are marvelous. Detail is not needed as you can easily find out what you should see. If you want to run something by me, I would be happy to comment.

Most people did not like Seoul. We have a family contact there so had the day of a lifetime. You might want to check to see if they have a tourism program through the national tourism board that gives you a home visit or such. Seoul is pretty ugly, in general. Some people enjoyed going to the DMZ so maybe that would interest you.

Hong Kong needs little explanation. Unless you are an advocate of ship’s excursions, I surely wouldn’t bother here. You can use public transportation or your feet to get everywhere. The ship docks right by the star ferry station and is within walking distance of several hotels and a lot of shopping.

Be aware that in the port for Hanoi you are about 3 hours from the city. Also we had trouble, as did a lot of people, getting through the gates. They are very communist at that port and are overrun by graft. Our driver’s papers were confiscated and we went through all kinds of gyrations to get out of the port area.

It has been said that drivers picking up at the port for Beijing must have special clearance to get to the ship. We hired a driver through the Peninsula to assure we wouldn’t have a problem. It was still cheaper than the transport from the ship.

We loved Beijing, which surprised us. We had about 2 days there, which was far too little. If you go to the Great Wall, we would recommend that going to Badaling on the side with NO cable car or tram to the top is not the best sight. What we wanted to see was the Wall stretching before us for miles and miles to feel the scale of it. At Badaling (side where you walk up) you have virtually no feel of that. You see steps going up and that is it except for a stretch behind you that is less than impressive. I don’t know what to recommend but that place is not it if you are like minded. The SummerPalace is fab and we enjoyed it more than the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City has been spruced up for the Olympics and painted in bright, glossy colors with nary a hint of age. We expected to feel history but they are slowly eradicating the antique feel around China because they seem to think that old is not what tourists want to see. They were even taking up some of the piazza (what does one call a Chinese piazza?) stones and replacing them with new ones. What a shame! There is a marvelous Peking Duck restaurant that the Peninsula concierge recommended. Also there is a restaurant in the hutongs that we would highly recommend for atmosphere called Red Capital.

The south and east China seas are known to be among the roughest in the world. We felt it. However, we don’t get sick. Be aware.

The days at sea were well timed as this is an exhausting itinerary. If you are like us, you will be overwhelmed with all that you see.

You will go through 3 seasons – very, very hot and humid all the way to perhaps winter like temps. Pack accordingly.

What helpful tips can you share with us that are specifically related to this cruise?

I have tried to find it and can’t – there is a driver service in Bangkok run by a former Brit, that is stellar. We used it for transport to the ship and then for the day after we boarded. It was inexpensive and terrific. You will be able to find it online if you search for it. We highly recommend it.

We booked our stays at the Peninsula through a Virtuoso travel agent. You get automatic upgrades and a perk, such as free breakfast and a goody basket in your room. It also was cheaper than our friends who booked on their own and received no perks.

This is a trip itinerary that is among the very best – stellar. You are guaranteed to have a remarkable journey. BTW – the food aboard was the best we have had on Oceania.

Pam, I appreciate your generous offer and will share your responses with my fellow cruisers.

Best regards,

Jim

[Druke I]

I noted with interest your comment on the China Sea. Yes indeed, it can get rough.

 

Way back in 11-86, we were on the little Golden Odyssey (a 10,000 tonner) in the China Sea, trying to outrun the back end of a typhoon. We had green water over the bridge, screws out of the water, and the inclinometer was pegged several times. It was very rough for about 24 hrs!

 

Halsey's fleet lost three destroyers to capsizing, closing days of WW2, closer to Okinawa, in the China Sea.

 

We were on the China Sea again, 3-06, Regal Princess, Singapore to Beijing, and it was quite smooth that trip.

 

I was stationed on Okinawa 56/57/58, and the China Sea really acted up during typhoons.

[RJB]

We did this trip in Feb. 06 also. Would have to agree with most of your post with the exception of Hanoi. We took the overnight to Hanoi and loved it. There is just so much history there that we we thought it was one of the highlights of the whole trip. But the best was the 4 nights we spent in Beijing. This was the best of the :) many cruises that we have taken. Hope all who are going next year agree with us.