Just back from imperial jewels viking cruise shanghai to beijing

[Pati]

what a delightful trip.....we stayed in the grand hyatt shanghai which was incredible....loved shangai, flew to yichang about 1 and 1/2 hours on shanghai air 737, took about 1 1/2 hours to get to ship which was lovely.only half full. more crew than passengers..had a lot of younger passengers.....some kids,,,,,,about 7 or 8 20's lots of 30-50's in our particular group of 40. there were 4 different groups on board. others seemed to be a little older.. the boat was very casual and i overpacked some nicer clothes i didnt really need........we went with our 21 and 24 yr olds who had a ball. the food was good and if you didn't like what was on menu they would make you chicken breasts etc. only had to do that one evening! the breakfasts were great as were the lunches..........don't neglect to try the vegetable lasagne that is on lunch menu one day......it was great....the river trip was gorgeous;. our pics don't do it justice. the gorges were incredible....we saw many waterfalls and in the lesser gorges lots of monkeys playing in the trees.the govt feeds them by large blue signs along river so they leave the farmers alone.......... the river portion was excellent.....then we got off boat in chonging and went to zoo to see panda's and an art gallery. had lunch and then off to airport for an hour flight air china 737 to xian..had tang dynasty show for dinner and then next am went to see the soldiers.....fascinating. then lunch and off to airport for a 2 hour trip to beijing on air china 777. all flights were very nice and food at every leg....beijing was great. had a glorious sunny cool day to climb the wall. so impressive. we stayed at the kempinski hotel which was very nice but out a way from the forbidden city. stayed at hyatt xian which was nice also. had drizzly days on river but still so enjoyable.guides were great. weather was cool........but didn't ever need a jacket..if it gets rainy the boat gives away ponchos and has umbrellas for everyone......always remember to have toilet paper with you where every you go as paper usually wasn't included in bathrooms!!!!!!!!! none of us got sick and no one came home with a cold.........yeahhhhhhhhhhh. used lots of purell!!!!!!!!! lots of people wore shorts, skorts etc on excursions. just keep in mind that some days are packed and there wasn't time to go back to hotel to freshen up before dinner shows etc!!!!!!! lots of people ended up in shorts and tshirts!!! not a problem at all.. and you really never have to deal with your luggage yourself the whole trip. how refreshing.......only downside of trip was way too short for us!!!!!!!!!!!! now i think we have started a new cruise addiction in river cruising!!!!!!!!!!!ohoh.....any questions just email. patti

[Fagen]

What a great review. Thanks. I am hoping to take that trip sometime in the near future, but in four hours I am leaving for the Viking Amsterdam to Budapest Cruise. My friend and I took back-to-back Viking French river cruises last year. I know what you mean about river cruising addiction. We were hardly home a week when we booked today's cruise!

[jubilada]

Hi Patti!

 

Thanks for the great review. Did your tour include Hong Kong? If so, how was that part of your trip, including your hotel?

 

We are taking the Imperial Jewels and Shoppers' Delight cruise in September and have been curious about the flights with Viking. Did you use the company's service? We live in Chicago and are hopeful that they will fly to the West coast before boarding the flight for China so that we will have a little break.

 

Other reviews have mentioned Beijing hotels that were very near the city's center, sorry yours was not as close.

 

Any other details you remember would be appreciated.

[Pati]

we did not use viking air....i hate to fly and wanted to get there as soon as possible! we flew into chicago and used united flight to shanghai and then united from beijing to chicago. great flights on 777. 13 1/2 hours to beijing and 12 i believe coming back...absolutely beautiful planes. for me, a psycho flier!, the flights were totally uneventful and very comfortable. had a choice of like 7 movies that ran all the time and you can choose the ones you want. on the 747 services you have to watch what is on the cabin screens. also national geographic things and lots of music. we also paid extra to get into economy plus seating on united which gives you like 6 extra inches of legroom. yeah.......some people on viking air were on our flights but in regular coach. others had numerous stops....one couple had to go to seoul, then detroit then thru memphis to get to their home. i guess you could request deviation. cant say enough great things about these 777;s! customs was a snap going both ways also...we didnt' use the viking transfers either as they were $50 pp and there were 4 of us and the hotel desk got us van for $16. from beijing we did independent return also. hotel only like 15 min from airport. if you are a united medallion member they upgrade you for free. we did not do hong kong portion of trip. i was shopped out by then!!!!!lots of people did go there before or after.....we shipped some things home from shanghai via dhl service in our hotel and packages beat us home! our hotel in beijing was very nice and had a mall attached to it. very nice part of city and easy to get around to silk market etc.took cabs everywhere and always about $2! i took travelers checks but never used them. pulsed from visa logo cash machines. make sure you have enough yuan before you hit the river portion of trip as the boat cannot make currency exchange per chinese government. if you want to buy things on stops during river portion you need yuan or dollar bills!!!!!! otherwise pulsing money was no problem anywhere else. you will need yuan in airport to pay cabs to hotel if you choose not to use the $50 transfer fees.....when you get to hotel the concierge has cards with the hotel name and address in chinese and many local favorite tourist places. all you have to do is how the driver the card and point to where you want to go.........not a problem at all. dont' cart along umbrellas as they are only a dollar almost anywhere. we tossed ours at end. they are nice for the sunny hot days as tianamon? square area is almost all concrete with no trees.!!!! can get very hot from what our guide said. also nice for climbing wall. our son is tall and blond with green eyes. many chinese asked for pics with him! funny..so be prepared. they were all so friendly.also in shanghai esp it is common for people to either blow their noses to pavement or spit on pavement. i always wore tennis shoes!!!!!!!!!!!! all our hotels had individual a/c which was nice. used shawls in resturaunts as it can be a little chilly also. at lunches or dinners you are allowed one glass of water, beer, soda..second ones cost. make sure you get bottled water when eating in resturaunts.always beef and chicken and vegetable items at meals along with rice in north and noodles in the sound. the shanghai brown noodles are wonderful..also many kinds of steamed dumpling with all meals that are very good esp pumpkin ones! and fruit usually asian pears and small tomoatoes for dessert!!! in xian the lunch includes this absolutely delicious dessert- it is like mashed sweet rice rolled in coconut. yummmmmmmmmmmmmm if you learn hello ( nee how) thanks (shee shee) please (ching) they really appreciate the gesture. even if the pronouciation is horrible! people will have whole conversations with you even though you don't know a word of chinese but someone we all muddle thru.our funniest was in a dept store with like 8 clerks trying to figure out how to say belts!!!!!! some stores you can only get them on pants! not seperately!!!! we felt safe to wander whereever. went to lots of chinese dept stores, markets etc..eveyone was willing to help. only use cabs with meters......just looking at my pics and wishing i was there!!!!!!!!!! we had a ball...am sure you will also...patti

[Pati]

in shanghai.........all of the groups did not stay in the same hote.. some were at westin and ours was the grand hyatt. 3rd tallest building in world!!!!!! it was incredible. malls all around and great place to just walk about! with cabs so cheap doesnt really matter where they put you......

[Pati]

another thought just popped into my head...you can pay your gratuities at the end of your yangtze cruise on your credit card fyi

[Dice]

What types of items did you bring back? Scarfs, soilders, watches, sunglases, etc., etc.

[Pati]

yes a little of it all.........got many wine bottle sacks for gifts, watches, golf clubs, scarfs, pashminas, jewelry, table runners, mao watches, lots of handbags,beaded ones, silk ones, fake ones, pretty ones, embroidered ones! they have wonderful paperweight things that they paint from the inside, got a couple of those, hubby and son had 3 cashmere suits and 10 shirts made in beijing, some tshirts, old? porcilien pendents, tibetan jewelry, paper cuttings, cashmere sweaters, some chiniese souveniers,, etc, a wide variety plus a new suitcase to bring it all home in! also got soldiers, a couple happy buddhas, sunglasses etc!

[roberts2005]

Where Did You Buy The Golf Clubs? Were They A Big Bargain And Worth All The Trouble Carrying Them Home?

[Pati]

we bought them in shanghai.....shipped them home. they got before we did and son used them yesterday for golfing and said they were great.wished he had gotten the whole set like people did in beijing......i dont golf but he got a putter with like 2 golf balls on the putter end and some big bertha things. our friends from trip got a whole set and just paid extra on airplane to bring them back. i don't know what golf clubs cost but he said they were really a deal. sorry not a golfer here!!!!!!!!!

[Birdie91436]

My husband and I are taking the Imperial Jewels trip from Beijing to Shanghai at the end of September so your review was very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to provide so much information.

[DL111255]

Hi Pati

We are doing Imperial Jewels Beijing to Shanghai leaving 08/31, so I really appreciate your review. If you can think of anything else that is helpful please post or email me. Were your guides fluent (or somewhat) in english?

[Pati]

the tour escorts and the local guides that got with each group at each stop spoke very good english.....locals not so much!!!! but somehow all our transactions were completed! you will all be broken into groups of like 40 that stays together throughout the trip. it is very nice as you really get to know that group of 40. eveyone gets nametags so easier to remember names to faces. the matre d of boat is an extremely personable and great looking italian! lorenzo i believe is his name. if you have any special dining requests he is so amenable to anything. your tour escort stays with you from beginning to end. they get all your airlines tickets, admission tickets etc. then the local guides in each city do the history etc of what ever you are seeing in that particular stop. everyone i met on board staffwise spoke english but varied greatly in ablility!!!!!!!! there is a coffe pot in each room that comes with teas and coffee's that you can brew whenever. they also give you like 2 free bottles of water in your br each day. they have a tai chi class each am at like 7 before breakfast. at breakfast you can have omelets or eggs made to how ever you like and they have the best pancakes they make at the omlet stations!!!!!!!!!! the blueberry ones are the best! they always have lots of fruit and cereals, bread, yogurts, bacon, ham, potatoes etc. and breakfast pastries.....the cherry ones being my fav.. lunches are salads, sandwiches etc at the buffet area but there is also a menu that is on the table for the main courses....although ice cream isn't on the menu each day you can always get it. strawberry, choc and vanilla with strawberry being the best to me!!!!!bring cards if you like to play as i didn't find any onboard. maybe i just didn't look in right places, they do have library with books and some games. i know people found fellow bridge players to get into groups and we had a heart and spades group! you get passes to get on an off that are given by room n umber..guess to keep track of everyone. you have to put your room card in a slot by the door to keep lights etc on..so again. if you are recharging something, keep a card in the slot while you go out to dinner etc. the boat is lovely and the yangtze scenerey is gorgeous even on a foggy drizzly day.......hmmmmmmmmmtrying to remember other minutia but can't think of anything else at the present time!! if you have specifics just email me or post something here and i'll try to get to it asap. patti

[roberts2005]

tHANKS ABOUT THE GOLF CLUB INFORMATION. WERE YOU ON THE STAR OR THE SKY? DID THE DHL OFFICE AT THE WESTIN PROVIDE BOXES FOR THE SHIPPING. WAS IT VERY EXPENSIVE.

[Pati]

we were on the newest one the sky...the grand hyatt called dhl and they brought a box over..they repack everything at dhl so things don't get broken.the clubs arrived in one piece and are being used daily since we got back!!!! i can't remember the exact cost but we sent 3 packages home from shanghai and it was reasonable or my hubby would have made us carry them with us!!!!!!!!!!!! you might want to call your airline and see what they would charge to bring set back or if you could claim it as your second piece of luggage on the way home!!!!!!!!!! patti

[roberts2005]

Thanks Again. We're On The Star. We Go Up River From Shanghai. On July 6. Sort Of Worried About All The Packages When We Get To Xian. Maybe I'll Contact Hotel There And Ask About Dhl.

[Dice]

The Sky makes the shorter trip and the Star goes to and from Shanghai/Chonqing that is longer cruise?

[Pati]

is bad when you don't know the name of your boat!!!!!!!!!!!! we went upstream shanghai to beijing. loved the extra day on the river. shipped from shanghai as the weight limit per your one bag is 44 pounds. but it is a group weight. also mentioned that you carry on could only be one and it weigh 10 pounds but on our trip many people had 2 or 3 things to carry on and not a problem and no weight checks. that was our trip. don't know about others! we got a slip from customs on our 3 boxes we sent from shanghai the other day for duty of $14!! not bad!!!!

[Pati]

ok not hallucinating. we were on the century sky! guess my brain is working somewhat!

[BigDogMom]

How strict are the luggage requirements? My DH and I, each have a 26 inch pullman. We can usually pack to weigh about 40 pounds each, however the dimensions are larger than outlined in the Viking FAQ section for China. Do I need to get smaller bags or are the 26 inch bags OK?

[Pati]

on our voyage, nobody looked at bag sizes and there were many!!!!! the bags were weighed as a group i guess.....no one ever checked the weight on our carryons or how many we had.........this was for our sailing. dont' know about others...........we ended up buying an extra suitcase in beijing for $20 and used it for our accumulated stuff! 70 pound limit on 2 bags coming back home!!!!!!!!! so for our trip size was not a problem at all....our trip the boat was only half full so if it's full maybe they check more. i don't know for sure just what happened on our trip. hope this helps patti

[BigDogMom]

Thanks Pati! We are waiting for the 2006 season to open for bookings. We are looking to go in May 2006. We think that will be just before high season and not as hot. Since it's hot here (PA) in the summer, it's probably hot in China.

[npphotog]

For Big Dog Mom - Sitting here in Largo Florida reading your post when I went to your info, found you live in Lansdale.

I lived there for 56 years. Drop me an email at: WillardWKrieble@ij.net

We are going with Vantage on August 1st to August 16th. Amsterdam to Hungary. Hope to hear from you. Willard