Viking China

[AcaCandy]

Yes, the local Chinese beers were good. I was surprised to see Pabst, as you can hardly find it in the U.S. anymore...........at least where I shop....I was also surprised to see Corona..........but that was a good thing :)

[JJPNYC]

Budweiser was quite ubiquitious all around in China as well as Heineken. I guess they truly are global brands.

[AcaCandy]

Tsingtao is partly owned by Budweiser.

[how]

My sister and I are about to book June 12, 2007 Imperial Jewels of China with a 3 day Viking River trip. Any tips, ideas, comments?

 

How

[how]

My sister and I are about to book June 12, 2007 Imperial Jewels of China with a 3 day Viking River trip. Any tips, ideas, comments?

[RJG1011]

Hi,

 

If you and have the time, consider booking Cultural Delights. We spoke to the people at Viking and they suggested this. It is a somewhat longer trip and you do lots more. You are also on the ship for ten days which was a marvelous experience. It was wonderful not having to pack and put our bags out early every day or two, the service was excellent and we went on an excursion each day. It is not much more expensive than Imperial Jewels and it is a wonderful trip.

 

Either way you will have a great time in China. Viking did a fabulous job from the guide to the hotels to the food and everything else. Also, if you have the time and means, go to Hong Kong. We took advantage of Viking's special airfare offer, so we went with them. It was a three day whirlwind. If we had to book on our own, we might have stayed in HK a day or two longer. However, we could not pass up on their $199 airfare deal.

 

Regards,

Rebecca

[how]

Thanks Rebecca:

 

We have added a day by taking the 4 days cruise instead of 3. I have been to Hong Kong several times, so will pass this trip. We also are getting that fabulous $199 airfare.

 

How

[Senior Cruiser]

If you give me your e-mail address I'll send you my detailed report on that China trip, October 2005 including Century Sky. Suggest October or late Sept for trip. Tienamen square and all the concrete and marble at X'ian would be terribly hot in summer. Send to d.sandin@worldnet.att.net

[Beehive]

Was there ever a roll call started for the August 26th cruise? My husband and I have also booked it, and have added the extension to Hong Kong as well. I know some people from the 2008 Australia trip will be going as well, and we would be interested in meeting before hand if anyone is from Massachusetts as we live on Cape Cod...

Paul & Bobbie Curley

[cliffdweller]

Paul and Bobbie,

 

Good post - you know we'll be there!! Looking forward to meeting you and hopefully others from this area.

 

Happy New Year.

 

Pat

[Beehive]

Pat and Pam,

Have a happy, healthy 2007! We just got the video from Viking cruises and it looks wonderful...can't wait!

Bobbie & Paul

[coasters]

Hi,

My wife and I are booked on Viking - Bejing to Shanghai + Hong Kong extension - Hotel Check in April 11, 2007.

We will be leaving April 9th, from Newark NJ on Continental, Non Stop to Bejing.

Love to hear from others who will be with us on the trip.

Thanks

Diane & Jerry

[jbirds]

Hi Coasters,

My husband and I and another couple will be taking the Cultural Delights Tour Beijing to Shanghai+Hong Kong extension. We leave Apr 10 from Orlando and our friends are leaving from LA.

Jackie & Nick

[coasters]

Hi JBirds, Jackie & Nick

So nice to know that we have company....

We've been monitoring this site for months, looks like a fabulous tour and excellent reports about Viking.

Have you ever done a Viking tour before??

We used to have a condo in Indialantic. More recently a home in Coral Gables... you guys anywhere near?

Jerry

[arlenez]

Pat and Pam,

Have a happy, healthy 2007! We just got the video from Viking cruises and it looks wonderful...can't wait!

Bobbie & Paul

 

DH and I would be interested in seeing the video from Viking Cruises. Please tell me how I can go about getting a copy.

 

Thanks,

[arlenez]

Pat and Pam,

Have a happy, healthy 2007! We just got the video from Viking cruises and it looks wonderful...can't wait!

Bobbie & Paul

 

DH and I would be interested in seeing the video from Viking Cruises. Please tell me how I can obtain a copy.

 

Thanks,

[SteveS]

We will be touring July 10-25. Anyone else?

[aa2qh]

After procrastinating for too long, we've finally booked our cruise on the Viking Century Sun, Shanghai to Beijing, departing May 28. We'll do the Hong Kong add-on beforehand. Hope it won't be too hot, but the earlier ones all booked. We live in S FL so should be able to deal with it. Thanks to everyone for all the book suggestions. Checking most of them out of our local library, but also ordered a few language primers from Amazon. It's nice to be able to say a few things in the places we visit, including the all important "Where is the bathroom?" Anyone else on our trip?

Carol & Ron

[aa2qh]

We've just booked the Shanghi to Beijing trip with the Hong Kong add-on before. :o Anyone else on board for that one? Hope it's not too hot...all the earlier trips booked. Finding most of the suggested books at our local library...thanks for all the suggestions. Getting some language primers, both written & oral from Amazon. Nice to be able to say "hello" & "thank you" & the all important "where is the bathroom". Carol & Ron

[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

We did this route last year. Don't worry about learning Chinese. Everywhere they take you English is spoken. All of the signs along the freeways are in English as well. Yes, it is hot there. But it is better than going this time of year.:D Jerry and Sandy

[Beehive]

Just write to Viking River Cruises and request their brochures for 2007. They will send you the CD along with the brochures...it is a wonderful snapshot of China! And the ship!

[twototravel]

:) Carol & Ron,

 

My husband and I are booked on this trip as well. We are not going to Hong Kong though. We'll be flying out of BWI; VRC is doing our flights and we haven't gotten the info yet. We can't wait!!

 

Cathy & Peter

 

b

After procrastinating for too long, we've finally booked our cruise on the Viking Century Sun, Shanghai to Beijing, departing May 28. We'll do the Hong Kong add-on beforehand. Hope it won't be too hot, but the earlier ones all booked. We live in S FL so should be able to deal with it. Thanks to everyone for all the book suggestions. Checking most of them out of our local library, but also ordered a few language primers from Amazon. It's nice to be able to say a few things in the places we visit, including the all important "Where is the bathroom?" Anyone else on our trip?

Carol & Ron

[aa2qh]

Ni Hau Cathy & Peter, Glad to hear you're coming aboard. We'll have to plan a CC rendevous somewhere the day we board. I hear what Jerry & Sandy say about all the English around, but I'll still feel more comfortable knowing a little Chinese myself. Still waiting for my cd's to come & meanwhile have found a wealth of info on all things Chinese & links to many sites on: http://www.uni.edu/becker/chinese2.html. My favorite language site to listen to some basics is: http://otal.umd.edu/chintut/. Zai jian, Carol

[twototravel]

Carol,

 

The CD doesn't really give you any specifics about this trip. It's basically a travelog for Viking on its tours to Europe and China. They interview passengers, show the scenery and inside the boats. We also received a calendar and date book from VRC for 2007. If you haven't done so already, go back to the beginning of this string. You'll get tons of information about this particular tour, the ship, what to see, what to bring, what to do, etc, etc. It's kind of funny to see what people complain about. Everybody has vastly different expectations.

 

We do have what hotels we'll be at: Westin in Beijing, Shangri-La in Xian, and St. Regis in Shanghai. They split up the passengers into several hotels at each stop.

 

I've printed out some basic words in Chinese from several internet sites. I'm sure we'll memorize the basics prior to departing as well. A hello and thank you in the native language goes a long way.

 

Cathy

 

Ni Hau Cathy & Peter, Glad to hear you're coming aboard. We'll have to plan a CC rendevous somewhere the day we board. I hear what Jerry & Sandy say about all the English around, but I'll still feel more comfortable knowing a little Chinese myself. Still waiting for my cd's to come & meanwhile have found a wealth of info on all things Chinese & links to many sites on: http://www.uni.edu/becker/chinese2.html. My favorite language site to listen to some basics is: http://otal.umd.edu/chintut/. Zai jian, Carol

[jbirds]

Hi Jerry, We live in Windermere (outside Orlando) and this is our first Viking cruise. Our only small cruise ship adventure was years ago touring the Rhine river. I, too, have been gathering all the wonderful wisdom from the folks in this forum. I'm originally from NJ, is that where you are?