Viking Rinda - still docking at Le Pecq?

Just wondering if anyone has cruised on the Viking Rinda lately and whether the docking location is still Le Pecq or has moved to Pont de Grenelle as originally planned. The letter we received said that they had not received a permit for Paris yet. If still at Le Pecq, do any recent travelers have info on how frequently shuttles are offered to and from the ship to Paris? We leave in about a month.

Laurie

Just returned yesterday. The Rinda is still docked in Le Pecq. We did 3 days on our own pre sailing in Paris. From what I did hear from other passengers was most of them did have pre or post days in Paris so Le Pecq was not an issue. The little town is quite interesting and most people went in to town on their own and used the Paris shuttles which where going in and out with different itineraries. We had a great time. The crew was amazing! Don't hesitate to contact the ship if there is something you want to book a head of time. We did Moulon Rouge on ore own which I booked months ago. You can't get tickets unless you pay a premium if booked later. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the info! Glad you enjoyed your trip!! We don't have pre or post days so I'm hoping the shuttles will work for us. I wasn't sure if they were a one time per day thing or go back and forth multiple times. Can't wait!!!

Laurie

Here is my email address if you have any other questions. kathryngraham48@yahoo.ca

Couple of must do's

Sign up on day 1 for the optional excursions. Versailles / Louvre. You can't just decide on the day. You will not be able to go unless someone cancels. If you are Canadian like we are, you must sign up for the separate excursion to Juno. We where 2 of only 12 Canadians on the ship. We got to see the British museum where the bridge that was overtaken in the movie The Longest Day was filmed and actually happened. Great tour there. Along with seeing both British and Canadian cemeteries. We would have loved to see the American sites. It is a full day with a stop for a hot lunch in Arromanches. The gift store sells small empty glass bottles with metal emblems and the date for each beach. Great for scoping a bit of sand to bring home.

In Rouen on day 4 there is a light show to music on the cathedral at 9:30 pm. A must see!

Have a great trip! Remember. (Paris is always a good idea) Audrey Hepburn[emoji485]

Thanks for the great tips!!!

Laurie

We are also Canadians and were on the Rinda with ROTONDA and agree with her assessment of the trip. Ship and crew were fantastic and they are doing what they can do ameliorate the issues with the Le Pecq location. Viking offered free transfers back to the airport for those on our cruise. Onboard I was told that the issue that created the docking changes was a concern from the Port Authority that turning a boat the size of the Rinda may present a navigational hazard for smaller tour boats in the area. Viking has arranged a demonstration on September 15th to show that they are able to turn the boat in under 5 minutes and if that threshold is met the Rinda will be allowed to dock at the Viking owned facility near the Eiffel Tower. Apparently the Mayor of Paris and the CEO of Viking will be among those in attendance.

Wow, that is great news for those concerned about not docking in Paris! However, it sounds like those of you on the recent Rinda cruise made the most of it. Glad you had a great cruise. We leave on the 21st on the Viking Spirit for the same itinerary. So excited.

Becki

Viking has arranged a demonstration on September 15th to show that they are able to turn the boat in under 5 minutes and if that threshold is met the Rinda will be allowed to dock at the Viking owned facility near the Eiffel Tower. Apparently the Mayor of Paris and the CEO of Viking will be among those in attendance.

Oh that is really exciting news!! I will keep my fingers crossed that it goes well!

Laurie

We leave October 26 and stay 3 nights afterwards in Paris. Will keep my fingers crossed about the possibility of being docked in Paris. Thanks for the tips

Viking has arranged a demonstration on September 15th to show that they are able to turn the boat in under 5 minutes and if that threshold is met the Rinda will be allowed to dock at the Viking owned facility near the Eiffel Tower. Apparently the Mayor of Paris and the CEO of Viking will be among those in attendance.

My TA was informed of this demonstration as well. Would love to know the results if anyone hears!!

Laurie

I'm on the 10/19 cruise and am pretty excited.

What time did you leave Rouen? I hope the light show is still going on when we are there. I will need to investigate this. :)

Our TA just talked with Viking offices and the people in the office did not have any idea about the turning test. I hope they still had the test yesterday and were able to prove that they can turn the boat pretty quickly.

I'm on the 10/19 cruise and am pretty excited.

Hi - My parents just finished this cruise on Grand Circle's Bizet with a similar itinerary. My mom promised to take lots of notes. They are still on a post-trip but when they get back I will share any tips they have. Mom did email and mentioned the light show but she said it ends in late September, so I don't think we should count on seeing it next month.

Also, several people on here said that contacting the Program Director on the Rinda about logistical issues was much more helpful than talking to the central office. Based on that, I sent him a couple of questions about transferring to port and luggage and received a very nice email back within a day or two. I just sent him another one asking if he knows anything about the demonstration that was supposed to happen yesterday. Hopefully, I will hear from him.

My husband & I are on the 10/19 cruise as well. Look forward to meeting you all. We are from Houston and are spending six days in Paris before boarding the Rinda.

Hi - My parents just finished this cruise on Grand Circle's Bizet with a similar itinerary. My mom promised to take lots of notes. They are still on a post-trip but when they get back I will share any tips they have. Mom did email and mentioned the light show but she said it ends in late September, so I don't think we should count on seeing it next month.

 

Also, several people on here said that contacting the Program Director on the Rinda about logistical issues was much more helpful than talking to the central office. Based on that, I sent him a couple of questions about transferring to port and luggage and received a very nice email back within a day or two. I just sent him another one asking if he knows anything about the demonstration that was supposed to happen yesterday. Hopefully, I will hear from him.

I hope your parents had a great time. I finally found an ending date for the projection/light show and it was September 15th.

Any tips your mom has about some of these ports would be greatly appreciated.

I know some who just did this same basic cruise on Avalon and she loved it.

I do have to say seeing her video on the boat watching the Eiffel Tower twinkle did make a little upset because that should be this ship as well.

I hope we get some good news that the demonstration went well and that they will start docking back in Paris soon.

My husband & I are on the 10/19 cruise as well. Look forward to meeting you all. We are from Houston and are spending six days in Paris before boarding the Rinda.

My friend and I will be in Florence for 5 nights and Paris for 3 nights prior to the cruise.

I can't wait to meet you guys as well.

We received our Viking boarding info earlier this week from our TA. The Viking info is still listing Le Pecq as the docking location.

Oh, good- more TEXANS onboard!

Hmm - haven't heard anything about the demonstration to determine if the Rinda can dock in Paris. :confused: I was hoping that it would be successful and maybe we would be able to dock at the Pont de Grenelle for our upcoming trip. Doesn't look promising:(

Laurie

Hmm - haven't heard anything about the demonstration to determine if the Rinda can dock in Paris. :confused: I was hoping that it would be successful and maybe we would be able to dock at the Pont de Grenelle for our upcoming trip. Doesn't look promising:(

 

Laurie

We'd love to have an update, Laurie, when you get back on how the docking impacted the cruise experience in Paris and where it actually ended up being. Have fun.

We'd love to have an update, Laurie, when you get back on how the docking impacted the cruise experience in Paris and where it actually ended up being. Have fun.

We leave on the 18th. I will certainly update when we return. I can see from the live tracker that the Rinda is docked in Le Pecq today, so that's what I'm expecting next week.

Laurie

We returned from our Viking cruise on the Rinda yesterday, so I thought I would post a quick update. We were in fact docked in Le Pecq. No one I spoke to on the ship seemed to have any idea about the demonstration that someone said was to be conducted regarding changing the location to Paris.

First of all, the staff on the Rinda was excellent. Every single person we encountered went out of their way to ensure that we had a great time on the ship. The food was excellent. Our room was comfortable. We loved the itinerary and the excursions.

That being said, nothing that the staff could do could possibly make up for the docking situation. It was a huge pain and put a damper on the Paris part of the trip. We purchased the transfers, but contrary to what I was told before our trip, we were not given the option of sending our luggage to the ship and proceeding directly to Paris. Instead, we were transferred to the Rinda and then had to wait for a shuttle a few hours later to take us back to Paris. Depending on traffic, the trip to/from Paris/Le Pecq took anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half (!). We weren't able to see Paris at night at all, which was a huge disappointment. We could have stayed in the first night and returned on a 9pm shuttle, but that would have meant missing the first dinner. There was a night tour of Paris on the last night, but we just couldn't see spending an hour and a half to 2 hours on a bus just so that we could stop at the Eiffel tower for 20 minutes, especially with a very early wake up time the following morning.

As I said, the crew was fabulous, but I am not sure that I would trust Viking with my vacation again.

Laurie

Dear Sarabis Cubs,

Welcome home! We are delighted to hear you enjoyed several aspects of your Viking cruise, but regret your disappointment in the Le Pecq docking change remains.

Your comments are important to us and we would be happy to discuss the details of your experience further. Should you wish to do the same, please contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

We are looking forward to speaking with you and hope you will consider cruising with us again on another river.

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

We returned from our Viking cruise on the Rinda yesterday, so I thought I would post a quick update. We were in fact docked in Le Pecq. No one I spoke to on the ship seemed to have any idea about the demonstration that someone said was to be conducted regarding changing the location to Paris.

 

First of all, the staff on the Rinda was excellent. Every single person we encountered went out of their way to ensure that we had a great time on the ship. The food was excellent. Our room was comfortable. We loved the itinerary and the excursions.

 

That being said, nothing that the staff could do could possibly make up for the docking situation. It was a huge pain and put a damper on the Paris part of the trip. We purchased the transfers, but contrary to what I was told before our trip, we were not given the option of sending our luggage to the ship and proceeding directly to Paris. Instead, we were transferred to the Rinda and then had to wait for a shuttle a few hours later to take us back to Paris. Depending on traffic, the trip to/from Paris/Le Pecq took anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour and a half (!). We weren't able to see Paris at night at all, which was a huge disappointment. We could have stayed in the first night and returned on a 9pm shuttle, but that would have meant missing the first dinner. There was a night tour of Paris on the last night, but we just couldn't see spending an hour and a half to 2 hours on a bus just so that we could stop at the Eiffel tower for 20 minutes, especially with a very early wake up time the following morning.

 

As I said, the crew was fabulous, but I am not sure that I would trust Viking with my vacation again.

 

Laurie

My husband and I just returned from the Oct.19 Viking Rinda cruise. We have done several ocean cruises and we're excited to try a river cruise. We were not disappointed!!

We loved the intimate feel and the chance to make new friends. We met many lovely and memorable people during the week.

The crew were extremely friendly and helpful. The meals were excellent as was the wine that was served.

We had a balcony room #327. The room is a bit smaller than on a large cruise ship but we were not uncomfortable. There was plenty of closet and drawer space and the bags slid right under the bed to be out of the way. The bathroom was nice. I loved the heated floor!!! The toiletries were L'Occitane and included shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and lotion. There was also a little container of cotton swaps and cotton pads and of course a shower cap.

The tours were great and our tour guides were very knowledgable about the areas we were touring. Of course, I would have loved more time at the D-Day Beaches and museum and the American cemetery but I will be grateful for the time I had there while realizing so few Americans actually get to visit this sacred place.

We spent a week in Paris before the cruise. Yes it would have been lovely to sail right out of Paris but I will not put the blame on Viking since the government regulations prohibited Viking from docking in the city. They would much prefer the city docking as well.

I do hope they improve the pillows on the bed before we do another cruise... they were way too soft !!!

We will be more than happy to sail with Viking again anytime we get the chance !!

What a great comment! I have to agree about awful pillows and we weren't even on Viking. Maybe they all think those feather pillows are the way to go.... Hubby couldn't deal with them due to medical issues. The Hotel Mgr overheard me inquire about firmer pillows and he went out the next morning Day 2 and bought 4 new firm pillows (2 for us & 2 more just in case!). Our wonderful room attendant brought them still in the Dept Store bags and fixed us up.

Glad your trip was so great!

Laurie-

Please write to Viking per their request and tell them how disappointed you were with being docked for so long in Le Pecq. It's worth the effort.

Texas Charm

Vikings problem has to do with how long their literature and web site was selling this cruise as being docked in Paris. And they compounded the problem by being so uncooperative over the phone.

Otherwise, the cruise ans staff were great.