Hi Schaitberger - we leave the US on May 3, 2011 so we'll be a few weeks ahead of you. Have you taken a look at www.cruisecritic.com? Check out their forums and maybe even post a 'shout out' to see if anyone is going during your time. I'm sure you're getting as excited as we are.
Susan

Suspaul,

Would love to hear any impressions or thoughts regarding Viking China. Hope you are having a great time. We are cannot wait until June 1.

Best regards,

Joe and Leslie schaitberger
Atlanta, GA

Hi Schaitberger - We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to China with Viking, would highly recommend it to those not interested or willing to do the trip on their own. We returned last Monday (5.16) and finally feel 'back to normal' whatever that means. The trip was wonderful, we saw the things that we were interested in seeing and feel we got a good taste of China. I consider us to be adventurous travelers as we usually travel on our own but China was a country we wanted guidance in. We had a super tour director, Charles, who provided lots of insight including his own life during the cultural revolution and interesting information all during the trip. The ship was very nice, we had a cabin on the lower floor but still had a small balcony, spacious (for a river ship) cabin, the hotels used by Viking were more than adequate, the food was OK, lots of noodles and rice but hey, you're in China, right? All in all it was a memorable trip and one we're glad to have done with Viking. We've also booked another river cruise in Europe with Viking for December 2011 - that's how much we enjoyed them. I can't wait to hear how your trip goes, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it. If you have any questions just let me know, I'll check this board more frequently. Oh, one word, you may want to bring antibiotics from your doctor, we both came down with an upper respiratory type infection as did many others by the end of the trip.
Susan