Viking China (Part 2)

[swanny727]

Hi, If I send my jeans/pants to the laundry aboard ship will they bring them back to me wet to hang dry? Thanks!

 

June will be one year since we did our Emerald cruise. I was feeling nostalgic and decided to read the board again to bring back memories.

I brought along a travel size bottle of fabreeze which helped with wearing clothes for more than 1 day. I did wash my jeans, in the sink, on the ship - but only the crotch area (sorry to get so specific). It is true that the jeans will not dry if entirely wet. I then hung them, upside down, with a pants hanger. They did dry in 2 few days. Our friend washed his polo-type cotton shirts and they did NOT dry. He used the hair dryer to get them good-enough-dry to repack. If you have OBC, that can be used for laundry on the Emerald.

[swanny727]

Understand that you can have a jacket or suit made on the ship. Has anyone done that and what is the range of cost. I understand that they do a great job.

 

We went last June and there was a girl with the tailor that spoke English. Perhaps she is not on every cruise though. She said she was family. I was interested in a blouse and they only had jackets on display. I was able to draw a picture and she helped with getting the design I wanted.

Edited April 14, 2013 by swanny727

[caribill]

We went last June and there was a girl with the tailor that spoke English. Perhaps she is not on every cruise though. She said she was family. I was interested in a blouse and they only had jackets on display. I was able to draw a picture and she helped with getting the design I wanted.

 

Our Viking guide helped with the translations we needed at the Tailor's shop.

[79ti]

SteadyAT,

Enjoy your write-up. Thanks! We are on the Viking China Explorer Sept 15th with the Hong Kong extension. We have seats with Air Canada assigned but, similar to your experience, no tickets booked as yet. How did you find the flight with AC?

[Kohola]

Thanks so much for everyone that has shared tips, vocabulary, etc. I plan to learn a few words before we start our China Explorer trip in Sept. So excited.

Lori

That first morning when you meet your tour escort bleary eyed from your flight begin with an easy Ni Hao 你好 (knee how...with your voice lowering on "h" raising on the "o" ), to get them thinking Chinese...then remark to them...Wo leile 我累了...(woe lay luh)...I am tired:p.

If you're grandparents, then grandma is NaiNai 奶奶 (nyenye) and grandpa YeYe爷爷 (the intonation is more complicated...yeah then yet without the "t, yeah ye).

If you are a wife, then TaiTai 太太(tietie) works just fine.

My favorite gaogaoxingxingkuaikuailele 高高兴兴快快乐乐(gowgow shinshin kuaikuai luhluh... kuai similar to the Hawaiian Island Kauai) all together it means "HappyHappy", literally something along the lines of Lofty interest fast joy.

Kuaikuai alone is laughing. Kuai...fast and le...joy together kuaile are Happy.

 

An important one for interacting with the Chinese is 照片 zhao pian(jao, rhymes with how, but said quickly and pee-an) which is "photo."

 

The sedan chairs carrying passengers are also know as BangBang 帮帮 (bongbong rapidly) which means "help." This one is at 石宝寨 Shi bao zhai(she bow, said like hao, and jie like tie) Stone Treasure Fortress or the 12 story pagoda. Double the treasure or 宝宝BaoBao and you have yourself a "baby.":)

[SteadyAT]

SteadyAT,

Enjoy your write-up. Thanks! We are on the Viking China Explorer Sept 15th with the Hong Kong extension. We have seats with Air Canada assigned but, similar to your experience, no tickets booked as yet. How did you find the flight with AC?

 

Hi 79ti,

 

For as much as we Canadians like to complain about Air Canada, the flights were fine.

 

We had direct flights: YYZ to PEK; HKG to YYZ, in Economy. They are LONG flights, but the one good thing with Air Canada is a very up-to-date personal entertainment system, so I caught up on some movies. That, along with 3 meal services (dinner / snack (noodles & sandwich) / breakfast), and the anticipation of the trip, made the 14-hour outbound flight relatively painless.

 

However, the 16-hour return flight from HKG felt LOOONG...even though we arrived early (~15 hours). We were already lucky in that our travel dates spanned a change in month, leading to a new selection of movies. Perhaps we were so tired from our trip, but I have been telling people that I would only fly back from HKG in future through a connection. I'd just want a few hours of freedom walking, and maybe some fresh air. It would take up more of my time, but I would be willing to compromise time. And I assume you'd still have a long drive back to Penetang from YYZ, unless you stay overnight in Toronto.

[SteadyAT]

If you're grandparents, then grandma is NaiNai 奶奶 (nyenye) and grandpa YeYe爷爷 (the intonation is more complicated...yeah then yet without the "t, yeah ye).

 

Kohola, I'm sure you know this already...but the Chinese are very specific when it comes to their naming designation for relatives.

 

NyeNye and YeYe refer specifically to Paternal Grandmother and Paternal Grandfather.

 

So depending on the speaker, (i.e., if the speaker had grandchildren though a daughter), it might be more appropriate to say: 婆婆 (po po) or 公公 (gong gong). Of course, there are variations of formality, 外婆 (wai po) instead of PoPo, but PoPo is how I referred to mine (in cantonese, not mandarin).

 

When we had our trip to Hong Kong after China, my mom, introducing me to relatives I'd not seen since I was young, would say to me "Say hello to ...", and I would be able to (slowly) figure out the specific kinship I had to this person (such as "paternal younger great uncle's wife"). Complicated, but highly informative!!

[bettybc]

SteadyAT,

Enjoy your write-up. Thanks! We are on the Viking China Explorer Sept 15th with the Hong Kong extension. We have seats with Air Canada assigned but, similar to your experience, no tickets booked as yet. How did you find the flight with AC?

We are also flying with Air Canada and had our seat assignment from day 1 of the booking. Did you do your flights through Viking Air? They've been efficient and helpful. The only thing is I can't get into the Air Canada system to add our Aeroplan so will do that at the airport customer service booth. No biggie :-) Have a great trip. Three days to take off for us.

[bettybc]

We are also flying with Air Canada and had our seat assignment from day 1 of the booking. Did you do your flights through Viking Air? They've been efficient and helpful. The only thing is I can't get into the Air Canada system to add our Aeroplan so will do that at the airport customer service booth. No biggie :-) Have a great trip. Three days to take off for us.

We flew to China two years ago with AC and to be honest, the international AC is very good service and comfort wise (nothing like the domestic). You'll have a good flight.

[caribill]

The only thing is I can't get into the Air Canada system to add our Aeroplan so will do that at the airport customer service booth.

 

Have you tried calling and have a live AC agent enter this for you?

[Kohola]

NyeNye and YeYe refer specifically to Paternal Grandmother and Paternal Grandfather.

Yes, thank you for the clarification. Someone wanted to learn a few words of Chinese for their trip so I using double words to make it fun and easier to remember. LaoLao and LaoYe didn't fit the bill.

I'm just a person trying to encourage people to interact while in China by saying a few simple words. A women pointing to herself and saying NaiNai works. Most people going to China will never even say NiHao unfortunately.

 

My apologizes to XianAiHua for thinking he was a female.

[JP1320]

Arriving into Shanghai (PVG) on June 20, 2013 need any information as to location of Visa ATM's and amounts you can draw per day. Appreciate any and all input.:)

[JP1320]

Just wanted to see if there are other people on a fully booked cruise other than my wife and I. I know Perigrina has already made reference to the fact that only about 2% of passengers bother with roll calls, and I did try with one in the Roll Call forum, but having taken many many ocean cruises in the past, it is often a good ice breaker to at least have a name.

 

So, once again, we will try and search for other guests before we leave.

 

We will be in Phuket for a week before flying into Shanghai so hopefully we will be over the jet lag.

 

To all who contributed to this forum site, a huge thank you as the input is of tremendous help.:)

[caribill]

Arriving into Shanghai (PVG) on June 20, 2013 need any information as to location of Visa ATM's and amounts you can draw per day. Appreciate any and all input.:)

 

The amount you can draw each day depends on the limit your bank sets, so call your ATM card issuer for that answer.

 

We obtained our yuan at an ATM at the Shanghai airport.

[bettybc]

Have you tried calling and have a live AC agent enter this for you?

No as I don't feel like being put on hold for an eternity. Find it just as east to do this at the airport. But I might yet try that - two more days to go :-)

[tarzana traveler]

Arriving into Shanghai (PVG) on June 20, 2013 need any information as to location of Visa ATM's and amounts you can draw per day. Appreciate any and all input.:)

 

Just got back from "Cultural Delights" cruise and tour. Great trip, but more about it later. As to ATM's, don't worry, they are all over the place in Shanghai and elsewhere. I looked for ATM's from "China Construction Bank (CCB)" which is a Bank of America partner, thefore there were no ATM fees for using them. I found enough CCB ATM'S throughout China that I had no problem getting as much local currency as I needed. I don't know what the limits were, I never took out more than US $200 at a time.

 

The hotels we stayed at all had ATM's in their lobby, so even if I couldn't find a CCB I could have still accessed the other machines. There were also ATM's from numerous banks on most streets. Make sure you have a 4 digit pin code to access the system.

[SteadyAT]

...I'm just a person trying to encourage people to interact while in China by saying a few simple words.

 

Kohola, please don't get me wrong - I think it's WONDERFUL that you encourage everyone to interact with the Chinese rather than just be a passerby! You've been most helpful in providing guidance on simple phrases along with the pinyin. I was only setting the facts straight for those who were not aware of the specificity of the Chinese terms for relatives.

 

And you are right that the locals appreciate anyone attempting to interact and speak the language. Despite being Chinese, my mandarin was almost nil before my trip. Being immersed in the language certainly increased my vocabulary, and my listening comprehension also increased. And no one laughed at me too much when I tried to say something in Mandarin (although try as he did, the little boy who offered me his seat during the school visit only shrugged and shook his head to signal he couldn't understand what I was saying)! But it should be pointed out that I was TRYING to learn and figure out what was being said. Without trying, it all could've been greek to me!

[Peregrina651]

Arriving into Shanghai (PVG) on June 20, 2013 need any information as to location of Visa ATM's and amounts you can draw per day. Appreciate any and all input.:)

 

You can find airport maps online. Here is one. It shows that there is an ATM available as you leave customs and immigration on Level 1.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Peregrina651

[GoInOnaCruz]

Just got back from "Cultural Delights" cruise and tour. Great trip, but more about it later. As to ATM's, don't worry, they are all over the place in Shanghai and elsewhere. I looked for ATM's from "China Construction Bank (CCB)" which is a Bank of America partner, thefore there were no ATM fees for using them. I found enough CCB ATM'S throughout China that I had no problem getting as much local currency as I needed. I don't know what the limits were, I never took out more than US $200 at a time.

 

The hotels we stayed at all had ATM's in their lobby, so even if I couldn't find a CCB I could have still accessed the other machines. There were also ATM's from numerous banks on most streets. Make sure you have a 4 digit pin code to access the system.

As to the lobby ATM's be aware that they don't seem to always work with your card. In Beijing in the lobby of the R-Carlton Financial Street we couldn't use my husband's debit card to withdraw but could MY debit card (and he has all the money LOL!). We had a limited time to get money as we were dissuaded from getting money at the airport the night before by the guide who met us and needed cash to pay our private guide and for lunch that day--luckily we were able to JUST get enough out of my account to pay her and buy lunch--I'm sure we could have persuaded her to stop somewhere along the way if we hadn't been able to :) After we returned to the hotel and before we went out for the evening to Black Sesame Kitchen (requiring money to pay them--wasn't sure if they took cc and of course cash for the taxi) we went out to one of the thousand's of ATM's surrounding the hotel. I also ran into the same difficulty in a small city in Southeastern China where we went after the cruise for a business trip for my husband and the ATM in that hotel lobby took neither one of our cards. Luckily we were next door to a mall with about 50 (or so it seemed) ATM machines. Also remember to contact your bank(s) and CC companies before you leave so that they don't start a fraud alert! Another silly problem I had (not related to money) was that all of my e-mail accounts locked me out stating that "Someone in China was trying to access my account." (msn, hotmail, google, and yahoo--too many accounts) Unfortunately my back-up was to send a code to my phone and we had data roaming on the phone so I had to bite the bullet and turn on data for a few minutes so that I could get the code--probably related to all of the hacking that was going on a couple of months ago.

[seanf]

... ATM's and amounts you can draw per day

The daily limit will be specified by your bank, as other posters have mentioned. However, you will be limited to withdrawing only 1500RMB or 2500RMB per transaction depending on which machine you use. If I remember correctly Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China have the higher limit. You can of course do multiple transactions in one go, but your bank may charge you a fee for each

 

Sean :)

[SatLhr]

I will be solo on this cruise and I'm wondering if there is someone else who will also be cruising solo. Looks like a wonderful cruise but I'm questioning whether this is a good cruise for going solo. Anyone........?

 

 

Wow..I finally found someone else on the boards doing the Viking Imperial Jewels of China on June 3,2013. Brandy we're a group of 4 and are freaking out a little at the UNKNOWN of it all. This will be our first trip with Viking and the first trip to Asia. We are SO excited though. I can't even imagine how you are considering you'll be doing this with no official traveling companion. From what I understand we'll all be in relatively small groups so hopefully you'll click with someone in your group...if not I'll keep an eye out for someone who seems to be "on their own" and will snag you to join us if at all possible. LOL! I'm still making my way thru this amazing long thread, so maybe I'll comment on something later. Take care! ~Missy~

[SatLhr]

My wife had a jacket made. Yes, it was a great job. Order early in the cruise part of the trip si it will be ready for you. Cost will go to your onboard account.

 

Price list (in Yuan) from 3 years ago

 

 

Thank you SO much for posting this. My brother in law really wants to get a custom Tai Chi outfit. He'll be glad to know what to expect...more or less. Thank you & Peregrina for all of your helpful info!!

[shebawalk]

I got an email from Delta today telling me that I needed a visa to go to China. :rolleyes: Hah! I've had it for weeks!

[Pointkitten]

Wow..I finally found someone else on the boards doing the Viking Imperial Jewels of China on June 3,2013. Brandy we're a group of 4 and are freaking out a little at the UNKNOWN of it all. This will be our first trip with Viking and the first trip to Asia. We are SO excited though. I can't even imagine how you are considering you'll be doing this with no official traveling companion. From what I understand we'll all be in relatively small groups so hopefully you'll click with someone in your group...if not I'll keep an eye out for someone who seems to be "on their own" and will snag you to join us if at all possible. LOL! I'm still making my way thru this amazing long thread, so maybe I'll comment on something later. Take care! ~Missy~

 

I kept reading these boards looking for someone else on this cruise too. We are 4 from Burke, Virginia. It is also our first Viking cruise and our first trip to Asia. There are two others from Burke going as well. We just picked up our visas this week, so should be good to go. Which hotel have you been asssigned to in Beijing? That seems to determine your tour group.

[caribill]

Which hotel have you been asssigned to in Beijing? That seems to determine your tour group.

 

Multiple groups will usually stay at the same hotel.