when on Board
Please pay attention to the travel tips below. Hope you will have a pleasant journey on Yangtze River.
Most important thing
After entering your own cabin, please find out where your cabin is located on the ship and locate the exits nearest your cabin; and read the Escape Route with Floor Plan behind the door; figure out where the life vest is stored and learn how to wear it; remember the service number of the ship; meet your cruise guide and try to ask her/him the questions about your cruise trip.
Laundry
All the 4 and 5 star Yangtze cruise ships offer on-board laundry service.
Activities
There are a lot of onboard activities and entertainments for your Yangtze cruise. Night bars and lounges, live entertainment, spa & Chinese massage, libraries and card rooms. In some special cruise, there are some more interesting activities such as lecture about Traditional Chinese Painting, Chinese Shadow Puppets show, Mahjong games, Captain's Welcome and Farewell parties, cabaret shows, lecture about the three gorges, lecture about Chinese calligraphy, lecture of Chinese food and drink, and a course of Taichi and so on. If you would like to take part in some of these activities, please know well their schedules.
Luggage
Passengers can place their luggage in the closet at each cabin, or ask for a left-luggage service when needed. Although there is no luggage limitation on the ship, for your own convenience, we recommend you not to bring too much luggage on board.
Valuables
Passegers are not recommended to leave any valuables, jewelry or cash in the cabin. If possible, please use the saety box in the closet. If not available indoors, please contact the reception for assistance.
Private party
If you want to hold a private party with your friend on the ship. You can make a reservation with the service center in advance, they can help you decorate the party place.
Money mattersCurrency exchange service is available at the reception desk. Passengers can use all the major credit cards for the consumption on board, such as Master Card, Visa, American Express, JCB and Diners Card. You can simply sign all the bills of on-board services /purchases and pay by either cash or credit card when check out.
Tipping on board
Tipping is becoming a common practice now in travel industry in China. Many ships will give you a guideline on tipping in each cabin, but it is based on personal willingness. If any cruise ships require compulsory tips from clients, Easy Tour China will always include the cost in the cruise fare.
Electricity /ApplianceMost of Yangtze cruise ships have 110V outlets in the bathroom and 220V in cabin. Usually hair-dryers are provided in the cabin for your convenience. If not, passengers can borrow one from the reception desk.
You can get your mobile phone or other digital appliances recharged since there are sockets in the cabins. For the safety reason, we recommend you to take it to the reception and ask them to do it there.
Dining on board
Compared with the ocean cruises, the river cruise ships are a lot smaller with limited space for the restaurants. Therefore, passengers will be told to have a fixed seat at the restaurant during the whole journey. The tables are the round ones with ten seats.
Different cruise ships offer different dishes on board. Generally speaking, breakfast is served in the buffet style with Chinese and Western options, usually from 07:00-09:00am. Usually lunch is also buffet style with more Chinese features like some regional specialties, elaborately-prepared soups. It is quite common that cruise ships will arrange themed Chinese banquets every evening for the passengers to enjoy the Chinese culinary culture.
Most of Yangtze cruise ships (4 star or above) can offer vegetarian, salt-free, low-carbohydrate, Kosher food based on the clients’ diet preferences. However, the clients need to inform Easy Tour China travel specialist of all the requirements in advance.
Clothes /Dress code
Casual clothes are recommended on board in most circumstances. Light jackets, Jeans, T-shirts, and lightweight sweater windbreaker for springs and autumns. T-shirts and shorts/skirts in summer together with sun lotion, sunglasses and hats. In winter, thick sweaters and heaven coats might be needed.
There is no official dress code or very formal night on Yangtze cruise ships. Guests just dress in a smart casual way for dinner and a bit dressier for the welcome party and farewell dinner.
Guide service on board
Most of the service staff on board can speak English. Every cruise ships will have 1-2 English speaking tour guides during the journey. For all the 4-5 star ships, there is an English-Chinese bilingual broadcasting system. During the shore excursions, you will be picked up and transferred by local buses to the attractions escorted by local English-speaking guides. Easy Tour China’s tour guides do not go with you on the cruise.