Viking China

[cujbw]

Have been following this thread but haven't seen anything recently on the toilet situation. Have you found them to be westernized or should we be prepared for pits in the ground?

[DanceswithNancy]

Have been following this thread but haven't seen anything recently on the toilet situation. Have you found them to be westernized or should we be prepared for pits in the ground?

 

When away from your hotel or ship, be prepared for a Turkish toilet. Excercise those leg muscles before you go to China, ladies! Don't forget to take your own toilet paper ...

Jack and Nancy

[LunaSeaRetreat]

We booked our own flight using our points. We're going on Korean Air' date=' direct from JFK to Seoul, and then to Beijing. Luckily, we are going first class, its 14 hours to Seoul.

Kathy[/quote']

Lucky you! I'll think of you when I'm crammed into my coach seat.

Cynthia

[cujbw]

More questions: I read on the website of China National Tourist Office that there is a Departure Tax of 90 Yuan payable in Chinese currency when you leave the country. Was that taken care of by Viking or should we be prepared? Also, did anyone stay at these hotels where we are booked? If so, how are they and what is nearby?

Beijing - Great Wall Sheraton

Xian - Shangri-la

Shanghai - St. Regis

Guilin - Sheraton

Hong Kong - Kowloon Shangri-La

[DanceswithNancy]

More questions: I read on the website of China National Tourist Office that there is a Departure Tax of 90 Yuan payable in Chinese currency when you leave the country. Was that taken care of by Viking or should we be prepared? Also, did anyone stay at these hotels where we are booked? If so, how are they and what is nearby?

Beijing - Great Wall Sheraton

Xian - Shangri-la

Shanghai - St. Regis

Guilin - Sheraton

Hong Kong - Kowloon Shangri-La

 

The departure tax was a non issue for us.

 

We stayed at the Shangri-la hotels you mentioned. Both excellent. Also the Guilin Sheraton. It is showing its age, but OK for our short time there.

 

Jack

[JJPNYC]

More questions: I read on the website of China National Tourist Office that there is a Departure Tax of 90 Yuan payable in Chinese currency when you leave the country. Was that taken care of by Viking or should we be prepared? Also, did anyone stay at these hotels where we are booked? If so, how are they and what is nearby?

 

The departure tax is now included in your airline ticket price. Be aware though of people who are trying to collect it from you though as there are a few of them still trolling the departures hall of PEK.

[TheMutt]

We are the other couple mentioned by Dragonmaster in his post.

 

Thanks to all who have shared information about the Viking cuise/tours in China. All the details are very helpful and a terrific feature of the CC boards.

 

Biblioguy's report about the Hilton in Beijing was worrisome since we are to be in the Hilton according to our confirmation from Viking. I called our TA about this and asked her to call Viking to get us moved to another hotel. The Viking agent denied (yesterday) that Viking had had any negative comments about the Hilton and refused our request for a change. :( Hope the situation has improved by the time we get there. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up, Biblioguy.

 

Looks as though there will be a handful of CC folks on our trip. See you in Beijing!

[biblioguy]

Biblioguy's report about the Hilton in Beijing was worrisome since we are to be in the Hilton according to our confirmation from Viking. I called our TA about this and asked her to call Viking to get us moved to another hotel. The Viking agent denied (yesterday) that Viking had had any negative comments about the Hilton and refused our request for a change. :( Hope the situation has improved by the time we get there. Anyway, thanks for the heads-up, Biblioguy.

 

I find it amusing that the Viking agent is saying that there have been no complaints given that our guides announced to the entire group that they had reported the problems we encountered to Viking's Beijing HQ and a number of people told me that they made strongly worded comments about this hotel in their final trip evaluation forms. The guides also apologized to the group for the condition of the hotel and were genuinely surprised at how far the renovation work had come and how much it had impacted the quality of our stay since their last visit to this property.

 

Even so, trust me, this hotel won't ruin your trip--it certainly didn't ruin ours. And if they have all the elevators back up and running by the time you get there, you may not even miss having a proper lobby or some of the other amenities. The rooms themselves are in fine condition and are quiet and comfortable.

 

It's just that there are plenty of other options, and I'm surprised Viking hasn't made alternate arrangements given the current circumstances. I suppose they have contractual obligations to fulfill that they may not be able to easily break.

 

If you are staying at the Hilton, I have a dining tip for you. One of the best Peking duck restaurants in the universe is a few minutes (less than five) walk down the main drag from the hotel. We, along with another couple, opted to skip the group dinner one night in Beijing in favor of eating at this place (the name escapes me, but your guide can point you in the right direction). It was simply incredible--one of the best dining experiences of my life. The next night we had Peking duck again--this time with the group prior to the opera performance and, while it was also very good, it didn't compare. After dinner we hopped a cab (less than $4 each way) and visited Tiananmen Square at night. It was a lot of fun to see it beautifully lit up without the swarms of tourists. If you do go off on your own, make sure you get a card from the hotel or the ship with the address, so that you can show your cabbie where you want to go when you're ready to head back.

[mimi1]

Hi everyone,

I have been lurking on this post for months, and have gotten lots of good info. We are going on the June 25th trip.

FYI, I called our travel agent about the Beijing Hilton and he got all of our hotels changed. We were staying in the Shanghai Weston, the Xian Sofitel and the Beijing Hilton. Now we are staying in The Shanghai Shangri-La, The Xian Shangri-la and a new hotel in Biejing called The China Hotel or something like that. I think it is also owned by Shangri-la. I hope we did the right thing! I will let you know when we get back.

We are leaving for San Frincisco on Wed. morning. I'm really starting to get excited! Anyone else going on the Cultural Delights on the 25th of June?

[TheMutt]

Thanks, Biblioguy, for the Peking duck tip. I'd love to try that restaurant.

 

You're right about the Hilton - it can't spoil our trip. We're strong believers that in every adventure there's an element of mis-adventure and we just go with the flow.

 

Maybe a TA's results depend on which Viking agent picks up the call. I'm glad for you, Mimi1, that yours was able to get you changes. Since we've two weeks to go, a lot may change before we get there. Hope your trip is terrific. Don't see how it could miss, given the comments on this board.

[CincyAL]

We are starting cultural highlights in Shanghai on the 25th. This is our second Viking trip, the first being the Rhine/Danbue two years ago. Very interesting about hotels, I wondered if the entire group ALL stayed in the same hotel. We on flying United from Chicago on Saturday.

[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

To Mimi and Cincy al,

 

We are also nt the trip of the 25th. There are 22 of us from around Riverside, California. I understand the Westin in Shanghai is probably the best hotel in China right now. I hope Mimi did the right thing? See you guys on Sunday. Jerry and Sandy.

[mimi1]

Well, we know the boat will not be empty! 22 of you, 4 of us and at least 2 of Cincy. Are you leaving from L.A.? What time do you get to Shanghi? We get in at 6:15 pm. I am a little sick about the Weston, but the China World Hotel in Beijing looks pretty good on the web. We will have to wait and see if it really happens. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

[43AL]

Thanks for the comments all, loved them, hope all will be fine, hotels and all, we have been looking forward to this trip. See you all next weekend with the rest or Riverside, CA.

[JJPNYC]

To Mimi and Cincy al,

 

We are also nt the trip of the 25th. There are 22 of us from around Riverside, California. I understand the Westin in Shanghai is probably the best hotel in China right now. I hope Mimi did the right thing? See you guys on Sunday. Jerry and Sandy.

 

We stayed at the Westin Shanghai while there and I think that this is the preferred hotel location in Shanghai mainly due to location on the Shanghai side of the river (the river's name escapes me right now). Both the St. Regis & Shranri-La Shanghai are on the Pudong side of the river (the side with all of the new buildings). As a result of that, there really isn't much happening over there as it's all office buildings. On the other side of the river are all of the sites - the shopping streets, Old Shanghai, all of the sites. The Westin's location is nice because when you want to go someplace it's merely a quick walk (or taxi ride) away.

[Manny's mom]

We've put placed into The Beijing Hotel. We leave July 17, so maybe they have changed their tours hotels in Beijing.

Kathy

[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

Mimi:

We fly United out of LAX at 11am to San Francisco and we are on the same United flight to Shanghai as you are. Some other people in our group fly to Hong Kong first then on to Shanghai. Jerry

[mimi1]

Jerry,

Cool! Hope to see you at the gate.

I don't think it matters too much what side of the river we are on because we probably won't have that much free time. We will be too tired Sunday night and Monday we have a full day of touring and the acrobat show that night. The next morning we check out.

I'm sure all the hotels Viking picks will be very nice! See you all soon!

Mimi

[Murphey]

Speaking of free time....I asked before but did not get a response (or missed it...). To those who have returned....is there any "down" time for relaxing???? We are expecting that this is going to be one of those trips where we need a vacation after our vacation!!

[mimi1]

Does anyone know what kind of adapter I will need to recharge my cell phone in China? Do they have them in the good hotels? Can I buy one there? Does the boat have one??? Please reply....I need help!

[JJPNYC]

Speaking of free time....I asked before but did not get a response (or missed it...). To those who have returned....is there any "down" time for relaxing???? We are expecting that this is going to be one of those trips where we need a vacation after our vacation!!

 

There wasn't much free time built into the itinerary. The only scheduled free time we had was an afternoon in Shanghai on the 1st official day - mostly to allow people to adjust from all of the travel the day before.

 

Evenings are fairly quiet - often you'll be back in the hotel in the 9 o'clock hour.

 

On board the ship you can just lounge about all day if you need some down time - something that alot of people did on our trip.

[JJPNYC]

Does anyone know what kind of adapter I will need to recharge my cell phone in China? Do they have them in the good hotels? Can I buy one there? Does the boat have one??? Please reply....I need help!

 

The hotel may/may not have US style plugs. I kow that the Shangri-la property in Beijing did.

 

On board the ship they do have an adapter that they can loan you. Beware though, it's roughly the size of the New York City phone book.

 

I believe the voltage there is 220V and the Chinese plug adpater has two prongs angled in at a 45 degree angle towards each-other. These cost about $3 and available at any Radio Shack or travel store.

[TheMutt]

Just wanted to pass along a travel health advisory from one of my recent health newsletters: Against viruses such as the noroviruses that have been causing distress on some cruises, the alcohol gels such as Purell killed only about 60% of the nasties. Clean water did much better, and soap and water were best of all at over 90% effectiveness. I'm adding a little soap to my must-haves on tours and taking a larger water container to fill from the boiled water provided in the hotels.

 

Don't get me wrong, Purell is way better than nothing when we have to make a rest stop on a tour, and for general cleansing. I'll be using it, too.

[TheMutt]

I forgot to mention that the article on gel effectiveness said to be sure that the brand you get contains at least 60% alcohol.

 

Just checked the Purell - 62% - so that's one brand that is OK.

[TheMutt]

While I'm on a travel health kick, let me recommend the compression socks available for use on long flights. My DH and I tried them on a trip to Romania this month. They were comfortable during the flight and definitely reduced the amount of swelling in our ankles. They are supposed to also help reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis (clots). We ordered ours from Travel Smith, but I expect they would be available in any travel-oriented shop such as Mori Luggage, or other travel catalogs such as Magellan.