Just got back from SE Asia

[Spikesgirl]

and we did the Yangtze cruise with Victoria cruise line - as part of a land cruise organized by Princess. We had hoped to be on Viking, but we had a lovely time. The ship held 100 people, but made sure that it had all the trappings of one of the larger ships, down to the parade of the Bked Alaskas (although they did them as birthday cakes as everyone who was celebrating on the ship was honored with a small gift (a painting of the Three Gorges by the resident artist) and then were sung Happy Birthday to in Chinese.

 

The Star had lectures, workshops, demonstrations and, of course, excursions. Because of the way the cruise was designed, all the excursions were in the morning and then you returned to the ship for an afternoon of cruising and relaxing.

 

We absolutely loved our room and our time on board. The only problem is that there is no elevator on board. Most of the cabins areon the first three floors, but we had a disabled person who really had a hard time with both the ship and the excursions. She felt that the cruise had been mis- represented to her as she was unable to do much of anything due to the physicality of the ship and the landscape.

 

This was a wonderful cruise though and we were glad to have 'discovered' a new line. If anyone has questions or would like more details, I will be happy to try and answer them.

 

Charlie

[Aussie Bruce]

So glad you enjoyed the cruise. We did the same on sister ship Victoria Katerina earlier this year and found it a wonderful experience. The staff were superb and the cabins small and the balcony was just big enough. The food was great.

 

We went from Chonqing downstream after seeing the pandas in the Chonqing zoo with a great view which was far better and roomy than Beijing where the crowds were overwhelming.

[Spikesgirl]

Was Chongquin something or what? We had flown in from Xian, which we thought was pretty big. Yeah, okay, so it was pretty small in retrospect. We also sailed downriver, although we were a little concerend as we had thought we'd be on Viking. I wouldn't change a thing on Victoria Star. For as small a vessle as it was, it seemed very large. The crew was friendly, even if most of them only spoke a splattering of English, they did their best to keep us happy. Fengdu was incredible, especially when you look across the river and see the new city. For us, the expereince of traveling up to Matu River in a sampan was very grounding after the Forbidden City and the Terra Cotta Warriors. Yes, man can achieve, but it pales when compared to what Nature creates. Yea, it was a great trip.

 

Charlie