My First River Cruise | Paris and The Heart of Normandy FULL REVIEW

Full disclosure: I was part of a PR trip with Viking and that means they paid for my cruise and my roundtrip airfare to and from Paris. Having said that all opinions are my own and I had no limitations or mandatory posting requirement and received no monetary compensation for making this video.

I recently went on a Viking River Cruise and in this video I’ll be sharing what I loved, what I didn’t love, and exactly WHO I think should go on a river cruise! Huge thanks to Viking for hosting me for this lovely 7 night Paris and the Heart of Normandy river cruise. I hope this video will help you decide if you should go on a river cruise and give you some tips and tricks to help you feel more prepared.

To get all the details and book your own Viking River Cruise, head here: https://www.viking.com/

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hey everybody Welcome or welcome back to
the channel today I am bringing you a
full review of my very first ever River
Cruise it was with Viking it was
incredible I loved almost everything
about it there were a few things I
didn’t love there were also a few things
that I will do differently when and if I
cruise with bking again and I can’t wait
to share it all with you and I’m so glad
that you’re here so the cruise that I
was on was the Paris to Normandy river
cruise with Viking full disclosure I was
hosted for this Cruise which this was my
first ever time that a cruise line
reached out and invited me to cruise
with them so that part was pretty
exciting I’m a little nervous doing this
review because I do appreciate the fact
that they hosted me amazing opportunity
but also my primary loyalty is always
going to be to you guys so just know
that they did host me but I am still
going to bring you my honest true
opinions about Viking about River
cruising and I think probably most
importantly is kind of who I think River
cruising is best for now I’m going to be
inserting while I’m talking different
clips so this is kind of going to be a
hybrid of a travel Vlog and a review um
I’m not sure as I’m saying this how all
that’s going to work out but hopefully
you will walk away after watching this
video knowing if a Viking river cruise
is right for you feeling prepared to be
successful on your Viking river cruise
and maybe knowing a few tips or tricks
that you wouldn’t have known otherwise
so that’s my goal for this video we’re
going to start with before you ever
leave home when you first book your
cruise with Viking the thing I love
about Viking is they will do everything
for you they and you know most Cruise
Lines will but they will book your
airfare they will book your transfers
they will book your sailing and
especially if you’re someone who is a
little anxious about traveling in Europe
it could not be easier they will make
sure that everything is taken care of
and then you will have the opportunity
to book your excursions now the
excursions are very well detailed on
their website you are going to want to
really read what it says is it strenuous
is there moderate walking are there
hills they try to do a very good job of
making sure that you’re not booking an
Excursion that you’re not going to feel
comfortable doing um but we booked our
excursions pretty early on because there
were a few uh versai and also the
Normandy uh beaches and the museum that
we knew would get looked up very early
so we booked those early on uh but don’t
be too stressed about that there is an
included Excursion every day they give
you all of the details of the included
excursions as well as the ones you can
pay extra money for you can always call
them if you have questions I’m going to
have a little bit more to say about
excursions when I get to my what I would
have done differently part so stick
around for that but I did feel like the
pre-cruise planning was very easy to
figure out very easy booking my flights
and all those kinds of things now when
we got to Paris um it was super easy to
find our guide uh we were getting on the
ship the same day that we flew Viking
typically and they did this when I did
the Viking sea uh cruise that I did a
few years back with my mom they
typically dock in their first port for
one night which is great for travel
because if for some reason a flight got
cancelled or whatever we knew the ship
was still going to be in Paris so they
still would have been able to pick us up
at the airport and get us to the ship
but the Viking representative was very
easy to spot uh once we got through
baggage claim we got all of our stuff
there was a big group of us that were
all on the same flight from Atlanta and
we were on the bus and off to the ship
now I will say this uh and throughout
this you’ll hear me kind of compare
River cruising to Ocean cruising because
I know a lot of you had questions about
that the getting on the boat part was
like if if getting on a ship in Cape
Canaveral Florida is a 10 in stress
getting on a river cruise in Paris
France is like a one in stress hi Lenny
this is my dog Lenny he shows up in a
lot of videos because whenever I start
talking he likes to come and say hey how
are you buddy good to see you um he’s
shedding so much right now hair flying
everywhere so yeah we literally got off
the bus and and just walked on the ship
like I I don’t have words for how
relaxed it was it was just like not even
a thing and that’s going to play out the
more I talk about the differences very
very chill now when we got in and they
just kind of gave us a welcome they gave
us some towels um they gave us a little
welcome drink and then they showed us to
our cabin the cabins on River ships
River ships River Cruises are small very
small like I don’t know if they’re this
small on all River cruising I kind of
assume that they are even though it was
a tiny cabin it did not feel tiny once
we had been there for a couple of days I
was traveling with my son William he’s
24 we’ve traveled together quite a bit
um and and honestly because it’s so
convenient we were placed right next to
this little Library area so one of us
could pop out there and read a book or
be on our phone while the other one was
getting ready so we could give each
other a little bit of space it it did
not feel ridiculous after the first
probably day but when we first got in
the cabin I was like wow this is very
very tiny but you’re on the S you’re in
Paris who cares you’re hardly going to
be in the room at all anyway except for
to sleep and to get ready we were out on
our balcony more than I would have
thought um I absolutely loved sailing
along the S once the boat would be like
actually moving and there were a couple
of days where we made quite a bit of
mileage uh during the day watching the
water go by watching the changing
landscape seeing the birds and the
Villages and the towns we would pass
through I was not prepared for how
magical that would feel so just
otherworldly the whole time as we’re
Sailing by and we’re we’re Sailing by
like people’s farms and and apartments
and you know like you can see people on
the
shore as someone who loves water loves
being on the water loves being in the
water I wasn’t prepared for how much I
would love this I I absolutely adored it
so we were out on The Veranda a lot um
but it is Tiny having said that it’s
small but it was very well appointed the
bedding was very high-end the amenities
in the bathroom were very high-end um
everything was very very clean um the
the water pressure was good and the
shower like no issues on any of that I I
kind of expected that again having done
um Viking ocean cruises I knew that they
had a very high standard for excellence
and the cabin quality was excellent they
do have uh like The Navigators ver uh
Navigator veranda or Navigator Suite
that you can book and you can you do get
some extra perks for being in those
rooms we were obviously just in a
regular room um I’ll put the room
category that it was right here but um
never had a problem with the room the
they they kept it perfectly clean all
week uh we did get uh housekeeping would
come in in the after breakfast and then
they would come in before bed turn down
our bed give us our plans for the next
day um yeah and I I just thought the
cabin was perfect for what it was
although they are small so be prepared
for that if you are looking to pack a
little bit lighter maybe for your River
Cruise because you don’t want to have a
ton of stuff go ahead and watch the
unpacking video I did because you really
don’t need to pack that much and you’ll
be doing yourself a favor if you don’t
have a ton of clothes and a ton of
luggage on your River Cruise so now
let’s talk about the food there are only
really two places to eat on the ship and
this is very different if you’re used to
cruising on a big cruise ship you have
the main dining room and the there was a
Terrace The aquavite Terrace I believe
it was called that was the more casual
dining although it was the same menu so
they have a really big outdoor patio
unfortunately that was only open a
couple of times during our trip because
it was so pretty out there but that’s a
little bit more laidback I actually
preferred eating out there to eating in
the big dining room the big dining room
is huge it’s a little bit loud um but
the experience in there was very very
good and I thought that the food food
was excellent now there were a couple of
nights that were not as excellent as
others they did a big Normandy theme
night with this gorgeous Buffet we were
able to all do some Calvados tasting
more on that in a minute because I found
out I really like calados what I really
like though is apple cider which apple
cider is not the same thing in Normandy
as it is in the US it’s actually more
like a almost like a champagne but oh my
gosh it’s so very good so the food was
very good I am not a huge foodie so it’s
not like I can tell you oh we had this
one particular dish that was so amazing
but there were a couple of nights um as
a pescatarian so I’m a vegetarian who
also eats fish where the fish was just
out of this world outstanding and I will
tell you I never walked out of the
dining room hungry the food was
excellent we had the silver Spirits uh
wine package uh so we were able to get
an upgraded bottle of wine but even if
you don’t have the wine package they do
have uh beer and wine available at lunch
and dinner and it’s not just like a
cheap offering it’s a really good uh red
and a white that the chef has curated to
go with a meal um so that is a great
benefit of Viking um but even with the
silver Spirits package it wasn’t very
expensive at all and I think can be well
worth it if you’re someone that likes
maybe an upgraded cocktail um or you
know my son is a bartender so he liked
ordering these fancy martinis and we
would get a a better bottle of wine with
dinner every night and I felt like it
was just an excellent dining experience
now having said that the problem with a
smaller ship is outside of dining times
there’s really no way to get food so
that’s going to be my first thing that
you need to be aware of that I didn’t
love um and that’s the the lack of
availability of food outside of dining
hours so if I were to do another River
Cruise which I hope to do cuz I
definitely think Scott would love it and
it’s something we really want to do
together um I would go into town and get
snacks uh the good news is you’re always
docked in villages and so it’s really
easy to go to a grocery store I it’s
just you know sometimes it’s 10 o’clock
at night and you feel a little peckish
and you want something to eat and the
only things that would be available 24
hours a day would be the coffee
sparkling water tea station and then
they would have some cookies and
sometimes some pastries but outside of
that there’s no room service available
unless you’re in one of the Suites and
so that made it a little bit tricky in
terms of food and we were not the only
ones that complained about this so if I
had some feedback I would say and I
wrote this in Our Guest Survey I would
say if there could even be just like a
little snack bar like what they have on
international flights with just some
little cheese or chips or something that
you could grab because sometimes you’re
really hungry and it’s not a meal time
so just just be aware of that but but if
you’re aware and you go in and you
either bring some snacks from the US
with you or you buy some snacks in
France where by the way they have some
snacks um then you know you’ll just
you’ll be aware when you get on the ship
the other thing is you don’t have to eat
on the ship uh one night in fact it was
the night they did the Normandy Buffet
the buffet was amazing but we ended up
going into the town where we were docked
with our friends uh ruin was the name of
the town and we actually ended up uh or
no it wasn’t uh Ru it was a Vernon we in
Vernon or Vernon as I was saying it uh
we went in and got Sushi because the
ship was going to be docked overnight so
that is like the number one thing that
blew me away in terms of like
convenience the fact that you can just
pop on and off this River Cruise any all
time you want obviously you need to be
aware of when the ship is going to leave
that’s super important but it it was
really strange to me to be docked
overnight in a port and be out until
10:30 or 11: at night and just come on
in and and tap our card and be on the
ship very very different than in Ocean
cruising and it it really did feel more
like a floating hotel that was taking me
through these parts of France that I
would not be able to see otherwise where
I happened to have included breakfast
lunch and dinner so that part of it um
really exceeded my expectations uh one
day I got off the ship um there had
there was a big Excursion that I chose
not to do that day and instead just
walked around a local city park and
looked at you know families and there
was a petting zoo and people were having
picnics and that’s how I love to travel
um I’m huge at going into local city
parks City zoos things like that to
really see how people live um and it
it’s it’s one of my like really really
favorite things to do so the fact that I
could just walk off the ship and we were
docked where there was this beautiful
Park made it feel extremely magical and
I absolutely love that okay let’s talk
about the excursions for a minute as I
said before Viking has an included
Excursion at every single port of call
this is also true on Viking CA which are
their ocean liners um when my mom and I
did the uh West Indies Explorer we took
advantage of all of the free
excursions now if you are someone who
does not like being on a Big Bus full of
people really read through those
excursions to see if it’s a big group or
a small group and you can always call
Viking and ask them um for example
obviously the buail Excursion was a huge
group we knew that was going to happen
but huge groups of people you’re not
going to move quickly you want to pack
your patients if you’re someone that
prefers a smaller group uh you can also
find those excursions uh the Excursion
that we did to the organic uh Calvados
Distillery and farm uh in Normandy
absolutely unbelievable experience there
were nine of us on that Excursion I know
that several of the people did the um
Taste of France they did a food tour in
Paris and I think there was like nine or
12 people on that Excursion you do pay
more for those smaller excursions but if
that is more your speed I would
definitely consider doing that the other
thing I would consider especially if
you’re docked in a place like Paris and
you are an experienced traveler you can
just explore on your own in fact as much
as we enjoyed the Excursion to
Versailles we would have felt very
comfortable taking the train from Paris
and making our way out there ourselves
we would have paid less money but again
we’re very experienced Travelers my son
has been in France many times this was
my fourth time in Paris um so if you’re
not if if you’re someone who’s not super
experienced of you know navigating
trains and all of that in a foreign
country definitely go with the
excursions Viking also has availability
for private excursions that you can uh
have them book for you um if you don’t
love that big crowd experience
um Normandy was the other one that you
could have booked a smaller tour group I
kind of enjoyed that being a large group
just because of what it is we had quite
a few uh retired and active duty
military on our sailing they did a
special ceremony with them they laid a
wreath um at the tomb there it was it
was a really beautiful experience and it
was wonderful to experience it with a
group of people um but just be aware
River Cruises and big excursions are
going to be big excursions so if that is
not your cup of tea you want to make
sure you steer clear of the huge
excursions having said that you could
have gone on this cruise and used it as
a floating hotel and never done one of
Vikings excursions and that would have
been absolutely fantastic we had a bit
of a change in our itinerary which does
happen from time to time with River
Cruises because of water levels the S
was a little too high for us to dock in
Paris at the end of our trip so they
made sure that they could bus everybody
to their excursions and people who just
wanted to wander around Paris they
actually did a shuttle because we were
parked um in lopec I think it’s called
Uh a suburb of Paris and they just you
could get on the bus and go into Paris
and then there was a time when they
brought you back so you can still
explore on your own so it really is kind
of a Choose Your Own Adventure
experience so everything from someone
who was maybe very anxious and wanted
Viking to handle everything you can do
that or if you’re extremely independent
and you want to just do your own thing
you can do that as well and I don’t
think I really realized how much
flexibility there was and when I go on
my next river cruise we will probably
opt to do more on our own or I will
choose the smaller excursions that’s
just me that’s how I like to travel um
so just rest assured you have either
option whatever you’re comfortable with
okay now I want to get into who is a
Viking Cruise for because a lot of you
had reached out and expressed to me that
you were worried that you would not fit
in maybe you’re my age maybe you’re a
little younger than me so I just want to
alleviate your fears there was a
wonderful woman on our sailing that was
91 and then my son was definitely the
youngest at 24 but there were all ages
in between there were a lot of folks in
their 40s there were a lot of people in
their 50s and 60s and yes there were a
lot of people in their 70s and 80s I
liked that I felt like it was such a
great mix of people um but I think this
idea that River cruising is for old
people is kind of an outdated thing and
and if you think back like when my
grandmother was into cruising she would
cruise on the loveboat and back then
that was for old people and we certainly
know that’s not the truth now now why
it’s good for people who are in their
60s 70s 80s and Beyond is because they
take such good care of you because they
are picking you up from the airport from
baggage claim they’re making sure that
you’re safe they’re making sure that
everything is taken care of they’re
making sure there are wheelchairs
available if you needed that they’re
getting you back to the airport at the
end of your trip all of that is ideal
but we also had quite a few people in
their 40s and 50s on our sailing so I
think it’s definitely more of a mixed
group than I had anticipated but yes
this does appeal to older Travelers and
I absolutely can see why I think for me
um it was so great to travel with my son
but I could also see me doing this with
my mom so if you have an elderly
relative that you would like to take on
this like epic maybe once in a lifetime
trip this is such a fantastic option
because you have so much support because
they will make sure that everything is
taken care of so as a multigenerational
trip I think this could be really really
great and a fantastic way to go overall
we loved our Viking Crews really the if
the only feedback I have is I wish they
had more availability of food during the
non uh meal times during the day which
feels very much like a champagne problem
because it was very easy for us to get
food at the you know mono PRI or
whatever little shop was right there in
town the docking in the different
smaller
Villages I just wasn’t ready y’all I was
not prepared for docking in a village
and literally just walking a few steps
and being at this gorgeous Garden that
led up to this beautiful Chateau that
then had steps up to this Watchtower
and then we could walk into town and we
could eat at the crepery and it it just
was magical it felt like a fairy tale
and if that is the kind of touring that
you’re interested in doing if you want
to have that kind of very intimate
experience where you’re right there
along the S and you can go to places
that I I mean I don’t know about you I
never would have been in some of these
Villages if I hadn’t have done it on a
Viking Cruise on Easter Sunday we were
in a town called lanise uh which is just
this quaint beautiful town in the
Normandy part of France we were able to
look in the shops and see everybody out
and having picnics and it just was a
beautiful trip it was such a blessing to
be able to share it with my son I am
already looking at their itineraries to
plan another trip with Viking I really
enjoyed it that much I think the value
for money is tremendous especially if
you look at all of the things that are
included and um yeah I I think if you’ve
been on the fence about going I think
you should definitely go and uh maybe
I’ll see you there so whatever you’re
doing today I hope you’re finding Joy
again huge thanks to Viking for hosting
me for this beautiful once in a-lifetime
cruise with my son huge thanks to my son
for tagging along he stayed a few days
in Paris after I left and I think he had
a pretty good time he told me he did I
think he had fun love you guys and I’ll
talk to you next time bye