Yangtze Cruises
 

We were planning a Victoria cruise but now seem to have been changed to the MS Yangtze Pearl by our tour operator. Any one have experience with these cruises? Are we in for surprises because of the change? Thanks for any comments.

One of the Victoria ships is called the Pearl. Is your ship that one, do you think, or is there an entirely separate one called the &quot;Yangtze Pearl?&quot; You might be able to get some information by calling Victoria in NYC at 1-800-348-8084. Have handy the actual date of your sailing (not the start of your tour) and whether it is upstream or downstream. If you will be on the Victoria Pearl, write again and I can tell you more about the ship. I don't know anything about any other Pearl, unfortunately. By the way, which tour operator are you using?<BR><BR>Elizabeth

Thanks Elizabeth<BR>The Yangtze Pearl seems to be the MS or MV cruise company. They have a lot of ships according to the web page. Any one ever been on their ships? We were on downstream for 3 nights and are now on for 2 nights. We are trying to work it all out with the tour company - Journey's International.<BR>I think all the construction may be causing many changes on the cruises and making it hard to predict.

We were on the &quot;Blue Whale&quot; last summer. It was an okay ship--nothing like the typical ship you'd take in the Caribbean. It was wonderful, although, I don't know if they've raised the water-level yet. DON'T DRINK ANY OF THE WATER--NOT EVEN TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH! We were in China for a month and didn't get &quot;travelers diarrhea&quot; until we were on the Yangtze. Definitely take the Daning River excursion. It was amazing!

Hi BLM, I traveled to China with SmarTours almost 2 years ago and we were on the Victoria Princess. Nothing like our luxury cruise lines in the U.S. Don't be surprised. The ship is small, but clean. Found it noisy at night some of the time as we were docked and were hearing noise from the outside. Be prepared to climb many steps to get up to the tour buses. My sister in law used the water in the bathroom on the ship to brush her teeth and I used only bottled water. I am the one who got sick. It never affected her. I think it depends on the individual and their system. It was while on the Yangtze that I became sick and several others were also bothered by the same traveler's diarrhea. Steady diet of rice and bananas for a few days and be sure to take plenty of Immodium with you just in case. I have heard from several sources they are raising the water level some now. You may want to check into that. And yes, the part of our trip on the Daning River was pretty spectacular. Enjoy to the fullest. It is a great trip and a once in a lifetime trip.

Thanks for the info. We are on the Yangtze Pearl - not a Victoria Cruise now. Will certainly take lots of immodium! Who knows where the dishes, etc have been washed. Looking forward to a July trip and hope the SARS scare is long gone.