Yangtze River Cruise

There are 7 of us looking to do an escorted tour of Asia/Yangtze river cruise in 2013. When researching it looks like there are many tour companies that do this cruise. How do you choose a good, reliable company? It seems like most of the people are going with Viking. Would that be the only one to consider? We have gone on many ocean cruises with Celebrity, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We love them all, but enjoyed Celebrity the most. We are in our late 50's-early 60's. Please help recommend some companies you have used and liked.

Thank you

There are 7 of us looking to do an escorted tour of Asia/Yangtze river cruise in 2013. When researching it looks like there are many tour companies that do this cruise. How do you choose a good, reliable company? It seems like most of the people are going with Viking. Would that be the only one to consider? We have gone on many ocean cruises with Celebrity, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. We love them all, but enjoyed Celebrity the most. We are in our late 50's-early 60's. Please help recommend some companies you have used and liked.

 

Thank you

First I would suggest you decide what you want to do. An "escorted tour of Asia" and a "Yangtze River cruise" are not the same thing. If you'd like an escorted tour of major cities and sites in China that includes a Yangtze River Cruise, I cannot recommend Viking more highly. Our trip with Viking in China in May 2011 was the most extraordinary trip we've ever taken. Viking does a phenomenal job in China. We are hardly alone in our reactions, as you can see from the two huge "Viking China" threads in this forum (the original, now closed to new postings, but still containing tons of relevant info, including reviews from the 2011 season (including mine), and Part 2, the most current thread).

Before we booked our trip, I did extensive research, including here on Cruise Critic. Based on that research, it seemed like Viking would be the best choice for China, though I did want to explore Uniworld, given their similar itinerary. I spoke personally with reps at Viking and at Uniworld. I was impressed by the Viking folks, and totally underwhelmed with the people at Uniworld (more than one call).

We went with Viking, and could not have been happier that we did.

If you have specific questions about Viking's China trips, you should post them on the Viking China Part 2 thread, where more folks will see them.

Good luck with your research. This was truly a trip of a lifetime, and we are still processing it and talking about and re-living it all these many months later.

Thank you Turtles06 for your quick and helpful reply. I do realize that an escorted tour and a river tour are two different things, but I knew that Viking and General had one that combined the two. As of now we are undecided between Celebrity Millineum 14 day cruise thru Asia, Viking or General escorted tour with Yangtze river cruise, or General, Monogram, etc. escorted tour only (no river cruise).

I really like the idea of the escorted tour in Asia. I have done a few cruises to Europe and have planned my own private tours and that worked well there. I am undecided about the river cruise part though. Did you feel that was a worthwhile experience? My husband truely wants to see the terra cotta soldiers and I think doing a river cruise combo is the only way you go to Xian.

Flying in and out of so many countries makes my head swim. It seems like that would be brutal on you. Did you feel like you wasted a lot of time on planes? Then again the ocean cruise ports are not that close and transportation is needed as Tianjin is 2 hours from Beijing. We would probably stay in Beijing a few nights as the ship is there for 3 days. It starts in Hong Kong for 2 days and ends in Shanghai which we would say an extra day. Taipei, Nagasaki, and 2 cities in S. Korea are also stops.

This site has been a great help to me on other cruises. I am hoping people will help with advice for the above tours. Pros and cons of all 3 would help best.

Thank you Turtles06 for your quick and helpful reply. I do realize that an escorted tour and a river tour are two different things, but I knew that Viking and General had one that combined the two. Sorry, I was (and am) a little confused about your terminology, hence my initial reply. The China trips with Viking River Cruises are fully escorted from start to finish, both the land and river portions. Every group (about a bus size) is assigned a (fantastic) guide/escort, who stays with you from beginning to end. Local guides may join your group in some of the smaller cities and along the river.

 

.......

I really like the idea of the escorted tour in Asia. I have done a few cruises to Europe and have planned my own private tours and that worked well there. I am undecided about the river cruise part though. Did you feel that was a worthwhile experience? Yes, absolutely. It added so much to our experience. We did Viking's Imperial Jewels of China tour, which is six nights on land (Beijing [3], Xi'an [1], and Shanghai [2]) and five on the river boat. (We added three days on our own/with a private guide in Beijing to start the trip.) This was just the right length. Viking has a longer trip (Cultural Delights) that has 11 nights on the river (plus the six nights on land). I personally think that would have been too many days on the river (particularly since, on the downstream end, the river widens out and reportedly is not as interesting), though lots of folks love that longer trip. (Someone who recently returned from that trip posted on the Viking China 2 thread that in hindsight she would not have spent as many days on the river.)

 

The Yangtze is one of the world's great rivers, and to have experienced it this way was incredible. We had the beauty and majesty of cruising thru the Three Gorges and, on a smaller boat, through the lesser gorges, as well as going thru the locks of the Three Gorges Dam, which was amazing. But best of all was experiencing the life along the river, the small towns and huge cities, and getting a sense of what it was like for entire cities and towns to have been flooded out by the completed Dam and their residents literally uprooted and moved elsewhere. It was an incomparable cultural and visual experience. I can't say enough about it. When I say this trip was a trip of a lifetime, I am not exaggerating.

 

 

My husband truely wants to see the terra cotta soldiers and I think doing a river cruise combo is the only way you go to Xian. Well, he's right to want to see them, they are amazing. :)

 

Flying in and out of so many countries makes my head swim. It seems like that would be brutal on you. Did you feel like you wasted a lot of time on planes? Not at all. Our trip had three intra-China flights, none all that long: Beijing to Xi'an was the longest (about 90 minutes), then Xi'an to Chongqing (where we boarded the river boat) was about an hour, as was Wuhan (where we got off the boat) to Shanghai. I hate to fly, but these flights were well worth it. China is a huge country, and the flights made it possible for us to see so much more than we otherwise could have (including the river cruise portion of the trip). Viking's handling of all of the logistics, btw, was unbelievably impressive.

 

Viking has an optional extension to Guilln and Hong Kong; that would have added two more flights. We did not take the extension, so I can't comment on it, but by the time we got to Shanghai, we were pretty well tired...

 

I've added replies in red above to your specific questions that I could answer. We've never taken an (ocean) cruise in Asia, so I can't comment on that, but these are discussed a great deal over on the ""Asia" forum in the Ports of Call board; if you haven't already posted there, I would suggest you do, as well as reading up there.

I guess the main thing that you'll have to decide when choosing between an ocean cruise in Asia and a land/river tour in China is how much you'd like to see some of the interior of China, including Xi'an and the Yangtze.

Happy to answer any other questions.

We did the China's Cultural Delights itinerary with Viking in 2010-- and loved it. After my brother did the very same cruise in 2008 and came back raving over the experience, I didn't bother to do any research (besides which I'd been on the Viking mailing list for a while and already had my eye on the destination).

I have to say ditto to everything that Turtles has said except her comments about the lower river. I loved that portion of the trip--the wide river and the green flood plains--as much as I loved the soaring cliffs of the gorges. The added stops were equally as fascinating--the Buddhist temples and monasteries at Mt. Jiu Hua, the visit to the Porcelain-making History Center, Yueyang Tower, the afternoon we had to wonder around Wuhan on our own (embarkation/disembarkation point on the shorter cruises). The extra days cruising were also very relaxing and I don't regret at all having taken the time for these added stops.

Below in my signature file you will find links to the Viking China threads that Turtles mentions as well as links to my trip journal and photos, which you are welcome to visit. A picture is worth a thousand words!

We did Imperial Jewels last summer with viking and it was a trip of a lifetime. If you are healthy and understand that to see all that there is to see they have you on a tight schedule. There was time to relax when back on the ship but you must be able to walk, walk, and climb at times!

No need for a gym visit in this trip but I appreciated it because how often would you ever get to China. The guides are phenomenal and know how to wrangle there group and keep them together to stay safe!

The viking emerald was a ship in great shape and the food on board was fantastic. They also made sure we had plenty of bottled water since we travelled in July! VERY humid in the summer! Viking treated us well and made sure we had an stupendous experience! Lauri :D

........was top of my list to experience! All I can say is when I walked into the building that housed them in they're own pit......it actually brought tears to my eyes! Each face different and so many of them at attention on guard for they're emperor. It overwhelmed to a point of tears. Chinas history is so colorful and at times shameful but offers a chance of a lifetime to experience it!

Make sure you go with a company that will have you there experiencing instead of loading and unloading. Viking was the best for my personal experience!!!!Lauri

I've added replies in red above to your specific questions that I could answer. We've never taken an (ocean) cruise in Asia, so I can't comment on that, but these are discussed a great deal over on the ""Asia" forum in the Ports of Call board; if you haven't already posted there, I would suggest you do, as well as reading up there.

 

I guess the main thing that you'll have to decide when choosing between an ocean cruise in Asia and a land/river tour in China is how much you'd like to see some of the interior of China, including Xi'an and the Yangtze.

 

Happy to answer any other questions.

Thank you for the answers to my questions. They were very helpful. I think if we do this trip we will also do the extension with Gulin and Hong Kong. My husband really seems interested in doing this one.

Forgive me for "butting in " here, but did you and we sail together, maybe in Europe? We also are looking at a China trip, either this fall or next year. We are just starting to contact various companies. We were just going to do a land tour, but 2 companies have offered us a land tour with a 3 night river cruise included. I will continue to follow this board as we look for more information to use in our planning.

Forgive me for "butting in " here, but did you and we sail together, maybe in Europe? We also are looking at a China trip, either this fall or next year. We are just starting to contact various companies. We were just going to do a land tour, but 2 companies have offered us a land tour with a 3 night river cruise included. I will continue to follow this board as we look for more information to use in our planning.

We might have. We did 2 Celebrity cruises in Europe. When did you go and what ships were you on? We are also looking at a land tour with a 3 night river cruise.

I have had a little more time to do some research and I think we are considering

The Pacific Delight Tour: Scenic China with the Yangtze River Silver Experience w/ 3 day cruise (17 days w/ Hong Kong)

The Avalon tour: Magical China w/ 3 day river cruise (14 days w/ Hong Kong) or

The Viking Tour: Imperial Jewels Tour w/ 3 day cruise (17 days w/ Hong Kong).

Any opinions about these tours/companies??

We did a 21 day tour of China, including the Yangtse, in 2006.

We used a company called Travel China Guide. They organised everything except flights to Beijing.

The tour can start where you want ,when you want for,for as many as you want go where you want, for as long as you want. TCG will offer advice based on their experience but the final itinarary is yours.

The sevice we had was brilliant and I cannot speak too highly of them.

I have had a little more time to do some research and I think we are considering

 

The Pacific Delight Tour: Scenic China with the Yangtze River Silver Experience w/ 3 day cruise (17 days w/ Hong Kong)

 

The Avalon tour: Magical China w/ 3 day river cruise (14 days w/ Hong Kong) or

 

The Viking Tour: Imperial Jewels Tour w/ 3 day cruise (17 days w/ Hong Kong).

 

Any opinions about these tours/companies??

Can't comment on the Pacific Delight or Avalon tour having never been on them. Our experience with Viking was one that prompted us to take two more tours with Viking! We recommended the China Viking tour to several friends, one of which was so delighted, that they took the same tour a second time!

The Avalon tour: Magical China w/ 3 day river cruise (14 days w/ Hong Kong) or

 

The Viking Tour: Imperial Jewels Tour w/ 3 day cruise (17 days w/ Hong Kong).

 

Any opinions about these tours/companies??

The Viking cruisetour includes 5 nights on the river not 3.

Hi all - I am currently signed up for the Avalon 15 day Cultural China and Tibet with an additional 5 day excursion to Mongolia in October.

I am totally psyched for this trip!

It starts in Shanghai (where I have arranged for an additional night) and then we fly to Yichang. The cruise part on the Yangtze is four nights from Yichang to Chongqing. After that we fly to Lhasa for two nights (get to do a private visit to a Tibetan home). Onward to Xian, then off to Beijing for two nights and then I get to fly to Ulan Baator and go visit the Gobi dessert. Back to Beijing for one more day and then home.

This has been my dream trip for years and, hopefully, nothing will happen between now and October. :)

Will try to do a write up when I get back.