Just returned from our first Viking river cruise on the Forseti. I can't say enough great things about our experience. The staff on this cruise was phenomenal. Suzi was our cruise director and she was fabulous. She runs a flawless operation and we so enjoyed talking with her about her experiences in France. The entire staff in the dining room (Georgia and Georgi especially) saw to it that all of our meals were exceptional. My buddies in the bar, Boris and Dragos, are the best customer service reps that Viking could ask for. They made our trip extra special. We miss them. It was amazing to watch the entire crew from the Captain down all chip in with excursions, luggage, provisions. Truly a team effort. All of our excursions were great, especially the oyster trip to Arcachon, If you are taking this trip in the future, don't miss this one. Also, the dinner at Chateau Kirwan was exceptional. We had a French balcony room which was small but adequate for the small amount of time spent in it. If you love wine and great food, take this trip! Already looking at our next journey with Viking. Read Less

Love of France Wine New area Try out Viking We were pleased by all aspects of our hopes for discovery and adventure. Loved this part of France with history, culture, and cuisine. Made new friends on the boat. We decided we wanted to go on more Viking cruises as a result. We liked the opportunity to choose from a variety of excursions each day...even creating some of our own...with the assistance of Viking staff. Food was great. Planning help for pre cruise was good All made for a fun and happy time for us. We traveled to Bordeaux several days prior to our cruise and explored on our own. When we arrived at the airport to drop off our car, Viking hosts greeted us and provided transportation to our ship. The daily excursions were informative, interesting, and often included wine and food. The cuisine on board the ship reflected the French culture. On departure day, the Viking staff was superb in guiding us through the airport and to our plane. Read Less

Loved the boat and got to experience Paris for 4 days post cruise. Visiting the different wineries was awesome. We came as a group of 3 couples. We were all celebrating anniversaries. The staff was not only great, but made us feel we had become friends by the end of our week. The drink package was a nice addition to our enjoyment. We liked the fact that our French balcony was just above river level. Slept with window open to here the water going by. We were alway offered water when going on shore. The excursions were always interesting and lead by professional and knowledgeable tour guides. We enjoyed all excursions and our time in Bordeaux on our own. The cruise director was a great addition to our already great time. Our dinner table was always perfect and we met another couple that made for great conversations. Keep up the high quality of Viking cruises. Read Less

We chose this cruise as we enjoy food and wine and that is what Bordeaux is all about, aside from all the beautiful scenery. As we had traveled with Viking before, we knew that we could expect the best service along with the beauty of the countryside. The Viking ships are perfect, with all the amenities that you would expect from a luxury accommodation but what really sets the cruise apart is the absolutely above and beyond service from the crew and the fresh, local cuisine that is served at every meal. You really feel at the end of the week that the crew have become your friends and family. Not a single member of the staff is ever unfriendly, in an unpleasant mood and always treats you as if they were happy to be waiting on you hand and foot! The cabins are excellent. We have stayed both times with an outside balcony, this year in a one bedroom suite. Here too the service is exquisite, the cabin being cleaned twice a day, morning and night. We have booked another trip in the Spring! Can't wait! Read Less

This was my first Viking Cruise, as well as my first river cruise. Prior to this cruise, I have only been on 2 other cruises. I was traveling with 3 others, that have been on previous Viking river cruises. I will say, if I had been choosing the itinerary, this particular itinerary probably wouldn't have been something I would have chosen. However, I thoroughly enjoy it. We also did the pre-cruise Loire Valley tour. Once we got through the horrific mob of people trying to get through customs at CDG (it took over 2 hours to clear customs, not Viking's fault), and found our Viking rep, we were escorted to our vehicle right away. The driver was just about to exit the airport grounds, when he was called by dispatch to swing back around and pick up to more people. Much to our dismay, after being in a mob of people so long. We just wanted to get to our hotel. Unfortunately, the driver had an issue finding the 2 other passengers, so that was an added 15-20 minutes. Once he found them, we were on our way to the hotel. Thankfully. Check in at the hotel was smooth. Our Viking rep told us everything we needed to know for the next day. We went to our rooms, freshened up and headed out on the streets of Paris. The hotel was in a good location. There was a subway station nearby and plenty of options for lunch. The next morning, we hopped on the bus with our tour guide Carmen and off we went to the Loire Valley. Carmen was an excellent tour guide and the places we visited were wonderful. As was the hotel for our 2nd and 3rd night. On Saturday, we arrived in Bordeaux around 4:00 pm and were greeted by many of the staff, when coming aboard. Including the captain. I can't say enough good things about the staff on the Viking Forseti. Everyone was friendly, helpful, funny, kind, hard working, etc, etc. I was in room 208, with a French Balcony (basically a sliding glass door, so you can stick your head out). The room was super clean, but it is small. Very little room to walk around. Granted, your not in your room much, but tripping over each other, while getting ready in the morning is no fun. However, despite it's small size, we felt there was plenty of storage and closet space for our things. The food was wonderful, except one meal, I felt like the veal was overcooked, but that might just be me. I tend to like my beef med-rare. The wine was free flowing at lunch and dinner. It is a wine cruise, after all. The tours were great and very informative. I learned a lot about French history and French wine making during our trip. No complaints with any of the tour guides. The water level was low, so we did have to take a bus to Cadillac. Viking can't control water levels, so they do the next best thing, by busing us there. It's truly some of the little added things, that are really appreciated. Like water. I drink a lot of water and it was nice not to have to continually buy bottled water. They hand out water each day, when you're headed out on a tour. They provide bottled water in your room. There's water available at the coffee station. And you can also get it from your waiter or bartender. Thank you Viking for keeping me supplied in water. Oh, and then there was the day we came back from a morning tour and the chef was at the door greeting us with little pastries. OMG, the best pastry I had all week. I asked our lunch waiter if he could see if there were any left over (I had just seen the chef headed back to the kitchen) and our waiter came back with a plate full for me. He was my new best friend. Viking truly takes care of everything from the time you get off the plane, until the time you have to get back on the plane. At the Bordeaux airport, they had 2 reps helping us get our boarding passes. My only other minor complaint, is that on some of the tours, I wish we had a little more free time. But, I guess if we were given more free time, then we would be learning less. So, it's a trade off. I can't recommend this cruise enough. Especially, if you're a wine lover. Oh, and initially at looking at the itinerary, I thought that there was going to be too much time spent in Bordeaux. I was wrong. I could have easily spent more time there. It's a beautiful city. I actually like Bordeaux more then Paris. Read Less

Always wanted to visit France's wine country and felt there was no better way to do it than on Viking. Every part of visiting the vineyards was planned by Viking and all we had to do was sit back and enjoy. The tasting were wonderful and varied from vineyard to vineyard. The ships staff was always there to assist you in any manor. The crew took great care of everyone and the dining service was tops; not to mention the food being fantastic. Highly recommend this cruise if you want a nice experience and enjoy wine. There was a minimal amount of cruising; mostly bus transfers to the vineyards. A little taken back by that, but it didn't take much away from the trip. We were docked a majority of the time in Bordeaux , but it was an enjoyable city to wonder around inane had plenty to see and do. Read Less

This cruise was taken with the intent of visiting wineries. If someone is interested in "cruising", then this is not their cruise. There was a little too much emphasis on the city of Bordeaux, a total of 2 1/2 days were spent there, partially because of low river flow and the ship could not travel to one of the destinations. The dining was great: lots of fabulous choices at breakfasts and dinners. Servers were charming and accomodating. Food portions were large and plentiful. The singer & pianist in the lounge who performed before & after dinner were really good--the singer had a fabulous voice. The tour guides varied from excellent to poor' We were lucky that we had the excellent one for three of our tours and the poor one for only one tour. I expected a guide to be able to answer basic questions and the poor guide could not, and she was a French native. The excellent guide had booklets with pictures and sketches showing how people dressed during the times she was talking about. Read Less

Overall the ship and cruise was wonderful, especially the dinner at the chateu that the crew set up. Places that we visited were very nice. The guides that took on the shore trips really know what they were talking about. If possible get into the smallest groups you can, we found that the smaller the group the more interaction there was with the guide and locals and this made the trip more personal and interesting. The wait staff on the ship was great. We really enjoyed the staff to passenger ratio--it was like we had our very own waiter for the entire cruise. Some of the dinner choices were not what was expected--the scallop dinner consisted of what was one scallop cut into thrids. Very small portion and when asked about additional portions we were told that the kitchen was out--poor planning to run out of food. The room cleaning crew left a little to be disired--the rugs in the room looked like they were not vacuumed and the bed side tables were not wiped down for 3 days. When we arrive at the airport to depart France we were told someone from Viking would meet us there--stood in line for 1/2 hour to get boarding pass and never saw anyone from Viking. We were at the airport at 6 AM so maybe they don't get up that early. Read Less

This was our 30 year anniversary celebration so we decided to take the cruise. My wife had never been to France and I really wanted to have a memorable celebration. This cruise provided an intimate setting, great food, great wine, great crew, and so relaxing. The food was wonderful every meal. We got to know several of the staff and actually sat at the same table every evening for dinner. We received the best treatment from everyone. The staff knew us by name and even remembered some of our favorite wines. The food was divine. Perfectly cooked every time and the presentation was fabulous. The chef told us every night what he was preparing and it made the wait delicious and difficult. The planned excursions were very entertaining and exciting. They were well planned and informative. The tour staff were so knowledgeable and helpful. We had plenty of free time to explore on our own. Our cabin was perfect. Always cleaned and well kept. The staff again knew us by name and were very accommodating to our needs. My wife and I would definitely go on this same cruise again. Read Less

This was our 4th Viking cruise. Bordeaux looked interesting. Weather was outstanding if a little warm. Looked forward to wine tasting - was disappointed, although enjoyed the wines on the ship. My wife considers it the best Viking cruise we have taken - probably #3 for me. But greatly enjoyed the trip. Was worth the money. Highly recommend. We came in a day early, choosing our own hotel (a bed and breakfast). Gave us a day to adjust to time change and roam town. Did a bicycle tour of the town. All the included tours were good. We did one optional - tour to St Emilion and wineries. Always liked the free time as always. Good combination from our perspective. Highlight of the tour - boat crew did a dinner evening at a local Bordeaux winery. Good was great, wine was good, just a real treat. Highly recommend this Viking cruise. Read Less