Tell people upfront they won't actually dock in Paris
Viking Rinda Cruise Review to Europe
7 Night Paris And The Heart Of Normandy (Paris Roundtrip)
Sail date: July 13, 2015
Ship: Viking Rinda
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 305
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
This was my first river cruise and I loved most of it. I loved the cabin. All the food I had was perfect. The crew on the ship was fantastic. However, since as far as I can tell from every review I have read they never leave from a Paris port. I don't even think there is a place for them to dock in Paris. So instead of making everyone think it is a last minute change just tell people from the beginning that the port is right outside of Paris The itinerary was great. I loved Giverny, unfortunately due to some mix-up, the bus that was supposed to take everyone to Vernon never came so I did not get to see it at all. The rest of the trip, Rouen, Les Andelys, and Normandy were great. The last day we took an optional tour of Versailles which was amazing but not enough time to really see it. One time the concierge on the ship even got us a taxi to go into one of the small towns because several people I was with had trouble walking. We stayed three days first in Paris but had to do everything on our own. The Viking representative at the hotel was useless. All he would say was - "I can't help you with that." Also, due to the fact that it was Bastille Day weekend it was crazy busy in Paris so keep that in mind if you intend to go during this time of year. We couldn't get reservations for almost anything once we arrived. We tried to make reservations ahead of time but the agencies must have been overbooked and just never got back to us.Some people prefer this but it would have been nice to have a choice of doing some sightseeing that was prearranged by Viking. We made friends with other people at the L'Hotel du Collectionneur Arc de Triomphe which we loved. Their tour company (AmaWaterways) had pre-arranged all of their tours in Paris and they had a very stress free time to enjoy everything. Thanks to the concierge at the hotel, we did get to take a dinner cruise on the Seine which was fantastic One other service provided by Viking that I loved was all of the transfers. Especially the transfer to the airport in Paris - the representative made sure we got to the right place in the airport which made me very happy.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
I loved everything about the ship. They did have the usual talks about what the next days excursions would be, a night of local music on board, a video about the ship, a cocktail hour etc. The cabin was not cramped to me. It was the same as a similar cruise I took on a larger ship but more modern.
Ports of call
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