This is an EXTREMELY long report; I don’ seem to be able to anything halfway. Please read it knowing that we are NOT tour people. We don’t like regimentation and we surely do not want to get up at 5am every day of our “vacation”. I have years of experience planning and managing events, and I am quite persnickety. We’ve done many cruise-tours with Grand Circle and Avalon. They have been great, with excellent Tour Escorts. We were expecting “even better” with Viking, and we paid top dollar for this trip. So, out of ignorance, I may be critical of things that are taken for granted on a complex cruise-tour of China. This Trip Report contains mostly my opinions; my husband isn’t quite so critical, but I don’t know what will ever get him on another Viking trip. Before leaving Emerald, we were given two surveys, maybe one for the cruise and one for the overall trip, we were not sure. I never did know which was which, so I didn’t complete either. I have used those surveys as a template for this report. Not being able to figure out the two surveys rather sums up our experience with Viking’s Jewels cruise-tour of China, which departed Beijing on November 2, 2019. We expected a seamless experience but were very disappointed with the lack of attention to detail. I’d rate the Emerald a 10, the cruise 8 of 10 and the tour 4 of 10. Overall experience a 5. We have an excellent Travel Agent cruise expert, so no issues booking or managing trip. We found the trip poorly planned, we spent far too much time in places that deserved about ten minutes, we were force-marched out at 8am or earlier for days on end. Some of us flew 15 hours to China and spent 4 hours in traffic getting into Beijing from the airport. Many pax spent far more time than that to get to Beijing. ENTERTAINMENT Crew did an incredible show one night. Extremely creative and enjoyable. DAILY NEWS Adequate, laid out the next day’s schedule, could have used more detail, but always delivered on time. SHOPPING 3 forced-shopping lunch stops were deplorable. One day we dined at a jade factory. One day we lunched at a lacquer furniture store. We were fed below-average to awful food and trapped in these stores for up to 90 minutes after the lunch. We were pestered at every step to buy something. We had no alternative, forced to stay with the group. It was absolutely insulting. INCLUDED LUNCHES … the Restaurant lunches were fine to very good. Lovely décor, welcoming service, very good food. Food the same at every restaurant, but delicious. FLIGHTS We flew United’s new Polaris SFO-PEK on points. Quite underwhelming. I posted details on FlyerTalk. THREE INTERNAL FLIGHTS were fine. Most of us were concerned about security, etc. But our VikingTour Escort did a great job for our first internal flight and we became quite relaxed about them all. SHANGHAI to HONG KONG to SFO Cathay Pacific Viking’s air desk did a perfect job booking this flight. I was very excited about flying CX but it was merely OK. FAs were robots, they welcomed us, did the drink/meal service and disappeared. TOUR ESCORT I have had the pleasure of working with many Tour Directors over the years on river and small-ship cruises, all of whom I rate as outstanding. We liked our TEr and enjoyed his company, he was welcoming and friendly. I can only rate him adequate to incompetent as a TE. Communicating details to our group seemed to elude him. A couple of examples: No welcome information greeted us at the first hotel. The Viking desk that evening was manned by the bus driver with little English. He told to us to show up next morning at 8am. Our TE blamed the hotel concierge for our lack of info. He appeared the next morning at 750 and was mobbed with pax. What kind of a TE arrives the first day with ten minutes to spare? In the rain, we board the bus. Our TE is good on the mic, but he is mumbling about a marathon. Sure enough, we arrive at T SQ, troop through the rain to a barricade. T SQ is closed for a marathon. Nobody knows when it will open. I expect a TE to be top of this kind of information. Another example is our flight from Xian to board the Emerald. The flight was delayed. Our TE disappeared and didn’t come back for hours. What kind of TE leaves his group sitting at the gate for several hours with no information? China is not like Western Europe, where you can manage to communicate somehow. I don’t understand how a professional TE can be so bad with group communication. We spent a lot of time on this trip trying to figure out what was going on. HOTELS were beyond excellent, JWMarriott in Beijing, Xian Hilton, Shanghai Wanda. 3 nites in Hong Kong on our own; Conrad was great. China has great showers everywhere. JW MARRIOTT BEIJING CENTRAL is a GREAT hotel, super food, lovely Exec Lounge, extremely hospitable. We checked in a day early, a driver had met our flight and we spent 3.5 hours in traffic. Welcome to China! JWM’s front desk people were difficult, but a manager finally got us checked in properly. (It took 30-45 minutes to check in, and 15 minutes to check out.) The clerks should have called for a Manager immediately when they couldn’t understand us. I would expect Viking to choose hotels with personnel available who can communicate with Americans. The warm hospitality of the Executive Lounge surely made up for the awful arrival. XIAN HILTON On arrival, we were greeted in the lobby by a row of smiling young ladies in black with long cream-colored jackets – very elegant. I’m a Hilton Honors person, this was an excellent Hilton with a lovely Executive Lounge. Too bad Hilton would not grant me privileges, only the upgraded room. We laughed every time we passed the Lounge, it was always empty. But Viking took very good care of us during our stay. WANDA REIGN ON THE BUND, SHANGHAI Superlative, absolutely superlative. I agree with the CC reviewer who said it was the best hotel he’d ever stayed in. Reality is even more impressive than the stunning photos on Wanda’s website. 1000% excellent. GROUND TRANSPORT Excellent, clean, spacious buses, friendly, helpful drivers. No restrooms in any bus, contrary to Viking’s information. With the awful toilets in China, this was a major problem. None of the rides were “too long”. VIKING EMERALD Our top-deck suite was wonderful but we didn’t use the balcony with the bad air. There was only one dining room, very good food and service, but the noise was awful, it was like walking into a wall of sound; we skipped dinner a couple of times because we just couldn’t face an hour in the din. Even a few little bites set out at the Bar would have helped. I’ve never booked a suite on a cruise ship that refused to do room service for breakfast, very annoying. Food was good to excellent overall, nothing special. Crew seemed great, happy and welcoming, I felt I could ask for anything. Our cabin steward was sweet. But it’s hard to get over arriving to board the Emerald. Three flights of uneven-height stairs with no hand rails, in the DARK. Absolutely terrifying. This is inexcusable. BEIJING First thing we did was find a WalMart down the street to get some cheap wine. It was a surreal experience that we’ll never forget. Everything in China is huge, but this store was Gi-normous as Peter would say. Unbelievably loud, everyone yapping at full volume, people running all over, brushing by an inch away … we had to laugh because this was just what we had read about. Live people, plus little battery-run megaphones sitting all over the displays, barking at you. Dan engaged a young lady at the jewelry counter to find something in the store, they had an enjoyable discussion using her phone’s translate app. We actually enjoyed our little adventure. We found the Chinese to be lovely people everywhere. And the WalMart wine was quite drinkable. Once the official trip started, we saw a few things in Beijing area over 2 days but not much else. I had two pages of notes on things to see in Beijing. Our time was badly planned, much time wasted. For example, Forbidden City is an enormous property with seemingly hundreds of buildings that all look the same. All the interesting interior things apparently reside in Taiwan. Why would we want to spend 90 minutes walking past these buildings? Boring … FC worth about 15mins walking tour. Very nice garden at the end of the walk but we rolled quickly through it. The fairly long walk from the bus to the entrance was beautiful, along a lake with our TE telling us how it was for the royals. Second day in Beijing Because of Sunday’s marathon, this day we were required to leave the hotel at 715am. This is the SECOND DAY of our tour, we’re still getting acclimated and waking up at 3am. But we’re happy to be on the bus … and on our way to the Great Wall! We appreciated the drive around T SQ, walking it would not have been very interesting. It’s a concrete-covered square, there’s NOTHING there except poor Mao in a huge building with his picture on it. The bus rides would have been a fine time to learn about the areas we were driving through, but our TE talked mostly about history; we learned little about today’s China. We were too strung out to even consider that evening’s Kung Fu show. Turned out to be a good decision, people were not enthused. GREAT WALL Nice short ride, really cool to climb the wall, fairly rough steps and walkways, very windy and chilly; the air felt great and we saw some sunshine. Super group photo and souvenir book. No warning on horrid toilets or advice on how to find one we could use. Our TE just kept telling us to hurry up so we could do the group photo. Most of the women were upset; I was livid. Let’s see, breakfast, then an hour on the bus … and nobody expects there will be no usable bathrooms up on the Great Wall. Too bad, we don’t want to keep the photographer waiting. For me, this cooked it for our poor TE. SACRED WAY tombs with beautiful gardens, huge animal statues along mile-long walkway, very nice walk. Speakers in the trees jabbered away, telling people what they were seeing. Before our flight to Xian, the bicycle Rickshaw tour of Hutongs was excellent. Interesting visit to Madam Wang’s home, we were invited in to hear her story about the ancient courtyards, see her house, and meet some family. Lovely walk back to bus along a lake. Flight was great, well organized, half empty plane a bonus. They served a full meal! XIAN THE WARRIORS Very exciting to “be there”. A couple dozen warriors and several horses had come to San Francisco many years ago and I was wild to see the whole site. In SF, they had presented them in a replica of the excavation; terracotta was all polished and the display very well lit. I found the real thing disappointing. I knew the site had been covered for preservation, but it’s like an enormous warehouse with very little light; everything’s grey/taupe, even the air. 3 “pits” and their contents all looked the same in the murky light. Seeing one of them would have been adequate. Mobbed with people and kids of course. Excellent “museum” quality displays and exhibits at the end. A major issue arose at the end of our Warriors visit. On arrival, we had been whisked away in golf carts to start the tour. Our walking tour lasted for 90 minutes, and without warning we were told that we would be walking back to the bus. People with walking challenges could have rested a bit had they known. Another forced march, a solid 30 minutes. This was the kind of detail that seemed to elude our TE and was the last straw for several in our group. For the evening, we signed on for the optional TANG DYNASTY DINNER THEATER. The descriptions and reviews I’d read made it sound very special. It was awful. Instead of strolling through vast palace gardens and then into the palace for a performance during dinner, we were all hustled off the bus and into a huge banquet room and quickly seated at tables for six. A beautifully-costumed group of musicians was playing ancient Chinese music on ancient Chinese instruments. Uh, not exactly. They were playing songs such as “Oh Suzanna” and “She’ll be Comin’ ‘Round the Mountain”. I knew we were in trouble. We received beautiful keepsake menus, big bottles of ice-cold beer, and the first courses started arriving. The food was inedible, everyone I talked with the next day agreed. The fish course I had was very good, but many people didn’t like any of it. Soon the performers started singing. The criteria seemed to be the decibel level. Shrieking seemed to rule; nothing melodic about it ... and it went on forever. We spent more than $160 to be tortured in a huge room with a vast group of people and we left hungry. That was the last of the Viking optional excursions that we signed up for. CHONGQING The airport experience out of Xian was a total disaster. Flight is delayed, our TE disappears for several hours, we sit at gate. Utter incompetence. Nasty box lunches and no guidance on buying snacks or anything to drink. Maybe something we recognized, we could have purchased, like a Coke ... warm soda, yuck. Ice cream was good. I discovered a “facial recognition” board you could stand in front of and it would recognize you and flash up all your flight info. Very cool, I beamed it up about 9 times during the long afternoon. At last our departure time flashed up and I could tell everyone. We joked that the TEs had all been holed up in the VIP Lounge. Plane a third full, very comfy. Lighters/matches are confiscated at all Chinese airports, our TE found a lighter for me at the end of every flight, he was very thoughtful. All airports were modern, no hauling carryons on stairs or any of the other negatives I’d read. We didn’t see anything of Chongqing, but the elevated highways and the beautiful lights everywhere made for a great ride to Emerald. She was all lit up and we were so glad to see her … for most of us, The Emerald was the reason we were here. A hair-raising scramble down crumbling steps with no handrails, hustle in for dinner, and we depart on the Yangtze River! YANGTZE Floating down the river was just magic. So many of our fellow travelers considered this the primary reason for their trip. Our six days on the Emerald were extremely enjoyable. SHIBAOZHAI Dan skipped this; I rolled out. We walk off the ship and are informed that it’s a 20-minute walk UP HILL to get to the site. You’re telling us this NOW? Golf carts are there for 20Y, but we don’t know that in the chaos. Drivers are trying to hustle us into their cart. Our TE finally shows up to explain, and I zip up the hill with a grinning maniac who lays on his piercing horn at every opportunity … which is every 6 seconds. I whiz by the locals with fingers in my ears. Temple accessed by “Drunken Bridge” that moves all over underneath your feet, fun. Nice landscaped path winds around, there are buildings “up there”, I think “Really, this is it?” No, no, after the last bend appears the gorgeous temple. We’re now on a huge elevated walkway with plenty of room to drink it all in and wave at people climbing 12 stories to the top … who knows why. Emerald is floating in the distance. I enjoyed just wandering and taking photos, making my way back to the square where my golfcart driver waited. Then the daughter accompanying her sometimes-confused mother loses her somewhere. This is a big space and daughter gets hysterical, several of us are trying to help. Daughter tells me that she left mother with the TE to go climb the temple. I don’t think that he would just abandon mother, so I call him on one of the TEs phones and he quickly shows up. Daughter and our TE tear off on a golf cart to see if she’s gone back on board. Daughter later told me that she couldn’t find him, and one of the other TEs was very dismissive and unhelpful. That set her over the edge, poor girl. Never did find out exactly what happened to mother, but she was fine. Until then, I had just enjoyed being “on my own” and wandering around in the beautiful place, snooping through the vendor huts at the dock. THREE GORGES Scenery absolutely spectacular. Air still grey but no longer smells, nice to be outside while we glide through this amazing part of China. SAMPANS UP THE GODDESS STREAM very enjoyable. I had no idea what to expect … a canoe paddled by kids, a fishing boat piloted by an ancient man, a pontoon rigged up from empty oil barrels. The sampans looked very sea-worthy, well-decorated and very cute with huge windows. You could sit out on a spacious back deck as well, what a treat in the clean fresh air! The guide was wonderful, enthusiastic and obviously proud of her home. A huge line of sampans motored up the river; the scenery was indeed spectacular. A super treat for us. 3-GORGES DAM TOUR We were told that we would see the inner workings of this massive structure up close. With the Warriors, this was to be the highlight of the whole trip to China for many of us. Our time at the dam was major disappointment. We were led around to the public viewing sites and the guide told us all about the dam. But we never actually saw anything other than just what anyone would see by visiting this place on their own. I expected a video, a look inside the “works” and some special access … or SOMETHING special. Nada. Viking gave us nothing but the bare minimum. OK, it’s huge. But you can’t see much through the murky air. And everything in China is huge. JINGZHOU It appeared that this stop was made so pax could contribute to a school that Viking supports. I had notes of several things to see in this city, but there was no information in our Daily News. Tour the school or nothing. We skipped it, desperate for some down time, disgusted with lack of information and exhausted by getting out the door every day at the crack of dawn. We had been very careful with the water, but were both coming down with respiratory issues at this point. This Jewels tour has a ridiculous itinerary, poorly planned, with too much wasted time. People said the school kids were cute. WUHAN Sailing into Wuhan after dark was SPECTACULAR. Everybody knows about “light shows” but this brilliant, ever-changing display against all the monster buildings lining the river was really something. Not from the balcony, of course, big city = stinky air; we watched from inside our cabin. I think this was the night they served food like sliced pig tails and chicken feet for dinner. Really disgusting. If you want to give pax a true taste of local foods, please do so somewhere tucked away where the rest of us don’t have to see it. We rolled out the next morning at 8am to see the Hubei Museum. Nearly dark inside, mobbed with people and kids, we tromped around forever looking at bronze cauldrons, etc. How many bronze vessels does one need to see? Stayed much too long, but Hubei Bells performance following the museum was wonderful. Exotic, talented musicians, very well done. This may have been the day with a real lunch at a real restaurant, very enjoyable. SHANGHAI We arrived after dark. Wanda Reign probably the nicest hotel we’ve ever experienced. I stayed in bed, husband did the tour next morning and enjoyed it somewhat. The forced-shopping stop was at a Silk Embroidery place (which I had been looking forward to) was of little interest to him. Far too much time spent at the Shanghai Museum. They skipped the garden for some reason. The temple was terrific. We skipped the evening acrobats; we’d had enough bad entertainment on this trip. We were visiting Hong Kong for three days on our own; Cathay Pacific offers a free stop-over. I remain beyond impressed with Viking’s air desk. We were quite concerned about how we’d manage without our TE! No issues, CX is a very good airline. HONG KONG We were booked at the Hilton Conrad which was affordable with a combination of points and cash. A wonderful choice, from the 57th floor we overlooked Victoria Harbor, and the Executive Lounge was lovely and welcoming. We both noticed the lack of traffic, horn-honking and crowding. The air was usually clear in the morning and the view was spectacular. We didn’t venture far due to our coughing and wheezing. We were there on a weekend, but no sign of protesters. Cathay Pacific Hong Kong to SFO was not as grand as I had expected, but a very comfortable flight. We were both very happy to gobble up some Nyquil, crawl into bed and sleep. Read Less

Was looking forward to a great adventure in China. It was a very disappointing trip. So much so, that I don't think I'll trust Viking again. We spent $22k. I don't think the trip was worth half that. Don't waste your money! We are done with Viking!!! I don't trust them now! The cruise ship, Emerald was run down, old, tired, and certainly not luxury. We upgraded to a suite but didn't get one on this ship. No suites. Balcony was narrow with two medal cheap chairs. Bathroom was old and run down. The dining experience was cheap, noisy, crowded and cafeteria-like. All the tables were for 8 people and round. One could not hear the people across the table. Dining became a nuisance and an annoyance. The food was ok, not great. The service, however, was exceptional. The maitre d was unhelpful and unbending. I'm not sure there was much she could do, but I felt she should have tried instead of just blowing us off. We had 4 for dinner one night and there were only sets of 2 seats left. What a joke! I'm thankful the cruise was only 7 of our 21 days! Hotels in Shanghai, Tibet, Xion and Beijing were excellent! Note, however, that Viking promised complementary wine with all lunches and dinners. That's not the case. No wine in the hotels or local restuarants! Food in the hotels was good, but not great. In 5 star hotels I would have expected awesome food, but not in China. We ate many lunches and dinners at local restuarants. Beware. Most of those meals were second-rate. Eight of our group got stomach aches after one lunch. We even skipped one local dinner and ordered pizza and a bottle of red wine for room service. It was a great alternative to the same old same old local food. Even the Yak burger at Burger King was welcomed! I welcomed taste, tender and huge it was. Generally at lunch and diner the chicken, beef and duck was either tough, dried out or greasy. God bless food in the US! Excursions were accompanied with 3 or 4 other Viking groups, so they were always crowded. We often felt like trapped rats being herded from place to place. Often the mics in the bus were so poor it was hard to understand the speaker. I stopped listening often to avoid headaches. I did the same with the personal mics used during the tours. I would have preferred more factual information about the cities, China, economics, education etc than seemingly personal made up stories by the guides. I dwelt on these issues because I feel that Viking could have affected them, improved them, and have control over them. But they chose not too, and offer a mediocre experience. Visiting all we did was extraordinary. I came away knowing and understanding much about China. Not all of it consistent with China's propaganda machine. The disappointment is with Viking. I believe many groups could have offered more value and a better experience than Viking did. So beware! This was the most disappointing trip of my last 7 trips. Ugh! Live and learn! Greg Read Less

While this trip also includes multiple land transfers and exploration of several cities, I'll focus on the cruise portion. Most importantly, it is deceptive call the Emerald a Viking ship because apparently they don't own it - they most certainly didn't build it. The moment you step on board you will know it is not up to Viking standards. The ship is tired and shabby, at best. While the Viking staff does everything possible to enhance your experience, the boat is not what we were looking forward to especially after some hard land travel for a week before. Immediately upon entering our stateroom we saw something brown all over one of the walls and a great deal of mold on one of the bedside lampshades...the room was so awful I just started to cry. The housekeeping staff were there right away and were incredibly gracious and brought a new lampshade and cleaned the wall, but the mood was set. The bathrooms are dark, poorly ventilated and have yucky plastic showers. The rooms are never quite dry given the high humidity along the river so your sheets and towels always feel a bit damp. There is definitely an air quality issue and I couldn't help but lie in bed and imagine the mold that is probably in the ventilation system. We did ask for an additional air unit which was cheerfully provided and that helped a bit, but I can't imagine the dampness in rooms without it - it was a comment we heard very often while onboard. All of that said, once we settled in the boat was comfortable enough. As always, the Viking staff are amazing and really do try to make up for what is lacking in the ship itself. The food was quite good and the dining service was fine. They have a number of excellent bartenders and we never had trouble finding a quiet space or room to hang out with others from our group. The Yangtze experience itself is ok. Some of the scenery through the gorges is obviously amazing, but the river is VERY polluted and for a good deal of the trip you can hear all the rubbish hitting the ship. The excursions are not the best, but I don't know that there are any better options for Viking to choose from. All in all it would have been fine if this was a lower end company, but it was not acceptable from Viking. Given that the rest of the tour includes much air travel and many hours on buses, it was everyone's goal to get to the ship and enjoy a bit of luxury...unfortunately that just wasn't our experience. Read Less

Thirteen nights, 7 land, 6 cruising. A little background. My husband and I have cruised on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Oceania but never on a river cruise. We did do Galapagos but I don't count that as a river cruise. China was on our bucket list. I was a little hesitant because I am hearing impaired. I can hear but conversation is tough in a noisy environment. Also, I can't use the earpiece/transmitter apparatus because it just sounds garbled. So I knew I had to rely on my husband to fill me in on what was being said. Now that you know that, you realize why my review may be a little skewed. We flew in a day early to try and adjust a little to the 12 hour time difference from the U.S. east coast to China time. Not easy. You can read my hotel reviews on tripadvisor. They were all 5 star hotels and each had its pluses and minuses. Please be forewarned. There is lots of walking. There are lots of stairs and ramps. If you have any mobility problems, I don't think this is for you. On the actual day 1, which is supposed to be arrival day, you check into your hotel. You are given information as to what you will do the next day and what time. The majority of the time, excursions started early, 7:30 or 8am. There were 3 groups staying at our hotel and 3 groups at another. There were also 2 groups who did Tibet and we did not see them until we boarded the ship. Our group had 34 people and everyone was very friendly. Our tour escort, Anthony, was terrific. I wish I could have understood everything he was saying but my husband filled me in on a lot of it. The remaining 2 days in Beijing were busy, Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall, and more. You can read the itinerary on the Viking site. The tour bus was comfortable and the air conditioning worked well because it was hot outside. One big problem, kids were not in school yet so every site in Beijing was ridiculously crowded with locals pushing and shoving. Many women had umbrellas to shield the sun and they carried them low so you had to watch out to make sure you didn't get stuck in the eye. Had we known this about the kids, we would have gone a week or two later. After Beijing, we flew to Xian. Checked bags are put outside of your door the night before or early the morning of the flight and you don't see them again until they're in your hotel room or in your cabin. Carry on bags are put in the belly of the bus. We had 3 intra-China flights, Beijing to Xian, Xian to Chongqing, Wuhan to Shanghai. You will be patted down, just accept it. The first two flights I did not sit with my husband but no problem. The last flight we had to leave the hotel at 6am to catch an 8:20am flight (which was delayed). People were not happy about that. No one looked forward to spending time in the airports for the 1 1/2 hour flights. For two of the flights, there was no jetway. Everyone lines up at the gate to get on a bus to take you to the plane. Then, lugging your carry on, you climb the many steps to board the plane. The same thing happened on our trip home from Shanghai and we were on a big Delta 777. In Xian, we all marveled at the Terra Cotta Warriors. But, again, very crowded and hot. One more surprise, the toilets. Many toilets in restaurants, shops, and malls, are squat toilets. Nowhere to sit. At the airport, the stalls are marked as to which type of toilet is inside. From Xian, we flew to Chongqing to board our ship. Stairs, ramp, but once inside, it was really nice. There are 2 elevators but we only used them once. We were led to our cabin on deck 3 and it was fine. Actually better than expected. Comfy bed, Blackout drapes that actually closed all the way. Small bathroom but plenty of vanity and shelf space. Plenty of closet and storage space. Small balcony with 2 chairs. And it was quiet. The service was outstanding. Everyone smiled and made sure that you were happy. The food, buffet for breakfast and lunch, menu for dinner could rival some of the best restaurants. Please note that all of the tables are round tables for 8 people. You are always eating with others. I thought, with my hearing problem, that would bother me but it didn't. We met and talked with so many people from all over the world and made many new friends. Excursions every morning and then, usually, cruising in the afternoon. There were talks about ports or China life. I didn't attend so there were many times I was bored. Some shows in the evening put on by the staff and they were fun. After 6 nights, we flew to Shanghai. Since our flight was delayed and it was raining when we arrived, Anthony decided we should just go to the hotel. We were all very happy. Busy last day. Then, the next morning, we boarded our bus to airport. We were exhausted and we're now trying to get our internal time clock back to Eastern time. So, to summarize: Be prepared for the time difference. Think about when you want to go. Check school schedules and big events. If you have mobility issues, think twice about this trip. Make sure you're up for it because you will miss a lot if you can't climb the stairs or the ramps. In the bathrooms, look for the signs on the stalls as to what time of toilet is inside. Understand that you will always be eating at a table of 8. If you still decide to go, you will be rewarded. There is so much to see and everyone is there to make sure you are happy. The tour escorts are the best. The food and accommodations are top notch. Don't miss the opportunity to visit the school kids. They are charming and they all looked forward to meeting us. Read Less

We always have wanted to experience Asia. We chose Viking to do that knowing that they are the best in handling all details of your trips. This was no exception. While we were only on the ship for 8 days the rest of the time we toured Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Wuhan plus Guilin and several others. Every meal ( except for 1) was well thought out and delicious.Our meals on board were some of the best we've ever had with Viking. Friends that traveled with us had special dietary needs (vegetarian and gluten free) and the staff and chef could not have been more helpful. All of the sights visited from the Great Wall to the Viking School were well planned. They took us to the busiest tourist spots at just the right time in order to avoid the lines while keeping the weather in mind. The hotels we stayed in were all 4+ star accommodations. We had several in country flights and Viking was with us every step of the way. There was not one moment of worry due to language or custom differences. There is so much more I could share with you but the quickest way to describe our experience is Viking takes care of it all! Read Less

Viking as always made this land and river travel comfortable and easy. The person that made everything so easy and rewarding was Leo, the guide that was assigned to our small group. Leo was so accommodating, knowledgeable, proud of his heritage he made every part of the trip interesting and informative. In addition he was continually making sure we were comfortable and enjoying the experience. It was so good to have the same person the whole adventure to rely on for all aspects of the travel. Leo was always available for any of our questions or needs. He handled all of our travel as well as providing the most informative and rich experience understanding the history and depth of his country. He is a real professional and made our experience wonderful. The land accommodations were five star. The river cruise was excellent. Food on land and on the river was excellent with many choices and gave a very great variety in Chinese food. The very best part of the cruise was being assigned In a small group with the same people and same guide. We still keep in touch with people we had in our cohort. Read Less

We wished to visit China and this was river cruise was 6 days out of 15 days total. The river cruise was o.k., the dining and meals on the Viking Emerald were surprisingly good and service was good. Our standard room and bathroom were very tight, I recommend upgrading the room. The Yangtze River is not very scenic, much of the cruise time was rather bland and the facilities at several of the cities we docked at were very ramshackle. The land portion of the tour was very good, we were taken to the Great Wall and to the Terra Cotta Warriors and other important sights. It was unfortunate that the tour had to include three airline flights within China, although flight time for each was only a couple of hours the trips to and from the airports, and going through security, etc. effectively killed the entire day, so 3 days out of 15 were sacrificed to the airline travel. But if you do not do that you will fail to see important sights in this very large country. Read Less

This trip was a 17 day land and river cruise tour which included visits to Beijing, Xian, Lhasa in Tibet, a six day river cruise down the Yangtze involving numerous stops along the way,and a final stop Shanghai. The overall logistics required to accommodate the needs of each our group of 31-beginning with our differing arrivals in Beijing, hotels, tours, 4 domestic flights within China, ship embarkation/disembarkation, meals-all were very well executed without issues. Overall hotel quality was excellent-particularly noteworthy were the Hyatt Regency in Xian and the Fairmont Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Our tour guide David was fantastic- he kept us informed about each and every tour we took and had great command of the English language-which made everyone's experience that much better. The headline tours, such as Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Terra Cotta Warriors, The Portola Palace (former residence of the Dalai Lama) in Tibet, as well as the breathtaking views and commentary through the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze were everything we had hoped for-and beyond! We also very much enjoyed the rickshaw ride and home visit in Beijing, the home host visit to a family residence and our tour of the Sera Buddhist Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, the 12 story climb of the Shibaozhai Temple and views, the grammar school visit in the Jingzhou area and the bells performance in Shanghai were all part of our learning experience. The "xtras"-including the Peking Duck dinner, Tang Dynasty Show and the Shanghai acrobatic troupe, were worth the little extra in costs as they really gave us further insights into Chinese culture Overall food quality and service was from good to excellent- in hotels, restaurants and on the ship. Yes there was alot of Chinese and Tibetan food served on land but our ship food selections were more western in nature, with various selections for everyone's food tastes. The ship itself, although not as modern as one would expect from Viking, was clean and comfortable. All service on board was excellent- cabin stewards, shop managers, waiters, waitresses and the entire ship's staff went out of their way to assist and guide everyone. We were pleasantly surprised as to the quality of the evening entertainment and the cruise director highlights.. My only truly negative comment concerns our overly long stop at the Three Gorges Dam itself- way too long and one could barely see the dam itself as the government keeps all tourists a good distance away for security reasons. Other than that we had a fabulous trip-well worth the money!!!!!! Read Less

The six day river trip on the Yangtze River was part of aa eighteen day adventure in China. From the modern high-rise and lights of Shanghai to the mountain village of Lijiang, this was an exciting and educational experience. The travel through the Three Gorges Dam, the magnificent countryside ad bustling cities, the Panda Reserve experience, the Terra Cotta soldiers, the Forbidden City to the Great Wall made this an adventure of a lifetime. Each day will filled with interesting places to visit and experience along with the local cuisine in each location. Some of the food was very tasty and and although it was similar in content the spices made it different as we traveled from the south of China to the north ending in Beijing. Most of the beer was very mild but was refreshing. The Peking (Beijing) Duck was the best of all the meals, as we as the excellent food served on the Viking Emerald. the accommodations at the various hotels was over the top and the Wanda on the Bund in Shanghai is the nicest hotel we have ever experienced. Don't miss this trip and remember to bring your best walking shoes. Read Less

We did the Viking "Undiscovered China" version (there are two other shorter alternatives). While onboard, you are together with 250 passengers, but on land you are usually with about 25-30 and one tour guide for the entire trip for that group (Mark--outstanding). We started in Shanghai and stayed at the Wanda Reign, a relatively new hotel right on the river (Bund). This was an over the top Art Deco fantasy with an iPad to control the drapes, lights etc., and a toilet whose lid raised up as you entered the room, plus all kinds of bidet functions. This was typical of the other hotels, St. Regis, Chengdu, Westin Lijiang Old Town, Wyndam Grand Xian and Ritz Carleton Beijing. All were 5 stars. We did a pre-extension in Shanghai with a trip to a small town outside Shanghai (Suchow) where they have a grand canal and a classical garden. Then we started the "real" 19 day part of the tour. What we at first didn't realize is that all 250 passengers were in Shanghai, but at 4 different hotels so we didn't see many of them until the ship. Same for Beijing. After Shanghai, we went to Wuhan to pick up the ship for 6 days. This included both the Three Gorges Dam (transited via locks) as well as cruising through the Three Gorges. At the end of this, the 250 people split up as some were going to Tibet, some had the shorter 12 day trip which skipped the pandas at Chengdu (which we saw) etc. In the end there were three groups of 30 or so that had our 19 day route. Lunches on land often included tours to silk factories, jade carving, terra cotta warrior figurines, etc. and were mostly Chinese "round table with lazy-susan) but were all very good and not that repetitive. Dinners alternated nights with large western/Chinese buffets at the hotels, and Chinese restaurants in the local cities. Ship dinners did the same. What some passengers didn't realize is that the ship had a major interior refurbishment between last November and the beginning of April for this year's season. All the carpets, drapes, upholstery were replaced, so earlier complaints about the condition of the ship aren't relevant anymore. Staff was wonderful. We had the Silver Spirits alcohol package on board and they knew what we liked by the second day. Highlights of course were the pandas at the Panda Reserve in Chengdu, the terra-cotta warriors in Xian, and the cruise. We learned so much from our guide Mark who took great care of our group. We've been on Viking's Grand European River Cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam, and this is of course different, but Viking took very good care of all of us throughout. We'd recommend this trip to anyone whose interested in China. One thing to consider: China is not handicapped friendly as in the US. There are lots of steps, hills and cobblestones. We had two people with canes and they got through, but it wasn't easy. Read Less

The time on the riverboat was only a part of Viking's Roof of the World trip. It appears to be an older boat that has been refitted. The refit was done well, but the boat has issues with headroom and small steps at doorways compared to the European riverboats. My big complaint was with the food. It is an all chinese cooking staff. They have no idea how to cook western food and everything is spiced to be very hot. Also, the baked goods leave a lot to be desired. Generally the boat's staff worked very hard and it was every bit as clean and well kept as the European river cruises I have been on. While not as nice as the newer European riverboats it is important to remember China is a vastly different culture.and they have done a good job of making it comfortable for Americans. There are great little shops onboard. The view from the front lounge is fabulous. The air pollution in the eastern part of the trip was quite unpleasant, but it disappeared in the western part. Three gorges was the highlight. But the real highlights of this trip were ShangHai, Lhasa, the Terra Cotta warriors and the Hidden City. Read Less

This was the trip of a lifetime for us. Viking staff made all of the difference in the success of this trip. We began in Beijing. We flew on United from Tampa via Washington Dulles. IAD to PEK was a whopping 14+ hours. Customs clearance in Beijing was fairly painless. We were met by Viking guide Peter, who would be our guide for the next two days. We were taken to the Kerry hotel, where we spend 5 nights. Lovely hotel with small but well equipped room. The hotel has an outstanding health club and indoor pool. Their restaurants are all quite good. Kerry's Kitchen serves buffet for B,L & D. Nice array of Chinese and Western fare. Kerry's Pantry was sort of a take-out restaurant with some seating. Great salads, sandwiches and desserts. Centro is a 24 hour bar and restaurant. The bar was a good hiding place....with an excellent cheeseburger, btw!! We bought the Beijing extension, which gave us a tour of the Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace. Weather was a bit cool - 40's to 50's, but nice and sunny. We had our first lunch at a very large Chinese restaurant. It was pretty good. We had the second day free. We stayed close to the hotel, shopping in the two astonishing adjacent malls. Our actual tour then began. Our guide for the remainder of the journey was Roy. He made the trip for us. Expertly knowledgable and responded to every request and problem. We toured the Great Wall in perfect weather - 50's and piercing bright sun. Roy brought us to a location on the Wall which had almost no other people! Fabulous vantage points and lots of time to shoot photos and just marvel at this wonder of the world. The next day was Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Again perfect weather and great commentary from Roy. Next day we flew to Xi'an. Great flight on China Eastern Airlines. Comfortable seating and on-time flight. Getting through security in all of the Chinese airports is arduous....Full pat downs every time. We stayed at the Wyndham South. This was one of the nicest hotels we've stayed in. It is adjacent to a wonderful ourdoor mall with an engaging walk down to a pogoda. The Terra Cotta Warriors exceeded our expectations. Too much to try to describe here. Next, we flew to Chongqing on Hainan Airlines. It's the largest city in the world. We believed it when we rode through it. It was late in the day, so the building lights were coming on. Breathtaking! It was the first day of a holiday, so traffic was at a standstill. We finally got to the ship's boarding area at around 9pm. We had to descend a large, dangerous set of stairs which had no railing. Points off for Viking on this. We had a suite, # 508. It, along with every other aspect of the ship was just average. The ship is only 8 years old, but is quite worn. The service on the ship was excellent. The food was hit or miss. Everything needed salt, and I normally never salt my food. We had bought the Silver Spirits drink package and found that to be a waste, as we drank mostly the free-flow wine in the restaurant. The noise level in the restaurant was very high, probably due in part to the low ceiings on the ship. Very small fitness room with 2 treadmills, 2 bikes and 2 ellipticals....nothing else. The 6 day cruise was the most scenic cruise we've ever taken. Again, too much to try to describe here. Next, we flew on China Eastern to Shanghai. Exciting drive through this metropolis to the Westin Bund Center. Great hotel with good restaurants. Strange room setup, trying to be funky modern, but was rather dysfunctional. We toured the Yu Gardens and the Shanghai Museum. I'm not a museum person, but this one really appealed to me. It was very spacious and easy to get around.....and it was overwhelming! Finally we flew home on United, connecting in Chicago.....with less than two hours to clear customs and get to our connecting flight. Folks, don't let anyone do this to you. You need a minimum of 4 hours to do this. We barely made it, using the Mobile Passport app. In all, we highly recommend this trip, even though the actual ship is less than Viking's standards. Read Less

What really interested me to go on the trip was that it included Tibet. The ship was older but updated and very nice. Ceilings were lower than I am used to and the slower was cramped, but China owns the boat so that is not something Viking has control over. The room was immaculate and the bed was very comfortable, which is what matters most. Definitely an experience. China is just different. I am still not sure weather that is good or bad, but it was enlightening. The Yangtze gorges were beautiful, the smog on the river was miserable, The food was not western style, even when they tried. I like hot spices, but a lot of their food is beyond hot. They need a different chef. The experience was something not to be missed. Tibet was tremendous, Bejing was great, Shang Hai was beautiful. Definitelt glad I rook the trip Read Less

This was our first trip with Viking and we were very pleased. We felt well taken care of during the entire trip. Entertainment and Activities-Viking organized this trip in such a way that we got to see many highlights of China and Tokyo. Our guide in China was John and he did an amazing job taking care of us. He made the many transfers go smoothly and was exceptionally informative and kind. The ship, cabin , staff, service and food were great. We particularly liked Niko and May. I had a jacket tailored for me on the ship. The jacket is beautiful and fits exceptionally well. There was not a lot of entertainment on the ship, likely because we were kept so busy with excursions, but what we did have was fun and informative. The hotels were absolutely top notch in our opinion. The breakfast buffets were amazing. They provided western as well as eastern cuisine and rivalled any dinner buffet that we have ever attended. The other land based meals were good to great. The shopping areas they took us too were great and explained ahead of time by John - to know what we might want to purchase at each location. We bought a beautiful silk thread picture and were very satisfied with the shipping process that delivered it to our home. Overall, this was a very memorable trip and I would highly recommend it to others. I feel Viking has put together a trip that is the absolute best way to see and experience China. Read Less

This was another fantastic Viking experience made all the more special by our personal guide, Terry, who stayed with us from day 1 til we left. All the staff we met along the way were, as always, very welcoming and really helpful and a great credit to Viking. We extended our trip both at the start and at the end which helped with jet lag and allowed us to explore the fantastic cities of Beijing and Shanghai ourselves. I would really recommend it. Throughout the trip, whether by road or plane Terry our guide was there to make sure everything went smoothly. He was warm, friendly, funny, incredibly knowledgeable and a really great person. His dedication and hard work were exceptional. We did meet other guides and many of the staff on the ship and they all worked hard to make this a really special trip. Thank you all! The ship was great, and although we had heard criticism of the build quality, we didn't see this and it was up to the exacting standard of other Viking ships we have been on. Food on board was up to the usual very high standards we have found with Viking. The excursions were all really great and fascinating, with more extremely knowledgeable guides. We loved every one and only wish we had more time for each - though the time was well balanced as there was lots to see. All in all, this was another fantastic amazing cruise with a great company supported by some special and exceptional staff. Thank you so much. Can't wait for the next one! Read Less

My wife and I chose Viking - and, specifically, their "Imperial Jewels of China" itinerary, for our first trip to China. Overall, we are glad we did so. Though it was not without concerns and drawbacks. To be clear, the experience of visiting China for more than two weeks was fabulous. We have been fortunate to travel well. This was probably our most interesting, brain-stimulating adventure. The scope of change and the pace and magnitude of development are astounding. As are the many inherent contradictions. While both my wife and I wrote extensively about our travels and observations, let me limit this to our Viking experience. Much of this review will focus on the shortcomings and concerns. But let me be clear that our experience was very positive in many, many respects. We were perhaps more adventurous than many in our group; but not adventurous enough to tackle two weeks in so foreign a place as China entirely on our own. Viking provided the opportunity and the structure for us to have this experience. A few notes on the positive side of the ledger. - Our guide, Kobe, was first-rate in so many ways. Others in our group who have been on more guided trips remarked that he was the best guide they had had - anywhere. He was knowledgeable, personable, able to relate to many unique and different people, focused on the details when he had to be, and someone whom it was always a pleasure to be around. - Viking gets very high marks for meticulous and detailed organization. There were roughly 200 people (almost all Americans, Canadians or Brits) on this journey, divided into eight groups of about 25 people each. This is no small undertaking and everything seemed to work seamlessly from our perspective. - The hotels at which we stayed in Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai were all first-rate in all respects. - Through no fault of Viking, we had missed our day in Wuhan (called "the Chicago of the Orient") due to heavy fog on the Yangtze which forced all river traffic to hold in place for nearly 18 hours. Viking unexpectedly decided to make it up to everyone a day later by chartering a boat for a nighttime cruise of the Huangpu River through Shanghai. Seeing the Bund at night from the water was a real treat. Booking this for 200 people was a class move on Viking's part. I could go on with positives and compliments. But let me turn to the downsides which I hope will be more instructive for Viking. - Only six days of this 15-day trip involved the Yangtze cruise. Yet nearly all of the communications from Viking following our booking focused exclusively on the cruise. There was virtually no mention of the equally or more interesting land portion of the itinerary before and after. So much so that my wife and I checked into our Beijing hotel without really knowing where to meet or whom to contact. Viking would be advised to treat this as a unified, 15-day expedition instead of putting virtually all of the emphasis on the river piece. - We decided to fly into Beijing one day early to have 24 hours to explore on our own (as well as to sleep off a bit of jet lag). For this privilege, Viking charged us a $200 "deviation fee" ($100 per person). Yet Viking provided absolutely no services related to this "deviation". In fact, we had to book our own transport from the airport to the hotel at a price of roughly another $100. When I inquired of Viking's main office as to the rationale for the deviation charge, they really had no answer. - Of most annoyance to us and many others in our group, on four separate occasions Viking paired a buffet lunch (usually very average and nondescript) with some kind of factory showroom tour and controlled shopping opportunity. These were respectively for jade, tea, silk and terra cotta figurines. Clearly, this is a case of Viking getting reduced-cost or free lunches in return for bringing a captive audience to a showroom. From talking with others, Viking is apparently renown for this practice in many locales. That doesn't make it right or advisable or anything that I and others liked. - It would have been nice to have at least one or two unscheduled evenings and the chance to find dinner on our own. Especially in Beijing which is famous for its cuisine. On the whole, the food on this trip was decent and certainly plentiful but undistinguished. - The ship (the Emerald) was quite adequate, but past its prime and not up to Viking standards elsewhere. The dining room is ill-placed on the second level instead of up top with a view. The ceiling in the dining room is quite low which makes it very noisy and hot (with somewhat variable air conditioning). Our cabin was fine, but nothing more than that. Corridors are narrow and floors are somewhat uneven. There is really only one outside deck. A number of nooks and crannies which could make for nice sitting areas are instead given over to onboard merchants selling the usual Chinese fare at vastly inflated prices. I understand that much of this is a function of Viking being required to use Chinese ships. And that a new ship is under construction. Nonetheless... - I am familiar with the usual tipping procedure on cruises whether with Viking or other lines. But the process here was needlessly confusing. We try to be generous tippers, but the number that they added to our onboard bill was exorbitant. Also, there was an ambiguity as to whether this sum also included our guide for the full 15 days. We opted to reduce what we did for the ship's crew and to deal separately and privately with our excellent guide. - Lastly, this is a tricky one, but it needs to be said that our group (and seemingly each group) included people of widely varying physical abilities. Three of the 25 people in our group used wheelchairs or walkers. In no way am I suggesting that folks with such disabilities shouldn't be included in such trips. In fact, I admire their courage and tenacity in continuing such adventurous travel. (And I come with three joint replacements of my own.) But Viking should be more transparent with prospective guests as to the limitations this will cause for others. Why not attempt some selective grouping so that those who are more fit and adventurous can undertake and explore a bit more? That's more than enough. Again, let me make clear that the positive far outweighed the negative with respect to Viking and this trip. Despite the number of words I gave to each in this review. But there are plenty of each. Final word of advice: If you haven't been to China, go. Whether with Viking or some other group or on your own. It is a fascinating place and much of the future is taking shape there. Read Less

We have always wanted to visit China to see the difference in cities, culture and landscapes! This Cruise/Land Tour trip was the perfect way to do that. In the two weeks that we were there we saw 6 megacities, flew three domestic flights within China along with experiencing their airlines and airports, in addition to the 7 night, 6 day cruise on the Yangtze river! -Embarkation went smoothly except for a minor glitch of delayed luggage due to customs holding up one bus temporarily. This is not the fault of the cruise staff and we still left on time. Disembarking was a breeze as was transferring to and from the many airports and hotels. Never had to deal directly with our luggage until the time came to check baggage for our return flight home from Beijing! -The hotel accommodations were unbelievably top notch! All were 5*+ and we felt that the Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai and the Wyndham in Xian were the nicest rooms we've ever stayed in! -The food on board the ship and in all the restaurants was phenomenal. So many opportunities to try new and unusual dishes that we'd never heard of or had before. The only "problem" was there was always too much! -Service aboard the ship was excellent from the cabin attendant to our wonderful waitress Alice and waiter in the dining room. Many are multitalented and also provide the passengers with evening entertainment shows! Any requests of staff were handled efficiently and with a smile. -A variety of onboard activities were offered, from experiencing a tea ceremony explanation, having a silk garment made to talks by the tour director and explanations by local experts on the history, culture and sites as we made our way on Yangtze for six days. -The shore excursions and land tours were equally eye opening, everything I expected and so much more! Visiting a 2nd grade classroom in an elementary school was one of many opportunities to interact one on one with the people. The tours did require some physical activity and walking. Climbing 12 floors to the top of a temple, watching the giant pandas in the Chongquin Zoo, exploring the Three Gorges dam and Terra Cotta warriors in Xian. The Three Gorges on the Yangtze were amazing with a chance to see up close one the most beautiful gorges from a Sampan! Walking on the Great Wall may have been the highlight however. There were just so many sites and experiences in this trip! We have been to many places in the world but we both agree that this is probably the most memorable trip we've taken! -The advantages of having a tour director with our group the whole two weeks was unbelievable. Our tour director Roy for our group of 36 people was Amazing. He did everything and I mean everything! He handled every little detail so that we could just enjoy ourselves. He made the difference between a good trip and an unbelievably excellent trip and he should be commended many times over. Read Less

NO COMMENTS ON VESSEL (OR CABINS) BECAUSE THIS WAS HER LAST VIKING CRUISE. A BRAND NEW SHIP IN 2019!!! Our 2-week Imperial Jewels odyssey, Shanghai to Bejing, celebrated our 50th anniversary. It was extremely well-organized by very competent staff. Airfare booked thru Viking provided direct flights on American Airlines & included all transfer of ourselves & bags. Welcoming Viking escorts met us, took us to our hotels on the first of many tour bus rides & handled check-in. We met our excellent, personable & continually informative Viking escort, Roy Liu, & our "family" of 35 fellow travelers. All 3 cities featured elegant 4-5 star hotels like Ritz-Carlton. We sailed from Wuhan after 2 nights. The tour includes 3 internal flights on Chinese airlines via vast modern airports. Plentiful daily sightseeing utilizes travel days to see things en route. It is a VERY strenuous tour including countless stairs & uneven pavement. (Few wheelchair service opportunities.) Our only excursion-free "day of rest" was the first on the river. Fascinating, constant learning opportunities introduced the culture, history, landmarks, etc.plus activities like daily Tai Chi exercise class. The hard-working, totally service-oriented Chinese crew provided night time entertainment with colorful costumes & folk dancing. No formal nights or casino. Nice bars with live music duo. No smoking. The ship's elegant dining room had 8-person tables; no assigned seats. Breakfast & lunch had both buffet & menu service. Western-style foods are plentiful on board & at hotels, but don't go if you dislike Chinese cuisine. Restaurant meals on excursions usually many dishes family-style on a "lazy Susan." LOVED the food's variety, flavors, & freshness but missed ice cubes! Viking constantly supplied necessary bottled water. (Even used for brushing teeth!) Free-flow "house" wine, beer, soft drinks at meals. ON SHIP: Wi-fi free but seldom available due to geography. OFF SHIP: Wi-fi free at hotels but no Google, Facebook, etc. Need alternative apps. ALWAYS carry toilet paper; ladies, brief wait for western-style public toilets. Highlights too numerous to list included the expected like Terra Cotta warriors & Great Wall & unexpected like a Chinese elementary school & the exotic Goddess stream gorge. This trip does NOT go to the panda breeding center. We adored these charmers at their Chonqing Zoo enclosures. Glad we went south-to-north as Beijing was the peak experience! November chilly but bearable up north, still warm & humid in the south. (October has millions of Chinese traveling for biggest national holidays.) Viking doesn't waste time at overpriced "factory" businesses but took us to a few quality establishments selling silk embroidery, bronzes, jade, etc. The few small shops on board had higher prices than on land & didn't bargain. Most popular was a tailor creating custom-made silk garments that were bargains compared to US prices. Order early! Added-cost excursions: Only 3, We did the Tang Dynasty Dinner/Show at Xian & the Kung Fu Theatre in Beijing. Both FABULOUS theatrical productions with music,dance, thrills, astonishing special effects worthy of Las Vegas. Incredible value! SO GLAD we experienced this journey to an endlessly surprising, dynamic destination! Read Less

First of all I apologize for the lateness of this review as I've been busy with life since getting back. We went on the Viking Emerald Yangtze River cruise because a.) we wanted to see the real China, and b.) our daughter was studying abroad in Shanghai and we decided to tack on a few days at the end of the cruise to visit her. It was our first Viking cruise, and if it was indicative of how Viking operates I am looking forward to being a repeat customer. Our journey started in Beijing. It took use four hours to get through the multiple lines, two artificial intelligence photos, one misplaced bag and countless immigration officials at the Beijing airport. We were sure that the Viking official who was to pick us up would have left by the time we made it through the gantlet. I was preparing to get a cab to our hotel. But no, Leo, who would serve as our guide throughout the trip, was waiting at the end of the maze for us. That got everything off to the right foot. It really is more of a tour than a cruise. You are split up into groups of about three dozen, and you stay in that group the duration of the trip with the same tour guide. You also start to make friends with a variety of people you did not know before. Leo was fantastic. The poor guy was herding cats the whole trip, and it started five minutes into our first tour at Tiananmen Square, where one person made a wrong turn almost immediately as we got off the bus. But Leo was patient, and eventually he was reunited with the group. China is a strenuous tour. But not impossible. There's a lot of walking, Viking did arrange a wheelchair for one person in our group, and even though China is not an accessible-friendly country, he did manage quite well with the aid of a Viking associate. Basically our tour started with land tours in Beijing, Xi'an, and Chongqing. That took about five days. In Chongqing we boarded the Emerald and traveled down the Yangtze for about six days. Then from Wuhan we flew to Shanghai to complete the tour. Viking offers the same tour in the opposite direction. In addition to the tourist sites, we got to see how regular people live, meeting an artist in her home in one of the poorest sections of Beijing, and visiting a primary school that is sponsored by Viking. The food was spectacular. We had Peking Duck in Beijing, and a variety of food throughout the trip both o the ship and in restaurants. I don't drink so I can't attest to the wine and beer, but I heard no complaints. The ship was great. The public rooms and our guest room were well-maintained and clean. The staff was friendly and always available to help. If China is something on the bucket list, I would highly recommend Viking. Read Less

The staff was very service oriented and professional. Opportunity to learn a lot of cultural information about China history, way of life. Fun and interesting people, plus fun shows by the staff. Like the beer and wine at meals at no additional cost. Smooth ride up a river than in the ocean. Tour guides where informative and English speaking was very good. Will go on another river cruise sometime in the future. Hotel accommodations prior and after cruise were excellent. Air fairs could have been more direct for us living In Seattle than fly to Dallas and then to China and returning to Dallas before proceeding to Seattle. When others in our groups flight did go to Seattle. Weather was great for this trip and our concerns for smog did not develop in the big cities. We had clear beautiful days. Tour buses where great and lots of water was handed out to those who needed it. Great variety of excursion tours to learn culture and opportunities to shop and taste different foods. We would recommend this tour to anybody interested in China. Like that no motorized chairs where able to use this cruise like some ocean cruises. You had to be able to walk so tours were not slowed up. Read Less

Never been there, wonderful experience. It was a great experience,guide was wonderful. Would do trip again, if the world wasn’t so big. Looking forward to our next adventure. Met wonderfully people. Really enjoyed traveling with them. Hotels were excellent. Next time we would be a little bit more aggressive. Money exchange was a bit confusing, use credit cards. Tours were great enjoyed everyday, looking forward to our next trip. Staff was great everything was wonderful. Foods were a experience, difficult to make choices although they tried to give us choices. Beer and wine on board was great, no complaints. We really recommend this trip it was more than we expected. China is a great country, but we really needed more time there. Only complaint was boarding our ship, which was horrible. They really needed a better boarding ramp. Everyone was upset the way we boarded. The ship was great once we were aboard. Read Less

Great itinerary to see China (Beijing/Great Wall; Xian/Terra Cotta Warriors; Yangtze River/3 Gorges Dam & sights) and land portion of tour with excellent guides and 5 star hotels was really outstanding. However, the Viking Ship Emerald (actually a Chinese ship with all Viking passengers) was damp and musty with below average service. Humidifiers in hallways should have given us our first clue as to serious problems with the ship. We asked for room humidifier and air filter fans and the crew provided these immediately. Dining room service was unusual for a cruise -- couples had to share menus at dinner and at lunch only one menu per table was provide for 8 people (does Viking have a strange cost cutting effort going on?) -- and wait service was impatient and wanted you to order quickly. My onboard credit was denied and I was curtly asked to prove that I had it. Luckily I had a cruise reservation form that had a Viking logo on it so they could finally give us our $250 credit. We has a suite but no one told us that laundry was free -- the Viking documentation was generic and said we had to pay. All other cruises we have taken have a paper in the room which tells of perks that come with the room. Embarkation to ship at Chongqing was a true disaster, extremely unsafe and must be fixed by Viking. From busses we had to descend many crumbling concrete stairs with no railings dragging our carry on luggage by ourselves with absolutely no help from Viking staff of 10-15 standing by watching us struggle to help each other down the wet and muddy stairs. When we complained the Viking staff said China did not allow the Viking ship staff to help us; however, someone delivered our large luggage from the airport to the ship down those same stairs. The ship is supposed to be refurbished in Dec 2018 so that may help appearance, but probably not service. I give this cruise 3 stars because the guides were terrific (ours was Joshua); tours very good (lots of steps -- not easy, but outstanding); the hotels were 5 star plus; and the itinerary outstanding. I also hope that Viking can fix the embarkation disaster (should be easy fix) and the ship is being refurbished. We hope Viking could train the crew to European standards and print a few more menus. Read Less

This was part of a multi centre trip to China. It was a 6 night cruise down the Yangtze River. Staff, food and excursions were exceptional. However, the boat has a very serious problem with damp/ excessive humidity. We were advised to ask for dehumidifiers in our cabin when we first arrived. These were provided but made little difference to the dampness overall. Our clothes and bedding were always cold from the damp. The linen in the dining room was damp also. When we arrived at our next destination, I had to take all our clothes out of the suitcases to air them as they were damp! When we returned I advised Viking of my concerns and was informed that the Yangtze River was experiencing high humidity at that time! It is interesting to note that other travellers on this ship sailing at different times were also told the same! Some cabins were definitely worse than others with this problem. I expressed my concerns that if travellers had any respiratory problems, there could be serious repercussions. It is also worth noting that wewere offered £500 off the next trip. This boat is leased to Viking from the Chinese and therefore Viking are unable to rectify this problem themselves. Read Less

My 90 year old mother chose this trip after taking Prague to Paris with the grandaughters. Its was wonderful. After reading the reviews, I was concerned about the physical aspects of the trip & reviewers discussing the difficulty of the terrain & lack of access to those with disabilities. Keep in mind my mother walks at least a mile a day, rides an exercise bike regularly. She’s pretty salty for 90. To be safe, I contacted the travel agent 2x- who reassured me that this trip would not be a problem. Wrong, Wrong. So wrong. While this trip provided an excellent array of excursions to showcase China’s history, art, museum exhibits - that doesn’t help you if you can’t get there to see them. Our group’s guide James, who was a wealth of information- did his best to make arrangements for mom at the disembarkment spots but it was still too much. The stairs at every port were unbelievable- usually at least 90- so double that for the return trip. Add to that the heat & humidity in late June - brutal. All the Viking staff on shore & the ship were fabulous- courteous, knowledgeable, friendly- but apparently our travel agent dropped the ball. My mom was unable to enjoy several excursions( the ones she really wanted to see- the Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors, the Temple) due to exhaustion and knee & hip pain. There were other much younger cruisers who were grumbling about “boot camp” throughout the tour. Just make sure you are in decent shape and stay hydrated. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we had never been to China and having cruised with Viking before it was a no brainer. Doubtful that we would ever consider any other Cruise Line. The food and service on board the Viking Emerald was excellent, as were the on shore excursions. Our favorite shore excursion was the school visit, a surprise because neither of us are what you would call children people. Our tour began in Shanghai and ended in Hong Kong. The weather cooperated wonderfully, light sprinkles in Shanghai And a 15 minute down pour on Victoria peak in Hong Kong which the local guide told us would happen. Of the cities we visited Guilin was our favorite, we thought it was quite beautiful.. The cruise on the River Li was spectacular. The only complaint would be we were tired of Chinese buffets, but we were in China. Our tour guide Tom was with us from Shanghai and said good bye in Hong Kong. He was excellent. Read Less