Viking China

[JackieSue66]

After all the discussions on air from Viking (which is a great price even with the $50 extra) I am wondering if some of you who are travelling from the East Coast and have your flights info could share with me your itinerary (airline, connecting city, time of arrival and departure). Also did you have the custom air. Thanks

 

 

 

We leave outta Cleveland at 6am to Chicago, leave Chicago at 1030am and arrive in Shanghai the next day at 1pm....then we leave Beijing at 4pm and arrive home in Cleveland that same day at 10PM, with the layover being in Chicago again.....we are flying United, which is good being that are partners with Continental so we used Cont. miles to upgrade

[Zubie]

We are leaving Allentown (small regional airport) in PA on Wed Sept 8 at 7:30am to Chicago. Leaving Chicago on United at 12:04 pm to Beijing in Business Class. Leaving Hong Kong on Sept 28 to Chicago and then a 4 hour layover and on to Allentown. Booked all our flights through Viking and happy with our selections. In April we did a Viking Cruise in Southern France. That time we booked our own flights and our own transfers. We were also happy with those arrangements. It is what you make it. Whatever your flight arrangements, you are going on a great adventure. Make the most of it.

[H2Otstr]

We are leaving Allentown (small regional airport) in PA on Wed Sept 8 at 7:30am to Chicago. Leaving Chicago on United at 12:04 pm to Beijing in Business Class. Leaving Hong Kong on Sept 28 to Chicago and then a 4 hour layover and on to Allentown. Booked all our flights through Viking and happy with our selections. In April we did a Viking Cruise in Southern France. That time we booked our own flights and our own transfers. We were also happy with those arrangements. It is what you make it. Whatever your flight arrangements, you are going on a great adventure. Make the most of it.

 

 

How did you manage to get business class by booking with Viking?

[luvinretirement]

Believe it or not, we are seriously considering repeating this trip before we get too old. :D

 

But we do NOT want to repeat the misery of the heat and humidity we experienced. So I'd like any advice you who have also been there already on what might be a better time to go.

 

FYI, we were there in late June, early July of this year.

 

When I was checking into going to China I found several websites that indicated October was a good time to go - not the first week because of their holiday but anytime after the first week of October -- there was also some time in May when the weather wasn't too bad. We are booked to arrive in Shanghai on October 20th -- only about 6-7 weeks now! We booked in May and its taken sooooooo long for it to come.

 

We went over to Vancouver on Friday to apply for our visa -- easy process but a long wait in the consulate. It will be ready for pickup on Wednesday so we have to go back over to get it (we live on Vancouver Island so its a full day trip to do anything with the ferries). We had our Brazilian visas mailed back to us but the China office doesn't do that -- we have to pay when we pick up so its two separate trips over.

 

We fly out on October 19th at 3:00 am and arrive in Shanghai at 9:30 am on October 20 -- hopefully we'll be able to get into our hotel room early so we can rest a bit.

[Zubie]

How did you manage to get business class by booking with Viking?

 

My TA handled everything with Viking. By the way, she may be the best travel agent in the country!! I have no idea how she did it but I am really glad she did.

[azmimi]

I'm looking for a new agent, would you give me the name of this great agent, please.

[caribill]

I'm looking for a new agent, would you give me the name of this great agent, please.

 

Cruise Critic rules prohibit this type of information from being requested or posted.

 

"Touting of your personal cruise agent or cruise line "personal cruise consultant" (or any other venue by which you purchase a cruise) is not allowed on our message boards. Postings that contain "tell them John sent you" will be removed without notice.

 

This means you should not ask about someone's travel agent, nor should you respond in kind. Offering to email someone your travel agent's name or info is also not allowed, nor is asking members to email you for the information.

 

It also means you cannot post links to travel agencies, no matter what the specific reason."

[whp]

We are leaving Allentown (small regional airport) in PA on Wed Sept 8 at 7:30am to Chicago. Leaving Chicago on United at 12:04 pm to Beijing in Business Class. Leaving Hong Kong on Sept 28 to Chicago and then a 4 hour layover and on to Allentown. Booked all our flights through Viking and happy with our selections. In April we did a Viking Cruise in Southern France. That time we booked our own flights and our own transfers. We were also happy with those arrangements. It is what you make it. Whatever your flight arrangements, you are going on a great adventure. Make the most of it.

Thanks a lot. They did tell me that they use that united through Chicago a lot. Will take everyones advice and use that extra $50. It seems to make sense.

[traveler55]

Tilley has socks that you can wash and they will dry overnight. You can buy online with them. They are a Canadian company and have an excellent reputation for travel clothes.

 

Also if you go to any good outdoor store that stocks clothing they usually sell socks that can be washed and dry overnight.

Hi, I'm not sure I ever answered you. We leave Sunday, Oct. 10 from Shanghai for 12 days.

[traveler55]

Oops sorry, I think I replied to the wrong person. I followed your advice though and got some socks from a sporting good store and like them very much.

[traveler55]

When in October are you going? on which tour?

 

We're on the OCt. 10 trip for 12 days which leaves from Shanghai.

[traveler55]

We're on the October 10 Imperial Jewels trip out of Shanghai. We'll be arriving two days early, and had originally planned to see the Expo. But after reading some reviews on TripAdvisor, it sounds like the things we would be able to see in a one day visit are not really worth seeing.

 

Instead we're thinking of taking a one day bus excursion to one of the water villages (Suzhou and Zhouzhuang). However, I didn't want to duplicate something we're going to do with Viking. But reading the Shanghai itinerary, it sounds like they just bus you around the city in the morning, then it's the silk carpet workshop and Shanghai Musuem in the afternoon. Anything else you want to see you're on your own. Is that right?

 

 

Hi, We're going to be on the same trip as you are - leaving Oct. 10 out of Shanghai for 12 days. We'll be arriving Sept. 27th to visit our son and daughter in law who live in the Shanghai area. They're planning to take us to Suzhou as they said we'd really enjoy seeing it. We'll also go to the Expo but after reading the reviews, I'm not really looking forward to it. Our son says the Shanghai Museum is amazing and can't be seen in just one visit.

[traveler55]

After all the discussions on air from Viking (which is a great price even with the $50 extra) I am wondering if some of you who are travelling from the East Coast and have your flights info could share with me your itinerary (airline, connecting city, time of arrival and departure). Also did you have the custom air. Thanks

 

 

We booked our own flights from Boston to Shanghai and then Beijing to Boston for $940 per ticket. They each have a stop in Newark, NJ. This seemed much better than all the problems everyone seems to have with the Viking air.

 

Mon, Sep 27, 2010

Departs 8:30am, Arrives 1:45pm

Continental Airlines 1123 / 87

Boston, MA to Shanghai, China

 

Fri, Oct 22, 2010

Departs 3:45pm, Arrives 9:24pm

Continental Airlines 88 / 1192

Beijing, China to Boston, MA

[Romeosc]

We booked our own flights from Boston to Shanghai and then Beijing to Boston for $940 per ticket. They each have a stop in Newark, NJ. This seemed much better than all the problems everyone seems to have with the Viking air.

 

Mon, Sep 27, 2010

Departs 8:30am, Arrives 1:45pm

Continental Airlines 1123 / 87

Boston, MA to Shanghai, China

 

Fri, Oct 22, 2010

Departs 3:45pm, Arrives 9:24pm

Continental Airlines 88 / 1192

Beijing, China to Boston, MA

 

 

Our air from Mem-Chicago over N. Pole to China and back was only $1720 for 2 last Sept using Viking Air arrangements (LOL 2 for 1)

[tpode]

We will be leaving in two weeks for the Imperial Jewels trip. I have read the posts

regarding how much cash to take, denominations, exchanges, etc. However have

not seen anything in regards to travelers checks. Has anyone had any experience

cashing the checks in China? I would assume the hotels would accept them.

[caribill]

We will be leaving in two weeks for the Imperial Jewels trip. I have read the posts

regarding how much cash to take, denominations, exchanges, etc. However have

not seen anything in regards to travelers checks. Has anyone had any experience

cashing the checks in China? I would assume the hotels would accept them.

 

Avoid travelers checks. They are not easily cashed and may incur fees when they are cashed.

 

We took the tour and spent less than $200 worth of Chinese yuan which we obtained at the airport at an ATM using a debit card that had no foreign exchange fees added on. You can also exchange US $ for Yuan at the hotels you will be staying.

 

Most street venders (and there will be plenty at the tour sites) want US $. Most decent shops will accept credit cards (often a 3%-4% surcharge for doing so). In remote areas, the venders and shops will want Yuan.

 

At the end of the 12 days, you will be tipping your Viking guide. We tipped with a combination of US $ and Yuan to use up leftover Yuan.

[whp]

We leave outta Cleveland at 6am to Chicago, leave Chicago at 1030am and arrive in Shanghai the next day at 1pm....then we leave Beijing at 4pm and arrive home in Cleveland that same day at 10PM, with the layover being in Chicago again.....we are flying United, which is good being that are partners with Continental so we used Cont. miles to upgrade

just curious. When you leave late in the day for the return what time to they take you to the airport? If after lunch what do you plan to do in Beijing the last morning. Would love to see the hutongs which those going in the other direction do but don't know if we would have time.

[whp]

We are leaving Allentown (small regional airport) in PA on Wed Sept 8 at 7:30am to Chicago. Leaving Chicago on United at 12:04 pm to Beijing in Business Class. Leaving Hong Kong on Sept 28 to Chicago and then a 4 hour layover and on to Allentown. Booked all our flights through Viking and happy with our selections. In April we did a Viking Cruise in Southern France. That time we booked our own flights and our own transfers. We were also happy with those arrangements. It is what you make it. Whatever your flight arrangements, you are going on a great adventure. Make the most of it.

how much more did it cost to fly business class with Viking? or did you use miles for upgrade.

[whp]

We booked our own flights from Boston to Shanghai and then Beijing to Boston for $940 per ticket. They each have a stop in Newark, NJ. This seemed much better than all the problems everyone seems to have with the Viking air.

 

Mon, Sep 27, 2010

Departs 8:30am, Arrives 1:45pm

Continental Airlines 1123 / 87

Boston, MA to Shanghai, China

 

Fri, Oct 22, 2010

Departs 3:45pm, Arrives 9:24pm

Continental Airlines 88 / 1192

Beijing, China to Boston, MA

how did you ever get prices so low. in may it is priced at around $1700 for the same itinerary.

[wallygator]

At the end of the 12 days, you will be tipping your Viking guide. We tipped with a combination of US $ and Yuan to use up leftover Yuan.

P

Please understand that your tour guide is not the local guides or ship tips, on our three week river cruise/tour we tipped our guide $400.00 plus as well as the recommended tips to ship staff. I was amazed at how naïve/stupid people were they played dumb they wanted everything yet tipped next to nothing. Sorry but you spend all this money for a vacation of a life time and nickel dime.

[no fuss travel]

We will be leaving in two weeks for the Imperial Jewels trip. I have read the posts

regarding how much cash to take, denominations, exchanges, etc. However have

not seen anything in regards to travelers checks. Has anyone had any experience

cashing the checks in China? I would assume the hotels would accept them.

 

As said before do not take travelers cheques. They are very difficult to cash.

 

We took about 50 US $1 bills and several US $5 and US $10. The street vendors like them and we found the prices were less expensive in US than in yuan. We also used the ATM's at the hotels to get yuan. Depending on your bank you may pay an extra charge for the ATM's.

 

Oh I forgot. Make sure they are new bills. They will not take dirty or torn bills.

[no fuss travel]

Oops sorry, I think I replied to the wrong person. I followed your advice though and got some socks from a sporting good store and like them very much.

 

Glad you like them. We found that we could wash them one day and they would be dry by the next. I took some small boxes of Tide with me and used that to do my washing.

[Peregrina651]

Glad you like them. We found that we could wash them one day and they would be dry by the next. I took some small boxes of Tide with me and used that to do my washing.

 

Shampoo works just as well as detergent-- it has the same grease cutting/dirty removing ingredients--and you don't have to buy it or pack it.

 

Oh I forgot. Make sure they are new bills. They will not take dirty or torn bills.

 

Because the banks won't take them and then they are stuck with US$ that they can't exchange into yuan. On the other hand, new bills can be hard to come by so go for the neatest looking bills you can -- no tears and no writing on them.

 

just curious. When you leave late in the day for the return what time to they take you to the airport? If after lunch what do you plan to do in Beijing the last morning.

 

For our 4pm flight, we were on the bus around 12:30pm. We ate lunch at the airport. We spent the morning wandering the underground shopping mall beneath the China World complex. There are a few very high-end stores on the street level but if you go down another level, the corridors go on forever. There is even a skating rink down there.

 

Cash and travelers checks: Travelers checks are a thing of the past; even the mainstream cruise lines give you a hard time (and a % fee) for cashing them. We used ATMs in our hotels and at the stop in Wuhan (Cultural Delights has free time in the city to wander around) to get yuan. I did not bother to buy any yuan before we left because my bank charges an exorbitant amount of money for the service along with a hefty markup on the exchange. Viking includes information about tips in the info packet it sends prior to the cruise. I brought about a thousand in US$$, some of it large bills for the shipboard tipping (which are pooled so it all goes in one envelope) and for our tour escort. BTW, tips for the ship's crew can also be added to your shipboard account.

[Cathys Cruising]

Our Imperial Jewels trip is almost here. We fly out Thursday morning. Have had a few people on FB send PM's that they will also be on the same trip. Nice to talk to others before hand.

 

Thanks to everyone that has shared their knowledge and provided so many helpful hints & tips. I think we're ready!

 

 

 

Cathy

[Zubie]

how much more did it cost to fly business class with Viking? or did you use miles for upgrade.

 

It cost around $8000 for two round trip business class airfares. I know that seems like an exorbitant amount, but I will not sit cramped in coach for 14 hours. We fly to Europe quite often and always fly coach. Usually after eight or ten hours it is exhausting. This is the first time we splurged on business class. My friends who travel to China quite often for business tell me it is the only way to go. My wife and I look at this as the trip of a lifetime and we spared nothing to make it a wonderful trip. This is probably the first and only time I will get to fly like this and we are very very excited to fly business. Can't wait. We leave in two days.