Viking China

[H2Otstr]

3 months to go!!! I have sent for my Visa's, airflights are all set (thanks to custom air) I know my hotels - I guess now all I do is count off the days until May! and wait for my visa to come back

 

You should set up a countdown clock and watch the days click OFF. There is no listing for the new Emerald, but you can put in the old ship. I have 42 days to go.....woohoo.

 

I spent the better part of yesterday perusing my Shanghai travel books and maps to see where everything is located. Frommers has a very good travel book and map of Shanghai. I marked off the hotel, shopping areas, etc. We will have very little time on our own, but I love mapping our areas and carrying the maps with us as we tour.

[redhdsue]

I'm very surprised by this. We are going in May, right after you, and we've had our hotel info (the names of our hotels) since last August. In fact, Viking told me last year when we booked that they would know the hotels for May 2011 around mid-August 2010 (and indeed they did).

 

You might want to give Viking a call....

 

I called today after I read your post. We're on the 5/2/11 Shanghai to Beijing trip and have not received ANYTHING yet from Viking. We booked this past June/July. :confused: VCL said because we booked through a TA they only communicate through the TA. They will send TA our final docs 3 wks prior to departure. If we want early documentation, it will cost an addl. $25.00 (per booking/not per couple). She did give me our hotel names today when I asked. :)

[BlueAngel1009]

I called today after I read your post. We're on the 5/2/11 Shanghai to Beijing trip and have not received ANYTHING yet from Viking. We booked this past June/July. :confused: VCL said because we booked through a TA they only communicate through the TA. They will send TA our final docs 3 wks prior to departure. If we want early documentation, it will cost an addl. $25.00 (per booking/not per couple). She did give me our hotel names today when I asked. :)

 

We're on May 12, Shanghai-Beijing and received our information two days ago. We booked in the fall, I think.

[caribill]

I called today after I read your post. We're on the 5/2/11 Shanghai to Beijing trip and have not received ANYTHING yet from Viking. We booked this past June/July. :confused: VCL said because we booked through a TA they only communicate through the TA. They will send TA our final docs 3 wks prior to departure. If we want early documentation, it will cost an addl. $25.00 (per booking/not per couple). She did give me our hotel names today when I asked. :)

 

There is a $25 charge for early documentation even if you had booked directly with VCL.

 

It is surprising they refused to tell you the hotels. When we went last year they were willing to tell us the hotels over the phone long before the documentation was mailed. Maybe your travel agent can pry the information out of them.

[Peregrina651]

There is a $25 charge for early documentation even if you had booked directly with VCL.

 

It is surprising they refused to tell you the hotels. When we went last year they were willing to tell us the hotels over the phone long before the documentation was mailed. Maybe your travel agent can pry the information out of them.

 

Somehow last year our TA was able to get a .pdf version of the itinerary and departure information booklet, which she sent/e-mailed to us well in advance of our receiving our documents. Please don't ask me for a copy; my edition is out of date and would only cause confusion.

 

Since we worked with a TA, our travel docs went to our TA first who then checked them over carefully before sending them on to us.

 

IMPORTANT: For those of you who try to ditch as much of the paperwork as possible that comes in the docs package (half of which is usually ads), the docs include vouchers for the cruise that you should bring with you since they will be collected by your escort.

[H2Otstr]

I called today after I read your post. We're on the 5/2/11 Shanghai to Beijing trip and have not received ANYTHING yet from Viking. We booked this past June/July. :confused: VCL said because we booked through a TA they only communicate through the TA. They will send TA our final docs 3 wks prior to departure. If we want early documentation, it will cost an addl. $25.00 (per booking/not per couple). She did give me our hotel names today when I asked. :)

 

Leaving March 27th and we have NOT received anything from Viking either. We did get a paid receipt with the names of the hotels. We also received a notice from Viking that we are no longer on Air Canada, but are with UA now. My TA told us that we will receive final documents 3 weeks before we leave.

[Peregrina651]

You should set up a countdown clock and watch the days click OFF. There is no listing for the new Emerald, but you can put in the old ship. I have 42 days to go.....woohoo.

 

You aren't limited to the ones available on the Cruise Critic. I found the one I use just by checking out other people's signature files. It is a bit more complicated to use than one on Cruise Critic, which, if I remember correctly (ha), is added to your sig file automatically. I also found a countdown clock add-on for Firefox that displays on the browser toolbar, so I can always see it. Also, I think that there is a Windows Gadget countdown.

 

 

I spent the better part of yesterday perusing my Shanghai travel books and maps to see where everything is located. Frommers has a very good travel book and map of Shanghai. I marked off the hotel, shopping areas, etc. We will have very little time on our own, but I love mapping our areas and carrying the maps with us as we tour.

 

Don't forget to check out the city using Google satellite maps and Google Earth!

 

We spent the short bit of time we had in Shanghai shopping for pearls at Pearl City (way cheaper than Zales/Kay/etc.). We ended up shopping in a store called Daxi because my brother had shopped there and was very happy with what he had bought.

[cruisegal#116]

Hello All,

 

My husband and I have been booked for almost a year on the 5/5/11 Imperial Jewels of China from Beijing to Shanghai. I have been reading this thread and have gotten loads of great information. Thank you one and all and especially to those to have taken this trip in the past and continue to come back to answer questions for all of us.

 

We are doing our own air flying into Beijing a day early so we will have a day and a half free before the actual touring begins. We are also staying in Shanghai afterwards and will have 2 1/2 days free before flying over to Hong Kong for a few days.

 

We are interested in getting private guides in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Has anyone done this already? If so, would you be kind enough to share your thoughts and the names of those you used.

 

I know I will be back with other questions but right now this would be a great help.

[Turtles06]

We are doing our own air flying into Beijing a day early so we will have a day and a half free before the actual touring begins. We are also staying in Shanghai afterwards and will have 2 1/2 days free before flying over to Hong Kong for a few days.

 

We are interested in getting private guides in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Has anyone done this already? If so, would you be kind enough to share your thoughts and the names of those you used.

 

 

We are doing this same trip later in May, and flying into Beijing early. We've been looking for a private driver/guide to take us to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. I've been searching in the Asia ports of call thread here on CC; the info is limited, but from that seach I've come up with the two services below; again, not many recommendations (as you'd find for private tours on ocean cruises). I too would love to have names of guides that folks on this thread have actually used. (The hotel concierge can also recommend someone, but it will cost a ton more.)

 

http://www.beijingservice.com/

 

 

http://www.tour-beijing.com/

(these folks want money in advance)

[cruisegal#116]

We are doing this same trip later in May, and flying into Beijing early. We've been looking for a private driver/guide to take us to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. I've been searching in the Asia ports of call thread here on CC; the info is limited, but from that seach I've come up with the two services below; again, not many recommendations (as you'd find for private tours on ocean cruises). I too would love to have names of guides that folks on this thread have actually used. (The hotel concierge can also recommend someone, but it will cost a ton more.)

 

http://www.beijingservice.com/

 

 

http://www.tour-beijing.com/

(these folks want money in advance)

 

Turtles06,

 

Thanks so much for sharing what you have found. I will look at both of these companies and will continue to try to do research on my own as well. If I come up with anything that might be of help, I will post it here.

 

Maybe someone who has done this trip previously will respond to my question as well.

[Peregrina651]

Have you tried TripAdvisor??

[azmimi]

Still looking for someone on the April 5th Beijing to Shanghai. Anyone out there?????[

 

 

quote=Alebd;27900925]Just to clarify- Day 1 (for us, May 5) is the day before actual touring starts. We are using Viking custom air- not the "deviation"- and will be arriving in Beijing on May 4, with the hotel paid for by Viking for that extra night.

The rep told me that everyone (at least if starting in Beijing) is flown in to arrive a day before the "Day 1" in the itinerary. I guess you could call it Day 0. This was great for us, as we were going to fly a day early anyway to recover from jetlag, and now the hotel is at Viking's expense.

[cruisegal#116]

Have you tried TripAdvisor??

 

Trip Advisor will be my next place to look. I was just hoping that someone on this board might be able to give me a "personal" recommendation.

 

I will share whatever I learn, however, it may not be for a couple of days as I have to fit this research in when I have some free time.

[Turtles06]

Have you tried TripAdvisor??

 

Thanks; I have. In terms of searching for guides, I haven't found that much current, pertinent info. Zillions of threads, and they turn out to be old. I also don't find it as user friendly as I'd like, so perhaps I'm missing something. (I think Trip Advisor is very useful for looking for a hotel in an unfamiliar city, and checking hotel reviews, but it seems to me less so for things like this. Just my personal experience with that site.)

[H2Otstr]

Hello All,

 

My husband and I have been booked for almost a year on the 5/5/11 Imperial Jewels of China from Beijing to Shanghai. I have been reading this thread and have gotten loads of great information. Thank you one and all and especially to those to have taken this trip in the past and continue to come back to answer questions for all of us.

 

We are doing our own air flying into Beijing a day early so we will have a day and a half free before the actual touring begins. We are also staying in Shanghai afterwards and will have 2 1/2 days free before flying over to Hong Kong for a few days.

 

We are interested in getting private guides in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Has anyone done this already? If so, would you be kind enough to share your thoughts and the names of those you used.

 

I know I will be back with other questions but right now this would be a great help.

 

 

There is a long travel report on Fodor's website from a traveler who calls herself "A Redhead in China." She took a private tour of the Great Wall. Maybe she could provide the name and contact information for her guide.

[whp]

I too am almost finished reading all the posts, but I started way back - Sunday I came across the custom air option from Viking - something Viking never mentioned - even though they booked our air. Good thing I found that - We leave in May and flights were almost going to be computer assigned - paid the extra $50 per person - spoke to a rep and got flights - so if you are having Viking do your air - make sure you look into custom !

I read the comments I found on this board to the viking supervisor regarding the horror stories people had. Maybe they can just add another $50 a person instead of this ridiculous fee

Almost time to send the Visa package away - May 15 trip! :D

i cannot agree more with paying the extra $50. By the way you can call the custom air phone number on the website and they will give you your options if you pay the extra $50. Then if you like it you can pay and then call them back to book. In our case there are 4 of us flying from Orlando in May. I called and found out that they did not have contracted air with United from Orlando. I then selected the Air Canada through Toronto. Since they do not issue the tickets til about 60 days in advance, you can even call to see if there is a better schedule or to pay the upgrade to business class. So my recommendation is pay the extra $50. By the way if you are on your third Viking trip the custom air fee is waived.

[whp]

Thank you to everyone for all of your information. I have read through the entire site and it has taken forever, but the information has been invaluable! We can't wait to go on the trip and our renew passports just arrived yesterday. Things are falling in place.

 

We originally booked our air through Viking, but decide we want to arrive three days earlier and stay and extra day. With the custom air and air deviation fees we decided to book on our own, especially since for less cost we were able to assure that we are booked on the only nonstop flights in an out of NYC. We knew that if we booked our own air we would not get transfers, which are not a big deal for us.

 

There was one thing we were not aware of and did not find out until after we made our air arrangements from our travel agent. Be aware that if you arrange your air with Viking, they fly you in the day before the start of the tour and provide you the hotel stay the night before (Aug. 22 for us) at thier expense. If you arrange your own airfare, the tour starts the morning of (Aug. 23 for us) and the hotel the night before is on you. That is a nice perk since the hotels Viking use are top of the line and pricey.

 

We are flying nonstop both ways: there on Air China (have our seats) and back on China Eastern Air (can't get any information from them if we are able to get seats before the day of travel or not). Has any one flown either of these airlines and if so, how were they?

 

Shelley and Ted

I assume that you are flying into Beijiong due to late flight arrival times and not into Shanghai. Please confirm.

[whp]

I called them (after I read your post in Aug) to find out what our hotels were going to be and they YELLED at me. They asked me WHY I wanted to know :eek:.

I would have asked for that agents name. All agents have been more than helpful and straight forward with us. We are going in May and were told we would know around January and we learned in January. We also were able to speak to custom air who told us about the one day early for Beijing (as your flight will probably be getting in late) and told us what flights we could get. We then paid the extra $50 and got what was best for us arriving in Shanghai around 3:30 PM.

 

For those going into Beijing and who have received their flight shedules I wonder if you would share which airline you are on and what time you are arriving in Beijing.

[whp]

I called today after I read your post. We're on the 5/2/11 Shanghai to Beijing trip and have not received ANYTHING yet from Viking. We booked this past June/July. :confused: VCL said because we booked through a TA they only communicate through the TA. They will send TA our final docs 3 wks prior to departure. If we want early documentation, it will cost an addl. $25.00 (per booking/not per couple). She did give me our hotel names today when I asked. :)

I am a TA and I get confirmation emails from Viking for clients (and me what I travel) and they should be able to tell you what you have. They are correct the "fancy" package with the documents goes to the agent about 3 weeks before (and sometimes a little earlier). They include some nice luggage tags, a booklet on your trip with great details, your complete itinerary, etickets for air (if applicable) etc. Call you agent and if they can't or won't help you get a new agent for next time. By the way my wife and I will be joining you on that cruise and we have known everything since January and should get docs early April.

[Turtles06]

I found this article in the paper today about KFC's success in China to be fascinating. Two key reasons for the success, both pretty "obvious" yet other American fast food chains haven't (yet) been able to replicate the success: add items to the menu that will be locally appealing,* and use local managers, particularly to keep the food supply lines going.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/12/AR2011021202412.html

 

*(The Dragon Twister chicken wrap sounds pretty good!:))

 

I hope everyone (in the States) is having a great holiday weekend.

[Days @ C]

Been quiet hear lately. Thought I would throw this out for comments from our experienced posters.

 

Thinking of 3 days in Tokyo after cruise and using Vikings deviation city to Tokyo NRT airport for an additional $100pp. NRT is 32 miles from Tokyo. Wondering if it is better to stay @ the airport and travel from airport each day or stay downtown & lug our luggage back and forth to the airport?

 

Thanks for any help,

Paul

[caribill]

Thinking of 3 days in Tokyo after cruise and using Vikings deviation city to Tokyo NRT airport for an additional $100pp. NRT is 32 miles from Tokyo. Wondering if it is better to stay @ the airport and travel from airport each day or stay downtown & lug our luggage back and forth to the airport?

 

Thanks for any help,

Paul

 

Not sure if three is a hotel actually at the airport. If not, you have the cost and time of making your way to the transportation +\plus at least an hour from NRT to downtown and an hour back again in the evening. That will get old after the first day.

[mljatsea]

Thinking of 3 days in Tokyo after cruise and using Vikings deviation city to Tokyo NRT airport for an additional $100pp. NRT is 32 miles from Tokyo. Wondering if it is better to stay @ the airport and travel from airport each day or stay downtown & lug our luggage back and forth to the airport?

 

DH retired as airline captain five years ago and flew the DFW-NRT route frequently. He suggests you look into flying into the Tokyo Haneda airport (HND), then out of NRT for your intl flight home. The bullet train can take you from NRT into the city in 30 min. but you might want to check the cost if you're going to do it each day.

[Turtles06]

We got our visas today for our trip in May. I was excited before, but now it feels very real!! :)

[H2Otstr]

I am also getting really excited. I need to start making a list of the things I am going to take. I have a special bin that I have been tossing items into for quite some time. Now I need to take stock of what is in there and what I am missing. I purchased a nightlight today for the trip. I always travel with one so I can see where I am going in the middle of the night if I need to get up.

 

I was also thinking about the logisitcs of our flight and when I shoud "try" to sleep. We leave Chicago at 10:30 am. I would imagine that we will be served lunch at noon. Then there will be dinner; not sure what time that will be. Will probably try to nap after lunch.