We enjoy wine and wine-related activities. The itinerary in Bordeaux sounded very good. We thoroughly enjoyed all the visits to vineyards, historic sites, small-town markets, and walking tours of the towns. The local guides were all very good. The food onboard was excellent, as befitting the French locale. Service on the ship was also excellent. The crew seemed very eager to please. The Forseti is very nicely outfitted, and our cabin was very comfortable and modern (if a bit small).

However, there was one big disappointment: We didn't cruise! For most of the time, our ship (the Forseti) was docked in Bordeaux, simply a hotel on the waterfront. There were issues with water levels on the Dordogne and Garonne rivers, so our ship couldn't navigate them. We visited all the sites on the schedule, but mostly traveling to them by bus. On a couple of evenings we "cruised" while we were eating dinner, I guess to give the feeling of being on a cruise, and then returned to the Bordeaux dock.

On one occasion, when we did actually move to another port, the ship was moved while we were on a daytrip and were not aboard! On our past Viking cruises, we've really enjoyed traveling on the rivers, seeing and stopping at sites along the way. While I understand this particular situation was out of Viking's control, we see now that, at best, this "cruise" would involve very little actual cruising. Read more