JM0115

Just now, Haworth said:

We have tried twice,and failed twice,  second time we were  due to go was March 2020 and all that

 

Clearly its not meant to be so we wont try again

That's unfortunate.  Happy exploring in other places!

32 minutes ago, mwike said:

We've traveled China independently and plan to go back next year.  We felt safer in China than we do in US cities.  It's a very orderly and civil country.  Also, very clean in the cities - not a breeding ground for disease but opinions my vary given the once in a lifetime virus. 

 

I think the Chinese government is much more politically savvy than the countries that detain innocent tourists which is very rare anyway. 

 

Now you may not want to visit China for moral reasons but that's for you to decide.  My opinion on that is to visit countries that do not share my beliefs while respectfully trying to break any negative stereotypes they may have of Westerners (given the opportunity) while on the visit.

 

I can't see any concerns (other than potential moral concerns) for a cruise where one is essentially in a controlled environment.

Agree with @mwike - we are currently booked on the China Discovery 10-day cruise out of HK (Shenzhen) in Octobber. Very excited to see and experience the differences between the standard Viking and the Yi Dun!  We will be in Japan the week before this exploring Japan on our own and it fit into the flights already booked to and from Osaka so we decided to cut our Japan trip short and go to China. I have been to China many years before and find it fascinating and the people are very friendly and hospital. 

6 minutes ago, rjp50 said:

We will be doing this cruise this summer and I am starting to plan our shore excursion strategy.  Specifically, for each port I would like to have a plan for using either the included excursion, a paid Viking excursion, a third party excursion or a combination of these.  Does anyone who has been on this cruise or a different itinerary but with some shared ports have any suggestions for each of the ports?  Any "must do" excursions?  Any "don't waste your time" excursions.  In general, we are not big on information overload excursions where the guides pump you full of trivia that within a few hours you have forgotten all of it.  We prefer sightseeing and ones that are more photogenic.

Pulpit Rock cruise is great!

18 hours ago, Mylisa said:

I’m looking to purchase a map so that we can duplicate the chart on the ship, showing where we have cruised.  Would like one that includes you through the Drake passage into Antarctica.   Does anyone know where to purchase one?

https://www.mapshop.com

1 minute ago, cmvikinger said:

 

Mainland border control can't check your passports while on HK territory (upon boarding the bus) and you'd already be the wrong side of the border facilities at the cruise terminal (inside, not outside) if they wait until you exit. That's the puzzler!

 

I'm actually considering a Shanghai -> Japan -> Shanghai cruise on Yi Dun this July. I'm not sold on it yet... but I think they may be having trouble filling their itineraries in the Chinese market. They already took the step of breaking up the 15day/14night itineraries into two 7-8 night legs you can book separately (one way only, have to sort the flight to or from Japan yourself)... and now have offered a "pay for one person" deal for previous customers, which is what has me tempted... Still working on the wife (and would be bringing the kids) but I have a feeling if these escorted tours China itineraries take off and the ones for the Chinese market aren't popular... who knows. Maybe Yi Dun will go back...

Thanks for the info on the border crossing- hopefully Viking can figure it out since we are using them to cross the border with the transfer. 
 

Hopefully you will do the Japan cruise and report on it!

1 minute ago, cmvikinger said:

I'm very intrigued about this, and how you would enter China (for visa purposes) in that case. 
 

You may need to get off the bus at the border, go through, and get back on at the other side. That’s going to add a bit of time for a bus load of non-Chinese/HK people. 

I believe we go through passport check upon boarding or existing the bus.  

When I looked at doing it oursevles, I read: When traveling from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, you will pass through standard immigration checkpoints, including security checks, at the Futian Port. You will also pass through security and immigration at the Hong Kong station before getting on the train. 

In any case since we will be 10 days in China we will need a tourist visa most probably anyway (from the US).  Will see where and how we go through passport control.  

We were going to do our own travel from HK but it was going to get more complicated and really waste time as we are in Japan before the cruise and will be  going from KIX to HKG. We were going to stay in HK one night before the cruise but it wastes too much time ultimately as we will fly from KIX to HKG and get picked up and taken to the ship all the same day.

Ultimately I am interested in the whole trip.  9 days on our own in Japan and then the 10 day cruise.; It should be great! 

We decided to use Viking for our airport transfer. We arrive at HKIA at noon on embarkation day and will be met by Viking and transferred by bus by Viking to Shenzhen cruise port where we will be embarking on the Yi Dun. Have been told it’s a 48 min bus ride.

10 minutes ago, birdiebill said:

I meant security when I wrote customs.  But thank you for your replies;  makes us feel better that the plane change is just like changing planes for flights within the US.  We are at terminal B for both flights.

if you are in Terminal B for both it is just walking to the other gate. They may check your passport or have to show it when you board - that is about it.  While in Athens eat at O Thanasis our favorite restaurant!

1 minute ago, birdiebill said:

We will be flying international business class from Orlando to Athens this fall.  Plane change as booked is at JFK and is 2 hours 16 minutes.  Airline is Delta.  We have never flown international so don't know how long or where we go through customs--Orlando or JFK.  What is a safe layover to change and to do whatever we have to do.  Thanks.

There are no customs leaving the US. No security at JFK when arriving from US airport. 2 hrs is more than enough. The connection at JFK is just like a normal US connection but you may have to change terminals at JFK but the skytrain is good. If changing terminals you MAY have to go through security again but it depends on the terminals. Enjoy Athens our favorite city!

16 minutes ago, SJD117 said:

 

The actual routing may vary, however, depending on which war is being fought at the time and where.

unfortunately that is correct 😞

11 minutes ago, Iamsum1 said:

It looks like very little interest for these new itineraries. I'm going to wait until September/October to decide on booking this China tour. I was initially gung ho ready to book now. This comes across as a Chinese tour company being marketed by Viking. It would hardly be the same Viking experience if children are allowed aboard--which is exactly why I chose Viking. I'm also hesitant about a fully Chinese culinary experience on board. I enjoyed the diversity of food offered--don't want a 100% Chinese menu. This may or may not be the case, however, there is not enough information to make a decision.

From what I have learned, there is still normal Viking fare and Manfredi’s is the same and the pool grill is also the same. The Restaurant has Chinese and Western cuisine. Not sure if Mansens exists or not. We are the opposite and want Chinese/Asian cuisine. In any case it’s not for everyone and there are unknowns for sure.

Hong Kong Cruise terminal shows the Yi Dun scheduled. Or is this in error?

10 hours ago, cmvikinger said:

 

Changes were minimal at best. No cabin changes, no casino (I - longtime lurker - signed up to CC to reply to you in the virtual explorers lounge but the post got lost 😞). Signage and menu language changes, for the most part.

 

Crew changes extensive. Everyone Chinese. Some of the hotel officers we spoke to had experience with VO or River cruises overseas. I sailed twice on short cruises to nowhere, they were finding their feet and also nowhere near full... now sometimes cruises list as 'sold out' but I do wonder if they are aiming for 930 pax by now or still artificially keeping it lower so the crew can be kept smaller as they were in the summer of '22.

 

It was very fluid as the pandemic lifted... itineraries planned and cancelled and planned and cancelled... it is only recently they started listing itineraries further out than 3-4 months. At this point they have the ships itinerary finalised up til just before these sailings. I'm wondering if they will also open up the same coastal itinerary to the Chinese market as in previous years. One concession to families with Zhao Shang Yi Dun was allowing 8 year olds on board (and 6 year olds during the holidays). If they open these itineraries up on the Chinese side without changing that policy, there may be some very surprised Viking cruisers - especially as one of the cruises lines up perfectly with the big October holiday.

You seem to be very knowledgeable- please let us know if you learn more between now and October when we embark for the China Discovery cruise HK to Shanghai. Thank you.

20 minutes ago, shipboy said:

I wonder if HK is mentioned only because that’s where you would fly into/out of and are then transported to/from Schenzhen. It isn’t too far between both locations and when I lived there, we used to take a day trip to Schenzhen for shopping 

We start in HK- so hopefully they will tell us where to go when we get closer to the cruise!

Yes on the world cruise!

You can request a new invoice in MVJ under your account which is under your name at the top of MVJ.

4 hours ago, millybess said:

Matsumoto is about a 3 hour trip by car and around a 5 hour trip by train from Tokyo.  I suppose it’s doable as an overnight.  Looks beautiful!

 

We will go to Mt. Fuji when the ship stops at Shimizu.

It’s a long day but doable.

in any case, enjoy your trip!

Can you add a day trip to Matsumoto or Mt Fuji?

We just booked the China Discovery cruise - just the sailing portion as we were going to be in Japan during that time anyway and this fit into our schedule and flight back to the US from Japan and it is relatively easy to go to HKG and back from PVG to Japan. We are cutting our Japan trip short to go on the Yi Dun on October 24.. I wish I knew more about the ship, crew, food, entertainment, excursions, etc., so if anyone knows anything or finds out anything please let me know! If not, I guess we will find out!

Does anyone know what changes they made to the Sun to make it the Yi Dun? Are the crew mostly from China? Food chinese influenced? Is it mainly for the Chinese market or US?

2 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Good question. I've been wondering too. You might try posting your question to the explorer's Lounge thread. 

Will do. Thank you.

On 12/27/2023 at 2:30 PM, CharTrav said:

Decided not to wait a full week given that it seems like the schedule has reached a steady state .. for now.  Just uploaded the 2024-2026 edition of the spreadsheet.  To be thorough, uploaded the final version of the 2023-2025 edition yesterday, which contains updates through 1 Dec 2023.  As always, if you already have a copy of the spreadsheet, use the link on the ReadMe tab to access the folder containing the 2024-2026 edition (Viking Ocean & Expedition Cruises (2024 to 2026).xlsm).  If you're new to this thread, use this link to download the file (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/062f9aow9gvpfr9oruzji/Viking-Ocean-Expedition-Cruises-2024-to-2026.xlsm?rlkey=x2hrknzryauv1xd4b1ksji4op&dl=0).  No DropBox account required.  As I update this spreadsheet over the coming year -- use the links provided in the ReadMe tab to get a fresh copy.

 

Changes since last big spreadsheet upload:

VO (Viking Ocean)

* 2 ships added to the Ocean fleet:  Vesta - a sister ship to the Vela and the Yi Dun. 

    - Yi Dun is the reflagged Viking Sun, which was transferred to a joint venture with China in 2021. She sails along China's coast between Beijing and Hong Kong via Shanghai and is only scheduled (for now) between Sept and Nov 2024.

    - Vela & Vesta scheduled into September 2026 with first sails in Dec '24 and Jul '25, respectively.

* Star, Sea, Sky, Orion, Jupiter, & Neptune: scheduled into August 2026

   - Sea is scheduled to join Orion in Alaska in 2025 & 2026

   - Sky has a gap between Dec '25 and May '26 that I'm guessing will be filled by a World Cruise given she will be in Ft Lauderdale in Dec '25

* Venus & Saturn scheduled into September 2026

   - Venus is scheduled to join Orion in Australia traveling from the Med  starting late 2024 thru 2026

* Mars scheduled into early October 2026 (only cruise that month so far)

* Itineraries added:

   - China Discovery, Classic China & the Coast, and Wonders of China (Yi Dun only)

   - Caribbean & Panama Canal

VE (Viking Expeditions)

* From the Arctic to Antarctica has been repurposed:  lengthened from 47 to 87 days and travels to Ushuaia starting from Nuuk, Greenland rather than Tromsø, Norway.

* Itineraries added:

   - Antarctica, Chile & the Americas  and The Americas, Chile & Antarctic, segments of Longitudinal World Cruise V and From the Arctic to Antarctica, respectively.

  - Great Lakes Treasures, Niagara & Great Lakes Treasures, and Panama Canal & the Americas

* Octantis and Polaris scheduled into Oct '26 and Sep '26, respectively.

Does anyone know what changes they made to the Sun to make it the Yi Dun? Are the crew mostly from China? Food chinese influenced? Is it mainly for the Chinese market or US?

58 minutes ago, mapgirl34 said:

'la ora na everyone,

We are getting ready to set sail on Star Breeze through Tahiti/Tuamotu.  I may be completely misguided in assuming I can spend many of my days using the ship's watersports platform.  Can anyone shed some light on this?  From my short time reviewing the forums here, it seems like you have to book snorkel tours to get the best snorkeling.  Does that mean where the ships anchor is no good?  Common sense tells me the water must be deeper and thus not as clear where the boat is, so I should expect to do more paddleboarding and above water sports than snorkeling, but it would be lovely to hear from some of the regulars here.
Thanks!

No snorkeling but some swimming and holding onto the trampoline or mats or sitting on them. Still great fun! Too deep to see anything underwater.

3 minutes ago, Adriatic2024 said:

I just returned from Viking’s Western Mediterranean Explorer cruise.  We were unable to visit Monte Carlo due to high seas.

 

I received the follow email from Viking:

 

“Welcome home and thank you for traveling with Viking. We understand that due to inclement weather, your sailing experienced itinerary changes which included missing the port in Villefranche-sur-Mer.

The safety of our guests and crew is of utmost importance. While weather conditions are beyond our control, please know we made every effort to minimize the impact to your itinerary. We apologize for any inconvenience the modifications may have caused. 

At your convenience, we invite you to discuss your concerns or any questions you may have by calling our Customer Relations team at 1-833-367-5312, Monday through Friday, from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, PT.

Thank you for sailing with us and we wish you well wherever your next journey takes you. We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you on board again soon.

Sincerely,

Viking”

 

Has anyone had a similar experience?  What, if any compensation did you receive for your missed port visit.

 

Many thanks.

 

Almost never receive compensation for missed ports.

8 minutes ago, MustBCruzn said:

We're flying United Airlines in May from Colorado Springs to Amsterdam with a layover in ORD. We originally had a 3 hour layover, which I was comfortable with. However, we just received notice that our flight from COS into ORD has changed, now giving us only 1 1/2 hour layover. It appears that all other options for that day are even shorter, so a simple change isn't an option, and prices to fly in a day earlier and spending the night at an airport hotel are through the roof. For those of you familiar with O'Hare, is 1 1/2 hour layover adequate? Of course the United phone rep says it is. Am I sressing for nothing? Thank you for your help.

I would think that 1 1/2 hrs is fine. Weather should be ok. Only risk is delayed flight out of COS.