This was our 3rd river cruise with Viking Cruises. Whilst not our favourite itinerary, compared to the previous 2 cruises, it was still very enjoyable and we again loved the whole Viking experience. We received advice quite late that the ship would be docking in Le Peque, instead of port de grenelle, a good 40 minutes by coach from the CBD. This did not bother us but some guests appeared to be disappointed. All guests received €25 ship board credit each from Viking for this late change. Viking did offer a flexible shuttle service, including evening returns, for those who wanted to visit the city in addition to the scheduled day-tour.

We visited some gorgeous places on our way to Rouen and back, including Monet's garden, Vernon and les Anderlays. We were docked 2 nights in Rouén. A guided tour to the light show at the church was not offered but we feel certain would have been enjoyed by guests. The day trip to Bayeux and the Normandy D-Day landing beaches was a long day, with 2 hours coach travel each way. It could have been improved had a 3-course sit-down lunch been replaced by a 'box' lunch supplied from the ship. This would have given us time to visit the small village of Arromanches, where we stopped for lunch but had no time to wander through or go down onto the beach. Neither did we have time to go down onto Juno beach with barely sufficient time to visit the Canadian Memorial. Overall Viking did live up to our expectations though with wonderful crew and staff and a great experience. We will continue to recommend Viking and we plan to book another cruise with them.