Fantastic Experience

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 0

Helpful Votes: 19

Review summary

The hotels we stayed in were top notch 5-star hotels. Very luxurious, excellent attention to detail. World class staff, excellent food, extremely comfortable, with all amenities. Our tour guide, Jimmy, was very friendly and knowledgable. He shared about the history and culture and made our entire trip enjoyable. We actually have emailed back and fourth several times. Despite being taken to some tourist traps like the silk rug factory, jade factory, embroidery store we enjoyed all of the tours. The main reason we went on this trip was to see the Terracotta Warriors. In the end the highlight was the great wall. It was awe-inspiring and breathtaking. Some of the museum tours were a little long for my taste but we got a very well rounded taste of the history and culture of China. This was my first river cruise experience. I have cruised oceanliners 8+ times. If you are expecting an ocean cruise ship this is not it. That said, we loved it! All staterooms are outside cabins with balconies. The ship was very clean and since it is not very big we did not get lost. The one thing I wish it had was a swimming pool. It was very hot and humid in August. It would have been nice to be ableto cool off. Our first night on the ship was very humid and our cabin felt very damp. We went to the front desk and they immediately gave us a choice of other cabins. (I think the airconditioner was malfunctioning) They were very accomodating and our next cabin was great. The crew is essentially the only entertainment, but they put on a great show for us. They are very friendly and can't do enough for you. There were some intersting lectures onboard but frequently we bypassed those to sit outside with a drink watching the scenery and taking pictures. Did I say it was humid? At times I could not use my camera due to the lens fogging up. The scenery ranges from boring to incredibly beautiful. The food was very good and there were several choices each meal. I did enjoy the food while touring the various regions in China and found the choices abundant. The meal stops while on tour were not typically high class, but the food was good. Overall excellent experience. I was a little leary of going with a tour group as we usually discover places on our own. We thoroughly enjoyed it and made friends that we have been in touch with and shared pictures and stories with. Will definitely river cruise again. I love the constant scenery and there is no motion sickness!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Pros: Loved the itinerary and the crew

Cons: Not much to do on the ship

Recommends Viking Emerald? Yes!