Viking Bordeaux River Cruise ( Chateaux, Rivers and Wine)
I am not a cruise person. I had never been on one until recently when we went on 7 night Viking river cruise that started and ended in Bordeaux. We had been to Bordeaux before and the cruise only sailed short distances each day. In addition Viking provided some good incentives like free airfare and free wine and drinks. We chose a French Balcony room which is very small but has a sliding glass door that opens to a railing. The room was comfortable and was well equipped. there was no reason to be in the room except to sleep so the room was fine.
Viking provides a free excursion almost every day. We paid for 2 excursions. One was very good and the other was basically the free excursion with lunch. The lunches on both excursions were the weak points of the excursions.
The cruise was fine; everything was first class. The boat was spotless; the crew friendly and responsive. The food was good but not impressive. Being the food snob that I am, they could have done a much better job. The special dinner of the day was not really specific to the Bordeaux area. Desserts were meh( I brought my own to dinner a few times, no shortage of patisseries in France ) and the breads so-so. We had their silver spirits package(provided for free) and the wines were impressive. Any bottle under $50 on the wine list was free. There was very small markups so we drank some very good Bordeaux's. Champagne by the glass was included and they had rotating Champagnes including Veuve Cliquot. Also there is no corkage charge if you want to drink your own bottle of wine.
We booked the trip through Viking directly. Things worked well but a few things to know upfront. check your credit cards for their trip insurance benefits. Travel insurance is getting very expensive these days. We have 2 very good cards that provide very comprehensive trip benefits for free if you use the card for the travel.
Most importantly we received "free" airfare from Viking. However I wanted to fly on United since I have status. We also were extending our trip 2 nights in Paris so I wanted the non stop United flight to Newark. If you want to control your air flights you pay Viking $100 - $150 per person for the privilege. In hindsight it was the best thing I could have done. If you let Viking book your flights they can change your itinerary each week up to the week of your flight. On the cruise we heard awful stories from people with crazy flights. Orlando to Montreal to Amsterdam to Bordeaux. coming home 6 hour layovers in Boston to get to Philly. A number of people had luggage delayed a few days and some never saw their luggage.
Another thing is that the itinerary of the boat is flexible. 2 of our stops were changed due to river conditions and dock issues. We did not go to Cadillac and Pauillac. The don't really announce it and the excursions are adjusted but it just something to know.
A few other things to note. Chateaux in the cruise name refers to the wine chateaux's in Bordeaux. We spoke with several people on the cruise who thought it referred to castles and they were disappointed with the cruise tours.
This cruise was definitely an older crowd and many were big time Viking cruise fans. Also despite the cruise going all through Bordeaux I did not meet any real wine aficionados. Most people just wanted to go on a Viking river cruise that they had not been on before. One final point, the cruise directors are great.
The boat.
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