Viking China (Part 2)

[sisterpower]

IMHO. You do not have to carry these bags around with you all day long. Your carry-on(s) can be safely left on the bus--either in your seat or under the bus--as the buses are always locked.

 

Viking says (and BTW, the Viking website has an excellent FAQ section called My Trip that everyone should read):

Pack in your carry-on baggage

We suggest you bring copies of your key travel documents (passport information page, airline tickets, credit card numbers and insurance information) and carry them separately in case you lose your originals.

 

You might also want to consider packing the following items:

- All needed medications, including prescriptions, in their original, labeled containers

- Eyeglasses, contacts, contact lens solution

- Important papers and travel documents

- Camera gear, film or extra memory cards, extra batteries

- Valuables

 

Thanks Peregrina your post is very informative I always travel with a carry on that has at least a change of clothes and some simple snacking food like granola bars and nuts just in case of delayed flights (don't like to eat airport food).

[Bruin Steve]

Questions on flights inside China...

 

It appears that, aside from our flights getting there and back, we will have the following flights inside China:

 

Beijing to Xi'an (approximately 2 hours)

 

Xi'an to Chongqing (approximately 1:15)

 

Wuhan to Shanghai (approximately 1:35)

 

Shanghai to Guilin (approximately 2:25)

 

Guilin to Hong Kong (approximately 1:25)

 

These time estimates found via Google. Correct?

 

Okay...when we take flights out of LAX, even short flights become a long affair. We need to catch a shuttle and fight traffic down to LAX...and try to time getting there up to two hours before flight time to deal with check-in, luggage check, security et al...

 

What is the experience like in these Chinese airports and with the Chinese check-in procedures? How time consuming is it all? What should we expect? There are a whole lot of days on this trip where we will be impacted by flights/airports...

[caribill]

Okay...when we take flights out of LAX, even short flights become a long affair. We need to catch a shuttle and fight traffic down to LAX...and try to time getting there up to two hours before flight time to deal with check-in, luggage check, security et al...

 

What is the experience like in these Chinese airports and with the Chinese check-in procedures?

 

Pretty much the same timewise as at LAX.

 

Viking will bring you to the airport and will handle the checking in of luggage. Your group's guide will obtain all the boarding passes and give them to you, so there is no need to line up at a counter to check in. (The boarding passes will not necessarily have you assigned to sit with your traveling companion.)

 

Then there will be going through security and going to the gate.

 

When we went, there was no orderly boarding of the flights by rows. Passengers just lined up in any order to board.

 

When you reach your destination, you will have to claim your luggage at which time Viking will then take care of it to get it to your hotel room.

Edited May 13, 2014 by caribill

[Turtles06]

Questions on flights inside China...

 

 

I would just add to caribill's excellent answers above that as much walking as I've had to do in U.S. airports and airports in other countries, I found some of the walks to the gates in China (particularly in Xi'an) to be incredibly long. YMMV, depending on your gate. But it was so far to the gate in Xi'an I thought we were going to walk to Chongqing.

[Peregrina651]

Pretty much the same timewise as at LAX.

 

Viking will bring you to the airport and will handle the checking in of luggage. Your group's guide will obtain all the boarding passes and give them to you, so there is no need to line up at a counter to check in. (The boarding passes will not necessarily have you assigned to sit with your traveling companion.)

 

Then there will be going through security and going to the gate.

 

When we went, there was no orderly boarding of the flights by rows. Passengers just lined up in any order to board.

 

When you reach your destination, you will have to claim your luggage at which time Viking will then take care of it to get it to your hotel room.

 

Viking is incredibly efficient at the airports. On the intra-China flights, Viking agents, not your group escort, take care of flight checking in and dealing with the luggage such that boarding passes are handed to the escort when the group arrives at the airport. The group then heads directly to the security check point and then to the gate. The timing is perfect and I don't remember much waiting around at the gate until it was time to board (maybe enough time to hit the head before boarding but not enough time to enjoy a hot coffee). In any case, that's how it was done four years ago and as Turtles says, 'your mileage may vary.'

 

BTW, the homeward bound flights are handled differently and you will be brought to the airport a couple of hours ahead of your flight so that you have time to check in, Viking can't do it for you this time since a passport check is involved. We had some trouble finding the right check in area for our flight, so I suggest that you get the Viking escort to point out exactly which line you should be in.

[Nvadav]

Hi everyone, Just returned from our Imperial Jewels trip last night. Our experience with the inter China flights much mirrors previous reports with one or two small differences. Our guide, Patrick, was very involved with getting us checked in and securing our boarding passes. He was so good that he managed to keep all couples and traveling groups seated together. All bags would be shipped to the airport ahead of us where they were pre screened by security. At each airport we had one person who had to open their bags for Chinese security upon arrival, this was due to packing phone chargers and or batteries in checked bags. They don't like that. As for carry on's they were fairly strict on bag size, but not weight. To quote our guide, you can load it up with bar bells, if you can carry it, it can go. Just absolutely no liquids past security. During security screening we did not have to remove our shoes, but for some reason they want umbrellas removed from bags and scanned separately. As previously stated, the timing was near perfect each and every time. we arrived, passed security, boarded and flew. not much waiting around, that is, until our flight to Hong Kong. This is where things sort of started to fall apart. Thru no fault of Viking. Weather and ATC delays had us arriving in Hong Kong 5+ hours late. Long bus ride to the hotel torrential rains, and the bus being too tall to drive under the portico of the hotel all added up to one miserable arrival in Hong Kong. Again mostly no fault of Viking, although I might suggest that they use smaller buses as our group, by this time was only 22, so we didn't need the giant bus, and a smaller one may have kept us and our luggage dry. As it was the porters had trouble getting our bags out from under the bus in the monsoon like rain so by the time we got them everything was soaked. Thankfully things dried out hanging in the room over night. Also due to the lateness of our arrival, the guides put off our start time for touring a few hours so we could all get a reasonable rest. Things improved from there for the rest of our stay. For the trip home we were bused to the airport in groups according to time of departure. The guide who took us was very good at pointing out exactly which line to get into and check in was a breeze. More delay out of Hong Kong and a tight connection in Chicago made for an eventful trip home, but all in all, we got here tired but happy. Viking really does do a fine job taking care of all the details. I might think harder about the extension the next time though. Was good, but I did feel that for the price, the value was just a bit lacking. For Guilin, a stunning city in it's own right, we had less than 24 hours, mostly spent cruising the Li river, which was beautiful, however we had just spent 5 days on a scenic tour of the Yangtze river, so it sort of felt like a duplicate trip, also, while I am not a foodie, for me, if it is edible I am happy, I will say that for us, the food at the Guilin Shangri La hotel was not good at all, and unlike the other cities, there is no other option if you get hungry. After the river cruise we disembarked at a market place down river and were told we have 1+ hours free time. I was tired and hungry and just wanted to get on the bus, as were several others, unfortunately the bus was not available. When I asked the guide about this I was told that they had to provide certain amount of free time during the extension. This didn't feel like free time to me, more like forced shopping. Ultimately we found a seat somewhere and just waited. But it felt like we were loosing time that could have been spent in Hong Kong. Also one other forced shopping stop in Hong Kong, I think could have been done a little differently at the jewelry factory, some folks wanted to shop there and many others didn't, but for those of us that did not want to shop we had no choice but to wait around for 2 hours for the bus to return. Again, time that could have been better spent. While we were on the regular part of the tour, we were given choices, if we didn't want to participate in certain segments of the day, however on the extension we were not. All in all the trip was a huge success, and I commend Viking on a job well done, just a few small things to tweak, but then, no one is perfect. All that said, I found Hong Kong to be a fantastic city, and very easy to navigate on your own. Guilin, more of a resort town. If you want a good foot massage, this is the place to go. Otherwise I think we could have gotten more bang for our buck by skipping Guilin on this trip, and adding the time to Hong Kong.

[Turtles06]

Welcome back, Nvadav. Paragraphs are your friend.

[didicruiser]

Thanks nvadav for your thoughts. :)

[Bruin Steve]

Welcome home Nvadav...and thanks for the report...and especially grateful for your comments on the Hong Kong extension as we are taking that as well...I just hope we don't get that "torrential rain"...being Southern Californians, we won't have any idea as to how to cope with that!

 

I guess it's my turn to start gettting really excited...We leave in exactly THIRTY DAYS!!!!

[Rodie H]

Thank you for your post!!! Really appreciate all the info I can get for my cruise next April. And always reading about the experience at airports with carry on luggage.

[Bruin Steve]

Thinking over that "torrential rain" comment once more, it finally occurred to me..."Umbrellas?"

 

Now, being a Southern Californian, Umbrellas are something I rarely think about...

We get 11 inches of rainfall here a year (some years lately are a lot dryer than that)...and it all falls in about two weeks per year...We have about 350 days of sunshine per year...And it NEVER rains between April and October...So, we never think about umbrellas, especially this time of year...

 

But, I actually own a couple of umbrellas, but have to go looking for them the few times it actually rains...I just looked around the house and found five umbrellas...two are far too large to pack for travel...one is fairly good--somewhat of a compact size, but still, likely a little larger and heavier than I'd want given the limited weight and space...The fourth one had a broken/bent handle...and the fifth one has holes in the canopy...

 

So, I guess I should probably buy a couple of umbrellas...

 

I went on line looking...and it's all danged confusing...So many choices, so many bad reviews...

Seems the smallest ones weigh less than half a pound and fold to 6.5 inches...but they also don't cover that much--maybe a 35 inch diameter and they all sound fairly flimsy...

Next smallest group--like the Totes Blue Line Travel umbrella--weighs around 11 ounces, has a 44 inch canopy and folds to under 9 inches in length and cost about $20...So, I was thinking about that one since it got largely decent reviews...

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FOJD86/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Of course, then I realize that most of these are actually "Made in China"...

So, we'd be buying it here then packing it to take it back to China...

Does it make more sense not to buy one here in the US and expect to just pick one up, if it seems we'll need it, when we're in Beijing?

 

Or do I, possibly, NOT use an umbrella at all, just depend on my windbreaker with hood?

 

Are there other travel umbrellas anyone out there would recommend?

 

Trust me, this is all completely foreign to me...

 

Thanks...

Edited May 15, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[didicruiser]

Thinking over that "torrential rain" comment once more, it finally occurred to me..."Umbrellas?"

 

Now, being a Southern Californian, Umbrellas are something I rarely think about...

We get 11 inches of rainfall here a year (some years lately are a lot dryer than that)...and it all falls in about two weeks per year...We have about 350 days of sunshine per year...And it NEVER rains between April and October...So, we never think about umbrellas, especially this time of year...

 

But, I actually own a couple of umbrellas, but have to go looking for them the few times it actually rains...I just looked around the house and found five umbrellas...two are far too large to pack for travel...one is fairly good--somewhat of a compact size, but still, likely a little larger and heavier than I'd want given the limited weight and space...The fourth one had a broken/bent handle...and the fifth one has holes in the

 

Are there other travel umbrellas anyone out there would recommend?

 

Trust me, this is all completely foreign to me...

 

Thanks...

 

 

I always travel with a rain coat with a hood. This way, I don't have to carry around an umbrella and the rain coat doubles as a coat if it gets a bit cold. Can also double as a robe if I have to go into the hall for a min :o

[travelfirst]

I also take a gortex jacket with a hood. I don't remember using an umbrella when I went to China.

[Chloe's mom]

I too have just returned from our Viking Cruise. I was on the cruise that left from Shanghai on April 26. I'm going to break my remarks into separate posts so that, hopefully, my comments will be more searchable later. If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

 

Re umbrellas, we had a couple of rainy days, particularly in Shanghai on April 26, and in Chongqing on May 3. The hotels that Viking put us in each had a large umbrella in the rooms that could easily be used for two, and the cabin also had a large umbrella. However, there is a reason to bring your own umbrella as well, since when you finally disembark the ship you can't take the ship's umbrella with you, and it was pouring the day of our disembarkation. This was also the day we visited the zoo, so I was happy to have my umbrella with me. By the way, we had no problem with the umbrella at airport security, sometimes the umbrellas were in the hold luggage, other times in my hand luggage. I personally found the small lightweight umbrella to be useful, even if it is flimsier and won't last indefinitely.

 

Using a raincoat or a plastic poncho has positives and negatives. It will keep you warm and allows you a free hand. On the other hand, if it is hot and steamy out, you may find wearing the raincoat or poncho uncomfortable. So this is a matter of personal preference, which should be informed by the temperature at the time you go on your trip.

[Bruin Steve]

I went ahead and bought that umbrella...not that expensive and doesn't weigh much...and, after surveying all the old umbrellas I own, I figured it wouldn't hurt to buy a new one anyway...And I figure it will slip into one of the exterior water bottle pockets on my knapsack that I plan on carrying as my "carry-on"...

 

And, while I was in a shopping mode, I went a little crazy and bought another item I won't need much...a watch...

Nowadays, I don't wear watches much...and I'm usually carrying my cell phone which tells me the time...But, on a cruise or on vacation in a foreign country, I find I tend not to carry my cell phone all the time or to leave it handy...So, I tend to wear a watch for the time (since cruises and tours always seem to have a precise schedule)...

I typically wear what has become my favorite watch--it's a Casio Solar powered, radio controlled watch that's really amazing--it sets itself from the signals sent out from Colorado Springs...and it never needs a battery...and has all sorts of world time zones and other functions...But it's also metal with a metal band--so, it ends to be uncomfortable in hot and muggy weather...and the band doesn't easily adjust, so, if my wrist swells up a bit from the heat, it could get a little tight...and even less comfortable...

 

So, I went watch shopping...I used to own another casio with a cloth or nylon strap that buckled like a belt...so much lighter and much more comfortable for hot weather...and matched well with the very casual clothes I'll wear on the trip...but, after many years of service, that one broke...So, I set out to find a replacement. I found a great Casio watch with a fabric band and all the world time zone settings...and this thing actually has a thermometer, a barometer and an altimeter...Reviews say you have to remove the watch from your wrist for 15 minutes to get an accurate thermometer reading (or else it picks up the heat from your body), but the barometer is supposed to be fairly accurate...I figured this should be fun--being able to know the temperature and humidity on this trip...Unfortunately, it's not radio-controlled and needs a battery, but, hey, nothing's perfect...So, yeah, I bought this as well...

 

The next four weeks better pass soon or I'll shop myself into the poor house!

[Chloe's mom]

I know that there have been questions/concerns about the strenuous nature of this trip. My husband has some balance problems that cause difficulty walking up and down steps, and his ankle can hurt if he has to stand or walk for too long a time. We notified Viking about this in advance, and also spoke to our tour escort when we first met him, and he was wonderful at making arrangements. They included having wheelchairs at the airport, both to take my husband to the plane and to meet him as he got off the plane. He also arranged for wheelchairs, with pushers, at the sights that involved a lot of walking. So as we got off the bus at Tianamen Square in Beijing, there was a wheelchair and a pusher waiting for us, and he pushed my husband through the Square and the Forbidden City for over three hours. There was also a wheelchair/pusher at Xi'an who took my husband through all the buildings housing the terra cotta warriors, as well as the museum. And another wheelchair/pusher who took my husband from the bus/parking lot to the steps leading to the Great Wall. Except for the airports, we had to pay for these extra services, but the cost was so worth while, as otherwise I'm not sure what we would have done. In the Forbidden City you basically walk through it, so there isn't an option to walk for a while and then go back to the bus.

 

If the passenger is truly wheelchair bound, and cannot walk at all, it may not be advisable to take this trip. For example, to go inside some of the buildings in the Forbidden City, or even look inside them, there can be some steps. For the Great Wall, there are some steps just to get up to the Wall, even though one doesn't really have to walk any distance on it; the group is given free time at that point, so how little or how much you walk is totally up to you. At Chongqing, where we disembarked the ship, there are a lot of steps. I'm not sure whether porters could carry a wheelchair, with a person sitting in it, up those stairs. Perhaps someone who doesn't weigh a lot, but I would be hesitant to have them carry a heavy person in a heavy chair--particularly if it is raining, as it was when we disembarked, and the steps are slippery. Because my husband could climb the steps using sticks for balance, I arranged to have an employee from the ship carry our hand luggage, so my husband could have his hands free. And as it turned out, a local person glommed on and held one of his elbows to give him more support. We tipped both the ship's employee and the local person.

 

At the pagoda at Shibaozhai there is a 10-15 minute uphill walk from the ship to the pagoda. There were local people there who would carry passengers in a sedan chair which rested on poles which in turn rested on the shoulders of the person in front and the person in back. They would carry the passengers to the entrance point where tickets were collected, but beyond that there was still a substantial walk, including a plaza that would have perhaps 5 steps, then a flat area, then another 5 steps, and so on. I suppose that someone who was totally wheelchair bound could take the sedan chair, while a companion pushed an empty wheelchair, and then the passenger could transfer to the wheelchair at the point that the sedan chair ride ended. The sedan chair carriers wait until the passengers come out from the pagoda grounds, and then take the passenger back close to the ship, at which point they are paid.

 

On the ship itself, it is generally easy to get around, although the elevator doesn't go to the top deck. And I didn't see an elevator that goes to the first deck, even though we frequently left the ship from this deck. If a passenger cannot walk stairs at all, I would check with Viking about how this is handled.

 

I know that logistics for people with disabilities can be complicated and hard to anticipate, so I would be happy to answer any questions that I can.

[Chloe's mom]

I know that there's been some talk about this restaurant, and the fact that they lost their lease and have been making interim arrangements to use the kitchen at a hotel if they get a minimum of ten people signing up for a dinner. The one other couple from our roll call and we had hoped to reach this minimum when we met other people from the cruise, but no such luck. However, when we arrived in Beijing I emailed the restaurant on the possibility that they had enough people to warrant a dinner, and that we could add on to the group. And it worked! I emailed them on Monday when we arrived in Beijing, and they responded on Tuesday night that they had just confirmed a dinner for Wednesday evening. So the four of us were able to eat there. I mention this for future passengers who are concerned that the restaurant will not reopen by the time they get to Beijing, it doesn't hurt to give it a try at the last minute. The only caveat is, if the dinner is held on the night of one of the optional excursions (the Peking duck dinner or the opera), you can't do both. So if you have paid for the excursion while on the ship, and then decide to go to BSK, you won't be able to get your money back. And I don't know whether, if you wait until Beijing to decide on the optional excursion to keep open the possibility of BSK, you can add the excursion on if BSK doesn't work out. (My perspective is of the Shanghai to Beijing itinerary, I don't know how it works if you start in Beijing.)

 

The restaurant is located in a very small hotel in a hutong, which is a traditional Chinese neighborhood. It's on the second floor, and has a deck where they serve wine as you arrive. The restaurant is small and very pleasant and comfortable. The menu has about 10 or 12 courses, and it changes, I assume based on the ingredients in the market. They are very good about accommodating dietary restrictions, I am a vegetarian and I had more than enough to eat. And the food was really delicious, everyone said it was the best Chinese meal they had when they were in China. The dinner, which includes unlimited wine, costs the equivalent of $50 per person (300 RMB), cash.

 

The one thing you should be aware of is that taxis won't necessarily drive all the way to the restaurant, because the streets in the hutong are narrow and filled with people. And the taxi drivers generally don't speak English. So I would suggest that you ask the doorman at your hotel to tell the driver that he must be very clear in pointing out which street you should take at the point he lets you out of the cab. BSK also will email you a map, but it wouldn't hurt to ask your hotel doorman or concierge to go over the directions with you.

[Bruin Steve]

...there was...a pusher waiting for us...

 

And when I got to Amsterdam back in 1975, I found several pushers waiting!

But, of course, that was a different place and time... :) :) :)

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself...

[pacmom]

Just received an email from our friend Janos, the hotel manager on the Emerald. He says they are fully booked for the season--"no spare rooms"

 

Anyone going --please say hello to Janos from Pat and Terry. He also reported that our favorite waitress Maggie is no longer with the company, but our guide Daniel is. Anyone who has Daniel as a guide will have a wonderful experience.

 

Steve, we met on the Marina on the Black Sea cruise. When I see your posts I think how lucky we were taking the cruise when we did--able to see so much. Enjoy China. Pat

[rhskls]

I know that when flying in China we are limited to 44 pounds for our checked bag. Am I right in assuming that when we are leaving China, flying out of Beijing, that our checked bag can weigh up to 50 pounds?

[Bruin Steve]

Steve, we met on the Marina on the Black Sea cruise. When I see your posts I think how lucky we were taking the cruise when we did--able to see so much. Enjoy China. Pat

 

Hi Pat...

Of course, IIRC, it was on the Marina, but the Dover to Rome sailing...Which, of course, was great as well...We still haven't made it to the Black Sea (though we've been to Istanbul twice when cruising on Oceania Nautica)...I think we had intended to book that Marina Black Sea cruise and ended up changing our plans...I am sure it will be safe enough to visit again soon...

Hopefully, we'll cruise together again sometime in the future...

[Chloe's mom]

I know that when flying in China we are limited to 44 pounds for our checked bag. Am I right in assuming that when we are leaving China, flying out of Beijing, that our checked bag can weigh up to 50 pounds?

 

I was just on the April 26 cruise, and we were told that we didn't have to adhere to the 44 pound checked bag weight limit, and that your bag can be somewhat over. As for flying out of Beijing, I believe that the weight limit would be governed by the rules of your airline. By the way, there doesn't seem to be a weight limit for carry-on luggage, the bigger issue is the size of your carry-on bags, although, for example, you could carry-on more than one bag, as long as it's not huge. Our tour escort pointed to his normal size backpack and said it would be OK to take two bags of that size.

 

Please also note that you may not take cigarette lighters in either your carry-on or checked luggage on intra China flights, and no liquids in your carry-on.

[Chloe's mom]

I know that there has been some discussion on this thread as to which direction itinerary is best, Beijing to Shanghai or Shanghai to Beijing. The fact that each person believes his itinerary is best indicates that both are fine. I was on the Shanghai to Beijing itinerary, and I'd like to point out some of what I see as advantages, although others might disagree.

 

The itinerary that begins in Shanghai gets off to a rather easy start. There is one full day of sightseeing in Shanghai, then then following day you fly to Wuhan where you embark the ship. The first couple of days on the Yangtze in this direction the river is not particularly scenic, and the excursions are rather limited. So this direction works well for getting over jet lag, particularly if you are unable to arrive in China some days before the tour begins. I think it would be difficult to start in Beijing, where there is really intensive sightseeing, and deal with jet lag at the same time. However, as those on the Beijing to Shanghai itinerary have mentioned, once you get on the ship after Beijing and Xi'an you can spend the rest of the trip just relaxing.

 

Another difference in the itineraries is that, because everyone is formed into bus groups with a particular tour escort, if you start in Beijing you will have spent 5 or 6 days with your bus group by the time you embark the ship, and that bonding may result in your group sticking together on the boat, so that you don't end up meeting many new people. If you start in Shanghai, you have been with your bus group for only 1 1/2 days before you board the ship, so you may be more interested in sitting with other passengers in the dining room, or otherwise spending time with them. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, just that this is a potential difference.

 

One factor that I think is dispositive in choosing an itinerary is if there is a holiday in China at the time of your trip. In that case, it would be better to be on the ship during the holiday, to avoid the huge crowds of Chinese tourists that take advantage of the holidays. The big holidays that I'm aware of are May 1, which becomes a long weekend, and Golden Week in October, which is a full week holiday. I suggest you check a guide book for when the holidays occur in the year you are interested in traveling.

[dkbustr]

I just started a new roll call for the Imperial Jewels April 17, 2015. Peregrina, the next time you update your roll call list, could you add it to the list? Thanks for your help.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42813785#post42813785

 

Mike

[Peregrina651]

I just started a new roll call for the Imperial Jewels April 17, 2015. Peregrina, the next time you update your roll call list, could you add it to the list? Thanks for your help.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42813785#post42813785

 

Mike

 

Done!

 

I'll post updated list in the next page or two.