dorish34

Just heard from my agent with Pacific Delight tours and with my trip just paid for..they are telling me that one of the options in Hong Kong...an evening dinner/ harbour cruise, are charging me double the price which was $80. and now since I am a single traveler the cost is $160. I was told that it is the local tour company that is doing this not PD.I really don't know what to do. I want to take this tour but the price seems way overpriced. Gray line tours has the same tour for under $80. but then I will not be with anyone from my tour group, that is if others are choosing this tour and there is no hotel pick-up. Help.

rkkwan

I think you're better off not doing it. For $80, you can eat at one of the top restaurants in Hong Kong with great harbor view - at the Intercontinental, Four Seasons or the Peninsula. Then ride the $0.3 Star Ferry across the harbor a few times. I'd prefer that to going on a $80 dinner cruise, let alone a $160 one.

DonJ1973

Don't do it! It's a total rip off. The local tour company's that are dealing with American travel agency's over-charge for these local tours. Your better off arriving in HK and doing something like RKKWAN suggested.

Cicerone

I agree that simply taking the Star Ferry for HK$2.20/US.25 cents (first class) is absolutely the best way to see the harbour, and you can do it during the day and at night to get all the different views. You can go to Causeway Bay and to Central to get a different perspective as well.

However if you want a longer harbour tour, there are ways to do that too. I have not done the tour your company is offering, but I don't know why you need to join a tour with what I imagine could be a quite mediocre dinner and a long evening. I would suggest you take one of the Star Ferry's own evening boat tours, they cost HK$120 and last 2 hours. (I have not done this tour either myself but this would seem to me a better alternative than sitting at a table with a bunch of total strangers for an 8 course Chinese meal which is what I assume is on offer.) All you have to do is get to the Star Ferry pier on the Kowloon side, which is very easy from really any where in town, you don't need hotel pick-up. If you tell me where you are staying I can give you directions or estimate taxi fare if you want to take a taxi. Go to http://www.starferry.com.hk/new/en/index.asp for info, click on "harbour tours". No dinner, but there are so many excellent restaurants in Hong Kong that waste an evening having an average meal is a shame, IMO.

Another thing which might be fun is to take an evening junk ride on the wooden junk run by the Hutoung Restaurant. This is pricey at HK$180 but includes a drink and some hors d'ourves, the wooden junk is lovely and goes back and forth and around the harbour. You probably would meet a few people this way as well, as the boat is small and people are congenial, often expats do this with visiting guests. This trip is about an hour so you can fit it into an evening schedule more easily, IMO, than a longer evening boat trip and dinner. Go to www.aqua.com.hk for info, the boat is called the Aqua Luna.

Finally, rather than the harbour tour, which you could do during the day, you could instead go up to the Peak again at night (assuming your tour does that during the day which seems to be the usual drill), as the view is completely different and is fantastic. You could go up for sunset and stay for the evening view or just go up after dinner. You could do the Lugard Road walk or if you want to sit, there is a new Pacific Coffee company in the Peak Tram building that has a really jaw dropping view, or you could have a drink outside on the tiny terrace of the Cafe Deco in the Peak Galleria (go to www.cafedeco.com)

rhkkmk

i am sure the food is second rate and if it is a stop at the jumbo seafood boat----that place is a total rip off...terrible food...

don't do it...go someplace nice and invite another single on your trip to go with you and treat them so as to have company....

go to felix in the penn or some other fabulous place..

dorish34

Hey, thanks for the replys and good advice. The dinner is at Lei Yu Mum? I think it is a small fishing village. I am not sure of the name of the restaurant or that might be the name of the restaurant. The thing is that since I am traveling single if I don't sign up for the tour then I can do as others suggested but I will be doing it alone instead of with my group. I am not really sure if I would be comfortable doing this on my own at night.

rkkwan

dorish - If you want to go with the group, don't sign up for $160 right now. After you get to HK, tell the local guide you want to join the group then. I can <b>guarantee</b> you that they won't have any problem adding you for $80.

dorish34

Thanks again. I think this is the best choice and what I will do. Everyone here is so helpful. It really make planning so much easier.

sandi

Since when does a single supplement include food? Certainly there are some tours that require a minimum of two pax, but not for the food - vehicle, guide, petrol, insurance, etc... not food! Single supplements are assessed to your room charges, not for food.

I wouldn't pay double and neither should you. As the poster above advised, wait till you're in-country and discuss with the local tour operator, who if he/she is taking a group of more than 2 people, won't charge you double.

What will they think of next? Amazing!

watakeet

I live in HK and can never understand why people join tour groups to visit this place unless they are in real hurry. Most travellers here stay on the usual tourist track, which is perfectly safe even until 11 pm.

With that price, you can have dinner at top rate hotels watching the harbour all night along with wonderful food.

Lei Yue Mun is mainly for seafood but it's probably not the place for the best seafood, even for the atmosphere.

rbm

I agree completely with watakeet. It is a typical tourist rip-off. I've lived in HK for 20 years. Skip the tour. It is so polluted right now that you cannot see much anyway. Spend your cash on good food. Lee Yee Mun can be excellent for seafood but you take your chances- I've more than one friend who has come down with the unpleasant results of bad hygiene there. Depends on the restaurant of course, but I would never eat in any of them.

DonJ1973

I've been to Hong Kong 4 times since 2001 and the 3 times I did everything on my own without any tours/guides. After my visit in 2001 using a pre-booked local tour that was arranged through my travel agency, I realized what a rip-off this tour was. Every destination we went to was followed by a visit to some gift shop that selled useless junky items. I found by reading maps on my own and doing some research ahead of time, I got so much more gratification doing stuff on my own in HK.