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In April 2009 we boarded the Legend Of The Seas at Shanghai which proved to be a speedy and well organized procedure. Shanghai is a very up-beat modern city with lots to see. We spent two days there in the Sofitel Hotel on the main central shopping street, Nanjing Rd. It was a good choice. We enjoyed the Old Town and the Yu gardens area and the Bund at night was very spectacular. The people were pleasant, helpful and friendly and getting around by taxi easy and inexpensive.
Our first impressions of the Legend were favourable with pleasant nicely decorated general areas and facilities. One of the pools was covered in a nice sunny solarium and there were plenty of loungers around. Our cabin which was our first ( and last ! ) inside cabin 6095, was adequate for sleeping, changing and occasionally watching a bit of news on the TV. The TV programming was dire with constant repeats of old films. Up to date news was often not available due to being outside satellite range. The bathroom was reasonable but I live for the day when the plastic shower curtain disappears for ever.
Dining in the main dining room was very good apart from the first night when the meal took for ever to be served. After that everything went smoothly and the quality of the food was always consistently good. The buffet restaurant on the 9th deck served a good choice of foods and we generally ate our breakfasts and lunches there. It was always crowded though and often finding seats was a challenge.
The entertainment on board was varied with some good imported acts and the resident group were up to scratch without being sensational. The casino seemed to be closed more often than it was open. It stank of cigarette smoke being one of two areas inside the ship where smoking was allowed. Get with it RCI and ban smoking inside the ship completely! Some of the secondary groups and singers were good and on occasions better than the main show. Activities onboard seem to fall a little flat and none of our group were tempted to join in much. Like 99% on board we were not tempted to try out the climbing wall. What an odd choice for a shipboard activity where the average age onboard is probably 60.
You cannot do a cruise without having some criticisms of the services provided. There seemed to prevail onboard a certain air of meanness. There were no bathroom toiletries other than soap and you had to have worn that down to wafer thin before you got a new small bar. We just pinched some off the housekeeping trolleys ! The crew were mostly helpful except as noted by a previous critic, the pursers counter, where you could usually find passengers being given the runaround. We found that the pool towels that were handed out often had dirty marks on them. The internet connection onboard was dreadful often taking more than a minute to bring up a fresh webpage and reading your emails, normally a 3-4 minute job, would take you 20 minutes. I gave up. Bar staff often failed to charge happy hour prices until you complained. I have issues with the shuttle bus charges to get from the dock to outside the dock gates and also the organised trip prices, more later. Finally when is this gratuity fiasco going to end ? We did not prepay our gratuities and gave the restaurant waiters and the room steward envelopes with a reasonable tip in them. This was despite being urged on booking the cruise to prepay and also constant reminders onboard.
Ports of call.
We have reached a stage in our cruising careers where the ports of call play the most important role in our choice of cruise. Long periods at sea between ports and cruises where tenders play an important role are usually negatives.
This was a 14 night cruise with 8 ports of call, excluding Shanghai and Singapore, with 2 days at 2 destinations. All potentially interesting. Like a previous critic, I spent some time on research prior to embarking. This saved us hundreds of dollars and a lot of wasted time.
Xiamen. Note 5 Rmb = $1 US approx. We docked at a modern facility close to town and a free shuttle bus took us the odd few hundred metres to the port terminal building. There were plenty of taxis here. Our party of 6 decided to visit Gulangyu ( Piano ) Island. We took two taxis at 12 Rmb per taxi from the terminal to the ferry dock. The return ferry ticket to the island was 15 Rmb each and after 5 minutes wait we were off. The ferry takes you on a scenic half hour trip around the island before docking. We walked a few hundred metres and were asked politely by an English speaking Chinese girl whether we would like her to guide our party around for 60 Rmb. We agreed and it was money very well spent. We were taken around the island by an electric cart at 50 Rmb each. The whole experience was very enjoyable. Gulangyu is very scenic, a little touristy perhaps but full of history and we recommend it. Total cost of trip, with no hassle, $20 per person. Shipboard price for same trip $119 p.p
Hong Kong. We were docked in H.K for 2 days which gave us plenty of time to look around. The dock is next to the ferry terminal at the tip of Kowloon on Canton Rd. The transport system in HK is so extensive and it is easy to use . Ferries, buses, MTR ( underground railway ) and taxis all inexpensive, convenient and civilised. We visited lots of shopping areas, markets, theme streets, the zoological and botanical gardens, Victoria Peak and Lantau Island with Ngong Ping and Po Lin Monastery. The trip to Lantau Island was achieved by crossing to HK Island and catching a high speed ferry from Pier 6 to Mui Wo on Lantau Island. On arrival, we caught a bus outside the terminal which took us around the island and up to Ngong Ping to see the world’s tallest seated bronze Buddha and visit the Po Lin Monastery. We left Ngong Ping by cable car which was a scenic 20 minute trip down to Tung Chung, near the airport. From here we caught the MTR back to Kowloon. This whole trip was very easy to do and very scenic and we recommend it for a day out. The cost was about $30 each. We could have had a buffet at the monastery for an additional $12 each. Shipboard price for this trip $165 pp.
Sanya. We docked at Phoenix Island at a new terminal where no public taxis were allowed to wait. Correspondingly we had to catch a ship shuttle bus at $12 each to take us to a shopping area/park somewhere near Yalong Bay. We had decided to visit Monkey Island. There were lots of taxis where the shuttle bus dropped us off and we negotiated with a driver to drive us to Monkey Island, wait for us and drive us back. Cost 100 Rmb. It was an interesting 45 minute journey to the rural town through varying countryside. We caught a return cable car ride from the town to Monkey Island which was an experience. Great views over the fishing boat harbour, the island and beaches. The monkeys were, well monkeys and the show was fun. We enjoyed it but some thought it a bit ‘underwhelming’ The total price of this was about what the ship charged, about $40 each, due mainly to the shuttle charge.
Danang, Vietnam. We had learnt that the dock used is in the middle of nowhere and that the organised ship tours were the only way to go. This proved to be the case as there seemed to be no taxis around and unless you wanted to trudge a Km or so through mud you were not going to reach the port gates. We took an organised tour described as Rural Traditions and Hoi An. The rural traditions included a walk through a typical small rural village and a visit to a farmhouse. It belted down with rain and I felt sorry for the farmhouse family who had all these westerners trudging through the house with muddy shoes. They earned their dong the ship paid them that day. Hoi An is an old historic town and definitely recommended. It has pleasant shopping streets and the added bonus of you not being hassled by touts as you walk down them. It was a good trip. Danang looked relatively uninteresting by comparison.
Nha Trang. We were tendered to the port jetty which went off smoothly. There were plenty of taxis here and with some bargaining we got one to the Long Son Pagoda, $8 for 6 people. This area was attractive but totally overrun with beggars, touts and sellers. They were persistent to say the least. We climbed the steps to see the reclining and sitting Buddhas hassled all the way up and down. We were going to see the Cham Towers but after this experience opted for The Sailing Club instead. This proved to be an oasis of tranquillity and we enjoyed some cold beers, the beach and the views. Nha Trang is certainly scenic and I am sure with some local knowledge you could enjoy it more by escaping the persistence of the touts.
Vung Tau and Saigon ( Ho Chi Minh City ). The dock is once again in the middle of nowhere. Certainly not near the much vaunted high speed ferry to Saigon. There were no taxis in evidence at the dock which seemed to be in a container port. We had booked the ship’s coach to Saigon which proved to be a 90 minute coach trip each way. We enjoyed Saigon with some reservations. The coach dropped us at The Rex hotel in the centre of the city. We used a taxi to take us to the War Museum ( interesting Vietnamese
view of the war ). The taxi driver wanted to convert 35,000 dong to $10 rather than $2 but the tourist police were on hand to ensure the $5 I gave him provoked no argument. On leaving the museum we got a rickshaw, converted bicycle, each for a quoted $2 ride to the main market. We were of course taken to a tourist shop on the way. We refused to get out and demanded to be taken to the market. On arrival they asked for $10 each and once again accepted $5 as soon as the tourist police appeared. We had a very good lunch in the Sheraton Hotel and looked at a few other landmarks and did some shopping. It probably pays to have some Dong in Saigon as the local rip off merchants have different views of the $ exchange rate.
Laem Chabang ( Thailand ). This is the nearest port to Bangkok but the nearest tourist destination to it is Pattaya. We have been to Bangkok before and whilst there are interesting things to see there, we were not anxious to go there again . There is an organized taxi service within the port terminal and I can recommend it as fair, especially if you can get a few people together to share the cost. We had two trips. One to Pattaya town, which is very touristy and sleazy with it. It was interesting and there were some good markets and of course the beach. We were not very adventurous and spent most of the time in the shops and having lunch. Our second trip the next day was to the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo. We really enjoyed this trip with the crocodile, elephant and tiger shows all excellent entertainment. The taxi driver stayed with us, getting our passes and guiding us around. He got commission on our entrance fees, which was good and the whole trip cost about $20 each almost a third of what the ships tour cost.
Sihanoukville, Cambodia. This was our last port of call prior to arriving at Singapore. This was another dock where taxis were not allowed near. It was a 5-10 minute walk to the port entrance where the taxis were plentiful. We rented one with an English speaking driver and gave him the remit of ‘showing us the sights’. He was great, very informative about Cambodia and the people and he showed us everything to see in Sihanoukville. Pagodas, Buddahs, the town, the market ( don’t bother ), three beaches finishing up at Sokkha Beach resort. We could have used all the facilities here such as the pools etc but enjoyed sitting around having drinks and nibbles. Cambodia is very poor and from what we found, the people were friendly and not pushy like those we experienced in Vietnam. There is a good deal of corruption here though, with the taxi driver complaining about paying off the police, port officials etc. We gave the taxi driver $60 for the 4 hours we had him and he was delighted.
All in all the cruise was great and we would recommend it. We would like to question RCI about the choice of docks and ports and whether they have any control over the access of public taxis to the shipside. We guess this would not be in RCI’s interest. The local authorities would definitely gain by allowing this, as more money would flow into the local economy rather than into RCI’s pockets.
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