River cruise (viking) - gay friendly?

[CDNBears]

CDNBears and Turtles06, have great trips to China. We went in 2005 and Viking did a great job then. The hotels were great, food was good and organization was excellent. Please make sure to fill us in when you get back. Safe journeys!

 

WarEagle and Turtles: Doing some last minute reviews of the Critic Lines and Yes we are so very excited. Couldn't sleep much last night and probably won't sleep much tonight. We travel by shuttle at 5:30am to T.O. tomorrow and then direct flight to Beijing to start our Chinese odessy in land of Kubla Khan et. al. If the trip is anything like the one we had with Celebrity we will be more than happy. We will fill you in when we get back.

[CDNBears]

We are going September 19 on the Roof of the World trip. We have also found the smaller ships generally do not present unfcomfortable atmospheres and were hoping Viking will be the same experience.

 

My partner and I leave tomorrow so we hope to have information for you when we get back. So excited !!!:p

[CDNBears]

We are going on Imperial Jewels, Beijing to Shanghai direction. (Five nights on the river, and they'd better have resolved the a/c issues! :)) We are arriving in Beijing three days early, and looking forward to having some time to see some of the things we won't see with Viking (including the Great Wall at Mutianyu) and at our own pace, plus eating at some restaurants we pick.

 

I know about counting down the months. We booked last May -- I promised myself I would not spend the next year fixated on the trip, but it was hard to put aside!

 

We have one day extra in Beijing before the Viking tours start and booked with Beijing Xinhua Travel to get us around to the sites we want to see that aren't on the Viking itinerary. Price was good and 'Will Ren' who helped us was very accommodating to our requests. We added the Temple of Heaven, Olympic park site, Behai Park and Botanical Gardens (Fragrant Hills) as well as lunch and dinner. We are plant nuts so anytime we get to see then is a plus. We will let you know how that goes and recommend them if it goes well.

[Turtles06]

We have one day extra in Beijing before the Viking tours start and booked with Beijing Xinhua Travel to get us around to the sites we want to see that aren't on the Viking itinerary. Price was good and 'Will Ren' who helped us was very accommodating to our requests. We added the Temple of Heaven, Olympic park site, Behai Park and Botanical Gardens (Fragrant Hills) as well as lunch and dinner. We are plant nuts so anytime we get to see then is a plus. We will let you know how that goes and recommend them if it goes well.

 

I just saw your trip date! Have a GREAT time!

 

I look forward to hearing your reactions.

 

BTW, in terms of our pre-Viking time in Beijing, we do have a guide, and we have everything on your list except the Botanical Gardens. And with another day, we've also been able to add the Lama Temple and a trip out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Also have a couple of good dinners planned....

 

Again, have a safe and wonderful trip!

[BriSquared]

My partner and I leave tomorrow so we hope to have information for you when we get back. So excited !!!:p

 

Great! Thank you...it will be very much appreciated. Quick question...visa for Tibet...They are saying it Viking gives it to you once you are there. Just want to make sure that is how it works.

[Harry Cane]

Wow. I'm jealous of you guys. We did this trip a couple of years ago and it was GREAT. Viking really did a great job. I still can't believe I was in Tibet.

 

Viking will arrange the Tibet visa, which (at least at that time) was more of a permit--nothing got stamped in our passports. We also had to surrender our passports when we went in the Potala Palace and got them when we left.

 

Good thing you're staying extra. My only complaint is we didn't get enough free time. We arrived a day early and would have done at least one more day at the beginning in Beijing, and at least one or two at the end, in Shanghai.

[Darrell6t]

Pied Piper just announced a river cruise using a Viking ship in September 2012. It is likely to sell out long before then.

[Turtles06]

Hi folks, my partner and I just returned from Viking's Imperial Jewels tour of China. As I've posted on the main "Viking China" CC thread (found under "Other Cruise Lines"), this trip was absolutely fantastic. It was one of the most extraordinary trips we've ever taken, and I can't say enough good things about it. The itinerary is incredible and Viking does a first class job. I would not hesitate to go on this trip if you are interested in seeing China. In fact, I can't imagine doing the trip with anyone else.

 

As for the OP's fears about a river cruising crowd being "too small and conservative" -- this was our first river cruise, and we had the same concerns. It was indeed a "small crowd" -- 240 pax -- and no doubt some on board were "conservative" and not the type of folks we'd associate with "in real life." But we met many wonderful people on this trip, and we hung out with a bunch of them the whole time. We enjoyed their company, and they seemed to enjoy ours.

 

To start things off, everyone is assigned to a group of several dozen -- one bus load with one Viking tour escort (who was great, btw). You wind up spending the most time with those folks, and gravitating to a core group within that larger "bus group."

 

And the Viking staff treated us just fine. One humorous note: when we boarded the Emerald, the two beds in our cabin, which were supposed to have been made up into a king, were indeed pushed together but were made up with separate sheets and covers. I stopped by reception on the way to the first dinner and asked to have the beds made up as one. This was done by the time we returned from our meal.

 

The OP was also concerned about never getting a "table for two." While that won't be a problem at the breakfast buffets in the hotels during the land portion of the trip, lunches and dinners were family style, and aboad the Viking Emerald in China, there were only round tables for 8 in the dining room. Again, the folks we hung out with on this trip were great, so it was not a problem eating with them aboard the boat. However, despite the fact that most of our fellow passengers were wonderful, after so many days traveling, there were times when we wished we could just eat alone occasionally.

 

The bottom line for us: this trip was great, and we'd recommend it to anyone, gay or not gay, as a fantastic way to visit China.

 

But we've concluded that river cruising per se is not for us. We don't like the set meal times, nor having to eat with 6 other people all the time. (Being able eat when we want, and with whom we want, are reasons why we absolutely love Norwegian Cruise Line for ocean cruises.) Again, though, the Yangtze is not just any river, and the Viking China trip is half on land. So don't be put off by the river cruise.

 

A side note for those taking the Roof of the World trip to Tibet. We met folks on board who had been on the Tibet part of the trip. (That trip joins the Imperial Jewels trip on board the boat.) They reported that some people had gotten very sick because of the altitude, and a couple of them had to be given intravenous fluids. So do your homework on the altitude issues and be prepared.

 

If folks have specific questions about Imperials Jewels, I'd be happy to answer them.

[RG142]

river boats are amazing. Believe me that you find like mined gay and straight travelers everywhere. My partner and I befriended 2 straight couples and 2 more gay couples. We have since been on 2 cruises with them.

Don't be afraid to pick the itinerary and ship you want. the est will come naturally is not from guests from crew. Trust me, we are every where.

If you want some suggestions some time- just ask

[frankie-toronto]

Hi Fellas - we are from Toronto and have done 3 river boat cruises and doing 2 more in July through France North and South. We found these cruises to be fine and met some wonderful people on board. Not to many gays although we have met a few here and there. Sometimes there is the odd mid westerner who wonders what kind of partnership business we are in hahahahah. We just ignore them - we made fantastic friends on our last one in China - we met at our own table everynight and laughed and had fun - and did excursions etc. Made some lasting friendships. It is a smaller group ours was on Viking (300 people on that one) many are only 150 or so intimate but nice and quiet - and lovely - cabins were nice etc.

We dont let those people who are homophobic ever bother us - they are the losers we are all nice people - hahhahah. If you have any more questions let us know you can email me at capri1@sympatico.ca my name is Frank. ciao

[BriSquared]

A side note for those taking the Roof of the World trip to Tibet. We met folks on board who had been on the Tibet part of the trip. (That trip joins the Imperial Jewels trip on board the boat.) They reported that some people had gotten very sick because of the altitude, and a couple of them had to be given intravenous fluids. So do your homework on the altitude issues and be prepared.

 

If folks have specific questions about Imperials Jewels, I'd be happy to answer them.

 

Thank you for your wonderful report and valuable contributions We are doing the Roof of the World and the altitude is a bit of a concern...:eek:

I have read the posts regarding Diamox so this will be on the list of must haves!!!!

 

We look forward to the tirp but have 3 months to go!!! :(

 

Regarding the report on the size of ship, the smaller the ship the fear is the greater the uncomfort level. However, we have been on the Wind Surf and on the Xpedition and we made great friends on both so I hope our luck continues.

 

Thank you again for all the useful info!!!!

 

Brian

[Harry Cane]

I thought about the altitude meds but I hate taking meds and was concerned about taking something new and having side effects. I decided to wing it.

 

A couple of folks on the trip took the meds with no problems. We had one 60-ish guy that had serious problems the first night. Everyone else did OK.

 

My experience? I felt a little drunk the minute I walked off the plane. Then it settled into a dull headache that lasted almost the whole time I was there. It started to get better the last day. Figures. I was out of breath pretty often, especially going up all those stairs at the Potala Palace. And I don't know if it was the altitude or all the smells from the burning incense and yak butter in the temples, but I got really nauseaous at one point.

 

For what it's worth, they sell oxygen cans in a lot of places (especially the airport) and the hotels had oxygen 'pillows' that looked like just that, with a little hose that you used for inhaling.

[Turtles06]

Thank you for your wonderful report and valuable contributions We are doing the Roof of the World and the altitude is a bit of a concern...:eek:

I have read the posts regarding Diamox so this will be on the list of must haves!!!!

 

We look forward to the tirp but have 3 months to go!!! :(

 

Regarding the report on the size of ship, the smaller the ship the fear is the greater the uncomfort level. However, we have been on the Wind Surf and on the Xpedition and we made great friends on both so I hope our luck continues.

 

Thank you again for all the useful info!!!!

 

Brian

 

Thanks Brian, happy to be able to help.

 

Don't worry about the "smaller" size of the Emerald. On our trip, the boat was nearly full, at 240 pax, and we met lots of really nice folks. We had a fun time sharing the trip with them. Never felt uncomfortable for a second.

 

You should of course discuss Diamox with your doctor. According to someone who went to Tibet and was then on the Emerald with us, it can have some bad side effects and/or mask some symptoms you'd want to know about.

 

At any rate, have a great trip. Please let us know how it goes. And if you have more questions before then, just ask!

[WarEagle76]

Turtles06, just getting caught up on CC and glad you had a great trip. Sounds like ours and that was 6 years ago. We're now trying to figure out how/when we can schedule the Viet Nam/Cambodia and Northern France trips with Viking. Understand your feeling regarding the dining times and larger ships, but we enjoy changing it up occasionally, smaller number of people onboard and being able to dock rignt in town (most of the time) when taking river cruises.

[richreams]

My partner of 20 years and I are going to do the Viking Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest in the next year and wondering if anyone has ever heard of Viking doing a all gay river cruises??? Anyone have information on any other river cruises companies...and which is the best.

Thanks

Rich & Ron

[Turtles06]

My partner of 20 years and I are going to do the Viking Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest in the next year and wondering if anyone has ever heard of Viking doing a all gay river cruises??? Anyone have information on any other river cruises companies...and which is the best.

Thanks

Rich & Ron

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Viking has been chartered by Olivia for an "all lesbian" trip in China (they did this in the summer of 2011), and Pied Piper booked a gay group with Viking to China last year, and I think they are doing it again this year.

 

For more info on various river cruise companies, I would suggest you visit the River Cruising forum here on Cruise Critic. Tons of info that you can search, and certainly pose questions and have them answered by experienced river cruisers.

 

"Best" is certainly a subjective term! Enjoy your trip!

[donnatello]

We have done several with Vantage, Grand Circle and Viking over the past 10-12 years. LOVED all of them. Met some wonderful people on all and have stayed in touch with, and traveled again with, over the years. Guides were excellent and told us about a couple of gay clubs to go to (or not) in some of the cities were overnighted in. I would not hesitate to go.

[expatlanc]

My husband and I (not gay) are in our sixties and I just booked a European river cruise. I was drawn to the thread because if the reponses to Turtles06 queston had indicated that there were perceived issues with gay couples, that would have been a huge turn off for us as it would indicate likely incompatability for us in other areas! Relieved that wasn't the case.

[MarkBearSF]

My husband and I had a wonderful Rhine River cruise on the AMACerto (AMA Waterways) in April. We were the only gay male couple aboard, but I'm pretty sure there were a couple of lesbian passengers (but not traveling together).

 

There were no problems whatsoever. We were obviously a couple and I referred to him as my husband. I'm certain some of the crew was gay but given the low key atmosphere - the only cruising was of the "river cruise" variety.

 

Similarly, since our itinerary had the city with the most gay bars, Cologne, as a Sunday morning port call, things weren't much of a gay escapade on land. No biggie for us, especially considering that we spent 2 nights in Amsterdam before embarking, and after disembarking in Basel, we took the train to spend 6 nights in Paris.

 

We had an absolutely delightful time and I can't wait to go on another cruise (...and we're very glad we talked to some people and selected AMA). I cannot recommend it highly enough - be you gay, straight, or anywhere else in the rainbow.

[TimATL]

My partner of 20 years and I are going to do the Viking Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest in the next year and wondering if anyone has ever heard of Viking doing a all gay river cruises??? Anyone have information on any other river cruises companies...and which is the best.

Thanks

Rich & Ron

 

Why not do Basel to Amsterdam on the Rhine instead? There's a hosted, gay group with Aquafest on the Viking Tor departing August 2, 2014.