meddykay

Have a hold on a July 2017 Imperial Jewels of China tour but after checking weather conditions for that time thinking of changing to April or May for the tour. Any comments on weather for April or May would be appreciated. Have cruised with Viking in Europe, first time in China.

 

Just found this thread, will be reading through it for any hints or suggestions for this tour.

 

Thanks

We went in late April/early May. The weather was in the 80's with medium to high humidity. As we spent a lot of time outside in the weather, I would not want to do it in the summer months. We were told that the temps frequently get up in the triple digits during the summer. Add on humidity and pollution in the cities and it doesn't sound like a good recipe for a day spent outdoors. I do recommend springtime though.

We leave 9/22 for the Viking Magnificent Mekong trip. Doing the Pre and Post extension trips in Bangkok and Ha Long Bay. Just starting to comb these threads for information. When we went with Viking to China, the information here was invaluable. If anyone has found a particularly informative thread, please let me know. Thanks!

I'm from coastal South Carolina and the humidity felt just like home to me.

CowgirlCook-

 

I am a sort of picky eater and am worried about the restaurant meals.

 

 

I read the posts from people who didn't like the food and decided to take a bunch of protein bars just in case. I ate one of the bars on the plane coming home and that was it. To me, the food was just fine - lots of fresh vegetables well-prepared (I'm a vegetarian.) There are no sauces on the food like the US Chinese restaurants serve them, but everything was quite good. I did not get tired of the food. But then, I did not go on this trip for the food, either.

We went with AMA in Russia this year and the AMAKaterina was only about 2/3 full. We heard that the cruise a week ahead us had even less people.Never felt at all uncomfortable in Russia, though. It was a fabulous trip. And, frankly, having the boat less than full was great from a passenger standpoint.

Attended a travel seminar last week and an AMA rep was present. He said that AMA had parked the AMAKaterina for 2015 due to embargoes and concerns about supplying the boat.

There's no fee. It's your tax dollars at work!

We signed up the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program that the State Department provides before going to Russia last spring. Received e-mails of any alerts, warnings or concerns the State Department issued for American citizens going to that specific area. I found it very comforting to know just what the notices were and that they were not as panicky as my friends and family were about tourism in Russia. We are going on a Danube Cruise next and have signed up for STEP again. I highly recommend it for your peace of mind: https://step.state.gov/step/

I am going on the Imperial Jewels cruise in May 2014. The cruise is during May Day' date=' and Chinese workers are given from May 1 until May 4 (Thursday to Sunday) as vacation days. But I've heard that many workers will also take three additional days, to have a full week's vacation. I know that Golden Week in October had a negative impact on cruisers' sightseeing, so I'm wondering whether anyone knows whether there are large numbers of Chinese people traveling/sightseeing for the entire week, and also whether anyone, particularly people who have done the cruise over May Day in past years, experienced any problems.

 

 

The Beijing to Shanghai itinerary would put us in Beijing and Xian during the May Day week, (flying from Beijing to Xian on May 1), while the Shanghai to Beijing direction puts us on the river for virtually the entire week (board ship on Monday, disembark on Saturday for flight to Xian).

 

 

My window of opportunity for switching the cruise date/direction is rapidly closing, so I would appreciate any information you can provide. BTW, if crowds were not an issue, my preference would be the Beijing to Shanghai route.[/quote']

We were at the Great Wall on May Day, 2012 and it was an experience that I'll always treasure. Our guide had us on the bus early, so the crowds were small when we first arrived. As the crowds grew, we were allowed to see and interact with Chinese who were on vacation with families. The general mood was very festive and fun. Being able to experience that day was a once in a lifetime treat. It was a positive experience and I would gladly do it again.

Before going on the Imperial Jewels trip in April. I read quite a few comments about the food being bland, the same thing over and over, Etc. I packed some protein bars just in case.

I found the food on the ship and on land, as well, to be a pleasant surprise. Everything I had was fresh and well prepared. As I don't care much for sauces and lots of condiments, the quality of the food is important to me and the quality was very good. I never got tired of it. It wasn't the same as Chinese food in the restaurants here, and it was very good. My traveling companion and I both agreed.

So, yes, enjoying the food served is subjective.

***********************************

My friend, Jenny, and I just went on the April 21 - May 3 Imperial Jewels trip, Shanghai to Beijing. It was all we had hoped and much more than we had imagined it would be.

Yes, it did rain some, but not so much as to dampen the experience. A waterproof jacket with hood and small umbrella worked fine the 2 times we were caught in showers.

I had read of people tiring of the food and took some protein bars just in case. The food was great and I found enough variety to keep my tastebuds interested. Never ate the protein bars. And I could go out for Chinese tonight. The food is different than the Chinese food here, but not all that strange. There is enough variety than you can pick and choose and maybe even take a chance.

We were at the Great Wall on May 1, which is a Chinese national holiday. There were crowds, but it was such fun to see Chinese families interacting while on holiday. We felt like movie stars as we were looked at and asked by many families and groups of teenagers to have our pictures taken with them. I'd pass my camera to them to take the same photos and now have a collection of pictures of us with smiling Chinese people at the Great Wall. It was a magnificent experience and reminded me of how much you can communicate with a smile and a bit of sign language. The only two phrases we used were Shay Shay and Knee How ( can only spell these phonetically) but they always elicited smiles from the Chinese. Probably was our pronunciation, but they understood what we were trying to say - or that we were at least trying to say something in their language.

I used only one small bottle of hand sanitizer, but used it religiously. So did Jenny. We never needed our Cipro or Immodium.

Wore short sleeved tee shirts and crop pants most of the time. Took 2 pairs of walking shoes with good support and needed them both. Lots and lots of walking. Yes, you get to sit down regularly, but you're on your feet a lot.

I'm still mentally processing the trip as it was packed with new sights, experiences, beautiful scenery, energizing cities and wonderful people. I would recommend this cruise highly. Our tour escort, Charles, was fantastic. He took care of us, educated us, entertained us and made the whole trip successful. For the members of our group who had some issues with walking, he very diplomatically made wheelchairs accessible, so everyone in our group was able to enjoy and participate.

I tended to over think the details before going. I need not have wasted that energy, as Viking and Charles had already thought of everything.

We leave on Friday for Shanghai, and I am very excited.

Leave April 21 for Shanghai and the start of our Imperial Jewels trip. I am totally excited.

I won't be doing the Peking Duck as I'm a vegetarian. Someone suggested Made in China as a substitute restaurant. Any other suggestions for restaurants? We will be staying an extra night in Beijing.

I'm not feeling very confident in Viking. I do hope the credit shows up on my credit card before I leave in April

Okay, my confidence is boosted. Spoke to Stephanie in Customer Service today and she resolved my issue with the refund efficiently. Can't recommend the "tell as at Viking" e-mail address enough. Thanks to this message board for providing it.

I'm not feeling very confident in Viking. I do hope the credit shows up on my credit card before I leave in April

I am still waiting for my refund from the Viking Air I cancelled in November. Six weeks (and many phone calls) after canceling, part of the refund was credited to my credit card and part was credited to my traveling companion's card. She had not booked her air with Viking. Anyway, it's a mess and I was told yesterday I would get the rest of the refund when they receive her permission to take the credit back. She's traveling out of the country now, so who knows when I will get it. I had upgraded to business class, so we're talking a significant amount of money to me. Their mistake and my problem. This is most likely just one of those odd things that happen, but it still does not boost my confidence in Viking.

Dear meddykay,

 

We truly apologize if you’ve been having trouble contacting us. Please write to us at tellus@vikingrivercruises.com with your contact information and we’ll be sure to reach out to you personally.

 

Warm Regards,

Viking River Cruises

Thank you for your interest. I e-mailed my booking number and contact info to you last night. I have been told twice in the last week that someone in the Viking Air Department would sort this out and call me back. No one has called me back or sorted anything out. Perhaps you can assist.

Did you check your junk mail folder for the responses? That happens sometimes.

My VIking agent has not responded to 3 e-mails and 1 phone message (nothing in Junk Mail). I have moved on to other customer service reps. After almost 2 months, the credit that was issued for the cancelled air fare is way short of what I paid. I'll get back on the phone today. This issue has not strengthened my confidence in Viking service. I really expected better, and hope to see better on the cruise.

I cancelled my Viking Air in November with my Viking agent. It was quite easy as I had not been ticketed yet (I go on the April 22nd Imperial Jewels cruise.) The Viking agent did all the work. She told me it could take up to 30 days for the refund to be credited to my credit card. That was Nov. 28 and a credit has still not been posted. As i made my own flight reservations using that same credit card, I am getting concerned. Also my Viking agent has not answered the last 2 e-mails I sent her about this. Anyone else had a problem like this?

No comparison! When we drove from the airport to the hotel in Shanghai the traffic had to go slowly as you could barely see one car length ahead. The Great Wall is not fair as it was legitimate fog' date=' Beijing was the same white sky but you could only see one building ahead of your hotel. I am a reasonable photographer so I tried to utilize the smog in my photos to add some mystery and asian flair!!!! I will dig through my photos and post a couple of examples. One thing I forgot to mention was the Black Sesame Kitchen. Our taxi sent us the wrong direction on foot, so after about 10 minutes I thought something wasn't right. We stopped a young couple (if you need help the youth often speak some English) and they decided they had enough time to personally walk us to the restaurant. They delivered us on foot to the restaurant where we had the best Chinese dinner of our lives. This is just one example of the positive experience we had with Chinese people.[/quote']

 

Where is the Black Sesame Kitchen? I'd like to put it on my list for next April's cruise.

Been to various parts of China twice in addition to Viking. I did not relish the idea of lugging a big camera and relied on two Panasonics - the FZ100 and LX5. Actually the FZ100 was not used as much unless I really needed the large zoom range.

I've been thinking the same thing. The Lumix has an 8X zoom which will be good to have. I would miss the versatility of the SLR, but don't think I'd miss carrying it around. Roothy's carrier looked pretty nifty, though. Still deciding.

IMHO, take both. At least that way you can choose day by day which camera you want to carry. I got a little camera to travel with on my last trip to Spain because I realized that if I were to carry the DSLR with me all day long for 6 days I would be miserable. Still, I took the DSLR as well because I knew that this was the camera I wanted for taking pictures at the Alhambra.

Good advice. Thanks.

I agree with those of you who recommend test driving and thinking long and hard about cameras before buying one. I also agree that many people, actually probably most people, don't need a million mega pixels.

 

One thing I used quite a bit in China that I loved was the "Cotton Carrier" - and no, I have no association with them! It's basically a holster that you wear on your chest and slide the camera into. It keeps the camera out for use all the time, and you can pull it up quite quickly if need be. There's also a tether in case something happens. The holster keeps the camera from bobbing around, which was especially helpful in China when we did a lot of walking. It looks a little funny, especially for a woman, but I love it. I think there's a picture of me in Tiananmen Square wearing it in my gallery. The thing wasn't cheap, but it wasn't outrageous, either, and it's really well made and lightweight, too. You can also attach a second body if you want, and maybe a second lens. I just carried my second lens separately, though.

I spotted that carrier in one of your photos and wondered what kind it was. I have a Canon 40D and have been wondering how I will manage it with all the walking. The carrier looked comfortable and I'm glad you commented on it. I also have a Lumix p&s and have been toying with the idea of taking only that. I'd love to hear your comments. Going on Imperial Jewels next April. Can't wait.

I spotted that carrier in one of your photos and wondered what kind it was. I have a Canon 40D and have been wondering how I will manage it with all the walking. The carrier looked comfortable and I'm glad you commented on it. I also have a Lumix p&s and have been toying with the idea of taking only that. I'd love to hear your comments. Going on Imperial Jewels next April. Can't wait.