With careful consideration, we decided to take a Viking River Cruise to the south of France. The goal was to not have to take buses, not to have to pack and unpack and enjoy "cruising" on a river. We left Sunday for an 8 day cruise. Monday evening as the boat sailed and went into the Lyon first stop at 8am, the captain backed the boat into something and all 8 propellers were damaged. The boat was no longer able to move. Viking proceeded to use buses to travel us for hours past the ports we were supposed to cruise to and return to the disabled boat. This busing went on from Wednesday through the rest of the trip. We were told Friday night we had to pack up, disembark and be bused (again) 4.5 hours to Arels and then another 45 min. to Avignon. We were herded like a bunch of children, fed the same meal Thursday, Friday lunch and dinner in restaurants that were hot and we were jammed in. For the bus trip, they asked for volunteer crew to go on the buses so 3 waiters went with the Program and Hotel Manager.

IT WAS HORRIBLE!!! The waiters and the 2 managers were figuring everything out as they went along. At one point in Avignon, we were dropped off and told to get off the bus and some of us were told by a waiter to "go across the street and walk 2 blocks and you will find your hotel. Well, we did it and there was no hotel by that name, and in fact 1 hour later we find out it was the wrong information. The other 40 or so passengers had no Viking person on their bus, and literally were left standing on a very busy corner wondering what they should do and if anyone from Viking was going to come and tell them where their hotel was. In 90 degree heat, we all then walked about a mile on foot to "find' the hotel we were to stay in. Some passengers, not of great health, were almost in tears and said they couldn't walk anymore so they were "left behind and we'll come back for you". Two hours and we found one physically challenged couple still looking for their hotel.

The "excursions" were reduced or stretched out and were totally unacceptable. For example, on Thursday if our ship had cruised to Arels, we would have had a 4 hour morning excursion. Instead, we were bused from Lyon 2 hours each way, stretched over lunch and then 2 hours back for a total of 8 hours. Lunch was in a Best Westin with only one option for food-beef burgundy, the same thing we had the next day for lunch and dinner!!! Our Viking Waiter, when I objected to eating the same meal over and over, and since I don’t eat beef, was reluctant to honor a different request. “I found a restaurant to take us and I don’t want to put any special requests to make it hard on them”. Really? Is asking for a non-meat meal in a restaurant a hardship? Read more