First Time Viking Cruise-Paris to Paris need information

Hello, I have never taken a river cruise before and have a few questions that I am hoping someone can answer.

We are taking the Paris & The Heart of Normandy cruise which leaves Le Pecq 4/16/17 and returns to Le Pecq Sunday 4/23/17. We have an overnight on the ship at Le Pecq on return. I made flight reservations for 10:00 am since we should be able to disembark at 6:30 am. I am allowing 30 minutes to get to the airport. Is 30 minutes enough on a Sunday? I will make reservations to have a car service at 6:30 am to go to the airport. Does this seem doable? Anyone see an issue with this?

When does Viking normally release excursions on their site?

Don't think you can make it from LePeq to CDG in 30 minutes even on a Sunday morning. But still 6:30 might work for a 10 am flight. Not sure about cost of car service or what Viking charges for transfers but you can always book with them and let them take care of the logistics.

mhb1757- thank you for the information. I believe Viking charges $60 per person for the transfer. I am going to see what a car service charges to see which is the best choice. Virginia

I did this same cruise on Viking in 2015 (loved it, by the way) and we did private transfers both arriving and departing. Arriving, I arranged myself, and the cost was a bit more, I seem to recall around 75 e, but that included a meet and greet at the airport. On departure, I had Viking arrange the car and driver, and I believe it was around 65 e.

As to the time, leaving at 6:30pm should allow you plenty of time for your 10am flight.

terry&mike- Thank you for that information. How did you get Viking to arrange the departure? Did you take their transfer which I was told was $60 each or did you get this arranged while onboard? I am thinking of getting a private transfer to get there to board since we are staying in a hotel pre-cruise but for convenience, have them arrange it.

In pretty much all cases, self arranged car/cab/whatever is going to be much less expensive than through the cruiseline.

garycarla- that has been my experience too.

terry&mike- Thank you for that information. How did you get Viking to arrange the departure? Did you take their transfer which I was told was $60 each or did you get this arranged while onboard? I am thinking of getting a private transfer to get there to board since we are staying in a hotel pre-cruise but for convenience, have them arrange it.

For the transfer on the way in, I arranged it myself, online in advance, directly with a transportation service company.

For the transfer at the end, ship to airport, I asked the front desk about 2 days ahead of time, if they would arrange a private transfer for my husband and I, and they gave me a form to fill out with flight information, cabin number, number of people, etc and they made the arrangements for me. They left a confirmation to the arrangements in my cabin on the day before departure. The $60 per person transfer the ship offers is a group transfer, in a van or bus, depending on the amount of people. We went with a car and driver for the 2 of us.

Just thought of something that may make a difference in rate, not sure though, but wanted to mention it - we were not sailing on a Viking Longship, but on one of the regular size Viking river ships, so we were docked in town just a couple of blocks from the Eiffel Tower. If you are on a Longship, you may be farther out?

terry&mike, yep we are on a Long Ship further out. Thanks for taking the time to help.

We have used Uber for transport in Paris (not on a river cruise) and it worked well. That might be an option for you too.

If you look at the map LePecq is quite a long drive from CDG It's about 30 miles and takes a good 45-50 minutes under ideal conditions. I had no idea what Viking was charging for transport but at $60/pp I'm sure you can do better on your own. The ship will probably be able to arrange a car service for you and if they can't you could always buy the transfer from them the day before you end your cruise. That early on a Sunday AM there may not be as many options as other times but I bet they can find you something.

mhb1757- thank you for the information.

Just my two cents-

I did this cruise on a Viking longboat back in 2015. 2015 was the first year Viking had the longboats dock in Le Pecq because they could not get permission to dock in Paris. Ship personnel were therefore very accommodating with passenger requests.

I would write to the ship directly and pose your question to them. I did and they replied quickly.

Email: viking.(shipname)@vikingrivercruises.com

I have been on three Viking river cruises. The last night or so, you will have a list in your cabin of the times your fellow passengers are leaving the ship to go to the airport on the Viking transfer. I recall leave times as early as 3:30 am.

MickeyB- Thank you for your information. Someone on another thread posted this email-concierge.kadlin@vikingcruises.com and I did email them. You are right they answered within 2 hours and told me that I could talk to them when I arrived on the ship and they would arrange the transfer for me. I was quite impressed with their response. Virginia