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Viking River Cruises

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France River

Excellent

Very Good

Viking Buri

Viking Heimdal

Viking Hermod

Viking Delling

Malta (Valletta)

My husband and I booked our first river cruise with Viking because of the fabulous stories we heard from many friends and acquaintances. The Rhone trip to Provence and Lyon really appealed to us and a September sailing date promised fine weather. Our trip was a perfect experience! Our Viking crew was certainly dedicated to making every detail seamless and enjoyable - from travel assistance to dining experiences, shore excursions to personal comforts aboard ship. Dining on board was so wonderful that we rarely stayed ashore for meals. The ports we visited were great choices for cultural and educational experiences and the local guides added personal stories and a sense of pride in describing the histories of their towns and cities. After eight days, we could say that there was never a single glitch. Upon our return home, we joined the chorus of those who sing the praises of Viking River Cruises. We're looking forward to our next cruise...the Rhine?

Provence Experience

We love history, we love Roman history, and we love wine.  We had never been to France before, and this trip gave us everything.  Viking organization is impeccable; the shore tours are extremely well conducted.  The tour guides are always first class. There is never any ambiguity about where and when events are going on.  I am impressed with how the crew gets everyone to participate, and enjoy themselves.  

We love the food on board.  We really appreciate the local cuisine offerings.  We also appreciate the portion sizes - just right.  There's never any problem enjoying all the courses and the dessert.  The house wines are always good.  

I know the staff must be working very hard to keep things running smoothly and on time, but they always have a smile and are polite and friendly.  They get to know you, even in a trip as short as one week.

I have encouraged my friends and acquaintances to consider a Viking trip, even if they think it's only for the well-off, as there are frequent special offers.

Roman historical southern France

We chose the French Provence cruise because we wanted to explore southern France and end it in Paris. Every port gave us an opportunity to see the cities and villages of France.

While giving a wonderful place to return to on board the ship. The rooms were very comfortable and the cuisine was delicious. Entertainment was entertaining. The pianist was very good. All of the staff was friendly and helpful with whatever was needed. We travel with our malienial daughter and she thoroughly enjoyed the river cruise up the Rhone and Saone. She really enjoyed the food and drinks  provided by Viking. And the cuisine was geared to give everyone a taste of France. The smaller size ship gives a more intimate feeling and enables the guests to mist and mingle. She found the cruise very enriching and would definitely cruise with Viking in the further, saying it is not just a cruise for older people.

Our first but not last Viking cruise

We were intrigued by the combination ability on this particular cruise.  We wanted to see a lot of France and so we started on the Heimdal on the Rhone but after that week was over we took the high speed train to Paris and joined the Viking Rinda for a second week, this time on the Seine.  Both were excellent.  Our cabin was lovely and comfortable and even the weather co-operated (both cruises) and we were able to sit out on our verandah and relax when we didn't feel like going up to the upper deck and join the masses.

The food, service, crew, etc are top notch.  And so many "extras" are included so we didn't feel nickel & dimed to death like on all the ocean cruises (big ships) we've been on.

Loved it!

This was our 4th & 5th cruise with Viking River Cruises and it won't be our last.

We've also been on one of Viking's ocean cruises and won't go back to the "big" ships after such a lovely inclusive and intimate trip.

The entire experience was wonderful!

I wanted to go to Avignon and wasn't disappointed.  The other ports of call Vienne, Lyon, Arles, etc. were lovely and interesting.  The winery excursion was interesting and fun.  Really all of the excursions were excellent - the tour guides were knowledgeable and entertaining.  

The dining room crew in particular were excellent.

Viking is organized and attentive to detail so that everything runs seamlessly.  The cabin was nice and pretty much as expected.  Everyone on board seemed to be focused on ensuring a great trip for every passenger.  The dining room crew, in particular, were excellent -- they helped to make meals fun.

The food was great - I do recommend the drinks package.  As mentioned earlier the dining room personnel were beyond excellent and attentive.

One major issue - a virus - was addressed quickly but could have been communicated better.

I will definitely try another river cruise and am looking forward to planning one in 2018,

Beautiful scenery, wonderful ports, fabulolous food and the crew rocked

Heard so many rave comments we chose Viking. Also Viking allowed some free time but not too much compared to other companies and that appealed to us. Very knowledgeable staff from Program Director to the person making up our bed in the cabin, Viking representatives met and transported us everywhere and the food was great. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about France, particularly walking around on our own and exploring. We immediately booked another trip for next year to different countries.

We met wonderful people from other countries that made the learning experience so much more. We suggest Americans not be clique-ish and hang around with the same people/relatives/friends they grew up with and mix in more. 

Liked the idea of reading the menu a couple of hours before going into the dining area. We always ordered from the left side of the menu, the one with the very regional foods!

Southern France

This was my 2nd river cruise with Viking and I have already booked my next one with them.

Boat and service was up to the normal Viking standard, very good.

Viking didn't recognise that we were 2nd time travellers. We were told we would find something in our room. It was sent to another room, when it did turn up it was a bottle of the same free wine that we had been drinking all week.

The last port we docked at was Chalon-sur-Saone, which is a very nice town, but we docked in a unused run down port. Opposite the boat when we docked was a make shift bar that looked very rough. People I spoke to on our trip also felt like myself, which was uneasy to be in this area and didn't want to go for a walk after dinner, and it is a quite a walk into town. Other boats of the same size were using the water edge dock nearer the town centre.

We booked this cruise after looking at out flight times, but Viking gave us later flights.

On the walking tour of Lyon we had a local guide who seem to know very little about the town and seem to keep looking at her mobile. 

I am hoping the next trip is of a better standard.

Are standards slipping?

I booked a package directly from Viking including RT air, 7 night cruise from Avignon to Chalon sur Saone, 3 night extension in Paris, and all transfers. We flew into Marseilles where a representative took us to a waiting transfer bus.  The cruise was very good. Our cabin was a category A veranda on deck 3. Cabin was well appointed. The bed was comfortable. The lighting was excellent. Although the bathroom was small, it was well organized. The L'Occitane bath products were very good. The bath towels and bed linens were extremely nice. Our cabin stewardess promptly serviced our cabin whenever we went to breakfast or dinner. There was also bottled water in the cabin. Electrical outlets were in pairs. 110v and 220v on both bed stands and in other locations. Hairdryer dried my hair. It was better than many other cruise lines. Included tours were good. We opted for the leisure tours and were happy with the pace. The audio listening device was excellent. Food on the ship was good. Dinner had 3 menu choices that changed nightly and 3 standard options ( steak, chicken, and salmon). I ate all my meals in the main restaurant. I loved the Taste of Provence lunch buffet. The included beer and wine with meals was good. The docking locations were not always in good locations. It would have been better if they docked in places where you could just walk off and be in a town or offer shuttle service in all ports. A shuttle bus was offered only in Tarascon going to Arles. Entertainment was limited to a piano player and some local entertainers. There was a lecture or selling event in Lyon on silk scarves. The scarves were not all silk and were priced too high. A rayon scarf for 59euros was the cheapest on the ship. I did not buy any scarves at that sale. I did buy some beautiful silk scarves in Paris. The transfer from Chalon to Paris was by bus. We stopped for a brief walking tour and lunch in Auxerre. We arrived in Paris and were taken to the wrong hotel. The guide insisted that we were in the right place. Only after we showed her the printed paper with the hotel location, did she apologize. That mishap delayed our arrival at our Paris Hotel by more than an hour. The included hotel was the St. James Albany Hotel on Rue Rivoli. Location was excellent. It was across from the Louvre and Tuilleries Gardens. Metro line 1 had a stop close to the hotel. Included breakfasts were average. The hotel room was dark and dirty. Linens were terrible. It was not nearly as good as our cruise experience. The restaurant at the hotel was 202 Rue Rivoli. We ate dinner there one evening. I made the reservation on tripadvisor and saved 20% off the entire bill. The food was excellent.

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