leftygolfer

We booked thru our ship, Seven Seas Mariner.  I looked online and it was slightly more expensive to book direct.  This excursion was the highlight of our trip.  Highly recommend !

We did the Viking river cruise in June, 2016. Loved all of the excursions. Highly recommend the tour to a cooperage ( barrel maker). The city of Bordeaux was great as we arrived a couple of days ahead of time to explore and visit some of our favorite wineries that were not on the itinerary.

Highly recommend and agree on all posts above that time of year and type of cruise is different than others. You'll have the opportunity to drink a lot of wine, Sauterne and or Cognac.

We were on the Jewel 12/26 - 1/2.

My son and I went for lunch on our day at sea ( the only day Izumi is open for lunch) and the meal was very good.

Hot rocks and pot stickers were not available at lunch.

My brother and his family went for dinner and loved it.

Would recommend.

Has anyone taken the Cooking Caribbean, Rum and Nature excursion ?

Is Izumi open for lunch ?

How has the entertainment been?

Thanks...we'll do Cruzan.

We'll be in St Croix 12-27, on RC Jewel of the Seas.

We will be visiting some friends in the morning and hope to do a tour of either Cruzan or Capt Morgan.

Any suggestion on either ? Do both ?

Thanks.

We did a cruise on the Viking Forseti in Bordeaux last month and it was fantastic.

So despite the question I asked about truffles vs. Château Siaurac last year, we decided not to do either. The four of us are VERY into our wine and know lots of people ITB so we have a driver for the day that we're in St. Emilion. We'll do two chateaux, lunch, and sight-seeing.

 

I see that there are two additional shore excursions on the last full day: "All Around The Barrel" and "Bordeaux For Connoisseurs". Has anybody been on either? Also, I read that some passengers have participated in cooking demonstrations and wine tastings aboard the Forseti. Does that happen on every cruise? It's not long now and we're so excited!!!

We were on the cruise last month. The barrel tour was very good, although a little loud as you will be walking through a production facility. In addition there is a stop and tour at a local Chateau for a tour - Chateau Paloumey. I would recommend it.

The only cooking demonstration was foie gras and the passengers did not participate. The chef did 2 dishes.

The excursion to Cognac was very good also.

Sailed on the Forsetti a couple of weeks ago and thought the WIFI service was very good.

It worked best in the public area's, as it was a little slow in the state room.

I was able to text/email pics. Just send one pic at a time.

Overall, I was very happy with it.

Did some underwear, jeans and a golf shirt.

All came back same day.

No complaints.

Any updates on the WIFI on Jewel of the Seas ?

We are on a big family cruise this December on RCI Jewel of the Seas.

Saw a paintball trip

Anyone do this ?

Great hotel choice! We stopped in to check out the rooms last week and were impressed with hotel, staff, rooms and location.

 

Are you looking for upscale dining or casual meals?

Casual. We will have 2 nights open.

Thanks.

We just returned from the Bordeaux itinerary on AMA, including some precruise time on our own in Bordeaux and the post cruise Loire itinerary. We had done a similar cruise on Viking two years ago.

 

I will skip the Viking-AMA comparisons unless someone is interested.

 

We enjoyed our independent time in Bordeaux and used the tour company Bordovino to arrange a wonderful day that included lunch a Bordeaux wine education session, lunch and and a full afternoon in St. Emillion with visits to two very different chateaux.

 

On the cruise we only heeded the tour directors advice to be selective and not take all the tours on one day when the tour was identical to one we had experienced on Viking. We were very pleased with all the tours through AMA. Tastings were excellent and tour guides were also. The only day we had an extended bus ride was on the optional trip to Cognac, and we knew that before we signed up for it.

For anyone who wants the floating hotel but wants to venture a little on their own I would recommend departing from the planned tours and doing your own things on some days, or arrange a tour through an outside agency. I saw nothing to be unhappy about concerning the excursions that were offered.

 

I do agree that food in the MDR was not consistently up to our standards. We had very good meals 4 of the 7 nights, OK food one night and food that was just not good two nights...but we are pretty spoiled regarding what we expect for food and others did not seem to have a problem with what they were served. Also, this was a wine cruise and there were only two nights that we considered the wine of adequate quality. However, you are in wine country, so buying wine and bringing it onboard is an option. No corkage was being charged, even though this is AMA's usual policy.

 

Regarding the Loire excursion, it was intense but very enjoyable. One gorgeous chateau after another, all connected by through history. We had the same tour guide for all three days and she did a wonderful job of giving us the full picture of how all 5 chateaux that we visited played a part in the historical timeline. No complaints about the Novotel in Amboise other than the lack of attention to the gluten free diet of 3 of us on the tour when the first night meal at the hotel was planned. We had a great breakfast buffet with a beautiful view of the valley. We watched two hot air balloons that were just landing in the valley from the dining are when we arrived the first evening. What a great picture!

The Pullman hotel at CDG on our last night was wonderful, with easy access to the free train to the terminal.

 

So all and all we enjoyed our trip and made our concerns known when we had a problem.

We are traveling on the Viking Forseti next month and are arriving in Bordeaux a couple of days early. Have a couple of tours lined up through Viator - Walking food tour and a Segway tour.

Did you stay at a hotel in Bordeaux? We are booked at the BEST WESTERN Hotel Royal St Jean

Any restaurant recommendations in Bordeaux ?

We are also signed up for the Cognac tour and will be leaving from Baye.

How long was your bus ride ?

Thanks.

Greetings!

 

We are booked on The Forseti for the June 4 Bordeaux cruise, and cannot wait! It's been fun and interesting reading the whole thread, and only helps the build anticipation :)

 

This will be our second cruise, and our second with Viking. We did the Romantic Danube itinerary last August (with the Prague extension) and loved it so much that less than a month after coming home we booked this one!

 

Thanks to all of the prior posters on this thread! Most helpful information!

 

Jeff

We are on the cruise starting on the 11th. All of the previous info here has been very helpful.

beanpittsburgh was nice enough to send his daily schedule from last April. The itinerary has changed a little for 2016.

Does anyone have a recent one ?

We are traveling in June.

Thanks.

A visit to the Capilla de la Paz (Chapel of Peace) is a good option. It's above the Las Brisas hotel.

It's #1 "thing to do" according to Trip Advisor.

The view is amazing.

There is some steep steps, so I would say you need to be physically fit.

 

We just returned Saturday night from this cruise, this was my 5th river cruise and the 4th with Viking. This was the best one yet. I am posting a link to my pictures, there are menus included in them. i always try to take a picture of them so i can remember what I ate.

great pics... thanks.

I can scan them and post them to email. The times of course will be different for you in the fall because of the tides.

if you could send them to jsg7561@comcast.net that would be great.

Thanks

We booked a Viking river cruise for June 2016 and our final payment is due 90 days prior. Are the payment policies different for Viking River Cruises Canada?

We are in the US and only have a deposit for June 2016 cruise.

The invoice from our TA has balance due end of December.

Thanks for the update....glad to hear it's been fun.

Did you arrive in Bordeaux ahead of time?

Any reco on a hotel ?

Sounds great!

We are doing this trip next May.

Looking forward to more info.

Joan and I have a cruise coming up next week for Bordeaux on the Viking Forseti-and we should be packed and ready to go next Friday evening from Boston. We are letting Viking handle all the air, hotel and transfers from the airport to the ship to Paris.

 

In addition to the cruise we have added 3 days in Paris at my wife's request. While in Paris we will be staying at the Meridian Etoille, which is fairly close to the Arc de Triomphe. However, Joan wants to go to Notre Dame, and I would like to go to Chartres and the Louvre. I really do not know the distances from that hotel to where we want to go downtown. If we have to take taxis in Paris, I really do not want to carry a lot of Euros around , but I know we will need to pick up some Euros now that they are almost at par/ even with the American dollar. Any suggestions? Do the cabs take credit cards. I want to try to avoid taking a lot of Euros.

 

Thank you,

 

Frank and Joan Landry

Burlington, Ma.

We looking at this cruise in May 2016. How was it ?