Asia 2011
In 2011 we really enjoyed a very pleasant eye-opening 42 night cruise to Asian ports followed by a NZ cruise and later in the year we cruised the Pacific Islands (an itinerary that we have since repeated numerous times). On the Asian itinerary the ship was due to visit Shanghai for a day and then continue north to Beijing with the port for Beijing being some 3 hours away from the city and a further hour away from the Great Wall and all our research indicated that from the Port of Tianjin to The Forbidden City and The Great Wall there would be no accessible transport option and we’d be stuck in the port all day.
I was determined to get ON the Great Wall – I didn’t just want to SEE it – so we chose to be either quite fool-hardy or intrepid (take your pick) – and we organised prior to departure from Australia for a Chinese Guide to show us around Shanghai and then escort us to the MASSIVE central train station and assist us to buy tickets for the super fast train to Beijing where we would overnight in a Hotel then meet another Guide who would spend 2 days showing us the main sights and taking us to the Great Wall prior to returning us to the ship out at the Tianjin Port.
We had to obtain special permission from the Ship’s staff to disembark and go ‘overland’ independently and they gave us all the information we needed about reboarding several days later. Our experience was truly amazing and I would say, quite a remarkable feat for just the 2 of us to manage alone in a country where we couldn’t communicate in English and we knew no Chinese at all. The train from Shanghai to Beijing took 4 hours precisely to travel 1300 klms – super fast and smooth.
The space in the carriage for the wheelchair was not well designed and had we known we would have paid for 1st class where they did have spaces for wheelchairs. We saw a lot of the Chinese landscape and high-rise building after building after building. The train only stopped at one station during the journey. The onboard staff could not speak English and none of the passengers in our carriage spoke English so we communicated via hand gestures and managed OK.
Once in Beijing we found ourselves at an even bigger station – Beijing South – and we had a little difficulty finding our pre-booked driver as there were so many entrances and exits and nobody seemed interested in helping us. We found numerous drivers holding up name boards in Chinese characters but nobody holding up our names. Momentarily I must admit to feeling some fear about how we would manage if nobody came to meet us. However, that feeling didn’t last long as our driver was waiting at a different exit to where we had exited the elevator that brought us up from the platform.
As Diane made her way through the dense crowds of black haired people searching for anyone holding a placard with our names on it she was spotted by the driver.
I would say she stood out to him because she was the only white skinned person he could see. After some gesturing and a few hand signals all was good and we arrived safely at our Hotel
in Beijing where we would spend three nights.
Next day we visited Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and Beihai Park - all very accessible.
Tianenmen Square
Forbidden City
Beihai Park
The Great Wall of China
Day 2 - we went to the Great Wall and "YES" I made it onto the wall- even with a lot of effort – couldn’t climb the stairs as such but I was on the Wall at one of the Turrets and that was good enough to entitle me to say "Have been on The Great Wall, with a million other people.
Day 3 we visit the Hutongs and had a city tour by car prior to travelling the 3 hours to the massive port of Tianjin. That drive was rather hair-raising to say the least. Perhaps our driver thought we were in a Formula 1 race and whilst I love speed and racing, even for me this guy’s driving style could only be described as life-threatening.
We arrived at the Port, somewhat shaken up by the road trip, to see our Ship there waiting for us – maximum sighs of relief to be ‘Home Sweet Home’. Next came a brief encounter with some rather over-zealous Chinese Police who refused to allow us to re-board due to having not arrived WITH THE SHIP that morning,
The Ship’s staff eventually, after quite some gesticulating and loud arguing back and forth, managed to convince them that our names were on the Passenger Manifest and we could re-board. Back onboard our ‘home’ and safely in our cabin after an absolutely incredible adventure only made possible by our desire to be somewhat intrepid, we gave ourselves a little pat on the back for being prepared to follow our dreams and not take the easy road. We could have chosen the safe option and stayed on the ship all day and missed the touristy things to do/see in Beijing but we took a risk and we made the right decision. Of course, the possibilities of failure were huge but we always proceed with positivity balanced with caution due to understanding the nature of the risks involved.
Beijing CruiseTerminal.
Onboard again after our overland experience we had so many passengers asking us about if we managed to get out of the Port OK and when we shared the tale of where we had been including the train travel we were the envy of so many able-bodied people who only wished they had been brave enough to tackle a similar trip. Some of it boils down to what you want to get out of the cruise and for us we use the ship as our means of transport to get to these places that I might otherwise never visit so our focus is really about what we can do in a Port whereas for many passengers onboard they are there simply for the onboard experience – the relaxation – the friendships they can form – and the Ports of call are of secondary importance so not all of them plan activities to do and subsequently miss out on so much of what is on offer on the itinerary. That’s why lots of research is necessary if you really want to get the most out of the experience.
Around the Pacific 2016
2016 was the cruise I had been looking forward to since 2009 when I actually booked the World Cruise instead of a 75 nights Circle the Pacific. I’d been regretting it every since as the same itinerary had not been offered again but finally, it was on sale again and I immediately booked MY cabin on the same ship – Sun Princess – that we had sailed on numerous times. The cruise was due to depart from Sydney but in order for us to get all my mobility equipment onboard we boarded an earlier cruise in Brisbane and sailed 2 days to Sydney and then stayed on for the next 11 days around the Pacific Islands and back to Sydney before commencing the 75 night cruise and to finish with we stayed on for 7 nights back up the Qld coast and back down to Brisbane to disembark. The total time spent onboard was 95 nights and I had a wonderful time but it was the most difficult experience we have had to deal with.