Does it sound doable to leave the ship in Shanghi (been there), fly to Beijing for 2-3 nights (never been there) see the Great Wall and other sites , then fly to meet our ship again in Hong Kong (been there) ?? We'd only be missing a sea day.

As hard as this is to believe RSSC is NOT offering a side trip to Beijing, it's only offered as a pre/post cruise trip.

I am not sure if it is doable or not, but if it is not, you simply MUST take the Grand Circle Asia trip. It is outstanding as far as itinerary goes.

Marcie:

It is a two hour flight up from Shanghai to Beijing and a three and a half hour flight back from Beijing to Hong Kong; why wouldn't it be doable. You would need to get a Visa. You would need to arrange flights and hotel along with guide; nothing very hard. I priced out Air China on their UK website for a couple of days in March and it showed fare of 308.90pounds or around $550.

Go for it!!!

Also check out Dragon Air. We flew them from Shanghai to Hong Kong. I think they are a part of Cathay Pacific ....in any case, the plane and the flight was excellent. If you look thru flyertalk.com you'll find Dragon Air seems to have an excellent reputation. I agree with Marc....go for it!!

Marcie - Just my my thoughts - I too would go for it, but fly into one and out of the other. I just got back from a 2 week on land tour and much preferred Zian and the Terra Cottas Soldiers to Beijing. Beijing was a zoo - great shopping - but not my favorite spot in China. Zian I loved and the soldiers rank right up there with the Egyptian finds in my book. Have a great cruise -- We are so looking forward to meeting you on Roar2. Think maybe our rooms are next door at Birkenhead. So much to look forward to --Jan

I agree that Dragon Air is a wonderful airline; especially in Business. Unfortunately, they are a Hong Kong hub airline so you would have to fly to Hong Kong from Shanghai and then up to Beijing.

If you want to add Xian to your Beijing sojourn, it is just another flight. Since you have five nights to play with, it is certainly an option. Or, you could just opt to join us on PANDA.

Thanks guys!! I would prefer to fly direct from Shanghi to Beijing and then from Beijing to Hong Kong on direct non-stops (haven't even explored airline posibilities).
Thinking about the Terracotta Warriors....hmmmm?? What would the order of flights be Shanghi to Xian, Xian to Beijing, then Beijing to Hong Kong OR easier to do that as a day trip from Beijing?

Is seeing both the Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors a bit too ambitious for a 3 day, 3 night trip?

Don't forget the glories of the Summer Palace.

Xian Warriors are REALLY great. Cant really be a "day" trip you need to spend a night there.

Shanghai to Xian (0vernight) Xian to Beijing (two nights) Beijing to Hong Kong. That is how I would see it.

Great Wall,(take the cable car to the top first and walk from there) Forbidden CIty, Temple of Heaven (MY pearl market is across the street from the Temple of Heaven!!!) can be done with a two night stay for sure. Summer Palace is great too - BIG. Stay the China World Hotel, connected to a mall so you can get normal American food and a TGI Fridays kind of place that we hung out and ate all our normal "stuff". We spend five days there with Ron, Linda, Anne and Gary, and Kens brother Richard and his wife Lori. We used a local guide that I called "Beijing Jane" She did a good job. If I can find her name I will send it to you.

Marcie...what a great "side" trip to plan. I agree, Xian should be included if possible - the warriors are a sight to behold - and the Wall is a thrill to see as well. So much to do, so little time!

I have the name and contact for a wonderful guide in Zian if you decide to try it. He was our favorite of the trip and could do an airport pickup - and maybe straight to the Terra Cottas. I found all the airports quite a distance from the cities and traffic was awful,so you had to allow lots of time for all these connections. Good Luck and Great Travels -- Jan

We just completed a 7 day post-cruise itinerary from Beijing, from the Sapphire Princess, with CITS, China Int'l Travel Services, the largest "specialization" agency in China.

They were excellent. We had drivers and guides throughout, especially valuable with airport pick-ups and drop-offs. We gave them our expectations and had a reply the next day. (626)568-8993. Mr. Frank Li was our rep.!

Their prices were very good; I made my cursory check as to airline fares, we made three trips.
Prices for guide/driver were about $210/full day.
Their guides were intelligent and spoke English well.

We are looking into a different approach: We are going to see if we can put together an excursion so that we leave Beijing at 20:28 on the second evening of the port call at Tianjin (for Beijing) on the Z19 deluxe train - and arrive Xian the next morning at 7:58. As there are no Z-class trains (express with deluxe accommodations) from Xian to Shanghai, we will plan to fly that leg. Here is the "Train travel in China - a beginner's guide" description:

This superb train has top-quality brand-new air-conditioned sleeping-cars, far superior to any flight and saves time over flying, too. This train is soft class only (no hard class) with 4-berth ordinary soft class sleepers, 2-berth deluxe soft class sleepers with private toilet, restaurant car (with menu in Chinese and English, beer a reasonable RMB15, the crispy fried prawns are recommended..!) and bar. It is reported that the on-board staff are helpful and speak some English, and the berths are even fitted with small TV screens!

Thus, we would spend Tuesday night Oct 2 on the train, then two full days and nights in Xian, before flying from Xian to Shanghai Friday morning Oct 5 to rejoin the ship, which is scheduled to dock there at 7AM that morning. That same approach could still work if you want to spend more time in Beijing and or Xian, arriving in Shanghai on Saturday Oct 6 or Sunday Oct 7 in the morning (the ship departs at 13:00!)

We will explore this with the Regent Concierge service during the Inaugural President’s Mediterranean and Society Summit Reunion cruises next month and post what we learn either from the ship or upon our return (>Mon, Nov 20th).