BoostieBoo

Thanks for this. Wet helpful, could you share with me your cost comparison. We are travelling next May it’s on my to do list but not quite at the top!

We were charged £175 each which is roughly £5 more than the price the Chinese Embassy charges for its postal service. I still had to pay for recorded delivery there and for the return too but I assume I would need to pay for at least half of it going direct. The visa company that Viking recommended charges roughly £260 each plus a postage fee.

We were told to apply for our visa between 2 and 3 months prior to our trip. I was quite anxious but it went smoothly even though the forms are quite daunting. We even took our photos on our iPad and used a free program to make them the correct size for the visa.

I thought this may be of help to any Brits travelling to China. I was shocked at the price that the visa company recommended by Viking was going to charge so I used http://www.travel-direct.com/visas/china instead. Their price was only a bit more than what the Chinese embassy charges for its postal service with the peace of mind that someone will check your forms through before they submit them. Once I informed Viking that I was getting my visa independently they sent me through a FAQ sheet which basically walked me through the visa form step by step, including all the hotel addresses for our stay. Travel-direct also had a FAQ sheet to double check my answers and the process was quite easy. I chose the 5 day processing and exactly one week from sending my forms off I received my visa. I was very happy with their service and I hope this helps someone.

We begin in Beijing on September 4th and end in Shanghai on the 19th of September. We did the post extension, so we will be in Shanghai from the 15th through the 19th. The shore excursion page on My Viking Journey seems to be messed up. It doesn't show all the excursions, like the Forbidden City, Great Wall or Terra Cotta Warriors. I am hoping it's a problem with the web page, as we "booked" all those excursions months ago.

Our trip starts September 16th and our My Viking Journey page is all messed up too with only 8 of the 13 days showing. But I've been sent our final itinerary and that was fine. However everything I read says Tianamen Square is shut on a Monday yet that's the day we're visiting!