We chose this cruise because it included Paris, Normandy beaches—and then, on part two, Provence—Arles and Avignon. On a prior cruise—“Romantic Danube”—we particularly enjoyed stops at smaller towns along the river. This trip did have those stops, and we liked them a lot! Every tour guide we had was EXCELLENT. The on-board cuisine did well to give us what would be “local fare.” The only meal I really did not like was NOT due to flavor, but due to “logistics”—that is, serving a meal that was totally—i.e. all courses—buffet style was not good. Cumbersome, slow, and not as conducive to a good sampling of the local fare as I think Viking thought it was.

All of the included tours we went on were VERY WELL led, with guides who were personable and knowledgeable.

Our only “glitch” was not being fully informed about our train “get off” point in Lyon—our guide did tell us to get off at Lyon the last train station, but did NOT tell us that Lyon had. TWO rail stations. So we got off the train when it arrived in Lyon. This was not right! While the subsequent scramble we experienced to get from Lyon rail station #1 to the docking point for our Viking boat was an adventure, I’m not sure all Viking travelers would have recollected it in such amusement as did we! Read more