Viking China (Part 2)

[pacmom]

Thank you for the menues and the pictures of the various dishes. Kbert, are you doing cultural delights? We are and are staying at the Westin financial dist. We leave the states on the 20th of Oct. Hope to meet you on board. Pat

[cruiseco]

Keep in mind that Caribill noted the photos are of the Century Sun and not the Emerald...our cabin on the Emerald did not have any type of hand rails in the area around the toilet or in the shower. I will ask Captain Morgan, the Assistant Hotel Manager about a shower seat.

 

Thanks Kohola. That's very kind of you.

[jcrandle]

haha, yes, I was referring to the special meal where the Chinese local food is served as shown by Kohola. I don't recall if shrimp was ever offered but, there are alternative choices every night and salmon was on that list along with chicken breast. The Lazy Susan restaurant meals always included fish, chicken or pork. However, be aware that the Chinese chicken, and fish, often included bones.

 

This might be a surprise to some, but in real life, fish and chicken have bones! There is nothing sadder than to watch a boneless chicken try to walk. In my opinion, the bravest ancestor we had was the first to eat a shrimp (or maybe just the hungriest).

[recyclelady]

This might be a surprise to some, but in real life, fish and chicken have bones! There is nothing sadder than to watch a boneless chicken try to walk. In my opinion, the bravest ancestor we had was the first to eat a shrimp (or maybe just the hungriest).

LOL!

 

I always wanted to meet the guy who decided to eat the first lobster!

[Peregrina651]

Great thread!

 

A couple of questions:

 

My friend has some balance problems. Do the bathrooms on the ship have grab rails near the toilet? Is a shower seat available? Anybody have a photo of the bathrooms?

 

Also, are the tickets for the in-country flights included in the pre-departure packet or are those distributed as needed during the trip?

 

Thanks again for all the great info! I think I've finished this thread. Time to start on the first one.

 

Check the Viking website for its special needs phone number. They can answer all of your questions regarding access/special needs issues on the ship including grab bars and shower seats. IMHO, this is one of those times that you should be talking to Viking.

 

As for the first thread, there is some interesting stuff at the beginning of the thread because things were different on the first cruises and some folks might find it interesting. But otherwise, don't bother since the info is out of date.

 

IMHO, I think there is enough repetition that you don't really need to go back as far as 2010 to catch all the important info; going back to April 2011 should be sufficient. If you do go back further, keep in mind that in 2010, it was a different ship.

[kbert92069]

Kbert, are you doing cultural delights? We are and are staying at the Westin financial dist. We leave the states on the 20th of Oct. Hope to meet you on board. Pat

 

So far we haven't found anyone on our tour although we might be on the ship at the same time as other tours I suppose but it looks to me as though we'll be getting off when you get on the ship.

 

We're on Imperial Jewels Shanghai to Bejing which begins on October 19. We're at the Ritz-Carlton Portman in Shanghai.

[Peregrina651]

So far we haven't found anyone on our tour although we might be on the ship at the same time as other tours I suppose but it looks to me as though we'll be getting off when you get on the ship.

 

We're on Imperial Jewels Shanghai to Bejing which begins on October 19. We're at the Ritz-Carlton Portman in Shanghai.

 

Right. Imperial Jewels and Roof of the World (if there is one scheduled) share the 5-day cruise portion of the tour. Cultural Delights will be boarding the same afternoon that you disembark in the morning in Chongqing.

[Kohola]

My friend has some balance problems. Is a shower seat available?

Captain Morgan replied that they do not have shower seats on the Emerald.

 

A returning passenger sent me a nice photo from her iPhone with some of the crew while relating that their camera died the first day of the tour. We also had this happen on St Marks Square in Venice a few years ago. A reminder to ensure you have a back up camera or someone on the trip willing to take some photos for you if you're concerned about having photo memories of the tour.

 

On our 2009 visit someone created "dream rings" for the children and adults to write on at the school visit...a strip of paper with a twist and the ends stapled together. Each child in the class had the opportunity to say what their future dreams were and the adults could write something to the children...then the rings were exchanged. I thought it was a very clever idea.

[cruiseco]

Captain Morgan replied that they do not have shower seats on the Emerald.

 

 

Not the answer we were hoping for but now we can start on working out other options. Thanks for your help!

[RACH49]

One week until our adventure begins (July 4th Imperial Jewels). Anyone else here on the same cruise? Cathy and I are getting very excited.

 

Ron

[Quincy126]

Today have just booked Imperial Jewels for 30 June 2013. This time next year will be on our way to Shanghai, can't wait.

 

Pam

[caribill]

Today have just booked Imperial Jewels for 30 June 2013. This time next year will be on our way to Shanghai, can't wait.

 

Pam

 

Congrats. You are going to have a great experience.

[swanny727]

One week until our adventure begins (July 4th Imperial Jewels). Anyone else here on the same cruise? Cathy and I are getting very excited.

 

Ron

 

I am still excied about my trip that was Jun 4! What a cultural experience.

Hope you enjoy it too.

[Maredog]

Hello Everyone,

 

Just returned from a 10 day trip to Beijing - our Viking tour is Aug. 30th 2012 but I wanted to chime in about Peking Duck for those interested - had it on 2 occasions while I was there, the better of the two was in a restaraunt called Duc de Chine - in the Hidden City area. Expensive and hard to find but the duck was fabulous.

 

Great shopping low $ to high $ at the Pearl Market, bargaining is fantastic!

 

I'd be happy to answer any questions about Beijing - the weather was in the high 70's to low 80's and I was sweating most days and I live in FL.

 

Hope to see a fellow CC member on my Viking trip in August!:)

My husband and I will be on the August 30, 2012 Imperial Jewels of China trip. Sounds like you will be as well... We still have not rec'd any info on hotels and air and notice the Visa applications request that info. Do you have any experience with Viking in this regard?

Looking forward to meeting you.

Mary

[caribill]

My husband and I will be on the August 30, 2012 Imperial Jewels of China trip. Sounds like you will be as well... We still have not rec'd any info on hotels and air and notice the Visa applications request that info. Do you have any experience with Viking in this regard?

Looking forward to meeting you.

Mary

 

I would call Viking (or your travel agent if you used one) and tell them you need the information NOW for the visa application.

[Kohola]

Friends sent me Facebook message indicating they had just checked to their hotel in Shanghai around 7pm local time on 7/1. I was under the impression that FB access was blocked in China?? I also noticed there is a large presence of Tencent/QQ on FB; Tencent is the Chinese corporation which created QQ, the largest IM provider in China. There's even a Tencent Boston...

[Lori Dobson]

My husband and I will be on the August 30, 2012 Imperial Jewels of China trip. Sounds like you will be as well... We still have not rec'd any info on hotels and air and notice the Visa applications request that info. Do you have any experience with Viking in this regard?

Looking forward to meeting you.

Mary

 

 

Hello Mary!

Thrilled to hear another CC member will be with us on our tirp!

I have had our hotel assignements for several months now - as far as the visa, as I was in China just over a month ago for another trip, I already had that - I went to Mychinavisa.com, very fast and easy service. Regarding putting in the hotel names for your Visa, I don't think I had to do that - the detailed instructions on how to fill out the application are on the site I used and I don't remember having to specify the hotel. However, if you like, I will be happy to tell you the hotels we are booked into - if they are not the same, I don't think it will be a big issue.

Let me know if you have any other questions - having been over there already, I found out a lot I didn't know, so I'd be happy to help you with anything. Looking forward to seeing you on board!:D

[Lori Dobson]

Friends sent me Facebook message indicating they had just checked to their hotel in Shanghai around 7pm local time on 7/1. I was under the impression that FB access was blocked in China?? I also noticed there is a large presence of Tencent/QQ on FB; Tencent is the Chinese corporation which created QQ, the largest IM provider in China. There's even a Tencent Boston...

 

 

Yes, FB is blocked in China - but you CAN access it and any other site you want, you just have to go about it a roundabout way. You get your own personal VPN connection - as long as you have access to wireless, you can use it. It's about $7 for 30 days access, which works fine for our China trip. Let me know if you would like the website to get this.

[Kohola]

Yes, FB is blocked in China - but you CAN access it and any other site you want, you just have to go about it a roundabout way. You get your own personal VPN connection - as long as you have access to wireless, you can use it. It's about $7 for 30 days access, which works fine for our China trip. Let me know if you would like the website to get this.

Thanks for the info, but our friends don't seem to have gone the route you describe. It appears they had FB access in the hotel in Shanghai only. Here is an excerpt from their arrival message on the Emerald in Wuhan and their traditional Chinese greeting from our friend:

 

--Hi bob,

 

I would have posted this to the Viking page on facebook but no longer can access this. Well, we met CaiChangJun and just as you said..she is the sweetest! She welcomed us with our names, a big smile and a hug. We felt like we knew her! XiaoLing is on holiday as well as XieWei.--

 

Nice way to start your cruise...a hug from an old friend, you've never met!

[Lori Dobson]

Thanks for the info, but our friends don't seem to have gone the route you describe. It appears they had FB access in the hotel in Shanghai only. Here is an excerpt from their arrival message on the Emerald in Wuhan and their traditional Chinese greeting from our friend:

 

--Hi bob,

 

I would have posted this to the Viking page on facebook but no longer can access this. Well, we met CaiChangJun and just as you said..she is the sweetest! She welcomed us with our names, a big smile and a hug. We felt like we knew her! XiaoLing is on holiday as well as XieWei.--

 

Nice way to start your cruise...a hug from an old friend, you've never met!

 

 

I can't attest to anyone's experience but my own - I had no problems accessing Facebook or any other site, in Beijing, Anyang or Laiwu with my VPN connection.

[Kohola]

I can't attest to anyone's experience but my own - I had no problems accessing Facebook or any other site, in Beijing, Anyang or Laiwu with my VPN connection.

 

I apologize for not being precise in my post;-) Our friends weren't purposefully trying to crack the Great Firewall of China which made the fact they posted on Facebook surprising. They just accessed FB and it was available, but only within the confines of the hotel. I knew FB was blocked so I never attempted to access the site while we were in China, but now I'm wondering if their hotel or any hotel for that matter circumvents the Firewall with their own software??

 

The Hilton Hotel in Xian defied the government mandate about using A/C too early in the season so what other regulations are skirted for their high end foreign guests??

[caribill]

When I was in Shanghai, I was unable to access while in the hotel a personal site I had built which showed weather in the cities on the Viking tour.

 

I was able to access the site on the Viking ship.

[CTGirl]

For all of you who have gone to China recently - how many months in advance do you need to get a Visa? Thanks

[Lori Dobson]

For all of you who have gone to China recently - how many months in advance do you need to get a Visa? Thanks

 

I sent mine in a month before I left and it was back within 1 week.

[Lori Dobson]

I apologize for not being precise in my post;-) Our friends weren't purposefully trying to crack the Great Firewall of China which made the fact they posted on Facebook surprising. They just accessed FB and it was available, but only within the confines of the hotel. I knew FB was blocked so I never attempted to access the site while we were in China, but now I'm wondering if their hotel or any hotel for that matter circumvents the Firewall with their own software??

 

The Hilton Hotel in Xian defied the government mandate about using A/C too early in the season so what other regulations are skirted for their high end foreign guests??

 

No worries!:)

 

Not sure what the hotels do - would be nice tho if they did allow you to access it!