Be prepared for rude passengers as many of them cut in line, pushed and shoved to get on elevators before others could get off, YELLED instead of using an "indoor voice", smoked in non-smoking areas and just weren't polite overall. My 71 year old mom was pushed and shoved on more than one occasion. We've been on other Asian cruises and they just aren't as relaxing as cruises in the rest of the world since there are so many rude and LOUD passengers. Also, there were very few excursions offered to English-speaking guests and two of the three excursions that we were interested in were cancelled. If you want to see the Spectrum of the Seas, go for it but be prepared for a rude culture shock and make your own plans for each port of call. We liked the ship and crew but the rude passengers ruined the trip for us.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Chaos as the locals were all pushing and cutting in line. Fortunately, we were able to use the shorter lines since we are Platinum members but it still took some time to do the necessary passport check.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The main dining and buffet were almost entirely Asian food. Since we had a Silver Suite, we opted to eat most of our meals in the Silver Dining restaurant.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
There were few English-speaking passengers on our cruise so we weren't able to socialize much with other passengers. We ended up spending most of our time in our cabin or in the quiet Solarium which was available for suite passengers. We liked spending time on our balcony but other passengers were often smoking out their balconies (against the rules) so we had to often go back inside to escape the smoke.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The entertainment in 270 and the main theater were amazing. We really liked the amazing special effects of the Effectors and Silk Road was great. The magician was good but nothing we haven't already seen before. Unfortunately, the fellow passengers were often very rude and LOUD. It sounded like half the audience was talking non-stop throughout every performance we attended. At one show, a passenger walked up and YELLED for 15 seconds at another passenger in the row in front of us. It was annoying, rude and threatening.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff was great as always. We felt sorry they had to deal with the chaos of rude passengers week after week.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship is nice and new and we really enjoyed spending time in the Solarium, Silver Lounge and Silver Dining area since we were in a Junior Silver Suite. We didn't like how Sorento's was up by the buffet instead of being on the main promenade. There wasn't really any food available on the main promenade and no café that offered snacks at every hour of the day.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We had plenty of room for three people and our balcony was easily two or three times the size of most other balconies. Our steward kept the room clean and we enjoyed the upgraded amenities.
Ship tip
Consider booking a Junior Suite if you can as it will allow you to retreat to the Solarium and Silver (or Gold) areas to avoid the madness around the rest of the ship.
We had planned on taking a ship excursion but it was cancelled and we had to try to find something to do on our own. Had we known farther in advance that the ship was going to cancel the excursion due to lack of enough English-speaking guests, we would've been able to find something else to do.
The cave excursion that we wanted to go on was cancelled since there weren't enough English-speaking guests. The castle excursion that we went on was ok but the garden stop was replaced by a shrine stop due to a recent typhoon. We weren't told about the updated itinerary until after we'd already signed up.
We went to our assigned spot an only waited a minute before we were escorted off the ship. Since we were English-speaking foreigners, there was no line at customs and we made it out of the cruise terminal in just a few minutes.
I’ve lived in China for two years and found effective ways to deal with The Chinese people. If you get shoved, shove back HARD. But don’t push anyone on the stairs or escalator that could cause a fall. Carry an airhorn and use it when necessary... it catches the Chinese by surprise because they are not accustomed to them. After blowing the airhorn... act like you have no idea what it was and rush forward through the perplexed crowd. Avoid buffets... westerners don’t have a prayer against Chinese. In their culture, they take all food to their table and don’t leave any for others. I plan on taking the Spectrum out of Hong Kong and look forward to an awesome trip but I’m used to the people and culture.
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