Leaving Shanghai for our cruise March 30, 2019 and our thoughts on Shanghai

March 30, 2019

Reflecting on our stay at the Radisson I can say we had a great stay at this hotel. Not only was  the location very convenient, the service and food very good.
There were even several Starbucks nearby and a bank ATM.

The breakfast buffet was expansive featuring all types of cuisine. We had our choice of American coffee or espresso drinks daily.

Across from the hotel was a nice park where the locals would meet to dance and exercise in groups.

One thing that was expected but not appreciated was the overwhelming smog that we experienced daily. We would check the smog index daily- see sample in photo below.

It was never so bad that we had to wear masks but we could feel the effects of it on us- dry throats, itchy eyes.
Shanghai was a nice newer city at least around the Bund and on Nanjing road. The main streets were wide and very clean. No litter at all.
Starbucks stores were everywhere but ATM's were not easy to find or were stretched out throughout the downtown area.


My only comment was we were not confident to take public transit anywhere as there were no English street signs at all - afraid to depend on Google Maps to lead us to destinations.

All the hotel staff, restaurant staff and starbucks baristas were very friendly. We did not have too much interaction with any one else as most of our time was with a guide who helped us with our needs.

We had arranged for a guide and van to take us to the cruise terminal-25 Km from downtown Shanghai. It turns out Snow was our guide today and we all chatted during the ride to the cruise terminal.

Celebrity instructions warned us not to  arrive earlier than our scheduled time as there were no facilities there.
I gambled and arranged for us to arrive around noon and what a surprise.
The terminal was large and modern.

http://www.baoshancruiseterminal.com/

I had no way nor time to take photos of the terminal so here are two from the internet.

Inside the terminal was new, clean and large. We were guided to the departure area where we went through passport control to a check in area.
Again I don't know why Celebrity issued instructions and descriptions of the terminal that made it seem old and small- maybe they needed updating.

One thing that was a pleasant surprise is the cruise reps handed us a bag with snacks to take with us.

Boarding the ship the crew directed us to go to the buffet for lunch and wait for the announcement that our cabin was ready.

 Note the grey sky- smog....

views from the ship of the terminal

The ship had a late departure time so we were able to go to the top deck and take photos of the terminal and city skyline.

Return to Shanghai March 28-29, 2019 High Tea at Fairmont Peace Hotel and a day trip to a Chinese Watertown

March 28-29, 2019

We returned from Shanghai Disney to spend a day and a half  in Shanghai before our cruise.

After checking in the hotel we went to lunch to plan our afternoon. We decided to have high tea at one of the hotels on the Bund. The hotel concierge was able to get us reservations at the Fairmont Peace Hotel at 2:30 PM.

We crossed the busy street near our hotel and went to the pedestrian mall where we hopped on the Dangdang sightseeing tram to take us to the other end which was close to the bund.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanghai/nanjing_road.htm

Little train

After getting off the train we walked several blocks to the Bund and reached the hotel. Since we got there early we went into the Maxim's candy/chocolate  shop and bought some different chocolates to bring home as souvenirs. It was interesting as the shop girls did not speak English so I was using Google Translate to have them  read my questions. They thought it was funny.

Across from Maxim's was a very nice cafe. I was sorry we did not notice it the first time we were in Shanghai as we could have had a lunch there.

The hotel is older and very well preserved. We walked through the lobby to find the restaurant for the tea. The hostess seated us at a nice table near the piano and then took our order. The musicians were scheduled to play in a short while.

The ambiance of the room was one of a quiet calm and peace.

The musicians were a pianist and violinist and played beautiful soothing music.

 The sky was grey from smog and fog. Every day was smoggy in Shanghai.

After experiencing a wonderful relaxing time at the tea we decided to walk a little way down the Bund to visit the Peninsula Hotel. We tried to get a reservation here for tea but there were none available. This is a newer hotel and I guess affiliated with the original hotel in Hong Kong.  The lobby was very elegant and had very luxurious shops.

Afterwards we started back for our hotel for a rest.

Dinner was at the Blue Frog.

Friday March 29 we were scheduled for an all day tour of  a watertown.
After our breakfast we met our tour guide Snow who gave a commentary on the sights we saw on our way to Zhujiajiao. He explained there are several of these watertowns in the Shanghai area and this was a good example of one.

After the driver left us off we walked to a Starbucks- I could never imagine a Starbucks in this small town- for a coffee before starting our tour. The Starbucks was located right on the river.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanghai/zhujiajiao.htm

Snow led us through the narrow alley with an assortment of shops and restaurants until we reached a well known bridge for photos. Afterwards we crossed the bridge and walked to a small pier. Evidently our tour included a short boat ride on the river so on the boat we went. After our ride we debarked and he said it was time for lunch. When we reached the restaurant we met the guide who brought us from Disneyland the day before.
We chose our lunch from a simple menu and enjoyed the view of the river while we waited for lunch.

Snow led us along a leisurely walk to go back to meet the driver and van for our return to Shanghai.  After getting in the van around 1-1:30 we still had time for another stop. I asked him if he could take us to the French Concession since all the guidebooks said this was a must see place.

The driver dropped us off and we had a quick walk and stops for photos here. Unless he brought us to the wrong place it was not too exciting. There were fashionable shops and restaurants and new condos.

French concession map

Shop in French Concession

The photos I see now of the French Concession on the web show narrow streets with little shops and cafes.

Done with our tour we were dropped off at the hotel around 3.

Dinner was at the Blue Frog again. We had a hard time finding restaurants along the pedestrian mall as all of them were in mall complexes and we did not want go from mall to mall looking for one.

After a friendly greeting from  the restaurant staff who had gotten to know us we were seated. Over cocktails- they had a great happy hour- we asked if we could buy some souvenirs and we got a cocktail glass  and coasters as  gifts.

Back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the next part of our trip- the start of the cruise.

Shanghai Disney Mar. 25-28 A magical experience

March 25, 2019

Disney Hotel

Today we checked out of the Radisson and going to be transferred to Shanghai Disney.
Our guide and driver picked us up from the Hotel for the 40 minute drive.

I had booked  a Concierge level room  at the Disney Hotel  because of all the extra perks provided.

Once we were dropped off we were met by a cast member who escorted us to a separate room to register. We bypassed having to wait in line at the registration desk.
We were offered a cold drink and then checked in. We received our pass to the park and were told of the amenities we would be entitled to during our stay.

Since our room was not ready we headed to the Park. We were able to use the hotel guest entrance and bypassed long lines.

Another perk of the Club room level was early entry into the park at a separate entrance. Our hotel was a short walk to the entrance and we bypassed the large lines of people waiting to buy tickets and get entrance into the park.

We expected the park to be spread out  and it was. It spite of the expanded size of this Disneyland there were not that many rides.  I think Anaheim Disney had so many more rides in a smaller area.

After our day in the park we returned to the hotel. The room was amazing. Beautifully decorated in Disney Theme decor and it had a great view of Disney Land.

Our room was on the same level and the Magic Kingdom Club. During the day snacks and drinks were available and from 3-5 pm there was a cocktail hour where we ended up having desserts or appetizers and drinks.
We would have breakfast here every morning.

Ken the manager was very welcoming and hospitable. Before we checked out he helped arrange the shipment of our souvenirs of the park home.

Ken

One night we had dinner at the restaurant at the Aurora Restaurant at the  top floor of the hotel. During dinner we saw the fireworks display over Disneyland.

view from restaurant

The next night we had dinner at Club 33.

 Again the club overlooked the park and we saw the fireworks display. Dinner was very nice and the service great.

The last night we had dinner at the Blue Frog restaurant in Disneytown.

Lunch at the Blue Frog

The menu featured Western style food and cocktails. We ordered ribs and steak and the meal was great.

We ate lunch at the different restaurants in the park every day.

One thing that surprised us was the emphasis on Easter. There were  character decorated eggs all throughout the park, the daily parade had the characters dressed in Easter themed clothing and the food was served in Easter themed cups or plates.

Quiet place in the park

The only frustration was the lack of signage to find different rides. When we asked cast members for directions we had to use sign language and point to our map to find how to get to the rides. Most of the time we succeeded.

On our first day we went on Pirates of the Caribbean which is a new version of the rides in the US. The difference being when we entered the large cavern where the pirates ships are we saw video projections of the ships having a sea battle.
It was a great ride but we did not go back again because of the long lines.

We went on the Soarin' ride and  Peter Pan. The Honey Pot spin was closed and the seven dwarfs ride had lines with a two  hour wait. Went on some more rides but cannot remember which ones.
We explored Toy story town but some of the rides were closed.
We did have short wait to go to Mickey's house where we got individual photos with Mickey.

Writing this now I see that we really did not go on many attractions in Shanghai Disney- lines were very long, not that many E ticket rides and some were closed.
We saw one parade and watched a show at the castle. We explored the castle which was gigantic.

Everyday we would go to Disney town where we had a coffee at the Starbucks and then walk around.

Later after the park we would walk to Disney Town to buy souvenirs or window shop.

There were a lot of Disney characters spread out throughout the park and available for photo ops.

Checkout was a breeze - we went to the special room on the lobby level where we settled our bill and our luggage was loaded and taken to the front entrance ready for the van to take us back to the Radisson in Shanghai.

In summary, our hotel experience was GREAT. The room was very nice with lots of amenities, easy walking distance to the park and Disneytown. Having access to the Magic Kingdom Club was the best experience- the cast members were super, the assistant managers spoke English and provided help when we needed it.
Some of the hotel amenities  included ta bakery, restaurant, mini market, free wifi, and much more.
The weather was always overcast due to smog and it rained sporadically day and night. The rain obviously stopped many of the rides from operating.

As a Californian I still really like Anaheim Disney for various reasons. I have not visited Paris Disney nor Hong Kong but Anaheim is better than Florida and Shanghai.

NOTE- We visited Tokyo Disney at the end of our trip and we both thought Tokyo Disney was superior (except for the hotels both were great) in all ways compared to Shanghai- ease of getting around, getting help from cast members, food plus the Tokyo Sea park which was really cool.