Viking China

[coasters]

Irv,

Thanks so much for your excellent Viking review. We're booked for April 11, of 07, and your attention to detail helps to make us more comfortable with the arrangements we made with Viking. (our first)

You covered the casual dress on board the Viking Century Sun... how about for tours, and finally, how to dress for hotels in Shanghi and Hong Kong.

Appreciate your thoughts.

 

Aagin,

Thanks, Jerry

[Lloyd]

I am repeating this question as I had no response the first time. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has done the Cultural Delights Tour. We leave the end of September. Thank you-

 

My wife uses a cane and can walk and do stairs but not at a real fast pace. Her thought was that she would do what she could. She thought she may have to stay on the ship some days if the tour was really physical. Also if she goes on the tours she is thinking she can stay with the bus or in the area where the bus parks and at least see the people and country side. Could you comment as the the feasablity of this approach both while cruising and the land days in Shanghi, Xian and Bejing. Thank you.

[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

We just did this trip in June of this year. Helen was with us and she uses a cane and also brought a wheelchair with her. She managed. She skipped a couple of tour days. The trip to the mountains to the Temples and the day to the snow caves. There are 220 steps just to get to the buses that day. This is a great trip, don't miss it.

[irv54]

There really is no dress code, We wore what we normally would wear, It was very hot so I wore shorts and sandles all day, In Hong Kong if you go out to a nice dinner you may want to wear smart casual. I did not see many people in ties and Jackets

 

Laundry is very expensive - If you look you can buy new clothes cheaper than having them clean.

 

Walking with a cane is manageble (There are many places that sell walking canes because of the hills and steps). The Chinese people are very gracious and helpful.

[Murphey]

Thanks for the words about laundry. I thought I had read somewhere earlier that the laundry on the ship was quite reasonable. I guess that was wrong.....I will rethink what to pack......I'm very glad to hear shorts are acceptable for men......easier to pack. I had also read earlier that shorts were frowned upon unless you were on board in the afternoon. Although I prefer my DH in golf shirts instead of Tee's, perhaps we will be a little more relaxed on this trip and purchases some Tee's along the way. Did other people do that?

[San Diego Ronni]

Marlene, I would also like the schedule w/numbers that you have. We are leaving September 30 for the Cultural Delights tour. Isn't this the same tour you are going on, but earlier? If you are back before we leave, it will be interesting to learn how the weather has changed (if any). We are in San Diego...notice you are here in La Jolla....HI neighbor!

 

My e-mail is rechevar.....san.....rr......com. Should be able to figure this out!

 

Thanks!

[land lover]

Just want to thank Ocala, Little toot, Reba, Ba Ann, Jack, Hank, Jeff, Tina, Jerry, Kathy and Irv for answering all of my many questions on the Viking China Thread.......finally my cruise/tour is here, we will be leaving on Thursday.

 

Each of you provided useful and valuble info. From Ocala who went last Sept. we have almost come full circle to Irv and Kathy who returned recently even Kona1234 just came on to provide info.

 

One thing I have learned from your posts is that we will have a wonderful time....

 

Thanks again so much............

[JJPNYC]

My wife uses a cane and can walk and do stairs but not at a real fast pace. Her thought was that she would do what she could. She thought she may have to stay on the ship some days if the tour was really physical. Also if she goes on the tours she is thinking she can stay with the bus or in the area where the bus parks and at least see the people and country side. Could you comment as the the feasablity of this approach both while cruising and the land days in Shanghi, Xian and Bejing. Thank you.

 

We had a few people on our group who were in similar situations. Our guide was really good at letting people know what to expect at each stop and told those who might have trouble with the stairs/amount of walking whether it was doable or not based on what she knew about their capabilities.

 

Unfortunately some of the real "must see" places (e.g. Tiannamen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall) are walking intensive. As for on board the ship, you don't need to leave the ship if you don't want to.

 

In all Viking takes the approach of "you paid for your trip so you can do as you please as long as it doesn't infringe upon the group." In almost all cases the guides are OK with you staying on board the bus during a stop or staying back at the hotel if you need some extra rest - all they ask is that you let them know so that they know where you are.

[jff50]

Unfortunately some of the real "must see" places (e.g. Tiannamen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall) are walking intensive. As for on board the ship, you don't need to leave the ship if you don't want to.

 

While there are some places that whhelchairs don't work, our guide arranged for wheelchairs in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace for those people that needed/wanted them. When you rent a wheelchair, you get someone to push it. The cost seemed pretty reasonable to me. You also have to pay for the wheelchair person's admission to the Forbidden City and Summer Palace.

[JJPNYC]

While there are some places that whhelchairs don't work, our guide arranged for wheelchairs in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace for those people that needed/wanted them. When you rent a wheelchair, you get someone to push it. The cost seemed pretty reasonable to me. You also have to pay for the wheelchair person's admission to the Forbidden City and Summer Palace.

 

Did not know about wheel chair rentals at the Forbidden City nor Summer Palace. Actually I didn't see wheel chair at either place, especially the Forbidden City given the many stairs & raised door thresh-holds.

 

In addition to this though at the Terracotta Warriors in Xian there is an army of wheel-chair pushers to take you through the grounds. They'll meet you at the bus when you arrive. In all probably about 1/2 of our group took advantage of this. You didn't have to pay the admission price for the pushers but the cost of the wheel chairs was something like $30-$40 for the day. Plus of course a nice tip for the guy.

[Carolny]

Been enjoying reading info posted on China, I'm new to this, so hope this is going to the right spot. We will be leaving for China on Oct. 17 flying into Beijing for the Cultural China tour. Have lots of questions so any fedback will be very appreciated. Was wondering on the dress in the evening for woman. Also since we will be traveling over a distance had questions about the range of temperature over the tour. Any suggestions for shopping, and wheather there are any tours you might skip and veture out on your own?

:confused:

[Murphey]

I just heard from my TA regarding luggage. He said that Viking takes your luggage and weighs it independently of us and charges $5 per kilo (2.2 lbs) over the weight limmit of 44. If any bag is over that the tour guide is told and collects the $ from you. Has anyone ever been charged????

 

We leave in three weeks, have to start thinking about packing....:eek:

[JJPNYC]

I just heard from my TA regarding luggage. He said that Viking takes your luggage and weighs it independently of us and charges $5 per kilo (2.2 lbs) over the weight limmit of 44. If any bag is over that the tour guide is told and collects the $ from you. Has anyone ever been charged????

 

We leave in three weeks, have to start thinking about packing....:eek:

 

What happens with luggage is this:

 

- The airport weighs all of the luggage from the tour as a whole and then calculates an average weight of bags.

-However, in my discussions I have never heard of Viking charging someone for being over the limit. Viking's approach is that all bags will balance out as some heavy bags will be balanced out by lighter bags. They are ultimately concerned about the TOTAL weight of the groups luggage unless something has changed in the past couple of months. I wouldn't worry if you are a few pounds over (e.g. 47 lbs).

-All in all, I think your TA has gotten some bad information about the luggage rules.

 

The funny part about this is that you can literally carry as much on board as you can manage, without concern for weight of the bags.

[Murphey]

This thread has quited down considerably, I suppose the travel season for China is ending! However, our trip is just 2 weeks away!! Is there anyone out there who travelled in late September/early October? I am wondering if a small umbrella would be appropriate, or will the weather just be very comfortable? Unfortuately, 2 weeks ago I broke 2 toes + a small bone on top of my foot!! :eek: I am now off crutches, but still in my "boot". I am very worried about being able to keep up! I have 2 more weeks of healing + I'm going to look for some strap-on type sandles that may be more comfortable. Anyway, more important, can anyone share

this time of year" experiences with us?????

[Carolny]

Hi,

 

Afraid I don't having any answers for you, we leave for our trip, Cultral China, on 10/17. Been wondering the same as you where all the chatter has gone. Was hoping to get some information on good shopping stops, weather, and dress for women in the evening. My husband is having surgery on 9/26, so we are hoping all is OK for the trip. Hope your foot is doing better. What is your departure date and what tour are you doing?

:D

[TGBarbie]

We are all anxiously awaiting MBellamy's return. She will have the most up-to-date info, as she left on 8/24.

 

Murphey, aren't you on the tour just before us? We leave on 9/29. Best of luck.

 

Carolny, from what we have been told on this thread, dinner dress for the women is still very casual. Many wear the same attire as they had on for the days tour. They have also indicated that the dining room is quite warm. I'm planning resort casual for evenings and capri's with layers for the day tours. Hope this helps a little.

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Thanks to everyone here for their help. I felt very prepared for the trip. I ended up in Marlene's group and Lori stayed in the same hotels. It was great to meet them finally. I'll post some more information tomorrow when hopefully I'll be unpacked and back on track. We didn't get in until 3 am Sunday morning. China is amazing and I was impressed with Viking. More later.

Cynthia

[land lover]

Hi Cynthia, glad you had a safe return. Enjoyed our last shopping trip in the rain:) .

 

Ladies regarding dress anything goes...take less and leave more room for purchases everyone in our group had a extra suit case by the time our tour was finished. Luggage weight was not a problem on our flights in China, but that doesn't mean it won't be on yours. They use different carriers..so one never knows. The worst thing is an extra fee so don't sweat it.

 

All for now ......

[Carolny]

Thanks ladies, for the information, looking forward to reading more about your trip and the best shoping! Did you bring an extra suit case or buy one there? Catch up on your sleep!

Carol

[Murphey]

Welcome home!! I am so excited to hear about your trip...we are starting to count down the days. The only thing I'm dreading is the flight. Can't even take moisturizer for my face...airplanes are so dry. I usually take a toothbrush with me too.....17 hours is a long time.....too bad we can't freshen up a bit. Were you terribly bothered by jet lag??? Weather? I heard it can be cold at the Great Wall this time of year.

 

TG Barbie: We leave on the 25th and board our ship on the 30th. We are on the Misty Mountain tour though....7 days on the ship instead of 9.

[land lover]

Tubes of cream that are 1oz or less were allowed in LAX, they did random manual bag searches, we were waived through so no one checked our bags they were more concerned about liquid...we flew Air Canada. The China flights you could bring water but they wanted to smell it and I had some extra bottles in my bag and they didn't even look at them. Going home again the liquids seemed to be of concern, I had several small lotion bottles, chap stick etc. nothing was said.

 

Jet Lag...brought my own pillow that really helped me. Took me about 4 days to adjust...but no big deal I can still run on empty.

 

Great Wall...believe me you would rather have it cold than hot we were roasting, We went forward from where you have a group photo taken the incline and uneven steps really are a challenge, we went 4 towers up most only went 1. We had a fairly clear day often the fog rolls in we were lucky.

 

 

All in our group bought suitcases in Shanghai, they were cheap enough 15-25 dollars. But most only started with one bag of checked luggage.

 

As someone stated before this is not a shopping trip. if you see something you want grab it you may never see it again regardless of what your guide tells you. We had a male guide and it was apparent he was not into shopping. He was into the schedule.

 

Everything was always on time or early.....for example your guide tells you "we will leave at 9am tomorrow" at 8:35 the next morning you hear the the ship announcemnet "first call for those going ashore" then at 8:45 "last call for those going ashore". We had 8 buses and most were rolling out at 8:55 this was after walking through other ships and up steps to get ashore.

 

More later,

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Instead of writing a review of the trip, I’m going to review the helpful things I learned on “Viking China.” The list is in no particular order.

Bring plenty of antibacterial wipes and use them.

Bring “Charmin to go.”

Don’t be afraid to venture out on your own.

Watermelon is the main dessert when the meal is Chinese.

Bargain, bargain, bargain.

The standard cabins are all the same. (We had the lowest price cabin and in many ways it was more convenient. It’s the same floor as the dining room and only one flight up after a tour.)

Dress for comfort.

You must carry your hand luggage up stairs on the inter China flights.

Buy water on the bus.

There is diet Coke.

The steps getting off and on the boat in several ports were worse than the Jade Cave.

My personal observations and recommendations.

Go on all the tours unless you physically unable to do so. They are well planned and all offer something different.

All three shows were exceptional.

I didn’t like Chinese food before I went on the trip and I still don’t like it. I was very happy Viking offers many Western meals on the ship. I did taste almost all of the Chinese dishes and had plenty to eat.

Try to remember the trip is named “Cultural Delights” not “Shopping, Shopping, Shopping.”

Many people were sick with one thing or another. Bring your own drug store.

The Viking staff and crew were excellent. Our tour guide, David, was exceptional.

I found the “open seating” at dinner awkward. I believe assigned seating or the staff seating you as you arrived would have been better. At breakfast and lunch people arrived at different times so it wasn’t a problem. Most people arrived at dinner when the doors opened or sent one person to “save” seats.

If you stay at the Westin in Shanghai, the Bund, the shopping street, and the bazaar at Yu Garden are all close enough to walk to.

China is amazing!

Questions?

[Murphey]

Gosh....thanks so much for the information. Yes, I do have a couple of questions:

 

1. What did you carry with you during the day? Small backpack, fannypack, regular purse?????

 

2. Do the hotels/ship provide basics as in lotion and shampoo?

 

3. Not really interested in too much shopping, but would be interested to hear what you did purchase.

 

4. Did you have any laundry done on the ship and if so, what was the cost?

 

 

Many thanks!!!!

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Gosh....thanks so much for the information. Yes, I do have a couple of questions:

 

1. What did you carry with you during the day? Small backpack, fannypack, regular purse????? My husband carried a small backpack and I carried a camera bag

 

2. Do the hotels/ship provide basics as in lotion and shampoo? Yes, even toothbrushes and vanity kits.

 

3. Not really interested in too much shopping, but would be interested to hear what you did purchase. Our large purchase was a silk rug. 2.5 X 10' runner. It should get here today or tomorrow. I bought a set of 4 small blue and white vases at the ceramic factory and soup bowl at the "wholesale market" after lunch. A jade ball-- not at the Jade factory too expensive. Lot's of fans for gifts and other small things. A 5 piece terracotta soldier set at the museum $62 and cheap ones $2 outside at the end of the day.

 

4. Did you have any laundry done on the ship and if so, what was the cost? No, I washed out a few quick drying tops. I don't remember the cost but agreed with those that said it's cheaper to buy another top.

 

 

Many thanks!!!!

1. What did you carry with you during the day? Small backpack, fannypack, regular purse????? My husband carried a small backpack and I carried a camera bag

 

2. Do the hotels/ship provide basics as in lotion and shampoo? Yes, even toothbrushes and vanity kits.

 

3. Not really interested in too much shopping, but would be interested to hear what you did purchase. Our large purchase was a silk rug. 2.5 X 10' runner. It should get here today or tomorrow. I bought a set of 4 small blue and white vases at the ceramic factory and soup bowl at the "wholesale market" after lunch. A jade ball-- not at the Jade factory too expensive. Lot's of fans for gifts and other small things. A 5 piece terracotta soldier set at the museum $62 and cheap ones $2 outside at the end of the day.

 

4. Did you have any laundry done on the ship and if so, what was the cost? No, I washed out a few quick drying tops. I don't remember the cost but agreed with those that said it's cheaper to buy another top.

[Lloyd]

The booklet I just received from Viking says "don't use Tap water to shave if you use a razor". I guess i'll have to buy an electic razor. I would appreciate hearing from any men that have taken this China trip as to what their experiance was. (Cultural Delights Tour - Leaving LA 9/22 for Shangai)