Viking Sky "Imperial Jewels Of China" 9/2008

[PittsburghTerri]

We are considering this trip for our first river cruise. We have gone on many cruises and taken Tauck vacations. DO you think this will give us a very complete China experience? Could we compare this to a Tauck trip? We would be adding on Hong KOng to the Viking trip. Please send your input.....this site has been so helpful in the past.

[Spikesgirl]

Our friends did this cruise and loved it. We took an Asia cruise through Princess a month later and hit almost all of the same sights as they did, incluing the Yangtze, Xi'an, Bejing and Shanghai. It was their first river cruise and they loved the fact that all the excursions were included and that they were scheduled for the morning hours when it was cooler (they went in June). They enjoyed the cuisine, which ws a mix of Chinese and American dishes, the entertainment and the fact that your guide stayed with you for the entire trip.

 

Charlie

[PittsburghTerri]

Charlie,

Thank you! It sounds great.....we wewre wondering how this might compare to a total land cruise like Tauck's? I know Tauck is much more expensive, but if we'll see more, etc??????

[travelsfun]

Terri...There is a board here just for Viking China...you can find it by looking under "Other Cruise Lines". There is much wonderful information there from past cruisers. We did the "Imperial Jewels" trip last June..it was wonderful.

Dorothy

[Ocala]

Terri - I see what you are looking for here. We took Imperial Jewels several years ago and also 6 North American Tauck land tours, the latest being several months ago. Viking Imperial Jewels compares very favorably with Tauck tour in the quality of hotels, the ship was beyond nice, and tour guide very knowledgeable. I can't compaire Tauck China with Viking China. Tauck hasn't been perfect (in fact messing up greatly once) and so it probably is with many tour companies. Yes, Tauck is expensive, sometimes seemingly without merit, but each tour and company should be looked at for specifics that are important to the specific traveler. For example, we are taking a Vantage river cruise in three weeks instead of Tauck or Viking because the itinerary and theme of this Vantage cruise interested us more than the other two companies.

 

I certainly would recommend Viking for China! Cheers //Mark//

[PittsburghTerri]

I cannot find this specific link for Viking China......please help!!!! I looked under Other Cruise Lines as well as River Cruises. I used this site last year for Oceania and had no trouble; maybe there aren't alot of Viking passengers that read this......thanks for your help.

[Dale]

I cannot find this specific link for Viking China......please help!!!! I looked under Other Cruise Lines as well as River Cruises. I used this site last year for Oceania and had no trouble; maybe there aren't alot of Viking passengers that read this......thanks for your help.

Try this

Viking China

[PittsburghTerri]

dorothy,

I can't find the specific site for Viking China.....I looked under other cruises and river cruises....I saw one person had over 1500 replies!!!! Am I doing something wrong???? thanx-hope you can help.

Terri

[travelsfun]

Dale's link is direct and less complicated than the one I sent you. There are 75 pages of messages which should keep you busy for several days...and probably will give you more information than you need! Happy reading!

Dorothy

[ottawa 204]

Our friends did this cruise and loved it. We took an Asia cruise through Princess a month later and hit almost all of the same sights as they did, incluing the Yangtze, Xi'an, Bejing and Shanghai. It was their first river cruise and they loved the fact that all the excursions were included and that they were scheduled for the morning hours when it was cooler (they went in June). They enjoyed the cuisine, which ws a mix of Chinese and American dishes, the entertainment and the fact that your guide stayed with you for the entire trip.

 

Charlie

Would you mind telling me which Princess cruise you took. We want to go to China but I have not found a cruise that goes to all the places Viking goes to? Thanks

[couchking]

I just came back from Imperial Jewels of China. There were a couple of people on the tour that had been on many Tauk tours, and were comparing the two.

They said that the food was better on Tauk. They also said that one of Tauk's things is they pick up you luggage in your room instead of outside the door.

They didn't feel that these two things merited the much higher price for Tauk.

It seemed that Viking owned China and had alot of influence there.

For example, when we went to a show we were one of the last to arrive. The show handled over 1000 people. Our seats had been reserved down near the front.

All of the hotels were 5 star and the breakfasts were buffet and excellent.

The ship was exclusively Viking, as opposed to other ships where they cater to many tour companies.

Viking has it right in China- and a great value too.

Larry

[Miss Priss]

Terri - the site that had the 1,500 replies is indeed the site Dorothy and the others are talking about. We went on the Imperial Jewels tour with Viking in September. I posted my comments on that site, but I will say that it was a great trip. I honestly don't know how Tauck could show you more than Viking did; in fact we were on the go all the time. We did not agree with others regarding the food, because we generally enjoyed all the meals. But I will say that near the end, we did get tired of Chinese cuisine. In Bejing, we had dinner at the Italian restaurant in the hotel, and it tasted great! If you do Viking, I know you will enjoy your trip. Viking really does have a niche in China. Thanks to the board chat mentioned above, nothing was an unwelcome surprise and we were prepared to enjoy a fabulous trip.

Marian