Shore Tours Costa Asia

[Carlz]

Hi everyone,

 

I've cruised several times from Australia and each time I've noticed that wherever you dock there are always plenty of independent tour operators vying for your affections!;) They usually do very similar tours as offered on the ships- but for a fraction of the cost.

 

(Buyer beware though if you are late on an independent tour the ship will not wait for you!)

 

I was wondering if I will experience the same on my cruise around Asia?

(Hong Kong, Keelung, Naha, Kobe, Tokyo, Cheju and Tianjin/Beijing)

 

I've read plenty of reviews- but most seem to either have done a Costa tour, leg it on their own or have a pre-arranged guide waiting.

 

Would appreciate any advice you have!

 

Cheers,

Carla:)

[Carlz]

hmmm maybe I should have written something about my X1 package and I might have got an answer:rolleyes:

[Mandyc]

We have just returned from a similar cruise on Costa Classica. We did not do any of the Costa shore excursions (too expensive).

 

We mainly used taxis except in Tokyo where we used the public transport system which was quite difficult at first but proved to be very efficient once we had got the hang of it!!!

 

I would say that Cheng Ju was very difficult. It resulted in about five taxi drivers trying to work out where we wanted to go but in the end we just let him take us where he wanted to!! We ended up going to most of the places they went to on the ship's excursions and had a really good day.

 

I wasrn't aware of any tour companies being on the quayside but then again we weren't really looking for them.

 

Are you going to Taiwan? In Keelung there was a man in charge of the taxis who had a book with all the tourist sites listed in English. You told him which ones you wanted to go to by pointing. He told you how much it would cost and then instructed the taxi driver. It worked really well and we had another great day although the traffic was a bit frantic in Taipei.

 

If you have any specific questions please ask and I will do my best to help.

[j2ink]

Hi Mandyc,

 

I think you are one of the first to complete this cruise itinerary with Costa. Carla and I are both booked with our families on this cruise with the Classica beginning June 20.

 

What was your impression of the ship and the trip?

 

I was not going to book a tour anywhere, except possibly Keeling, because our stop there is only seven hours. I was a little worried about taking a taxi into Taipei and not getting back on time.

 

Did you encounter anything unusual that may be useful for us to know ahead of time?

 

Did you happen to stay in Beijing after the cruise ended? If so, how did you get into the city with all your luggage? I am thinking about taking the bullet train, but we have quite a bit of luggage.

 

Joe

[Mandyc]

Our itinerary was slightly different. We sailed from Hong Kong and returned to Hong Kong.

 

We have cruised before but on ships with mainly Brits so having all announcements in four languages was bit irritating (especially the Bingo!!).

 

We were on deck five and the cabins were a bit worn but were a good size and were very clean. Our cabin was exceptionally quiet. One person we spoke to was in the better cabins on deck seven but was underneath the theatre and they were rehearsing the shows between 10 and midnight which disturbed them (it would not have disturbed us as we were still out and about!)

 

We thought the food was fine although I know a number of people were disappointed. If you left anything they always offered to get you something else. A man on the table next to us had quite a good time sending things back. He had steak everynight except the night it was on the menu and then he had something else. He always had a plate of chips and a separate dish of veggies.

 

 

Lunch in the Alfresco Cafe was buffet and there was always a couple of soups, a hot roast on a carvery, beefburgers, hot dogs, a servery with a chef doing two fresh pastas together with a baked pasta, a chef doing two chinese dishes together with noodles and rice, two meat dishes and a hot fish together with veggies. Cooked meats and many different salads, cheese, beautiful fresh bread, sweets to die for, two flavours of ice cream, and two chefs chopping up fresh pineapple, mango etc - always a queue for this. If you could not find anything to suit you in that lot you must be a very fussy eater.

 

You could also be served lunch in the restaurant if you wanted but we did not do so.

 

I did like the way they altered and extended the opening hours of the food services to fit it in with the ports you were visiting. One day when we had to be back on board for 2.00 pm they served lunch until 4.00 pm.

 

When we were in port overnight ie Kobe, Tokyo and Hong Kong they did an open sitting in the Restaurant.

 

We were in Keelung from 1.00 pm until midnight and we had the taxi for six hours although and that was plenty of time to go up the 101 building, visit the Martyrs Shrine, Confuscious Temple, Presidents Palace Grand Hotel etc. We intended to return to the ship and freshen up and then go into Keelung to eat but it was raining really heavily so we just ate on the ship.

 

I hope I have not gone on too long but if there is anything else I can help you with please ask.

 

PS we had the X1 package!!!

[Mandyc]

Joe

 

Are you sailing from Hong Kong and finishing in Beijing? I would expect a fair number of Chinese on the boat because the staff were saying the boat had been chartered by a Chinese company and there was a number of new Chinese staff boarding in Hong Kong when we disembarked last week.

 

Mandy

[j2ink]

Hi Mandy,

 

Yes, we are beginning in Hong Kong and ending in Beijing. I was thinking that the ship probably was chartered for one or two cycles, because there were missing dates when I was trying to book my cruise. I hope everything is back to normal for the June 20 cruise.

 

We also booked the X-1 package. How was the quality of the wine and beer? (Do you recall the brand of beer and type of wine. Was the wine dry?) That was the thing I was most concerned about when deciding whether to buy it. I've been on several Costa cruises in the past, but I've never bought this package before, and I believe the brands of beverages vary from ship to ship.

 

The open seating in the dining room when the ship is in port overnight is good news/bad news for us. We hate the NCL open seating concept, but it will allow us to return to the ship later if we are busy on shore.

 

Approximately what was the mix of nationalities on this itinerary? On our most recent Costa cruise in Europe, there were only about 35 English-speaking passengers out of about 2,100. I believe the vast majority of the passengers were Italian and French.

 

Thanks for the information,

Joe

[Mandyc]

Joe

 

Sorry for the delay in replying been laid up with post cruise 'flue.

 

The X1 package was very good for us. I am not a great wine expert and I have tasted better but it was fine. Both the red and white were dry - Italian oviously. As the cheapest bottle on the menu was, I think, 19 euros it was good value for us.

 

I am note sure about the beer but my husband seem to enjoy it!!

 

There were four of us and we all bought the package although we only showed one card once.

 

At dinner in the evening there were always two beers, two bottles of water and a bottle of wine on the table. We always had another bottle of wine and one or two occassions had three. What was left was taken to the bar where the waiters just bought us glasses. We also had extra bottles of water which we took to the cabin.

 

At lunch time in the buffest the wine was served by the glass but if it was near to closing time the waitress would ask if we wanted to "double up".

 

I think there was only one day when we did not have anything off the X1 package.

 

English speakers were in the majority then I think Germans. There were a fair number of Italians, many of whom seemed to be related to the crew or the entertainers. Also there were a number of French speakers.

 

There were a small number of Chinese people from Hong Kong. We docked in Hong Kong on the Thursday morning but did not finish our cruise until the Saturday. As we were going off the boat on Thursday morning we were talking to a Chinese lady who had her case with her. I asked if she was leaving the ship and she said she lived in Hong Kong and was just taking her washing home and would be back for lunch!!

[j2ink]

Hi Mandy,

 

Thanks for the additional information. I'm glad to hear that the drinks served with the X-1 cards on the Classica were not being rationed, and what they served was decent.

 

The passenger mix is a surprise to me. I've been on four previous Costa cruises, and the English-speaking passengers were always a tiny minority.

 

I hope you are feeling better soon, but at least it didn't happen when you were on the ship! We only have a couple of more days until we leave for Hong Kong, so we're busy with all the last minute packing.

 

Joe

[Mandyc]

Hi Joe

 

Feeling much better now.

 

Just want to say have a wonderful trip and I look forward to hearing all about it on your return.

 

I will be interested to know what your think of Beijing. I have visted for work on a number of occassions and think I have done all the tourist bits. I believe it has gone quite expensive since the Olympics although that might be to do with the weakness of stirling as well.

 

Anyway get back to your packing.

 

Mandy