Viking "Portraits of Southern France" on the MS Symphony

[doctor4kydz]

I would love to hear from someone who has either been on this ship or taken this particular Viking cruise.

 

I cannot seem to find any reviews of the Viking MS Symphony. I did find some reviews of the Amadeus MS Symphony. Is this the same ship? Was it purchased by Viking?

[tampasteve1]

I would love to hear from someone who has either been on this ship or taken this particular Viking cruise.

 

I cannot seem to find any reviews of the Viking MS Symphony. I did find some reviews of the Amadeus MS Symphony. Is this the same ship? Was it purchased by Viking?

 

I did that tour a few years ago - it was great! I would highly recommended it to anyone interested in France and especially the southern half of the country. Arles was fascinating, and Avignon was beautiful.

 

IIRC, the MS Symphony was indeed formerly an Amadeus ship.

 

Steve

[dumbaxel]

I am also considering this trip / ship. Much less expensive than Uniworld, but probably not as "fancy" either. I notice that other travel companies book their tours on this ship - like Globus. I wonder if the ship is really owned by Viking ... it is not listed in the Viking fleet on Cruisecritic.com.

[doctor4kydz]

We also looked at Uniworld for this itinerary, but it was sold out for the dates we wanted. It does appear that Uniworld is a bit more upscale, although my inlaws recently cruised with Viking and only had good things to say.

 

It did worry me a bit that you can't find any reviews of the Viking MS Symphony. It would be great to actually hear from someone who has been on this ship.

[pabloj]

I just finished the Portraits of Southern France on Viking in late November and it was amazing. The Ship is a little older but still in good condition. The staff is amazing. The itinerary is great. And it was cheaper than the other options. I loved it and we already booked another Viking Cruise now for this year.

 

If you have any questions on it just email me at pjrodrigu@hotmail.com and put Viking River Cruise on the subject line.

 

We sailed November 2011 on them and are from Florida.

[paulwheeler]

My wife and I took this cruise in early November - but on the Viking Neptune. We had a terrific time. Hopefully, you will have the same chef because the dinners were excellent. My review is posted on Cruise Critic.

[kruzlvr]

We are booked on this boat on 24 July for Provence. It was formerly an Amadeus boat, but has been leased by Viking. If you look

in the 2012 brochure they will not be usuing it next year. Google

"M/S Symphony" and you will be able to find out all about it. I booked

this because we can get the lowest price cabin and it doesn't have

those funky couches that make into beds. This will be our second

Viking cruise in a year and if it is as good as the first (China) I am hooked. No Viking is not as fancy as Uniworld, but it has acceptable

food, good excursions and congenial traveling companions.

 

Kruzlvr

[Rustytoo]

We have just returned from a wonderful week in southern France on the MS Symphony,actually still called Amadeus Symphony.The weather was 80s and 2 days in the 90s, with only one rainy night at Viviers which ruined the nighttime tour of this ancient town. We went but got soaked, still an adventure!

 

You will enjoy your trip so much. The ship is great, clean, your room is big enough, bed is comfortable, plenty of

storage, we were in a B room, center of the hall and not much

noise, except when going through a lock late in the night once.The crew are young, polite, and full of fun. We especially loved Sarita and Gabon who run the bar in the lounge but also help in the dining room. Food was very good and the fruit and veggies were fresh, having seen them loaded on the ship in Lyon.

 

The walking and bus tours are very interesting, local tour guides are used. The best one is Christian who we had twice,

he is hilarious and knowledgable but loves to poke fun at his fellow Frenchmen. Find out from Cornelia, the program director what tour # bus he is on and pick your headset and go, you won't regret it.I believe he did the Lyon city tour and the L'Hermitage tour to the winery a day or 2 later.

 

Try to eat dinner out in Lyon. There is a one street called Rue Merciere that is filled with 30 restaurants/cafes and you won't be disappointed. Ask Isabel or Cornelia and they can get you a taxi to go. We ate at Cyranos and had the prix fixe dinners for 25 euros each plus wine of course!The food was fabulous.

 

The music in the lounge at night was okay but nothing current,

we preferred to hang out on the sun deck after dinner, Whenever the boat is moving, you want to be on the sundeck, great views and great pictures.

 

I used as much of my limited French as possible and was spoken to so kindly by merchants and locals. It was worth it.

 

The only negatives would be passing through 15 or so locks and low bridges, which closes the largest part of the sundeck, although you can sit in the front end, which we preferred over

sitting inside. The towns are beautiful with many 16th century buildings and they are stll being lived in! Remarkable. I know you will have a lovely trip! Bon voyage and Bon appetit!

[doctor4kydz]

Dear Rustytoo, Thank you so much for your wonderful and informative posting! We fly out this Saturday for our July 17th departure. We can't wait! I was especially relieved to read that the ship was nice. I was worried about that since the Symphony is not a Viking owned ship or a newer vessel.

 

If you wouldn't mind, I do have some additional questions for you:

 

1. Did you take all of the optional excursions? Which ones would you recommend?

2. Was it easy to exchange money in towns along the way?

3. Do passengers dress casually for dinner? (I'm hoping that jackets and ties are not the norm, even for the captain's or farewell dinners.)

4. Are there any items that you wish you had with you for the trip but forgot to bring or didn't think about bringing?

5. Are there any items in particular that you would recommend purchasing along the way? Special souvenirs, etc.?

 

Thank you so much for your help!

[zydeco54]

I am cruising Jul 23 on MS for Portraits of Southern France; looking forward to reading any/all reviews of this trip.

[Rustytoo]

My answers are below:

 

If you wouldn't mind, I do have some additional questions for you:

 

1. Did you take all of the optional excursions? Which ones would you recommend?

2. Was it easy to exchange money in towns along the way?

3. Do passengers dress casually for dinner? (I'm hoping that jackets and ties are not the norm, even for the captain's or farewell dinners.)

4. Are there any items that you wish you had with you for the trip but forgot to bring or didn't think about bringing?

5. Are there any items in particular that you would recommend purchasing along the way? Special souvenirs, etc.?

 

1. We took in Arles, the Les Baux opt excursion and the hospital that

Van Gogh went to after leaving Arles. Les Baux and countryside amazing!

Also in Avignon we took the trip to Pont Du Gard aqueduct, beautiful and

a chance to wade in some crystal clear water. Very neat.

2. Most towns especially Lyon, Chalon, Arles, Avignon have banks and

cash machines visible when you are doing the walking tours.

3. The 2 special dinners really require a nice top with skirt or pants and

nice shirt and slacks for the men, not dressy.

4. We had everything we needed. One of 2 small umbrellas a good idea. I brought my Kindle but only used itonce on the sundeck. You are really pretty busy or you want to watch the scenery on the sundeck when you cruise.

Note: The hairdryer is in the tiny top drawer of the dresser. Also use your

converter in the corner plug by floor, at the end of the dresser by the lamp for phones and curling irons etc. The plug in the bath is for electric razors.

5. Shopping time is never more than 30-45 minutes during a tour unless

you go back in on free time. There is high end shops, and of course

touristy shops. Provence of course has the lavendar products and linens,

Lots of beautiful cotton and silk scarves. We brought back chocolates

from the Verhona shop. Some jewelry not too expensive. Wine of course

but we drank ours on the ship. The bar will keep it chilled til you need it

in for dinner or later in the evening.

 

Look for Sarita, the beautiful blond working in the dining room and lounge bar, she has a wonderful sense of humor and we wives loved her as well as our husbands! Gabon and Krist also work the dining room and are really nice young men.

Let me know how you enjoyed the trip!

[dumbaxel]

We booked this cruise, embark on 8/28, Chalon to Avignon. Looking forward to it, any shipmates watching this thread??:D

[dumbaxel]

I am cruising Jul 23 on MS for Portraits of Southern France; looking forward to reading any/all reviews of this trip.

 

How'd your trip go? We leave for the 8/28 sailing, Symphony, starting in Chalon. How do they handle wines you buy at each port? or is that restricted to your cabin?