False advertizing - not Paris roundtrip

Viking Rinda Cruise Review to Europe

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 144

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Viking Rinda

7 Night Paris And The Heart Of Normandy (Paris Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 07, 2015

Ship: Viking Rinda

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 301

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

This cruise was advertised as Paris roundtrip but the dock in Paris was actually over 10 miles from Paris in an industrial area of Le Pecq. Thus the three nights advertised for being docked in Paris were not delivered and the cruise line knew this well in advance and did not inform the passengers. The actual cruising was not too bad but there was too little of it There were several very good stops (Giverney, Rouen and Normandy).Food was good but not great. Staff was quite good. Staterooms were very cramped. Value was very poor. Dealing with the Viking office here in US regarding the changed docking location near Paris was dismal and uncooperative. Don't take this cruise until they live up to advertizing

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
Cabin which was the highest level veranda stateroom (most expensive) was located where the gangway was placed at each stop so we never had any privacy and it was also very noisy when docking and even when docked so we were awakened by it several times

Ship tip

Ship is fine but quite modest. Staff works hard and tour director was very good. Cabins are quite cramped but this might be normal for river cruises. No on deck activities scheduled just coach tours. Everything seemed to be extra and wine/ beer provided with meals was of low quality.

Ports of call

Vernon, France

5 out of 5
Monet gardens were fantastic but be prepared to share it with lots of others as it is one of the most visited spots in France

Rouen, France

5 out of 5
Read up on Joan of arc in advance - very good stop

Rouen, France

3 out of 5
be prepared for over two hour coach ride to get there and a mass production, poor quality lunch but the trip is still very well worth it

Les Andelys, France

5 out of 5
Castle of Richard 2 is excellent but spending the whole day there was more time than needed

Conflans Ste Honorine, France

3 out of 5

Paris, France

1 out of 5
Tour of Paris at night is long and has only one highlight - sparkles of the Eiffel Tower. If they had docked in Paris - could have walked there
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1 Comment

glomarrone    9 years ago

I took a Vantage cruise actually back to back cruises through France and we had to dock in Vernon instead of Paris.  We knew this ahead of time, though not that this made it any better.  For us it was a lock problem. Perhaps there is still a lock problem.  It seems that the French Government does not tell the boat companies what is happening so they don't know where they will dock for certain.