rahrah50 Posted September 5, 2013 #2276 Share Posted September 5, 2013 Just an FYI...Made in China has two time slots for dinners. 5:30 to 6:30 and 8:30 to 9:30. The Peking duck dinner needs to be preordered so be sure to contact them ahead of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTiggywinkle Posted September 8, 2013 #2277 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Thanks rahrah50 for the info about ordering the duck in advance. Couple of questions (naturally)... can you give me a guesstimate on the cost of a Peking Duck dinner for 2 at Made in China? do you recommend making reservations thru our hotel (Ritz Carlton Financial Street) concierge or thru Made in China's own web site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 8, 2013 #2278 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Hi MsTiggywinkle, I made our reservations online at the Made in China website. They were very responsive to the emails and that was who told me we needed to preorder if we wanted the Peking Duck dinner. I don't know the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 8, 2013 #2279 Share Posted September 8, 2013 I just found a picture of the menu online. It is from 2009 and the Peking duck is 238 renminbi which I believe is about $40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spruce1984 Posted September 8, 2013 #2280 Share Posted September 8, 2013 My partner and I are booked on the Roof of the World tour next June and I would like to thank everyone here for all the wonderful information. It was very helpful in deciding to book this tour since we have never done a river cruise before. We already booked our flights ourselves since we wanted direct flights and were able to get bulkhead seats. I do have a few questions I am hoping someone can help out with. We booked our travel insurance through Viking (which I will not do again after reading some posts about this) and discovered that our airfare is not covered since it was not booked with Viking. Is it worthwhile getting insurance coverage for our flights so flight delays or lost luggage will be covered. Also, we will be arriving in Beijing two days early and would like to book our hotel reservations at the same hotel where we will be staying with Viking. How soon does Viking make the hotel assignments? I believe we will also need this information for our visas. Finally, how far ahead can you book a reservation at Black Sesame Kitchen? We would like to dine there the Wednesday before our tour begins. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 8, 2013 #2281 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Since I had a group of 10 I contacted BSK in May. The response was I could make reservations in July. Just email them. They are very responsive and helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
id4elizabeth Posted September 8, 2013 #2282 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Regarding BSK - we are only a party of two. I had started trying to make reservations for our trip in October back three months ago, and have only now finally been successful. Since we are only two people, they do not open for only two people, which makes sense. So, we had to wait until someone else also requested reservations. They WILL open with only 4 people. In the meantime you have to hope nobody reserves the whole restaurant for the date you want. We had two possible dates, and one of those dates just got booked by someone who booked the whole place, but a party of 6 booked the other possible date, so we got confirmation a few days ago that our reservations were confirmed. It's never too early to start, but be aware that you may not actually get a confirmation until later if you are only a party of 2. I can see why rahrah50 got his reservation right away as he was a party of 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peregrina651 Posted September 8, 2013 #2283 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Is it worthwhile getting insurance coverage for our flights so flight delays or lost luggage will be covered. IMHO, get the insurance on your flights unless you can afford to lose the $3000+ should your trip get canceled. That it also covers delays and baggage is a bonus. Just read the fine print to make sure under what circumstances you can cancel and still be covered. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
id4elizabeth Posted September 10, 2013 #2284 Share Posted September 10, 2013 If you used a credit card for your flights, the flight delays and lost baggage MIGHT be covered by the credit card. You'd have check with your credit card company to find out. For the flights themselves, SOME airlines will let you change your tickets to another destination and date for a "change fee" (about $300), in case you have to cancel your trip, but not cash back. You'd have to check with your airlines. We don't usually cover our airfare as we will no doubt go somewhere else within a year. The lost bags and travel interruption are covered by our Amex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTiggywinkle Posted September 11, 2013 #2285 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Hi all, We are 18 days out from our departure for the Imperial Jewels of China...should we be getting a final information package from Viking right about now? Had hoped to see it sooner rather than later...guess I'm just anxious to get going!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 11, 2013 #2286 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Hi Mrs Tiggywinkle, I think we are on the same trip!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTiggywinkle Posted September 11, 2013 #2287 Share Posted September 11, 2013 rahrah50 We are on the Imperial Jewels of China (Beijing to Shanghai) which goes from Oct 1 to Oct 12. Is that the trip you are on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 11, 2013 #2288 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Yes we are on the same trip!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTiggywinkle Posted September 11, 2013 #2289 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Hi rahrah50, So is your group of 10 eating at BSK on Wednesday, October 2nd? That is when we have our reservation. What hotel are you staying in? We are at the Ritz Carlton Financial Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 11, 2013 #2290 Share Posted September 11, 2013 We are also staying at the Ritz Carlton Financial Street hotel and our reservation at BSK on October 2nd. Small world.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsTiggywinkle Posted September 11, 2013 #2291 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Hi rahrah50, Yes it is a small world. :) We are departing the Seattle area on the evening of the 29th which gives us Oct 1st in Beijing to recover. That is the evening I have reservations for a very early dinner at Made in China. Have you received any final departure package from Viking yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 12, 2013 #2292 Share Posted September 12, 2013 No we have not received our travel documents yet. I sure wish they would send the info out a little earlier. Our group of 10 will also be leaving the 29th and have the extra day in Beijing. I hope to go shopping for silk fabric that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare molymoo Posted September 14, 2013 #2293 Share Posted September 14, 2013 My partner and I are booked on the Roof of the World tour next June and I would like to thank everyone here for all the wonderful information. It was very helpful in deciding to book this tour since we have never done a river cruise before. We already booked our flights ourselves since we wanted direct flights and were able to get bulkhead seats. I do have a few questions I am hoping someone can help out with. We booked our travel insurance through Viking (which I will not do again after reading some posts about this) and discovered that our airfare is not covered since it was not booked with Viking. Is it worthwhile getting insurance coverage for our flights so flight delays or lost luggage will be covered. Also, we will be arriving in Beijing two days early and would like to book our hotel reservations at the same hotel where we will be staying with Viking. How soon does Viking make the hotel assignments? I believe we will also need this information for our visas. Finally, how far ahead can you book a reservation at Black Sesame Kitchen? We would like to dine there the Wednesday before our tour begins. Thanks. Just read your post and ???'s Spruce but did the Roof of the World trip this summer and may have some helpful information. Can't help on the insurance question ... we have let Viking book everything for us so haven't had to make that decision but unless the cost is prohibitive it might be worth your while. On the hotel question ... we discovered on our trip that Viking tends to book people in specific hotels in accordance with the China itinerary they were participating in. For example we were on the Shanghai to Beijing itinerary for our Roof trip. Our tour escort informed us that the Roof of the World groups were "always" booked in the Fairmont Peace Hotel (awesome by the way!), the Imperial Jewels group were in the Pudong Shangri-La and the Cultural Delights group were in another. I imagine that they do the same on the Beijing end ... we were in the Fairmont Beijing but I would give them a call and ask. We have always found the representatives to be friendly and helpful. Have an awesome trip ... it was an experience of a lifetime!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peregrina651 Posted September 20, 2013 #2294 Share Posted September 20, 2013 It is a gorgeous full moon tonight. I hope someone gets a picture of it over the Yangtze and posts it here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliesaddiction Posted September 20, 2013 #2295 Share Posted September 20, 2013 This is the MId Autumn Holiday in China, it started on the 19th and centers around the full moon. Big Holiday there, everyone out and about. JUst returned last night from our trip and it was excellent. Will do a review soon, just have to wrap my mind around everything we saw and did. If you get Terry as your tour escort you are going to be so happy..best guide in my opinion :) I did get a great moon pic over the Yangtze but it wasnt full yet when we were on the river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianeholly Posted September 21, 2013 #2296 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Greetings! I've been lurking on this thread, reading every post in anticipation of my China river cruise in 3 weeks. My husband and I are actually traveling with Avalon Waterways (Magical China & The Yangtze), but I've found very little about it on CC boards--so I wanted to pop in here just to thank all of you for the VALUABLE advice and insights on this Viking thread. We've been on many ocean cruises, but this is our first river cruise, and our first trip to Asia. We're' so excited and I've learned so much--especially from Peregrina651, Turtles06, caribill-- really ALL of you have been a huge help. My itinerary sounds exactly like the Viking trip. We'll be on the ship Century Paragon, and staying at China World in Beijing, Golden Flower in Xian and either Fairmont Peace or the Langham in Shanghai. And thanks to all of you, we're ready! -Diane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seanf Posted September 21, 2013 #2297 Share Posted September 21, 2013 ... staying at China World in BeijingHope you have a fantastic time. China World is a wonderful hotel. I particularly enjoyed the large number of freshly squeezed juices in the breakfast buffet - try the honey melon one it was delicious! Sean :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Turtles06 Posted September 21, 2013 #2298 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Greetings! I've been lurking on this thread, reading every post in anticipation of my China river cruise in 3 weeks. My husband and I are actually traveling with Avalon Waterways (Magical China & The Yangtze), but I've found very little about it on CC boards--so I wanted to pop in here just to thank all of you for the VALUABLE advice and insights on this Viking thread. We've been on many ocean cruises, but this is our first river cruise, and our first trip to Asia. We're' so excited and I've learned so much--especially from Peregrina651, Turtles06, caribill-- really ALL of you have been a huge help. My itinerary sounds exactly like the Viking trip. We'll be on the ship Century Paragon, and staying at China World in Beijing, Golden Flower in Xian and either Fairmont Peace or the Langham in Shanghai. And thanks to all of you, we're ready! -Diane Diane -- I hope you have an awesome trip; come back and tell us your thoughts! (And thanks so much for the kinds words.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Peregrina651 Posted September 22, 2013 #2299 Share Posted September 22, 2013 China World has a huge shopping mall with an ice skating rink. It is two levels below the lobby. Very international and full of Name brands. The China World complex is a convention center. The buffet was amazingly good. Best food of the whole trip. Bon Voyage, diane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahrah50 Posted September 22, 2013 #2300 Share Posted September 22, 2013 A week from now our group of 10 will be on our way to Beijing. I am hopeful Viking will rise to the occasion in China as we have had some issues. I realize Viking doesn't run the visa company but two of the people received their passports and visa's on Friday despite sending them in the last week of July. (One of the gals paid for overnight shipping on Thursday so she would not have to wait any longer) Our travel documents arrived on Thursday. Nine days before we leave. One of our group is coming from Michigan and we requested flights that would have us all meet in San Francisco and of course she is flying from Chicago to Beijing by herself. She is upset and frightened. (We did pay for custom air) I am the one who put this together and now I am feeling like I made a mistake..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now