Spectrum Out of Shanghai

[Stephanie]

After much debate & research, we have booked a 7-night sailing on Spectrum out of Shanghai next September.  I'm curious to hear first-hand experience from anyone who has sailed out of Shanghai.  It's a "culturally enriching" cruise, so I know that means announcements & such will be in both Mandarin and English.  I also know the menus are more geared toward the Asian market. I'm more curious as to the daytime activities and the shows - English? Mandarin? Both?

I'd also love to get insight on airlines, hotels, transportation, etc. Any and all advice / experience / opinions are welcome. Thanks!

[twangster]

Take a look at this live blog.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/15611-best-of-japan-cruise-spectrum-of-the-seas-october-1-8-2019-a-new-experience/#comment-157318

And also this one, albeit from Hong Kong.  However the ship at the time hadn't been to Singapore yet as a home port.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/17193-spectrum-of-the-seas-22dec19-hong-kong-b2b/#comment-176974

 

[KristiZ]

Don't fear the "culturally enriching"! English will still be a primary language onboard. We loved all our cruising in Asia, particularly the diversity. 

Shanghai - while I've never sailed out of the port, I've visited many times. Speaking exactly zero Chinese of any kind I still found it easy to get around the touristy bits. It's also comparatively inexpensive to hire a private guide/driver for a day or two before or after the cruise if you want to see some of the city.

(The second link above is me  )

[twangster]

I'm doing Spectrum in January from Singapore and I know of another RCB user that is doing a B2B before I get there.

While Spectrum is in Singapore in January if there are any ship specific questions feel to ask.  Spectrum does differ from her sisters in the same class. No Pub, no Sorrento's, lounges for suites are nothing like her sisters for example.

As far as the ship goes there are a number of ship tours on YouTube.  The Singaporean guests that have been sailing over the past year seem to post more compared to the guests from her time in China prior to her move to Singapore.

 

[totalmorganmove]

We sailed on Spectrum this past January on her first 7 night cruise since the restart. We loved the ship and the entire experience! One thing that really stood out is how many crew members told us how much they loved the longer cruises as they got to get to know guests better than on the usual 3/4 nights cruises they had been doing to Port Klang or Penang and back. Even when Spectrum moves to back to China, they are mostly 4/5 night sailings so enjoy being on one of the few longer ones!

[TeRriii]

8 hours ago, twangster said:

 

While Spectrum is in Singapore in January if there are any ship specific questions feel to ask.  Spectrum does differ from her sisters in the same class. No Pub, no Sorrento's, lounges for suites are nothing like her sisters for example.

 

 

Sorrento Yes. Boleros No.

[Kiwi]

We cruised on Spectrum out of Shanghai on a 5-night in July 2019 (to Okinawa and Nagasaki). The ship is beautiful and the cruise was really enjoyable -- I think you made a great choice! (And we're looking forward to being back on Spectrum for a 9-night out of Singapore this Jan to Vietnam and Thailand -- same cruise @twangster?)

There were some activities strictly in Mandarin -- we didn't think we'd have much luck in the "finish the song lyric" game with songs in Mandarin, for example, haha. But many actitivies, either by design or chance, seemed to minimise the language component. Explanations were typically provided in both languages, and the emcees did a fantastic job. And yes, we sometimes got a chuckle when a very quick English explanation followed a lengthy Mandarin exposition, but that was completely expected and we never felt like we didn't understand something.

Other random pieces of info:

• I don't know if you've sorted the visa situation, but you may want to look at visa exemptions -- some info here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14730-china-transit-visa-quantum/#comment-164600
• Here's a blurb that may be useful if you're staying in a suite or have diamond C&A (Re-reading this reminds me how crazy of a deal the onboard 12-drink package for US$69 was): https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/16950-spectrum-silver-lounge/#comment-173917
• Take the maglev train from the airport -- a short and fun ride at ~430km/h!
• We arrived the day before the cruise and had arranged a "toursbylocal" tour (I have no affiliation but have had good experiences several times). Yes, we can get around to the major sites ourselves, but we enjoy having a local help us navigate when we're trying to squeeze a lot in, esp when it comes to touring street food locations, etc. The flat tour fee worked well for our group of 4.
• We also spent a couple of days at Shanghai Disney after the cruise -- I know, I know, Shanghai is a fabulous city with amazing history and culture and we end up at Disney... But we're Disney geeks and wanted to check Shanghai off the list -- don't judge us, haha. (Fwiw, Shanghai Pirates of the Caribbean is one the greatest Disney attraction every made, if that's of any interest).

Hope this helps!

[Stephanie]

18 hours ago, KristiZ said:

Don't fear the "culturally enriching"! English will still be a primary language onboard. We loved all our cruising in Asia, particularly the diversity. 

Shanghai - while I've never sailed out of the port, I've visited many times. Speaking exactly zero Chinese of any kind I still found it easy to get around the touristy bits. It's also comparatively inexpensive to hire a private guide/driver for a day or two before or after the cruise if you want to see some of the city.

(The second link above is me  )

Thanks so much! Just read through your blog and it was very enlightening and helpful. My husband's main concern was the food, so seeing the menus and pictures of the food selections helped ease those fears tremendously. The ship looks amazing, too.  Can't wait!

[Zacharius]

3 hours ago, Kiwi said:

There were some activities strictly in Mandarin -- we didn't think we'd have much luck in the "finish the song lyric" game with songs in Mandarin, for example, haha.

I have kind of a funny story about this. I lived in China for two years and still go back regularly for work, but I am a black guy who is a dual US/Namibian citizen and speaks English with a midwest American accent. My spoken Mandarin is good, but not great. Anyways, I was in Hangzhou, ended up at a karaoke bar, and overheard people (who didn't know I understood them) questioning why I was there since most everything was in Mandarin. 

So of course I went up on stage, belted out a pretty damn good Mandarin cover of "Friday" by Rebecca Black (because it was Friday, and I was drunk), looked a them, and dropped the mic. We spent the rest of the night together bar hopping.