ninaks

blindeye, are you planning on posting a trip report on your cruise. We are taking the same one in September and I would love to hear your experiences and recommendations.

Hello Pinotlover. When in Sept are you going. We are going on Sept 7th

I can't speak to doing that during the cruise, but we did our own pre-cruise in Lucern for the day and had a fantastic time. We were staying in Basel and we did the one day trip you can buy in the Train Station in Basel. It includes train to Lucern, boat accross the lake, cog train up the mountain, gondola down the mountain, bus to the train station and then train back to Basel. It was amazing. Lake Lucerne is not to be missed.

I think they might have local brands. When we did our Rhine trip, they had a lovely assortment of teas that I fell in love with. There were many kinds, black, green, fruity, etc. They were a brand you can't get in the United States, because I tried when I got back home. It was a German company.

The ride is beautiful but you are correct, they do take you to a little shopping area. If you don't want to shop ( I bought a cookoo clock that I just love) there is a lovely path you can hike behind the shops. You can also watch a demonstration of how to make black forest cake that was interesting.

it is about 225 miles from the Hyatt in Paris to the ship. I think it would be very expensive in a cab. I know a train is about $80 but on sunday you have to change trains and you have to go up a lot of stairs I hear so that is why we are doing the bus. I think it is like FotoPeg says, sometimes it is just worth the extra money for the convenience for some people. I have gotten lazy or spoiled or whatever in my older age and I am all for being spoiled on vacation, but I totally understand others may not feel the same way.

They told me they are starting with the most popular cities and rolling them out as fast as possible. I don't know the dates, but I think customer service knows about it now because my travel agent called to set mine up .

They didn't know about it because I was literally the first person they allowed to do this. They had to do some special computer wrangling to get it into my reservation, but they are working on rolling it out now for all

this transport is actually from the Hyatt hotel that viking guests stay in for the pre-cruise excursion in Paris to the ship. We are not staying at that hotel, but will meet them the morning of the cruise at the hotel, and then ride the viking bus to the ship.

Before it was just for airport transfers the day the cruise starts or ends, now you can do it from the hotels at their pre and post extensions I believe is what they told me the difference is

We are going on the Portraits of Southern France cruise in September on Viking. We are not doing the pre or post cruise extension and did not use Viking air since we are using frequent flier miles. On our own we are spending a couple of days in Paris pre-cruise and a couple of days in Nice post cruise. Viking has a pre-cruise in Paris and a post cruise in Nice. I asked if I could tag along on their transportation to the ship from Paris and also to Nice from the ship, since they already had a bus going. I offered to pay for the ride. Viking's answer when we called customer service was no. It was only for customers doing the extensions. I decided to send an email using the email address I see Viking posts on Cruise Critic when they would like you to contact them directly. I heard back from them after a short time saying they would be happy to accommodate us. Not only that, but they are going to begin offering this service to all of their customers that would like to use it. I am paying $120 for each transfer. My friend is flying out of Marseille and they are also doing the transportation from the ship to Marseille airport for her as well even though she isn’t using Viking air, also for $120. While a train might be cheaper, this is so much easier. I don’t have to change trains dragging luggage, I don’t have to get a cab from the train station and it is all arranged for me. It will take them some time to get it so all their customer service agents can offer this since they have to update all their computer systems for all the different cities. I applaud Viking for listening to a need and being willing to do what it takes to make their customers happy. I have used Viking before and loved them and will continue to use them. Just thought I would let people know this is coming if they want to take advantage of it.

Thank you so much for doing this! Did you talk to anyone who did the Cluny optional tour? We are still unsure if we should sign up for it or not. Thanks again

Do you remember where you ate in Lyon? We want to eat there while in port but there are so many restaurants, I have no idea where we should go.

We are taking the same cruise later this year so I can't wait to read your trip reports. Hope all is going well. If you could comment on any optional tours you take or hear about through others that would be very helpful. Thanks again!

Maybe they will let you switch to Portraits of Southern France cruise if there is any availability. The reviews of that seem to be very good

We are doing the same trip. We have decided to fly into Paris and stay there a couple of days to get over jet lag and enjoy the city. We will then take the high speed train that takes 2 hours to the ship. It is overwhelming to me when you fly in the day the cruise starts. I need some time to get over jet lag.

Hi Robin, I did this cruise last year and loved the Alsace wine tour. We went to a little family Vineyard where he showed us the giant barrels where they age the wine and then we learned about the different wines and did a tasting. The gentleman who owned the vineyard gave us the lecture. I bought several bottles of wine there and wrapped them up and put them in my suitcase and they made it home in one piece. They were not expensive and were so good.

We took the trip in September and were docked several times next to other ships, but after people complained their side was always blocked, the cruise director had them move the ship and made sure to alternate the sides. You really don't spend much time awake in port so not much opportunity to sit on a balcony when docked anyway. You will have an amazing time

Seems we all have questions about the optional tours. Did your husband enjoy Chateauneuf du pape? Keep the stories coming, it is so great to hear all the detail.

Do you feel the optional excursion was worth going on? How has your wifi connection been on the ship so far? Thanks for you insights....

So glad to see you doing this. We are doing the same cruise in the opposite direction in September and there are very few reviews of this cruise.

Thank you for the advice. We are going to splurge on the Negresco!

We are doing the Portraits of Southern France cruise in September. We will have one night in Nice at the end of the cruise before our flight home out of Nice. I don't necessarily want to stay where Viking has their post cruise extension. Looking for a hotel with character in a good location, maybe on the water. Anyone have any suggestions? It will be the first time we have been to French Riviera so don't know the area at all. Also Viking won't let us pay to use their transportation since we aren't doing the 3 night extension. How is the best way to get to Nice? Thank you for your help.

For our pre and post hotels for our River Cruise down the Rhine, we used Hotwire, and got amazing deals for hotels in Basel and Amersterdam. You pick the star rating and location and bid on that. We paid under $100 per night, which was better than half price and loved our hotels. Just another idea I wanted to put out there. Some people don't like the uncertainty, others don't mind.

We were on the Sun last year, sister ship to the Sky, and loved it all. I didn't think it seemed old or worn out at all. We had never been on a new one so had nothing to compare it to, but was very happy with our entire experience on the Sun

Thank you for sharing your pictures. It looks fantastic and I can't wait to go. RJScott, please do post a trip report. There are very few entries about Portrait of Southern France cruise. I think there are all new ships for this cruise in 2014.