Four years ago we sailed with Viking on the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and loved it so it was a no brainer for us to choose Viking again for this special cruise, France's Finest, to celebrate our Anniversary. It didn't disappoint! Viking thinks of everything and their guests are looked after from beginning to end. All the tour guides are amazingly
...read more knowledgeable and provide a wonderful commentary on the various stops along the way whether they are little hamlets or big cities, as well as including interesting little snippets of information about personalities and such..
We chose 7 optional tours in addition to the included ones because we didn't want to miss out on anything. This did make for a full on itinerary and we've returned home quite tired but that was our choice and we don't regret it at all.
We also decided to include the 3-day Loire Valley extension which was wonderful but again, very full on. The accommodation was absolutely beautiful and once again our guide was superb.
A slight disappointment for us was the cabin we chose. On our last cruise we chose a French Balcony stateroom. This time and in order to save a bit of money, we chose a room on the lowest level which didn't have an opening window. We wish we had paid the extra as we felt a bit claustrophobic. We know other people who have had no problem at all with this so this is just a personal thing.
Also impressive is the way Viking looks after everything regarding the transfer to the airport at the end of the holiday with a guide accompanying us literally to the check in counter at the airport!
Unfortunately one of us was unwell during our holiday which put a bit of a dampener on things and when the Maitre d' at the restaurant on the ship was told he was so accommodating, providing warm and comforting soup. Nothing was too much trouble.
Juliet, from Global Journeys was a gem! Attention to detail and customer service was absolutely top notch. Whenever we had a query it would be answered almost immediately and definitely the same day. We have recommended Global Journeys to our friends as being a company which really takes an interest in their customers. We wouldn't book with anyone else now that we have experienced the professionalism and friendliness that was shown to us.
Thanks so much for a great holiday.