Viking Rinda - still docking at Le Pecq?

My wife and I were on the Oct 19th cruise with Laurie (Sabris Cubs) and Anna (Aspen36) sailing as part of a group of 30. We were in cabin 231 and agree that the staff and accommodations were both very nice. Also agree on the need for different pillows. :( We didn't use our balcony at all on this cruise because of temperatures and the fact that most of the actual cruising is happening at night. I think there was only 1 day when we were actually cruising during the day time. Next time we will forgo the balcony.

We had 3 pre-nights in Paris beforehand so the issue of docking at Le Pecq wasn't a huge problem for us. We can certainly see how this would be a problem for those that arrived on the departure day and were hoping to see a bit of Paris.

Just got off phone with VRC....they are docking at LePecq...which I always suspected they would. There will be free shuttles to lePecq from Paris Grand Palais at times following: HOWEVER...be aware we are informed (not by VRC) that the shuttle ride is approx 75 minutes ONE WAY!! that will cut significantly into Paris sightseeing if ya ask ME! We are engaging our own transport from our hotel(s) out to boat later in the evening of the 16th

11:30 Shuttle Le Pecq to Grand Palais

14:00 Shuttle Le Pecq to Grand Palais

14:00 & 15:00 St. Germain-en-Laye welcome walk

Standby shuttle at Le Pecq from 12:00 to 15:00

17:00 Shuttle from Grand Palais to Le Pecq

21:00 Shuttle from Grand Palais to Le Pecq

So why is VRC still selling the cruise as docked in Paris in 2015/16?!! I noticed the discrepancy early on after our 2015 booking..we sail 3/16/16...and was in touch to NO AVAIL...only heard (suspected) empty promises that they "were working on getting permits" to dock in Paris as advertised. I find this completely disingenuous and misleading. Some cruisers may pretty much miss out on seeing Paris in any substantial way if they don't catch on to the TIME consumed shuttling to and fro LePecq/Paris! Pretty disappointed in VRC about this....I will report back After the cruise and let you know if I will be a repeat customer or move on to other river cruise options. :confused:

Codym, we are taking this cruise in May. Hope you plan on providing a review when you get back.

I most assuredly will post our group of 8s review! We will have acouple of days in Paris on our own, so thankfully we can work around the false impression of being able to hop on/off in Paris and see sites. Pitty the poor folks and novices that will be totally blindsided at this late date. Our work around to see Paris (for the first time) will still require additional dollars for transport to the hinterlands..we will not rely on Viking "free" shuttle...that will take 2-3 hours of time away from sites.. In the drive/turn around and the early shut down of rides.

Lets hope the Rinda and crew do make up for the lousy PR and tele support

So why is VRC still selling the cruise as docked in Paris in 2015/16?!! I noticed the discrepancy early on after our 2015 booking..

we sail 3/16/16...and was in touch to NO AVAIL...only heard (suspected) empty promises that they "were working on getting permits" to dock in Paris as advertised. I find this completely disingenuous and misleading. Some cruisers may pretty much miss out on seeing Paris in any substantial way if they don't catch on to the TIME consumed shuttling to and fro LePecq/Paris! Pretty disappointed in VRC about this....I will report back After the cruise and let you know if I will be a repeat customer or move on to other river cruise options. :confused:

I most assuredly will post our group of 8s review! We will have acouple of days in Paris on our own, so thankfully we can work around the false impression of being able to hop on/off in Paris and see sites. Pitty the poor folks and novices that will be totally blindsided at this late date. Our work around to see Paris (for the first time) will still require additional dollars for transport to the hinterlands..we will not rely on Viking "free" shuttle...that will take 2-3 hours of time away from sites.. In the drive/turn around and the early shut down of rides.

Lets hope the Rinda and crew do make up for the lousy PR and tele support

Happy Sail Day !

Looking forward to your review, and reviews of others. WE sail in May, 2016 on the Rinda

I see the Viking Longships - Kadlin, Rolf and Rinda are all on the same Paris/Normandy itinerary, just on different days.

Codymom - We're on the April 6 Rinda sailing, so we,too, are looking forward to your report(s). Just received our cruise documents from Viking, plus an email response from the Rinda's concierge (Joana). The info we received is as follows; it might be different for other sailings, but it should give you an indication of what to expect:

On day 1 there will be two shuttle runs from Le Pecq to Paris (11:30 AM and 2:00 PM) and two shuttles returning to the ship (5 PM and 9 PM).

On day 2 there will be only one outbound, at 10 AM, and one return, at 5 PM; the Rinda is scheduled to set sail at 6:30. (All times are subject to change, of course.) The included "leisurely" city tour on day 2 is scheduled for 4 hours; I have seen posts where the posters said they stayed in Paris at the end of the tour and took the shuttle back to the ship. The (optional) tour to the Louvre on day 2 is scheduled to effectively take the full day (depart at 9 AM and back at 6 PM).

The pickup and drop-off location in Paris is Grand Palais, next to the Winston Churchill statue, and the dock location in Le Pecq is Quai Maurice Berteaux.

You need to know that depending on the time of day the shuttle will take 45 min to as much as an hour. The train a short taxi from the boat may be a very fast option and give you much more time in town. At least look into it!

Nothing was ever reported on the "demonstration" Viking ran last fall trying to demonstrate to French officials that a longship could turn around on the Seine.

It must not have gone well for Viking, as nothing was said, and ships appear to be docked at Le Pecq again this season.

For me that would be a deal breaker---we want to IN Paris near the Eiffel Tower like the other cruise lines, not a traffic-choked bus ride away.

Nothing was ever reported on the "demonstration" Viking ran last fall trying to demonstrate to French officials that a longship could turn around on the Seine.

 

It must not have gone well for Viking, as nothing was said, and ships appear to be docked at Le Pecq again this season.

 

For me that would be a deal breaker---we want to IN Paris near the Eiffel Tower like the other cruise lines, not a traffic-choked bus ride away.

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Just to remind river cruisers of the discussion of this topic last year:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2215113

notamermaid

Just to remind river cruisers of the discussion of this topic last year:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2215113

 

notamermaid

Thank you for the referred discussion(thread).

With my short term memory(or lack of), I have a time of it trying to remember where I saw certain information.

It's too bad cruisecritic.com doesn't have a forum for Viking River Cruise instead of scattering threads throughout the generic River Cruising Forum and mishmash of roll calls.

Happy Sail Day !

Looking forward to your review, and reviews of others. WE sail in May, 2016 on the Rinda

 

I see the Viking Longships - Kadlin, Rolf and Rinda are all on the same Paris(Le Pecq)/Normandy itinerary, just on different days.

Looking for reviews, I also see that the Viking Longships Kadlin and Rolf are not listed on the Cruise Critic Review drop-down menu, most likely because they are new ships. Since all three are based in Le Pecq(Paris), I'd like to see early season reviews, and how they compare.

We are sailing on the Viking Kadlin (Paris to Normandy 7-15-16) with a 3 night pre stay in Paris (Viking arranged). Could you please provide the contact information for the appropriate individual we would need to contact if we would like to have our bags sent ahead to the Kadlin on day one of the cruise? We would like to stay in Paris and avoid taking the lengthy shuttle back and forth to Paris as noted below.

Dear Sarabis Cubs,

 

Welcome home! We are delighted to hear you enjoyed several aspects of your Viking cruise, but regret your disappointment in the Le Pecq docking change remains.

 

Your comments are important to us and we would be happy to discuss the details of your experience further. Should you wish to do the same, please contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

We are looking forward to speaking with you and hope you will consider cruising with us again on another river.

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarabis Cubs View Post

We returned from our Viking cruise on the Rinda yesterday, so I thought I would post a quick update. We were in fact docked in Le Pecq. No one I spoke to on the ship seemed to have any idea about the demonstration that someone said was to be conducted regarding changing the location to Paris.

 

First of all, the staff on the Rinda was excellent. Every single person we encountered went out of their way to ensure that we had a great time on the ship. The food was excellent. Our room was comfortable. We loved the itinerary and the excursions.

 

That being said, nothing that the staff could do could possibly make up for the docking situation. It was a huge pain and put a damper on the Paris part of the trip. We purchased the transfers, but contrary to what I was told before our trip, we were not given the option of sending our luggage to the ship and proceeding directly to Paris. Instead, we were transferred to the Rinda and then had to wait for a shuttle a few hours later to take us back to Paris. Depending on traffic, the trip to/from Paris/Le Pecq took anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half (!). We weren't able to see Paris at night at all, which was a huge disappointment. We could have stayed in the first night and returned on a 9pm shuttle, but that would have meant missing the first dinner. There was a night tour of Paris on the last night, but we just couldn't see spending an hour and a half to 2 hours on a bus just so that we could stop at the Eiffel tower for 20 minutes, especially with a very early wake up time the following morning.

 

As I said, the crew was fabulous, but I am not sure that I would trust Viking with my vacation again.

 

Laurie

Looking for reviews, I also see that the Viking Longships Kadlin and Rolf are not listed on the Cruise Critic Review drop-down menu, most likely because they are new ships. Since all three are based in Le Pecq(Paris), I'd like to see early season reviews, and how they compare.

The longboats are ALL identical, color theme may varie slightly from ship to ship. But whether the boat was launched in 2013,2014,2015 there is NO difference from boat to boat as long as the boat in question is a Longboat. And on the inside they are lovely (public spaces) we walked thru several when rafted next to Viking on our 15 day sailing. Got to see cabins also when sharing wine one evening and coffee and rolls one morning with very surprised passengers Rafted 6inches from out French Balcony. Both couples very nice, paid big bucks for a balcony but due to weather and rafting only used it for drinks with us!

I no longer remember which Longboat either of these were but the longboats of the last few years are all identical and I thought pretty on the inside. Boxy and ackward looking on the outside. Our regular cabin French Window (middle deck) cabin was considerably larger than the Viking Balcony Cabin or Viking French Window at 200 sq ft. We were on the Avalon Illumination.

The only thing that changes from boat to boat would be staff and crew, these could have been great last season and different this season due to a completely new set of employees (they are all seasonal) even the cruise directors change over the course of the season. This would be true of all the river cruise lines.

We are sailing on the Viking Kadlin (Paris to Normandy 7-15-16) with a 3 night pre stay in Paris (Viking arranged). Could you please provide the contact information for the appropriate individual we would need to contact if we would like to have our bags sent ahead to the Kadlin on day one of the cruise? We would like to stay in Paris and avoid taking the lengthy shuttle back and forth to Paris as noted below.

I asked the same question, since we booked the pre-cruise prior to our 4-6 cruise on the Rinda, and was told that our luggage could be sent on the bus departing the hotel, while we remained in Paris for the day. My guess is that the email address for the Kadlin is: concierge.kadlin@vikingcruises.com. (The concierge on the Rinda has been very quick to respond to my questions.)

The longboats are ALL identical, color theme may varie slightly from ship to ship. But whether the boat was launched in 2013,2014,2015 there is NO difference from boat to boat as long as the boat in question is a Longboat. And on the inside they are lovely (public spaces) we walked thru several when rafted next to Viking on our 15 day sailing. Got to see cabins also when sharing wine one evening and coffee and rolls one morning with very surprised passengers Rafted 6inches from out French Balcony. Both couples very nice, paid big bucks for a balcony but due to weather and rafting only used it for drinks with us!

 

I no longer remember which Longboat either of these were but the longboats of the last few years are all identical and I thought pretty on the inside. Boxy and ackward looking on the outside. Our regular cabin French Window (middle deck) cabin was considerably larger than the Viking Balcony Cabin or Viking French Window at 200 sq ft. We were on the Avalon Illumination.

The only thing that changes from boat to boat would be staff and crew, these could have been great last season and different this season due to a completely new set of employees (they are all seasonal) even the cruise directors change over the course of the season. This would be true of all the river cruise lines.

I agree.:) (But maybe a misunderstanding here.)

What I meant was, I'm looking forward to how the reviews compared.

I think it's great that we here can have a vicarious experience looking at the reviews of all three similar boats and itineraries.

I asked the same question, since we booked the pre-cruise prior to our 4-6 cruise on the Rinda, and was told that our luggage could be sent on the bus departing the hotel, while we remained in Paris for the day. My guess is that the email address for the Kadlin is: concierge.kadlin@vikingcruises.com. (The concierge on the Rinda has been very quick to respond to my questions.)

Thank you so much! I emailed general customer service yesterday and they responded with a no! I'll keep asking until I get the right answer. You would think they'd be all over this option.

You should know that there is a huge disconnect between the Customer Service people in Southern California and the wonderful staff and crew on the ground in Europe. It is very likely if you check in for your transfers and just talk to the ground staff you won't have a problem.

We stayed at a hotel that was full of Viking passengers waiting to be transferred to their boats. All the luggage was grouped in a huge roped off area all tagged and ready to be sent to the ship.

Talk to the ground staff because the Calif CS people (according to reports on CC ) seem to say no a lot and not really understand the mechanics of how everything actually works.

I have had a look at some companies offering the Seine as a destination. So far I have only found Viking who offer trips on the long ships of 135 metres. All other companies I have looked at use 110 metre vessels on the Seine. I do not fully recall how Viking came to use the longer boats. Was it that they were first allowed by the government to dock in Paris and then not anymore. Does somebody know?

Here are some other lines:

Scenic (the new Gem) 110 m

Phoenix (German company) 110m / 114m

CroisiEurope (French company) 110m

Avalon 110m

Uniworld 110m

ARosa, whose ships are all between 124m and 135m, does not offer the Seine as a destination.

I wonder where Scenic will be allowed to dock in Paris. I am sure the first Scenic cruisers of this season will be happy to share their experiences with us.

notamermaid

Thank you! I guess river cruise companies are no different than the ocean cruise lines in terms of customer service disconnect. I should have known better. Thank goodness for cruise critic where you can gather the real facts. ;)

You should know that there is a huge disconnect between the Customer Service people in Southern California and the wonderful staff and crew on the ground in Europe. It is very likely if you check in for your transfers and just talk to the ground staff you won't have a problem.

We stayed at a hotel that was full of Viking passengers waiting to be transferred to their boats. All the luggage was grouped in a huge roped off area all tagged and ready to be sent to the ship.

Talk to the ground staff because the Calif CS people (according to reports on CC ) seem to say no a lot and not really understand the mechanics of how everything actually works.

I have had a look at some companies offering the Seine as a destination. So far I have only found Viking who offer trips on the long ships of 135 metres. All other companies I have looked at use 110 metre vessels on the Seine. I do not fully recall how Viking came to use the longer boats. Was it that they were first allowed by the government to dock in Paris and then not anymore. Does somebody know?

 

notamermaid

Bolding mine. I don't know for sure but Viking was using smaller ships last year, in addition to the Rinda. We were on the last sailing of the Pride in Nov/15. We still docked in Paris, close to the Eiffel Tower. All items were transferred to the Spirit (the other smaller Viking ship). I don't know if/when the Spirit was taken out of service but it does appear that Viking is only using their longboats on the Seine now. I think that they are merely replacing the older ships with the longboats.

PR1NCESSD1ANE (and anyone else who at first receives a "no" from Viking):

Since I had not heard from Viking (see my earlier post), and we are departing Monday AM, I sent a follow-up email to TellUs this morning. About 3 hours later I received an email response (a) that the first person with whom I had originally spoken had obtained approval for what I had requested, and (b) what we are to do when we arrive:). So if at first you don't succeed...

:o OOPS; wrong thread. I was responding to a question on a different forum. But the message is still valid.