Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald

Asian Adventure: Roof of the World Tour Overview
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Asian Adventure: Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Asian Adventure: Regent Beijing Hotel
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Dongcheng District
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Great Wall
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Run-ze Jade Garden
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Legend of Kung Fu
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Tiananmen Square
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Asian Adventure: Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Asian Adventure: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Potala Palace
Asian Adventure: Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald
Asian Adventure: Shibaozhai Temple
Asian Adventure: Cruising the Three Gorges
Asian Adventure: Three Gorges Dam
Asian Adventure: Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Asian Adventure: Wuhan - Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Shanghai Museum
Asian Adventure: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Asian Adventure: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour
Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

While my two previous river cruises had also been with Viking, the boat for the Yangtze cruise was quite different.  For starters it was not owned by Viking because the Chinese government does not allow non-Chinese-owned boats to traverse their rivers.  But Viking had outfitted this boat in a style similar to their European longboats though since there are no low bridges on the Yangtze, the Emerald had several more decks than the 3-deck European version.

The Viking Emerald (right) at our first port of call

Similar to our other Viking cruises we were warmly greeted by the staff once we arrived - no doubt they were glad to see us finally aboard as our late arrival probably threw off their schedule!  In addition to Leo's group who'd been in Lhasa with us, we joined roughly 200 other guests who'd been on the Imperial Jewels of China tour.  That tour was identical to ours except it did not go to Tibet.  So they'd arrived in Beijing just as we'd left and had been three days behind us ever since.

We felt right at home on the Emerald because even though there were more decks, the decor and layout of the decks were very similar to the European boats.  The Emerald has six decks (Viking deck plan):

• Deck 1 is mostly below waterline and is for the crew
• Deck 2 has the restaurant aft and passenger cabins in the bow. This is where most of our group stayed.
• Decks 3 & 4 have passenger cabins both fore and aft of the center atrium
• Deck 5 has passenger cabins in the stern and the Observation Lounge in the bow
• Deck 6 has an outdoor area in the stern, the gym, beauty salon, doctor, spa and internet café mid-ship and the bar in the bow

An elevator for decks 2-5 is available in the atrium.  Once reaching Deck 5 it's quite an impressive view down to the atrium floor.

Looking down to the lobby from the fifth deck

My roommate for this trip wanted to be sure we had an excellent, memorable time on this trip and wanted a larger than average cabin.  The regular Veranda cabins on Decks 2-5 are all the same size, it just costs more to be up higher.  There are four Junior Suites that cost a good bit more than the regular cabins but really aren't much larger.  So we decided to book a Suite which was 301 sq. ft. or about 50 sq. ft. larger than the regular rooms.  (We did decide to skip the $11,000 per person Explorer Suites!) While you must pay extra for a balcony on the European river cruise boats, on the Emerald everyone has a balcony though they are quite small.

Suites

While the layout of the Suites and the Veranda cabins are very similar, the biggest difference is in elbow room.  The Suites almost feel like a regular hotel room, just a bit on the smaller side: bathroom on one side, closet on the other, then step into the area with beds, sofa and desk and beyond that the balcony.

Waiting for us on our beds were our copies of the Viking Daily, the newsletter we got each night telling us about the plans for the next day.  The white linens may be easier to take care of but Viking wisely provides these gray rubberized mats on the beds during check-in so that we can put our suitcases on the beds without fear of soiling the duvets.  Once we're done unpacking they get tucked away out of sight for the rest of the trip.  All cabins have beds that can be joined together or split as singles.  They're not the most comfortable beds to be sure but after a long travel day like the one we'd had they felt great.  The beds have enough clearance to easily be able to store our large suitcases underneath.  One thing that could have used better planning is the lack of electrical outlets near the bed.  There was no way to charge our phones - which double as our alarms - while we slept.

Beds and Sofa in the Suite

Waiting for us on the coffee table by the sofa was a bottle of champagne.  I'm not sure if that's because we were in a suite or if it was a welcome back present since this was my third Viking cruise.

Welcome amenity of champagne

The desk was across from the sofa and here we found a number of electrical outlets.  Unlike the European boats which feature both European 220v and US 110v outlets, this boat had only the Chinese 220v outlets.  Fortunately we had enough adapters to make it work.

Desk with a multitude of outlets

The TV was wall-mounted across from the bed and here's where we really noticed a difference from the Veranda cabins. In those cabins there just enough room to walk between the end of the bed and the wall.  The Suites not only had plenty of room to walk but storage areas under this counter.

TV with storage area

This corner cabinet had several shelves and underneath there was space for a mini-fridge though our room didn't have one - not that we'd have used it anyway.

Corner cabinet

Between the corner cabinet and the door was the wardrobe which had a full-length mirror on the exterior.  Across from that was the bathroom. This was so much larger than I'd experienced on the European boats that I'm not sure how I'm going to go back to a smaller room!  The whole right side, which backed to the hallway, was a counter with two sinks.  There was lots of counter space and the far end had the toiletries.  Underneath was a long shelf that ran the entire length of the wall as well.

Two sinks in the bathroom

The left side was a walk-in shower with sliding door.  Behind the bathroom door was yet more shelving - we didn't even use that at all.

Walk-in shower

While the European river cruise boats have made-for-Viking toiletries, the Emerald had L'Occitane products that I really liked.

L'Occitane toiletries

Common Areas

Near the central staircase on Decks 2 & 3 there are a few little shops.  One sold jewelry, another locally made products and the third sold mass merchandise souvenirs.

Jewelry Shop

Local goods shop

Souvenir Shop

Deck 5 had the business center/internet café...

Business center at one end of the room...

that also had an area for playing cards or just conversing.

Conversation area at the other end

The very small gym was near the staircase on Deck 5.

The ship's library was on the opposite side of the gym.

The library is an actual room on this boat instead of the nook that is on the European boats

Just about any time of day you can get a cup of coffee or tea at this station outside the Observation Lounge.  And after about midday you can usually find some of their yummy cookies there too.  The Observation Lounge was where we had a briefing each night about the next day's itinerary.  Early each morning the ship's doctor led a Tai Chi class there.

Coffee, tea or ... cookies!

The Bar

Observation Lounge - the black curtains denote the dance floor which was also used for tai chi in the mornings

Crew

While on a European cruise you'll typically have crew members from a multitude of countries, the crew of the Emerald - except for the hotel director - were all Chinese.  But all those who interacted with us spoke excellent English and had adopted an English name to help us out.

Everyone I dealt with on board was just fantastic.  Many were students who were taking a gap year from school and were eager to do a great job.  I really appreciated their attitudes and willingness to help.

Summary

We noticed differences in the European and Chinese boats but they were really pretty minimal.  It was noticeably more humid on the boat and they even had de-humidifiers running in the hallways but I'm not sure what more they could have done.  But that was about all I could find to complain about so that's pretty good.