OurBabymoon

We are leaving Saturday for the cruise that sails Aug 1st. I, like mlbcruiser would like to know if we are able to explore on our own on the 1st day. We have the airport transfer with Viking so not sure if after the initial testing and boarding they will let us out, will be kind of a waste not to be able to get out. 

That would be wonderful although I'm not sure how to PM you my email.

LOL, you can tell I am still figuring out how to use CruiseCritics wirh the Tapatalk app.

My email is ildro@aol.com

Ileana

No pictures but a question: How long is your trip? 2 months? Sounds like it with so many clothes and shoes. ;)

I have to say that I was able to pack a change of clothes (and underwear) for everyday of the 15-days, we had an extra day in Beijing and was able to keep my luggage under 40 pounds. I also packed clothes for the evenings, 1 par of heels, two pairs of walking shoes and 1 pair of walking sandals. I used the packing cubes/envelope system to help keep all the clothes contained and less wrinkle. I did travel during the summer, so all the clothing was light weight and usually dry fit, or nylon blend, so nothing was too heavy.

Travellingqueen, I do not have any more pictures of the group at dinner to share, but if you want to take a pick at what your two weeks will be like, send me your email and I will sent you a link to a videogram I made of the trip. Some venues we did in our own, and not through Viking and we had an entrance day in Beijing.

Okay, here is a picture of the group during the optional Tang Dinasty show

Do bring lite dresses for dinners, they do say not dressy but you don't want to be the only one at the table in shorts or really casual wear. Black Capri pants can be dressed up with your heals. I also used different necklaces to dress up in the evenings.

We booked a private tour with tour-beijing.com. I arranged it before we left home and booked a day tour, just the two of us with a car, a driver and a tour guide (our guide was Oliver and I highly recommend him!). They picked us up at our hotel (with all our luggage), took us first to the Summer Palace, then to the Pearl market near the Summer Palace, then drove us out to Mutianyu for lunch and the afternoon oN the wall. On the way back, Oliver took us to a tea ceremony, which was delightful. They then dropped us off at the Kerry hotel to join our Viking group. It was an excellent day! It is a long drive out to Mutianyu and I am not sure I would recommend trying to get there on your own, especially if you do not speak Chinese. Having the private guide took all of the worry and stress out of it and we had a marvellous day, well worth the added expense.

Hi, do you recall the tour number or approximately how much per couple?

The Westin concierge recommended a tour company, but looking at their website, the price for that day tour to Mutianyu and Summer Palace is different to what I have seen in other posts.

Thanks

You don't need a converter because the charging devices are already designed to work with both 110 and 220 currents--but read the fine print on your charging devices to double check. However, you will need plug adapters to be able to plug the device into the sockets. Two or three European-style snake-eye adapters should be all you need--so you can charge multiple devices at a time. I have seen them in Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond--and online at Amazon.

 

You also might scan back in this thread to see if anyone has posted pictures of the adapters or the sockets--a pictures is worth a thousand words.

Thanks Peregrina. I do have an adapter plug, but I will still need an extra one, so I will check the suggested stores.[emoji6]

We have our visas!! We actually used a local visa service --> dropped them off on July 24th, and they were returned on July 31st.

 

My visa is good until 2023 - DH only has until 2016... (based on the fact that I have a 10 year passport, and DH has to renew in early 2017....). We think we are going to do Peking duck at the Kerry on our own - based on reviews here on CC. Still need to decide on the other Viking optionals --> am thinking "yes" for the Tang Dynasty show, but "no" for the Opera.

 

BSinPNS - we are doing the tour after yours - starting in Beijing on October 14th.

 

The count down is on!!

 

Fran

Not sure if that's why he didn't get a ten year visa. My passport also expires n 2017 and I got the visa for the full 10 years. We did use GenVisa.

We are leaving on 8 days! Still packing...

Do we need to bring an electric convertor to charge our electronics? Will you guys share with us, what do you wish you new before you left? Any last minute advise is appreciated . We are also preparing to leave the kids ready for back to school so I know I am probably no thinking of something.

Thanks!

When we went in August several years ago we did go to the actual school. Although it was not in session, some children (and some teachers) came there anyway. First we had some of the kids put on a performance on an outdoor stage and then we went into a classroom to interact with the kids.

Oh I sure hope that's the case for us when we leave in 22 day...would love to see the actual school. It is good to know that there may be a possibility of not see it, and least I have been warned [emoji13]

Are they still operating out of the Orchid Hotel?

 

The description of the dining area doesn't seem to match, which is why I ask.

Not sure but this is the address that Coco provided:

28 Zhong Lao Hutong in Dongcheng District.

Her email does say "our new space"

Our Viking guide gave a few Yuan to the zoo keeper who woke up the panda and fed him.

 

 

Omg they are adorable, definitely will need plan A (Beijing Zoo) in case we are not on the earlier flights[emoji13]

Aug 15th is not here soon enoguh!

BSK restaurant

We finally received confirmation for dinner August 14th. Does any one have a suggestion on where to sit?

This are the options we have:

"the main room with an open kitchen,*while the second dining room has a cozy, living room feel and seats".

Any suggestions for transportation?

they mentioned they are 30 minutes from our hotel, the Westin Choayang. Thanks for any input.

I have been calling Viking for several weeks now. Yesterday I got someone that promised to issue our air itinerary by next week and this morning, we got our flight information.

Very dissapointed since they are sending us through Tokyo, causing us to arrive too late to make it for dinner to BSK. Apparently all the flights have to be with the same airline and the return flights are booked/not available thru other airlines. (We got Nippon Air).

They said we can look for our own airfare and call them and see if they have them available at the contracted rate or if we wanted they can issue a refund of the air portion and we book on our own, losing the transfer and the insurance on the flights!

We are going on the Emerald to China on Aug 15th. I was wondering if anybody on this trip has received their air itinerary? I would like to apply for our visas, but need to put detailed air information. I did not pay for Custom Air.

Peregrina, Not sure how to do it, but can you add the Viking Emerald Imperial Jewels of China August 15, 2015 thread?

Hoping to get to know more people that may be going during that one.