Viking China

[MSEm]

The longer the river portion, the better. We really enjoyed our 9 nights on the river. (Nov 2007) Every day was an opportunity to watch and learn more about the people outside of Beijing and Shanghai. Lot's to learn by watching the banks of the river and also along the roads on the bus.

 

The dam is filling up part of the Three Gorges, but only the lower part. You will be closer to the hanging coffins and the peaks. Also you will have fewer steps to climb to go from the river vessel to the buses.

Skipping the river will be like visiting American and only going to New York City and Washington, DC.

 

MSEm

[coasters]

The longer the river portion, the better. We really enjoyed our 9 nights on the river. (Nov 2007) Every day was an opportunity to watch and learn more about the people outside of Beijing and Shanghai. Lot's to learn by watching the banks of the river and also along the roads on the bus.

 

The dam is filling up part of the Three Gorges, but only the lower part. You will be closer to the hanging coffins and the peaks. Also you will have fewer steps to climb to go from the river vessel to the buses.

Skipping the river will be like visiting American and only going to New York City and Washington, DC.

 

MSEm

 

Love your positive approach! You are so very correct.

Jerry

[Mura]

I've read that Viking now has 2 new western-oriented ships (the Century Sky and Sun) for China cruises. Has anyone had the opportunity to sail on one of these ships and what did you think?

 

I'm answering without having read all the following posts because there are so many! But we did this cruise in May and I highly recommend it.

 

We were on the Century Sky which I understand is identical to the Sun. It's a lovely ship carrying 308 passengers. The cabins are lovely -- with the exception of some suites (that aren't all that large), most of the cabins are the same, with verandas. They are SMALL verandas, but there's room for two people to sit out there. Price differences depend largely on decks. The food was excellent.

 

We were advised by a Viking rep through our TA that May or early June is best. The summers are brutal, yes. The early fall (September/October) has temperatures that are similar to May/early June but there is a greater likelihood of rain. In our case (May 12-24) we had absolutely NO rain but on the Yangtse and in Shanghai it was downright hot already. In Beijing the temperature was 72 degrees when we walked through Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace but humidity was up there. We were all wiped out by the end of the Forbidden City walk. Along the Yangtse temps were in the high 80s and it was over 90 in Shanghai. And always humid. Apparently the Yangtse is considered the "hot spot" of China. I believe it!

 

The only objection I had to the itinerary was that the trip really should be longer in duration. You have enough time in Beijing, although another day would be nice. With three days, we saw Tiananmen, Forbidden City and the Summer Palace on Day 1. That night we had a Peking Duck dinner (average) and the Peking Opera. On Day 2 we did the Great Wall (very hot there; ignored warnings to take a sweater!) and then the Ming Tombs. Dinner was a gala buffet at the hotel. On Day 3 we did a visit to a hutong home, then a pedicab ride through the area, then a visit to a silk rug "factory". Off to the airport for our flight to Xian.

 

We arrived in Xian and went direct to the dinner and dance show. Checked into the hotel around 10pm. The next morning was the visit to the Terracotta Army. Lunch at the airport and we flew to Chunking. Here we would have liked another day because as fabulous as the Terracotta soldiers are, I know there is more to see in Xian.

 

In Chunking we had a city tour and a special (unscheduled) trip to the Zoo to see the pandas. Then to the ship. You board by walking down 108 steps with your hand luggage, then walking across the Yangtse to the riverboat. There are "bang bang" people who will carry your hand luggage for $1 apiece if you wish. They are rather insistent! One grabbed my bag out of my hand when we were almost there.

 

The cruise started from here for 5 days. We ended up in Wuhan, where we had a tour to the Hubei Provincial Museum, which is wonderful. We then flew to Shanghai. Here again, we wish we'd had several days. Usually we book our own air but this time we had a super airfare through Viking (we upgraded to business but coach class was $350 from L.A. and $550 from NY) and we didn't think of doing a deviation. Our mistake.

 

I do think the trip should be a few days longer because we were really running all the time. Once we got home I checked the itinerary of the 16 day trip but it has the same amount of time in Xian and Shanghai as our 12 day trip did.

 

Despite these reservations, I highly recommend the trip. The guides are all marvelous and this is one fascinating country to see!

 

If you have any more questions, feel free to write to me at mkievman @ nyc.rr.com. I also have photos posted at Kodakgallery.com. Just let me know if you'd like to see them.

 

I should add that the pollution is indeed incredible. Often I could not see what I was shooting in my camera window, and many photos took a LOT of editing in order to see anything. The haze is everywhere, even in the countryside. In the large cities, it is beyond belief.

[jasl]

MURA......Thank you for your post. We have booked this itinerary for April 2009 and are really looking forward to the experience. The Viking cruise encompasses a lot of the places we wanted to visit, hence we chose the trip. It would seem a lot less fuzz than trying to do it on our own, hiring a guide here and there and booking the Yangtze separately.

[mommas]

Anyone know why? I was told ship is going to Europe instead....seems odd...I am being asked to reschedule but the dates don't work. On to plan B

[Dale]

Anyone know why? I was told ship is going to Europe instead....seems odd...I am being asked to reschedule but the dates don't work. On to plan B

I don't know all the details.

The Viking Sky is in Europe.

The Viking Century Sky is in China

[mommas]

No the Sky which I had booked for Oct 09 is now going to Europe and I have been offered the Sun for different dates....see Viking website

[MSEm]

I looked at the schedule for the Viking CENTURY SKY for Oct 2009. The scheduled listed on VR web site shows the Viking CENTURY Sky cruising in China thought Nov 09?

 

I do not think the Viking CENTURY Sky can do the rivers in Europe. The Viking Century Sky is wider than the vessels used for the European Rivers.

 

MSEm

[coasters]

I looked at the schedule for the Viking CENTURY SKY for Oct 2009. The scheduled listed on VR web site shows the Viking CENTURY Sky cruising in China thought Nov 09?

 

I do not think the Viking CENTURY Sky can do the rivers in Europe. The Viking Century Sky is wider than the vessels used for the European Rivers.

 

MSEm

If you dig deeper, you will discover that these are 2 different vessels - with very similar names -

Here are the facts:

Jerry

----------------------

Viking Sky Facts

Year built: 1999

Length: 360.9 ft

Width: 37.4 ft

Decks: 3

Crew: 40

Passengers: 150

Cabins: 75

Deluxe Suites: 4

---------------------------

Viking Century Sky Facts

Year Built: 2004

Length: 415 ft

Width: 56 ft

Draft: 8.5 ft

Cruising Speed

Decks: 5

Crew: 168

Passengers: 306

[Abe]

Hi All - my wife and I will be on the 9/17/08 Imperial Jewels tour - the cruise part will be on the Century Sky.

 

I've read all of the posts here and I'm still a little confused. There seems to be differing opinions as to whether you can pay your shipboard account with US dollars. I certainly don't want to use my credit card if there are double conversion fees and I really don't want to convert any more US dollars to yuans before I get on the ship than I have to. Has anyone settled their shipboard account with US dollars?

 

Also, assuming I can use US dollars to pay my shipboard fees - what would be a reasonable amount of yuans to get that first night at the hotel? My wife and I are not shoppers. I'm just trying to figure out how many yuans I might need for incidentals that can't be paid for in USD.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[arlenez]

Hi All - my wife and I will be on the 9/17/08 Imperial Jewels tour - the cruise part will be on the Century Sky.

 

I've read all of the posts here and I'm still a little confused. There seems to be differing opinions as to whether you can pay your shipboard account with US dollars. I certainly don't want to use my credit card if there are double conversion fees and I really don't want to convert any more US dollars to yuans before I get on the ship than I have to. Has anyone settled their shipboard account with US dollars?

 

Also, assuming I can use US dollars to pay my shipboard fees - what would be a reasonable amount of yuans to get that first night at the hotel? My wife and I are not shoppers. I'm just trying to figure out how many yuans I might need for incidentals that can't be paid for in USD.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Hi:

 

Yes, you can settle your shipboard charges in US dollars. We exchanged $100 US dollars into Yuan and still had plenty at the end of the tour which we gave as part of our tip to the tourguide. If you plan to shop in any of the little convenience stores or take a taxi you will need Yuan. We used U.S. currency just about everywhere, including purchases from the street vendors. Bring lots of crisp one dollar bills for the street vendors. If you plan to use Yuan for the street vendors, try to give exact amount, or you most likely will get counterfeit as change.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

Regards,

Arlene

[Abe]

Arlene - Thank you for your help. I appreciate the advice. I much prefer to use USD whenever and wherever I can.

 

Thanks again.

[bobka]

My wife and I are on the Imperial Jewels tour in late October, and I am about to submit our applications for the China visas. Because of heightened security for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government is now requiring tourist visa applicants to provide copies of hotel reservations and airline tickets. Since Viking does not provide that specific information until just before the trip, all I have is the initial Viking invoice with the preliminary hotel listing and no airline information. I plan to submit that as my documentation and hope it will be sufficient. Has anyone else recently applied for a visa, and if so, was the Viking invoice accepted as sufficient documentation? Thanks.

[dpump]

Give Viking a call and ask them this question. I've found them to be very helpful. Gee, aren't the Olympics over by late October??? Think they would of been doing that on our early June trip, oh well. Good luck!

[bobka]

China has required this since April 14. Thanks for reminding me to call Viking. After I get an answer, I'll post it so everyone here will be informed.

[susietb]

We are going on the Viking Imperial Jewels of China tour leaving on August 30th and submitted our Visas to the Travel Service last week. We were told by Viking to wait until we had received our flights (which we did).

 

You have time.

[bobka]

I called Viking and they said to call Generations Visa Service. Generations Visa Service said if I used them to apply for the visa, the additional documentation would not be necessary because they have an arrangement with Viking. Too bad, as I was planning to use Oasis China Visa to save some money (as recommended by others on this board). However, to be safe, I guess it will be Generations Visa Service for me.

[Lady Meer]

Hi All - my wife and I will be on the 9/17/08 Imperial Jewels tour - the cruise part will be on the Century Sky.

 

I've read all of the posts here and I'm still a little confused. There seems to be differing opinions as to whether you can pay your shipboard account with US dollars. I certainly don't want to use my credit card if there are double conversion fees and I really don't want to convert any more US dollars to yuans before I get on the ship than I have to. Has anyone settled their shipboard account with US dollars?

 

Also, assuming I can use US dollars to pay my shipboard fees - what would be a reasonable amount of yuans to get that first night at the hotel? My wife and I are not shoppers. I'm just trying to figure out how many yuans I might need for incidentals that can't be paid for in USD.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

You can pay your account with dollars, yuan and credit card or a combination. We used a combination of yuan (to avoid bringing it home) and credit card on our trip in June 2008.

[go2girl]

Anyone know why? I was told ship is going to Europe instead....seems odd...I am being asked to reschedule but the dates don't work. On to plan B

 

OUR TA JUST CALLED TO NOTIFY US THAT VIKING CALLED HER. THE CENTURY SKY IS BEING MOVED, AND WE WILL HAVE TO RE-BOOK ON THE CENTURY SUN. ALL THE DATES HAVE BEEN CHANGED AROUND. ANYONE ELSE HEARD FROM VIKING YET REGARDING '09 RESERVATIONS?

 

SHANNON

[dpump]

Hope things work out for you. I'm not surprised this is happening. From the posts I've read on these boards, these ships are not and have been filling to capacity.

Good luck

Keep us posted!

[WIT]

David Rowell, who publishes the Travel Insider newsletter has just put up a review of his recent China cruise/tour. It covers a lot of topics. Here's the link:

 

http://thetravelinsider.info/2008/email0711.htm

 

WIT

[jasl]

Called Viking today and told my 2009 dates were still the same, as well as the cabin and transferred to the Viking Sun. Original booking was for the Century Sky.

[mommas]

As I posted several days ago...the Sky is NOT going Oct 19, 2009 (although another poster tried to tell me I was incorrect--I love it--my cruise but I don't know what I am talking about) and yes, I was offered DIFFERENT dates on the SUN which do not work for me...

So good luck--hope the new dates work for you...

[Dale]

Anyone know why? I was told ship is going to Europe instead....seems odd...I am being asked to reschedule but the dates don't work. On to plan B

In your original post you weren’t exactly a wealth of information about what you were referring to. You can’t give much help to someone who says a ship is going to Europe and the rescheduled dates won’t work for you.

As I posted several days ago...the Sky is NOT going Oct 19, 2009 (although another poster tried to tell me I was incorrect--I love it--my cruise but I don't know what I am talking about) and yes, I was offered DIFFERENT dates on the SUN which do not work for me...

So good luck--hope the new dates work for you...

At least now we know that you were planning to sail on the Viking Century Sky, 10/19/09. I did find that the Viking Century Sun will be sailing on 10/21/09, two days later that your original sailing date. Sorry this date won’t work for you.

[zales]

WIT, thanks so much for the idea of using a paper cup while using a non-western toliet: