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Best of Japan cruise Spectrum Of The Seas October 1 - 8 2019 , a new experience.


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Day 3Day 6  , sea day or the day I got tired fighting the "fastest internet in the seas". 

Woke up much too early for the  a sea day tried to do some work overt the internet just to find once more it's not working. I know it can be all due to coverage but if you know your coverage is bad at this area and when it is connected you provide 300-600 KB how dare you ask for 20$ per day ?

Oh well it saved me from joining several meetings, I watch the morning show instead , on the morning show they speak English and then translate it to Mandrin , but it always seems they say one sentence in English and translate it to 50 sentence in Mandarin , even the Captain lough on this subject in the Captain corner. Here is a picture of Fanf the cruise director (and the only Mandarin speaking CD in RCL per him , well it's a good job security ? ) and the activity director that I think named Rafael or Bonnie , maybe I missed or maybe she change it every second day , not sure. 

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I think both are doing good job , it's not easy to run a bilingual operation and they try very hard. By the way if you asked yourselves , not all the cruise employee require to know Mandarin , actually most of them do not. You see the regular mix from all around the world (it's interesting to write a post one time on how the jobs divided between employee from certain countries). 

we went to 270 for breakfast which we enjoyed while watching the Silk team practice (it's a new team) . We went to deck 15 to watch the Isky and the flowrider

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(from the Isky you have very nice view over the flowrider. The flowrider allow both standing and non standing boards during the time it's open , lines were normal

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Our next stop was to see if we can catch a ride in the bumping cars lines were too long , one of the cars was taken by the CD and he orgnized a compition between everyone , getting points by hitting him.

20191006_095951-1008x756.thumb.jpg.1db6619480d5e934652b1570434bf9c6.jpgNext we went to check the SkyPad VR experience. Firstlet me just say it better to do this at the beginning of the cruise as they wight you before you can ride, second glad to say I did not gain weight ? . The experience is nice , the VR did not cost me any seasick feeling or anything like that , the harness are not that comfortable on certain areas (one very specific ). I might try it again with different pants. 

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We took light lunch as we had big dinner plans. We took some nap , some ship tour , our favorite cafe Leafs and beans to drink another cheese tea and start to organize for dinner. Dinner was in Wonderland which I booked on the cruise planner . We wanted to taste something different , we both eat in the regular Wonderland before and quite enjoyed it. Here the consept is different. It's a tasting menu which you can not choose what and how much to eat. The menu comes with the regular magic presentation 

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So we started with the Geoduck which was first time for me , it was interesting.

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Second was the Avocado role that came smoked (like in wonderland eggs) this was very good.

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The next one was the leafs salads which was escorted with son peanut souces.

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Following by cuttlefish soup , it was strange black soup. 

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We got the lobster , which was good lobster over a risotto 

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The next sample was a filet which came with abalone souce. It was delicious and we were sad it finished.

We got the duck which came with do it yourself tacos , we found it very good.

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Last was the Chinese Noodles which I could skip

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For dessert we got ice cream , it was good but not special.

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All in all its was good , it was rushed and it was something to try , will I go again , not so sure 

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3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Sorry to say that the Asian Wonderland doesn’t look any more appetizing than the western Wonderland. ??

It's definitely not for everyone.. Although I like food done with a twist, give me a classic dish done well. I think chefs try to get too cute sometimes, trying to reinvent the wheel.

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16 hours ago, Traveler said:

 

(from the Isky you have very nice view over the flowrider. The flowrider allow both standing and non standing boards during the time it's open , lines were normal

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Ah Its A Mixed Session. I Strongly Dislike Them Due To The Line Bing To Long Way To Long For Stand Up. Plus Bogie Rider Get Way More Time Then Us Stand Up Riders.

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Day 7 - sea day and see day.

We all know the problem on a 7 day cruise is the 7 day, I think they should always do it X +1 until we say enough is enough or we will become super Mario.  We again woke up up early and eat breakfast at 270 , the buffet breakfast is an experience I can leave without. We went to the Captain correner which always includes interesting information again it was done in English follow by Mandarin translation . The Captain explain about the Typhoon and why he decided to go passing near it . It was only category 1 and no were to hide from it , the port also not allowing to have the ship staying at port so nothing really could have been done. We also got explanation about how the Chinese environment  lows are very strict , for example the ship is not allowed to dump any treated water while entering the Shanghai channel or in port so they need to store it. Many questions were asked and the 270 was quite full during this event. 

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We went to check the Seaplex for the bumping cars but lines were big so we just relaxed at the Solarium for a while On the way back we notice the mobile piano, the ship has almost everything the same as other ships but still different.

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For lunch we went to the Silver dining room which offered sea food buffet, it had chilled lobster salads , some ceviche and fried shrimps which were very good. 

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Even the red velvet cake is back

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Past through the Casino which was packed so we did not stayed too long and went to Schooner bar to listen to some melodies. As we did not sleep that good we took some nap , hey that's what you have sea days for, not ? It was time to try the Fencing again so we went to the SeaPlex , no lines we just join few people. First they give you some protect gear and you suit up. They start by teaching you the basic move (ready, stop , move forward , move backwards and attack ) then we practice them first without the swords and then with swords against electronic board.

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The last step is to practice against each other. I was against my spouse , now the suites dose not contain sensors so it's hard to track score but I am quite sure I won and lost at the same time. You see I was blamed for taking it too seriously. Oh well after years of practicing by watching movies like "The three musketeers",  Star wars and game of thrones (maybe not the last one as I did not try to decapitated her ? ) what you can expect ? I must say it was very intensive practice. Post the fencing lession we finally got to the bumping cars as everyone was eating dinner.

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Some night time view of the ship

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My spouse had to rest as she felt weak , so we went to the room to enjoy the balcony. As we already mentioned missed dinner we ordered in , must say it was not bad at all. Believe it or not at our 12 cruise it was our first time for using room service.

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We went to see for the last time the let it be AC/DC , here you can see two new fans 

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Back at the room , what you see here is not lights are on the shore but lines of ships waiting to get to Shanghai port.

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Very busy route. Well , it's the last day so we packed and called it off early . 

 

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Day 8 - every good thing must come to its end .

We planned for 5 PM flight (that was the cheapest time slot when I booked it) since we had to kill few hours I booked a shore excursion to take us to Shanghai to some panoramic tour with drop at the airport. a day before I got a call telling me that due of lack of participate the tour was canceled.
We had a disembarkation time of 8:30 am , so I set a clock for 7 , this time the alarm was working well , we start to get organized and I went down to 270 to bring something to eat , I saw the lines of the self disembarkation it was very very long and went all the way from one end of the ship to the other , I guess many choose to do self disembarkation and I was glad we chosen not to do so this time. Came back to the room and got a call from the photo gallery to come and pick our pictures , I forgot to do it yesterday so it was quite nice of them to give me the chance to collect them on the last day.
we finish our last packing and went to our meeting point which was the music hall. Apparently it was the meeting point of all the international guest , at 8:35 they took us out and let us disembark. It was quite quick , we  pass the immigration , pick our suitcases and pass the custom , took something like 15 minutes. I must say everything was well organized. We went out from the terminal to find a taxi , there was one guy who tried to convince us to come with him as he like Chinese Uber, we refused and continued to the taxi stand which is quite a walk from the terminal. after short line we were on a taxi that took us to the airport. it was almost one hour ride and cost something like 35 $. We had to wait for the counters to be opened , once they were I asked them if its possible to catch the earlier flight  and what do you know they had open seat. We paid 50$ for the change and even got the emergency exit which was better seat from our original flight. We went to the China  Air lounge which serves all the star alliance , we eat lunch and went to catch our 5 hours Singapore airline flight. Flight went fast , they have very good service (full alcohol option, private screens and not bad food , although we were full from the food at the lounge). The good think was that although its just day 8 for us its still the middle of vacation , we landed , got our suitcases and after 20 minutes ride we got to our new home for the next 3 days . Here are some pictures from our room on the 37 floor and yes its has a balcony , crazy.

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I will add some summary about the ship in the coming few days , for now going to the pool. 

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 And a day view20191009_102542-1008x756.thumb.jpg.3eaaf700066aa3bdf03562194b50aecd.jpg

Oh , this one was waiting for us in the room , just to let us feel we still on a cruise

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Let me know if you want me to share more information and pictures from Singapore although it's not a cruise already

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Day 9 Singapore.

I have been many time in this small city state, most the on business trip and I learned to like this crazy combination that exist here. It's a very orgnized country very clean and most of the time . There any attractions which are very close by , the only problem is the weather which is always warm and can be very expensive. We checked in to night before to the Marina Bay sands which is attraction by itself we got a wonderful room with excellent view on the gardens and the bay which I shared yesterday but here some more pics.

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Another member to the family

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It's not trees what you see in the window but some plants in the balcony.

We eat branch in one of the resturants and went to visit the garden by the bay. It's a very large gardens which are free to enter , there three things that requires admission : the skyway between the the trees , the cloud dome and the flower dome 

The path from the hotel to the gardens.

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The tree structures and the , the yellow line is the skyway which you can walk between the trees

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The skyway

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We visit the gardens and went to the flower dome , the best thing is that they have a good air conditioning inside , it contains flower from around the world. 

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Our next stop was the second dome ( we bought combined ticket) which is just near the first one , this is the cloud dome which contains a rain forest , not all the plants there are real but many are , very impressive , it contains also a small museum and a theater. If you choose to go to only one dome go to this one

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After the visit we went back to the hotel for some pool time and took the subway to one of the center to buy some fruits in the supermarket , ear very late lunch in the food court and visit the lucky fountain.

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We went back to the hotel , it was already dark so we returned to the gardens which are illuminated and looks total different. Evey hour they also have a light show with music , very recommended.

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We took the elevator to the skyway which you need to secure time slot for. It's very beautiful view from up there but not recommend for people that fear from heights. 

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We have one more day here before going to Thailand to continue our vacation .

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2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I guess you need to book Wonder now. ?

I had hopes wonder will do as Harmony and Symphony Europe first for few month but it seems it will not happen , so or I will try to book one of its first cruise , but that will depends on the routes as I am not sure we will allow to do some of the ports on the way. Or to fly again to Shanghai ?  , I wonder when they will open wonder for booking.

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On 10/10/2019 at 3:54 AM, Traveler said:

We have one more day here before going to Thailand to continue our vacation .

Singapore is so awesome!  I too go there for work.  I'm always very happy when I learn I need to work on a project there.  So much excellent food!  ?  Have you been to the Botanic Garden?  Now I want a big plate of chili crab or Hainese chicken rice.  ?

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Thanks for sharing, we did Spectrum from Dubai to Singapore in May and absolutely loved the ship, it has kicked off our new addition with cruising as we have booked two additional since we have gotten back(with more in consideration) and with Japan is one of our favourite places to visit so with it thrown in it was great reading your experience. 

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18 hours ago, mk-ultra said:

Singapore is so awesome!  I too go there for work.  I'm always very happy when I learn I need to work on a project there.  So much excellent food!  ?  Have you been to the Botanic Garden?  Now I want a big plate of chili crab or Hainese chicken rice.  ?

I went several times to the Botanic garden , love them but it was too hot this time so we just went to the gardens by the bay. Love the chili crab and the rice chicken which I usually eat at China town.

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Do you think the drinks package discount was a one off for Golden Week or maybe the anniversary? My friends booked 2 packages for the regular price and now are unsure, if they should cancel and rebuy onboard. Usually, it is said to pre-pay the drinks packages, not getting them on board.

Also, were there any discounts for the Refreshment Drinks package and the soda package?

Did your Junior Suite only have one bathroom? We are also booked in a Silver Spa Junior Suite at the back of the ship and the floor layout as well as the room description say that there is a separate toilet room and the bathroom with a bathtub and a shower cabin.

Marc

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51 minutes ago, Brandis said:

Do you think the drinks package discount was a one off for Golden Week or maybe the anniversary? My friends booked 2 packages for the regular price and now are unsure, if they should cancel and rebuy onboard. Usually, it is said to pre-pay the drinks packages, not getting them on board.

Also, were there any discounts for the Refreshment Drinks package and the soda package?

Did your Junior Suite only have one bathroom? We are also booked in a Silver Spa Junior Suite at the back of the ship and the floor layout as well as the room description say that there is a separate toilet room and the bathroom with a bathtub and a shower cabin.

Marc

I think the discount was due to the fact that the locals almost fo not drink anything beside beers and Sodas. That's why they also came out with the 12 drinking card for 68$ at day 4. There was also discount on the refreshment package , do not remember how much but I think it was less dramatic. As always no  guarantee they will offer it again. Take into account you will need to go to the bars for drinks , not many bar waitress are roaming around. My JS was with one bathroom , but it called J1 Silver JS with big balcony (13722) , SPA was not part of the name. 

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Thanks for the information. I guess I will just preorder the Refreshment package to be on the safe side. I expect to mostly use it in the morning for fresh squeezed OJ (or is that free of charge at the Silver Dining place?) And I don't mean the concentrate stuff... ? 

And in the Bionic bar of course, love to mix new creations.

Our Junior Suite is a cat. J4

Did they mention anything on board that a lot of Non-Chinese passengers missed the boat due to not have been let into the country by chinese immigration? There was an article in our local newspaper that for the cruise after yours around 100 people had been denied access into China because they were planning on using the 144h Transit rule, where no visa is needed. I was actually planning on doing the same. Then, this evening, RCL sent a mail saying that China currently is being very restrictive with the visa exemption because of a trade show taking place soon. So in the morning, I will have to run out to the chinese visa application center and hope they will process it in time. Should be fine, they say it usually takes 4 work days, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

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Guess I need to do the summary ,

 

The ship

Spectrum of the seas is a wonderful ship with many of the things people love about the Q class (270 , music hall) + some extras as laser Tag and the new coffee shops. The ship as a feeling of a big ship , not crowded at all (beside the WJ) 

Entertainment:

Royal did a good job here , although due to the language difference the shows are more on the physical side   (Dancing , acrobats) and singing still they are very nice , Show girls was very good , the home production was nice , the headliner shows were funny, we liked less the Silk Road. We loved the "let it be AC/DC"

Activities 

You will find all the activities you have on other ships , maybe less trivia (although it exist) but all the rest are more and less there , including the quest , lover and marriage  and other game shows , the only thing that I did not so was the Bingo , but I Am not really missing it. Just take into consideration that games can take longer as every thing is being translated to Mandarin, But I Guess its the same when you take a ship from ports like Porto Rico or even Barcelona. 

Parties :

There was the balloons dropping party , the 70 party , the silent party (which was  very funny) and wild west party. 

Bars and bar services  

There were many bars , but almost no one was seating in the bars , service was OK but you never so roaming bar waiters , apparently most of the people that board in Shanghai do not drink or they drink beer and Sodas. The good think is the cost of the drinking package on board , 49$ for the first person and 50% for the second , also drinking card came on day 4 for 12 drinks at the cost of 68$ !. I did not seen any alcohol missing on board but did not try everything.
The issue is that most of the bars a closed early (Schonner  bar close at midnight for example) beside the Casino Bar and the Music hall .

Port of calls

Shanghai - Loved the city , very clean very modern in most of the places, very cheep and also interesting , most of the street names and signs in the main area are also in English , transportation is easy and even if you went into a line without English sign its easy to remember the symbol of your last station/direction. I wish I added few more days there. Port is around 40 minutes from the city center.

Osaka -  Maybe since we had a problem with our shore excursion or for some other reason we thought its not the best port , you have few places to visit unless you want to drive extra time. The plus is that you got a mall and many restaurants just adjust to the port 

Kobe - nice port with easy transportation , a good port to go and roam a typical Japanese city , test local foods and markets.

Tokyo (Yokohama)-  port is 20-30 minutes drive, Tokyo is amazing and we felt we could have spent more time there , i would skip any excursion which brings you to the imperial palace as you can not even get near the palace so its quite a waste of time, Go to the center were the big temple is and just walk around. amazing city.  

Embarkation / disembarkation

This was super easy, you come to the port , drop your luggage and go to the international passenger line (which also shared with Platinum + line) , quick security like any other port  , quick check in , immigration which can take 10 -15 minutes and that is it , all the signs are also in English , very easy to find things. Disembarkation was the same , you go out of the ship , pass immigration , collect your suitcases and pass via custom , the only thing you should now is the distance to the taxi lines , its quite far 8-10 minutes walk.

Food 

You will find all of the regular menus in the MDR (maybe they change it after people complain) you get the regular menu and the Chinese menu  which you can choose from. in the WJ  you can find some Western food , Chinese food and many time lots of Indian food , always there is something. Silver dining room  - this is exactly like Solarium bistro at night , we did not eat there too many dinners as the main dish are always the same,
Service in the MDR was very very good , the best we ever had so far , the waiters did not let our wine glasses to get empty and food came very fast. Pleas mind , in general in all the restaurants they try to bring you the food very very fast , some will say too fast , I guess this is the request of most of the passenger. No issue to find Western food , but I must agree with most of the comments that I read , the Chinese food is not what we know as Chinese food but more I will say , simple , or in other words , real Chinese food.

Internet 

This was very problematic, it worked only 75% of the time and when it worked it was very slow and blocked access to the site.

Atmosphere 

I did not encounter any strange behavior or cutting in lines , yes , on rush time you might wait for the elevators and they will be crowded , more than other ships  , not sure. People in general were nice and try to have fun. take into consideration the ship going to sleep quite early. 

 

I must say , it was a good idea to add many vacation days after the cruise , it did not felt as real last day as we knew we had lots of more interesting things to do so we loved Singapore after and also Thailand , although I had to cut few days since been asked to fly to a business meeting in the country that serves french fries with gravy and cheese and proud of it. So will not have time to fix my clock , as just after this business trip will need to go to Italy again , and not for cruise. 

Next cruise for know is April 11 days Med , Jewel of the seas .

 

  

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@Traveler, I'm curious if you had a standard visa for entry into China / Shanghai, or if you were relying on the 144-hour visa waiver? Seems you had a much smoother experience from airport to hotel before your cruise, unlike the passengers on that subsequent Quantum cruise who got detained by customs when they thought they were covered under that 144-hour waiver.

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If I remember correctly, Traveller is from Israel. Israel is not included in the list of countries which can use the 144 hour visa waiver program.

Though I heard from someone currently onboard Spectrum who was in line for the 144 hour visa exemption and got through fine. According to him, it was mostly people who had stamps from Turkey or some arabian countries who were refused entry.

Based on that, we quickly got visas before leaving for Shanghai next week, as we have turkish stamps in our passport, just to be on the save side.

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3 hours ago, JLMoran said:

@Traveler, I'm curious if you had a standard visa for entry into China / Shanghai, or if you were relying on the 144-hour visa waiver? Seems you had a much smoother experience from airport to hotel before your cruise, unlike the passengers on that subsequent Quantum cruise who got detained by customs when they thought they were covered under that 144-hour waiver.

Hi , 

I had a Visa with multi entries , the 144 hours will not work for me but the 24 hours could have work but just did not want to take the risk ,  to do the Visa took me 30 minutes and cost me around 40 $ so it was OK.
We did got an email from Royal 10 days before the cruise that we should better have a Visa since the lines to get the 144/72/24 hours in the airport visa might take long time.

Same I have done with Vietnam.

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2 hours ago, Brandis said:

Though I heard from someone currently onboard Spectrum who was in line for the 144 hour visa exemption and got through fine. According to him, it was mostly people who had stamps from Turkey or some arabian countries who were refused entry.

Reports of "hundreds" of Brits recently being turned away upon landing in China to board Quantum.  A few managed through the 144 visa process while hundreds were forced to fly on to the next stop or fly home.  

Any foreigner thinking about cruising in China should consider the full visa process rather than relying on the 144 hour visa waiver exemption.  

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/10104598/royal-caribbean-cruise-china-border-visa/

  • The Foreign Office has updated their travel advice for China, explaining: "The British Embassy in Beijing has received reports of a recent increase in cases where entry to China under the visa waiver on arrival scheme has been refused, which may be linked to previous travel history.
  • "You should note that entry to China under a visa waiver is not guaranteed - Chinese border officials have the right to refuse entry without warning or explanation."
  • Forty-six-year-old Clair Matthews was travelling with her husband and parents-in-law when they faced similar problems - and were all refused entry.

    She explained that even though they had a temporary visa, they said they were not allowed in.

    Clair added: "I was told that if I was still here within 24 hours of landing and didn’t have proof of onward travel, I would be taken to prison."

    Both groups were forced to pay for flights to Japan to meet the ship at its next port, with Clair and her family spending more than £3,000 for last minute tickets and four nights at a hotel.

    Kate Hayes, 67, and her husband Ray, 72, were also both turned away after landing at Beijing Airport.

    She told the Liverpool Echo that immigration officers "didn't have a reason" for refusing them entry.

 

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27 minutes ago, twangster said:

"You should note that entry to China under a visa waiver is not guaranteed - Chinese border officials have the right to refuse entry without warning or explanation."

But even if you have a visa, entry is never guaranteed, the border officials always can decide to turn you away. But chances are certainly higher that they let you in.

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8 minutes ago, Brandis said:

But even if you have a visa, entry is never guaranteed, the border officials always can decide to turn you away. But chances are certainly higher that they let you in.

That is correct , but I found it that 99.99% of the times when you have Visa and know what to say, fill correctly the landing form you will be OK , when traveling to such places I always take with me a copy of the flight back so I can show it if asked. 

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16 minutes ago, Brandis said:

But even if you have a visa, entry is never guaranteed, the border officials always can decide to turn you away. But chances are certainly higher that they let you in.

Absolutely a visa is never a guarantee, but simply showing up and hoping to use the 144 visa waiver scheme is very risky.  

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2 minutes ago, twangster said:

Absolutely a visa is never a guarantee, but simply showing up and hoping to use the 144 visa waiver scheme is very risky.  

Correct : 

In China the issue is more complicate as they have transit Visa for 24 hours (which I can use) 72 and 144 hours to the European and US countries but it is not working the same from all ports. 

Also you need to consider this is is a transit Visa , so telling you are planning to visit China with this visa might create some issues as it is for transit ...

Another issue is people that write on the landing card the exist point as there flight back from the cruise , this is a huge mistake as they should write the ship as their exit point,  The huge advantage using a Visa or applying for online visa is that the checks are being done before you start your travel and not in the airport, it also force you to collect the right information before. You should also take into consideration that temp visas might be effected by the number of Visas/entries you country gave to people from the country you try to enter. 

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A friend of a friend just went to China this past September. Just getting the visas were interesting - the daughter works for a news station in the US and was only granted a 6 month visa (even though the trip was for pleasure) and the parents were granted 2 year visas. I don't know any more info that but that they were originally all applying for the same visa.

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