Viking China

[bxny]

There was serving utensils in each dish on buffet and also on the lazy-susan at table! Our tablemates were nice and smart and used serving utensils to put food on plate and then used chopsticks to eat!

 

If everyone would just follow sanitary practices all would be well. Maybe announcements need to be made when dinning for those who need reminding. I would not have a problem telling table mates not to double dip.

[Romeosc]

If everyone would just follow sanitary practices all would be well. Maybe announcements need to be made when dinning for those who need reminding. I would not have a problem telling table mates not to double dip.

 

 

Our tour was comprised of educated well traveled travelers who were respectful of others and acted appropriately!

 

We sat at 1st table on left on boat for every meal, thanks to a previous travels tip, we tipped our waitress and her assistants to hold table for us and it worked! We didn't do drink package and a few at our table kept Angel #1 and Angel busy getting drinks.

[Atlanta Cruisers]

Romeosc,

Where did you purchase your sim card? We just went into the T-Mobile store and were told the roaming charges would be $2.99 per minute. We do have a quad band phone and have to unlock it for international calls. Would like to hear more about your phone usage. Thanks. Rona and Barry

[Romeosc]

Romeosc,

Where did you purchase your sim card? We just went into the T-Mobile store and were told the roaming charges would be $2.99 per minute. We do have a quad band phone and have to unlock it for international calls. Would like to hear more about your phone usage. Thanks. Rona and Barry

 

 

http://www.rebelfone.com/china_simcards.aspx?couId=38

 

for China Sim $19.95 plus shipping. $0.45 per minute calls to US.

[Atlanta Cruisers]

Thanks for the info. Rona

[Washington Apples]

Hi Leslie,

We're getting pretty close... making lists, and mental notes, trying to decide what to take. We fly to Seattle on the 3rd, and have the long flight the next day. Not looking forward to that, but the trip will be worth the discomfort of the plane ride. Looking forward to meeting you. Have fun packing!

Karen and Rich

[Romeosc]

Hi Leslie,

We're getting pretty close... making lists, and mental notes, trying to decide what to take. We fly to Seattle on the 3rd, and have the long flight the next day. Not looking forward to that, but the trip will be worth the discomfort of the plane ride. Looking forward to meeting you. Have fun packing!

Karen and Rich

 

 

.... not to but in, but a few words of advice... Take Pepto Bismo and Imodium with you for you or your new found friends. We gave ours to others on trip, never needed them. Take $1 bills or get Yuans at your Chinese hotel, China has a great policy that all hotels and banks charge same exchange rate, better than airports etc.

 

 

If we could have skipped the Peking Opera and gone shopping we would have. We left the museum early in Shanghai and went underground shopping on our own only a (20 Yuan) $2.30 cab ride back to hotel! Saved $hundreds off other shopping areas! We met one American who was working in Shanghai and he bought 3 sets of custom golf clubs fro friends in the States!

[Sparky333]

Karen & Rich -

Yes, it's really getting close! I've been making mental packing lists - I think next weekend I'll start the real packing. I've been checking the weather in Beijing and Shanghai and it's warmer there than here right now. I hope that we get sunny days at least, even if the temps are a bit lower in a few weeks.

Looking forward to meeting you in Shanghai!

 

Romeo - have got a virtual drugstore for this trip - pepto, immodium, cipro - yikes, hope none of it is needed! Actually the pepto we will take as a preventative every day, but the others I'd be thrilled not to use! Thanks for the advice.

[Romeosc]

Karen & Rich -

Yes, it's really getting close! I've been making mental packing lists - I think next weekend I'll start the real packing. I've been checking the weather in Beijing and Shanghai and it's warmer there than here right now. I hope that we get sunny days at least, even if the temps are a bit lower in a few weeks.

Looking forward to meeting you in Shanghai!

 

Romeo - have got a virtual drugstore for this trip - pepto, immodium, cipro - yikes, hope none of it is needed! Actually the pepto we will take as a preventative every day, but the others I'd be thrilled not to use! Thanks for the advice.

 

 

Another thing, take some momento from your hometown.

 

We visited with a nice chinese family in their home and we game her a Elvis magnet from Memphis to add to her collection... she has them from all over world!

 

Also gave some old Memphis Jaycee pins to kids who sang at the Viking School you visit! They loved them.

 

Yes we were lucky and din't need any of the meds, but worth being prepared! As long as you don't drink local water (use bottle water provided for brushing teeth etc.), you will be fine! Much cleaner than Egypt!

[dennyls]

Hi to Sparky and Washington Apple,

 

We're also on the Viking China cruise--Sparky, we posted a while back. We're the 2 couples in our early 60's.

 

I was wondering what hotels you guys were at--we're at:

Shanghai = Pudong Shangri-La

Xian = Golden Flower

Beijing = China World

 

From checking on other web-sites, all are good hotels, with the Golden Flower perhaps being the only so-so one. (And we're only there one night).

 

I have a question for anyone who may have stayed at those hotels before--do they have wireless internet in the rooms? I am thinking of buying and bringing an Ipod Touch for internet access while in the hotels--but that needs a Wi-Fi link, not a wired connection.

 

One other question. I have Verizon cell phone. Verizon says it will work in most of china--at about a buck a minute for roaming charges. I don't intend to use the phone much at all, but am interested if anyone has used a Verizon phone on the trip and if it does really work. I just want phone service in case of an emergency.

 

It sounds like the weight restrictions on the intra-China flights aren't as serious as Viking makes it sound. Somewhere I read the overweight charge was only about a buck a pound, and somewhere else I read that as long as all the bags going on the plan average out to 44 pounds each, all is good. Am I reading that correctly??

 

Looking forward to meeting you all!

 

Denny and Cheryl from Minnesota :)

[dennyls]

Hi Washington Apples--

 

We're going to be fellow travelers with you on the Viking Cruise! We're actually two couples, early 60's (but pretty lively!!) from Minnesota. This will be the second Viking cruise for us--and we're getting excited now that it's a couple weeks away.

 

We're at the Pudong Shangri-La in Shanghai and in Cabin 447 on board. My e-mail is denny@dennyls.com.

 

Cheryl and Denny (and Nancy and Jerry).

[Sparky333]

Hi Dennyls --

Yes, we're at the same hotels as you and they do look nice. The reviews of them on Tripadvisor are very good. I guess in Xian there aren't many 5-star options.

 

I have the same impression about the luggage - that it's just taken as a total & averaged on the intra-China flights. As long as we're not ALL over we'll be okay. ;)

 

I don't know about the wi-fi or phone service but I think there were some posts about that stuff not too long ago. We're glad to be out of touch with no phone or internet for a few days!!

 

Leslie

[JamsA]

Hi Washington Apples--

 

We're going to be fellow travelers with you on the Viking Cruise! We're actually two couples, early 60's (but pretty lively!!) from Minnesota. This will be the second Viking cruise for us--and we're getting excited now that it's a couple weeks away.

 

We're at the Pudong Shangri-La in Shanghai and in Cabin 447 on board. My e-mail is denny@dennyls.com.

 

Cheryl and Denny (and Nancy and Jerry).

 

Hi - Saw your note on Cruise Critic and thought we could pass along information to you on our experiences. We are a Wisconsin couple who took the Viking trip in late July of this year. We had a blast. It was wonderful to say the least. New adventures each and every day. Let us know what you would like to know. We were in cabin # 432.

Jim&Mary

[Jakndee]

Just returned from China & Tibet. Can't praise Viking & our guide Jack for a fantastic, adventure some trip. Glad to answer any question, if I can.

[Osnab]

I had a "regular" Verizon phone (not a Blackberry) and was able to use it in China w/o any difficulties.

However, one thing Verizon doesn't tell you is you have to program your phone to use in China. It's something like *228 or whatever.

So if you call them and tell them you want to be able to use your phone in China, they do whatever they do on their side, but you have to ask them what you need to do on your side to get it set up.

You'd think that would be the natural thing for them to mention, but I guess not.

Felicia

 

 

 

One other question. I have Verizon cell phone. Verizon says it will work in most of china--at about a buck a minute for roaming charges. I don't intend to use the phone much at all, but am interested if anyone has used a Verizon phone on the trip and if it does really work. I just want phone service in case of an emergency.

 

[Peregrina651]

Is anyone sailing with us on the May 8, 2010 China Cultural Delights cruise? I hope you will join the roll call; it is kind of lonely over there and I would love the company. ;) Yes, just click on roll call and it will take you right there.

 

In the meantime, I am following this thread via daily digest (so full of helpful information) and slowly working my way from Post #1. I've made it to Post #861 so far.

 

I hope that those of you who have sailed in 2009 will stay active here so that you can answer questions for the 2010 season. Your experiences are so helpful to those of us who are in the planning/anticipation stage--'though there really isn't that much to plan because all of the tours are taken care of. Still, there are a lot of practical matters to be covered--like bathrooms, money, diet, etc.

 

Thanks,

Andrea

[wallygator]

Just returned from China & Tibet. Can't praise Viking & our guide Jack for a fantastic, adventure some trip. Glad to answer any question, if I can.

 

Will you be posting a cruise review? We will be doing the China's Cultural Highlights with Hong Kong extended you cruise/tour. If not may I email you with questions/ideas? We can't wait.:):):)

 

OPPS Sorry thought you had your email address in you post.

[Sparky333]

Jakndee -- or anyone who's gone recently -- how was the smog in Beijing? Did anyone in your group wear a mask? That seems silly to me but I guess if it was unbearable and the mask would actually make a difference it would be worth it.

 

Also -- can you give me an idea of how many yuan we might need? I plan to get some the first day in Shanghai and then re-up in Beijing if need be. It seems from most posts that US$ are accepted by almost everyone. Did you pay in yuan often or mainly dollars?

If I'm not planning on doing a bunch of shopping would $50 worth of yuan (around 350 yuan I guess) be an okay amount to start out with?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[Romeosc]

Jakndee -- or anyone who's gone recently -- how was the smog in Beijing? Did anyone in your group wear a mask? That seems silly to me but I guess if it was unbearable and the mask would actually make a difference it would be worth it.

 

Also -- can you give me an idea of how many yuan we might need? I plan to get some the first day in Shanghai and then re-up in Beijing if need be. It seems from most posts that US$ are accepted by almost everyone. Did you pay in yuan often or mainly dollars?

If I'm not planning on doing a bunch of shopping would $50 worth of yuan (around 350 yuan I guess) be an okay amount to start out with?

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

We just got back a week ago,

 

We took masks, but did not need! No one on trip wore them or anyone on streets either (only workers in airport). Smog (fog in their terms) was bad, but did not affect anyone except for difficulty in getting good pictures! The day we went to see the "Birds Nest Stadium" you could almost touch it before you could see it! We drove by to get better pictures after returning from Great Wall. They seeded the clouds so the National Weather forcaster could live. He was told there would be a "CLEAR DAY" fro National Day Parade in Tiananmen Square. It rained the night before after they seeded the clouds and was a beautiful day!

 

Notice the giant TV screen barely visable next to Birdsnest Stadium!

 

I used credit cards for all major purchases, and spent about $500 US to fill 2 suitcases of gifts (about $4,000 US value in goods), but we are super supporters of local economies around the world! My wife's picture is the one you will see along side Mao's near every cash register. We went to china with 90 pounds of packed luggage(2 suitcases+ 2 carry-ons) and came back with 194 pounds of packed luggage (4 suitcases+ 2 carry-ons and a silk rug"4*6" carried on) silk rug and carry-ons not included in weight! Yuans are better for "maybe latter" vendors and cab drivers if you explore Shanghai or Beijing on your own! Shanghai underground shopping areas are amazing!

[Romeosc]

"Haze over Dam & Happy House"

[Jakndee]

Will you be posting a cruise review? We will be doing the China's Cultural Highlights with Hong Kong extended you cruise/tour. If not may I email you with questions/ideas? We can't wait.:):):)

 

OPPS Sorry thought you had your email address in you post.

 

Please email, Jakndee@aol.com

Great trip!!!!!!!!!!!

We skipped Hong Kong , we were there years ago.

[Jakndee]

Jakndee -- or anyone who's gone recently -- how was the smog in Beijing? Did anyone in your group wear a mask? That seems silly to me but I guess if it was unbearable and the mask would actually make a difference it would be worth it.

 

Also -- can you give me an idea of how many yuan we might need? I plan to get some the first day in Shanghai and then re-up in Beijing if need be. It seems from most posts that US$ are accepted by almost everyone. Did you pay in yuan often or mainly dollars?

If I'm not planning on doing a bunch of shopping would $50 worth of yuan (around 350 yuan I guess) be an okay amount to start out with?

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Smog in Shanghai was horrible, no one wore a mask except the Chinese. Atm's are hard to find , hotel was out of money for a few days. Load up when you can. We paid in yuan. I think alittle more might be helpful

[Sparky333]

Wow. That is some serious smog. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will rain right before we go!

 

Did anyone find ATMs at the airport in Shanghai? Or did you just wait to get to the hotel?

[Dale]

Wow. That is some serious smog. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will rain right before we go!

 

Did anyone find ATMs at the airport in Shanghai? Or did you just wait to get to the hotel?

As for the smog, you won’t have to worry about getting a sun burn.

I can’t tell you about Shanghai’s airport because we flew into Beijing. But if it’s like Beijing, I was able to exchange money right at the luggage carrousel. I had money before I had bags. All the hotels had ATM’s.

[Sparky333]

Dale - good to know ATMs are easy to find at airports (assuming Shanghai is similar to Beijing). We'll use them then not have to worry about the ones at the hotel.

 

Yes, no sunburn, just black-lung.

All worth it, I'm sure, can't wait to be on the Great Wall :)