Jamie | J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | Diary of a fat Tour Guide
What to do if you have a day in Hong Kong when your Cruise Ship docks in Hong Kong?
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | Discover Hong Kong in a day with one of Jamie’s award winning Private Tours of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has a long history of hosting fabulous Cruise Ships from around the World and who wouldn’t want to visit Hong Kong?
30 years ago Hong Kong still had a reputation as being a bit of a shoppers paradise (which started in the 1960’s) but these days times have changed and many people from Europe, USA, Australia etc do not see any value in shopping in Hong Kong despite the fact that Hong Kong has never had a sales tax | VAT.
Prices will be cheaper in your home countries these days… and if you shop on Amazon, well………
I am always mystified why even today the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Cruise Ship Terminals and Cruise Companies still have the opinion that a Cruise Ship with 2,500 | 5,000 passengers from the USA, Europe and Australia comes to Hong Kong so that people can go shopping.! it is plainly ridiculous.
Case in point, passengers off Cruise Ships docking at the Kai Tak Cruise Ship Terminal in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong are offered free shuttle buses to 5 destinations in Kowloon, these destinations are all shopping malls!
Read on……………….
.... Do you really want to see Hong Kong on your one day here from the top of a double decker bus?
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | Seeing Hong Kong on a double decker bus, we have a couple of options, unfortunately.
I have been on the Big Bus Tour Buses… the Cruise Companies do deals with the company so that you can get on the bus at the Port Terminal along with 50 | 80 other passengers. I have strong feelings about this service which I will keep to myself but here are a few comments…
unless you can sit upstairs it is a waste of time, actually upstairs is a a lot of fun until it rains.
the commentary through the earphones is very limited
the bus drivers are criticized constantly for driving too fast, I have witnessed this first hand and they do not speak English
you wait far too long for another bus if you have hopped off to have a wander around
their “itinerary” basically follows the same itinerary used by other coach companies that has been around for roughly 60 years
it is not in any shape or form a private tour and you basically learn very little about Hong Kong.
Do you really want to see Hong Kong on a coach with 16 | 30 other people and then be photographed and your image miraculously appears on a cheap plate?
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | Forced jewellery shopping and your face on a plate
Your face on a plate
I am not kidding, we have a couple of Tour Companies in Hong Kong that like the HK Tourism Board are living in the past.
The tour itinerary is one that has been in place for around 60 years, it is ok but us Private Tour Guides do a lot better with our itineraries.
the big problem is the goodwill they build up with an ok itinerary is totally ruined by them taking you to a jewellery factory for a bit of forced shopping, this is under the guise of a cultural experience and then they lock you in a room and send in a pack of sales ladies… this can last 30 minutes to one hour.
and half way through the tour they introduce a photographer who takes your picture (without telling you the reason why) and he reappears later with a cheap plate with your image on it! it beggars belief
.. now (and to be fair) the plus point is the coach is comfy and air conditioned and you do get a “local guide” who works to a prepared script (one of the reasons they have not changed the itinerary) and fancies him | herself as a comedian (again, a script).
Frankly, quality wise as a tour it does not compare at all to a high quality Private Tour.
Is this really the best way to see Hong Kong on a Cruise Ship Shore Excursion? with 20 to 50 other people, this is a tour group organised by a Cruise Company.
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | Private Tours for 2 to 8 people, the very best of Hong Kong in a day with Jamie, a Hong Kong resident for 46 years.
If you didn’t make plans to do a Private Tour of Hong Kong then not to worry, I am always available to do last minute tours.
Cruise Ship Companies as you know offer their own Shore Ecursions which is basically exactly as above (the image with the Splendid Tours Coach) so the same comments apply. For decades they have done deals with local Tour Companies who as mentioned are somewhat reluctant to change anything despite all the terrible reviews they get on Tripadvisor and in the interests of research I have been on these coach tours.
I have not mentioned the Free Tours that are available in Hong Kong because they last only 2.5 hours and are very limited in terms of what you can see. (oh and they are not free, you have to pay a tip)
This is where I come in, none of that nonsense, you spend a day with Jamie who really knows his stuff (go and read my Triipadvisor Reviews via the menu link) and you leave Hong Kong with a new appreciation of this quite extraordinary and complex city.
Discover Hong Kong in a day with Jamie.
Cruise Ship passengers on one of my Shore Excursions enjoying the Worlds greatest City View from Jamie’s spot at Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
J3 Private Tours Hong Kong | We have two of the greatest City Views in the World in Hong Kong and we will cover both.
Discover Hong Kong in a day | we walk and use Public Transport
Hello, I'm Jamie. 46 years living in Hong Kong, 25 years under British Rule, 21 years under Chinese Rule.
Your expert, LOCAL, professional, Private Tour Guide since 2011
Award Winning Private Tours in amazing Hong Kong | Former British Colony from 1841 - 1997
That sums me up and what I offer.. please spend a few minutes having a look through my website and decide whether you want a blah experience which you will remember for all the wrong reasons or an experience of a lifetime when you visit one of the most fascinating cities in the World.
Thank you
Jamie
Oh my golly gosh, the simply amazing Pagani Zonda Absolute - this is a custom made car and is rumoured to be the only one of it's kind in the world and it is in Hong Kong!... oh... and yes, this is my picture, talk about being in the right place at the right time.
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