Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1078347
v i k i n g c r u i s e s . c o m . a u 21 On-shore exploration is a focus for Viking and, alongside paid options, it includes a free excursion in each port of call: a visit to the Great Wall of China while we're docked in Tianjin, for example, and a tour including an ascent of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong. However, as Mum says more than once, "you almost want to just stay on the ship" — and not just to avoid dealing with the local squat toilets (in contrast, birdsong plays in the immaculate loos aboard the ship). Mum aptly characterises the on-board experience as "very adult". Viking has a "no kids, no casinos" policy, billing its voyages as "the thinking person's cruise", and the approach to shipboard activities and entertainment reflects this. ere are the usual trivia competitions and dance classes but the emphasis is on enrichment and education, with some excellent lectures from guest speakers that provide background to our ports of call, complemented by talks and discussions run by the resident historian and the on-board astronomer. • Viking Orion's 15-day Far East Discovery voyage between Hong Kong and Beijing has two departures next year, in September and October. ey're priced from $9095 per person twin share for a veranda stateroom. • Orion's other destinations include Alaska and the Inside Passage, Japan and South-East Asia. It'll call Australia home for three months each year from December 4, when it arrives in Darwin during a voyage from Bali to Sydney. • While in local waters, the ship will offer 15-day Australia and New Zealand cruises between Sydney and Auckland, with prices from $8995. Bookings are available up to 2021. To book, see travel agents, log on to vikingcruises.com.au/oceans, or phone 138 747. You'll need a visa for a China cruise. You can apply via post or in person at the China Visa Application Service Centre at 256 Adelaide Terrace, Perth. e centre recommends you apply at least a month prior to your trip, but no earlier than three months before departure. See visaforchina.org Viking Orion's pool deck with its roof retracted while docked in Hong Kong