Viking China

[coasters]

My wife and I will be on the 9/17/08 Imperial Jewels of China tour - Shanghai to Beijing.

 

Our documentation from Viking says that for intra-China travel - our carryon luggage (1 per person) can only be (22x16x8) and weigh 11 pounds or less.

 

For those of you who have taken this tour - how strict are the Chinese airlines about the size. Specifically - our carryons are 20x14x11. Will I have trouble with the extra 3" in heighth? Is the problem that they won't fit in the overhead bins or under the seats?

 

Thanks

 

Each of our 1 carry on's were about the same size as yours.

One person in our group (quite randomly) was stopped. Our guide intervened and she was permitted to pass.

Doubt that you will have a problem..

Jerry

[coasters]

Diane & Jerry, what are the ages of the children? We want to bring age appropriate items. Are you expected to bring 40 items each, or are the gifts aggregated among all the visitors? Thanks.

 

Bob

 

I'd guess that the children we met were between 8 and 10.

We brought enough to give about 10 - everything we brought was MADE IN USA, and were in English - they're learning our language!!

They have nothing... so, pencils, pens, lolly pops, balloons, stickers - teachers flash cards, - they're very grateful for anything you may decide to bring.

 

Diane & Jerry

[Pam in CA]

My wife and I will be on the 9/17/08 Imperial Jewels of China tour - Shanghai to Beijing.

 

Our documentation from Viking says that for intra-China travel - our carryon luggage (1 per person) can only be (22x16x8) and weigh 11 pounds or less.

 

For those of you who have taken this tour - how strict are the Chinese airlines about the size. Specifically - our carryons are 20x14x11. Will I have trouble with the extra 3" in heighth? Is the problem that they won't fit in the overhead bins or under the seats?

They are not strict about the carry-ons or the weight limit for the Viking passengers. Our guide told us not to worry: they just average everyone's and it almost always comes out to less than the weight limit per passenger. I don't remember anyone being hassled about the size of their carry-on but one thing to keep in mind is that the overhead bins aren't very big. My friend and I had rolling packpacks that fit perfectly and we were able to put over a day's worth of clothing plus our "essentials" into them.

[Abe]

Thank you Jerry & Pam in MA for your help. I never know how closely the airlines are going to monitor the overall sizes of carryons. At Gatwick airport last summer, you had to actually demonstrate to a security guard that your carryon fit into a test receptacle before you could proceed to the security screening area.

 

I would hate to hold up our group because our carryons were 3" too tall and we had to make special arrangements for them. It sounds like Viking has some influence with the airlines.

 

Thanks again for your advice.

[MSEm]

We traveled with Viking China in Nov 2007.

On our visit to the school there was a box for us to place gifts for the children. Also there was a place to deposit money (US $ or Chinese). The children put on a wonderful dancing routine and the the drum corp preformed.

They were elementary age students.

 

Carry on bags. We had 1 carry on that was the size specified in Viking's information packet. We were required to check it on one flight, but had no problems on the other flights. The people in front of us had a larger carry on. I think we were "caught" up with their larger carry on.

 

Flying on Chinese Airlines will "spoil" you. Boxed snack, hot hand towels, English language reading newspapers and/or magaizines.

 

Have a great time.

Emily

[arlenez]

We are doing the 12 day Imperial Jewels of China from Shanghai to Beijing on May 30th. Does anyone know if this tour visits a school as I want to be prepared with gifts for the children.

 

Thanks & regards,

Arlene

[Frankhenry]

Hi,

I have a question for those of you who visited with a family in their home while touring the Hutongs in Beijing. Did you take a gift for them?

Thanks,

Carla

[arlenez]

Oops, I just checked the itinerary for our trip and saw that we will be visiting a school and the children will perform for us. I am so thrilled to be able to do this and will start shopping now for gifts for the children.

 

Regards,

Arlene

[coasters]

Hi,

I have a question for those of you who visited with a family in their home while touring the Hutongs in Beijing. Did you take a gift for them?

Thanks,

Carla

 

Carla, we were not advised (nor expected) to bring gifts for the Hutong family.... just for the visit to the school.

FYI, Viking and other tour operators are required to sponsor and support these kind of events. I must say, the school visit was truly a highlight of our trip!

In general, the Chinese children are delightful and happy to meet Americans. They and their family members are eager to greet and speak to you in English.

[FeeFeeCat]

bobka,

 

My sister and I will be on the Imperial Jewels itinerary out of Shanghai on October 27th. We look forward to meeting you!

 

Mary

[bobka]

Mary, we look forward to meeting you, as well. Are you also on the Hong Kong extension?

 

Bob

[Lady Meer]

Hi EJ River

 

We are travelling alone on this trip so will look forward to meeting you in Beijing. We haven't been told yet if there are any other Brits!

 

We were on the Island Princess for the New Year and out of 2000 passengers there were only 60 Brits! Our cruise critic colleagues from the US thought we would be reserved ;) !!

 

Hi Dale

 

Are you travelling with a group?

 

Brenda

[cs91]

Is anyone booked on the June 22, 2008 Imperial Jewels tour? Would love to hear from you.

Cheryl

[EJRIVER]

Lady Meers -

It will be nice to meet you. 2-1/2 months until the trip. Our group is all in their 40-70s, some couples, some friends. We all went together on the Grand European Cruise last spring. That was an excellent trip.

BTW, have you received any information from Viking? Our TA has not sent us any updates, but I heard they are working on the VISAs for our group. Time is getting short.

[FeeFeeCat]

Bob,

 

We would love to do the extension but limited vacation time won't allow us. I've heard from a co-worker who did the Imperial Jewels itinerary with the Hong Kong extension that it is wonderful. She said the Li River cruise was magical.

 

Mary

[bobka]

Thank you Mary. We will enjoy the extension and then catch up with you in Shanghai!

[Lady Meer]

Lady Meers -

It will be nice to meet you. 2-1/2 months until the trip. Our group is all in their 40-70s, some couples, some friends. We all went together on the Grand European Cruise last spring. That was an excellent trip.

BTW, have you received any information from Viking? Our TA has not sent us any updates, but I heard they are working on the VISAs for our group. Time is getting short.

 

Hi We have just made our final payment to Viking and were told that they would be requesting our passports 8 weeks prior to the trip as they will be getting our visas. I am not sure if the Chinese embassy will do "while you wait" visas for personal callers so to avoid 2 trips to London we opted for Viking to get them for us.

 

It should be a great trip.

 

Brenda

[JDBHCruiser]

My husband and I, both 47 will be doing this cruise.

We have done a previous cruise with viking in Amsterdam.

Had a wonderful time- only aussies on board.

We would be interested in hearing from anyone booked on the same cruise.

We have chosen this cruise as we prefer to travel in the cooler months.

thanks

 

Greetings,

We just saw your posting. It appears we are going on the same cruise (16 day cultural delights). We just received our documents today and getting very excited. We are from the US, traveling from Atlanta. Would like to meet others going on the trip.

[Future Islander]

JDBH:

 

We'll probably pass you at the hotel in Beijing....we're arriving on April 8th and it appears you'll still be there....our tour begins on the 9th.

 

Still no word from Viking on the Tibet portion of our tour........I wonder what they'll substitute?

[WIT]

The latest city summary for Beijing in the Economist states that the ban on carrying on liquids for flights within China includes (unlike the Western ban) no baby formula or liquid medicines. Here is the link:

 

http://www.economist.com/cities/briefing.cfm?city_id=BJS

 

We took four intra-China flights last April during our Viking Cultural Delights cruise/tour.

WIT

[travelsfun]

When we left Beijing last June on our way home (on United Airlines) at the boarding gate they even took away water that we had purchased in the airport after we had gone through security!

[Future Islander]

Our tour was cancelled.......but we booked a later one that doesn't include Tibet.

 

Anyone on the April 13th Imperial Jewels of China?

[Lady Meer]

Hi

 

Future Islander - sorry to hear about your Tibet tour, it's very disappointing when that happens. Our daughter was in Kenya at Christmas on honeymoon when the trouble started there and she was quite frightened.

 

30 May fellow travellers - we have just sent off the paperwork to Viking for our visas. We have been given 9 books on China to read - I am not sure how many we will get through!

 

Anyone who has been to China - is it necessary to carry passports all the time?

 

Thanks

 

Brenda

[Future Islander]

Lady Meer: Yes, it is highly recommended (Chinese Embassy) that you always carry your passport in China. Using a money belt is the best way.

 

We are very disappointed about the cancellation....really wanted to see Tibet. Anyway we're booked on the April 13th Imperial Jewels of China Tour (there are 6 of us travelling). We had to pay extra to change our flights. I hope Viking will make up for it.

 

Like you we are reading a couple of books, surfing the web and (best of all) reviewing Jerry's log.

 

Future Islander

[MSEm]

Make at least 3 copies of your passport and the visa pages.

Copy 1: Carry with you. The VR vessel will keep your passport while you are on the vessel

 

Copy 2: Have your traveling campanion carry a copy

 

Copy 3: Left at "home" with a truest family family or friend or with your TA.

 

Have a great trip.

Emily