Viking China (Part 2)

[Peregrina651]

Do you really have to send them your original passport and do you have to get another passport picture to send with it? .

 

Yes. You have to hand over your original passport to the Chinese officials. The visa will be pasted into your passport as part of the process.

 

Yes. If the paperwork says that you must supply a picture, then you must.

 

If you are driving to a consulate, it is helpful to go to the webpage for that particular Chinese consulate and read what they say about visas. It will explain the process (it will take two trips to the consulate) and it will tell you the hours that the visa desk is open.

 

To repeat, you must not apply for your visa more than 90 days before you are scheduled to enter China as permission to enter the country expires 90 days after the visa is issued. Once you have entered the country for the first time, the visa is good for as long as and for as many entries as are stated on the visa.

 

If you are mailing your visa, allow at least three weeks for it to be returned to you. There have been reports of it taking less than three weeks, but better to allow too much time than not enough.

 

PSA (public service announcement) for 2016 travelers: Now is the time to take a look at your passport to make sure that 1) it expires not less than 6 months from the end of your trip and 2) that there will be at least 4 blank pages available in the visa section when you apply for the visa. You do not want to be making a mad dash to the Passport office at the last minute because you have just realized that you don't have enough time or pages in passport. Way too much stress!

 

 

 

....

[gnparend]

We just booked this trip for May 23 from Shanghai to Beijing. Starting to research the trip. We will have to send off our passports probably in March should be enough time) to a service company. Not sure when we will find out about our hotels (needed for Visa Form) and Airfare which is being done by Viking (price seemed equal to what is available online) but that will be 75 days out and may need that info for the Visa.

 

Glad we found this thread there is a lot of info out here but WOW the thread is huge. But then again we have a whole year to read. Info form those who took the same tour has been very informative and really appreciate the time they took to help us.

 

Will check back every few days as this threads seems to be active with tons of info.

[gnparend]

No. You are paying them a fee to save you the drives into Houston.

 

We have had to send off our passports to a service company. Tampa Bay does not have any consulates. We needed a Visa for Kenya. It took the service company about 2 weeks. We sent them and paid the $10 for Fed Ex service. Trust Fed Ex a little more then the USPS will deliver on time quicker and not lose it. Just my opinion so no hate mail from a postal worker. :)

[Peregrina651]

 

Glad we found this thread there is a lot of info out here but WOW the thread is huge. But then again we have a whole year to read. Info form those who took the same tour has been very informative and really appreciate the time they took to help us.

 

Will check back every few days as this threads seems to be active with tons of info.

 

Part 1 is even bigger; they had to close that thread and open this new one because with over 4000 posts it was wreaking havoc with the servers.

 

There is no need to go back to the beginning of this thread. Two reasons: 1. There is a lot of repetition of topics over time. 2. Viking is constantly tweaking the program so that what was so even two years ago might not hold today. IMHO, if you go back to January 1, 2015 to start reading by the time you leave a year from now you will have covered most every area of interest.

 

No need to remember to check back here every few days. If you subscribe to the thread and set it to daily notification, an e-mail will be delivered to your inbox each morning with the past 24-hours worth of posts. Most mornings, you can read the e-mail in the time it would take you to navigate to the thread. If you want to respond to a post, you can just click on the link in the digest and it will take you right to the post you are interested in.

 

For those who don't automatically subscribe to every thread they post on, subscribing is easy. Just click on the beside the words Thread Tools in the blue band just above the first post on the page and then click on "Subscribe to this thread." Set it for daily notification (as opposed to Instant or Weekly --instant isn't a digest and weekly can end up being very long).

[caribill]

 

At some point you will need to obtain the Chinese visa. You will have several choices about how to do this:

o Go to a local Chinese consulate if there is one near you

o Use the mail to a Chinese consulate

o Use the services of a company that specializes in obtaining visas

 

 

Correction -- Using the mail to a consulate is not an option.

Edited June 5, 2015 by caribill

[Going Coastal]

We used Genvisa and the passports (yes, you do have to send your current passport) arrived back exactly when they said they would.

[cruzersky2]

We used GenVisa, as recommended by Viking. I got a little nervous when my passport didn't come back as quickly as my travel friends. I called the number and an actual PERSON answered the call, said she would check the status, and would call me back within 2 hrs., AND SHE DID!!!! No problems, just on someone's desk or outbox at the consulate or wherever it has to go... but great customer service & I got it via FedEx in 2 days :)

Edited June 6, 2015 by cruzersky2

[franski]

As far as tips, I know that Canadians and the British don't tip, but it is what people do do all over the world for great service, and all of our drivers, guides and leader did a fabulous job and eared every cent I gave them above the amount Viking suggested.

 

Not sure where you picked up the information that Canadians and British don't tip, but *this* Canadian tips... as do all of my friends and family members.

 

We have just come back from the Elegant Elbe - and there were quite a number of people who got off the buses and did not tip. It didn't seem to matter if they were Americans or Brits --> they were just people who felt they didn't want to pay "extra", I guess.

 

I can say with absolute certainty that 100% of the Canadian passengers tipped - as we were the only Canadians on this sailing - :D. Of interest, many people did not tip the bus driver - even if they tipped the guide. The bus drivers in Europe are amazing - will be pleased if the drivers are even half as skilled in China.

 

I know that on other threads that one Aussie indicated that tipping isn't as much a part of their culture as in North America - but he tipped when it was part of the culture. But - generally, looked for all inclusive lines so that he didn't have to worry about it.

 

fran

Edited June 6, 2015 by franski

[CowgirlCook]

Hello from Beijing. We are at the Kerry Hotel and it is nothing short of magnificent. Our bed is the size of about two queens put together. The bathroom incredible with many controls to use on the toilet! Breakfast was included yesterday morning with our "forced overnight." We arranged a driver to take us to the Mutianu Great Wall, different area than where we will go with Viking tomorrow. An optional tour was offered yesterday for those of us here early to Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven. Today we meet our guide. Weather has been quite good but did get dark yesterday afternoon with some light rain. Beautiful morning right now as we look over the city from this wonderful room. The hotel even gives you some office supplies in a drawer and free mini bar drinks. Peking Duck last night lovely. Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City this morning.

[bluffdweller]

Hello from Beijing. We are at the Kerry Hotel and it is nothing short of magnificent. Our bed is the size of about two queens put together. The bathroom incredible with many controls to use on the toilet! Breakfast was included yesterday morning with our "forced overnight." We arranged a driver to take us to the Mutianu Great Wall, different area than where we will go with Viking tomorrow. An optional tour was offered yesterday for those of us here early to Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven. Today we meet our guide. Weather has been quite good but did get dark yesterday afternoon with some light rain. Beautiful morning right now as we look over the city from this wonderful room. The hotel even gives you some office supplies in a drawer and free mini bar drinks. Peking Duck last night lovely. Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City this morning.

 

We stayed at the Kerry, too, and were also impresssed. What a wonderful hotel! The toilets were a popular topic of conversation with our group, quite a contact to the toilets we encountered other places in Beijing! Sounds like your trip is off to a great start. Enjoy every minute!

[workstocruise]

CowgirlCook-

 

We just booked this trip for next March from Beijing to Shanghai. When you can please keep us updated on your trip, especially the food. I am a sort of picky eater and am worried about the restaurant meals. I figure the meals on the Emerald will be fine, but it's before we board the boat that has me concerned.

Thanks for posting.

[Mark_T]

I am a sort of picky eater and am worried about the restaurant meals. I figure the meals on the Emerald will be fine, but it's before we board the boat that has me concerned.

 

You are not going to have any problems with breakfasts as the hotels serve a wide ranging number of international options that should cope with pretty much every requirement.

 

Lunch and dinner will be of a Chinese nature, and of varying quality and difference to what you know as Chinese at home. Some of the meals appeared to me to have been 'westernized' to some extent and so were closer to the Cantonese background that we are perhaps more used to.

 

Do you eat chinese food at home and if so what are your favorite dishes?

[Floridiana]

My neighbor is a super picky eater but travels around the world. She says there is always rice and noodles in China. She has yet to starve. ;)

 

If you are like one in our 8 person group who wanted exactly what he had at home, kale juice, protein drinks and nothing spicy, you will be out of luck. He annoyed me enormously by repeating his litany at every meal. He had his wife pre-taste everything and tell him which dish would be the most palatable for him. None of us liked everything, but we always found enough food to eat among the assortment of dishes on the lazy Susan. He was the only one who sang his daily song twice, at lunch and at dinner: 'There is nothing here for me to eat!'

[Mark_T]

He was the only one who sang his daily song twice, at lunch and at dinner: 'There is nothing here for me to eat!'

 

I think I would have been looking for a new group by day 2.

 

You deserve our respect for not solving the problem by figuring out a way to get him arrested at the airport on the first internal transfer... :)

[CowgirlCook]

Incredible breakfast buffet and then off to the Great Wall at Badaling and Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs today. Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Just to be in these places was special. Lunch at a Nikko Hotel and they had a good selection plus cold beer! We decided not to return to the hotel on the bus but walk to the Beijing Zoo which was wonderful as we got to see the pandas. Then we figured out to subway and went to Lama Temple where we lit incense. Subway back to hotel where we had buffet dinner downstairs and many in group had gone out to Peking Opera. Lovely stroll around hotel area. Dinner buffet disappointing but certainly food to eat.

[Peregrina651]

He was the only one who sang his daily song twice, at lunch and at dinner: 'There is nothing here for me to eat!'

 

I wish I had the brass to tell such people to just be quiet already and stop ruining my vacation with your belly-aching. :eek:

 

Floridiana is right. You are going to China and you are doing it on a packaged tour, expect to eat a lot of Chinese food because that is what 99% of the restaurants serve. Even the KFC menus are designed for the Chinese palate.

 

 

[meddykay]

CowgirlCook-

 

I am a sort of picky eater and am worried about the restaurant meals.

 

 

I read the posts from people who didn't like the food and decided to take a bunch of protein bars just in case. I ate one of the bars on the plane coming home and that was it. To me, the food was just fine - lots of fresh vegetables well-prepared (I'm a vegetarian.) There are no sauces on the food like the US Chinese restaurants serve them, but everything was quite good. I did not get tired of the food. But then, I did not go on this trip for the food, either.

[Floridiana]

You are right, the vegetables were good.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Floridiana

[Rodie H]

Hi everyone,

 

My husband and I are booked for April 15, 2016, Beijing to Shanghai. Thanks for all the great info.

 

Can anyone advise on how much (if any) free time you had in Xian? Either on arrival day - or the day after? Viking's itinerary says that after Terracotta Warriors, then lunch, we have a "free afternoon". Just wondering if this really means you had the entire afternoon free - or just a couple of hours? We'd really like to visit the Hanyangling Museum (near Xian airport) - and would like to know if we would have any free time to do this.

 

The free time amounted to a couple of hours max. Friend and I walked to the wall from our hotel, the Hilton, a couple of shops around there to pick up a couple of gifts (noodles for souvenirs for my coffee buds). Then time to get back to the hotel shower and prepare for the Tang Dynasty Show--EXCELLENT.

[Rodie H]

Hello from Beijing. We are at the Kerry Hotel and it is nothing short of magnificent. Our bed is the size of about two queens put together. The bathroom incredible with many controls to use on the toilet! Breakfast was included yesterday morning with our "forced overnight." We arranged a driver to take us to the Mutianu Great Wall, different area than where we will go with Viking tomorrow. An optional tour was offered yesterday for those of us here early to Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven. Today we meet our guide. Weather has been quite good but did get dark yesterday afternoon with some light rain. Beautiful morning right now as we look over the city from this wonderful room. The hotel even gives you some office supplies in a drawer and free mini bar drinks. Peking Duck last night lovely. Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City this morning.

 

That's where I stayed April 15 on my trip. It was just the best hotel. Enjoyed reading your post and brining me wonderful memories. Now I prepare for Scandinavia so researching again. Enjoy. Hope you have Arnold as your guide. He's the best!!!!

[Rodie H]

To the picky eaters-there is always rice and noodles. I am a vegetarian and I managed quite well. Hey, take pb & j crackers to snack on. Breakfasts were always great--on the Emerald try to mango/mascarpone yogurt-awesome. Yes, their Chinese food is not the same as our American-Chinese, but there will be other foods you will like, just try it. Overall, I loved, loved the trip and experience.

[Going Coastal]

All the hotels and Emerald had wonderful fried noodles for breakfast with bits of egg and vegetables. On Emerald there was a different type of noodle each morning as well as steamed buns with varied fillings.

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk

[Mark_T]

All the hotels and Emerald had wonderful fried noodles for breakfast with bits of egg and vegetables. On Emerald there was a different type of noodle each morning as well as steamed buns with varied fillings.

 

Since we came back, I keep a stash of frozen Bao available for breakfast :)

 

I've become a regular H Mart shopper as well.

 

I also loved the fried eggs in soy sauce that they did in the hotels and on the ship.

 

So much great food to try and so few days to do it in, almost want to go back and do it again if it wasn't for all the other places we still have to go to...

Edited June 9, 2015 by Mark_T

[bluffdweller]

I can honestly say we quite enjoyed the food. Did we like everything that was served to us? Of course not, but some of the foods, like the stretched noodles, we enjoyed very much. Did we get tired of all the Chinese food? No, we were in China and expected to be served Chinese food. Yes, there were lots of lazy susan meals, but they were all different and it meant we were presented with a vast variety of different foods to try, which was fun! I tried everything, including the chicken feet amd 1000 year old eggs. It was all part of the experience. Most of the people in our group seemed satisfied with the food and, between us, we usually polished off most of the dishes placed on the lazy susan. Unless you require a special, limited diet, I would say don't worry about the food. You will find lots to eat! If you consider yourself a picky eater then, by all means, pack some protein bars. If you are a normal eater, don't worry about it, you will be fine. Relax, and enjoy the experience!

[caribill]

I am a sort of picky eater and am worried about the restaurant meals.

I would like to answer from a viewpoint more like your own. Yes, those who tried the 100 year old egg and the chicken feet may have been very happy, but like you I am a picky eater and I, for one, would not and did not try these.

 

There was always something available that was acceptable to me and recognizable as something I have eaten before and would be ok.

 

Yes, some lunches and dinners had less that I would eat than others, but I never went hungry even if most of my meal turned out to be white rice.

 

As others have pointed out, there is no problem on the ship as there is a number of choices, both Chinese and Western at every meal.

 

And, again as others have pointed out, breakfast buffets at the hotels will give you more choices than you may ever have experienced before.

 

Some of our lunches and dinners (especially the dinners in the hotels) were also buffets with a number of choices so again there was no problem. The rest of these meals were either lazy Susan type with Chinese foods or set menus. Even if I did not try every food on the lazy Susan offerings or eat every item on the set menus there was always enough that I was willing to eat to satisfy hunger.

 

By the way, my spouse is a vegetarian and the group guide did an excellent job at every group lunch/dinner in making sure vegetarian options were available to her.

 

So, do not worry about food. There will be something you will like at every meal.

Edited June 9, 2015 by caribill