Live from the Viking Forseti

We sailed out of Bordeaux at 9:00 AM this morning, looking forward to a nice trip today to Libourne. It has been very hot in Bordeaux the last 2 days and it is refreshing to cruise the river and have cooler weather. so far the cruise is better than expected. The service on the boat has been first class, the food and wine are exceptional. Yesterday morning we had a bus trip and a museum stop in Bordeaux, the ship is in a convenient location, walking distance to downtown and many sites. The French tall ship Hermione is docked and it is walking distance to the boat. There were many food vendors set up yesterday in the morning near the ship selling fruits, breads, cheese, wines and oysters. At 2 PM we took the bus to Sauternes for a wine tasting and then a visit to Cadillac. Apparently the water in this area is too low to travel by boat. It appears we will be sailing the rest of the week and coming back to Bordeaux on Friday.

Sounds great!

We are doing this trip next May.

Looking forward to more info.

Did you arrive in Bordeaux ahead of time?

Any reco on a hotel ?

ganski ~ Took this cruise last October and loved, Loved, LOVED it!!

Your itinerary is slight different but happy to hear you're enjoying it!

If Michael Stamm is the Hotel Director - or anything on board - please say "Hello" from FotoPeg!!

And please come back with updates - brings back great memories!!

Hope your trip continues to be wonderful!!

Photopeg- Michael is still on the boat, he is doing an excellent job and say's hello, he remembers you quite fondly

We left JFK on a Thursday afternoon and arrived in Bordeaux a day before the cruise started, we stayed at the Hotel Mercure Cite Mondiale on Friday night, it was easy to get to from the airport, 2 buses and it cost 1.50 euros per person. The hotel was very convienent to everything, close to downtown and a 5-10 minute walk to the ship.

We cruised all day Monday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, the weather was perfect and it was an enjoyable day, we sat on the upper deck, took in the scenery, relaxed and drank more wine. We took a short stroll to stretch our legs and at 6 PM we had the Viking explorers club cocktail hour, this was highlited by the aquavit toast ! Another nice regional dinner and more regional wine.

The boat docked overnight in Libourne and at 9:15 AM we had a brief walking tour, there was not much to see here, but there was market day in the town square and we strolled around the vendors. We had lunch on the boat and at 1:45 PM we departed by bus to St. Émilion for the afternoon. St. Émilion has to be one of the prettiest place i have been to, we had a guided to which we ditch and walked around by ourselves, we saw all the sights, went to the top of Chateau du Roy, had a glass of wine and bought a bottle of Grand Cru for dinner.

We casted off at 6:00 PM and headed to Bourg, we had dinner while cruising and arrived at 8:30 PM. Viking offered a horse and buggy ride with a wine tasting for 10 euros per person. This was a very nice, it lasted @ 1 1/2 hours, the driver took us to the town square where we sampled 3 local wines and then took us back down to the ship.

We docked overnight in Bourg and at 8:45 AM we had a short bus trip to Blaye, we toured the Citadel and had an hour to explore the town and visit another market near the bus parking lot. This market had an assortment of vendors , food, produce, wine, clothes...... you name it. This afternoon was the optional cognac tour and there is a painting class at 2:00 PM and a walking tour of Bourg. We are staying overnight and sailing tomorrow morning.

This Viking cruise is much different than any other, the itinerary changes weekly due to the tides and fluctuations of the water. So the cruise i am on may be different next week. So far this has been better than expected, very little busing around. It is very relaxing with good food and wine. Viking has a good policy about bringing wines aboard with no corkage charge. Every day we bought local wine and had them at happy hour and dinner. The Viking wines change daily and are very good. This cruise at the beginning had a few learning curves and Viking ironed them out. Their staff treats everyone first class and so far I am glad I went on it and avoided all the negative reviews.

Thanks for the update....glad to hear it's been fun.

Have fabulous and fond memories of our Bordeaux cruise on Viking River last year. One thing that we really enjoyed, in this food-centric region, is picking up fun snacks and food and having a picnic onboard on our last day.

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

I am following your blog with delight. We were on the same trip in May of '14. Please say hello to Michael from two happy cruisers. We remember him fondly especially because he was always smiling.

Looking forward to following your live posts! Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

We just returned from our cruise and it was better than expected. Viking far exceeded in making this a perfect river cruise. Enclosed is a link to pictures i took along the way.

Hello ganski,

pleased to hear you had such a great time. Thank you for the link, love the photos. I would have loved to explore the sailing ship.

notamermaid

Wonderful pictures....thank-you!!!!

Ganski - thanks for the pictures - brought back lots of great memories!

Thanks for taking the time to do this--

1. What is the choices at night in the alternate dining venue?

2. How is the nightly entertainment?

Thanks again

fb

Thanks for taking the time to do this--

1. What is the choices at night in the alternate dining venue?

2. How is the nightly entertainment?

There is only one serving and everyone eats at the same time, you can eat dinner in the dining room or on the deck which has a limited menu.

There is little nightly entertainment, there is a piano player , who plays and sings, one night there was music trivia dance and quiz game, my wife and I paired with another couple and we won and received a nice bottle of wine for first prize.

One night we had a horse and buggy ride through town, most of the nights we sit on the upper deck after dinner, i enjoy a nice whisky on the rocks with a Cuban cigar and my wife enjoys more wine.

Unlike ocean cruises, river cruising is more subduded.

Awesome pics!

really lovely pictures. might consider this region looks beautiful.