Viking China

[arlenez]

Anyone else on this cruise/tour on the Viking Century Sky? It's the 12 day cruise beginning in Shanghai and ending in Beijing. We would love to hear from anyone else joining us.

 

Regards,

Arlene

[EJRIVER]

Hi

 

We will also be on this trip. We can't wait! It should be great. We are "almost totally retired" Brits in our (very late) 50s and look forward to meeting you; also Dale who is also on the trip.

 

Are you from the US?

 

Brenda

 

We are from US. We will be with a group from Seattle, WA - however we live in Alabama. We are in our early 60's and "almost retired" also. Meet you in China! E & J

[ottawa 204]

Thought I would check in again and see if anyone is on the China Viking March 24th tour. Would be fun to do some preliminary planning together.

 

The Carsons

[Frankhenry]

Is anyone booked on the China's Cultural Delights tour out of Beijing on April 24, 2008?

 

Thank you to all who have posted on this message board. I have been reading postings since we booked at the end of November - most of my questions have been answered. You are all such a wealth of information.

 

Jerry, I have bookmarked your journal and the links to your pictures - you did a wonderful job of chronicling your trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

Carla & Jerry

[coasters]

Carla & Jerry

Thanks for your comments... only happy to share our experiences.

Just returned from Egypt with Vantage Travel.... Feb 10 - 24th 2008

Good value, Egypt was spectacular! People welcomed us and were happy to see visitors from the US back in their country.

Viking selection of ships and hotels (in China) were far superior to those Vantage booked in Egypt, however, that could be a "country issue"... Not a tour agency one.

Like to hear from anyone who did Egypt with Viking for comparisons.

Diane & Jerry

[bobka]

My wife and I just booked the October 27, trip from Shanghai. I have a question that I hope someone can answer from previous sailings. Specifically, did anyone use the laundry service on the Viking Century Sky, and, if so, were you satisfied? We are trying to figure out how to pack light. Thanks.

 

Bob

[Pam in CA]

My wife and I just booked the October 27, trip from Shanghai. I have a question that I hope someone can answer from previous sailings. Specifically, did anyone use the laundry service on the Viking Century Sky, and, if so, were you satisfied? We are trying to figure out how to pack light. Thanks.

Absolutely! Used it several times and it was great. The prices are reasonable and your clothes come back the same day, neatly folded in a wicker basket. Your cabin steward will bring them to you and wait while you go over the list you wrote up and make sure everything is there before she leaves. The clothes were beautifully handled.

[coasters]

My wife and I just booked the October 27, trip from Shanghai. I have a question that I hope someone can answer from previous sailings. Specifically, did anyone use the laundry service on the Viking Century Sky, and, if so, were you satisfied? We are trying to figure out how to pack light. Thanks.

 

Bob

 

Yes we used the service on the sister ship "Century SUN", it was reasonably priced and they did a nice job.

Jerry

[bobka]

Thanks for the feedback regarding laundry. That will help take some of the pressure off of trying to pack and stay within the 44 lb. limit.

[arlenez]

My travel agent called me today with my flight intinerary for my May 30th Viking River Cruise to China. How exciting! Anyone else on this cruise?

 

Regards,

Arlene

[Future Islander]

Jerry:

 

Thanks for your pictures.

 

We would like to ask several questions about your Viking River Cruises trip. We're booked on the Viking Roof of the World trip in April (2008) and are looking for some information regarding what to pack and other suggestions that you might have since you've been there during the month of April.

 

Mike

 

 

 

Marie-Claude

perhaps the below links to my photos and journal will help to convince your mother that the trip is worth taking. We flew from NJ to Beijing non stop on 777. Although a long flight we were able to get up and walk - much of the time kept busy watching movies and excited to see the north pole from 35,000. ft!

Pictures and journal there should you be interested...

not to compete with Pam, just to add another perspective.

Diane & Jerry

For those of you seeking information and photos of Viking River Cruise China Cultural Delights, I'm re-posting the links from our April 2007 trip.

Tried to cover many of the questions we read on this site, as well as those that we had that went unanswered prior to our wonderful visit.

Enjoy.

Jerry

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/VikingBeijing

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/MtJiuHuaBuddistTemples

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/VikingBeijingToShanghai

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/PorcelainFactory

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/HongKong

http://picasaweb.google.com/JerrysWebPage/Guilin

http://glevitz.com/ebayimages/vikingjournal.htm

[coasters]

As you might see in the pictures, we wore light jackets several mornings. I tried to cover each day and temperatures in the daily journal. (posted in your question, see the bottom link).

As I recall, it rained briefly 2 days, so a poncho and umbrella are good to have. Many days, we just layered so as the day went on and afternoon warmed, we could take sweater and such off, leaving it in the bus.

 

We always pack old clothes on these trips. That way, we can leave them behind. It's often less expensive to replace some things than to launder them...such as socks, t shirts etc.

 

Happy to help with specific questions - although you should try my journal first. It covers almost everything.

http://glevitz.com/ebayimages/vikingjournal.htm

 

Mike, you can email me directly at jlevitzmail@gmail.com

 

Have fun - you'll love China and Viking!

Diane & Jerry

[Lady Meer]

Hi Jerry

 

We are going on this same trip at the end of May. I thought your journal was fantastic and really helpful. I hope you don't mind but I have some questions -

 

what, if any, toiletries were supplied on the boat

were there any mosquitoes

did you take any mosquito prophylaxis?

 

I have tried to use the search facility on the site but it doesn't seem to work at the moment.

 

Many thanks.

 

Brenda

[coasters]

Brenda,

No mosquitoes when we traveled.

Here's the web link for the ships that Viking has.

It covers everything you might want to know about amenities etc.

We were VERY pleased with the accommodations and amenities on our ship, Viking Century Sun

http://www.yangtzecruiseships.com/vikingcenturysuncruise/overview.htm

 

Jerry

[Future Islander]

Jerry & Diane:

 

Thank you for a most informative report. I'll be calling you with more questions.

 

 

Anyone else going on the Roof of the World Tour April 9 - 23, 2008?

 

We're also doing the Hong Kong Extension for 4 nights (returning to the US on April 28).

 

Mike

[bobka]

We will be going first to Hong Kong and then to Shanghai. Could someone who has gone this route please advise if there will be time to shop in Shanghai, especially on the first day? We have been told of a great place to go to get custom made clothes much cheaper than in Hong Kong, and would like to take advantage - but it can only be done if time allows. Thanks.

[Lady Meer]

Brenda,

No mosquitoes when we traveled.

Here's the web link for the ships that Viking has.

It covers everything you might want to know about amenities etc.

We were VERY pleased with the accommodations and amenities on our ship, Viking Century Sun

http://www.yangtzecruiseships.com/vikingcenturysuncruise/overview.htm

 

Jerry

 

Hi Jerry

 

Thanks for the web site - it's really informative. We are trying to travel as light as possible and wanted to avoid taking toiletries.

 

Brenda

[coasters]

Brenda,

 

The hotels that Viking selected for us were all wonderful and truly were 5 star. They were beautiful facilities and provided more amenities than I had ever experienced....and I traveled the globe extensively for 22 years before retiring!!

Slippers, robes, combs, umbrellas, shoe shine kits, sewing kits, soap, shampoo, conditioners, mouthwash, toothbrush....you name it, they had it!! .. read my journal!!

 

No need to pack any of these ... however, antibacterial hand towels did come in handy at times, athough at many meals, they were provided. We purchased ours at Costco before leaving. (Still using them). Cough drops too, as many on our trip ended up coughing.

TP was not always available in the public toilets, however, your hotel or ship was a convenient daily source of a few lengths, rather than packing a roll from home,

Best bet while on tours was to use the handicap toilets - all we found were "western" style, (non squat) clean and well maintained.

Diane & Jerry

[coasters]

Recently, while in Egypt, I found it necessary to call my bank about an important matter. Even though the bank was willing to pay for me to "call collect" it was impossible to do so thru the AT&T system that the hotel used.

 

As a result, I watched an infomercial in amazement as a small device called "MagicJack" was used with broadband internet USB connection to call the US from many foreign lands. The annual fee of 20.00 seemed a bargain considering that the cost to call the US from Egypt was 16.00 for the first minute and 4.50 per minute thereafter.

 

I've since ordered the device and am using it as a second line in my home. Was easy to set up, reasonably priced (the device itself was $20.00) and the sound quality is excellent.

 

Will take this with me on all future trips with a tiny mini phone I just purchased for 10.00 - this, along with my laptop, When and if necessary, I'll use the internet (broadband wired or wireless) to call any phone anywhere in the US from home or abroad.

 

Hope this is of interest to others who travel internationally, looking for a very low priced solution to communication.

 

Jerry

[Future Islander]

Jerry:

 

We use Yahoo Messenger.

 

I purchased a (quality) Logitech Headset from Circuit City for $30. (after rebate).

 

Yahoo Messenger (so far) has worked fine (we've already tried it from outside the US)......waiting to try it in China. The cost is 1 cent per minute. You need to establish an initial account for $10. though.

 

We also have a quad band AT&T cell phone that we'll turn on the international calling feature so we can use it in China.

 

Mike

[MSEm]

We did the Cultural Delights with the pre-stay of HOng Kong in Nov 2007. We did not get to Shanghai until about 8 PM the first night. We flew from Guilin to Shanghai. The next day was a full day of touring. Your only chance to shop would be to skip the acrobatic show and dinner. You will probably have a 1/2 hour or so to shop during your city tour.

 

Have a wonderful time. We are ready to plan another China trip.

Emily

[coasters]

Jerry & Diane:

 

Thank you for a most informative report. I'll be calling you with more questions.

 

 

Anyone else going on the Roof of the World Tour April 9 - 23, 2008?

 

We're also doing the Hong Kong Extension for 4 nights (returning to the US on April 28).

 

Mike

 

Mike, Judie,

when visiting the children's classroom, it's customary to bring token items (not everyone noticed this in the itinerary materials).

We brought stickers, crayons and coloring books. We counted about 40 in the classroom. The teacher prefers Viking visitors give him/her the items to distribute to be sure each child gets something.

One of the best parts of the trip!!

Very rewarding, the children put on a truly beautiful performance for us.

Have fun!

Diane & Jerry

[bobka]

Thanks Emily. Guess we'll just have to shop elsewhere....

[Abe]

My wife and I will be on the 9/17/08 Imperial Jewels of China tour - Shanghai to Beijing.

 

Our documentation from Viking says that for intra-China travel - our carryon luggage (1 per person) can only be (22x16x8) and weigh 11 pounds or less.

 

For those of you who have taken this tour - how strict are the Chinese airlines about the size. Specifically - our carryons are 20x14x11. Will I have trouble with the extra 3" in heighth? Is the problem that they won't fit in the overhead bins or under the seats?

 

Thanks

[bobka]

Diane & Jerry, what are the ages of the children? We want to bring age appropriate items. Are you expected to bring 40 items each, or are the gifts aggregated among all the visitors? Thanks.

 

Bob