Viking China (Part 2)

[digitl]

ATMs are the simplest and most cost effective way to get currency. Just get as much as you need whenever you need it (unless you are visiting somewhere like Lonji where there are no ATMs and you need to stock up before!).

[petaid]

Caribill and Digiti- Thanks for the helpful exchange information.

 

We'll use US$ first for baggage & handling tips when we arrive (unless this is taken care of by Viking) until we get settled in at the hotel. Our ATM card also charges conversion & service fee, so our options are limited.

[workstocruise]

We are on the Beijing to Shanghai trip. Does anyone know what airport we'll fly into and what airline Viking usually uses. We'll be flying from Houston.

[Live4cruises]

The Beijing airport code is PEK, the Shanghai airport Viking uses is PVG. I don't know the codes for the intra-China flights; we were merely cattle. :)

[Going Coastal]

We flew from Houston to Beijing through Incheon on Korean Air and it was not bad.

That was in March this year.

[workstocruise]

GoingCoastal-

How was the weather in Beijing when you were there? We are also going in March.

[Going Coastal]

Very warm for March! Never used all the layers in China.

[Going Coastal]

PS:

Several of us had been checking the weather every day before we went but when we arrived it was actually balmy. DH and I did use all the warm things on the transpacific back when we were in Northern Japan and Russia.

[CowgirlCook]

We got ourselves to Seattle and flew Delta to Beijing. We have not even seen any baggage handlers so no need to tip right away. ATM at airport worked well for us. Small boat trip yesterday at Lesser Gorge just wonderful. Dam tour today which we have decided not to take. Weather has been really good but last two days cloudy, but no real rain on trip yet.

[GoInOnaCruz]

GoingCoastal-

How was the weather in Beijing when you were there? We are also going in March.

 

We were there March 2013--one day (Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City) was C-O-L-D and none of had enough clothing on as we went by the Viking Daily that said it was going to be 70 degrees! Dress in layers. The next day was warm and was H-O-T at the pagoda on the Yangtze

[caribill]

A guide of things to do in Shanghai

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/destinations/things-to-do-in-shanghai.html

 

A guide of things to do in Beijing

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US/destinations/things-to-do-in-beijing.html

Edited June 16, 2015 by caribill

[CowgirlCook]

Back to Arizona yesterday (Imperial Jewels of China out of Beijing) afternoon and slept 11 hours last night - hopefully this will put us back into our normal cycle! NO problem getting into proper sleep cycle on the way over. Great trip and I"ll be glad to answer specific questions. No problem with local currency and did NOT need much US cash bringing back most of the dollar bills we brought. We did tip local guide/bus driver and our tour guide in yuan. ATMs very accessible. Hotels and reception on ship would break down 100 yuan bills for us without problem. Locals for small purchases do try to give you "bad" bills - bills that aren't used in China currently. But our tour guide warned us and told us what to look for - so I very quickly shook my head and received appropriate bill. Never felt the need for any face mask. Food - always had plenty to eat, but if you don't want to try lots of different Chinese food, you will have only a few choices to live with, but that really was never a problem.

 

Our Viking tour guide, Goa, was absolutely fantastic. Viking really does an excellent job organizing and taking care of the logistics with luggage and all transportation arrangements - remarkable. Candy, Eddie and Marco were fantastic servers on the ship. And the Cabaret show ON BOARD WAS WONDERFUL! This trip IS rather strenuous with a good bit of walking and many steps along the way. This was not a problem for us, but we heard people complain that they didn't always know how difficult the walk would be to get to the bus/destination, etc. Also, some folks had a good bit of carry-on luggage but we really tried to lighten our load this trip and I think it worked out well.

 

I want to thank everyone that participates on this board - we felt very prepared on the issues thanks to you all. We KNEW to ask for a dehumidifier on the ship, others did not and were grateful to us for that tip that came from this board. I was very surprised that most people never got on cruise critic to research the trip - I'm grateful to you all.

Edited June 19, 2015 by CowgirlCook

[caribill]

Back to Arizona yesterday (Imperial Jewels of China out of Beijing) afternoon and slept 11 hours last night - hopefully this will put us back into our normal cycle!

 

 

Glad you had such a fabulous time.

[systables]

Thanks for your posts and i am glad you enjoyed your trip. We still have 2 months to go and sent out the China visa last weekend- Couple questions:

 

1) Based on some posts.. We feel we have a realist budget on how many RMB we will need. You seemed to have preferred using ATM's over using the foreign exchange office at the hotels (we planned to bring our budgeted USD money and exchange it at the Kerry Hotel)... With Bank Service fees and limits,and I thought i saw the exchange rate at the bank and hotels in china were fixed, is there a reason you used ATM's? And is there a reason i should evaluate to rethink this strategy and should not use the hotel exchange?

 

2) We also would like to keep our weight down in suitcase and carry on and are thinking of getting some laundry done and not bring as many clothes? Did you have some laundry done and where? and did you feel you brought enough clothes? Thanks

[Mark_T]

2) We also would like to keep our weight down in suitcase and carry on and are thinking of getting some laundry done and not bring as many clothes? Did you have some laundry done and where? and did you feel you brought enough clothes? Thanks

 

Laundry is only really practical on the ship as you are barely in each hotel long enough to get anything laundered and returned.

[CowgirlCook]

Thanks for your posts and i am glad you enjoyed your trip. We still have 2 months to go and sent out the China visa last weekend- Couple questions:

 

1) Based on some posts.. We feel we have a realist budget on how many RMB we will need. You seemed to have preferred using ATM's over using the foreign exchange office at the hotels (we planned to bring our budgeted USD money and exchange it at the Kerry Hotel)... With Bank Service fees and limits,and I thought i saw the exchange rate at the bank and hotels in china were fixed, is there a reason you used ATM's? And is there a reason i should evaluate to rethink this strategy and should not use the hotel exchange?

 

As long as you have recent and unmarked US bills, you should be fine. We generally use ATMs in other travels to avoid varied currency-exchange rates, but they are fixed in China. So I believe your plan is sound. We really just didn't need lots of extra money - mostly for our first on-our-own tour of Mutianyu Great Wall and then for our Viking tour guide. We are not big shoppers so only bought relatively small souvenirs and didn't spend much with local vendors. Shopping on-board will be added to your account. Remember you cannot exchange on-board.

 

2) We also would like to keep our weight down in suitcase and carry on and are thinking of getting some laundry done and not bring as many clothes? Did you have some laundry done and where? and did you feel you brought enough clothes? Thanks

 

We were planning on using on-board laundry service on ship if needed, but we didn't use it. I did underwear during the trip in the sink/shower. That worked out fine for us. On board the ship, it is very casual you really don't need lots of clothes. I definitely think you can do this trip light. I might have enjoyed a warmer sweater (I had two with me for the trip - both light-weight) as the hallways in the ship are FREEZING and the public areas a bit cool.

 

Another point I"ll make - in Beijing we went out on our own a bit using the local subway system. I can provide more information on that if anyone is interested, but it is doable. We got to see the panda bears at the Beijing Zoo - which were terrific and for the few folks that got to see them in Chongqing, I hear they weren't active and far away. So I'm glad we got to the Zoo - which we were able to walk to after our first day's lunch at a local restaurant. We then took subway to Llama Temple and then back to the hotel. Our last night we went to the Wangfujing Street - a snack street! Very interesting and so glad we did that too!

Enjoy the Kerry Hotel and the toilet there!!!!

Edited June 19, 2015 by CowgirlCook
Highlight responses

[Mark_T]

We got to see the panda bears at the Beijing Zoo - which were terrific and for the few folks that got to see them in Chongqing, I hear they weren't active and far away.

 

I'm sure the level of activity depends on time of day, but they certainly weren't far away in Chongqing. I'll post a couple of photos later.

 

We agree on the subway though, very easy to use and very cheap.

 

All announcements and most signs in English so no excuses :)

Edited June 19, 2015 by Mark_T

[caribill]

I'm sure the level of activity depends on time of day, but they certainly weren't far away in Chongqing.

 

Our Viking guide gave a few Yuan to the zoo keeper who woke up the panda and fed him.

 

 

[CowgirlCook]

I'm sure the level of activity depends on time of day, but they certainly weren't far away in Chongqing. I'll post a couple of photos later.

 

We agree on the subway though, very easy to use and very cheap.

 

All announcements and most signs in English so no excuses :)

 

Yes, the hardest thing was figuring out how to purchase the ticket but once we did that, good to go!

I'm just glad I didn't rely on the hope we would get by the zoo in Chongqing - I think very few folks flew in early enough to do that.

Edited June 19, 2015 by CowgirlCook

[OurBabymoon]

Our Viking guide gave a few Yuan to the zoo keeper who woke up the panda and fed him.

 

 

Omg they are adorable, definitely will need plan A (Beijing Zoo) in case we are not on the earlier flights[emoji13]

Aug 15th is not here soon enoguh!

[Going Coastal]

're: Laundry. All the things we used in Beijing we had laundered the first full day on the Emerald. They did an excellent job and that held us till we boarded Millennium in Hong Kong and sent out laundry the first day there.

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk

Edited June 19, 2015 by Going Coastal

[digitl]

With Bank Service fees and limits,and I thought i saw the exchange rate at the bank and hotels in china were fixed, is there a reason you used ATM's? And is there a reason i should evaluate to rethink this strategy and should not use the hotel exchange?

 

We always, wherever we are, use ATMs. We have cards that attract zero fees and we get Visa or Mastercard wholesale exchange rates. It also means we carry no more cash than we need and we can adjust as we go along.

Edited June 20, 2015 by digitl

[caribill]

We always, wherever we are, use ATMs. We have cards that attract zero fees and we get Visa or Mastercard wholesale exchange rates. It also means we carry no more cash than we need and we can adjust as we go along.

 

In the USA, CapitalOne is one bank that offers credit cards and ATM debit cards that have zero foreign transaction and currency conversion fees and use the actual exchange rates.

[Peregrina651]

I'm just glad I didn't rely on the hope we would get by the zoo in Chongqing - I think very few folks flew in early enough to do that.

 

That's right. Don't rely on hope; if seeing pandas is a must, then plan to do it in Beijing when you arrive. Remember, a visit to the Chongqing Zoo is not an advertised stop on the itinerary when you start the tour in Beijing; however, it is stated part of the itinerary when you start in Shanghai. (also note that those who start in Beijing go to the hutongs while those who start in Shanghai don't).

 

On the other hand, I will note that since Viking added a night in Xi'an, more passengers are talking about arriving early enough that there is time to kill before they can arrive at the ship and thus a trip to the Zoo is added. However, there is no way of knowing in advance if your bus/group is the one that will get that early flight.

[OurBabymoon]

Are they still operating out of the Orchid Hotel?

 

The description of the dining area doesn't seem to match, which is why I ask.

Not sure but this is the address that Coco provided:

28 Zhong Lao Hutong in Dongcheng District.

Her email does say "our new space"