A Mixed Bag of Very Good Things and Not So Good Things

Viking Heimdal Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe

JCooperNYC

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 18

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Lyon & Provence Southbound (Lyon To Avignon)

Sail date: March 27, 2024

Ship: Viking Heimdal

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 109

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 months ago

Review summary

It was the least enjoyable river cruise that we have taken. But we are booked for another one in October and we will see how it goes. We are planning to take a Viking Ocean Cruise in 2025. One last thing. I booked my flights through Viking and somehow I never got the seats I picked. On this cruise I tried calling , Viking and was assured of my seats and that did not happen.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Well Organized

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The food is always fine on Viking. My wife though will need to have a low sodium diet since she retained water that never happens on a Viking Cruise before.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

None

Entertainment

3 out of 5

There was an Edith Piaf Show which I enjoyed and the Musi trivia night is always fun. They need more nights like that.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Always the best

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

The same layout as usual

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Good enough for us.

Ship tip

Things can go wrong with planning and sometimes the crew forgets the age demographic of the passages and in trying to please runs us ragged.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Lyon, France

3 out of 5

This is my third Viking European cruise. All the towns (except for the big cities) begin to look the same.

Thumbs Up 0

Vienne, France

3 out of 5

Another small town

Thumbs Up 0

Tournon, France

1 out of 5

Waste of time even if we were able to complete the train ride.

Thumbs Up 0

Avignon, France

4 out of 5

Worth seeing

Thumbs Up 0

AVIGNON (ARLES), FRANCE

1 out of 5

Here is where things got bad. I was starting to get a cold and thought of skipping this excursion to rest. But high water made it impossible for any passenger to stay on the boat. So my wife and I took the leisurely excursion.. The guide did not know what leisurely meant. It was like the Bataan Death March. There were people with canes and walkers. The guide was told she was walking too fast and not stopping to wait. She started late and thought that she had to get every thing in and a shorter time. People were dropping out. But it gets worse. After the excursion we went back to the ship. I wanted to take a nap. Within five minutes a meeting was called and we would have to either go to Avignon and wait for the ship to get there or take a trip to one more wine tasting. I went to the wine tasting because I could sit down. We returned to the boat just in time for dinner and to go to bed. It was the last night and people had to get up early the next morning. Viking has to remember that there age demographic is 60 to death. We are getting a voucher for the inconvenience but I did not go on the river cruise to get money back.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Fine

6 Comments

byhisgrace 7 months ago

Appreciate your feedback

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Gwbigdog 7 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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karlgrgurich 7 months ago

Makes sense that Viking should understand their demographic

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javawoody 7 months ago

Appreciate the feedback

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cruising2004 7 months ago

Sorry this cruise was not up to par. I do hope your next cruise will be more enjoyable.

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HeavySeas 7 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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