Viking Kadlin Review

Our First Viking Cruise was Great!

Review for Europe River Cruise on Viking Kadlin
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PamieSue
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Apr 2018
Cabin: Veranda Stateroom

We had heard Viking River Cruises were great! And ours was! We opted for the 3-day pre-cruise in Paris and stayed at the beautiful Marriott Opera House on Hausmann. We were met at the airport on time and were transported in a very nice Mercedes to our hotel where we checked in and met with our Viking rep at the hotel. There were free walking tours available that gave us some great history and recommendation of great places to eat. We boarded the long-ship on our 4th day for our cruise from Paris to the Beaches of Normandy. Omaha Beach was worth the trip as was the movie at the visitors center. At the American cemetery our guide conducted a very moving memorial service for us consisting of the singing of the National Anthem, prayers, recognition of veterans among our group, and we each received a red rose to place on a gravesite as we walked the rows and rows of white headstones. It was a very moving and beautiful visit. We took the optional Versailles tour, which was expensive and consisted of an included lunch at a golf course. The lunch there was terrible, but the tour was excellent. We also paid for a Paris By Night tour. It rained that evening so we didn't get to see through the bus windows as well we would have liked. It was great to see the Eiffel Tour at 11 p.m. With it's twinkling lights. We had a Veranda B room that had a lovely outdoor sitting area with 2 chairs and a table. The bed was very comfortable and there was plenty of storage to unpack our things. The room had it's own thermostat control, so we were always comfortable. All of the food was great! You could eat the buffet breakfast or choose items from a menu for all meals. We had free wine/beer with lunch and dinner. There were no assigned seats at meals which allowed you to meet lots of new people. The entertainment was wonderful with music during Happy Hour and after dinner. One evening in port a small 3-person local "soft jazz" group played, another night the piano guy sang. Both were excellent. Another evening there was a fun "dance with a staff member" contest, which was loads of fun. We met some wonderful people on the cruise as there were only 196 people aboard. Most were close to our age ranging from 60-80. The tours in each port were great, some free, some you had to pay extra for. All guides on our tours were locals and spoke English and were very knowledgeable. There were beautiful sitting areas aboard the ship. The top deck had lots of lounge chairs and also had shaded area for enjoying the view. All of the ship's staff were delightful, helpful and fun. No children are permitted, which, although we enjoy children, we didn't have to listen to whining, etc. The Captain of the ship was young and a very personable young man. My husband being retired Navy enjoyed talking with him. Our chambermaid, Gunita went the extra mile the whole trip. She noticed we had wine on the table in our room the first afternoon and that evening there were 2 wine glasses waiting for us. Our room was sparkling clean and the bath products were top-notch with fluffy towels. The bottom line is we were treated like royalty, and like family, wined and dined and loved everything about our cruise. We are already looking forward to our next cruise Amsterdam to Budapest in 2020.

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