The boat, food and crew were excellent. The overall experience was very positive but thought some things needed to be said. First off, as in other reviews, leaving from Le Pecq and not Paris was a huge disappointment. The area in Le Pecq was really awful and our veranda room looked at a area under the dock for much of the time. We couldn't even use it because an RV was parked outside with people living in it. (Viking needs to have that removed). Actually for the 8 days we only stepped on the balcony a couple of times since the views were of docks, other boats, or it was night time with nothing to see. For this itinerary, the extra $1000 for the room over a French Balcony was wasted. The bus ride to Paris was almost an hour with traffic. Made the bus time too long versus site seeing time.

Shore excursions were good, just be prepared with good shoes and to ride buses and walk a lot. The local guides were awesome. The Van Gogh excursion was great but thought it was weird that the boat traveled the river to meet us at our next destination so we missed that whole area of the Seine. Normandy excursion to Omaha beach was the highlight, but it was a long bus ride leaving at 8am and getting back at 645pm. We took the bus to Normandy from Rouen which made no sense since we had so much of the Seine to see north of the city. Didn't really understand why the boat seemed docked more than cruising and actually only went Le Pecq to Rouen and back to Le Pecq. Only had two times where scenic cruising was and it was of the same area going North and South. Guillermo the Director was good at explaining the plans and the chef, Bogdan and Hristo were also great in the dining area.

Bottom line is if you want relaxing river time this itinerary is not for you. We will book again with Viking for the Rhine, Main or Danube trips. Met some great people on the trip and have some great memories. The hotel used for the 3 day post cruise was awesome and in a great location.