Shanghai Disney Cruise

[Rogillio]

I was just reading about Disney's earnings (stock is up 36% over the last 12 months) and the opening of Shanghai Disney set to open in 2015.

And being a fan of DCL I got to thinking there is a market for DCL in the Orient. I would love to cruise with DCL there. What better way to experience the Orient than with a cruiseline that feels like home.

So my suggestion to DCL is for them to move the Magic to the Orient to coincide with the opening of Shanghai Disney!

 

[DisneyOHFan]

Oh, that would be fabulous.

 

[mmouse37]

Here is your thread from November on Disney in the Orient. Do you want me to merge the two?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3025624

MJ

 

[Rogillio]

Here is your thread from November on Disney in the Orient. Do you want me to merge the two?

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3025624

MJ

I had forgotten about that. I was just reading the financials and saw Disney Shanghai was set to open in 2015 and started dreaming about cruising there. Guess when a subject comes to mind I should search the forums and see if I posted something similar previously.

 

[maria-fan-22]

This is a cruise I would like to do…

[/url]
DCL Asian Cruise by WHC1410, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

[dkostel]

Ooh, I second that one!

 

[Rogillio]

This is a cruise I would like to do…

[/url]
DCL Asian Cruise by WHC1410, on Flickr[/IMG]

Wow, that would be the E-ticket cruise! Hope someone from DCL is watching.

 

[WVURunner]

Might be very hard to do since Americans need a visa to enter China and to get a visa, you need to be "invited" to visit and have a letter. Visa fees add up!

 

[Rogillio]

Might be very hard to do since Americans need a visa to enter China and to get a visa, you need to be "invited" to visit and have a letter. Visa fees add up!

We traveled to China a few years ago and had to get visas from the Chinese consulate in Houston....I think it was $50 per passport. So really, compared the price of an Oriental cruise and RT air to China, the visa fee is not a big item. We didn't need a letter or invite....just filled out form saying we were visiting for tourism and paid the fee and got the visa. You do have to take (or send) your passport to the Chinese consulate's office. We sent ours to a friend who lived in Houston and she took them in and got the visas on the passport. The visa was like a big sticker in our passports that took up an entire page. Pretty cool.

 

[LemonPie]

Might be very hard to do since Americans need a visa to enter China and to get a visa, you need to be "invited" to visit and have a letter. Visa fees add up!

A co-worker just went to China. They were on a tour and even took a side trip to see the terracotta wariors that was not part of their tour. It was not a big deal or hard to get the necessary travel documents.

 

[LemonPie]

I personally would like to do Japan and DCL would be the perfect way to do it.

 

[scrapycruiser]

We lived in Japan for 3 years and saw many countries. Would love to go back to Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and China !! Wold book it in a heartbeat !!
Please DCL ,take us to the Orient !

 

[itdoesntsmell]

I wonder if the amount of crew they would require to speak so many different languages to accommodate the asian passengers they would need to attract to fill the ships for a period of time to make it financially viable for them to go so far away is a reason?

Not so much of a problem if the ship is full with English speaking passengers, but if they hit a 50/50% or greater of non English speaking passengers it would be a massive problem trying to communicate with them and how could they accommodate them.
Just some random thoughts!

 

[WVURunner]

We traveled to China a few years ago and had to get visas from the Chinese consulate in Houston....I think it was $50 per passport. So really, compared the price of an Oriental cruise and RT air to China, the visa fee is not a big item. We didn't need a letter or invite....just filled out form saying we were visiting for tourism and paid the fee and got the visa. You do have to take (or send) your passport to the Chinese consulate's office. We sent ours to a friend who lived in Houston and she took them in and got the visas on the passport. The visa was like a big sticker in our passports that took up an entire page. Pretty cool.

Wow, I went several times in 2007 and in 2008 and I had to jump through hoops to get my visas. They were several hundred dollars and I had to show my itinerary each time along with my letter.

 

[maria-fan-22]

Might be very hard to do since Americans need a visa to enter China and to get a visa, you need to be "invited" to visit and have a letter. Visa fees add up!

Most places will allow the cruise line to purchase a "group Visa" for everyone on board which is then charged to stateroom accounts. I've been checking and China is iffy on this case.

The other four stops in my itinerary do NOT require Visas for U.S. citizens if the stay is under 30 days and their passport is valid for 6 months, they also must be able to prove they are leaving the country in under 30 days(the ships leaves later that day)

China is the only one that requires the Visa for a day stop. Most likely the cruise line will be able to handle this if not, as stated you can contact the Chinese Embassy in the U.S.

And I made one change to my itinerary to make it a bit more streamlined. I will type it below.

Embarkation port: Hong Kong

Variation 1:

Day 1: Hong Kong, PRC 5PM ONBOARD
Day 2: Cruising
Day 3: Shanghai, PRC 2PM ashore 12AM onboard
Day 4: Cruising
Day 5: Incheon(Seoul), South Korea 8AM Ashore 4PM onboard
Day 6: Cruising
Day 7: Cruising
Day 8: Tokyo, Japan 8am Ashore 12AM onboard
Day 9: Cruising
Day 10: Cruising
Day 11: Cruising
Day 12: Hong Kong, PRC 7AM Ashore

Variation 2:

Day 1: Hong Kong, PRC 5PM ONBOARD
Day 2: Cruising
Day 3: Shanghai, PRC 2PM ashore 12AM onboard
Day 4: Cruising
Day 5: Cruising
Day 6: Tokyo, Japan 8am Ashore 12AM onboard
Day 7: Cruising
Day 8: Cruising
Day 9: Cruising
Day 10: Hong Kong, PRC 7AM Ashore

Variation 3:

Day 1: Hong Kong, PRC 5PM ONBOARD
Day 2: Cruising
Day 3: Shanghai, PRC 2PM ashore 12AM onboard
Day 4: Cruising
Day 5: Incheon(Seoul), South Korea 8AM Ashore 4PM onboard
Day 6: Cruising
Day 7: Cruising
Day 8: Tokyo, Japan 8am Ashore 12AM onboard
Day 9: Cruising
Day 10: Cruising
Day 11: Cruising
Day 12: Taipei, Taiwan 8am Ashore 10Pm onboard
Day 13: Cruising
Day 14: Hong Kong, PRC 7AM Ashore

 

[neg58]

Wow, I went several times in 2007 and in 2008 and I had to jump through hoops to get my visas. They were several hundred dollars and I had to show my itinerary each time along with my letter.

Chinese visas are now $140. You can get them from the Chinese consulates in San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, LA, Houston and DC. You must use a courier or go in person. You must list where you are staying. It is the same price for single entry, 6 months or multi entry for 1 year.

China is particular about certain occupations and may deny entry to journalists, religious, or anything political. I doubt very much if they'd issue a group visa since they never have for any of the groups I've known who have gone, including children's education group tours (everyone had to get an individual visa).

I think the cruises they have mostly stay in China, cruising down a river, not going to several countries.

Nancy

 

[lilpooh108]

With Disney Sea and Tokyo Disneyland, DCL would be better off tapping into the fan base that is already in Japan. They certainly cannot count on Americans flying across the Pacific just to do an Asia cruise.

Personally, I'd rather take a cruise starting from Japan (assuming DCL ever goes to Asia) that makes 1 stop to Shanghai Disney than one that would cruise from Shanghai as an originating port. The air service to Japan is well established by United, AA, Delta, etc. No visas necessary either (depending on whether China has a cruise exception or transit exception to its visa policy ~ I personally don't know). Additionally, you have to realize that the culture/attitudes of people taking a cruise which originates from Shanghai would be very different than those people taking a cruise originating from Japan.

 

[Rogillio]

Chinese visas are now $140. You can get them from the Chinese consulates in San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, LA, Houston and DC. You must use a courier or go in person. You must list where you are staying. It is the same price for single entry, 6 months or multi entry for 1 year.

China is particular about certain occupations and may deny entry to journalists, religious, or anything political. I doubt very much if they'd issue a group visa since they never have for any of the groups I've known who have gone, including children's education group tours (everyone had to get an individual visa).

I think the cruises they have mostly stay in China, cruising down a river, not going to several countries.

Nancy

DCL could guarantee 2000 + tourists and vouch or them leaving....I would think they'd grant a group visa. We did NOT need one for Russia when visiting with DCL but you need one if traveling on your own.

 

[maria-fan-22]

No visas necessary either (depending on whether China has a cruise exception or transit exception to its visa policy ~ I personally don't know).

With the Visa issue, China requires ALL travelers entering china to have a visa no matter the length of the stay or how they get there.

 

[Rogillio]

With Disney Sea and Tokyo Disneyland, DCL would be better off tapping into the fan base that is already in Japan. They certainly cannot count on Americans flying across the Pacific just to do an Asia cruise.

Personally, I'd rather take a cruise starting from Japan (assuming DCL ever goes to Asia) that makes 1 stop to Shanghai Disney than one that would cruise from Shanghai as an originating port. The air service to Japan is well established by United, AA, Delta, etc. No visas necessary either (depending on whether China has a cruise exception or transit exception to its visa policy ~ I personally don't know). Additionally, you have to realize that the culture/attitudes of people taking a cruise which originates from Shanghai would be very different than those people taking a cruise originating from Japan.

I thought there would be mostly European cruisers on our DCL Baltic cruise but it was mostly Americans.

I would love to sail out of Japan!