Viking China (Part 2)

[Peregrina651]

 

The brochure says the Viking Emerald has "laundry service". Has anyone used this? How quick is the turnaround? What are the costs? reliable?

 

 

We used the laundry service. That is how we were able to do the entire 17 day Cultural Delights with just carry-on luggage--(except for getting home because we bought so much stuff). :eek:

 

The service is good and quick. Figure on handing over your laundry when you embark and then again the morning before you disembark so you have as much clean clothing as possible for the next portion of the journey. Viking posts the laundry price list on its website. Prices are in yuan.

 

You can save shirts by wearing the clean shirt that you put on for dinner the next day as well.

 

One pair of pants should be all you need in the summer and if they are pants that can be laundered rather than dry-cleaned then you can have them laundered half way through the cruise, if needed.

 

Also keep in mind that you will be staying in 5 star deluxe hotels that cater to international business travelers. They will also have laundry services.

[Peregrina651]

Well, if we are sharing our "blue skies in China" photos, here are a few of mine :)

 

 

Simply stunning.

 

Yours, too, caribill.

 

Here are some thoughts for photographers:

 

Time for everybody to grab another memory card or two for the camera and to clear off any photos that you have been storing on the camera or memory cards.

 

If you are planning on getting a new camera for this trip, get it now so that you can practice using it before you go.

 

Get an extra battery and make sure that you bring all cords and chargers that you will need. It will not be easy to replace items that you have left home.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Peregrina651

[Bruin Steve]

Viking posts the laundry price list on its website. Prices are in yuan.

 

Well...not all that reasonable. If I read that right, a polo shirt will cost about $4 and a pair of slacks a little over $5...

[Peregrina651]

Well...not all that reasonable. If I read that right, a polo shirt will cost about $4 and a pair of slacks a little over $5...

 

 

 

And what does your local dry cleaner charge for cleaning and pressing the same items? Steve, like the $7 difference on the suitcase, go to your local dry cleaner and find out what they charge for the same items. Then, maybe, you will fell differently about the prices. Ship board prices will be more than what you might pay at home but aren't they always more at a hotel?

[caribill]

Well...not all that reasonable. If I read that right, a polo shirt will cost about $4 and a pair of slacks a little over $5...

 

 

 

And what does your local dry cleaner charge for cleaning and pressing the same items? Steve, like the $7 difference on the suitcase, go to your local dry cleaner and find out what they charge for the same items. Then, maybe, you will fell differently about the prices. Ship board prices will be more than what you might pay at home but aren't they always more at a hotel?

 

On a recent ocean cruise:

Slacks $4.50 (laundered) $5.00 (cleaned)

Shirts $3.50

Edited March 9, 2014 by caribill

[Bruin Steve]

And what does your local dry cleaner charge for cleaning and pressing the same items? Steve, like the $7 difference on the suitcase, go to your local dry cleaner and find out what they charge for the same items. Then, maybe, you will fell differently about the prices. Ship board prices will be more than what you might pay at home but aren't they always more at a hotel?

 

I guess I'm just accustomed to cruising on Celebrity--where I get FREE laundry!

Back home, I don't send golf shirts to the laundry...and they don't really need to be "pressed"...my local dry cleaner charges $2.65 to launder a dress shirt, but then sends us regular 2-for-1 coupons.

 

Obviously, it's a small dollar amount compared to the overall cost of the trip, but it's just one of those things I hate being overcharged for...My golf shirts aren't all that expensive. At $4, I feel like I'm paying for them over again...

Edited March 9, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[Turtles06]

Obviously, it's a small dollar amount compared to the overall cost of the trip, but it's just one of those things I hate being overcharged for...My golf shirts aren't all that expensive. At $4, I feel like I'm paying for them over again...

 

I totally understand your point, and I think along the same lines. But believe me, after you have sweated through all your shirts even more than you anticipated, you'll be happy to have them cleaned. And, as you said, it will be a small price compared to the total cost of the trip.

[Bruin Steve]

Why I am so confused...

 

Okay, I keep changing my signature line...

June 13...June 15...heck, just maybe I'm leaving on June 12!!

 

I booked this thing almost a year ago...and I don't even recall the logic in the timing except that my wife's school year ends on June 6 so we had to leave after that...

 

My booking receipt from my Travel Agent says June 15 "sailing"...but her email also referenced "departing the US on 15 June"...just before laying out the Beijing to Shanghai with Hong Kong extension itinerary...(June 15 is the date he Viking website gives for that direction).

 

So, I am thinking that reference to "departing the US..." is in error...since the schedule shows the Beijing to Shanghai direction starting on June 15...

 

SO...I'm thinking that June 15 is actually that "day one" on the itinerary...

If so, then we also figure in that my T A said we are going to have a "forced overnight"... Which, I guess means that, though we start on the 15th, we really arrive on the 14th, no?

 

BUT, if we are arriving on the 14th, are we, maybe, departing on the 13th...since it's a 13 hour flight, but it also crosses the international date line, the flights appear to arrive 28 hours later (yes, I know, it's still only 13 hours, but I'm thinking in terms of leaving LA time and arriving Beijing time).

 

So, to arrive on the 14th, I'm imagining we're departing LA on the 13th, maybe even the 12th, correct? And, of course, that is predicated on them getting us nonstop flights!

 

Obviously, all of this will take solid form when we receive our actual flight assignments...

 

Until then, I guess I am just going to be confused...

 

Anyone know which airlines Viking tends to use? Do they generally send you on nonstop flights from LAX to Beijing?

 

Thanks...

Edited March 10, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[caribill]

Why I am so confused...

 

Okay, I keep changing my signature line...

June 13...June 15...heck, just maybe I'm leaving on June 12!!

 

 

My booking receipt from my Travel Agent says June 15 "sailing"...but her email also referenced "departing the US on 15 June"...just before laying out the Beijing to Shanghai with Hong Kong extension itinerary...(June 15 is the date he Viking website gives for that direction).

 

 

a) Not sure why it says "sailing" June 15 as you do not sail on the first day of the tour.

 

b) If the tour does start on June 15, Viking will set you up to arrive sometime on June 14 (China time) or very early in the morning on June 15.

 

c) Best is if they schedule you to arrive mid-day on June 14 as that gives you a chance for a decent night's sleep before Day 1 which will be quite busy.

 

d) Your hotel room the night of June 14 is included. Any meals in China on June 14 are not. Breakfast at the hotel the morning of June 15th is included.

[Bruin Steve]

a) Not sure why it says "sailing" June 15 as you do not sail on the first day of the tour.

 

b) If the tour does start on June 15, Viking will set you up to arrive sometime on June 14 (China time) or very early in the morning on June 15.

 

c) Best is if they schedule you to arrive mid-day on June 14 as that gives you a chance for a decent night's sleep before Day 1 which will be quite busy.

 

d) Your hotel room the night of June 14 is included. Any meals in China on June 14 are not. Breakfast at the hotel the morning of June 15th is included.

 

It says "sailing date: June 15" because it's my travel agent's form...and she usually just books cruises...all of which have a specific "sail date"...This thing being a slightly different animal than her usual booking...

 

I just took a look at travelocity...and they show a lot of LAX to Beijing on Cathay Pacific with a stop in Hong Kong..and on Air Canada with a stop in Vancouver...I am certainly hoping they don't put us on one of those! There are flights n United via a stop in San Francisco

 

Then they show nonstops:

Air China, departs LAX 1:40 am, arrives Beijing 5:20 am...

Or...

Air China, departs LAX 1:20 pm, arrives Beijing 5:00 pm...

 

Those appear to be the only two nonstops...

I am hoping they put us on one of those as the ones stopping somewhere add many hours to the trip.

 

So, assuming one of those flights:

1) I guess we'd leave 1:20 am on Friday, June 13 morning (really leaving home late Thursday--June 12-- night) and arrive in Beijing at 5:20 am--very early in the morning--on the 14th before starting the actual program on the 15th...or...

2) We'd leave at 1:20 pm on Friday the 14th an arrive Saturday evening, the 14th before starting on the 15th...

 

I'd sort of prefer that first flight since it would give me more time to rest off the jet lag..

 

But I'm hoping I'm not setting myself up for disappointment when I find out we're flying via stops in Vancouver and Manila...and leaving Thursday morning to get there Saturday at Midnight..

Edited March 10, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[sisterpower]

A question for those who have done Ocean cruises and the Viking river - how do the showers stall sizes compare on the boats? My husband is a tall man at 6' 4" and had a hard time using the shower on our NCL Hawaiian cruise.

 

Going to try the above question again - if anyone can answer it would be appreciated.

[SharonN]

It says "sailing date: June 15" because it's my travel agent's form...and she usually just books cruises...all of which have a specific "sail date"...This thing being a slightly different animal than her usual booking...

 

I just took a look at travelocity...and they show a lot of LAX to Beijing on Cathay Pacific with a stop in Hong Kong..and on Air Canada with a stop in Vancouver...I am certainly hoping they don't put us on one of those! There are flights n United via a stop in San Francisco

 

Then they show nonstops:

Air China, departs LAX 1:40 am, arrives Beijing 5:20 am...

Or...

Air China, departs LAX 1:20 pm, arrives Beijing 5:00 pm...

 

Those appear to be the only two nonstops...

I am hoping they put us on one of those as the ones stopping somewhere add many hours to the trip.

 

So, assuming one of those flights:

1) I guess we'd leave 1:20 am on Friday, June 13 morning (really leaving home late Thursday--June 12-- night) and arrive in Beijing at 5:20 am--very early in the morning--on the 14th before starting the actual program on the 15th...or...

2) We'd leave at 1:20 pm on Friday the 14th an arrive Saturday evening, the 14th before starting on the 15th...

 

I'd sort of prefer that first flight since it would give me more time to rest off the jet lag..

 

But I'm hoping I'm not setting myself up for disappointment when I find out we're flying via stops in Vancouver and Manila...and leaving Thursday morning to get there Saturday at Midnight..

 

If your trip is for this June then you should be able to get your flight information now if you pay the extra $100 for the custom air service. We go this April and got our flight information last Oct. When we originally booked the trip we decided we'd drive to Chicago (about 5 hrs from here) the day before so we could get direct flights. When we called about the flights in Oct they had us booked from Chicago to Detroit and then a direct flight but they were able to change it to a direct flight from Chicago for about $100 each. Well worth it for us. We leave Chicago at 11 am and get to Shanghai at 2 pm the next day which we think works well for us.

[Peregrina651]

Why I am so confused...

 

Okay, I keep changing my signature line...

June 13...June 15...heck, just maybe I'm leaving on June 12!!

 

 

Enough guessing already!!!!! Here is your definitive answer! It will end the confusion.

 

 

I just checked the Viking website. You are flying into Beijing, right? Your check-in date is JUNE 17 and you will be leaving LA on June 15 with a one day 'forced overnight'. There is a JUNE 15 trip but it is from Shanghai.

 

There is a roll call for the June 17 trip. Check it out!

 

 

Now, about the flights. If you want any say in which flight you are on, pay the $50 pp custom air fee and try to get on one of the direct flights. You may still be early enough to get on one of the non-stops. Otherwise, you may at least be able to choose which of the one-stop flights you are on.

BTW, because the flights are so long, there are actually people who prefer the stop and the chance to get up and walk around a bit.

[Mark_T]

Just got our hotel details for our trip in October.

 

Kerry Hotel in Beijing, Crown Plaza in Xi'an and Westin Bund for Shanghai.

 

Perfectly happy with all of those so we are off to a good start.

 

Having checked the location of the hotel and the location of BSK, we may well elect to use the subway as line 6 would seem to be close to us at both ends.

 

Will research further, but as long as the weather is decent it might be easier to do this than to try and convince unwilling taxi drivers to make the return trip :)

Edited March 10, 2014 by Mark_T

[Peregrina651]

I just found a new roll call for what I think is the May 6, 2014 trip from Shanghai.

 

Also, here is a link to the last post with the list of roll calls. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41891012&postcount=2598

 

If you know of any roll calls that I've missed, please post the link here so I can update my list.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Peregrina651

[Peregrina651]

A question for those who have done Ocean cruises and the Viking river - how do the showers stall sizes compare on the boats? My husband is a tall man at 6' 4" and had a hard time using the shower on our NCL Hawaiian cruise. Been reading all the posts thanks for all the great information I leave in 3 months 26 days:)

 

 

I'll bet that Viking can answer this one for you with the precise dimensions of the shower. They have a department that handles 'special needs.' Try this page on the Viking website for more info.

[Bruin Steve]

Enough guessing already!!!!! Here is your definitive answer! It will end the confusion.

 

 

I just checked the Viking website. You are flying into Beijing, right? Your check-in date is JUNE 17 and you will be leaving LA on June 15 with a one day 'forced overnight'. There is a JUNE 15 trip but it is from Shanghai.

 

There is a roll call for the June 17 trip. Check it out!

 

 

Now, about the flights. If you want any say in which flight you are on, pay the $50 pp custom air fee and try to get on one of the direct flights. You may still be early enough to get on one of the non-stops. Otherwise, you may at least be able to choose which of the one-stop flights you are on.

BTW, because the flights are so long, there are actually people who prefer the stop and the chance to get up and walk around a bit.

 

The funny part of this is that I, myself, started that Roll Call--back when I first booked the trip and was less confused about the exact dates...

 

It's just recently that I tried to go back and look at all of the confusing emails and confused myself on the dates...

 

On the Custom Air thing, if I booked through a travel agent, do I have to go back through the travel agent? Or can I contact them myself? Might I end up paying the fee only to find that nonstops are unavailable to me?

 

As to breaking up the flight with a stop somewhere to walk around, that doesn't seem to make any sense since the various flights appear to stop in San Francisco or Vancouver (or Hong Kong), still leaving the realtively long Transpacific flight...They don't break that up, just add to it.

[magnumtravel]

Thank you Molymoo. You have eased some of my concerns. I really am looking forward to the Tibet portion of the trip and didn't want to be in a corner sucking oxygen the whole time.

[Peregrina651]

The funny part of this is that I, myself, started that Roll Call--back when I first booked the trip and was less confused about the exact dates...

 

LOL! Yes you did but I wasn't going to share that. One thing for you to point it out; quite another should I do it. Still, I knew you would get a chuckle out it.

 

 

On the Custom Air thing, if I booked through a travel agent, do I have to go back through the travel agent? Or can I contact them myself? Might I end up paying the fee only to find that nonstops are unavailable to me?

 

Yes, your TA has to make the call. Tell your TA which flight you want to be on and see if he/she can work it out with the VRC travel people. Yes, it is possible that that you won't get a non-stop but you will still be able to do some negotiating for a better choice of non-stops. Remember that the Trans-Pac flights usually take an arctic routing in to Beijing and Shanghai, so a stop in San Fran or Vancouver is along the route and not backtracking. (Please don't ask me why why flying north to go west is shorter because I flunked that part of geometry).

 

Here is another thought on flights. Sometimes the airlines don't give you enough time between flights. We were concerned that our flights to Chicago (first flights in the morning) might run into delays leaving our starting airports (one couple coming from BOS and another coming from PHL on flights with bad on-time records), so we arranged to leave our home cities a day early and stay overnight in Chicago. Even though the hotel was on us, it was worth it just for the stress levels. Because we left home within 24 hours of our China departure, there was no additional airfare. In the end, it was a good choice because the flight from BOS was actually late; fortunately, the flight was delayed to wait for them. So much better to start our trip stress free rather than with an OJ* through O'Hare airport.

 

[is that reference too obscure? Remember that ad for I don't remember what with OJ Simpson running through the airport, leaping over benches and dodging other passengers.]

 

 

As to breaking up the flight with a stop somewhere to walk around, that doesn't seem to make any sense since the various flights appear to stop in San Francisco or Vancouver (or Hong Kong), still leaving the realtively long Transpacific flight...They don't break that up, just add to it.

 

I agree with you. I just want to get the damned flight over with. But, there are folks out there who are happy to have a stopover in Seoul or Tokyo--and there are itineraries can accommodate this. Some people want the break up for health reasons--and they don't care if takes longer.

[sisterpower]

I'll bet that Viking can answer this one for you with the precise dimensions of the shower. They have a department that handles 'special needs.' Try this page on the Viking website for more info.

 

Thanks Peregrina Viking's response was very fast and exactly the information I needed.

[Bruin Steve]

Thanks Peregrina Viking's response was very fast and exactly the information I needed.

 

So, what are the dimensions?

[sisterpower]

So, what are the dimensions?

 

The bathroom & shower dimension depend on the category for category A- F the shower is 2.13 ft x 3.60 ft bathroom is 19.38 sq ft. there is a considerable difference as you go to the suite shower 3.44 ft x 2.49 ft bathroom 24.76 sq ft. Very interesting information and Viking was extremely swift in their reply. My hubby isn't going with me on this trip it will be my sister but we are considering one of the Rhine cruises.

[Bruin Steve]

The bathroom & shower dimension depend on the category for category A- F the shower is 2.13 ft x 3.60 ft bathroom is 19.38 sq ft. there is a considerable difference as you go to the suite shower 3.44 ft x 2.49 ft bathroom 24.76 sq ft. Very interesting information and Viking was extremely swift in their reply. My hubby isn't going with me on this trip it will be my sister but we are considering one of the Rhine cruises.

 

Of course, the shower and bathroom dimensions on the Rhine cruises may differ significantly.

 

I am sort of waiting to see just how roomy....or how tight...the cabins are on this ship.

I have a tendency to not trust the measurements reported by cruise lines...or anyone else for that matter.

 

I am a real estate attorney and have spent countless time arguing the measurement of and the standards for measurement of commercial property. There are actuall several different sets of standards and different standards are customarily applied to different types of property in the industry. But there doesn't really seem to be any agreed-upon set of standards in the cruise industry.

 

Different cruise lines report different numbers. Some include balconies, some separately report balcony sizes. Beyond that, we don't know if they are measuring from the inside wall, from the center of the wall or somewhere else...or whether they are including electical, plumbing or systems space within the cabin...or hallway space outside the cabin...or other variables.

 

We were recently on Golden Princess in a Caribe deck balcony cabin, purported to be "274 sq. ft. (includes Balcony of 81 sq. ft.)". The cabin felt relatively tiny...no real sitting area, no sofa.

 

Prior to that, we were on Celebrity Silhouette in a Concierge Class cabin, #2106...The website lists all Concierge Class cabins at "Stateroom: 194 sq. ft., Veranda: 54 sq. ft." However, #2106 is one of those "slant" cabins with a balcony nearly three times standard...So whereas the standard balcony is a rectangle approximately 11 wide by 5 deep, our balcony was an irregular shape, 11 feet wide by 10 deep on one side, 15 deep on the other...Of course, the cabin inside was "standard":, but, somehow, unlike Princess, the allegedly approximate same size cabin had a very nice sitting area with sofa and cocktail table. Of course, a lot has to do with the efficiency of the layout.

 

So, that brings us to the Viking Emerald.

 

According to the Viking website, our "F" category cabin (and all A-F cabins) is supposed to be 250 square feet. Interestingly enough, you really don't get that much more moving to a Jr. Suite or an AA cabin--those are listed at 270 and 301 square feet.

 

But then, I took a look at the Century Cruises website. Century Cruises actually owns the Emerald and leases it to Viking. According to Century, the A-F cabins measure 25 square meters...25 square meters actually translates to 269 square feet. So, what is it?

 

And, then, of course, does this measurement include or exclude the balcony?

My guess is that they are including the balcony within the square footage. Otherwise, a 250 or 269 square foot cabin on a ship would be extremely spacious. If, like the Celebrity and Princess ships, they had a standard balcony size of around 55 square feet, that would bring the true cabin size down to about 195 square feet--roughly similar to the size cabins on those ocena lines--which makes sense since the layout diagram lays out much like the balcony cabins on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.

 

But, comparing this ship to other Viking ships used in Europe and elsewhere, the cabin size is quite large.

[Carol From California]

Just got our hotel details for our trip in October.

 

Kerry Hotel in Beijing, Crown Plaza in Xi'an and Westin Bund for Shanghai.

 

Perfectly happy with all of those so we are off to a good start.

 

Having checked the location of the hotel and the location of BSK, we may well elect to use the subway as line 6 would seem to be close to us at both ends.

 

Will research further, but as long as the weather is decent it might be easier to do this than to try and convince unwilling taxi drivers to make the return trip :)

 

Don't count on the hotels that they told you. We were told the hotels months ago and they just changed all three of them. We leave in mid April.

[Bruin Steve]

Don't count on the hotels that they told you. We were told the hotels months ago and they just changed all three of them. We leave in mid April.

 

Which hotels did they first tell you?...and what have they changed them to?

Edited March 14, 2014 by Bruin Steve