Viking Chateaux, Rivers & Wine

[Bet & Peg]

Maliboo ~ there are hair dryers in the cabins - but the only sockets for the dryer are in the room by the vanity/desk - only inconvenient if your mate is asleep and you have a wet head (yes, happened to me - I toweled dry my hair and used dryer later!)

 

As for transferring at CDG - we went NYC to CDG to Basel. I was dreading the transfer but turned out to be much easier then I thought. We were going from 2E (international) to 2G (intra-France) and signage was very good, plus we did not have to collect our checked luggage - both flights were Air France, don't know if it would be different if separate airlines. We had to use a transfer bus, but again clearly marked and helpful airline people along the way. As for the Basel flight, we had to walk up the stairs from the ground both at CDG and down at Basel, a small airport. We have encountered this before in Europe. Just be prepared - it means carrying up/down the stairs any carry-on bag(s).

 

Can't say for sure about the transfer to the Forseti since we arrived 2 days early in Basel - booked our air through Viking but didn't qualify for transfers since we arrived early. But I would imagine that, if you're arriving the day of the cruise, and purchase air through Viking, then they'll meet you at the Bordeaux airport and bus you to the Forseti.

 

Have a great trip and PLEASE come back with a full report of those of us sailing this cruise in October!!!!!

[MalibooNewYork]

Thank you. It looks like they put the hair dryer outlet in the same place as a hotel I stayed at in Ireland.

We are booked thru by Viking so it does look like we'll be met and transported to the boat? ship?

I always get nervous before a big trip and start worrying but have managed to get to where I'm going and back home again.

[Go Pack]

I am very surprised that Viking will not share the details of the 3 Optional Trips that we will be offered on the Chateaux, River & Wine Cruise. We are booked for the April 12 departure and would appreciate the opportunity to peruse the Trips before we reach the departure date. Am I lead to believe that the trips have not been finalized approximately 75 days before the sail date? The response from Viking was quite frankly disappointing.

[Bet & Peg]

Go Pack ~ that makes me concerned also and we have an October cruise!! I'm hoping to learn lots from all the early CC passengers!!

 

You mention 3 option tours. I'm not trying to be a pain, but I thought there were 4??? Just want to update in case one has "disappeared"!!

Day 3 Blaye - optional excursion to the town of Cognac

Day 4 Libourne - optional excursion about truffles or optional excursion a tasting of some local wine vintages

Day 7 Bordeaux - optional excursion to Arcachon

 

We're travelling with another couple - their first time on Viking - so I feel a little "responsible" and hope everything works out OK!!

 

I hope the lack of info is simply the result of one department not knowing what another is doing and not the situation of disorganization caused by a new itinerary!! or more emphasis being put on their 2015 Ocean cruise launch!! I guess only time will tell - but hope that time is short!!!!!

 

Good Lucj - and PLEASE keep us up-to-date with any info you receive!!!

[Go Pack]

No there are only 3 and you noted them in your response.

[id4elizabeth]

We have just cancelled our Loire Valley extension for April 9 through 11. I had heard that all the spots for the Loire Valley extension had filled up and there was no availability anymore. So just wanted to let you know there should be one space (2 people) available now in case you're interested.

 

(We're still gong on the Chateau, Rivers and Wine cruise - just not the pre-extension.)

[Go Pack]

I have heard from Viking Cruises regarding the Optional cruises offered on The Chateaux, Rivers & Wine Cruise.There are 5 according to email. I don't want to type them here as they occupy a full page. But I think if you inquire with Viking they will send it to you for your perusal. Some look good others are so-so. To give you an idea here is a sample. The optional tour on day 3 is about $215.00 USD and it reads... Travel to charming medieval town of Cognac, birthplace of the worlds best known types of brandy. Visit the Camus distillery, learn the distilling process and then under the watchful eye of a master blender try your hand at creating your own unique blend, a bottle which you will take home with you. 179 euros includes transportation,guide and self made Cognac.

See you on board on April 12.

[Bet & Peg]

GoPack ~ thanks SO much for the info - just e-mailed Viking - hope for a quick answer!! We have a "planning" meeting with our friends next week and this should be very welcomed!!!!

 

Please, please, please promise a complete, detailed review when you return!! I know the ship is similar to the Rinda which we just sailed on but the itinerary, excursions, optionals is what I'll be mainly interested in hearing all about!! And also anthing you can tell us about the city of Bordeaux will be greatly ppreciated!!

 

Ohhhh, after waiting SO long I can't believe we're in 2014 and just months to go!!! Then we'll have to think about another trip!!!

[barbara787]

Right now we are in the process of figuring out when/where we are on our own and looking at options. I will fill everyone in on what I find and if you could as well we will all be pretty smart before we go.

 

 

Hello, I'm very interested in this cruise, but Viking doesn't give a lot of specific information on which wineries or chateaux they will be visiting (either optional or included). Do you have any information?

 

Since hubby is a self-proclaimed wine snob, am also curious about the amount of time in the various ports if we end up contracting for our own tours. Pictures in the Viking website show a couple famous Chateaux, but I realize it doesn't mean they actually go inside for a tasting.

 

Thank you so much! I am so envious of your plans.

 

Barbara

[roebud]

I think I'm just awakening from the dark ages....I was under the impression that all the tours to wineries were included in the cruise. What's up about "optional tours"...I'm confused :confused:. Haven't taken a river cruise before so I'm not sure how the excursions/tours run :o

 

Rose

[Bet & Peg]

GoPack ~ did Viking send you an e-mail attachment regarding the detailed itinerary? with optional tour information? I'm getting the run-around from my e-mail -"contact your TA for information" like my choice of optional tours will effect my reservations!! Will try calling California on Monday - if I'm not shoveling out from the latest snow!!! If they did send an attachment sis there any chance of you forwarding it if I send my e-mail??? Just anxious to get as much info as possible!!

 

roebud ~ yes, excursions are included in the cruise but often, if not always, optional tours are also often at an additional price. If you read the itinerary for the Chateaux cruise, Day 3 - Blaye (Cognac) - it says: Take a guided tour of the citadel, then enjoy some free time in Blaye—or you may choose to take an optional excursion to the charming medieval town of Cognac, birthplace of one of the world’s best-known types of brandy. But no details are given about that optional excursion.

 

GoPack -sailing in March?? - has gotten some info from Viking and reports that the optional tour from Cognac is: about $215.00 USD and it reads... Travel to charming medieval town of Cognac, birthplace of the worlds best known types of brandy. Visit the Camus distillery, learn the distilling process and then under the watchful eye of a master blender try your hand at creating your own unique blend, a bottle which you will take home with you. 179 euros includes transportation,guide and self made Cognac.

 

So anyone wishing to take the optional tour signs up for it when they board - or when the papers are given out at the first night's meeting. DH is jumping out of his skin thinking about making his own bottle of Cognac - I'd be more interested in seeing the town of Cognac!! (Hope this helps!!!)

 

barbara787 ~ our husbands should meet!!!! I'm hoping this cruise isn't a bust and would love more info about all the tours - those included as well as the optionals!!! I know this is the first year Viking is sailing this cruise but by now I can't believe their itinerary isn't available on their web site! Maybe we would have been smarter to just to a driving tour of the area and booking our own wine tours - did so in Chateauneuf-du-papa and we had a fantastic day!!! I'm sure all of us will keep posting here - before, during and after our cruises! - so you'll get a better "picture" of the cruise by the fall! Just wish Viking was more cooperative right now!!!!

[id4elizabeth]

Here's what I got from Viking via e-mail about the optional tours. No more details about the regular itinerary.

 

" Optional Cognac Blending Class and Tour. Travel to the charming medieval town of Cognac, birthplace of one of the world’s best-known types of brandy. Visit the Camus distillery, rich in tradition, to tour the facility, learn about the process of distilling Cognac and then, under the watchful eye of a master blender, try your hand at creating your own unique blend, a bottle of which you will take home with you. Return to your vessel upstream from Blaye, and continue to Libourne (cost of this optional tour is approx. 179 euros which includes transportation, guide and self-made Cognac blend).

 

Optional Château Sieurac Visit. Aline and Paul Rothschild, the owners of beautiful Château Sieurac are your hosts as you explore the large English garden, the château itself, the neat rows of vines and the wine making facility. You will have a chance to taste the Pomerol and Saint-Émilion wines the château produces, along with a third, the Lalande-Pomerol appellation. An elegant light lunch is part of this experience (cost of this optional tour is approx. 79 euros which includes, transportation, guide, wine tasting and light lunch).

 

Optional Truffle Farm Excursion. Travel through the dense forests and over the steep hills of the Périgord region to visit a small truffle farm and observe the farmer and his dog as they search for the underground delicacies. A home-made lunch with truffles in every dish in the farm house concludes this excursion (cost of this optional tour is approx. 99 euros which includes transportation, guide and truffle lunch).

 

Optional Arcachon Excursion. Travel to the Atlantic Seabord and the elegant resort town of Arcachon, located on the eponymous bay. Learn about the daily life of the oyster farmer during a tour of the bay, enjoy an elegant lunch in Cap Ferret (cost of this optional tour is approx. 159 euros which includes transportation, bay tour, guide and lunch).

 

Optional Market Visit. Just south of the Old City is the Marché des Capucins, a very colorful covered market where the chefs of Bordeaux find their fruits, vegetables, meats and fish. Join the Viking chef and learn all about the foods on display, then try some local delicacies in the markets café before returning to your ship (cost of this optional tour is approx. 45 euros which includes transportation, guide and samplings)."

[Ozjohnno]

Wow! If two people took all those optional tours that would add another $1500 to the price of the holiday. I'm glad I'm on an all-inclusive cruise in the same area. I'm pretty sure I got the better deal.

[Bet & Peg]

Ozjohnno ~ I'm beginning to think maybe we should have considered a different cruise line!!

 

id4elizabeth ~ THANK YOU!!! For all you information!!! Once again CC proves more helpful and much faster than any cruise line!!! Maybe Viking wants to keep their optional tours a secret because of the price!!!

 

But seriously, the Cognac tour is Day 3 and the Château wine tasting or truffles I gather are both at the same time on Day 4. But now a question - are both the Arcachon & Market tours on Day 7 at the same time?

 

Getting this info today is perfect - we're scheduled to meet with our friend on Thursday to plan for our trip and one big question has been should we arrive (from Paris) the day of the cruise or day before. This info may help us decide! So again I thank you for taking the time posting it!!!

[tipsygirl]

We are searching for an alternative to the Viking transfers for transportation to the airport. Has anyone else checked into this?

[MalibooNewYork]

My friend and I are "phone embarrassed" having ancient flip phones. We were wondering if there are really cheap throwaway phones for our May cruise. We would like the security of having a phone in case we end up in Marseilles (sp?) rather than Bordeaux.

[Bet & Peg]

tipsygirl ~ looks like there's a "JetBus" from the train station (Gare St Jean) to the airport 7 euro and 55minutes if I'm reading this correctly - I don't read/speak French!! One "problem" the train station is a distance from the ship's port. (If you open the port map you can change it to map view - don't know why satellite keeps coming up! The train station is Gare St Jean and south of where Viking docks at Quai des Chartrons.

 

I don't know your experience with Viking, but usually about Day6 the cruise director will ask those who aren't transfering through Viking to let him/her know your plans and will be happy to help out with your plans, call a cab, etc. They may have other advice about getting to the airport.

 

bus:

Jet'Bus the Bordeaux Airport shuttle service Bordeaux-Merignac Airport

 

port:

Quai des Chartrons, Bordeaux, France - Google Maps

 

BYW ~ I have no personal experience with any of this - October will be our first time in Bordeaux!

[Bet & Peg]

For all you Wine Lovers ~ DH found this site today:

 

Maps Of Bordeaux Wine Producers, Appellations, Chateaux

 

I has an intersting map and, if you scroll down, you can click on and open more detailed maps of different regions.

 

"A hundred million years" ago (anothers words a long time ago!) when he became seriously interested in wine it was France or Italy or California - with NY not being taken too seriously - except for the rebel Bully Hill - and Long Island - LOL!!!

 

WOW - how things have changed - now we drink wine from all over the world!! But I guess France will always be held in a special place in our hearts - although too serious in my opinion! And I can't believe we'll be in the middle if this area in almost 8 months!!!!!

[id4elizabeth]

FotoPeg - I think you're right about the optional cruises on Day 3 & 4. From what I can piece together from the sketchy regular tour itinerary on the website and the e-mail I got on the optional tours, it would seem the Arcachon would definitely be on Day 7, and from looking at the map and distances, I would say that it would take all afternoon. My guess is that the Market Day would also probably be on Day 7 so I don't think you could do both, but the Market Day COULD be in the late afternoon on Day 6 possibly, in which case you might do both.

 

We'd really like to go to Cognac, but don't really care about doing my own blended bottle of Cognac - certainly not for that price. We'd be better off renting a car for the afternoon, or hiring our own guide perhaps. $400 for the afternoon seems a bit much!

 

Think we'll do the Chateau wine tasting, but pass on the rest.

[Bet & Peg]

id4elizabeth ~ I'll be very interested in what you find about a car rental or your own guide for Cognac! We are traveling with another couple and I think the guys will go for their own bottle of Cognac but the two of us women are more interested in just seeing the town of Cognac! If you find out anything - please let me know!!!!

 

We're all also interested in the Chateau tasting - I think - we'll actually be very interested in hearing what all you spring travelers have to tell us about all the tastings!!! I have a list of private wine tours - not that we want to spend extra money - but we'll never be in Bordeaux again!! In the end it'll be up to the guys to decide about the wine!

 

I'd really like to see Arcachon - but would like to know what restaurant is included. There's a local 5 hour tour for $89.75 without a meal. So I'll again be anxiously waiting for more info on that tour!

 

And according to the map. Marche des Capucins is in Bordeaux ao I guess those are two conflicting optional tours. - also looks like its very near the train station so I guess passengers could get there on their own.

 

Ohhh SO much to still plan!!!

[lovetocruise17]

Reading this cc reviews about river cruising, DH and I are on Aug. 16,2014 Chateaux, Rivers & Wine on the Viking Forseti. All your info very good. Still a bit concerned about the four accidents this ship has had already. Anyone know if the captain has been replaced? Thanks for the list of the optional tours. Some seem pricey. We did sign up for the Loire Valley pre package but want to research this a bit better, would like to go to Paris a few days before but like one review said he was concerned about the hotels and charges in excess of what he could pay. We also for the first time took their flights. I usually do all our own bookings but it did seem so much easier for them to do this time. Will continue to follow this board and again thank you all for any information you provide. Have done tons of OC and lived in Europe for almost twenty years but have not done a RC,

[roebud]

Peg....OMG!!! I just checked out that Bordeaux wine page...AMAZING. I think you can be a bordeaux wine expert just studying this site. Thanks for your research and sharing that information.

 

We too are dealing with lots of snow in Virginia, but unfortunately they are not as efficient here with snow removal as they are in the northern states.

 

id4elizabeth...Thank-you for the optional tour information. Not sure what we will do at this point regarding viking tours. Still in the process of planning port tours for our 2 week Spanish Med cruise with RCL.

 

Rose

[tipsygirl]

tipsygirl ~ looks like there's a "JetBus" from the train station (Gare St Jean) to the airport 7 euro and 55minutes if I'm reading this correctly - I don't read/speak French!! One "problem" the train station is a distance from the ship's port. (If you open the port map you can change it to map view - don't know why satellite keeps coming up! The train station is Gare St Jean and south of where Viking docks at Quai des Chartrons.

 

I don't know your experience with Viking, but usually about Day6 the cruise director will ask those who aren't transfering through Viking to let him/her know your plans and will be happy to help out with your plans, call a cab, etc. They may have other advice about getting to the airport.

 

bus:

Jet'Bus the Bordeaux Airport shuttle service Bordeaux-Merignac Airport

 

port:

Quai des Chartrons, Bordeaux, France - Google Maps

 

BYW ~ I have no personal experience with any of this - October will be our first time in Bordeaux!

Thanks for the Jet'Bus info. Had already checked that out. We ended up having our travel agent book the transfers through Viking, although not thrilled with the price. Our flight on disembarkation day is early, and therefore we decided it would be best not to risk other alternatives. Our travel guide checked with other agents and could get no info on private transfers in Bordeaux, other than basic taxis. Concerned these mght be rare early in the morning.

 

Just an addition to other comments re the optional tours, I did an online "chat" with Viking yesterday and got the location and pricing on the optional tours. Same info as was quoted earlier except the market tour was indicated to be on the Libourne/St. Emilion day…so 3 optional tours that day. I pushed for more details on the included and optional tours and was told that this info was not yet available since this is a new itinerary for Viking. But to expect a booklet with detailed info on the cruise with our documents 3 weeks prior to departure. (We sail on April 26th)

 

This is our first experience with Viking. Signed up for this cruise because we wanted to tour the Bordeaux area, and at that time other river cruise lines we were familiar with didn't have this itinerary. Have traveled on Uniworld twice, which has some optional tours and a relatively small price compared to Viking. Also sailed on AMA on which there were several options on most days, but no extra cost. Interested in seeing how we like Viking in relation to the other 2. We will also be sailing on the Viking Star for their Scandinavia/Russia cruise when the Star debuts in 2015

 

We are staying in Bordeaux 3 days prior to sailing and are planning our time for those days. Anyone else sailing on April 26th?

[pacmom]

Tipsygirl and all, don't miss Libourne/St.Emilion. We travelled this itinerary with Road Scholar last summer. Only went to small chateaux, but the wines in all the areas along the river were wonderful. All along the quay, there are restaurants and shops. Bordeaux is a wonderful city. Trams very easy to navigate. Vikig is not the only line doing this itinerary--CroisiEurope and Uniworld are also doing it. Be glad you are going before all the lines hope on board--it will get crowded. Pat

[Stratheden]

Just checked their website and Scenic will be cruising in the Bordeaux region in 2015.