This was my first Viking Cruise, as well as my first river cruise. Prior to this cruise, I have only been on 2 other cruises. I was traveling with 3 others, that have been on previous Viking river cruises. I will say, if I had been choosing the itinerary, this particular itinerary probably wouldn't have been something I would have chosen. However, I thoroughly enjoy it. We also did the pre-cruise Loire Valley tour.

Once we got through the horrific mob of people trying to get through customs at CDG (it took over 2 hours to clear customs, not Viking's fault), and found our Viking rep, we were escorted to our vehicle right away. The driver was just about to exit the airport grounds, when he was called by dispatch to swing back around and pick up to more people. Much to our dismay, after being in a mob of people so long. We just wanted to get to our hotel. Unfortunately, the driver had an issue finding the 2 other passengers, so that was an added 15-20 minutes. Once he found them, we were on our way to the hotel. Thankfully.

Check in at the hotel was smooth. Our Viking rep told us everything we needed to know for the next day. We went to our rooms, freshened up and headed out on the streets of Paris. The hotel was in a good location. There was a subway station nearby and plenty of options for lunch. Read more