We wanted to experience the French culture in northern France, eat some exquisite french cuisine, drink some fabulous Bordeaux wines and visit some wonderful river cities. That said, our favorite experience was visiting the city of Cognac, learning a great deal about the making of cognac at the Camus distillery and then blending our own personal blend of Cognac to take home. What an experience...can't wait to taste the fruits of our blending labor New Years Eve!!!

The on-board food and wines was great, the lectures informative, and the staff were terrific, especially the evening dinner staff---courteous and at the same time entertaining.

Due to a sudden death of a dear friend, we contacted our Viking Representative about curtailing our cruise short a couple of days in order to attend the funeral service. Veronica Semczuk was absolutely wonderful, coordinating with her Travel team to rebook our flight home and then ensuring that the Ship's Director knew of our urgent situation. Once our flight home was confirmed, he then arranged for ground transportation from Blaye back to Bordeaux to catch our flight. I can't say enough about the entire Viking staff in making this seamless, stress-free Viking experience.