Just back from Viking Southern France-- fairly long

[RoupMom]

My DH and I just returned from our first ever river cruise after several ocean cruises. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the more intimate environment and experience. We were on the Viking Neptune on the Southern France tour, starting in Avignon and ending in Chalon-sur-Soane. I'll say a little here and be happy to answer questions.

 

First, air. We did ours through Viking, as it was less expensive from Seattle than anything I could find. We did pay the $50 pp deviation fee to request Air France, which now has a SEA-CDG nonstop once daily. I believe it's worth it to pay the small amount extra to get any request, as several other folks we talked to who booked air through Viking had pretty awful routing, IMHO. One couple I talked to made 3 plane changes! The transfers were very smooth, and the Viking staff was very available and helpful.

 

The Neptune was in good shape. During her drydock and move from up North, she evidently had all the carpeting replaced, and I suppose various other things to spiff her up. Our room (category D) was comfortable and had plenty of storage space. The bathroom was typical of ships, but again had more storage than some, with a shelf under the sink and a fairly large medicine cabinet. The bed was quite comfortable, but though moved together and having one top covering, they actually remained twins simply moved together with their individual bedding. I didn't expect that based on our ocean experiences. The dining room is attractive, though some tables are a little too close together. I found the lounge chairs uncomfortable, and others said the same, with a back that didn't really hold you upright but tilted back at a slight angle. I'm being pretty picky here, I know.

 

Food -- always the biggie, eh? The breakfasts served buffet style were large and very adequate, with several choices and some variety each day. You could order omelettes, French toast and a few other things off the menu, but when I did that I wasn't really very satisfied; the omelette was not very warm and was pretty tasteless, and I got only 1 piece of French toast, and that was pretty small. After that I stuck with the buffet and was quite happy. We had lunch in the dining room each day. A buffet is served in the lounge as well. The DR has a salad buffet that varies each day, and items one can order from the menu (usually one soup, 2 or 3 entrees -- or what we in the US call entrees--- and a couple of desserts.) Dinner was served at 7 in the evening, with one seating. There was always a choice of two soups, which were uniformly delicious. There followed an "entree", which was the choice of 2 hot appetizers, or sometimes a salad-type dish. Three "plates" followed, with one choice meat, one fish, and one vegetarian. You could always order steak, salmon, chicken, or Ceasar salad. In addition they offered a "healthy" option and a "light" option, though I may be remembering what they called them incorrectly, which were suggested combinations of the evening's offerings, with sometimes something separate. A cheese plate followed if wished (we were always too full), as well as a choice of two desserts. We found the food to be quite fine; my husband is a vegetarian-plus-fish eater, and counts carbs as a diabetic but had no problem meeting his requirements. Some folks seemed to think the food was nothing special, and one woman was known for nearly always sending things back to the kitchen, but as I say we thought it was fine.

 

The staff was delightful. They were mostly young people from a variety of European countries, and for most this was their second or third season with Viking. Our cabin attendant, Augusta, was always managing to slip in while we were gone for the briefest of times. The DR staff got to know us and serve our preferences without being asked. The program and front desk staffs were pleasant, helpful, and enthusiastic. One always went with each group on the excursions to problem-solve and help out. Several of us, unfortunately, found the program director to be the weak link. She rarely smiled and seemed unapproachable, though she always remained calm and nothing could rattle her. On more than one occasion she gave incorrect information; one example is her saying you could "rent" a laptop for an hour for 5 euros, and the money would be credited upon the laptop return. Not true -- laptop rental was 5 euros and hour. (I had my iPod touch which has WiFi, and I was nearly always able to get a good connection; the WiFi is free.) The rest of the program staff were terrific. The captain and his staff were frequently around, as we were docked a good portion of the time.

 

The ports and excursions were beyond our expectations. The QuietVox system they use for the tour guides works well and really helps. The guides were all very knowledgeable and spoke good English. If you can get Christian on any of the tours from Tain L'Hermitage through Lyon, you will be in for a treat. I especially enjoyed Vienne, about which I had known little; the Roman ruins there are amazing. We had mixed weather, as you would expect at the end of March. Most days were clear but cool. We had pretty much rain in Avignon and Beaune, but the guides made the best of it, adapting things to minimize contact with the rain. Several people remarked that with the excursions there was generally little free time in any port, and some were fairly frustrated at that and even skipped some excursions.

 

Disembarkation was very easy and organized. Due to plane schedules, etc., some people unfortunately had to leave as early as 4 AM!!! I think that might be the same going in the opposite direction, as the airports are pretty far from where the ship is docked.

 

Those are the highlights I can think of right now. I'll be happy to answer any questions I can.

Kathie

[FeeFeeCat]

Thanks so much for sharing...I'm thinking of doing this cruise in 2011.

[jwds]

Thanks for the review. We are taking this cruise leaving Avignon on April 25.

 

A question. Did you take any of the optional tours? If you did, what are you comments on them?

 

Thanks again.

[RoupMom]

The only optional tour we did was we went on the one to Cluny. The drive through the countryside was beautiful and interesting. We wouldn't have learned much about Cluny itself unless we'd read a guidebook a friend loaned us first; our guide seemed more interested in the town than the Abbey itself. The town is "cute"(that's the only word I can think of right now to describe it), and we were there on a market day, which was fun. The weather wasn't great, which dampened my enthusiasm somewhat, as it was near the end of our cruise. There was wine tasting in Beaune and Tain L'Hermitage, and we're not afficianados particularly, so we didn't go to Chateau Neuf de Pape and enjoyed the time in Avignon more.

[jwds]

Thanks.

[TravelingAnn]

Thank you so much, Kathie, for all the details. We are leaving next Friday on the Viking Maribelle for a Lyon/Lyon trip so found this very useful.

[jwds]

We're just back from from our April 25 sailing. We spent additional time in France before returning yesterday.

 

O.P.'s review is very accurate. We had great guides. The dining room food was good to excellent, I was particularly impressed by the fish. The included wine with dinner was more than adequate.

 

The program director was as described, very distant, seemingly efficient but giving erroneous information. For example, she kept insisting that there were two different train stations in Chalon, there's only one.

 

All in all, a great trip!

[Jswen]

Hi, Enjoyed your review, we will be doing a similar cruise this fall. We are booked on Air France. I was wondering how the flight was? We have read reports that range from really bad to really great so was wondering what your experience was.

Thanks,

J

[H2Otstr]

Great report. This was our first river cruise in 2006, in the opposite direction, and was so good that it got us hooked on river cruising.

 

Just signed up to go to China on Viking next March.

[ez_gene]

Wonderful review! We will be doing the same cruise with an extended stay in Paris, late June, 2011 with another couple. Just a couple of questions. What are the restrictions for bringing your own wine/liquor on board? I seem to recall that you are not big wine enthusiats, but was wondering what wine tours/wine tastings were available? Also, what would you estimate the percentage of different nationalities were on your cruise?

Gene O.

[jcrandle]

I'm not the OP, but from my experiences with Viking, there is no problem bringing any alcoholic beverage on the ship for consumption in your room. If you are going to drink it in the lounge or dining room, they do charge a corkage fee.

[CruiserMom]

I enjoyed your review. Thanks. We are booked on the May 1st Neptune & arriving a few days early into Lyon. Did you hear any reports of hotels and do you know which one Viking uses? We'll book our own, but looking for recommendations. AC is a must. I couldn't find any info on Lyon hotels. Looking forward to our 1st river cruise.

[caviargal]

I enjoyed your review. Thanks. We are booked on the May 1st Neptune & arriving a few days early into Lyon. Did you hear any reports of hotels and do you know which one Viking uses? We'll book our own, but looking for recommendations. AC is a must. I couldn't find any info on Lyon hotels. Looking forward to our 1st river cruise.

 

Not sure where you are looking but plenty of info on Lyon hotels here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187265-Lyon_Rhone_Alpes-Hotels.html

[kfran]

Thanks for your review. We have cruised on Viking and have been quite pleased, but I do agree about the seats in the lounge. Not the most comfortable, but not a show stopper. I have been interested in the Southern France cruise, it will definitely be on my "bucket" list now. Looking forward to the Viking Danube Waltz cruise this December, especially the Christmas Markets.

 

Karen

[dfishner]

Your review could of not happened at a better time, we just switched from the Rhine cruise to the Southern France on the Neptune and was so please to read how great your review was. Did they stop in Lyon overnight we would like to have a meal in one of the restaurants if they do. Thanks so much.