Viking China (Part 2)

[Kohola]

Hi all, I've been off the site for a while, so just finished catching up. Question regarding bringing pencils. I remember a post a while ago where the poster said they gave the kids the pencils directly, which was fun as all the kids gathered around. Now someone posted that they have a box where these things go. Less personal, but perhaps a better idea. Thoughts?

Jim, Kids everywhere want attention, acceptance, and approval from people they respect and China is no different. This set of photos show very graphically that pencils aren't the key to providing a very memorable experience for both you and them. Keep in mind that 5 couples brought pencils, 1 brought cartoon character band aids, and 3 others brought various stickers and craft items to this classroom as you are viewing the photos. Help the school, but do so in a heartwarming way...

 

 

1st grade class on one of the first cruises of the season...kids are bored stiff without adult interaction. Notice the little girl with a red jacket on the left has something in her hand.

 

Kids around me are engaged and having fun, not because I'm giving them pencils...we're doing the A,B,Cs in English.

 

My wife doing the same on the opposite side of the room.

 

Check out the two little girls' faces that aren't getting a hug;-( Put a pencil in the little boy's hand instead of a hug...

 

Debbie and I stuck around as our tour group left...asked their teacher to pose with her class and tried to engage the whole class instead of those few around us...quite different reaction then picture #1 when all the adults are in the room. Notice our little girl in red over the teacher's head.

 

This is the memory I have of that very bored little girl in the first picture...notice she is holding a $USD, which she could care less about.

 

If you truly want a gratifying experience sit in their chairs and have some fun. The more you interact at their level the better the experience will be. The names of the four children I played with are (刘玉金) Liúyùjīn; (唐子朝) Tángzi cháo; (轴稀摇) Zhóu xī yáo; and (张涛) Zhāngtāo...when I said zai jian (good bye) to each one by name their faces lit up like Christmas trees even if my pronunciation wasn't great.

[pacmom]

Will try again to post this. All the dinners shows seem to be optional now. Please some advice about which shouldn't be missed. Pat

[caribill]

Will try again to post this. All the dinners shows seem to be optional now. Please some advice about which shouldn't be missed. Pat

 

We enjoyed the acrobat show in Shanghai and the T'ang dynasty show in Xi'an. We did not go to the China Opera in Beijing.

[Peregrina651]

Will try again to post this. All the dinners shows seem to be optional now. Please some advice about which shouldn't be missed. Pat

 

Honestly, if I had to choose just one, I would choose the Acrobats in Shanghai. They were amazingly beautiful and they work very, very hard at what they do. You have to in order to deliver a flawless performance show after show. The Tang Dynasty show was fun but just didn't represent the same level of difficulty as the gravity defying acrobats. Yes, I know that is kind of a strange way to compare to performances. This is not to say that the other two shows are bad or poorly done; they are not, they are beautiful and also worth your consideration. If you can't do them all, then IMHO, don't miss the acrobats.

[CTGirl]

Hi Everyone,

 

It's my first time posting here. It took me three days to read the whole thread. We are booked on the April 14, 2013 Imperial Jewels, Beijiing to Shanghai with the Hong Kong extension. This will be our first river cruise but not our first cruise. There has been so much useful information here. Thank you all. I noticed a lot of discussion about cameras. One of my cameras is a Nikon D70, the other is a little Nikon p&s. I normally keep a lens on my D70 that zooms to 400. It is a very big and heavy lens. I also have a lens that zooms to 300. I would love to hear from all you camera buffs your opinion on which lens to take. I'm thinking the 400 would be too big and bulky. I use it for wildlife photos. I don't know if there will be much wildlife. So I am leaning towards the 300. All opinions are welcome. Thanks Shelly

[caribill]

Hi Everyone,

 

I also have a lens that zooms to 300. I would love to hear from all you camera buffs your opinion on which lens to take. I'm thinking the 400 would be too big and bulky. I use it for wildlife photos. I don't know if there will be much wildlife. So I am leaning towards the 300. All opinions are welcome. Thanks Shelly

 

I would think that the 300 is sufficient.

 

Does it zoom down to 28?

[CTGirl]

I would think that the 300 is sufficient.

 

Does it zoom down to 28?

Thanks. No it zooms from 70 to 300. My little Nikon p&s goes from 6.3 to 31.4. It has a 5x opticl zoom.

[Turtles06]

Hi Everyone,

 

It's my first time posting here. It took me three days to read the whole thread. We are booked on the April 14, 2013 Imperial Jewels, Beijiing to Shanghai with the Hong Kong extension. This will be our first river cruise but not our first cruise. There has been so much useful information here. Thank you all. I noticed a lot of discussion about cameras. One of my cameras is a Nikon D70, the other is a little Nikon p&s. I normally keep a lens on my D70 that zooms to 400. It is a very big and heavy lens. I also have a lens that zooms to 300. I would love to hear from all you camera buffs your opinion on which lens to take. I'm thinking the 400 would be too big and bulky. I use it for wildlife photos. I don't know if there will be much wildlife. So I am leaning towards the 300. All opinions are welcome. Thanks Shelly

 

Welcome to the Viking China threadzilla! :)

 

We did Imperial Jewels last year. I have a Nikon D7000 with an 18-200mm lens. It's a fairly heavy lens, but I consider it a good walking around lens that obviates the need to change lenses a lot, which is important to me on trips like this. It was fine in China. There was one brief (and I mean brief) moment along the lesser Gorges when we spotted rhesus monkeys, and it would have been nice to have a longer lens. But those little guys were so quick, if you didn't by chance happen to have your camera pointed at exactly the right spot on the shore, you would have missed them.

 

I think for this trip, considering the weight, 400mm would be overkill, and you'll be okay with 300mm. There's a great deal of walking, particularly in Beijing, and you'd be schlepping the gear up the Great Wall and through a lot of airports. Only you can decide whether it's worth it to carry that weight, but this isn't a wildlife trip.

 

I'd be more concerned that your DSLR has no wide angle (unless you have another lens that you haven't mentioned). Not sure you are aware, but Nikon makes a 28-300mm lens; FX but can be used on a DX camera. (Not sure about the compatiblity with your camera//ability to autofocus.) Just throwing that out there....

[CTGirl]

Welcome to the Viking China threadzilla! :)

 

We did Imperial Jewels last year. I have a Nikon D7000 with an 18-200mm lens. It's a fairly heavy lens, but I consider it a good walking around lens that obviates the need to change lenses a lot, which is important to me on trips like this. It was fine in China. There was one brief (and I mean brief) moment along the lesser Gorges when we spotted rhesus monkeys, and it would have been nice to have a longer lens. But those little guys were so quick, if you didn't by chance happen to have your camera pointed at exactly the right spot on the shore, you would have missed them.

 

I think for this trip, considering the weight, 400mm would be overkill, and you'll be okay with 300mm. There's a great deal of walking, particularly in Beijing, and you'd be schlepping the gear up the Great Wall and through a lot of airports. Only you can decide whether it's worth it to carry that weight, but this isn't a wildlife trip.

 

I'd be more concerned that your DSLR has no wide angle (unless you have another lens that you haven't mentioned). Not sure you are aware, but Nikon makes a 28-300mm lens; FX but can be used on a DX camera. (Not sure about the compatiblity with your camera//ability to autofocus.) Just throwing that out there....

Thanks for you comments. I also carry with me a little Nikon p&s. I use it for all my regular pictures and I use the D70 when I want close ups. The p&s takes very good pictures. I will often take the same picture using both cameras, one with more of a vista and the other a close up version. It can be very dramatic.

 

The one thing I really like about the p&s is that it is a bit older and uses AA batteries instead of the rechargeable kind. I get the Everready lithiums and they work very well.

 

I may also take (per peoples suggestions) my little underwater Olympus. That one does the panoramics as well. What I don't like about it is that it goes through a charge very quickly. It is my second Olympus underwater. The first one went through a charge pretty fast too. I just use it for snorkeling but it sounds like a good idea to take it in case of rain.

[caribill]

May affect Viking trips to Tibet

 

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2012/06/china-bans-foreign-tourists-from-tibet/711877/1

Edited June 8, 2012 by caribill

[bayerisch]

May affect Viking trips to Tibet

 

http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/dispatches/post/2012/06/china-bans-foreign-tourists-from-tibet/711877/1

 

Thanks for the update. I so hope that it will not affect my trip starting on July 20th. I've been watching several dicey situations in the last 6 months, where I was wondering if it would affect me. At any rate, I hope I get to go, the Tibet part of the trip is what enticed me to take this trip.

I will follow more closely, but really if they don't allow foreigners to enter, than I will still have the China portion of the trip.

[pacmom]

Thanks for the reply about the shows--we can't make up our minds. It will probably depend on how tired we are when they ask for reservations. Pat

[caribill]

Thanks for the reply about the shows--we can't make up our minds. It will probably depend on how tired we are when they ask for reservations. Pat

 

They will ask for reservations long before you know how tired you are (except for jet lag).

 

If going from Shanghai to Beijing, you will need to reserve and pay for the T'ang Dynasty show and the Chinese Opera before you leave the ship.

 

If going the other direction, you will probably need to commit the first day of the tour.

[pacmom]

Caribill, good to know, thanks. We start in Beijing with a "forced" overnite so should be awake by the time touring starts. Pat

[recyclelady]

We'll probably sign up for everything! We tend to be the types to do all activites offered (never want to miss anything!)

[Glassespro]

Kohola, thanks for the ideas. The pix are wonderful. Can't wait for this experience, especially since my Chinese is now at about 3rd grade level. Can't wait for this trip.

[CTGirl]

I may be mistaken but I thought I read here somewhere that Viking lets you work with them directly for flight arrangements even if you booked with a TA. We booked with a TA and he just forwarded me an email from Viking saying that my air can now be arranged. He suggested that I look into it. So I called Viking and the Air Consultant said that I had to go through my TA becuase I booked with them. What are your experiences? Thanks.

[caribill]

What are your experiences? Thanks.

 

Can't help as I had booked with Viking and not with a TA.

[kbert92069]

I may be mistaken but I thought I read here somewhere that Viking lets you work with them directly for flight arrangements even if you booked with a TA. We booked with a TA and he just forwarded me an email from Viking saying that my air can now be arranged. He suggested that I look into it. So I called Viking and the Air Consultant said that I had to go through my TA becuase I booked with them. What are your experiences? Thanks.

 

Pretty standard operating procedure with cruise lines and we had that same experience with Viking. Fortunately our TA is just down the street so we went to his office and he called and we all worked it out. We are happy with our flight arrangements.

 

Someone else reported they got their TA and Viking together on a conference call and that worked for them too.

[CTGirl]

Our TA got back to us with flight arrangements. Not too bad. Nonstop from JFK to Beijing on United operated by Air China and then Hong Kong to San Francisco - San Francisco to JFK. I don't mind the stop in San Francisco. It will be good to get out and stretch our legs. Anyone ever go on a United flight operated by Air China?

[Peregrina651]

I may be mistaken but I thought I read here somewhere that Viking lets you work with them directly for flight arrangements even if you booked with a TA. We booked with a TA and he just forwarded me an email from Viking saying that my air can now be arranged. He suggested that I look into it. So I called Viking and the Air Consultant said that I had to go through my TA because I booked with them. What are your experiences? Thanks.

 

First, in order to have any say on your flights, you have to pay the $50pp Custom Air fee. Some changes beyond the flights that Viking offers may also incur additional charges. IMHO, pay the fee. It is worth it just to avoid having to get up before dawn to catch a flight, especially on the return home. If you are planning on using FF miles to upgrade, then you certainly have to do this because the tickets that Viking books are generally not upgradable with miles.

 

Second, if you have booked through a TA, then the TA must make the call, although as suggested, you can be on the call.

[CTGirl]

First, in order to have any say on your flights, you have to pay the $50pp Custom Air fee. Some changes beyond the flights that Viking offers may also incur additional charges. IMHO, pay the fee. It is worth it just to avoid having to get up before dawn to catch a flight, especially on the return home. If you are planning on using FF miles to upgrade, then you certainly have to do this because the tickets that Viking books are generally not upgradable with miles.

 

Second, if you have booked through a TA, then the TA must make the call, although as suggested, you can be on the call.

Thanks Peregrina651 for the suggestion. We actually did purchase the custom air. I'm not sure how that is supposed to work because Viking already set up flights for us even though our trip is not until next April. I suppose I could have asked for different flights but on the whole I like what was offered. Our flight out is late afternoon and our return is around noon. We are nonstop going out and one stop in San Francisco coming home. The only possible problem is with seats on the outbound flight. It is United but operated by Air China. I cannot even see a seat map for it. I called Air China but they said I couldn't pick seats until the tickets were issued. I think that might happen tonight. If I cannot resolve the seat issue, I may have to ask for a different flight going there.

 

Not planning on upgrading with FF. The one's I had with United expired. I do have points on my CC. I may inquire for one of flights if not all three.

[bayerisch]

Can't help as I had booked with Viking and not with a TA.

 

I've got the "Viking River blues". Saw some folks posting that they had their flight schedule from Viking 8 months in advanve of their trip. I am down to 33 days and haven't heard a word, although I am waiting impatiently for the mail every day. Someone else posted that they send out the info 3 weeks in advance, so any day now, I hope.

[Turtles06]

I've got the "Viking River blues". Saw some folks posting that they had their flight schedule from Viking 8 months in advanve of their trip. I am down to 33 days and haven't heard a word, although I am waiting impatiently for the mail every day. Someone else posted that they send out the info 3 weeks in advance, so any day now, I hope.

 

That's crazy. Why not pick up the phone and call them? They've surely had your flights booked for some time.

[CTGirl]

I've got the "Viking River blues". Saw some folks posting that they had their flight schedule from Viking 8 months in advanve of their trip. I am down to 33 days and haven't heard a word, although I am waiting impatiently for the mail every day. Someone else posted that they send out the info 3 weeks in advance, so any day now, I hope.

We have our flights and we are about 10 months out. I don't know if it makes a difference but we paid the $50 each for the custom air. I would call them or have your TA call them. I would be very antsy. Good luck.