4D3N Yangtze River Tour: Chongqing nach Yichang von Victoria Sabrina

We traveled on Sabrina upstream starting on March 17. All upstream Victoria cruises start on Monday’s, We upgraded to a 6th floor cabin and VIP dining room for $2000 RMB or about $285. The room was supposedly a little larger, it’s very comfortable and much larger than my current Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay room. The only kicker was due to some height restrictions the elevators only go to fifth floor. We had to get a crew to carry our luggage up the stairs. For both dinning rooms seating is fixed. The VIP dining room is on the 6th floor, so very convenient for us. We have our own table and the foods are supposedly better. There’s a hot noodle bar where you can order a hot noodle soup bowl. We also paid about $85 to use a lounge on the 3rd floor where the staff will serve you fruits and small desserts such as apple or walnut pies. We used the lounge to take photos as the ship sails through a gorge unencumbered by the masses gathered on deck 6. We liked the food but probably ate more than we should. The crews did performances, and many were trained by professional instructors hired by the cruise company. The ship’s river guide, Daniel, speaks English and is very friendly and helpful. Shore excursion guides are not from the ship but from the local attraction sites. We paid for our optional tours, about one a day besides the included daily tours. I don’t know how we did but we were able to rack up ten thousand steps and up to 25 stairs a day. Our upstream cruise could not go to Chongqing due to too low water level so we all had to pack our luggage the night before and had them hauled up by porters. Departure by bus started at 6:30 AM. It’s a bit daunting as this port, Feng Du, doesn’t have escalators or funiculars so we had to climb 120 steps (20 steps followed by a flat stretch). Apple used to count 12 steps as a stair but now seems to count 20 steps as one stair.

This was my 15th cruise and the WORST cruise experience I have ever had. There was no air conditioning on the ship for the first night and a half of the next day. It was utterly miserable. What food I was able to eat was nearly inedible. I communicated my food allergies to the cruise company 6 weeks before boarding and our travel agency followed up to confirm before our arrival. But, every meal I went hungry because there was nothing but 1 dish of fried vegetables and some rice that I could to eat. My traveling companions also complained about the poor quality of the food (they were able to eat most everything, but said it was "hospital food" quality). But the absolute worst part: 3 Gorges Dam tour. It was obvious that our tour guide "Alex" hates foreigners. Alex was supposed to be the tour guide for our group of English speaking people, but he refused to speak any English during the tour. After we complained repeatedly, he would only begrudgingly say a few words in English and spent the entire 2.5 hours speaking Chinese with the few Chinese speakers who got stuck in with the English speaking group. Alex should not be a tour guide for foreigners if he hates foreigners so much. The scenery was gorgeous. The ship was clean. Except for Alex, the staff was very friendly and hard working. I strongly recommend against this cruise and this cruise line. I thought that because it was advertised as "American managed" that it would be the best fit for an American passenger. I was VERY wrong. If this were my first cruise experience I would never go on a cruise again!

I took the 4D3N Yangtze River Cruise, from Chongqing to Yichang, by Victoria Cruise. I came from Xi'an by train, with a final destination in Shanghai. A few years ago I had been to Tibet, at the source of the Yangtze River and I wanted to take the cruise to experience this great river and its landscapes in the Three Gorges. Traveling alone and without knowledge of the language, I found, however, all kinds of help from the trip hiring staff and, especially the crew. I am very grateful to have been able to live this experience, which for me is unforgettable. I stand out not only in the quality of the boat and the exceptional beauty of the landscapes, but also, and especially, the quality and variety of the delicious food on board.